"Have a good day!" I waved back to the receptionist, guild agent, behind the counter. I couldn't stop myself from using the phrase. In part because it was polite, and the correct thing to do, but also because it was what I'd used for five soul-draining years as part of the customer service industry.

Sure, I didn't have to pay rent or anything, but I wanted to. Vert and Chika were taking care of me out of the kindness of their hearts, putting a roof over my head, keeping me fed, and trying to find me a way back home. I wanted to pay them back for that. Doing otherwise just felt as if I was taking advantage of their generosity. However, I was very strongly outvoted, and forcing the issue was rude. So I figured I would just, leave the money when I got sent back home. It's not like I was going to be able to use it on Earth, anyway.

But having a little extra pocket change for myself wasn't exactly bad either. I was able to buy my food, and as such, prepare my meals. That helped avoid the feeling of being in some sort of debt trap, at least.

That wasn't the only reason I'd thrown myself into guild work. There was no other way to beat around the bush. It kept me, distracted. It kept me not thinking about, well, the whole state my body was in. Probably wasn't the most healthy coping mechanism in the world, but frankly, I had no idea what else to do. It was. I don't know how to describe it. I should be feeling something wrong. I was a twenty-something-year-old man, trapped in the body of a teenage girl. I should be feeling wrong. I was in a body that wasn't mine. I was in a girl's body. I should be experiencing dysmorphia right now.

But I wasn't. I should be, but I wasn't.

And that scared me.

What exactly did that mean? Was it just due to how I ended up in this body? Or was there something more? Would going back home fix this? Or was I now stuck in this body forever?

I shook my head, trying to get the thoughts out of my head. No, no. Today was supposed to be a good day. A step in the right direction. Vert had finally managed to get me a way to speak with the person in charge of the project. Now, it wasn't like I was going to go in person to meet them. It would take time to get to Planeptune, after all, and with the ASIC being the usual pains that they were, security would be tight in the first place.

So it was going to be a video chat. Which was fair enough. I at least got to talk with the person who was working on the project. I had no idea what they were even like, but the fact Planeptune was at least looking into that sort of thing was impressive. The technology, which already looked advanced enough, to create a place like this, to accomplish such a feat is beyond impressive. Staggering, really.

But it had cut the time I could spend distracting myself short. But that was sadly the way of things. It wasn't like I'd have a conversation to keep my mind off things soon enough.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You're back!" With time, I'd gotten better at avoiding Vert's clingy grasps. Sadly, this had the unintended consequence of her just trying harder.

At least I wasn't being smothered, but it was a close thing.

"I wasn't planning on missing the meeting," I squirmed in her grasp, trying to wiggle myself free. I didn't mind hugs from people I was close to, like family. But Vert wasn't at that point.

"I knew you wouldn't!" She grinned, cheerfully. "I already got everything set up for you!"

"Thank you," I nodded as she released me. Having the computer turned on and ready to go was nice. Even if it meant Vert was messing around in the guest room. It was hers, and it wasn't like I had anything to hide. But privacy was kind of a big deal.

I closed the door, making sure it would stay that way, before making my way over to the computer. It looked like a powerful system, but I never really had much use for it or any other games. Probably should try some. If nothing else, they could prove to make for a good distraction.

Staring at the screen, I blinked. Had Vert gotten all the programs, as well as the video chat set up? I really would have liked to get that done myself, as I was more than capable of doing so, but I was thankful to not run the risk of simply messing up.

Strange, was it? Suddenly, the screen flickered. Well, the program did, anyway, bring up a live feed of what I could only describe as some type of lab. A particularly, messy, lab. Gears, springs, wires, and many other things lay across every available surface as if someone didn't have time to organize in months, possibly longer.

Or their organizational system was chaos. Which I completely understood.

There was a brief muttering, as a hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the camera, adjusting it, bringing a face into view.

The first thing that stood out to me is that the girl looked young. Very young. I'd lost a decade and still looked like I was older than she was. Then again, I probably looked at least a bit older than I actually was in this body. Next was her hair. Chika was up there when it came to abnormal hair colors, but this girl had Chika beat, with light pink hair. Her eyes were a shade I could best describe as violet, maybe even purple.

