Hecate



 


 

A True Story: Family

 

 

June 13, 2033

9:54 AM

 

It was a good day. A great day, even.

 

Matsuki Takato—no, Adam Kadmon—had everything he had wished for. Everything had ended in the best possible way. His most ambitious work, COSMO_INFERIA, was a resounding success. The former Adam Kadmon had been replaced with EL, the Supreme Administrator.

 

He was not perfect—nothing was—, but he was Supreme.

 

And his beloved Lilith had returned to his side.

 

Of course, this body was Matsuki Takato’s. An artificial Matsuki Takato, but it was him nonetheless. And Matsuki Takato loved Nonaka Rika.

 

Nonaka Rika wanted to be his wife, and his wife she would become, until death do them part. The woman had showed saintly patience. She deserved it, and he did love her.

 

However, it appeared their wedding would have to wait until after Taichi’s. The Sixth Archangel was not up to waiting a second longer to make Shinobu his lawfully wedded wife. After years and years of mind-boggling unawareness of Shinobu’s feelings, it kind of made Takato want to beat the suddenly-impatient man a little.

 

Takako was lot more expressive, and Takato loved her all the more for that. For once, his First Bride’s unsavory attitude made for an accurate reflection of everybody’s thoughts.

 

Furthermore, he had a daughter. A daughter, who was not his biological daughter. A daughter, who was also his wife.

 

His Arisu.

 

His Sophia.

 

It made for some…awkward exchanges between the two. It was obvious to both that—to the relief of everybody else—they would never get intimate with each other in Sophia’s current Incarnation. Nonaka Arisu was a daughter; the most coddled, doted on and pampered daughter in the whole world, but nothing more.

 

It mattered not. True love persisted far beyond physical intimacy.

 

His other Bride knew this better than anyone.

 

His Shekinah. Of the three, she was the one who stayed the closest throughout those past, difficult years. He had never known, but she had always been there, watching over him, anywhere and everywhere, through the eyes of a million souls.

 

She was distant, and respectful; the way she had always been. But sometimes, his eyes would catch Ruki’s across the dining table, and he would always see nothing but affection and devotion.

 

“I’m here,” her eyes always said.

 

He was truly blessed.

 

He had three wonderful Supernal brides, willing to stand aside for one Incarnation so that Matsuki Takato can experience the happiness he dreamed of when he was still human, by the side of his childhood love.

 

But that day was not one of those days. It was not a day to think of the blessings possessed, but of those lost.

 

That day, Matsuki Takato grieved.

 


 

Nonaka Arisu watched the man she called Father from a distance. Her small arms held a stack of texts and notebooks to a chest that would never fully develop.

 

She had already decided to drop out of school. Why would the Supernal Romancia need education? However, that would happen at the end of the current academic year. Until that point, Nonaka Arisu would fulfill her academic duties to the utmost.

 

In other words, Nonaka Arisu was about to do her homework. She had hoped her father would give her a hand.

 

Once again, a completely unnecessary thing. Possessing of knowledge and wisdom surpassed only by the Supreme, the Eternal Child Maiden had no need for assistance.

 

No, she only wanted to be close to that person. The one who made her heart beat the fastest.

 

The one who gave her purpose.

 

Oh, how she longed for his touch! For his lips, for his tender hands and his breath tickling her skin as he whispered sweet nothings to her ears! Oh, how fondly she remembered the one Incarnation they spent together, twelve thousand years ago, as Adam and Eve! Oh, how intensely her body reacted to the remembrance of their love-making in those ancient times!

 

So intimate, so intense, oh so very human!

 

Nonaka Arisu shook her head desperately.

 

It would not do!

 

It would not do to have such teasingly shameless, powerfully tempting, deliciously erotic thoughts—

 

Nonaka Arisu shook her head even faster.

 

It would not do! She had to get a hold of herself, contain her feelings! That minx Lilith could smell sexual excitement from miles—

 

“Well someone is horny this morning.”

 

Aww, fuck me.

 

The Eternal Child Maiden blushed bright red at her blunt use of vulgarity.

 

“Takako,” she said, trying her absolute best and failing at looking calm and just a little bit miffed. “A part of me hoped you would become…”

 

She stopped. She had no idea what she had been trying to say there. But apparently Takako did.

 

“Cleaner? Purer? More maidenly? I cannot fight against my own nature, Sophia.” The shorter girl twirled around Arisu. “Or I should say I do not want to.”

