John was walking down the street, alone in the act. He was heading for the clothes store he had been in with Rave yesterday. Not that it had to be that specific clothes store, it was just the only one John knew in this city.

Of course, he wasn’t actually alone. ‘I hope you are comfortable down there,’ John spoke to Aclysia, hiding in the inner pocket of his jacket. ‘It is satisfactory, master,’ Aclysia answered; her tone didn’t betray it, but John could feel her happiness. Now where that happiness came from, whether it was because she was this close to him, because she finally had him to herself or a whole different reason, that remained a mystery.

The reason for this unorthodox way of transportation was quite simple: in her dress, Aclysia was a weird sight. Now, that had already been true back in Springfield, but since then summer had passed, and a cosplayer in a flimsy goth-maid styled dress raised enough eyebrows in the warm seasons already. Having her run around like usual was, therefore, going to be a bit troublesome, either because of people being weirded out and therefore Gaia being angry or because of kind strangers wondering if she wasn’t suffering from the cold.

John wasn’t willing to deal with either, so Aclysia shrunk and hid in his jacket. There had been the alternative solution of ordering some clothes from the auction. That would have meant they just bought clothes without her trying them on first, though, and that was half the fun of it.

‘That you thought I would get angry because you wanted a new outfit is adorable,’ John teased Aclysia while he was walking along. ‘I mean, I love that cosplay, but I have made concessions before.’

There were a lot of things great about the dress that 2B wore in Nier:Automata: it was stylish and sexy, from the leathery stockings ending in high heels, over the gloves, the decorative frays just below the elbow, to the white embroidery on the black cloth, and it gave John an almost unobstructed view of Aclysia’s bubble butt. For the same reasons it was slightly problematic, though; functionality was not one of those great things. The flimsy extensions below the elbow got in the way, so John allowed her to shorten those; the high-heels were not exactly great to run or fight with, therefore Aclysia changed those to solid boots instead, and even though it hurt his fragile heart, he had allowed her to increase the skirt-length… in public. All of that made it a workable combat outfit.

‘I am sorry, Master, but you always seem to be so happy when you see me in these clothes,’ Aclysia said.

‘That’s true, but mainly I am happy to see you,’ John answered instinctively and got a wave of that fluttery feeling, that indescribable and hard to grasp concept of love, from Aclysia.

‘Is that true?’ Aclysia probed, her mental voice beaming.

Of course, it was, they both knew, but if she wanted to hear it again, John was happy to oblige. ‘I am always happy to see you, doesn’t matter what you wear or what you are doing,’ John expanded on his earlier statement. ‘I love you, Aclysia.’

‘I love you too, Master,’ came the cotton-candy-sweet answer. She entangled her thoughts with his. For a moment, they were as one, connected by the unison of their feelings, a warm, wonderful moment. In that mere second, her presence was enough to relax him through and through, his heart and thoughts brimming with happiness. Even the cold air he was striding through was forgotten, only the heat of their love existed, entirely distanced from any worldly aches or desires.

Then the fact that they were not the same set in again. Differences in thoughts made them drift apart, breaking the moment of complete synchronicity. They fell back into their usual thought patterns, connected, but not the same.

John wondered if what he just experienced had been real or just an illusion. He had experienced similar moments in the past, but those had been with his elementals, who were an actual part and extension of his soul.

Aclysia was made by him and directly connected to his mind, but not part of it. Did that mean he was so accustomed to Aclysia that she had overcome that hurdle and their bond resembled the one between him and his elementals more than between him and Momo? That idea didn’t seem far-fetched in the slightest.

‘That was wonderful,’ Aclysia whispered.

‘It was indeed,’ John agreed; their thoughts touched again, but didn’t reach even near that level of unison. It reminded him a lot of the wisdoms of the elemental girls. Each time he had learnt a bit about the elements they embodied, and each time he had a moment of enlightenment, only to ‘forget’ most of it. He still learnt a lot, kept parts of the understanding he achieved, but he had never reached that same initial height.

Thanks to his elemental wisdom, he could feel slight changes in the air, in the ground under his feet, the flickering of flames was an almost predictable pattern to him and sometimes he heard the waters whisper their path to him. His understanding of the elements wasn’t good enough to make sense of any of these things yet, but he was learning.

