#shuffled fate

God it was forever since I wrote anything related to this story. Probably there's a handful of smallish errors since I didn't reread the old chapters, so just assume this is an alternate continuity. If I ever get back to it for real then it will be a reboot anyway.

3. Co-Parents / Awkward

“So, let me summarize this.”

The blue devil looked up from under his half-circle glasses at the young felimorph woman and the older man with crystal-embedded skin.

“The two of you aren’t in any kind of romantic or platonic partnership, nor do you live together, or plan on ever doing so.”

“Yepp.”

“Correct.”

Mr. Leister looked back at the papers he was holding, like he was looking for something he was missing.

“And neither of you are related to… Flow, in any way, right?”

“That’s right,” Nox nodded patiently.

The lawyer peeked at the short, hooded figure sitting on the third chair across from him, but like during the rest of the conversation, they refused to say anything.

“May I ask why do you seek to become their legal guardians?”

Narwia, taking on her more humanoid form drummed at the armrest, then rolled her eyes.

“Well, they’re a kid, right? They need adults to look out for them. That would be us. It would be just much more convenient to everyone involved if we could do stuff like… you know.”

The man furrowed his brows, making his horns look like they were dancing on his forehead.

“Stuff like… what?”

“Look, we’re just asking you to help us fill out the paperwork, and present our case to the local judge,” she snapped. “That’s why I’m paying you, and frankly, your fees make me think I should reconsider mine. So why does it feel like we’re already on a hearing?”

“Because the judge’s office doesn’t distribute adoption rescripts on demand, Ms. Solena. Especially not for children of unknown origin with no legal documentation whatsoever, and not without asking some questions. If you’re really seeking to go through with this, and you wish me to represent you, I’d like to have some answers ready.

“And also, if I may be frank, this case is suspicious all over. I’m a professional, but I’m not an attorney and have no obligation to represent any case I have moral reservations against. So before I take the case, I’d very much like to be sure that you did not kidnap this child.”

“Look,” Narwia said grumpily. “Kidnapping is a strong word, and people shouldn’t throw it around as easily as they tend to do.”

The lawyer blinked.

“Okay,” Nox sighed. “What would you like to know?”

“First and foremost, how did you become Flow’s non-legal guardians?”

“That’s a bit complicated,” the man said. “But long story short, I found them alone in the wilderness and took them to the nearest settlement to keep them safe.”

“And their family?”

“They are… out of reach.”

“How so?”

Nox brushed his metallic hair awkwardly.

“Look, this part is where things get weird, but I’m going to be honest in hopes that you’ll realize, if I was going to lie, I’d come up with something less crazy. What do you know about interdimensional travel?”

Another blink.

“Well. I have my degree in familial law, not cosmodynamics, but I’d say I’m as familiar with the concept as the next person. Are you saying…”

He looked at the hooded person again.

“Are you implying that Flow is… that they got… what is the right term…”

“Isekaid,” said a soft voice under the hood.

“Yeah.” Nox nodded. “They’re not from here… not from Stonecloud, I mean.”

He opened his mouth. Then he closed it.

“That is indeed not a claim I expected,” he said.

“Wish we could prove it to you, but there’s not really an interdimensional travel form they make you fill before you get suddenly snatched away from your own world and thrown into an unknown one.

“Look, truth is, Flow has a family waiting for them at home. And I’m willing to do everything in my power to get them home. There must be someone, a sorcerer, or other powerful magic-user who could send them back. But as long as they are here, they have only me and Narwia.”

The lawyer turned to Narwia.

“And how did you get involved?”

“Through my job,” she shrugged.

“Which is?”

“I’m a bounty hunter for the Vanguard. I’m doing border patrol.”

The devil leaned back in his chair.

“So, you were patrolling, looking for humans crossing the Alliance’s border… and you just ran into Mr. Rob and Flow? And they just told you what happened, and you decided to abandon your task and help them?”

She squirmed around.

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it basically.”

He sighed.

“Look. I do want to believe you, I really do. And I’d like to help if I can. But you can’t dance around important details. I need to get the full picture.”

The two adults exchanged a tense look and for a moment the lawyer felt like he was witness to an entire argument without a single word. Finally, Narwia turned away with a growl and Nox turned to Flow.

“Kid, take off your hood.”

They pulled the piece of textile back, revealing a chubby, gentle-looking face. Pinkish skin. Brown hair and eyes. No facial hair. Rounded ears, white scleras, and…

Mr. Leister felt his mouth drying up and he instinctively slipped back in his seat.

“They’re just a kid,” Nox said firmly. “They won’t hurt you.”

“Of course,” the lawyer breathed. “Sorry, I just didn’t… uh…”

“Not used to humans,” Flow said with a shy smile. “I get it, most people around here aren’t. That’s why I need this,” they flicked their hood.

“Well, that does explain Ms. Solena’s involvement. It’s going to make pretty much everything else about this case much more complicated however.”

“Yeah, we know,” the felimorph grinned. “Let’s hope you’re actually good at your job, huh?”

“Look, we both know the Alliance’s stance on human refugees from the Empire,” Nox said. “We could argue forever if it’s right or wrong, but the important thing is that it’s completely irrelevant for Flow. They’re not a citizen of the Empire. They got here on accident, and it would be more than unjust for them to be hunted and imprisoned because of a war they never even heard of before.”

“But that won’t stop the Vanguard,” Narwia added. “They’re a human and that’s all they care about. For them, every human is a potential informant, and thus an asset. Realizing that they’re not from the Empire but from an entirely different world may change who will be interested in interrogating them, but not much else.”

“As things are, Flow’s situation might be even more precarious than someone’s from the Empire would be.” Nox took back the word. “As you said, they don’t have a legal status. We have laws about how we must treat prisoners from an enemy state, but it’s unclear if those apply here.”

“Yeah, like, we can’t do fucked up magic experiments of normal prisoners, but if they get Flow, well…”

“I don’t think we need the details Narwia. But yeah, there are no laws about interdimensional travelers, mostly because anyone capable of pulling something like that off is likely way too powerful to keep them prisoner – but Flow ended up here as an accident. I’m sure there are some people desperate to figure out how, and how they could replicate it.

“And currently, Narw and I have no legal ground to step up in their defense if it comes down to it. If the Vanguard ever gets their hands on them, we can either step back and watch or go toe to toe with them. If we could get the rescript then at least we’d have… something. Proof that they exist and have rights in the Alliance. It would give us something to fight with, without committing treason.”

“Treason looks very bad on your resume if you’re working for the government,” Narwia said.

Mr. Leister looked at her.

“And you’re okay with this?”

She shrugged.

“Look, my job is pretty simple. I see a human, I take them to the Vanguard. And that’s exactly what I’m doing… I’m just taking the scenic route. I’m not saying that the law or the Vanguard are bad or anything… but no harm getting some insurances, right?”

The lawyer sighed, massaging his temple.

“So?” Nox looked at him.

“Look, if I may say…” Flow squirmed a bit. “As Nox said, I do have a family. My dad, my mom, my sister… there’s nothing that could replace them. I do want to go home. But… for as long as I have been in this world… even if it wasn’t such a long time… it was Nox and Narwia who were on my side. They protected me. Took care of me. They stopped me from doing stupid stuff, or got me out of trouble when they couldn’t. And the weird it is… isn’t that kind of what a parent does? Even if this is a temporal construction… if it would allow them to help me without them getting into trouble for it…”

Mr. Leister pulled out a piece of paper and scratched down some notes.