Takana had been in the world of Morkannon for two years. The crew of the Mystique had finally set course for a land that would give them a lead to returning home, something the crew all wanted.
But when they made landfall, the "young master" quickly eluded the adults and ran through the dock of Slath's Cinders to try and find the adventurer's hall. Despite his own training beneath the other crew members, he hadn't been allowed to do any real fighting all this time. That was going to change now that they were in a "safer" land with lower leveled foes and more appropriately known for its importance in Morkannon for raising adventurers. This entire continent was a kingdom built between various nations to oversee the raising of its future prospects, all the while hoping to explore it in the same breath.
The young lad barreled on until he ran face-first into someone else. More precisely, a thigh.
Takana fell, stumbling backward and groaning as he tried to right himself. A powerful voice, however, barked at him.
"Get up, human runt! You shouldn't have bumped into me if you wanted to live!"
He looked up, immediately gritting his teeth and reaching for his sword and shield. Just like he'd been taught, he was going to defend himself. He was going to prove himself no matter who or what challenged him. All those days being stuck aboard the Mystique while the crew went off on adventures were gone.
"The name is Takana you red-haired, horny-headed pokey-ear!"
His words sparked anger from the figure, all of the locals scampering away whilst they grabbed an impressive-sized spear over their shoulder. Despite her size, the way she grabs the weapon tells anyone at a distance that this isn't a regular woman. The summoner's band around her bare left hand marked her to any seasoned adventurer as a high-level summon: a fire valkyrie.
"Little brats get taught their place with steel, human runt. And I think I'm going to start by giving you a mark to make sure you remember not to piss me off!"
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"Takana, must I really wear these clothes?"
The stream bristles with activity; all of the chat for it made gasping or all-caps messages, every single person all reacting at this point to the new individual who literally materialized within his room. The World Engine snatched her from the other side, bringing her over in an instantaneous flash of light. The camera had been turned off for a while but now that she finally is dressed, Takana finally toggles it with a few moments of clumsy button-pressing. Of course, he immediately smiles and wraps an arm around the thin-waisted woman sitting beside him.
Dressed in a stuffy red sweater and blue skinny jeans, the woman quickly stiffens up as she appears on the television and in turn the stream.
"B-By Slath, is this duplication magic that works on living beings!?"
Takana laughs and pulls her tighter to his side, the woman setting a hand on his thigh and quickly shooting him a glare.
"No, Syltia, this is what's called a "stream". The... er... kingdom representatives, I guess, told me I should use it to help this world learn about us and Morkannon."
Her ears twitch and the chat explodes, her eyes shifting to it and flickering a brighter shade of red.
"𝕃𝐄Δᖇ𝔫 ĻάŇ𝔤ᵘคgẸ."
Her spell has no visible effect beyond the tell-tale sign of magic casting, but she immediately starts reading over the entire thing whilst idly raising her free hand to one of her two horns.
"This... "stream" you speak of is certainly excited about me. I am aware that my physique is greater than the average human woman but-"
"Greater than average is underselling it," Takana cuts in, sliding his hand across her lower back. Despite the sweater doing a good job of hiding most of her upper half's proportions, the tell-tale shape of her body made it obvious just how powerful this woman was. Her chest alone could have fulfilled most women's dreams, whilst her backside could put most models to shame. "You'd be considered one of the most attractive women in the world, hands down. I mean, you don't have to deal with makeup or anything like that thanks to your partial divinity."
Syltia reddens in the face but tries her best to hide it. It's not the first time she's tried to avoid public affection with him, but Takana understands exactly why she doesn't want to show this world how soft someone who acts as a demi-goddess of war is when buttered up. With how technology in this world works, deities like her could stand to benefit... but their reputation could also be ruined with the use of the internet's sheer speed. Takana had been young when he left Earth but he at least knew what the internet was even after all this time and its evolution.