 

She was not the Lilith that first came into being 13.7 billion years ago. She had grown and changed throughout history. She had become something dark and tainted, and almost self-destructed in her obsession to be greater than everything.

 

But in the end, what she had always wanted were those primordial days, when it was just the two of them, husband and wife. It was a little crowded nowadays, but she could live with that.

 

Quoting Takato’s very own words: “This was your complete and absolute victory, Takako.”

 

Yes.

 

By losing, she had won.

 

“So…” she continued; her voice unusually softer. “Are you going to go to him, or are you just going to watch him wistfully from a distance the whole day?” Her suddenly blood red pupils twinkled merrily. “I thought you got past that phase some billion years ago.”

 

“I-I know!” Arisu whined cutely, taking a few steps backwards and away from Takako for some reason. “It’s just, he looks…”

 

“Um,” Lilith nodded. “Today’s that day, after all.”

 

“That day…?”

 

The girl in Gothloli fashion spoke before Arisu could think of retrieving the answer to her unfinished question via Supernal means.

 

“So, if he’s in a gloomy mood, why don’t you go over there and comfort him?”

 

Arisu squeaked when Takako instant-moved behind her back and pushed her not very gently in Takato’s direction.

 

“No, wai-whaaaa! Taka—Li-Lilith! Don’t—why don’t you do it yourself, then!?”

 

“Becaaaaause,” Takako replied even as she insisted in her pushing. “My foolproof method to drag a man out of his funk mostly involves oral sex and…well, you get the idea.”

 

“O-Oral…ugh.”

 

Somehow, Arisu was more disturbed by the fact that she was not bothered at all by those words.

 

Unfortunately for her, the time wasted on Lilith’s antics meant Sophia did not get to monopolize her beloved’s time comforting him.

 


 

Takato had to admit, he was taken by surprise when a certain person sat next to him on the edge of the Nonaka residence’s fair yard.

 

Well, it was not like he constantly relied on his Supreme Awareness, but he better not say that out loud. He would never get Ruki out of his face if she found out he was purposely careless like that, even in peaceful times. Also, he did not want to give people weird ideas.

 

“Athena.”

 

Suzie Wong offered a tender smile to the man she had once crushed on. He still was the person she respected and admired the most. And the bond forged by this particular memory they shared was very precious to her.

 

“Don’t tell me you forgot.”

 

She looked at the object that at some point had appeared in Takato’s hands—the hollow silver dodecahedron pendant that was her last gift of love.

 

“I was her Mama, you know,” Suzie reminded the older man with a voice that threatened to fail her.

 

Takato looked down at the pendant with eyes brimming with sorrow. They had been together so briefly, yet her absence pained him so much…

 

Matsuda Takato had loved her. In a way he had never loved anybody else. It was not like his love for Arisu, which was still tinged in the color of his love for the Eternal Child Maiden.

 

She called him “Papa,” and she stole his heart.

 

Takato squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself not to burst into tears. Suzie quietly leaned on his right side after sparing a glance to the two ladies watching from a distance, as if wordlessly requesting permission to touch their man.

 

“I can bring her back, you know,” Takato admitted. “With this Strophalos, I can bring her back.”

 

“Of course I know.”

 

She now knew as well as everyone else that there was absolutely nothing this man could not do.

 

“Then do it,” Suzie spoke softly, in a tender motherly tone unusual for her. “If you need her, then do it.”

 

Her right hand fell on Takato’s, the tips of her fingers barely touching the edges of the metallic polyhedron.

 

“You are allowed to be selfish. Not because anybody tells you…or because you think it’s the right thing to do. Do it because you want to.”

 

Suzie turned her head to seek Takato’s moistened pupils. A tiny part of her thought he looked positively adorable, like a lost child looking for his mommy.

 

“Do it because you want her.”

 

Takato’s eyes fell once more on the Instrumental Weapon. However, he had already made his choice.

 

He chose to be selfish.

 

“Takako,” he suddenly called out in a loud, firm voice.

 

‘Come, wife. Your husband needs you,’ it said.

 

“Ah!” The Empress of Darkness perked up; all thoughts of teasing Arisu dismissed in an instant. Anyone who looked at her would find it hard to believe that, not too long ago, this girl had lost all hope for this world and was intent on obliterating it.

 

“Yes, onii-chan?”

 

And, yes, she still calls him that.

