She let out a breath and opened her eyes for a moment, though, gng up to hua who was standing back at the passage into the main part of the dungeon. The woman gnced back at her and raised her eyebrow, “How’s it going?” She asked.
“Just finished making the abilities,” Sonya said thoughtfully, taking a quick breather to mentally steel herself for what came . “Going ba,” She said gravely, “Going to take my time with this. If I start to… you know. Just be close. I’ll survive it,” She said as she gnced back at Marta who nodded seriously.
“Be careful,” Marta said.
Sonya nodded and smiled, “I’ve got a pn.”
Sonya closed her eyes a bato her warehouse before pig the one most likely to help her through the rest of the process, ar and Ambrosia. She’d had Hands of the Healer and Grace for a long time and had, admittedly, been unwise in not merging in a healing power sooner. Not that Hands of the Healer tion anymore. She smirked as the ability became active and the instincts started to bubble to the surface. She pushed them aside, the ability might be ged by the merger so it was best to just wait to suss it out afterwards.
Merger.
Medium, so it’s uo be improved by the merger. That’s okay, Proceed.
First came the faint tingling, she k well. She braced herself as the tingling intensified. First in her muscles before seeping into her veins. She jerked as the sensation turned into pain and she let out a shuddering breath, pnting her hands on her knees and grittieeth. She faintly heard voices around her as the pain grew more and more inte felt like her blood was on fire, no, molten. She reached up and clutched at her heart, coughing out a breath as her head toppled forward to the ground. She pnted her hand on the soil a someone run towards her. She threw up her hand irritably and waved whomever it was away.
“I -” She grunted, “I do this,” She gasped, rolling onto her side and kig out her feet as the molten feeling rushed up to her brain befoing back down into her stomach. It felt like the worst acid reflux she’d ever experienced in her entire life. She wao puke. Throw it all up. She k wouldn’t help, though. No relief came for one of the lo minutes of her life until finally it subsided. She wheezed and gasped, coughing as her body rexed. “Fuck me sideways!” She swore, “God damn that hurts!”
She stared at the message on her HUD. “Full iion, didn’t alter it at all,” She wheezed, satisfied with her predi while resting her head on the soothih for a moment. She let the instincts rise up into her mind this time, feeling out the fun of the new ability. Her eyebrows rose and she sat up abruptly, “Seriously?” She ughed and wi her ag muscles, “No way.”
“Sonya?” Marta asked, “Are you-”
Sonya held up her hands, “Hold on, hold on,” She said and held out her palm, she exhaled and small particles of light began to gather over it. They coalesced into a small sphere that popped like a bubble, a tiny ‘bloop’ sound apanying it. Out of the bubble, a humble strawberry appeared. She tur over in her hands, it looked perfe every way. Bright red, brilliant green stem, perfectly spaced seeds. She gnced up at Marta and gri her, “Bottoms up!” She snickered and popped it into her mouth. She let out a squeal of delight as it exploded with fvor. More importantly, the pain immediately began to subside. She groaned, “Oh that’s the stuff.”
hua couldn’t help herself and walked over to join them. “What kind of power is that?”
Sonya gnced up at the woman, “Mm? Hey hua, wao shave off a few years for ya? Piece of cake,” She cackled out a ugh and a literal piece of chocote cake appeared in her hand.
hua frow her, “Excuse me?” She blurted, looking at the cake with surprise.
“ar and Ambrosia,” Sonya said, “Food that heals, cures, or even grants youth and vitality if I want,” She said and with a gesture the cake vanished from her hand. She pursed her lips, “Downside is I have to, you know, eat it.”
The two women looked at one another before Marta let out a huge sigh, “Of course your healing ability would have a drawback like that” She said before raising an eyebrow, “How are you supposed to use it with your helmet on?”
Sonya pursed her lips and gave her a smug smile. Marta returned her stare with a growing frown as Sonya worked her mouth a little before stig her to, a little blueberry sitting on it. She winked and pulled her tongue ba before starting to chew. “Easy peasy,” she began before letting out another delighted sound, “Man that tastes good. Want some?” She asked, holding up a bag of chips, waggling her eyebrows, “Ambrosia, zero calories, all the fvor!”
