The Consequences
Jade slowly felt herself return to consciousness, becoming aware of the world around her. She was lying on something soft and warm, spread out so that every inch of her body was comfortably supported. There was light, enough to see her surroundings once she could clearly but not so much as to pierce her eyelids unpleasantly. She could hear noise, but it was very distant...the exact distance where she knew she could hear clearly without being loud enough to disturb rest. The room felt spacious yet enclosed, big enough to have plenty of room but small enough to feel safely protected.
There's only one thing missing to make this the perfect recovery room... she thought to herself as her eyes slowly opened. Seeing Hsi leaned over her worriedly in his demon form, she smiled. And there it is...
Hsi smiled down at her. "Sleep well?" he asked warmly.
"Hey..." she managed to say, shocked at just how weak she felt, and how hard it was to even shape words...and was everything slower? "W..."
"Adapting to the communication stretched your mind further than it was really meant to go," Hsi explained quickly. "When the contact was broken, your mind snapped back, like an overstretched rubber band. You're currently dealing with the mental whiplash, which is why time may seem to be flowing oddly around you, and why your thoughts might not be acting properly on your body."
"...ah..." she managed to say, letting that turn over in her mind. That explained quite a bit. It wasn't a pleasant explanation, but one she could accept. She tried to move her eyes, but found that sluggish too. Frustrated, she decided to take advantage of her mind being out-of-sync with her body, and thought back to how it felt to Astral Project with the Sheep Talisman-
Hsi smirked as he watched her float up out of her body. "I was going to say, if you're uncomfortable your body will recover quicker without you in it," he offered teasingly.
Jade chuckled at that. "So where are we, anyway?" she asked, glancing around at the...completely nondescript room. "Kinda dull..."
"It's a recovery chamber specifically designed to help someone recover from mental whiplash like what you underwent," Hsi explained calmly. "One of the options in First Class Medical, though it's mostly used by insanely rich people who don't want jet lag, or for sedentary species that don't travel well."
"I see," Jade murmured as she floated around. "Is that why it's so...plain?"
"It's specifically designed to stimulate all physical senses just enough so that you're aware of them without being enough to disturb rest," Hsi pointed out logically. "It's not supposed to be interesting to look at."
Sighing, Jade lay back in the air. "So how are we going to pass the time, then?" she asked ruefully. "Eye Spy is out..."
Hsi simply smirked. "Person, Place, or Thing?"
Blinking, Jade smiled. "Person."
"Is it me?"
"You wish..."
Valmont floated calmly in the mental space. While the contact with the alien mental force had been unexpected, he'd adapted quickly by shifting to his demonic form. With his mind freed of physical limitations, he was better equipped to speak to the ones who'd made contact with him. Words weren't used in the communication, and he didn't truly need them to make sense of the communication like this. However, he did need to mentally summarize it as it went in a form that he'd be able to explain it to various people in his company. After all, they'd need to know why they were getting certain orders.
The Other Mind had been impressed at his abilities to adapt to their level of communication. They'd apparently been directed to him on recommendation from Jade Chan, and were curious if his resources and abilities matched what she had presented. They'd been surprised to find that they did. They had explored the theory behind some of his developments with him, extrapolating aspects of it he hadn't considered.
They had commissioned a set of Elder Traps, altered somewhat to their specifications.
They had explained their connection to the Elder Gods as he - and the Jade Council - understood them.
...that part he wasn't going to touch on when it came to explaining it to others. The simple side would be confusing, and the more complex side could only be communicated through direct mental contact...and he didn't trust many people enough to pass it on that way, and those he did weren't ready for it. Frankly, he wasn't ready for it and he knew it now.
As contact had ended, he decided he needed to clear his head before focusing on all that, and cast his mind in search of something amusing. To his surprise, he found his mind focusing on Hak Foo, of all people, somewhere in a ruin...
Hak Foo calmly walked into the Temple of Shiva. As he had expected, there were neither guards nor worshipers. Shiva was not a goddess known for being...tolerant of human eccentricities, and so those places dedicated to her were generally left respectfully empty. While the structure was grand and soaring, he had no interest in architecture.
