48 A Time Of Peace, Part2

Word count 10,000

I leaned back against the wall, waiting for Sherry and her mother to finish talking.

It's been a few months now since the Outbreak of Raccoon City, and Sherry was integrating herself very well with her new, rather large family.

Between asking Rebecca all sorts of questions about medicine, Jill and Chris about fighting, and Claire about… well, fighting too, but also more mundane subjects like riding a bike and stuff like that, she certainly didn't lack people to pass time with and learn from.

And of course, there was me, Lucy and Oedon. Her physical training was certainly more my concern than anyone else, while Lucy focused on science, politics (much to her grumbling) and economics, while Oedon taught her about the more… supernatural subjects, such as healing magic, Arcane Magic, the gods, the afterlife and more.

I did teach her the beginning of elemental magic myself, but… well, she was only 13.

Even with the Hunter's Dream granting us more time than naturally available to teach her things, I didn't want to separate her too much from Earth and the rest of humanity.

Though how human she still was a good question. Between the Old Blood, the G-Virus, the magic that she had learned to call upon and some of the blessings I had given her, such as perfect memory... Or immortality, both to never forget all that she was learning, and to ensure that she would always remember the happy teenage years she now had by our side. As for immortality… Well, it was more as an afterthought. I was the one and only God of Death of this reality, if I didn't want to let her die, then she just wouldn't die. And with her healing as powerful as it was, she most likely wouldn't even have grown old anyway, so she already had agelessness by default.

And I wasn't blind to the fact that she was gaining Insight. More than even a regular child from Yharnam would possess, if my memories of Gascoigne's daughters told me anything.

The consequences of being around Eldritch Gods so much, no doubt. I was carefully keeping an eye on that, but so far there weren't too many side-effects.

The occasional ability to feel the emotions of those surrounding her, some unnaturally good capability to shape magic and Arcane spells better than she should be able to at her age, the fact that she seemingly sometimes knew things without ever learning them, that kind of thing.

As it was, she was becoming rather terrifyingly good at knowing when someone was lying to her, or hiding something from her. Not all the time, but given a few more years to grow… well.

Still, for now she was simply talking to her mother, from behind the reinforced window of the room meant to allow prisoners to speak with family and friends. Not that Sherry's mother had much of either these days, with the exception of her daughter. From what I knew, certain… groups had tried to convince her to work for them, only to find out that Annette Birkin was thoroughly done with viruses and anything to do with B.O.W's. And with her husband dead, her daughter with me and herself entirely willing to stay in prison for a long time to come… Well, there wasn't much they could use to try to blackmail or convince her to work for said groups.

A shame, truly.

Or at least certain individuals certainly seemed to think so, if the frustrated look on more than a few agents who went to talk to her as they left was anything to go by.

I left the wall I was leaning on when I saw Sherry say goodbye to her mother, before she walked towards me, looking both sad and happy.

"Mom wants to talk with you." she said, and I nodded.

"You alright?" I asked.

She shrugged slightly, looking resigned. "Mom's not going to be free for a long, long time. But… at least she's alive, and I can still talk to her sometimes. It's better than talking to her grave... At least this way she can talk back. And hopefully, she won't have to suffer too much in the afterlife when her time comes."

I glanced towards Annette. I had noticed that, with everything she had learned, Sherry was coming to see death differently than most people. Knowing for a fact that afterlives existed probably caused that, but as a result she no longer considered death to be… well, the end of someone. Instead, it was more like what would happen if someone went on a trip somewhere far away, to the point that they couldn't talk to those they loved anymore until such time as everyone joined them on said trip.

I had to wonder how she was going to handle death, and causing it, if she decided to follow her canonical path of working to protect the world gun in hand. Would killing even affect her? Or would she be able to kill people without so much as a blink, simply because to her it wouldn't be anywhere near as impactful a deed as it would be for anyone else?

My own example probably didn't help, as I knew myself well enough that, if she took after me… well. I was going to have to try and ensure she didn't become like me.

Or at least, not for a long time. I became as I am because of what I went through in Yharnam. If she merely copied me like children do towards their parents without the experience that I had to explain it, it wouldn't be good for her.

Sherry was kind, and that kindness wasn't something I wanted her to lose. Better for her to learn all about kindness first, then about death and dealing it in large numbers.

Otherwise, I feared that her growing acceptance of death might cause her to appear brutal and merciless to anyone who didn't know her, and I didn't want my own daughter to become feared.

Not unless she was also loved or respected, too.

Either way, I walked towards Annette, sitting down in the chair facing her and looking at the woman through the window separating us.

"Annette."

"Aeon." she replied. "Thanks again for taking care of my daughter. Much better you than… other people who would have wanted her otherwise."

I smiled grimly. "Of course. I wasn't going to let that happen, don't worry."

Annette fell silent, before smirking slightly. "They still tried to convince me to help them, by the way."

I snorted. "I'll give them that, they aren't lacking in stubbornness. How many times does that happen?"

"15." she deadpanned.

I laughed. "Damn. Desperate, much?"

She shrugged lightly, though her eyes twinkled with darkly satisfied mirth.

"I heard that all their efforts to get their hands on the G-Virus failed. In short, the only one who can still help them is me… And I'm not talking. I have to say, seeing the increasingly sour looks on their agents' faces over the last few months where I told them to go to hell was incredibly satisfying."

I smirked. "Good. A shame that I can't see those looks myself, I could use a laugh."

She raised an eyebrow at me.

"There are security cameras in the room."

I hummed, before smiling, not saying a word.

She snorted, chuckling slightly.

"In any case, anything you wanted to talk about?"

She hesitated, before her eyes flickered towards Sherry.