‘I wonder if I will be able to smell the weather change two days in advance, if this continues,’ John thought about the ceiling of his powers. Nathalia had told him that his potential paralleled that of Romulus, who was widely acclaimed to be a figurative god in a world that had literal gods, somebody only second to Gaia. Seeing how he himself was already able to turn a square kilometre of woodlands into an upheaved dirt field (given a few hours of mana regeneration), John could only marvel at what he could eventually accomplish. He was powerful, stupendously so, but the way his ability worked also meant that he had to think a lot about how to spend his Stat points. Not something he wanted to concentrate on right now, however, especially as something glimmered in the corner of his vision.

John stopped dead in his tracks.

‘What is wrong, master?’ Aclysia asked as he turned to face a simple grey wall.

‘I just thought I saw something,’ John explained and narrowed his eyes until the wall shifted. Simple grey stone slowly vanished, revealing something behind it; it was like his eyes slowly got accustomed to a dark room, and now he could see the door. ‘Knew it!’ he thought and stepped closer. He had encountered this trick, to shield a door leading into an Illusion Barrier from the eyes of normal people, before, back when he had first visited the hospital in his hometown. Time to Observe where this one led.

‘Bingo,’ John thought and walked towards the door. With a real shop, John would have had to pull some tricks, just so Aclysia could be inside. He wouldn’t encounter that in a place affiliated with the Abyss, as Gaia had no justification to get annoyed at him no matter what he did in there. He pulled at the handle and stepped inside.

Where the door had been in the wall of a boring grey office building, John was now suddenly inside the entrance area of a giant mall. The floor was covered with enormous, yellow tiles and the occasional rug laying in front of a store, displaying various slogans that nobody bothered to read.

Advancing a little brought them to a vast, circular walkway around a deep hole. A glass barrier with a wooden railing, about thigh-high, was all that separated the busy people all around from falling down the hole. Walking up to it, John got a good view of it all. Both above and below, there were several more floors, connected to this one via platforms that hovered up and down on a sheet of blueish energy. They docked at stations positioned on each of the cardinal directions of the circle.

What was even more fascinating than this display of magic architecture were the people running around. Humans made up the majority, and although a well-known appearance, these alone differed wildly. There were humans with wizard hats and star-speckled, blue robes, rugged mercenaries and knights in shining armour. Some had arms made from metal and plastic, bionic in appearance, one of them even looked like he was only a human head on a completely artificial body, a blue pulsating crystal in his chest.

There were a lot of non-humans around as well. Predominantly elves, from the blonde haired, fair skinned to the dark elf kind, but also dwarves, with thick beards and even thicker accents, goblins and other fantasy races. John even spied a skaven weaselling about, although the most alien thing was probably an octopus-man wearing a business suit, desperately trying to not fall over as its boneless body wobbled about.

Without a worry, John sat down on one of the many padded benches and pulled Aclysia out. Nobody even took notice of him, or the slowly growing artificial guardian at his side. ‘Seems I am not as big a deal as everyone made me think,’ John realized.

This was really his first encounter with the day-to-day life of Abyssals. Aside from the fact that the tech-shops here were called mana-and-magic-shops instead and that the clothes shops also had armours and enchantments, it wasn’t that different from a normal mall.

Maybe he was a somewhat big deal in the upper-echelons of society, a newcomer with a strong ability to keep an eye on, just to not run into any surprises in the future. To the common folk, however, he was of no importance. Whether he would eventually take over any part of the world or not was unlikely to have an effect on them.

Same couldn’t be said about Lydia however, the princess was staring at him from an electronic billboard that rolled advertisements and news. ‘Brandenburgian Heiress to hold a press conference this evening in regards to tomorrow's election,’ read the headline, framing a complimentary photo of the princess’ iron side.

The next thing on the billboard showed a discount for mana batteries at the local store, quality guaranteed by the Hohenzollern family. John realized just how much damage he could do, by outing the princess as a low-key pervert with a love for anal, for the first time. Before it had been this vague consequence, now it slowly dawned on him how big her public persona was. He knew that ‘empress’ wasn’t a title one wanted because they were bored on a Friday, but seeing it was a whole different matter.

Then again, he was also using his mundane sensibilities, who knew how many people actually cared about the sexual behaviours of Abyssal leadership?