Was this the expert Vert was talking about? But she looked so, young. Maybe she was the daughter of the person in charge?

Possible? Yes. But I wasn't in a rush to stick my foot in my mouth. If she was in charge then there was nothing gained by making an ass of myself. If she wasn't, well, I'd still be making an ass of myself. Hence, nothing being gained.

"Sorry about that," her voice revealed her to be at least somewhere in the puberty range. Maybe fourteen, fifteen at most. "Am I late?"

"Nope, I think we're both early," my eyes flickered toward the clock, though I didn't check. We arrived too close together for that to matter.

She let out a sigh of relief, placing her hand over her chest as if to steady herself. "I'm Nepgear."

"Nice to meet you," I said, doing my best to keep my eyebrow from raising too much. What a strange name. "My name is Hinum."

"It's nice to meet you," she looked a bit shy. "Even if your name is a bit strange".

"Yours isn't much better," I countered, doing my best to keep a teasing tone. I didn't want to scare the girl off or make her angry with me.

"It shares part of my sister's name," she huffed, her cheeks showing a faint shade of red.

"You have a sister? I asked, curious. She was helping me. The least I could do was get to know her a little.

"I do!" She beamed, as I almost had to squint to keep the light out of my eyes. "Neptune is my older sister! I like her a lot, even if she's a bit, much. Vert was the one that reached out to her about this meeting!"

That I could believe. So, her sister was the equivalent in Planeptune what Vert was to Leanbox? And she had a sister in charge of such a project?

"I can understand what you mean by siblings being a bit, much," I rubbed the back of my head, chuckling awkwardly.

"That's because you're staying with Vert, right?" Nepgear gave me a weird look.

"No," sure, Vert wasn't helping matters. She could get very clingy, for lack of a better term. "I have a younger brother back home, and well, he used to be a bit of a hellion when he was younger."

I was underselling things, but she didn't need to worry about those details. Nepgear's eyes widened.

"Sorry! I completely forgot all about it," she bowed her head deeply.

"It's fine, it's fine," I chuckled. I wasn't expecting speed or anything like that. Vert had made it sound like the technology was still in its infancy, at best. "What can I do to help?"

"Well, it might help to know what I was aiming for, at least so I recognize it from broad traits. What do land masses look like, nations, water, those sorts of things," Nepgear said, pulling a notebook from an unseen place.

"Well."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It took two notebooks and a few pieces of scratch paper for me to give everything she needed, on top of a rough outline of the continents.

Probably a bit excessive, but I'd make more of a case for through. Better for her to have too much information, than too little. Then again, it'd be hard to not notice the chaos that seemed to define Earth.

"It seems scary," Nepgear said. It wasn't like she was wrong. Sure, Earth didn't have monsters to deal with or Goddesses. But we had plenty of chaos and strife for, well, the whole of our written existence. And given how we existed before writing, safe to assume the pattern only held before that point in history.

"It most certainly is," I chuckled. "But it's home. Sometimes you have to take it, no matter how many warts are on it."

I nodded slightly. That did sound very sage to me.

"What's a wart?" Only for words of wisdom to be undercut completely.

"It's a phrase," I tried waving it off. "It's, that home is home, even with the imperfections."

"That makes sense," the girl nodded, though still appearing to be puzzled about what a wart was. "It's still going to take a lot of time to get ready. It's still in the development phase, and we wouldn't want to send you through until we know it's safe."

That was perfectly reasonable. Having a portal home didn't mean much if I just ended up dying. I wanted home, but not as some type of pancake.

"How long do you think it'll take?" I asked. "Just an estimate?"

Nepgear's face twisted as if doing advanced calculations inside her head.

"It'd probably take a year or two, even without the ASIC," she eventually said.

I'd like to say I could keep my face straight after being given such news. But I also didn't want to lie to myself. I didn't even need to look at Nepgear's face to know I was failing.

"Sorry," I apologized, "That's unfair to you."

And that's just the thing. It was unfair. The fact I'd even have a way back home at all was, miraculous. Out of all the places I ended up, I ended up in a place, where u could at least, get back home.