"I've spoken to her… she obviously can't tell me everything-" she glanced at the cameras in the room "-but she did tell me she was enjoying her time with you greatly. So… Thank you, again, for looking after my daughter. She's… she's all I have now, the only thing I can be proud of after a lifetime of horrible decisions, and while I did wrong by her too… at least she's still alive. Moreover, she's happy now. I can see it, in the way she talks about you, the time she spends with you… she's genuinely happy in a way that she simply wasn't with…" her voice hitched, but she persevered. "With her father and myself. So… Please. Please keep looking after her, and protect her like I could not."

"Don't worry. I will." I replied gently.

Annette gave me a sharp nod, obviously not trusting her voice not to break if she tried to thank me again aloud, and instead glanced at her daughter with a mix of sadness, guilt and regret, before she swallowed and smiled weakly when Sherry gave her a sad smile back.

As me and Sherry eventually left, the now 13-year old girl clung to me tightly, and the trip back home was done in silence.

Sometimes, there was no perfect ending. The consequences of one's actions had a cost which simply couldn't just be waved away.

Still. At the very least, if one of the future projects that Oedon, Lucy, and I had talked about worked as hoped, then hopefully Sherry would have the time she needed with her mother to properly reconnect.

Their relationship was obviously never going to be an easy one, but… maybe, just maybe they could get something that would work for both of them.

Only time would tell.

"You know dad, I'm not sure whether I should feel bad for Rebecca or not…"

I glanced towards the now 14-year old Sherry Muradasilova, Sherry having taken on the "official" name of Oedon and me after being adopted.

It was now 2000, and the young girl was growing very well indeed. Between the literally divine education brought by me, Oedon and Lucy, on top of what the other Hunters of the Dream could give, Sherry's mind held secrets that none but a handful of people in the world knew even existed.

And of course, that wasn't even going into her physical growth. Between the brutal training I put her through and the Old Blood and G-Virus in her body, Sherry was already stronger and more beautiful than any other girl her age.

That, combined with passing every day with me, Oedon and Claire and how shameless we all were, meant that the once blushing, stammering young girl was much, much harder to tease nowadays.

Truly, I wept for the young innocence lost. It was so much harder to make her blush these days!

Still, I shrugged. "Well, between the Medi-gel project working as well as it does across the world and everything else, Rebecca was pretty happy with me, Oedon and Lucy…"

I paused, and then grinned. "And no matter how loudly she may deny it, the fact remain that she fully embraced the very active sex life that me and Oedon have. Tentacles and all." I finished, chuckling in amusement.

Sherry rolled her eyes, only the faintest hint of a blush on her face. "I can see that, considering how often she walks bow-legged around the mansion. I swear the major reason why she's so often in a lab these days is to better hide the fact that she can barely stand some mornings."

"And how about you? Any boyfriends… or girlfriends I should know about?" I replied with a grin.

Sherry let out a deep groan. "Not you too! I swear, I already got that enough from Oedon! The only reason she doesn't make her obvious desire for grand-children even more clear is that I'm only 14!"

I shrugged. "She's Oedon, what else do you expect? Of course she'd love grandkids. She isn't going to ask about it for a few more years, but once you're officially an adult? Yeah, she'll definitely bring the subject up."

She crossed her arms. "And if I don't want any yet?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Then tell her that, and she'll back off."

I snickered at her dumbfounded look. "Come on, Sherry. Oedon may love children, but she's also your mother. Moreover, she's a goddess. She will wait for millennia if that is what you decide is for the best."

I pursed my lips, looking slightly guilty. "Honestly, this is a bit my fault. With me not wanting any more children for a while, Oedon is hoping that she could dote on grand-kids in the meantime. And with you as our only daughter, she would obviously focus entirely on you."

I smiled sheepishly. "Besides, Oedon is still new at that whole human mother thing. Give her time, and don't hesitate to make your own feelings clear. She loves you, you know that. If you make your opinion clear, she will accept it, I promise you."

Sherry stared at me, before nodding with a blush and looking away.

"Thank you." she whispered, and I struggled to not coo at the sight. So adorable!

Still, she wasn't here just to talk, but to train.

So time to get on with it.

I could coo over how adorable Sherry was after.

"You're welcome. Now come on, sit down and let's start with some meditation, before we begin our spar."

Sherry nodded, and she walked in front of me to then sit down, taking a quick breath-

"And don't think I missed the fact you didn't actually answer my question about boyfriends or girlfriends, Sherry."

-only to start sputtering at my words.

I smirked, completely unrepentant in the face of the blushing glare she sent my way.

A few grumbled words under her breath followed, but I let them pass, and soon enough we were both meditating.

Which was different for being like us compared to regular people, since we had magic, and that meant our meditation had very supernatural elements to it, focusing on harnessing magic, the ebbs and flows of it around and in us, etc.

Still, eventually we got up, and I gave her a Hunter's bow while she gave me a more standard Earth bow in return.

In time, I would allow her to do the second, but she was still too young and inexperienced for it.

Then we straightened, and we both summoned our swords in our hands.

After all, one of the first magic spells I taught her was Inventory, considering how useful it was.

Especially if she needed to defend herself from attack at a time and location where she isn't supposed to have weapons. Canonically, there were concerns that Wesker or others would try to kidnap her for the G-Virus in her body. Considering that she actually goes to school like anybody else in this timeline, even if it was a private, high-end school, there was the possibility that someone would try something foolish at some point.

Better, then, to ensure that she would always have weapons on hand.

True, the Messengers were the ultimate cheat when it came to sending equipment to someone anywhere in the world, but still.

Though I knew for a fact that she had also put a bunch of my cookies in her Inventory. And considering that time was essentially frozen in it, that meant that she had a constant supply of warm, delicious cookies at any time.