Aclysia tugged on his jacket once she had reached her designated ‘normal’ size. “I am shopping ready, John,” she said. He smiled. “What is it?” Aclysia tilted her head with a puzzled expression.

“Nothing, just not used to you using my name,” he elaborated.

“Is it uncomfortable? In…”

“No, no, it’s fine,” John hastily informed her.

“…this setting I can keep calling you Master, but I thought we were in public so I went with your name. Understood,” Aclysia finished her sentence without a care before bowing her head in affirmation. “I’ll consider this a normal public situation and keep calling you by your name then, John,” she said with a cheeky smile.

“Is your social understanding still bad or are you being funny with me?” John probed, putting his arms around the artificial guardian, pulling her back against his chest.

“Both?” Aclysia answered with a question, the side of her face resting on his shoulder. John breathed the aroma of her hair, it reminded him of the smell of a freshly unwrapped book or videogame, something new, clean and something he desperately wanted to play with.

“I fear you might be unable to concentrate on shopping, John,” Aclysia said, feeling her creators growing lust against her back.

“What about you, though; your feelings are pretty obvious,” John countered; he wasn’t the only one growing more heated by this contact. “I would be satisfied with a kiss, John,” she proposed.

John hugged her more tightly and pressed his lips on the top of her head. “Like this?” he asked, with a teasing grin.

“No,” Aclysia turned her head, her green eyes coming into view. She too was smiling, although the curve of her lips was faint, compared to his toothy grin. “Like this,” she whispered, gently placing a hand on his cheek and guiding him to her lips.

Unbothered by the eyes of potential onlookers, they kissed. Barely held back passion, to be spent away from the public eye, and overwhelming love was conveyed in this simple motion. John’s arms wrapped around her waist; Aclysia snuggled up to him. They spent a solid minute just entertaining their hearts’ desire.

“Okay, if we don’t stop now, I will have to have you, in the restroom if nowhere else is available,” John threatened in a quiet tone.

“If that is your desire,” Aclysia bit her lip, unwilling to deny that possibility. “Oh no, you are not putting this decision on me,” John denied her that easy out. “Today is your day.”

Aclysia stared up at him; he looked back. Her face was blank; he was still wearing a grin. Aclysia opened her mouth, to answer. He was ready for whatever she wanted to say.

A quickie in a public restroom followed.