"So," he starts, looking at the stream. "This is my wife. As you all can see, she has pointed ears like what fantasy books in our world always thought Elves had."
She pinches his thigh and shoots him a look. "I'm not an elf, Turk, you know that."
He doesn't let out any sign of how hard she does it but he does reinforcingly tug her to make her loosen up that grip of hers.
"Yeah, well, I'm trying to explain it so people here understand. Elves are obviously a different species to everyone born in Morkannon... or at least, most of Morkannon. But that's because the valkyrie race doesn't exist on Earth. At least not by the same name, anyway; based on searching with the internet, it looks like you're closer to an oni or demonic elf."
Syltia nibbles at the corner of her lip, watching the chat's response for a moment.
"I... guess in this world that is a compliment? This stream is certainly indicating that I am attractive; they keep insisting I'm too good for you and it's unfair that you're my husband."
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Takana looks back and for the first time wishes the stream could be a little more on his side. Only a handful leap out to defend him but the ones who he knows will take his side still aren't online.
"They aren't wrong but saying it so bluntly is a bit harsh. You guys don't even realize what it's like giving up part of your soul just to bind her to a physical plain. If I didn't, we wouldn't be able to spend more than a few days together at a time because of how summonings laws work. Maybe if I decide to teach basic magic or the residents of Morkannon teach it you may get a clue; I spent over a year gathering the ingredients for the ritual and still almost died."
He carefully lets go of Syltia so he can stand, raising the remote and a hand toward the television.
"Anyway, it's been about ten minutes. My parents and the agent are probably comfortable in the main hall by now, so we need to get going. I'll be muting the stream but I'll leave it going so you guys can leave messages. Syltia and I are going to go meet with them now."
The demi-goddess gets up and approaches him from the back, the slightly shorter stature of hers making her horns just barely poke out from behind his shoulder.
"Okay, okay, just end it already. You're acting too much like Imira or Arhogzok. Slath help me if I'm going to let you get an ego that big."
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The meeting room of the Mystique looks more like a modern living room; the bolted-down seating had been replaced over the years with material far unlike anything on Earth. Sofa and loveseats made of chimera wool feel far more comfortable than anything made on Earth, but far more expensive to maintain.
Takana enters the room with Syltia at his side and immediately spots his mother sinking into one of the chairs and trying to not drop all of the things she'd brought in the process.
"T-This is far too... w-why is such a material on a ship?!"
The agent and his father had still been standing, the latter of the two trying to help her up whilst the agent bows her head.
Agent Starr hadn't given him her full name, but Takana's magical gaze had gleamed it the day she brought up his gadgets and introduced him to just a fraction of the world's changes. Melanie Starr works as a liaison member of the FBI stationed at the White House; unlike most agents who approached but kept their distance, her position as a protective agent made her the ideal selection to try and keep an eye on him whilst also selectively introducing Takana back into his own world's changes. And, of course, she's the one who Takana showed his powers out on first. That day the two met, Starr had looked the part of a woman in her mid-forties; her brown hair had begun to spot grey ahead of time, whilst her youthful face bore some of its first wrinkles.
Takana used magic to give the woman back ten years of her visage when it became obvious just how much she hated how it looked. It all but ensured the two of them built a working relationship.
"Good morning, Mister Takanagi. As promised, I've led your parents here."
His struggling mother tries to look past his father but has a hard time getting more than an inch or two of vision at a time. Takana holds his hand toward the duo, but Syltia raises hers as well. Her eyes glimmer with magic as she lifts his mother free from the overwhelmingly soft chair, levitating her up and onto her feet beside his father.
"It seems your mother fell into that chair just like I did the first time. All the more reason we should get rid of it, Takana."
Takana sets his hands on his hips and feigns ignorance, instead looking toward Starr. "Thank you for bringing them. If it's alright, could you give us the rest of the day? I'll be open to communicating more in the morning."