One day, I was going to mercilessly tease her about that. But not yet.

For now, time for a spar.

I walked forward, light strikes with my sword testing her form and defense, and while I remained stoic on the outside, on the inside I couldn't help but smile at the focused look on Sherry's face as she kept deflecting my sword away.

Then I started getting a bit more serious, light strikes turning into more heavy and elaborate blows, each flowing into the next with the skill that only true masters of the blade could claim.

I had, as a matter of fact, participated in a few tournaments in the past, more out of curiosity and entertainment than anything else.

Unfortunately, I had to stop after several Japanese blade masters begged me on their knees for lessons, tears in their eyes after having seen me get carried away a bit too much against someone who had some serious skills… for a regular human.

To my embarrassment, I'd been so happy and surprised at finding someone who wasn't a Hunter be good enough to deserve more than a small fraction of my true skill to win that I hadn't noticed how much I'd stopped holding back until the man in question was on his back, eyes wide as everybody stared at the sword over his throat while his blade was sent flying away several feet from him.

That whole thing had been awkward… And the fact that I'd gone to ground after that had only pushed them all to greater display of passion, for apparently I would only return once a foe worthy of my skills would take to the field again.

Or so they all believed, at least.

Worst part was, if they did ever reach that level I probably would do exactly that, if only as reward for pulling that off and impressing me so much.

In any case, for now I should focus on my daughter, who was starting to sweat more and more as I pushed her back harder and harder.

Even with the advantages that she had, she had only been training for two years, and while she was by no means bad… Well, she was fighting me.

Which explains why I was eventually able to bat her sword away and then punch her in the face hard enough to break her nose.

To her credit, a pained grunt was her only reaction, after all the times where I did much worse to her in training.

I had warned her at the start of her training that I wouldn't hold back forever… and while I had done so for a while, when she had reached 14 I started to hold back less.

No outright maiming or anything, I'd leave learning to fight with only one arm to when she'll be a bit older, but broken bones and deep cuts were very much on the table.

Of course, that didn't mean much for her, as seconds after her nose was broken it had already healed on its own.

Part of why I allowed myself to be so brutal, since even an otherwise incapacitating blow would heal in seconds for her.

Which meant-

I took her left arm in my own left hand, and then ruthlessly smashed my right knee in her face, before sweeping her off her feet and stabbing my sword down, the blade barely missing her stomach as she reflexively rolled away.

Much better than the first time this happened, as she had frozen in shock at the sight of the blade piercing her body.

-that I needed to be even more brutal for the lesson to be taught.

Sherry backed off, but I naturally didn't let her, and she hastily spat a broken tooth to the side, it's replacement already growing as I tried to use my far greater strength to smash her guard and make her fall down into the ground.

Again, at the difference of the first time this happened she dodged outright, having painfully learned better than to challenge me in a contest of strength.

Then she tried to move forward, trying to use her smaller body to her benefit by staying close to me.

Smart, and the right thing to do, so I held myself back from punishing her for it too quickly, letting her try to get the upper hand for a few exchange of blows before ruthlessly exploiting her over eagerness to attack to once again bat her sword aside and leaving a deep cut across much of the right side of her body, her clothes by now becoming soaked in blood.

And once again, a few seconds was all it took for the wound to close, hard-gained experience allowing her to not falter and allow me to give her more wounds while she healed from the one she took.

Still, I did not let up, and over the course of the next hour gave her enough wounds than even an adult human being would have died or close from blood loss by now.

But she was no mere human, and while the wounds, even as they healed quickly, took their toll on her, she kept stubbornly fighting, teeth bared and determined glare on her face as sweat fell down her brow. Thankfully she kept her hair short, so they didn't get in her way of the fight.

I was, needless to say, damn proud of the determined young woman in front of me, who kept on fighting even as wounds marred her body and blood soaked her clothes, even as her muscles burned with exhaustion, and even as she panted hard for breath, her hold on her sword turning more and more feeble from tiredness despite how tightly she desperately tried to hold on to it.

Especially when I still wasn't breathing hard, nor showed the slightest hint of tiredness.

For a long moment, I took her in, took note of her progress and how far she still had to go, before internally smiling proudly and deciding that it was time to mix things up a bit.

So it was that I took a large step forward, Sherry's blue eyes going wide and a desperate strike trying to make me back off-

-Only for her blade to effortlessly enter into my body, cutting through muscles and organs alike, spearing straight through my heart.

Sherry froze, shocked at the fact that she actually hit me, much less made me bleed clear in her eyes, only for that shock to turn to panic and horror as she took in the fact that she had effectively stabbed me in the heart.

"Dad! I'm so-" was as far as she got before I punched her, hard, and she stumbled back, her hand releasing her sword as concussion set in, previously wide blue eyes turning hazy and clouded.

I grinned. "Never let your guard down, my daughter. It'll take far more than that to take your dear 'ol dad out of the fight!"

And then I punched her again, knocking her out cold.

I exhaled as her body fell down on the ground of the training area, a proud smile finally showing on my face as I relaxed.

Then I sat cross-legged on the ground, putting my sword back in Inventory, and waited patiently for her to wake up, her injuries already healing before my eyes until not a scar was left to show the brutal ass-kicking I gave her.

She was going to be absolutely terrifying on the battlefield one day, I just knew it.

In the meantime, I used magic to summon her body to me, gently letting her head rest on my lap and humming softly while I stroke her head, removing the blood from her head with a negligent wave of my hand.

The rest she could do herself, but for now I just wanted to hold my daughter as she rested from a hard training session on my lap.

She was learning very well how to handle pain and injuries, but it was about time she learned about wounding others.

Also, the look on her face when she stabbed me was pretty amusing. Poor, foolish daughter, believing a mere stab in the heart would do anything to me of all people. Ah!