But one to two years? That was a none insignificant amount of time. And that was without ASIC making a mess, so given the situation, it'd take longer.

That was two years gone by. Not only that, I had no way of knowing what was happening. At best, time stopped, and once I returned, I could get on with my life, but what were the odds of that? Had time slowed down, or had it sped up? Was I going to spend two years just missing? Just pop back into reality? Or was my original body in some type of coma? What was my family doing? Were they mourning me, or did they even know I was gone?

I clamped down on my emotions like a vice, attempting to keep them smothered and suppressed. I had a way home. It just wasn't ready. Yet. It would just need time. I could deal with everything else, later. When I got back.

"Sorry I'm not able to help more," Nepgear shifted in her chair, sliding back and forth.

"It's fine," I lied. "You're doing the best you can. That's all anyone can ask of you."

The last bit was true, but I was, without a doubt, not fine. Trapped in another world for a few years was, well. How do you deal with, no, stop. I needed to stop thinking about, this. Later. Later. I could deal with this later. Just, not right now.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"I'm guessing it didn't go as well as Hinum hoped?" Chika asked. The girl in question had long since gone to bed, several days after the call. Hinum hadn't said anything to that effect, but given the gloom that followed the girl for the past few days, it wasn't hard to figure that Nepgear had delivered suboptimal news.

Of course, it hadn't hurt that Vert had checked in the aftermath. Nepgear did say that Hinum had handled the news gracefully, but she was devastated by how long the process would take, no matter how much she understood why. It might have been somewhat worse, in truth. If Nepgear had told her that the technology was impossible, then sure, Hinum would be hurt, but it would be a clear-cut answer. But instead, a way home was being dangled in front of her face, and she was just going to have to sit there and wait. Like holding a bottle of water in front of a person dying of thrist.

"Nepgear thinks she can get Hinum back home, but it's just going to take a while," Vert said, mentally cursing the ASIC all the while. They were making the problem worse, but that seemed to be a specialty of theirs.

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Chika gave her a confused look. "She gets to go home again, once Nepgear has finished."

"It's not that straightforward. It's going to take a few years of work for Nepgear to get to a point where things can be transported safely. And we have no way of knowing how time works between worlds. A year in our world might be a day in Hinum's world, or it might be the exact opposite," Vert's words caused Chika's face to pale slightly. "Or it could be a one-to-one ratio, but even that results in her losing years of her life there, falling behind in education, and her friends, and not being able to tell her family that she's okay. Not only that, because she knows she's going back home, she might not want to make friends here either, as she knows she's leaving, and might not want that painful goodbye, which could end up leaving her isolated in Leanbox. Which won't help her, either."

"That is a problem," Chika nodded. What other way was there to put it? Call it a problem undersold the issue, but even tragedy didn't seem to carry enough weight, at least on a personal level. "But she seems to be handling things well so far."

Very much hoped that was the case. She still wasn't wholly sure what to make of the girl. Hinum was compassionate, and willing to lend a hand, but at the same time, tended to be shy and reserved. The type of person that would prefer to sit down and read a good book, or enjoy a game, rather than socialize.

It reminded Vert of Blanc, if Blanc didn't have a hair-trigger temper nor was as easy, or as fun, to annoy. Hopefully, with time, Hinum would come further out of her shell. It was just a shame Vert had no way of making sure Hinum kept up on her studies.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Are you okay?" Chika gave me a look, very much seeming to imply I was very much not okay.

"I haven't gotten a good night's sleep the past few days," I said, and I wasn't lying. It's that not having a good night's sleep was a symptom, not the root problem. However, Chika bought the answer, returning to our shopping. I didn't like hiding the whole of it, but I also didn't want to lay personal issues at her feet. Verts either, for that matter.

The Basilicom was becoming increasingly chaotic, as ASIC continued to work its criminal ways. Tensions were running high, and I'd even heard rumors that the Goddesses themselves were likely to try to deal with the root of the problem, cutting the head off the snake, as it were. Which, as far as strategy went, was a pretty smart idea

I did wish there was something I could do, but tackling an international criminal organization was a bit out of my weight class. And this wasn't a world where I had a lot of super destructive animals to back me up. It was yet another event outside of my ability to control. Yet another bitter pill the universe had forced down my throat.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

It wasn't fair.