Perhaps it's a good thing his mother got stuck; all the years of scientific study immediately make her brain swap from struggle-mode into documentation mode. She sets all her things down and pulls free a notepad, scrawling out a quick set of notes whilst Takana's father turns view the duo. It looks like he plans to thank Syltia, but the moment he sees her ears and horns makes him stop in his tracks. Starr, on the other hand, breaks the silence yet again with a smile.
"Of course Mister Takanagi. I am also eager to interview the one beside you. This one is your wife, correct?"
Syltia smiles at the question and ignores Takana's dad to answer it. "I'm his first wife, yes."
"First wife? Polygamy is allowed in the other world?"
Takana furrows his brow at the question, but then realizes why; all this time he'd been mentioning him and Syltia still hadn't brought up how marriage works in the other world.
"It's... not quite like that. Marriage in Morkannon is part of the world's laws: getting married is a systematic benefit. Syltia and I got married so that she could ascend from her position as a summon and rise to the rank of a demi-goddess. It's not like I want to marry others, either, but we've discussed it at length that we'd use it if one of our friends needed to get stronger."
Starr seems lost in his explanation but that's expected as far as Takana is concerned. Without being in the other world, no one from Earth is going to just understand it in an instant. So instead, he'll try to further simplify it.
"A first wife is the one that matters most as your souls are bonded. I gave part of my soul so that Syltia could ascend... and in turn, that gave her the ability to manifest a physical body. If I did take any other wives, it'd be almost certainly just... er... a physical relationship. Does that make more sense?"
This explaining does give Starr enough information; she smiles and nods, whilst his mother finally looks up from her notes.
"So s-she's um... my daughter-in-law? Does that mean you two are expecting any children, o-or do your races not have compatibility or-"
Takana's father shoots her a look, quickly clearing his throat. "Not that my wife and I have any problem with your race, ma'am. It's just that we don't know anything about that other world. Morkannon or whatever isn't like Earth; we don't have other races like humanity but the further apart a species is the more improbably of a child taking. In fact, humanity has no known ability to mate with any other species here."
Syltia blinks at the notion but Takana understands; in Morkannon, the only races incompatible with a human are demons. But the reason for that is that demons make children from magic. If demons and humans wanted children, they could make a child through magical covenants without any problem.
But it sinks in and her confusion turns into blushing flustered sideward glance at Takana.
"We are not expecting a child. Takana insisted we wait until he was able to return home. Slath blesses us frequently, of course, but-"
Takana looks at her and frowns. "I told you it'd wait until we could return here, not until I could return. You make it sound like I want to abandon you."
Starr clasps her hands together and starts slipping away, Takana's parents sharing a look whilst Syltia turns and shoves Takana lightly.
"You did make it sound like that! The dwarves had no idea on whether or not the World Engine would even work, yet you lept right on through like another adventure had started! What if it had failed and you died?"
"Syltia, it didn't. Besides, the dwarves told us it only could fail if I was unlucky. I'm the highest level human in Morkannon's history that hasn't ascended, so don't overthink it."
His mother raises a finger and interjects. "Ascended? Like... become a god?"
"Yes," Syltia answers without looking away, gently reaching down and taking one of Takana's hands. "And if he would, he could finally meet my parents. Slath, too, is eager to meet Takana for the first time. The God of Fire lets him marry one of his descendants but Takana still doesn't even enter his temples."
Takana groans, looking around for any form of help to get out of this. While he loves Syltia, Slath is another story; the god's temples always have some weird fire fetish things going on. Syltia may be the only exception he knows to Slath's practitioners being weird, but ascending also meant he would have to join a pantheon. Given his relationship with her, that means that Slath is almost assuredly to become his head deity.
"I love you Syltia, but why don't we save that talk for later? Ascending means I'd have to leave all my mortal friends and family behind. It's not something I want to discuss just after meeting them all over again. I-I mean we'd be better off talking about our child, first, don't you think?"
It's going to be a long day.