I was looking forward to teaching her with a few limbs off! Nothing quite like actually pulling off the "Tis' but a scratch!" from Monty Python and still kicking her ass to show off how proper Hunters fought!

Besides, considering this universe's bullshit, being ready in case anyone pulls off the "This isn't even my final form!" card was just good sense.

Sherry Muradasilova blinked, once, twice, then groaned slightly, a hand going to her rub her eyes as she tried to remember what happened that she was now laying down on the ground and…

Wait.

She blinked again, then looked up-

"Hey, sleepy head! How are you doing?"

-was left staring at her father, who was currently stroking her head and smiling down at her.

Or more precisely, at the sword currently still stuck deeply inside her father's chest, a red spot around where the blade penetrated deep inside his heart and through his back.

Her jaw dropped open, memories of their spar rushing through her mind as she suddenly remembered actually stabbing her own father!

"Dad!"

"Yes, Sherry?"

She stared incredulously at him.

"You have my sword piercing your heart!"

"Oh, that?" he calmly said, looking down at said sword, before casually removing it and giving it back to her.

"There you go!" he cheerfully replied, as if nothing strange or extraordinary had just happened.

Sherry stared blankly at him for a long moment, before her gaze fell down on her sword, numbly taking it and staring at it as if she was seeing it for the first time.

Then she let out a deep sigh, put the blade back into her Inventory, and focused on tightly hugging her stupid dad.

"Dammit dad." she said, her words muffled by his clothes. "Don't scare me like that."

A large hand fell on top of her head, ruffling her hair, even as she heard him chuckle.

"Come now, Sherry! A little stabbing isn't going to do much to me. You should see what I went through in the Long Night of the Hunt!"

She leaned back, glaring up at him. "Even so! I just…"

His eyes softened. "You don't want to see me hurt. And after all this time, you probably started thinking I couldn't be hurt, didn't you?"

She looked away, incapable of meeting his eyes, which seemed to be answer enough for him as he let out a deep sigh.

"Sherry, I know that you see me as invincible. I understand, most children think that way towards their parents… and most parents aren't literal gods." he huffed in amusement, before his voice turned softer.

"But that's exactly why I needed to do this. Even gods can bleed, Sherry. Even gods can die. Trust me, if anyone knows that it's me, considering I did exactly that, many times over. Both the killing and dying part. There's always a bigger fish, so to speak, and it's a good bit of wisdom to keep in mind. So I want you to remember, no matter how strong you become, no matter how skillful you are, that you aren't perfect. That no one is, not even me or Oedon, or Lucy."

She swallowed, even as her dad hugged her gently, her hands gripping his clothes tightly… before she nodded, sniffling.

"I promise." she whispered, Aeon's hug tightening.

"Good." he whispered back.

For a time, both stayed that way, Sherry's hands sometimes clenching harder as the memories of her blade entering his chest, stabbing deep in his heart kept flashing in her mind.

And yet, he was still here, barely even inconvenienced by what should have been a mortal wound.

She let out a small sigh. A part of her wanted to ask him if he'd always be here for her, never leave her like… like her birth parents did, to death or otherwise, but she couldn't. It wouldn't be fair to ask that…

Except…

Her hands clenched as a memory rose up, of him and Oedon promising her that they would always be there, always love her even far after the end of the Earth.

She smiled sadly. She could tell that her dad wanted to try and break her belief of invincibility that she held towards him, but…

How could she, when she remembered Raccoon City? Remembered him, striding across streets and buildings and sewers without fear, in a city where all others feared the shadows and the monsters within?

Even now, when she had finally saw him bleed, seen him be wounded for the first time, he still didn't blink, didn't flinch, as if the very idea of defeat and death was worthy only of cheerful, defiant laughter, a loud challenge to all horrors in Existence to dare prove their power over him, a challenge that would only end with him standing triumphant over a mountain of vile corpses, the terrors and nightmares of all humanity brought low by the sole, unyielding will of a single man who dared to look into the Abyss and charge within to prove to all that there was no reason to be fearful, for even the greatest of Nightmares can die.

Maybe it was wrong to hold her father so highly, but… Had she not heard the stories from her mom, of his first awakening in the Hunter's Dream all the way to his fight against Flora, the Great One of the Dream?

Had she not heard the words of Jill, and Rebecca, and Chris and Claire who all could not always hide their awe at her father's fighting skills? At their whispered admission that, for all their progress, they doubted ever being able to match him, even together?

Sherry had seen all too well the terrors her world contained. She had seen far too many die to them, screaming in abject horror as all their struggle for survival proved in vain, in the end.

And yet… She had learned of Yharnam. Of the beasts who brought the city low, of the gods who dwelled within, of the Arcane magics that gods and mortals alike could call upon.

She herself was learning those powers, to throw fireballs, lightning or even to coat her blade with Arcane might, so that it might more easily bring down the greatest of monsters.

She had seen power, she had seen horrors, she had seen greatness… could, even, on certain nights remember in her dreams the visions of a cosmic god sitting on a throne of stars and Void, looking far into the distance towards the center of Creation itself.

Put simply… At a time where she had thought the world on the brink of destruction, she had witnessed for herself powers far greater than any horror that had sought to burn her home, and then learned even further of just how far more powerful than anything else Aeon was.

All things considered… Was it any wonder, then, that she would latch on to the feeling of security and stability that being close to Aeon gave her?

Sherry had never been religious at first. Certainly, her birth parents never put their faith in anything but science and their own creations.

But it was hard to not learn faith when you saw monsters flooding the streets, and a literal god came down upon them to bring judgement and save the innocents.

Save her.