Marta gave her a deadpan look, “Yoing to abuse that,” She grumbled while hua walked over and slipped her hand into the bag. “hua!” She blurted as the hero popped an inal fvored chip into her mouth.
Her eyes widened, “Oh wow, that is good!” She gasped.
Marta rubbed the bridge of her nose, “You’re encing this?” She grumbled only to freeze at the sound of a soda opening. She pulled her hand from her fad looked down at Sonya again who was bringing the to her lips.
Sonya blinked ily at her, “What? Ambrosia aar.”
Marta sighed, “ you move on to the one’s please?” She asked and gave hua who was now holding a full bag of chips in her hand and chewing slowly a gre. hua shrugged and walked back to the spot where she’d been standing guard and tinued mung away while Sonya just shrugged. Marta always got so testy about her snag. These snacks were actually good for her! She paused, Well no, not really, zero calories literally means zero calories, besides healihey won’t actually feed me. I should be careful not to get caught up in that. She warned herself before sipping at the again and sighing, Tasty as hell though.
She closed her eyes and got back to it before Marta had a iption, she still had six more to go after all. She pulled Digital Illusions out of her warehouse and primed the merger. Let's get the unged ones doh .
Could get something of this. Proceed.
As the merger started she tio sip at her drink. It was a weird feeling. She could sehe ges taking pce, the sensations going through her body as the circuitry in her head was rearranged, but it didn’t hurt. It was more like a really aggravating itch that she couldn’t scratch. She clicked her to the feeling but otherwise let it pass and exhaled when it finally ended.
She opened her eyes for a moment and tilted her head. Iing, She thought before flexing her fingers. The instincts for it and hard light are kind of bleeding into one another. Just like how hard light and non-euclidian work well together. I wonder… She trailed off as she flexed the new instinctual muscle, putting a little tration into it. Light gathered in front of her before colpsing. Oh that’s way harder, she thought before trying a simpler task. The light gathered again before densing into a humble white pstic pte. She reached out and touched it. It really feels like pstic, but it’s just hard light and the illusions pying triy senses. Definitely going to have to practice this.
She proceeded to create a pile of cookies oe and grio herself before closing her eyes again, ign the groan from Marta. She moved on to the one, pulling out Ste Space. Alright old reliable, time to make it official.
Proceed. She thought before immediately taking another sip of her drink. She drank deeply as the sensations intensified. This time there was a little more pain than before, the merger doing a lot more work than she had expected it to for its tier. She closed her eyes and sched her nose as what was basically a really intense caffeine headache washed over her. Nausea came and she grimaced before relief came. She coughed and wiped her lips, grumbling, Guess ar and Ambrosia isn’t all powerful foiion. Good to know.
Eh?
“Hey uh, somebody toss me a stick or something?” She called out as she opened her eyes. She immediately sensed an objeing her way and snapped her arm back to catch it. She gnced down at the piece of wood in her hand, “Thank you,” She chirped before twirling it between her fingers and trating. “And bye bye,” She said as the stick started to turn blue and literally crumbled into tiny little blue cubes in her hand before they too dissolved into motes of light. “Okay and…” She squi her HUD, “...is there a folder for it?” She muttered, “There!” She ughed out loud as a small folder appeared in her vision with a single ‘file’ in it titled ‘Stick’. She focused and it reformed in her hand.
“Oh I am going to enjoy having this ability,” She snickered before tossing the stick away. Gonna have to figure out its limits as soon as possible. Wonder if I store a car. That would be funny.
She rolled her shoulders a down the empty , grabbing one of her cookies and shoving into her mouth as she pulled out her pick.
She got ready to bite down, Proceed.
This time it wasn’t an itch or a burn, but a slig sensation inside of her head. She immediately bit down as soon as she felt it and started chewing the cookie. That proved to be a smart move. The slig feeling only intensified after that and her vision started to blur as even her eyes began to undergo ges. She blinked a few times and shook her head, vertigo followed and she nearly fell back. She threw her hands backwards and caught herself as the slig feeling began to gh the rest of her body, attag her muscles and ligaments. I thought it was an observational power! She winced and snatched up another cookie, shoving it into her mouth and sighing with relief as the pain eased. When it finally stopped she flopped bato her bad groaned. “Ouch.”
She stared at the words as her two guardians walked over to che her. “Miss ovna?” Marta whispered, “Are you alright?”