 

Takato fixated his stare on the girl, who was immediately stunned by the intensity of his eyes. Such is the power of one whose thoughts are fact and words the Supreme Truth.

 

“Takako,” he repeated, his voice loving and commanding and respectful and generous at the same time, and Lilith found herself rubbing her thighs together in delightful discomfort.

 

“Ye-Yes?”

 

The Primum Mobile, center and source of everything, raised and extended his left hand, palm up like a gentleman requesting a dance. Suddenly feeling maidenly and mellow and all those things the whole of Reality not-so-secretly hoped she could be, she reached for the hand with her own, and deliciously painful electricity ran up through her arm when her fingers touched his.

 

“Bear my child, Takako.”

 

Lilith did not hear Arisu face-faulting behind her.

 

“…bweh?”

 


 

Arianne Skovbjerg

“For being my papa...thank you so much. I love you.”

 

Allegiance: None

Motivation: To survive and find joy in a world that seems out to kill her

 

Gender: Female

Age: 10 (at death)

Date of Birth: 19/09/2008

Place of Birth: Odense, Denmark

Nationality: Danish

Civil Status: Single

 

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Gray

Height: 126.8 cm

Weight: 25.3 kg

 


 

Attributes

 

 

Offense: 13 (F)

Agility: 42 (D)

Dexterity: 71 (B)

Stamina: 49 (D+)

Reality/Data Manipulation: 75 (B+)

Reality Reversal: 70 (B)

 

Skills of note: Table manners, Tea preparation

Languages: As an Incarnated Supernal, Arianne was fluent in all modern-day languages. As a member of the Greek Pantheon, she was also versed in ancient Greek and its contemporaries.

 


 

Profile

 

 

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

 

  


 

Performance Log 

 

 

Battles Joined/Won/Lost: 10/7/1

Annihilation Duels: 5

 

Maximum Offensive Power Measured – Format: Power (Technique Used – Date)

Individual: ~7400 (Boundary of Expansion and Contraction – 09.04.2019)

Combination: 24200 (w/ Echo – 13.05.2019)

 

 


 

Supernal Profile 

“Hekate whom Zeus the son of Kronos honoured above all…The son of Kronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea. Also, because she is an only child, the goddess receives not less honour, but much more still, for Zeus honours her.”

--Quoted from Hesiod’s Theogony

 

Supernal Name (Reality Network ID): HEKATE_DEVAT_SAMYA_JARA

Entity Type: Divinity

Supernal Association: Greek Mythos (Cthonic Deity)

 

Supernal Level: 34

Divinity Status: Umbra

 

Agendas*: Autonomy, Boundaries, Crossroads, Dogs, Gates, Herbalism, Liminality, Mysticism, Nursing, Virginity, Witchcraft.

(*)In addition, Hecate once possessed the Agendas of Abundance, the Dead, Magic and the Moon, but they were taken by Lilith on two separate occasions in the past.

 

 


 

Technique Profile – Instrumental Weapons 

 

 

Athame Trioditis – Triune Ritual Talisman of Extinguished Mysteries

(Anti-Unit, --, Melee range)

 

Kleis Khothonós – The Inevitable Future Made Present (κλείς χθονός)

(Anti-Unit, --, Melee range)

 

Nyktipolos – The Folly of Dreaming of the Future at the Expense of the Present (Νυκτιπολος)

(Anti-Unit, --, Melee range)

 

Skylakagetis – The Goddess’ Best Friend (Σκυλακαγετις)

(Support, --, Variable Range)

 

Strophalos – The Living Flame Which Clothes Itself in Matter to Manifest Existence

(Support, --, Personal)

 


 

Technique Profile – Registered Reality Protocols

 

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – All-Dimensional Liminality

Description: Hecate has the privilege of always being allowed to Incarnate, whenever she wants, for she can easily ignore the Boundary between the Higher and Lower Realms. She still needs to present a formal request to SAMYA_JARA if she wants to Incarnate into a specific individual.

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – Boundless Divinity

Description: Hecate’s mastery of Boundaries allows her to ignore the usual limitations of Divinities. Her maximum possible Parameter scores are not limited by the faith or acknowledgement of humans.

