Firm: Opal’s Story

-POV Citrine-

I wipe my tears and snot off on my new mom’s shirt. I don’t know what came over me, but she feels so motherly and I just felt safe in her hug. I can feel my big sister hugging me from behind as well, so is this what it feels like to have a family? I kept people away my last life, but Opal just feels so inviting. So I cried a little, okay, maybe I cried a lot. Maybe she has a skill that makes people happy, like an area buff, but for feelings. It’s too embarrassing to ask, just in case she doesn’t, so I won’t.

I remove my face from her shirt and say “I need cloths.” Mommy.. ahem.. mom then asks “Ruby, do you have an Armory up yet?” I feel my sister let go of my back and hear her respond “Not yet, I won’t have Credits until we use the Pig Pen I got more.” So I guess she is the landowner here. She must have just gotten the place, since all the Landowners I knew were loaded. Assholes too, but that’s besides the point. Opal then kisses my forehead, and it feels nice, saying “Citrine do you want to come with mommy to go get you some cloths?” I nod and squeeze her. I wonder who we’ll be getting cloths from, maybe someone with my size. She then says “Well I’m heading this way Ruby, so have someone watch the gate. I’ll be taking your new sister to get a uniform and meet Jeff.” to which sis replies “Okay, I’m still awake so I can do it till you get here, love you mom.” A very confusing conversation. “Love you too Ruby.” My mom then gets out of our hug and hugs my sister, I realize now that both of them are very beautiful women. I hope I am too, but I haven’t seen my reflection yet.

I ask “Where are we going?” and mom replies with “We’re going to Liberation, we have an Armory there and can give you some credits for a uniform and weapon. You don’t need a weapon if you don’t want one though.” Does she mean we’re going to another settlement? Like through the wild? So I ask for clarification “Isn’t it dangerous to go with just the two of us, I’m only first tier and level 1?” Opal gives me an odd look and asks “Why would it be dangerous? Don’t worry, mommy will protect you, and you have Firm right? You’ll be fine.” Is she talking about one of the skills I got? I look at it again, and it doesn’t sound powerful enough to protect me outside the walls. I start to get a little worried, but she seems to be sure we’ll be safe.

We leave the gates and I watch them disappear behind the trees as we walk into the woods. It is daytime so it should be a little safer at least. I ask “How far is the other settlement?” and she gets a thinking face and says “It will take a long time if we are just walking, here get on mommy’s back.” she squats down and motions to give me a piggy back ride. I guess that could be fun, I remember getting them from my dad when I was still tiny. I climb onto her back and hold on tight, since if she’s 7^th tier we could end up going very fast. “Okay I’m ready mom.” I tell her and brace myself, but she starts running at a much faster speed, nowhere near what a 7^th tier would. She’s probably going slow just for me, it feels nice being carried like this. Her back feels so safe, just like her hugs. I decide to sate my curiosity and ask “So what tier are you at mom?” she laughs and I can feel her posture get straighter as she runs. Then she brags “Your mom is really strong, I’m 4^th tier.”

Oh crap we’re going to get eaten, so I start panicking. I realize we haven’t been attacked once though and that’s pretty weird so I ask her “How long has it been since the Scenario announcement?” she stops running and asks “What’s that?” so I remind her “You know the System announcement that tells us what the Scenario is.” She shakes her head in front of me and states “I don’t think we’ve had one of those, unless it was while I was sleeping, are your genetic memories messed up, did you hit your head on a branch because I ran too fast?” She definitely didn’t sleep through it since it wakes you up. We’re in the first 6 months.

That’s why Ruby didn’t have any money even though she owned a fort, and that’s why we haven’t been attacked yet. It doesn’t explain how I have Angel for a race or why I got seven inherited skills from a tier 4 mother. Just who is my father? I see another Opal run past us waving… what? So I ask “Do you have a twin Mom?” she shakes her head and says “Nope, that’s just my other body, I have a skill that gives me two.” Oh that makes sense, I’ve met people that I suspected had a similar skill. That explains her conversation with Ruby earlier. She starts running again and I just enjoy the ride. If I got reincarnated in the first six months with all these skills, then I can do so much more. I hug my new mom’s back tighter. I can protect her and the rest of my new family.