Sonya pressed her lips together, “Power altered things I wasn’t expeg it to,” She grumbled.
“What was it?” hua asked.
“Adomopathy,” Sonya said and rubbed the bridge of her nose as she pulled the instincts out. She actually gave them a hard assessment this time, trating on them, “I observe and learn. I replicate movements that are within my ability to replicate.”
hua stared at her for a moment before taking a few steps back, “Let’s see it,” She said immediately and pulled out her sword. Marta frowned but Sonya got up and got to her feet, grinning. hua took a stand performed a few quick but powerful swings. Sonya watched a her muscles twitch beh her skin as the lenses in her head clicked and twisted rapidly.
She narrowed her eyes, “One more time,” hua nodded and performed the movements. Sonya nodded, “Got it, I think,” hua sheathed her on and was about to walk it over to Sonya when Sonya held up a hand with a grin, “I got this,” Hard Light and Augmented Reality Proje activated in tandem and a sword not very different from huas appeared in her hand. She tapped her temple at the look on hua’s face, “Everything’s w together,” She said before taking a step bad entering the same stance hua had been in. She took a step forward and swung, up once, down, and then a thrust.
hua crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows, “Perfe but oddly ical somehow, I ’t put my finger on it.”
Sonya nodded and dismissed the hard light on, “Differen body type probably,” Sonya said, “My body’s doing the best it .”
hua nodded, “Makes seill, a very potent ability. Would be useful for analyzing an oppo's fighting style and sussing out ters.”
Sonya raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms, she pursed her lips and thought about it. She’s right. I’m happy with my martial fighting style as it is, I’ve alreferred knives, but this could really e in handy for learning someoeique quickly and bypassing it. She gave hua a big smile, “That’s a great idea!”
hua’s chest puffed out a bit as Sonya sat down, “Gd I finally be of some help.”
Sonya raised an eyebrow at her but said nothing, I’m just happy I talk to you fortably again, She thought before sitting back down, snatg up another cookie and giving Marta a sidelong look. “Going ba.”
“How many more?” Marta asked, frowning, “You seem fi I’m getting nervous.”
“Three,” Sonya said, “Two might be big ones, I’ll warn you.”
Marta nodded aed her hands over her p, “Very well.”
She popped another cookie in her mouth aled it betweeeeth. Time fravitic Flight. Her heart soared a bit at the idea, Real flight, not just walking around on glowing ptforms, even if the dramatic effect is pretty nice. Okay, really ill it would be good to fall ba. She rambled inwardly as the firmations popped up.
Proceed!
She bit down on the cookie just as she felt an all over ache. It subsided for a moment before ing back with a raging fury. She grunted as the ache spread from her brain to every limb in her body and finally to her skin. It burned for a while even as she downed awo ambrosia cookies and she coughed once as the pain reached her heart. Direal was magical, she realized. It's reag to Heavenly Jade- She was cut off as the pain intensified again and she doubled over, coughing up a small sptter of red onto the ground. Okay this one’s intense. She dug her fingers into the soil beh her as the pain rose and finally, mercifully, fell.
She exhaled, panting a bit as she fell bato her rear, looking up at the opy of the dungeon’s forest. She wiped her lip, “Phew,” She sighed before pulling up the instincts. So it lost the area of effect that Greg has and I ’t exert as mustantaneous force as Val. However, she trailed off as she willed herself into the air. At first a few ihen a few feet. She bobbed over the ground a her legs hang dowh her. She twirled ond let out a ugh, “This is great!” She cheered, “I -” She kicked her foot a rocketing into the wall of trees around the clearing, crashing into one and leaving a nice divot in the wood where she struck. She slid back down onto the ground. “Okay, definitely going to need practice.”
Marta barked out a ugh, “Careful!” She chuckled and walked over, holding out a hand.
Sonya took it gratefully and got to her feet, brushing herself off, “I fly, Marta.”
“Yes you ,” Marta smiled at her and led her back over to the spot where she was w. “What’s ?”
“The ability I was going to give you,” Sonya said thoughtfully befng over at hua, “This is going to be a big one probably. I might pass out even with the ambrosia.”
hua who was smiling at her antics went stiff and nodded with a serious look, “Uood, we’ll catch you if it happens.”
