-Michelle Obama

"This one is good, but… did you have something in red?"

"Most of our stock is diamond, sir… I apologize, but this branch of our store is a smaller one. We do not stock many gems for customizing in cosmetic aspects, only for utility. Springfield is certainly a well-known city, but it is not one of our busier outlets for vanity items." The slightly older man, though appearing no more aged than his late twenties, sighed as he explained to John for surely the fifth time why the "Family Jewels" stock was so limited in terms of variety of colors and styles.

"I know, I know, just…" John sighed as he glanced over the ring. It was beautiful to be sure; the entire ring itself was crafted out of diamond, which would have been an immensely valuable object itself in the mundane world, but here it was little more than a footnote. Instead, here in the Abyss, the real price tag came from the embedded diamond - which although smaller, was crafted and woven with mana to hold spells and enchantments, allowing a user to spend their mana and store a spell for later use directly, to store a lesser amount of free mana, or any combination of the two.

"Perhaps I could request something from another of our stores? Checking inventory and delivery should only take a week at most."

"No, it isn't that important," John said quietly, glancing over the ring. He hated to say it, but the more he thought about it, the more that conclusion stuck with him. His original thought to buy the biggest, most ridiculous diamond he could when he first spotted the Abyss Marketplace in Springfield had already turned into buying something more meaningful and more significant. Letting the perfect color and style he had envisioned fade out of his mind was a bit harder… but it was growing easier the more John thought about things.

He'd intended to propose to Seras with this ring, but a proposal and vows felt like they would fall short of exactly what Seras meant to him. Marriage seemed so mundane, so insignificant - a ceremony of mundane religions, backed up by legal rights in mundane society… but the ring could still mean something, certainly. He only had to put aside his shallow beliefs in an ancient tradition and place more meaning on the object. John checked the price tag again - a cool six million, still short of his actual budget, and though the thought of returning all of Moira's mana gems was a bit tempting, he felt obligated not to short change his vampiric lover.

"Do you have anything like this, but perhaps with some kind of stealth enchantments built in? Something that would make the ring easy to hide, or make it not hinder in combat? The person I want to buy it for uses a gun, so if it affects their grip, it's gonna take a long time to get used to."

"Ah, that we can do - a gathering of mercenaries passed through here a few weeks ago after aiding the Crystalis up north. They had a collection of some low-grade enchanted jewelry, I seem to remember a particular ring…"

The man waved his hand and one of the boxes against the wall - not too unlike safety deposit boxes - ejected outward and exposed a new accessory. He gently lifted free a crystalline ring, its entire form one interwoven mixture of what almost looked as clear as glass, but was clearly more durable, and by the way the man handled it, far more valuable. It took John a full moment to realize the entire ring was made of diamond - band and all.

"This ring in particular was something they had apparently outclassed with most of their equipment, but otherwise is quite a valuable piece for a novice. It has a limited space for mana, even more limited for structured spells, but there is a powerful stealth enchantment over it - apparently the mage they eventually took this piece off of valued it greatly, and they spent more time concealing the gem than prepping it for any kind of combat. Must have had some kind of sentimental value. They only found it because he happened to be wearing it; if it was sitting in a drawer untouched it could have lain unnoticed for years, maybe decades.

“Worn on a finger this gem is intangible to others, and mildly concealed to scrying and detection - when placed in a pocket or otherwise unworn, this ring becomes tangible but remains invisible, and redirects its energies to remaining completely undetectable to all but the most powerful of magic. Only the user can see it when it isn’t on their finger; as I said, the only reason they found it at all was because the mage they killed was wearing it when he died, and so they were able to detect it while searching for magical artifacts thanks to its lowered shielding.

“When unworn, it would take a high-level aura reader or another mage specialized in sensing magic to find it, and even then they might have to be looking for it actively. Otherwise you’d have to know what you were looking for and just sort of feel around - god forbid some eccentric recluse died with this in one of his storage rooms. Anyway, not sure how useful that stealth bit will be to you, but it's intangible to anyone but the user’s flesh while worn - it won't affect the grip of any weapon, whether it's a firearm or otherwise. Enchantment keeps it from shredding or fusing with anything like gloves or trigger guards if it should come off while it should be inside of something else, though.”

"That sounds outstanding. What price range are we looking at for this ring?"

"Well, that type of enchantment is normally quite popular - but only when the ring itself is actually valuable, and the ring's actual capacity for other enchantments is reduced even further after having so much space reserved for that persistent enchantment… I was going to consider sending this off to our headquarters to have the enchantment removed so I could sell it as a decent mana battery for maybe twelve or thirteen million, but if you save me the trouble of shipping it off and having it worked on, I could probably part with it for around… nine million?"