No, what he was here for was far more important than mere columns. Enshrined within this Temple was an ancient artifact of power, the Bands of Shiva. Legend said that a mortal who wore them would become the living channel of Shiva's power on the physical plane. He was determined to take that power for his own, and thus push his limits beyond what was physically possible for a mere human. His power would be without limits!
And there it was, the statue of Shiva. She sat in repose, legs crossed and arms raised in the air in the traditional pose. On the wrists raised towards the sky, the golden bands stood out against the stone. Grinning to himself, he reached for the bands-
An echoing snore rang from the statue's face.
Hak Foo froze. He hadn't considered the possibility that Shiva might be inhabiting the statue at the moment. If she awoke to his looting her Temple, she would not be pleased. He likely would not escape intact. Perhaps it would be best if he came back another day, when Shiva was busy elsewhere. It shouldn't be that hard to find out when Shiva would be at a meeting with the Jade Council.
As he watched Hak Foo leave, Valmont chuckled to himself. He hoped Shiva wouldn't hold his 'sacrilege' against him, but that was just too funny to resist.
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9152643
Ah knowe... ain't it kyut?
Oh don't worry Valmont, I'm sure Shivanted her braces there even if the 'sacrilege' was a snore fest. Least we know that Jade can still project herself after that long call.
Even Hak Foo is wise enough to let sleeping gods lie
Hyper intelligent, master chess player, able to be in multiple places at once....and can't resist a prank.
Dear harmony save both worlds if he ever meets Tia on an idle day
.
One thing to note is that in traditional Hindu lore, Shiva is generally male, although being a deity, it's assumed he can be gender-fluid if he so pleases.
Not a major thing, just a note.
9152761
Divine Shiva happens to be a huge fan of Final Fantasy, and as a result in recent years has undergone a divine makeover.
Jade has just tapped into her new power. I wonder, with her increasing growth, when will she open the portal to the Equestria? It will be the day to remember! (and Pinkie Pie will have her hooves full due to the vast varieties of guests)
That episode of Jackie Chan Adventures was amusing, especially when Uncle ends up summoning a child-eating monster named Charles
"What's a cookie?" *Licks lips before roaring*
9152771
I would've thought she would go more towards her look in the game Smite.
Wait...does that game even exist in this universe? If so, what do the gods think of their likenesses being used in such a manner, especially with all of the alternate skin options (my personal favorites are Afro-Dite and Swagni).
9152771
I find the idea of a god cosplay far funnier than it should.
I like the explanation of the mental whiplash. Nice to see Valmont's perspective at this point, too.
Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Three
"Bad Day"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 48
"I'm not his/your Mistress!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 11
9152924
Whether they did or not, they'd DEFINITELY veto the "semi-inforced censorship" that some of them underwent here... if they're going to be in a game I imagine that they'd insist on accuracy!
9152969
To HELL with the whiny-self-important-twit humans who throw fits over the SLIGHTEST of problems. The ones who are a minority, but make up for it by being VERY loud and the kind who everyone thinks is a bunch of morons. The same people who ALWAYS think (despite ALL the evidence showing the contrary) that ALL video games cause people to become violent.
I can see the gods looking at THOSE people and giving them some minor curses that gives them bad days every time they bitch and moan.
9153000
Actually, in this world the various gods of bards, minstrels, and writers also consider video games - at least the ones that tell a story or have a lore behind them - to be under their jurisdiction/protection as well...so the first time someone declared that video games caused kids to be violent, a bunch of gods went on the news the next day and said, "No they don't."
Then when people complained about the objectification of females in video games, Aphrodite showed up and said, "Have you seen my early statues?"
And when extreme feminists (the ones that are less 'pro-women' and more 'anti-men' in their agendas) first started showing up, Athena got online and said, "You're doing it wrong."
And it's kinda hard to argue over female characters and how they look in video games when the character models (for motion capture and the like) are honest to goodness succubi.
It'd make more sense for him to have been recommended to them, or if they'd been recommended to contact/talk to him.
"Recommended" is very similar in meaning to "suggested" so, if in doubt, replacing "recommended" with "suggested" may help get things the right way around.
9153033
Fixed.
9153000
You think we could cous something like that in our reality?