Sonya gave her a grateful smile before sitting back down. She waved her hand and the cookies disappeared, “The drink worked better,” She muttered and jured up another of ar soda, crag it open as she closed her eyes. Okay, let’s do this.
Perfect? How is it more patible than a teological ability? Well it did say it was guarao ge. She wondered before shrugging, Proceed, I guess. She thought as she began to sip at the drink, she felt the ar wash into her and its power spread through her body only for… nothing to happen at first. She just sat there for almost a minute before she felt anything at all.
She blinked a few times until a gentle warmth blossomed in her chest, in her heart, before simply subsiding with a wave of rexi. She looked down at herself for a moment. Her clothes were covered in dirt and a few sptters of red. She squi her chest before crossing her arms, Well that was anticlimactic.
Deus Ex is what? She thought with surprise, Oh shit! She started chugging the soda as her heart felt like it exploded in her chest.
When she came to, she was fortunately still sitting up, though her felt wet. She reached up and wiped her jaw irritably as once again her guardians were staring at her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up wearily at Marta who just sighed with relief. Sonya just groaned and turned her head, spitting out a glob of blood and cleared her throat. “Yup, that sucked,” She muttered before cheg her HUD.
She narrowed her eyes, I don’t like that name, she thought gruffly as the instincts started to roll in. Her shoulders tensed as she chewed her lip. She looked up at Marta and then at hua before clearihroat. She got shakily to her feet and waved at them to back up a little before holding out her hand and narrowing her eyes. She felt her heart thump, the power risih her skin as the words came unbidden from her lips, “Bring woe to those who snder me, march, agent of the heavens,” She said, her voice grave.
She snapped out of the momentary trance as Marta and hua gave her a bit more distance. Her hao her side and a narrow band of light spread up in the air tht as if the air itself was being cut in half. It opened, and something strode out. It looked female, whatever it was, it wore a gown that stretched down to sandaled feet. Its face cealed behind a veil that hung over its s eyes gleamed with white light and its skin was like marble. In its hand was a sword that curved in at a point and shone as if it were made of silver. Its hair was bound in silver wire that forced it into curls before falling down into marble-white dreadlocks.
It stood at attention, staring hua down for a moment before it turs eyes on Sonya. It had to be at least seveall, like the valkyrie. Yet the aura was far more imposing, stoid tyrannical. Sonya felt her mouth go a little dry before she squared her shoulders aurs stare. “That’s enough, return from where you came,” She anded.
It brought its sword up to its chest and ined its head with reveres eyes falling shut before it dissolved into scattering motes of light. When it was finally gone she let out a breath and sat back down, “Holy shit.”
Marta and hua ran up to her, “What oh was that thing? I thought it was supposed to be a valkyrie!” Marta blurted.
“Was that supposed to be that ability I saw on television? You got it from Brent, the ariht?” hua asked befng at the spot it had stood, “My god.”
Sonya nodded slowly, “It’s peak mythiow, Heavenly Legion. I hate the name,” She said sourly as she drew her knees up to her chest. All she could think about was Otis and his mad grab for divinity.
“It fits Ishtar though,” Marta said.
Sonya’s lip twitched but she couldn’t help but smile a little bit, it was freaking cool. “Yeah, yeah it does,” She said, “I’m gonna have to get used to it, though. That one uh… agent,” She said, waving her hand at the spot where it’d stood, “Was just the start. The name is Heavenly Legion after all.”
“Do you want to stop?” hua asked, “You’ve done a lot already.”
Sonya shook her head, “Just one more. I’m not bag down now.”
hua and Marta exged a look before they nodded and stepped away. Sonya summoned up one more of ar soda as she closed her eyes and pulled the st ability out of her warehouse. She cleared her throat and cracked the open, bringing it to her lips as the messages appeared in her HUD.
For an ability that seemed to be almost unstable when she’d created it, it was a fairly mundaion from Broker. She frowned, My guts telling me I o go for it, though even while every ounce of logic is warniherwise. She crushed the fear with a scowl. I haven’t e this far to back away from something like this. I need power for what’s to e. Bring it on.
She took another deep breath and started to chug the ar.
Proceed.
There was no itch.
There was no pain.
There was no fusion.
There was no loss of sciousness.
There was only a surge as the world around her was bed in light.