"I'll give you ten, if you promise lifetime resizing options and repair for any damage done to the physical parts of the ring," John said, smirking. It was a fool's trade - his own Crafting probably could handle changing the size of a ring with the proper materials, it certainly wasn't worth the price of an additional twenty mana gems. But John had a quest to complete, and he didn't feel like haggling over a few mana gems. Rounding it up to an even ten million not only assured his Find Your Own Path sub-quest got completed, but he also saw the shopkeeper's eyes lighting up as he said the number.

"A done deal," the man said eagerly, reaching out and forcefully shaking John's hand. "I assume you have the payment on hand? Or shall I place it on hold?"

"Now will be fine," John noted, holding out a hand. One massive feature of his inventory he'd never had an opportunity to note before realized itself - instead of a pile of dollar bills and mana gems falling out of his hand, a massive burlap sack manifested itself, filled with all the items he had conjured forth. The man did not seem especially surprised to see the actual appearance of the cloth bag, but he was eager and ready when John finally laid it down on the countertop. The man quickly opened the bag and began to count through the bills utilizing a strange magical counting device, which was very similar to bill counters John had seen at his bank, save that it had such a wide mouth it could even accept the blue-tinted gems that poured free of the bags opening when he tilted it.

"Comes up to an even ten million," the man said happily, turning to John with a smile as he plucked the ring free of its display and offered it to the Gamer. "Glad to have your business! Please remember your Family Jewels when you're looking to take care of what's precious to you!"

"Thanks," John said, smiling widely as he took the ring and strode for the door.

"This 'market' of yours is quite strange, the more time I spend here," Sophia noted, glancing around. "So many people with such valuable items, and yet so many of them so very weak. You could have easily killed that man and taken every item in his shop that was not protected by magic, yet instead you barter with him for these 'currencies' you have told me of. And were you to decide to take what is rightfully yours by virtue of strength, these other armored warriors would stop you, although they own nothing that you have taken?"

"Don't your nests ever work together?" John noted, raising an eyebrow. "I get the whole 'might is right' kind of thing, but don't you ever team up against a greater threat? What happens if two nests are in danger from a bigger, badder predator, and they could kill it together, but not alone?"

"There is no predator alive who could have threatened a Harpy nest where I came from," Sophia said confidently, proudly lifting her chin. Were she any more avian, John would have sworn she was preening as she tucked her chin toward her shoulder.

"What about working against other nests?"

"It would depend on the leader of each nest," Sophia said, her voice becoming more contemplative. "Were a particular leader in control of the more powerful nest known for being a particularly brutal leader, it's possible that two lesser nests would agree to a duel in which the victor controlled both nests so that they could unite against the third. But I cannot think of a time when a superior leader agreed to ally with a lesser Harpy in a temporary manner to protect their own nest. The strong take what they will, and the weak can only try to improve."

"Once again, I'm somewhat thankful to introduce you to a more merciful world. Should our world ever grow that brutal, you'll be the first I call upon, though," John noted as they exited the market's Barrier, once more loading into their car.

"You sound insincere, Father."

"It's called sarcasm, Sophia. Let's make that our next conversation. For now, let's head back to the Order's Manor. I want to see about utilizing that drone of Tricia's before we go back."

---

"Why do you need to contact your realm from here? Are you concerned about something?"

"No, but I needed to get a hold of an item, so I was going to teleport Seras here - I just want to make sure that she has it on her when I call her down."

"Strange of you to not have something so important on you," Tricia noted, though without even looking his way she was already sending a drone toward him. "Given your limitless inventory space."

"It was something I'd been working on; I needed to wait until it was finished, but I didn't want to just wait around in the other world. Thanks for the help by the way."

"Of course," Tricia said, her voice still level. "I'll send a signal to direct the drone to locate Seras."

John mumbled his thanks, amazed at Tricia. He had arrived on short notice and apparently interrupted her in the middle of what looked like a repair or upgrade process on one of her drones, and yet with the control of her mind, voice, and suit alone she had two separate monitors running experiments, two more running online games, and yet she was still easily managing her drone work while conversing with John.

"Alright, let's see how long this takes."

Not that long, actually. As it turned out, Tricia's drone was already in the process of scanning over Vallya and Kiko, doing sweeping runs over the two. As soon as the screen booted on for John to see the last run, it aborted the mission and peeled off, heading toward the house. Leaning against the door frame, Seras' eyes were at first glazed over as she glanced upon the scene before her, but when Tricia's drone turned toward her, Seras glanced up with interest.

"Hey, Seras, it's John."

"Oh, 'ey, uh… Mastah? That really you in there?" Seras asked, quirking an eyebrow at the drone.

"Sure is. Uh, I left with Sophia this morning, we just added Vallya to the team, I asked you to keep a hold of something while I was gone… that recent enough evidence?" John asked, realizing the dilemma was how much of their conversations Tricia had recorded, since her drones were usually nearby.