What was even more unfair was the sudden blaring of a siren. At its sound, people began to panic, surging like a tide. Even Chika dropped her bag, which had been carrying all the food we were purchasing for the week.

"What does that mean?" Back in Kansas, we had Tornado sirens, which served as a warning against the natural disaster. This had to have served a similar sort of purpose, right?

"It means that a monster got into the city," Chika's voice was harsh, her spear flashing into existence. A monster? Who would?

No, only one type of idiot would do something like that. ASIC had to be the responsible party in all this. My bow flashed into existence, alongside its ammunition, thoughts of groceries firmly out of my head.

We broke out onto the streets, pinpointing the cause of the sirens, but the noise of its destruction could be heard already.

Down the street, was a massive, hulking beast. "That's a Fenrir."

Normally, I'd accuse something named after one of the Great wolves of Norse mythology as trying too hard, but this fit the bill. Colossal, covered in a coat of Grey fur, teeth that easily reached the size of my arm, and claws even larger than that?

I didn't need to bring up any scans on the thing for me to realize its level was higher than mine, and that under any other circumstance, I was not to fight such a beast. But these were not traditional circumstances. Someone had released such an animal into the city. And if they released one, then what were the odds they had more?

"What's the plan?" I asked, preparing to plunge my bow into the concrete to act as an anchor. The firing line was excellent from my current position, and while it would probably be safer to get to an elevated firing position, we didn't exactly have a lot of time.

"Kill it, if we can. If not, hold its attention long enough for Green Heart to get here," Chika brandished her weapon. "Which shouldn't take long, unless."

"There's more than one," I finished for her, anchoring my bow with a crack, and placing an arrow on the string. Chika simply nodded, before blitzing towards the Fenrir, spear flashing in her hands, easily landing a dozen hits in rapid succession, before leaping over its swiping claws.

It attempted to pursue her, only for my flame-wreathed arrow to explode as it connected with the side of its head. It failed to make it through its hide but its fur still smoldered. My follow-up shot only served to annoy it, my arrow bouncing off its skin.

I grimaced as it snarled, preparing to withdraw my bow and move to a different position. What level of defense did this thing have? I expected to be nothing but a distraction, but it didn't even have the manners to even take chip damage.

However, Chika struck, spear cutting into the Fenrir's flesh, pulling its attention away from me, snarling and snapping as Chika nimbly danced out of reprisal range. Even though Chika was doing solid damage, it was still proving to be a problem.

I took a moment to look through my skill list. I had to have something to up my damage output. At least, some type of skill to ignore defense. Of course, no such luck. Because that would require good fortune, and I just wasn't going to get that.

Another crack from my bow sent another arrow down range, hitting the Fenrir's flank. This time, it stuck, piercing into its flesh. Its eyes turned towards me, glistening with hate, even though the arrow did less damage than a bee sting, despite its massive size.

It charged towards me, only for Chika to be at its heels, redirecting its attention towards her.

I fired another arrow, grimacing all the while. Mobs were, well, a lot like video game mobs. In this strange world, they would disappear when killed and even dropped loot. They were weirdly code-like, and would attack any human they came across.

But they weren't stupid. Sure, the majority of them you could kill before they ever had a chance to adapt. But this was not going to be the case.

"Rain," I said softly, before firing an arrow as high into the air as I could, letting the skill take over. The arrow split as it came down, showering the Fenrir in arrows, which made up for their lack of mass through sheer volume.

It snapped and bit, trying to dislodge the hail of needles that buried into its skin. It growled, advancing towards me as I notched another arrow. Chika was right behind it, closing the distance.

But then the Fenrir spun, swiping with its paw. Chika brought up her spear to block the attack but was still sent flying backward from the blow. I fired another arrow, slamming into its leg, but the Fenrir continued to advance on Chika.

I put arrow after arrow into its hide, only for it to continue its advance. No. No! I refuse! I wasn't going to let it!

There was a tingle, running its way through my body. It felt. It felt like when I had scared off the wolf in the forest. But, more. More of everything. More strength. More power.