So she hugged her father, and silently apologized, for the one thing she could not do…

Was think any less of him. To think any less of the man who was both father, god and protector to her… and always would be.

I stared at the retreating back of Sherry, before sighing slightly when she took a turn and went out of sight.

"You know that she still believes you to be invincible. Perhaps even more so, after seeing you get stabbed like that and not care or react to it."

I grunted, glancing towards Oedon who was suddenly there, standing by my side.

"I'm aware. Her emotions aren't exactly hidden to me." I replied.

I passed a hand through my hair, sighing again.

"I tried. But the problem is, there really isn't anything in this reality that can threaten me, since at this point nothing short of full-body disintegration can kill this body. And even then, I'll just come back! Is it any wonder, then, that Sherry, after the events of Raccoon City, have such… well, faith in me?"

I shrugged, grimacing. "And a part of me is happy about it. For her to trust me so much… We both know that, despite the grueling training I put her through, she doesn't hate me for it. Hell, she's thankful for it! She's always eager to learn everything I can teach her! Part of it is a desire to never be helpless again, but another is just genuine, complete trust in me. Am I supposed to feel bad about the fact that my own daughter trusts me? Look up to me? Because I can't."

Oedon smiled at me. "You know that, as far as I am concerned, I see nothing wrong with this. She trusts and loves you, dear Aeon. Why not let her? Have you done anything that could be considered a breach of the trust that she has given you?"

"Well, no-"

"Exactly. You could have, for example, tried to convince Annette to become a spy in any of the groups that had tried to recruit her. But you didn't, because you respected Annette's decision to never have anything to do with viruses again, and because you didn't want to hurt Sherry with the knowledge that her birth mother was back to doing what she did before, even if it was as a spy this time. Those kinds of decisions are what further convinced Sherry to trust you."

Oedon leaned forward, giving me a quick kiss and smiling, before walking away.

"They are the kind of decisions that I expected of you, Good Hunter. Our daughter trusts you. Utterly. If you believe that to be of concern, then simply keep proving to her why she is right to do so."

For a moment, I simply watched Oedon walk away… before glancing back in the general direction where Sherry had gone towards.

"Fine then. I always felt that trust was a two-way street… Might as well do as I preach."

Amelia Evans was a normal 16-year old teenager.

She liked listening to music, hanging out with her friends, seeing movies, and talking about boys.

Sure, her parents were pretty rich, and so she was studying in a fancy private school who regularly got some pretty large donations from the parents of those attending said school, or from former students who since made their fortune and the like, and she lived in a pretty big mansion with her family, with a pool and everything else you would expect from a rich American's family house, one who regularly hosted some high-end parties of socialites where deals were made and friendship created that could impact the world in some noticeable ways, but at the end of the day that was stuff for the adults to worry about.

She was far more concerned about make-up, dresses, and whether or not some of the rumors she had heard about the pretty boy from the other class of her year were true.

That being said, there was one person in her class that wasn't exactly normal by any meaning of the word, and that was Sherry Muradasilova.

A survivor of whatever horrible chemical leak had caused most people from the city of Raccoon City to go crazy and start attacking everybody in sight, she had ended up adopted by the family who controlled Insight Corp., with rumors that part of the reason why was because some kind of chemical she had gotten in contact with had resulted in strange consequences in her body.

Which, everyone in the class agreed, was a fancy way of saying she basically got superpowers out of the deal.

Because Sherry Muradasilova wasn't normal. Not even slightly.

First, she was too pretty. Not just beautiful, but absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous, in a way that was hard to believe unless seen with one's own eyes.

And even then, it was still shocking to see.

It was bad enough that not a single one of the boys in the school could disagree that she was, by far, the prettiest.

Hell, even quite a few of the girls threw her the same kind of look the boys did! The ones that said "I'd ask you out but you're way out of my league!"

But she wasn't just a pretty blonde. Oh no, she had the body and brain to match.

To date, Sherry had shattered each and every single school record when it came to sports, and when it came to the actual class work… well.

No one was going to forget the one time that she and the physics teacher got into a heated debate that ended when said teacher went to consult the best scientists in the field to make a point.

As far as Amelia knew, said scientists were still rewriting some of the books after they arrived in number at the school to hold an impromptu conference where Sherry was the one speaking and the scientists the ones learning.

Of course, then everybody learned that the name "Muradasilova" was alone enough to get the best and brightest in their field to drop everything they were doing to rush towards where one could be found when they were in speaking mood, because apparently Sherry's adopted mother and father had once done a few conferences in the past which…

Well. Never had the words "ground-breaking" and "genius" had been so enthusiastically spoken of by some of the smartest human beings on the planet at the same time.

Though those facts were less interesting than the fact that Sherry's mother or father were often seen waiting to get her back home at the end of the school day.

And absolutely everyone had agreed that it was surprising that Sherry wasn't the actual daughter of those two, because Aeon and Oedon Muradasilova were way, way too good-looking to not be related to their daughter.

Sherry's father had the ultimate combination of perfect looks and the muscles of a fucking Greek god, and her mother had left the majority of the boys (and quite a few girls) staring blankly at her while drooling.

Which was all told rather awkward, because it was hard for a girl to complain about her boyfriend drooling over another woman when said girl was doing the exact same thing.

Or even more awkward, when said girls suddenly realized what they were doing.

There had never been as many awkward break-ups as when a good chunk of the couples of the time realized they swung both ways and wanted to try same-sex relationships.

So all things considered, the entire family was downright unnaturally perfect… except that Sherry was, one had to admit, downright strange sometimes.

There were times where she just stared blankly upwards for seemingly no reason, or even just stopped in the middle of speaking, a blank look on her face.

More than once had a teacher asked her something, only for her to be half-way through answering and then just… stopping, as if completely forgetting the world around her.