John was walking down the street, alone in the act. He was heading for the clothes store he had been in with Rave yesterday. Not that it had to be that specific clothes store, it was just the only one John knew in this city. Of course, he wasn't actually alone. I hope you are comfortable down there,' John spoke to Aclysia, hiding in the inner pocket of his jacket. It is satisfactory, master,' Aclysia answered; her tone didn't betray it, but John could feel her happiness. Now where that happiness came from, whether it was because she was this close to him, because she finally had him to herself or a whole different reason, that remained a mystery. The reason for this unorthodox way of transportation was quite simple: in her dress, Aclysia was a weird sight. Now, that had already been true back in Springfield, but since then summer had passed, and a cosplayer in a flimsy goth-maid styled dress raised enough eyebrows in the warm seasons already. Having her run around like usual was, therefore, going to be a bit troublesome, either because of people being weirded out and therefore Gaia being angry or because of kind strangers wondering if she wasn't suffering from the cold. John wasn't willing to deal with either, so Aclysia shrunk and hid in his jacket. There had been the alternative solution of ordering some clothes from the auction. That would have meant they just bought clothes without her trying them on first, though, and that was half the fun of it. That you thought I would get angry because you wanted a new outfit is adorable,' John teased Aclysia while he was walking along. I mean, I love that cosplay, but I have made concessions before.' There were a lot of things great about the dress that 2B wore in Nier:Automata: it was stylish and sexy, from the leathery stockings ending in high heels, over the gloves, the decorative frays just below the elbow, to the white embroidery on the black cloth, and it gave John an almost unobstructed view of Aclysia's bubble butt. For the same reasons it was slightly problematic, though; functionality was not one of those great things. The flimsy extensions below the elbow got in the way, so John allowed her to shorten those; the high-heels were not exactly great to run or fight with, therefore Aclysia changed those to solid boots instead, and even though it hurt his fragile heart, he had allowed her to increase the skirt-length in public. All of that made it a workable combat outfit. I am sorry, Master, but you always seem to be so happy when you see me in these clothes,' Aclysia said. That's true, but mainly I am happy to see you,' John answered instinctively and got a wave of that fluttery feeling, that indescribable and hard to grasp concept of love, from Aclysia. Is that true?' Aclysia probed, her mental voice beaming. Of course, it was, they both knew, but if she wanted to hear it again, John was happy to oblige. I am always happy to see you, doesn't matter what you wear or what you are doing,' John expanded on his earlier statement. I love you, Aclysia.' I love you too, Master,' came the cotton-candy-sweet answer. She entangled her thoughts with his. For a moment, they were as one, connected by the unison of their feelings, a warm, wonderful moment. In that mere second, her presence was enough to relax him through and through, his heart and thoughts brimming with happiness. Even the cold air he was striding through was forgotten, only the heat of their love existed, entirely distanced from any worldly aches or desires. Then the fact that they were not the same set in again. Differences in thoughts made them drift apart, breaking the moment of complete synchronicity. They fell back into their usual thought patterns, connected, but not the same. John wondered if what he just experienced had been real or just an illusion. He had experienced similar moments in the past, but those had been with his elementals, who were an actual part and extension of his soul. Aclysia was made by him and directly connected to his mind, but not part of it. Did that mean he was so accustomed to Aclysia that she had overcome that hurdle and their bond resembled the one between him and his elementals more than between him and Momo? That idea didn't seem far-fetched in the slightest. That was wonderful,' Aclysia whispered. It was indeed,' John agreed; their thoughts touched again, but didn't reach even near that level of unison. It reminded him a lot of the wisdoms of the elemental girls. Each time he had learnt a bit about the elements they embodied, and each time he had a moment of enlightenment, only to forget' most of it. He still learnt a lot, kept parts of the understanding he achieved, but he had never reached that same initial height. Thanks to his elemental wisdom, he could feel slight changes in the air, in the ground under his feet, the flickering of flames was an almost predictable pattern to him and sometimes he heard the waters whisper their path to him. His understanding of the elements wasn't good enough to make sense of any of these things yet, but he was learning. I wonder if I will be able to smell the weather change two days in advance, if this continues,' John thought about the ceiling of his powers. Nathalia had told him that his potential paralleled that of Romulus, who was widely acclaimed to be a figurative god in a world that had literal gods, somebody only second to Gaia. Seeing how he himself was already able to turn a square kilometre of woodlands into an upheaved dirt field given a few hours of mana regeneration, John could only marvel at what he could eventually accomplish. He was powerful, stupendously so, but the way his ability worked also meant that he had to think a lot about how to spend his Stat points. Not something he wanted to concentrate on right now, however, especially as something glimmered in the corner of his vision. John stopped dead in his tracks. What is wrong, master?' Aclysia asked as he turned to face a simple grey wall. I just thought I saw something,' John explained and narrowed his eyes until the wall shifted. Simple grey stone slowly vanished, revealing something behind it; it was like his eyes slowly got accustomed to a dark room, and now he could see the door. Knew it!' he thought and stepped closer. He had encountered this trick, to shield a door leading into an Illusion Barrier from the eyes of normal people, before, back when he had first visited the hospital in his hometown. Time