All I had to do was let it in, and I flung open the door willingly. There was a brilliant light that consumed my vision, as I felt my body begin to change. My height increased, and muscle mass grew to match, even as I felt my binder loosen as if my chest was becoming compact. Then the feeling was gone, my clothes replaced with a layer of white armor, one that was skin tight, leaving my arms and legs exposed, until the boots and gloves took shape. The gloves were fingerless but otherwise covered my whole hand, going nearly up to my elbows. The boots went nearly up to my knee but calling them boots was overselling what had to be a mixture of armored, knee length sock and high heel. My ponytail crumbled, leaving me with incredibly short hair, as my fingers clasped my bow. While its size didn't seem to change, it was now made of a similar, likely the same, material that now covered my body.

And I was flying? I barely had enough time to realize that yes, I was, in fact, airborne, as the Fenrir lept at me, jaws snapping. I dodged, somehow moving under my power. Taking advantage of its state, I fired my bow at it. Usually, it took most of my strength to even fire the thing, such as its size. But now? I hardly felt a thing. Until the arrow hit, sounding more like a thunderclap, sending the Fenrir rocketing down into the street.

I grinned, aiming down toward the cloud of dust. Have a taste of target saturation and aerial superiority, you overly fluffy turd! I almost laughed as the thing yelped, being peppered with a barrage of arrows.

It leaped through the dust and debris, bringing its fangs to bear. I danced out of the way, avoiding its flailing claws, before sending it back down again. But despite that, and the collateral damage, it was still ready to fight.

I readied another arrow as it emerged from the dust cloud, but a spear beat me to the punch. The Fenrir let out a howl of pain before the noise was cut off by a second impact.

Was it dead? That was the first thing that went through my mind. I hadn't launched an attack capable of doing that, and Chika.

Chika! I rushed down toward the ground, doing my best to keep my flight path stable. I managed to make my way to the ground, without crashing, making my way over to where I last saw Chika.

"Chika! Are you okay?" I shouted, my voice sounding different now. Slightly older, more mature. Or maybe it was my panic that made things sound so different.

"Here!" Chika coughed, limping her way through the smoke, using her spear to support herself. Then she looked up, pausing, as if not believing what she was seeing. "Hinum, is that you?"

"Yes, it is," I nodded. Now that I had time to breathe, I realized my outfit was similar to that of Green Hearts. In terms of color, with the white and green color combination, anyway. It was far less risqué in comparison to that of the older woman, being more of a tank top and short shorts combination that showed off part of my abs, on top of the long gloves and boots. "It's a bit of a change, I will admit."

My eyes widened, remembering what I planned on doing. I scrambled through my inventory, pulling out a potion. "Please, take this. You need it right now."

Chika seemed like she was about to protest, as a light dusting of pink was on her face, before taking it out of my hand.

"Is it dead?" She asked, looking towards where the Fenrir once was.

"It should be," I said, matching her gaze, even if I had zero clue what managed to kill such a monster.

The dust began to settle, filtering out of the air, revealing exactly who. Green Heart. Who, despite her appearing serene, wore an expression of pure anger written on her face. The woman, no, Goddess, was livid and was not attempting to hide her fury.

Slowly, her expression softened, surveying the damage done to her city. A mournful look, even though the damage could be repaired. Then her eyes fell upon us.

What exactly was the protocol here? Did we kneel, did we bow? Was there something we should be doing?

Green Heart's face went through about a dozen expressions in the extent of a moment. Surprise, shock, and then.

I heard the gasp at the same moment I felt the impact, which could only be described as being hit by a bullet train. My breath felt as if it was hammered out of my lungs, further exasperated by the fact Green Heart was holding me in a manner not very conducive for breathing.

I was able to catch snippets of what she was saying though. It was mostly just sister, over and over again.

"I'm sorry, what!" I managed to get out, despite the lack of air.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There had been a bit of a media meeting after the attack. Who is responsible, and naturally, what would be done. Green Heart, despite the fact she had spent several minutes fixated on me, perilously, was handling herself well.