Which was still less strange than those times where she began to randomly speak in strange languages, only a few of which were found to be ancient Greek, Latin, or even an archaic form of Hebrew.

The fact that she seemingly didn't even notice the switch in language and looked confused whenever it was pointed out didn't help.

Another strange thing that was noticed was the color of her eyes. Most often, it was blue… but sometimes, they turned almost purple, or silver, or even had the slightest hint of blood red in them.

There still remains a great debate raging about the color of her mother's eyes, as no one could agree whether Oedon seemingly had green eyes, or silver, or again some swore that they looked red like blood.

There were even a few jokes that Oedon was a vampire, considering how tall, pale and beautiful the woman was, but Amelia was pretty sure that was just the fantasy of a few people that really needed to get laid.

… Probably. Oedon was rather unnaturally pale. And tall. And beautiful-

Well, the point was, Sherry and her family were just weird. Normally, that would have probably led to someone trying to bully her, but no one was ever stupid enough to try.

Partly because Sherry was one of the kindest persons they knew, and partly because you had to be particularly dumb to try anything against the girl who once accidentally knocked out their sports teacher when she had been too focused on something else to notice him walk towards her.

Well, a blink of an eye later, and the teacher in question was on the ground, thoroughly unconscious and with a broken nose, with Sherry blinking in surprise after having punched the taller man's lights out.

The fact that she had then turned thoroughly embarrassed and began muttering furiously about having so much additional training for situational awareness to look forward to once she was back home didn't help any.

So, in conclusion, the entire school was taking bets on whether she was secretly a future superheroine in training, a daughter of two vampires, or something else entirely-

"Err… Teacher? Why are there armed men entering the school grounds?"

Everyone turned towards Jim, who was looking nervously back at them, before pointing to something outside.

Sherry moved first, her face unusually grim, and took a quick look outside.

And then she spoke, voice so hard and commanding than most people in the room did as she asked before they could even think.

"Get down, underneath the tables, and don't move. You'll hopefully avoid stray shots or broken glass that way."

And then she kicked the nearest window and jumped out.

From the second floor.

The ensuing sounds of men screaming in first surprise and then panic as explosions and laser bolts flew all over the place quickly convinced everybody else to do exactly as she said.

All Amelia could really think of as the sounds of combat intensified and she carefully stayed underneath her desk was that the people betting for Sherry to be a superhero in training were probably about to make a whole lot of money.

Also, that Sherry Muradasilova commanding someone to get down and on their knees was the hottest thing she ever heard of her life.

I stared at the smoking holes on the ground, then at the burning remains of several black SUVs, and then at the bloodstains and body parts on the grounds.

Then, finally, I looked back at Sherry, who was smiling weakly at me, part of her top having scorch marks and a rather impressive hole towards her right shoulder showing smooth skin underneath.

"Did any of them escape?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Or survive?" I wondered, a hint of amusement in my voice.

She blushed. "One?" she replied hesitantly.

I gave her a flat look.

"He's still breathing! And he only lost half his right leg and his left arm!" she exclaimed.

I kept the flat look for a few seconds more… and then I started snickering, Sherry almost collapsing in relief at my visible amusement before she let out a startled squeak when I hugged her tightly.

"You've done well." I praised. "You focused on taking them down hard and fast to hopefully stop any civilian casualties, and told your class to take cover and not move until it was safe. The fact that you did get hit means we'll have to do some more training against being hit-"

She shuddered in dread at my words, and I chuckled darkly.

"- but all things considered, you did pretty well for your first fight on Earth."

"You were watching." she said, not as a question but as a statement of facts.

I grinned. "Of course I was! If you had needed help, I would have acted, but you did fine enough on your own that I could just let you handle things. Needless to say, I'm proud of you."

She hugged me back, even as I could feel her joy at my words.

"Now come on, we should probably leave, before the media get involved."

I walked her towards my car, putting my right arm around her shoulders.

"We'll talk about what happened today once we're home, including the fact that you've just killed a few people in combat."

"I killed before." she grumbled.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I let you execute a few rapists and murderers that no one will miss to get used to the idea of taking a life. But there are differences between just killing some scum who couldn't fight back, and killing people in combat who attacked you right in your school, where you should feel safe. So we will talk about it."

She grumbled some more, but I could tell it was half-hearted at best.

"Now," I said with a smirk, "Why don't we speak of more interesting matters, like the looks many of the boys and quite a few of the girls were throwing you-"

"Dad!"

"Hey, I'm just saying, there's nothing wrong with a good orgy as long as everyone is having fun-"

"Daaaaaad!"

Sherry fell into the sofa with a tired sigh, a satisfied groan escaping her as she relaxed in the gloriously soft sofa.

Oedon smiled in amusement at the sight, knowing quite well why her daughter was like this.

"Dear Aeon has been pushing you even harder than usual lately, hasn't he?"

Sherry nodded, opening one tired eye to look her way.

"After what happened at school… Well, he isn't the kind to fuss over me. Instead, he was proud of me for handling things… and then he decided to up my training, so that I could do even better if it ever happened again."

She released a deep sigh. "So instead of fussing over me, he's now kicking my ass up and down the training area to make sure I know how to fight even better. More, he's stepped up the more creative parts of my training, like how to infiltrate a military base or escape one."

Sherry stared blankly at the ceiling. "Dad's so, so much more sadistic than I ever thought. The scenarios he came up with…" she visibly shuddered at the memories.

"Is it too much for you?" she asked, a bit concerned. She trusted her dear Aeon, but this was his first child-

"Oh, no. Well, it's hell, but it's supposed to be, right? And I can hardly argue when dad actually goes through each and every scenario first just to show an example of how it can be done. So each time I know it can be done, and dad always uses things that he knows I can do too to infiltrate or escape as need be, so I always know it's possible."