9153032
Okay VERY damn good points. So if anything, if the kind of people I mentioned kept up their actions despite gods, goddesses and even FRIENDLY demons tell them otherwise.........Well I think it would be safe to say those people would be Darwin Award Nominees. At least in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Seriously, these kinds of people are the ones that you do NOT want breeding and tainting the gene pool.
9153035
Oh man I SO wish we did. But Tatsurou said it best in HIS reply. Makes me wish that we lived in that kind of world. It would certainly be more interesting than what we live in right now.
Shiva may be more insulted by the insinuation that she snores rather than the sacrilege of acting in her name.
That or it might give her ideas to enchant other locations to ward off thieves
Kinda wonder what Tiamat is like in this fic...would she be like the Fate Grand Order version or...?
You know, a hilarious outcome would be Hak Foo stumbling at the snore and landing so his hands groped Shiva. I can see him going, "SCREAM AND RUN LIKE LITTLE GIRL!" as he high tails it out of there with an angry goddess attempting to castrate him.
9152891
I bet Amaterasu liked the Okami game!!!!
9153337
Amatarasu: "Aw they made me so cute~ I just wanna reach into the tv and stretch wolf me's cheeks~"
9153384
Or just drop down to Earth as a white wolf and get mistaken for a big dog that gets lots of snacks and pets. "Best kind of worship!"
So...Jade's conversation with otherworldly entities was secretly a conference call?
9153390
Ammy DID appear as a white wolf in this story already. Uncle gave her a ring, along with Ra and Apollo, when Wong pulled the Three Monkeys crap as Jade was deciding to be the Chosen One...
Huh. I'm really curious to know more.
Ever since those bands fused to me, I lost my hair. Fights were easier but lately they’ve been... boring.
I defeated El Toro whatever and there’s no point in fighting the old man.
“Gorilla picks nose!” He has gotten so strong that his foes are starting to explode, “It happened again. It ended in one punch... DAMN IT!!!”
Nowadays... he cannot give One Hak Fook.
Chapter One Hundred Ninety Three
"Aiyah!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 50
"One More Thing!"
Chapter Count: 0
Total Count: 86
Thank you for the update and the explanations you give for stuff in story are STILL making wonderful sense. Don't ever change, PLEASE!
It's alive!
9153525
True, but NORMAL people can't see Ammy as more than a large white wolf/doggie. So I can see her enjoying an afternoon in the mortal world before dropping by to visit Uncle.
Honestly as upset as Shiva might be, pretty sure she would be FAR more upset at the mere mortal who DARED pillage her temple.
Also, I can't wait to see what you have in store next! <3
It might be interesting if some of the consequences from this level of contact were some long lasting physical side effects on Jade. Like her direct mental contact with these beings results in her developing some mental powers (touch telepathy, distant empathic senses, minor levitation powers, etc.).
Could prove to be hilarious if she develops these powers all at once with no control over them. Like she accidentally touches Uncle while he is trying to negotiate deal for antiques in shop and blurts by accident exactly how much Uncle values said artifact at. Or she senses that Jackie is attracted to another woman in public and causes Viper to smack him. Or she touches her opponents while playing cards and discovers thoughts she really didn't need to know.
Or she touches Hsi and discovers he's constantly chanting a mantra in his head that both shields his thoughts and is completely embarrassing. :P
9153573
I bet he saw Discord’s whole gambit and what is coming, basically I think Valmont saw behind the fourth wall. Try explaining that easily to the lay person and then to those that can understand it, try telling them that this whole universe is to help three fillies prepare for something. I would tell because it could ruin what the Crusaders are ment to do.
Frankly, he wasn't ready for it NOW and he knew it. Just feels less awkward this way, I think.
9153520
Nah. They sought Valmont afterwards.
I think Shiva would approve of Valmont's take on scaring a thief off. ^^
The MiB crossover (isn't that an again) was good, but the thoughts that went into this alien contact were really interesting. It's funny that Valmont got involved in this yet again, too. It's certainly come quite a ways from him being their enemy!
I suspect that his remark means that we won't get to know what the Old Ones are until at very least much later in the story, if at all, but I'm guessing that they are what results of the failed civilizations? Perhaps they all formed into a hivemind that stagnated and failed before going insane, or perhaps it's a psychic echo of their anger at being forgotten? I feel like there might be a connection, but it's hinted at being complicated, so maybe it isn't that?