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – Magistrix Brand of Mystic Ownership

Description: Hecate’s pride; the Protocol to protect the things precious to her. Hecate has bound the ownership of her Instrumental Weapons not to her Soul—that would not be ‘safe enough’—but to the Boundary between her Soul and the rest of her Existence. It is a unique, irreproducible thing, just like the Soul itself. Thus, her Instrumental Weapons can only be used by herself. This is a perfect defensive effect which overcomes all other effects that allow Supernals to use Instrumental Weapons they could not normally wield. Not even Hecate’s death eliminates this effect, as the configuration of the boundary remains imprinted both in SAMYA_JARA and the Akashic Records. Hecate’s brand can be overcome, but it would demand both an Agenda capable of unraveling boundaries and programming skill surpassing hers.

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – Magistrix Unparalleled

Description: Hecate is truly loved and blessed by the Agenda of Boundaries. Her Reality Manipulation score increases to S-rank when using the Agenda of Boundaries.

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – Only Begotten Maiden

Description: While Incarnated, Hecate’s Parameters are increased by a rank for as long as she remains chaste. This naturally does not stack with Magistrix Unparalleled.

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – Unbound by Death

Description: As the mistress of Boundaries and the Queen of the Dead, Hecate is unaffected by “Instant Death” Techniques, as well as Techniques aimed at disrupting her Incarnation, up to and including Forbidden Instruments such as Thamiel.

 

Magistrix of Boundaries – Undeniable Mastery

Description: Boundaries protects its bond with its chosen. Hecate cannot have the Agenda of Boundaries taken from her, unless by a Supernal who already wields the Agenda of Boundaries.

 


 

Technique Profile – Selected Programs

 

 

Last Lullaby – Na Thumáste óti o Thisaurós (Να θυμάστε ότι ο θησαυρός – Remember that Treasure) 

(Support, --, Touch, Hecate’s Strophalos)

 

Lullaby – To Chámogelo Sas (το χαμόγελό σας – Your Smile)

(Support, --, Touch, one target)

 

Sublime Bounded Field – Canopy of Plutonic Sky 

(Support, --, --, the HAPHVYASHTHARVA Server)

 

Sublime Bounded Field – Positive Feedback Bounded Field

(Support, --, Line-of-sight, One Technique)

 

 


 

Return to The Heavenly Host.

 

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·       Takako once commented that Hecate’s combat style was strongly reminiscent of Sophia’s. She wondered if it was some sort of natural style for little girls. It made sense for them to be similar, as they are two of the most “Wizard-type” Supernals in Existence.

·       Hecate was a powerful goddess in her time and, while her powers have diminished substantially since Ancient Greece, they have also been protected by her prominent position on neo-paganism and her unique Reality Protocols.

·       Furthermore, Hecate knew that she would not be powerful forever. Instead of allowing her Programs to naturally weaken as her divine power diminished, she re-coded them into Instrumental Weapons whose effect is fixed in Reality. Thus, Hecate can still use her most useful skills, as long as she can provide the weapons with enough power.

·       She has had the bad luck of meeting with Lilith twice since the fall of Ancient Greece. Both times she ended up dead and with Agendas and Weapons stolen. Her only consolation is the fact that Lilith can’t use any of her Instrumental Weapons.

·       With the loss of some critical Agendas, Hecate has lost most of the means at her disposal to use external energy sources to power her Techniques and Weapons. Her most reliable and useful Techniques are out of her reach.

·       Her reliance on Boundaries was obvious and well justified, for her skill with that Agenda was without parallel. Takato grew by leaps and bounds just by watching Hecate wielding the Agenda they shared. She fought with extreme efficiency to make the most of her poor stamina and crafted powerful bounded fields with frightening speed. Adding to that her arsenal of Instrumental Weapons, she made for one of the most elegant fighters in the Supernal World.

·       One of her favorite tactics was manipulating the flow of battle so that her enemy ended in a position where the only outcome was self-destruction—Hecate has few “direct damage” Techniques, and they are all rather weak.

·       Her list of victories during the Last Holy War includes (in chronological order): Phainon & Stilbon (at the same time), Móðguðr, Cerberus (not much of a battle, admittedly), Minos (with Cerberus assisting her), Oizys (as part of a battle royal involving Keres as well), Lachesis and Examon of the Royal Knights (fighting alongside Echo).

·       The defeat that led to her end was a brutally efficient ambush by Hermes, who has closely watched Hecate for the longest time and knew how to unravel her defenses for a single, decisive mortal attack.

·       In spite of being one of Reality’s most skilled programmers, the inventor of Innate Script Boundary and the only person besides Adam to craft a Reality Script for someone else, Hecate never wrote a Reality Script of her own.