She sighed. "As long, that is, as not a single mistake is made. Then you're pretty screwed. Not completely if you react fast and smart, dad set things up so that I can succeed even if I screw up once as long as I don't panic, but even so… well. Let's just say that I'm pretty sure that I can already give most veteran spies the world over a run for their money, and once I'm at a level that dad judges acceptable I'll probably be able to get in and out of Fort Knox without anyone ever knowing I went there in the first place."

Oedon hummed. "Knowing your father, he'll probably make you do exactly that at some point."

Sherry opened her mouth… and then snorted. "Damn. He totally will, won't he?"

She paused. "You think he already did it himself?"

Oedon chuckled, then held up a hand.

A gold bar appeared in her hand.

Sherry stared, and Oedon smiled at the stunned look on her daughter's face.

"He couldn't resist. Last I heard, he did it a dozen times since we arrived in this reality, each time leaving behind several extensives notes about the weaknesses in their defenses in the place of one of those. The US military still doesn't have any proof he's the one behind it, but by now the soldiers at Fort Knox have sworn that, one day, they would create defenses good enough that they'll catch him trying to get in. To this day, they are still trying, but no one can argue that they are doing their absolute best attempt at catching him. I dare say that, if they weren't so annoyed, they'd be thanking him for all the help. The US government is trying to keep the whole thing secret, obviously, but enough whispers about it are spreading that it's becoming something of an open secret in the military. That, and even the US government can't quite hide the sheer amount of money, manpower and resources they are throwing at Fort Knox in the hope that, this time, they'll finally stop him."

Sherry silently stared at her for several long seconds… before facepalming.

"Yep, that sounds like dad. What is he going to do if, somehow, they manage to keep him out?"

Oedon smiled. "He'll give them back all the gold, several bottles of the best champagne to ever exist, a quick message of congratulation… and then start doing the same in the Pentagon or the White House. Honestly, I dare say that Aeon is almost hoping they'll somehow succeed. It's not impossible, since he decided to not use any magic, or any technology too advanced compared to what the US has."

Sherry considered that for a moment.

"He's totally going to rope me in it, too, isn't he? Probably after saying something about how good for training it would be…" she said flatly.

Oedon looked at her daughter with clearly visible amusement. "What do you think?"

"I think I better learn well what dad is teaching me, if I don't want to become public enemy number 1 of the USA in the future." she bluntly replied.

"It's hardly like they could do much to truly hurt you." Oedon pointed out.

"Maybe, but I'd prefer it if that didn't happen, because if somehow they do manage that, I'm concerned you and dad will burn Washington to the ground to make a point." Sherry joked.

"Of course not." calmly replied Oedon. "We'd just take over the country. Like that, no one would order the people of the USA to harm you if we're the ones in charge, no?"

Sherry opened her mouth.

Closed it.

"... I'm genuinely not sure whether to be concerned or touched right now…" she muttered after a moment.

Oedon shrugged slightly. Sherry obviously didn't truly understand how important one's child was to a Great One.

If other Great Ones were in this world and took children on their own, and one of them was harmed by mortals… Well.

Let's just say that there were a number of reasons that Aeon did not wish to risk attracting the attention of his fellow Great Ones just yet.

It would put a rather large wrinkle in Aeon's plans if most of humanity went mad or mutated into bloodthirsty monsters from the mere psychic aftershocks of the rage and sorrow of a Great One, after all.

2002, South America.

I watched with interest as Leon, Krauser and the T-Virus infected Manuella fought off against the gigantic mutated Javier, the grieving father of Manuella whose grief had already caused the death of over 50 young girls in a desperate attempt of saving his daughter's life.

I had to admit, this was one of the few moments where I would give credit where it was due: The massive T-Veronica monster that Javier had fused with was at least as big as one of Amygdala's bodies. Rather impressive stuff, to say the least, with the potential of ending this world if the spores contained within said monster were to be deliberately released across the world.

Of course, that was visibly not going to happen, as for all the monster's size, it lacked any of the actual powers of the Great One it unknowingly emulated.

Meanwhile, Manuella was using the flammable blood granted to her by the virus in her body to throw fireballs at the massive monster her father had turned into, allowing Leon to slowly but surely weaken it until-

Ah, there we go.

The massive monster fell down and crashed on the ground, the bones on the top of it's head protecting the body of Manuella's father opening, and after a few short words between said father and the nearby Leon and Manuella, a single gunshot rang out, the monster stiffening before visibly beginning to burn up, the mutations going out of control with the death of the human intelligence controlling the virus.

I nodded, and then began to walk towards the three survivors of this entire mess.

"Leon!" I shouted, the man in question jerking towards the sound of my voice alongside Krauser, before the first relaxed at the sight of me.

Krauser, however, noticeably did not.

I gave the man a quick, bored glance, idly debating killing him now or later once he would try and get in contact with Wesker (who ironically was very close, the man having watched the entire fight from a nearby hill) but ultimately choosing to let Leon handle that one day.

Much like with Wesker, Krauser wasn't mine to kill… and a single look into the man's soul told me everything I needed to know about him.

Far too much lust for power, this one, combined with a hatred of weakness.

He wasn't horrified at all the lives lost, at the tragedies brought by the viruses. He only saw the power it could grant him, and considered Leon either a fool or a liar depending on whether or not Leon was honest about his intention to destroy all viruses like the T-Veronica from existence.

Definitely not the kind of person that could be trusted. A shame, but that was Free Will at work.