"Yeah, good 'nuff for me," Seras said, shrugging. "What's up? You comin' 'ome soon?"

"Sure, but first I wanna see about delivering that thing to its rightful owner," John said, trying to keep his voice level while still emphasizing the Portal Stone enough to make sure Seras was absolutely certain what he was referring to.

"Oh, that thing? Yeah, sure, had it in my pocket the 'ole time," Seras said, shrugging with indifference. "Vallya's just kinda sat around with the kittens and the Nekos, she and Kiko really seem to like playin' with 'em, nothin' too crazy yet. She seems to be takin' things pretty well, honestly, even bettah than Leriana."

"Great," John said honestly, nodding enthusiastically as he conjured up his mana. "Get ready for a transport, then. Gonna pull you through so you can bring the object, then we'll be back in a couple minutes."

"Right, be ready on your call!"

The "call" only took an instant; John pressed the drone away so he was sure the space was clear, then he activated his Summoner's Warp ability and brought Seras into their world. The vampiress popped into the world as if she'd always been there, blinking a few times as she glanced around before reaching toward her pocket.

"Righ', got it over 'ere, just in case-"

"Shh, shhh," John hushed Seras, putting his hand on her wrist to keep her from pulling the stone out from her pocket. While his lover quirked an eyebrow at him, she stopped the motion in its tracks and only gave him a quizzical stare, letting her arm relax until John finally released it.

"Let me get it," John whispered, reaching into Seras' pocket and touching his fingers on the smooth surface of the Portal Stone. As soon as he was sure that he had grabbed the right object, John willed it into his inventory, feeling the mass under his fingertips vanish into that ethereal space. All the same he checked his inventory to be sure that the Portal Stone was safe before turning around to face Tricia. The young Gorbachev had already refocused herself on the task of her repairs, not even bothering to cast a glance in John's direction as he strode toward her.

"So, Tricia… I'm gonna head back to my realm soon," John said, perhaps a bit too loudly to be inconspicuous. Tricia didn't bother addressing his volume though, merely raising an eyebrow as she screwed a new component into place.

"I had assumed you would, though I can't imagine why you've chosen my laboratory as the place for such abrupt arrivals and departures. Given the frequency of your transitions I can only assume your abilities prevent matter overlap during dimensional warps in the same way basic Barriers do not allow one material to be shunted inside of another, but your casual disregard for the dangers of tampering with the fundamentals of space and time still astounds me, John."

"Yes, well…" John stammered, caught off-guard by Tricia's scientific and utterly blunt regard for him, "while you … probably?... have a point, I was more saying that I want to accomplish something before I return. Something to do with you."

Though Tricia was busy with her job, she bothered to spare an entire glance for the approaching John Newman, a half-amused grin covering her face for a moment before her eyes fell back to the machine and the emotion faded with a beeping sound from her suit.

"Now I'm concerned. Please tell me you do not have another quest…"

"N-no!" John said hastily, his voice nearly cracking at the mention of how well his last quest had gone. "I, uh, I've been grinding out a lot of training lately, and got a few things done around my world."

"I noticed. Your new creations are as curious as the rest, but so far I have discovered nothing concerning or unusual about any of them. Though my drones have indicated some kind of an anomaly with your newest - the fox woman?"

"Kitsune," John provided, a furrow growing on his brow as Tricia continued.

"Kitsune then," Tricia acknowledged. "Something is unique about her. My drones pinged an anomaly but they're currently working on discovering exactly what it is."

"We should talk about that sometime… but later. Right now, I need to tell you what I've been working on besides the new creatures. It's something I told you about a while back, but I only just got around to finishing. I brought you a present, Tricia."

John very conspicuously held his hand behind his back, drawing Tricia's attention to it by wiggling back and forth.

"…John, I really am very busy at the moment. If this is a joke, I-"

"It's not a joke, Tricia. I… I've been trying really hard to keep my word, even if I sometimes make big promises. Took a lot of time and a full skill revamp to get this one under my belt though. Spent days fighting nothing but golems too. Gets pretty old fighting a bunch of rocks held together by arcane energy, you know. But it was worth it for someone like you."

"Flattering, but this really is taking away from my-"

"Alright, you're really taking the fun out of this," John sighed, shaking his head. "Here you go, Tricia."

John produced the perfectly smooth orb from his inventory with a flourish and extended his hand, revealing it to Tricia. The Gorbachev looked somewhat underwhelmed at first, though the drone she was working on did helpfully begin to scan the rock.

"Yes, you've brought me a rock. I will assume it has some kind of special property… but at the moment, this drone remains the more concerning work. It continues to scan things I have not ordered it to, audio and video feeds are unreliable, and I am quite certain I have finally managed to repair this one of all the damage done to it during the **** on my former home. At least, nothing seems faulty…"

"Look, the buggy drone can wait just a little bit," John said, flourishing the orb again purposefully. "This is what I promised to you. I know it's been a while, but… this stone can bring you to my world. No need for me to shuttle you back and forth. No prison. This is the closest I can get to giving you freedom and safety, Tricia. It's yours."

