Nerites Ekitai
Child of The Ocean
"That'll be three fifty, ma'am." the barista said, closing the lid on Nerites' coffee. It was much too early in the morning for anyone sensible to be up at this time - yet this peculiar customer had waltzed in merrily into the empty café like they owned the place, happily humming a little tune to herself.
"Ah, wonderful! Just the right amount!" the water goddess exclaimed, tearing off the lid and effortlessly chugging down the scalding hot drink in one swift motion.
"Ahm..." the barista hesitated. "I meant three and a half
dollars, ma'am."
"Oh." Nerites mouthed sheepishly. "Ah... currency, currency..." she mumbled, patting her pockets tentatively. "Dear me, I suppose I must have run out. My deepest apologies, miss, ah..." She squinted at the barista's nameplate. "Miss, My Name Is Sharon!" She said, a little impressed at how long first names were permitted to be in the US.
"Uhm..." Sharon began, unsure whether she was paid enough to handle people like this. "Well, you need to-"
Before she could finish her sentence, Nerites grabbed her cup and plunged her hand inside. "One second..."
Moments later, the cup began filling back up- with the exact same coffee Nerites had drank earlier. The barista watched in shock and awe as she handed her back the drink.
"I am truly, truly sorry." Nerites said, her expression genuinely apologetic. "I need to get used to the concept of currency again. I assure that the moment I acquire three fifty of an item, I will pay them to you. I do have a little appointment to go to, though, so do not be alarmed is my payment is delayed."
Sharon opened her mouth to say something, but with a twiddly wave of goodbye, the woman had already gone.
--------------
Shifting out of gas form into her corporeal form, Nerites finally arrived at the building where Quantum was waiting.
"Oh, there you are, Quantum!"
Looking up from the suitcase she currently had open, Quantum's voice rose in pitch, clearly excited to see her old friend.
"Nerites! Awh, I'm glad you made it."
Without waiting for her to speak again, Quantum strode over and wrapped her arms around the water godess, giving her a fond squeeze. "I know we saw each other the other night, but... it's -really- good to see you again. Where did you go again...?
Nerites opened her mouth, ready to make another misplaced sea comment, but was cut short by Quantum's powerful cyber-enhanced embrace. "Oh, me? I suppose I was just exploring your beautiful city again. Memory
does get a little shrimpy after the first thousand years." she said, giggling.
She looked around the rooftop. "Say, why are you on top of this location? I was told you would be here, but it seems very strange you would be just to enjoy the view."
Stepping back, Quantum gave a small shrug of her shoulders, glancing around at the clear, blue skies. "It had to be a place where we could hand out the transcievers, without anyone really taking note of it. And not alot of people come by here." She added with a wry smile behind the helmet.
Nerites gasped. "My transceiver!"
"Hold on..." Raising a finger, the water goddess shifted her right arm into water form. After a few seconds, a rusty, circular piece of metal fell off, landing in her other hand. Nerites raised the bracelet-like object, once given to her by Binary on the first day of the Champions' operations. "Oh dear... I don't think it has held up very well."
"Oh, erh... no, it doesn't look like it." she gave the device a small glance, shrugging her shoulders. "It's okay, though. I've gone through my share of transcievers too." She snickered, raising her arms to flex them, letting her action tell its own story.
"But! The new ones are waterproof, so it should be just fine for you to use underwater."
"Oh, perfect!" Nerites cheered, clapping her hands together in excitement. "I would very much like a new one!"
Quantum smiled to herself. It was nice to be around the always bubbly Nerites. She blinked, shaking her head.
"Can't believe I just did that..."
Reaching down towards the open suitcasee, Quantum pulled out a very shiny, metallic-grey wrist-mounted device, which she offered out to Nerites. "There you go. And good luck."
Putting on her new accessory excitedly, Nerites twisted and turned her watery forearm, examining every angle of the gadget. It took her a few seconds for her to register what Quantum had just said. "...hmm? Good luck? What for?" she asked absentmindedly, still resisting the urge to push every button on the transceiver.
"You are right, though. Everyone deserves a little good luck in life!" she added, looking up and grinning at Quantum.,
Quantum smiled to herself, nodding her head lightly. "True enough! But, uh, I think you'll need most of it right now." She paused, giving Nerites a small look. "You... do remember the trials, right?"
"Trials?" Nerites asked, confused. Suddenly, her eyes free wide and she nodded. "Oh, yes, the
triaaaals! Pfsh- of course I- how could I forget?" she scoffed unnaturally.