"Leon." I repeated. "Quite the impressive work you did today. Taking out something like that-" I pointed at the currently burning colossus "- isn't exactly easy work, that's for sure. Things like those tend to be a pain in the ass, in my personal experiences. Good on you to kill it relatively easily…" I glanced towards the wounded Manuella and gave her a nod "If with some help."

Said girl glanced at Leon, obviously confused about who I was, but relaxed when Leon merely grinned at me.

"Aeon. Figures that you'd know about this mess. Yeah, things got…" he turned and waved at the burning monster. "A bit bigger than we all expected." he joked.

I snorted. "A massive understatement to be sure." I replied drily.

"So, what's one of the Cerberus heads of Insight Corp. doing here?" questioned Krauser.

I frowned in confusion. "Cerberus…? Oh, it's a joke about Oedon, Lucy and me being in charge of Insight Corp, isn't it?"

The man grunted. "Yeah. Started going around after-"

"Raccoon City." finished Leon.

I shook my head. "Fitting, but I'd prefer not to be compared like that. Frankly, the actual Cerberus organisation was really horrible at getting results, Insight Corp. has a much better track record."

My words made both men blink, the obvious question, "wait, there was a Cerberus organisation?" clear on their mind.

Heh. Mass Effect references were fun… at least until I get to said setting.

"In any case," I declared before they could actually ask the question, "I believe we should focus on young Manuella over here and get her to a hospital quickly."

Especially considering that, as far as I could tell through (Insight), the fact that Wesker didn't get Steve's body from the Antarctic base meant the T-Veronica virus in Manuella's body was far less stable. So if we didn't act quickly, she was going to make for a very impressive living bonfire… for approximately all of 5 seconds before she exploded.

And with Krauser around, I couldn't just fix that here and now.

Thankfully, Leon's face turned grim at my words, knowing enough about me that if I gave such a warning, it probably was for good reasons.

Things went pretty fast after that, with all of us getting into a helicopter headed for the nearest hospital, Leon convincing Manuella to live on despite all the deaths she was unwillingly responsible for, and Krauser going from brooding about the wound he received, brooding over the power viruses when controlled could give people (or in this case, Krauser himself) and frowning towards me and Leon, already trying to think how he could kill us both when we will inevitably get in his way.

As for me, I was left staring at the massive burning corpse of the late Javier through a window of the helicopter, memories of Amygdala and Yharnam making me unusually quiet and brooding myself.

Mostly because a part of me was concerned Eldritch Gods might fight all over countless worlds like this one once I went to meet the Outer Gods at the center of Reality.

And such a war would make the battle that just took place the equivalent of a small, insignificant skirmish.

… On the other hand, I couldn't help but be amused at the mental image of me telling Sherry with all seriousness that for the sake of peace and prosperity across all of the Omniverse, I needed to seduce a good chunk of the Eldritch Pantheon into being my wives.

That I was mentally picturing Oedon on the side in a cheerleader outfit cheering me on as I said those words didn't exactly help my rising amusement.

Non-canon Omake: In which a great many plans of men and Gods were (SMUGLY) shattered.

I stared at the fighting between Leon, Manuella and Krauser. With things as they were going, it shouldn't take long before-

R̴̡͙̖̙̠͚͓̈̑̂̅͜ͅé̷͚͐͌́͆̏͘͜ͅa̸̗̤̫̫̘͓̞̰̓́̐̃̕l̵̹̼͛ĩ̵̹̼̻̐͗̂͋̽́͠ţ̵͕̝͉̓̿̃̈́͜y̴̡̝̖̝̫͑̿̽̿̇̀͑̕ͅ ̶̡͂̈́b̸͇̙̖̬͕̓ŗ̵̧̠̦̦͖̫̰͐͛̈o̷̫̺͍̮͇̯͛̍k̶͎̜͔̂͐̀͂e̶̹̠̞̭̟͓̍̿̃͋͑̀́͗͜͝.

I stiffened, eyes suddenly glowing as I watched in shock as-

As-

A gigantic, hairy black leg passed through the hole in Reality, followed by more until finally-

[GREATER SMUGNESS] echoed from the newly revealed head of the being which was breaking through Dimensions to get to the interloper.

I watched numbly while, on the side, Manuella, Krauser and Leon fell on the ground, screaming about the stars having eyes, limbs far too numerous and wrong to be possible, and an all-consuming sense of smugness making them break into hysterical, maddened laughter.

I felt many eyes stare at the area, the majority stopping on me, before the rest settled on Javier, and while I doubted that a giant Eldritch spider could narrow her eyes, this one was definitely giving her best shot at it.

[ANNOYANCE/DISDAIN] echoed across the land, all of it directed straight at the giant Javier monster who was reeling back under the psychic assault of a Great One's voice.

I blinked.

Blinked again.

And then facepalmed.

"First, how the hell do you even know about copyright infringement anyway, Amygdala?! And what do you mean, I'm your puny to smash, nobody else?!" I screamed back.

[SMUGNESS] replied Amy, before she tore out one of her arms… and then proceeded to start smashing Javier's skull to paste with it.

Rather enthusiastically and viciously so, at that.

A hole in the air opened at my side, Oedon coming to a stop to raise an eyebrow at the sight of a Great One beating a kaiju to death with her own arm while psychically insulting said Kaiju and calling it a cheap knock-off.

Among other things. For the sake of my remaining sanity, I was focusing very hard on blocking out every comment involving me.

"Well," declared Oedon, "I do believe that will break a great many of your plans, dear Aeon. Especially since Wesker, who was watching everything from a nearby hill, just fell to his death after mentally breaking down at the sight of Amygdala."

I let out a deep sigh, trying to imagine how I was going to explain that to Chris-

"Also, Amygdala wants to meet Sherry. And your new lovers."

I took a deep breath.

And then the internal screaming that started when Reality broke became external.

"FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK-"