We soon come to the gates of what looks like a low tier monster camp. Is this Liberation? Mom puts me down and I see two more beautiful women walking towards us, one with blue hair and one with bright orange. The one with orange hugs me and asks “Are you my new sister, you’re so adorable. Can you fly with your wings?” she feels warm and I see the other one wrapping me in a hug too. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to fly later, but I can’t yet. My name is Citrine.” I tell her and I hear the other one say “That’s too bad, but we hope you can soon.” before pulling away from the hug. “Jeff is on his way to the gate to meet her, so you should let her go Amber.” the orange haired sister lets me go with a huff and says “He’s so slow, he’s the one who wanted to meet her so much that Daria had to slap him to get him to calm down. I’m Amber by the way and that’s Sapphire, we’re your older sisters.” Mom has some amazing genes, or dad, we’ll see.

I look past mom towards the camp and see a simple looking man coming towards us, but soon I am filled with horror and quickly hide behind Mom who just giggles at the situation. That’s the fucking Dark Butcher, what is he doing here? My mind reals and I try to make myself smaller behind Opal who talks to him saying “Jeff, this is your daughter Citrine she’s a bit shy I guess.” What?! I try to think, but it’s hard. He’s my new father? How? I heard he went crazy after finding out his girlfriend cheated on him or something… is mom that girlfriend? No, I remember seeing him in a fight once and he was clearly repeating the name “Cindy” over and over again like a madman.

Like a dumbass I blurt out “What about Cindy?” I clap my hand over my mouth but it’s too late. He just shrugs and says “I’m over it, it’s great to meet you Citrine, you can just call me Dad, or maybe Papa.” he gets a serious look on his face and says “Not Daddy though, for uhhh, reasons. Ask Daria, since I am not having that conversation with my daughter.” I laugh at the absurdity of the situation. The Dark Butcher himself has been tamed, maybe this time will be better. I collect my bravery and walk up to him, giving him a hug. I feel his arms wrap around my back as he says “Me and your mother aren’t together, but they said I could still be your dad if you’ll have me.” I hold myself back from crying again and say “Thanks Papa.” I then feel his arms go slack and realize he’s passed out. My two sisters laugh and Mom pulls him up and throws his body over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She says “Sorry, your papa is a bit weak when it comes to dad stuff, let’s deliver him to his girlfriends.”

I can only nod to that. As we walk through the barely set up camp with no streets and a few wooden buildings, I notice everyone seems happy. This must be a good place. I forgot when everyone was hugging me that I was naked… how embarrassing. We drop my unconscious father off with two more beautiful elves, who both look very pregnant. They thank Mom and then give me hugs too, calling me their new auntie. That confuses me so I ask and they tell me they are Ruby and Amber’s daughters, making me their aunt. Huh, this family is a bit complicated. I ask them what tier father is and they say he’s probably still tier 3 but they haven’t asked. Daria says “Don’t worry, we know he’s weak, but we’ll keep your papa safe.”

Tiers three and four are good for the first six months, so I’m not worried about him. Most people died before hitting tier 2. Did I just get extremely lucky with my seven skills and race, or is it some unmentioned part of my selected reward? I need to be leveling as fast as I can so I can use this advantage. Opal says “Okay let’s go get your cloths now, we’ll just make you a guard on the way there.” So I guess she’s the Landowner of this camp. I know how guards work so when she asks me if I want to defend Liberation I answer her honestly. Any place with this many smiling faces is worth protecting. I get the notification about the title, and then one about Mom sending me 2000 Credits. So enough for a guard uniform and a cheap weapon.

I finally put on some cloths to cover up my nakedness, no one seemed to care though or stare. I think this place used to be an orc camp and that’s why all my new sisters and nieces are elves. Mom must have played a major role in busting them all out if she got Land rights. She seems to be an amazing woman, well she’d have to be having me as a kid. That was a weird vain thought out of nowhere. Huh, strange.

I put on the wrist wrap that everyone is wearing and take a closer look at the gem attached. It looks like a white opal and reminds me of my new mom. I get a weird sensation that I’m forgetting something, but it passes and I go to the weapon rack. Giant two handed sword is the only way to go, but I just get a simple claymore since the Armory hasn’t been upgraded and I wouldn’t have enough Credits if it was. When I exit the building Mom looks me up and down and says “You look great sweetie, I was hoping to go to the Dungeon and get you some levels, are you ready?” I am ready, so I nod to her and she leads me to this camps Dungeon. I’m honestly surprised they had enough credits to build a Dungeon so soon.

It apparently hasn’t been upgraded yet either, but that makes sense if it’s new. I tell mom “Hey mom, we need to be careful on the 10^th floor, if it seems different from normal we can just back out and not accept the challenge.” She looks at me with a shocked expression and says “You can just leave?!”