But that didn't stop a lot of attention from being aimed my way, especially in my transformed state. There is a literal Goddess just a few feet away, you didn't have to focus on me!

But the similarities, same hair color, presumably the same eye color, and similar white armor, lead to the sister word being thrown around a lot. Each time, I had to pray I'd locked down my body enough to stop the incoming flinch or expression of disgust.

Thankfully, Chika was there to wave away any of the people trying to personally pester me. Pointing out that the focus should be on the victims of the tragedy and those responsible for it, rather than on me. After all, using the tragedy to try and get a scoop on the goddess's little sister would be extremely disrespectful to the victims. That had been enough for them to get the message, but I still felt their stares. Their gazes.

The event didn't last too long, mercifully. With us taking off towards the Basilicom. Chika was being carried by Green Heart, blushing all the while. Not exactly going to blame her for that, but I was focused on my thoughts.

I felt. Tired. Not just physically, or mentally, though to be fair, I was most certainly both. But it was as if throwing open the door sapped me, somehow. Like I was handling something I wasn't quite sure how to.

What was happening to me? This wasn't a normal person thing here, not even by a long shot. Chika hadn't done anything like this, ever. Vert hadn't, either. This was important enough for me to be considered the sister of a Goddess. What the hell was that even supposed to mean? How was that even a thing? I had a younger brother! Parents! Not a single sister, younger or older!

Had I just imagined it? Drawn memories out of the aether, just to fill in the blanks?

No, that couldn't be right. Fuzzy alone proved that those memories are real!

By the time we arrived at the Basilicom, the weight on my shoulders only increased. The deck, which I initially questioned, now suddenly made a lot more sense. I let myself down in the center, and focused, trying to clamp down on the power surging within me. There was a moment of resistance before the door closed, but it did.

My body returned to what it once was, but it scarcely made me feel any better. I feel weaker now. Even though I knew I couldn't maintain such a state full-time. Something just told me it'd be a really bad idea.

I looked up, hoping to finally get some answers out of Green Heart, but next to Chika stood Vert, rather than the Goddess. I paused, my brain slowly picking up the pieces. No, that wasn't exactly right. Because Vert was Green Heart, wasn't she? Unless Vert could teleport, there was no other explanation.

"You!" I started, pointing at her. I wasn't sure how Vert was able to wear an expression between gleeful and sheepish, but she did so masterfully. At least Chika had the bravery to wear an expression along the lines of 'this was going to bite us'. "I need answers from you!"

"Of course sister," Vert sounded as if she was on a blissful high. In public, I had no problem putting on a cooperative face. The last thing Leanbox needed was a publicly aired shouting match. But this wasn't in public anymore.

"Starting with that! I snapped. "Why are you calling me your sister! I've never had a sister in my life! I was born on Earth! Not here!"

"You can transform. That means you're connected to Leanbox's shares. That makes you my sister," Vert smiled as if that answered anything. "Though it is a bit strange. Most little sisters are born within the Basilicom itself. Maybe your memories played a role in displacing you?"

Displacing? Memories? Did she think those memories weren't real? No! I refuse to even consider it.

"I know what I remember! It's real!" I shouted back, Vert finally stopping her advance.

"I didn't say it wasn't," she gave me a confused look. "You can come from another world, and still be my sister. They aren't mutually exclusive things. An odd occurrence, perhaps, but a good one."

"You think kidnapping me away from my family is a good thing!" My face contorted in anger, as Vert stepped back as if she'd been struck.

"That is not what I meant," she said, taking another step back. "It really isn't."

"Really? Because it seems to be the only thing you've carried about this whole predicament is how my existence here allows you to fulfill your fantasies!" I snarled, anger digging its way further and further into me. "I thank you for your hospitality, but I'm leaving. Tonight. I'll keep in touch with Nepgear. Once she can get me home, I'm gone."

"You might not be able to. Not without hurting yourself," Chika's voice cut in, soft where mine had been loud. "You're bound to the Sharicite crystal. It feeds you shares. If a Goddess or a Goddess Candidate doesn't get enough shares, they start to weaken and get sick. They can even die if they don't get enough."

No. No! Nonononononononono!

"Arrrah!"

Crash.