I can't let her know I forgot... not on my first day! she thought.
Quantum let out a snicker-snort and nodded her head, rolling her shimmering, purple eyes. "Suuuure. Well, I'm glad that you -do- remember, because otherwise, this next part might come as quite a shock to you."
Before she could respond, the device burst into a bright flash of light.
When she opened her eyes, the rooftop in was gone. She was now in what seemed to be a city square - or at least, what used to be one. The landscape around her was now barren and rocky, with destroyed buildings lining the rubble-covered street and upturned cars scattered around like trash as if spat out by a massive hurricane.
"Goodness me..." Nerites gasped. "What could have happened here?"
She was met with a female voice echoing in her mind. "This is what happens when you face the power of the meta force."
Nerites turned around, confused as to where the voice had come from. There was no sign of life for miles, aside for herself. "Who said that?" the water goddess asked, looking around. "Quantum, is that you? You sound... different." She tapped on her transceiver.
She was met again with the same voice. "You are alone now. No help from Quantum, or any of the other resistance scum."
Nerites turned around again, now beginning to get irritated at the little game the voice was playing. "That's not a nice thing to call them! I'll have you know that they are some of the nic- oof!"
She was cut short as a massive, purple projectile slammed into her gut, knocking her back into a broken car.
"Oww..." she moaned in pain, rubbing her head as she got out of the indent that her body had made in the car. "I don't think you like them very much then. But that's okay, there are some things I dislike too! So we aren't so different aft- whoa, hey!"
She was cut short again, this time barely dodging the energy ball by rolling out of the way.
"It's not nice to interrupt others either!" she called out, dusting off her clothes. "And
please show yourself!" she added, accentuating her demand by bursting into her water form.
I hope that was not too intimidating...
"As you wish." the voice replied behind her.
"I am the sorceress Morgana. And I am here to finally get rid of the rebel filth that you are." the woman spat.
"Very glad to meet you, Morgana! I am Nerites. Now I know it's going to be a little hard to believe, and it is quite a funny story," the goddess chuckled, "But I am in fact a Greek god- hey!" she stopped, ducking again to avoid the magician's attack.
"Quit the talking and get to the fighting, rebel scum!" Morgana spat, her hands glowing with magic from the bolt she had just fired. "Come here and fight m-"
"No!" Nerites yelled, interrupting her. "How does it feel to be interrupted now, huh?"
Giving Morgana no time to reply, Nerites raised her arm, flinging a large glob of water at her enemy and taking a step forward. "See?" she began. "It's- not- very- nice, IS IT?" she continued, barraging her with glob after glob and slowly making her way to the sorcerer.
Using the water barrage as cover, the goddess dashed underneath her own projectiles and slid towards Morgana. Blinded by the water, the sorcerer found herself lifted up by the legs, encased in a giant watery bubble.
"Are you... going to play nice now?" Nerites huffed, worn out by the large amount of water she had expulsed in such a short time.
It has been a while since I have done something like this... I should be more careful about tiring myself out.
Regaining her cheery composure, she leveled Morgana's face to hers. "I did want to ask you about something. Quantum was talking about a 'trial' earlier being around here; do you happen to know where - or who - that may be?" she asked. "This rusty old transceiver hasn't been much help."
Her response came in the form of a powerful burst of energy, bursting the water bubble and sending Nerites flying off towards a nearby building. Catching herself mid-flight, the goddess flipped around, shifting into gas form to stop her momentum.
Magic?!
As the purple energy dissipated from around Morgana's body, the sorceress leapt into the air before dashing at an incredible speed towards Nerites.
"You should be careful with that!" she called out, frowning in concern and putting her hands on her hips (a pose which made for a rather funny-looking cloud, she thought). "I've seen many mortals get overwhelmed by this power."
She watched as multiple magic blasts, followed by Morgana herself, shot through her gaseous body before turning around to face the sorceress again. "I'm being very serious, MorganaaaAAAHHH!!"
Nerites flailed around wildly as she fell, having been suddenly and forcibly switched back into her liquid form; and hitting the ground in a loud splash. Moments later, the puddle of water regrouped itself, once again taking the shape of the - now fairly nauseous and irritated - ocean goddess. Coughing, she pounded herself on the chest before hurling out a pingpong-ball-sized glob of purple goop.