to Observe where this one led. Bingo,' John thought and walked towards the door. With a real shop, John would have had to pull some tricks, just so Aclysia could be inside. He wouldn't encounter that in a place affiliated with the Abyss, as Gaia had no justification to get annoyed at him no matter what he did in there. He pulled at the handle and stepped inside. Where the door had been in the wall of a boring grey office building, John was now suddenly inside the entrance area of a giant mall. The floor was covered with enormous, yellow tiles and the occasional rug laying in front of a store, displaying various slogans that nobody bothered to read. Advancing a little brought them to a vast, circular walkway around a deep hole. A glass barrier with a wooden railing, about thigh-high, was all that separated the busy people all around from falling down the hole. Walking up to it, John got a good view of it all. Both above and below, there were several more floors, connected to this one via platforms that hovered up and down on a sheet of blueish energy. They docked at stations positioned on each of the cardinal directions of the circle. What was even more fascinating than this display of magic architecture were the people running around. Humans made up the majority, and although a well-known appearance, these alone differed wildly. There were humans with wizard hats and star-speckled, blue robes, rugged mercenaries and knights in shining armour. Some had arms made from metal and plastic, bionic in appearance, one of them even looked like he was only a human head on a completely artificial body, a blue pulsating crystal in his chest. There were a lot of non-humans around as well. Predominantly elves, from the blonde haired, fair skinned to the dark elf kind, but also dwarves, with thick beards and even thicker accents, goblins and other fantasy races. John even spied a skaven weaselling about, although the most alien thing was probably an octopus-man wearing a business suit, desperately trying to not fall over as its boneless body wobbled about. Without a worry, John sat down on one of the many padded benches and pulled Aclysia out. Nobody even took notice of him, or the slowly growing artificial guardian at his side. Seems I am not as big a deal as everyone made me think,' John realized. This was really his first encounter with the day-to-day life of Abyssals. Aside from the fact that the tech-shops here were called mana-and-magic-shops instead and that the clothes shops also had armours and enchantments, it wasn't that different from a normal mall. Maybe he was a somewhat big deal in the upper-echelons of society, a newcomer with a strong ability to keep an eye on, just to not run into any surprises in the future. To the common folk, however, he was of no importance. Whether he would eventually take over any part of the world or not was unlikely to have an effect on them. Same couldn't be said about Lydia however, the princess was staring at him from an electronic billboard that rolled advertisements and news. Brandenburgian Heiress to hold a press conference this evening in regards to tomorrow's election,' read the headline, framing a complimentary photo of the princess' iron side. The next thing on the billboard showed a discount for mana batteries at the local store, quality guaranteed by the Hohenzollern family. John realized just how much damage he could do, by outing the princess as a low-key pervert with a love for anal, for the first time. Before it had been this vague consequence, now it slowly dawned on him how big her public persona was. He knew that empress' wasn't a title one wanted because they were bored on a Friday, but seeing it was a whole different matter. Then again, he was also using his mundane sensibilities, who knew how many people actually cared about the sexual behaviours of Abyssal leadership? Aclysia tugged on his jacket once she had reached her designated normal' size. I am shopping ready, John, she said. He smiled. What is it? Aclysia tilted her head with a puzzled expression. Nothing, just not used to you using my name, he elaborated. Is it uncomfortable? In No, no, it's fine, John hastily informed her. this setting I can keep calling you Master, but I thought we were in public so I went with your name. Understood, Aclysia finished her sentence without a care before bowing her head in affirmation. I'll consider this a normal public situation and keep calling you by your name then, John, she said with a cheeky smile. Is your social understanding still bad or are you being funny with me? John probed, putting his arms around the artificial guardian, pulling her back against his chest. Both? Aclysia answered with a question, the side of her face resting on his shoulder. John breathed the aroma of her hair, it reminded him of the smell of a freshly unwrapped book or videogame, something new, clean and something he desperately wanted to play with. I fear you might be unable to concentrate on shopping, John, Aclysia said, feeling her creators growing lust against her back. What about you, though; your feelings are pretty obvious, John countered; he wasn't the only one growing more heated by this contact. I would be satisfied with a kiss, John, she proposed. John hugged her more tightly and pressed his lips on the top of her head. Like this? he asked, with a teasing grin. No, Aclysia turned her head, her green eyes coming into view. She too was smiling, although the curve of her lips was faint, compared to his toothy grin. Like this, she whispered, gently placing a hand on his cheek and guiding him to her lips. Unbothered by the eyes of potential onlookers, they kissed. Barely held back passion, to be spent away from the public eye, and overwhelming love was conveyed in this simple motion. John's arms wrapped around her waist; Aclysia snuggled up to him. They spent a solid minute just entertaining their hearts' desire. Okay, if we don't stop now, I will have to have you, in the restroom if nowhere else is available, John threatened in a quiet tone. If that is your desire, Aclysia bit her lip, unwilling to deny that possibility. Oh no, you are not putting this decision on me, John denied her that easy out. Today is your day. Aclysia stared up at him; he looked back. Her face was blank; he was still wearing a grin. Aclysia opened her mouth, to answer. He was ready for whatever she wanted to say. A quickie in a public restroom followed.