"John, I- you created such an enchantment? Didn't anyone tell you how dangerous that would be?"

"You, Moira, and Kim. I'm pretty stubborn," John said, grinning a toothy grin. Tricia seemed frozen in place now, eyes firmly locked on the rock. One of her suited hands lifted slightly toward it, then stopped abruptly. John took the opportunity to thrust the stone out and gingerly place it into her palm, gripping her hand with both of his own to close her fingers around the stone.

"John, this much responsibility, this much trust… what have I done to deserve this?"

"I told you, Tricia. I want to change the world," John said, pulling his hands away. Tricia's started to waver slightly, but she held the stone. John tried to steady his own voice, wanting to sound as confident as he always felt when he thought about what he wanted to do.

"That doesn't just mean wars. It doesn't just mean stopping the bad people. It means helping the good ones too. You are good, Tricia. I can see that in you every day. I see a great woman, trapped by the power of her own bloodline, **** to hide herself away behind suits and emotional inhibitors and her own advanced technology she develops just so she can feel normal. I can't fix that. I can't help you yet, I'm not strong enough for that. But I can… I can give you back something you lost. I can give you a safe place, and offer it to you as a place to call home, when you need it."

"But I haven't even helped you properly understand your abilities," Tricia mumbled. Her hands were still lightly shaking, and she pulled the stone closer to her chest, clutching it to make sure she wouldn't drop it. "I haven't even managed to find any more details on your Shard, and Moira always has me doing work for the Order. I haven't done anything worthy of this."

"Of course you have, Tricia," John said with a soft smile, reaching out. Gently, a single knuckle wiped away a tear forming at the corner of Tricia's eye. "You were my friend. And you needed help. That's all it ever took."

"John Newman… you really will change the world. In just one gift you've already changed mine."

"Well, I appreciate the confidence," John said wryly, letting a low chuckle fall out. "But you haven't even decided if you're comfortable using this stone yet."

"Confidence?"

"Of course I'll use this stone. You are the first person I've trusted in years, John. I was afraid of being trapped in your world… but how can a woman trust in a guardian, when all she has ever known were jailors?"

"Tricia, you never have to worry about being jailed again so long as I'm here. I will always fight to free you," John said intensely, kneeling down to be more level with the seated Gorbachev. "And also, how are you talking without moving your lips half the time?"

"Without moving my-" Tricia froze in place, but her words seemed to continue as clearly as if she never stopped.

"Wait, is that how he heard… confidence and jailors-"

"John, it is highly improper to be reading others' minds without permission!" Tricia said, fumbling the orb around her side and over to the table. One of her drones flew over and grabbed the item, setting it on a nearby shelf while Tricia returned her gaze to John.

"Tricia, I swear I don't have any technique like that!"

"How else would he be reading my thoughts?"

"How else would you be reading my thoughts, John?"

"I- I don't know! Something changed just now, but you're not holding the stone so that can't be it."

"Something changed…"

Tricia's brows furrowed as she stood from her chair rapidly, half-running over to one of her computers. While she typed furiously a pair of drones sprinted over to her and began to run their scanning mechanisms over her body.

"I was too overcome to notice…"

"Notice what? What made you suddenly become-"

Tricia turned toward John as her suit started to peel back, the false clothing and the latex underpinnings of the nanosuit pulling away to reveal a large section of skin over her left shoulder and back. There, a new eye stretched over the top of her shoulder and down across a small part of her upper back.

"Okay, how did you not notice that? I feel like the blinking against the suit would just feel… awkward," John admitted, still leaning in closer. The eye was almost identical to Tricia's own save that the irises were golden, and that eight lines spaced equally apart emanated from the irises and continued along the entirety of the visible whites, giving the eye an almost wagon-wheel appearance.

"It isn't every day that one is given the gift of freedom by a boy she might-"

"This suit is adapted quite well to the appearance of my eyes. While I dare not unleash them due to my inability to control them, Gorbachev technology is adapted well to our physiology. It does not greatly hurt nor become uncomfortable when concealing our eyes."

The eye had already started to fade, leaving John to frown slightly. Whatever had brought the eye on, it had faded far faster than the times Tricia had lost control over her anger or sadness.

"It already vanished? Seems like you've got this one under control."

"That's because it was Hatiya," Tricia said quietly. "The eye is associated generally with positive emotions, in this specific case… hope. Hope fades quickly in this world, John Newman."

Tricia's suit flowed back over her shoulder as she closed the distance between them. She reached out and put her hand upon his face, resting only her fingertips on his cheek.

"But this is the most I've had in a long time. Thank you."