What...? She was met with another spike of pain before vomiting out another similar glob. Nerites' mind raced as she tried to register what had just happened. The globs seemed to give the sorceress control over her metamorphosis - even if she was in gas form. Morgana came crashing down in front of her, her arms set alight with two fiery magic swords, her eyes burning with purple energy and her sights set on none other than the water goddess.
Shakily getting back on her legs, Nerites coughed a few more times before clearing her throat. "That was... unpleasant, Morgana." she said, frowning. "But if this is this game you want to play... I am afraid I must play along."
As she spoke these words, the Greek goddess' arms instantly solidified, creating a pair of deadly frozen blades.
"Nos bellum , auguratricis!"
In a blinding burst of speed, Nerites dashed bladefirst into her enemy, the attack just barely being blocked by Morgana's magical barrier. Allowing no time for her opponent to respond, Nerites spun around with her blades, cutting downward and attacking with another slash. This time, the barrier broke, sending sparks of energy flying towards both fighters. Refusing to slow down her attack, Nerites turned around, digging her two ice blades into the ground and pulling out a gigantic chunk of earth. Morgana leaped out of the way as Nerites hurled the rock at her, combining her two swords into one massive Excalibur before slamming it down onto Nerites.
"Saeva magicae, quod tu geris!" Nerites yelled, blocking the giant sword with her own blades. The Excalibur suddenly began turning blue - frozen on contact. Shifting one of her icy swords back into an icy hand, Nerites pulled sharply downwards, sending Morgana flying towards her only to be greeted with an ice-packed punch to the face.
Instantly, Nerites reeled back, watching Morgana's body land in front of her in a crumbled heap. "Oh dear me... I forgot you were a mortal.. Are you still o-"
A stabbing pain in her back suddenly cut her words short. "All this talk about magic and you still fall for illusions." Morgana whispered in her ear, painfully pulling out her sword out of Nerites' back. The latter fell to her hands and knees, coughing violently. "Die!"
Waving the swords off her hands, Morgana pulled her leg back to kick Nerites, the kick only being met with air as the latter transformed into her gas form. In a flash, Nerites reformed behind the sorceress, this time with her own blades poised. "And
you should know that gods cannot die."
Pushing both icy blades through Morgana's abdomen, Nerites raised the sorceress into the air, blasting her away with a powerful jet of water. As she landed a short distance away, the goddess looked around.
"Do you still have any more illusions to throw at me?" Nerites called out. She was met with silence. "...Morgana?"
She turned back around. Where the bodies of the former illusions had fallen, there were now two other bodies: Chris and Quantum.
"N-no..." Nerites gasped. "I didn't mean to- no, no, no no no..." she murmured, clutching her head and falling to her knees. "No no no no no..."
She curled up onto the floor, whimpering. "I'm hurting them, no, no, no...
I've changed, I've changed, I've... changed..."
Unaware of the illusion and purple figure forming behind her, Nerites continued, slowly shifting back to corporeal form. "I'm sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry..."
She never noticed Morgana's figure approach her, or the magic blade raised above her pierce the back of her head.
--------------
Quantum turned around, having been looking out over the skyline of the city. Her eyes went a little wide upon seeing Nerites on the ground, quickly stepping over to her friend and kneeling down besides her.
"Nerites? Nerites, are you... what happened?"
The water goddess slowly looked up. "Q-quantum?" she stuttered, her eyes widening at the sight of her friend.
"Oh Quantum, I'm so, so sorry!" she wailed, wrapping her arms around the cyber-her. "I hurt you, she made me hurt you, Morgana did!"
Blinking a little, Quantum looked down at the woman hugging her, a small smile curling up on her lips, hidden by her helmet as she reached down to paat Nerites' back. "It's... alright, Nerites. It was just a sort of... practice round. It wasn't real."
"It... It wasn't real...?" Nerites stammered. "But I was there! Are you also not real?" she asked, unwrapping her arms.
"No, no, it wasn't!" Quantum raised her hands in front of her in order to calm her friend. "It was just a test. And, uh... I mean, it sounds like you sort of failed it, but... you were a hero here once. I'll make sure you still can be."
"R-right..." the goddess replied, shifting back into a watery form. "I am very sorry, Quantum, I- I need to leave."
"Wait, Nerites. What... happened in there?" Quantum's brow furrowed and she took a small step closer to her friend, reaching out in order to rest her hand on her shoulder.
Merely shaking her head in response, Nerites shrunk down to a puddle, quickly sliding away from Quantum and under the rooftop's railing.