Humanity
After consuming Vahn's potion, the mass of pink flesh that was Mitty produced a tremendous quantity of fragrant, pale pink steam that filled the cramped interior of Nanachi's home nigh-instantaneously.
"You! What did you give her...!?" exclaimed Nanachi, dropping low to the ground and crawling toward Mitty's steaming body with an exceedingly anxious look. A familiar paw emerged from the steam to grab their hand reassuringly, but Nanachi's momentary relief turned to confusion as they witnessed the black claws attached to the paw inflate, metamorphosing into four digits with black nails before contracting to look like a relatively ordinary, albeit fur-covered hand.
'Could it be...?' Nanachi asked themselves, their yellow eyes hopeful as they watched the slumped, melted parts of Mitty's body recede, taking the shape of a pair of fur-covered legs, four-toed feet with paw pads, a round tushie, and a rabbit-like tail that was hot pink on the top and pale pink on the bottom. A few moments later, the steam had largely cleared away, revealing the sparsely furred form of a young girl with rather large breasts for her apparent age, long and messy red hair adorned with cat-like ears, a second pair of elf-like ears, and two pale red eyes with maroon pupils, which were currently opened to their limits as their owner stared at Nanachi with a broad and growing smile.
"Nanachi~!" exclaimed the girl, pouncing on her confused and comparably furrier companion, squeezing and nuzzling them enthusiastically.
Recovering from their stupor, Nanachi's befuddled expression collapsed into one of unspeakable relief, nearly resembling despair as they promptly broke down, screaming, "Mittyyyyyyyy—" before hugging their friend and bawling with all their might.
"There, there...no need to cry..." whispered Mitty, embracing Nanachi tenderly and sporting a surprisingly motherly expression as she did her best to console her rabbit-eared companion. Her pale red eyes developed a rather prominent layer of moisture, but as she had always been the rock Nanachi could lean on, she adamantly refused to cry. Instead, she looked up at Vahn, smiling and mouthing the words 'thank you' before closing her eyes and resting her head against the bawling Nanachi's...
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After waiting for Nanachi to settle down and providing Mitty with some much-needed clothing, Vahn explained, "The potion I gave you, in very simple terms, healed your wounds and purged everything negative from your body. Your humanity should be possible to restore, but considering where we're at, it might be better to retain your current form."
Nodding energetically and smiling, Mitty happily affirmed, "I don't mind staying like this forever as long as I get to stay with Nanachi. The two of us can be fluffy together~."
"On that subject..." appended Vahn, exhaling faintly and smiling gently at Mitty's antics before shifting his gaze to Nanachi and asking, "Would you like a potion as well? I can sense a disharmony in your body..."
Understanding what Vahn was referring to, Nanachi's ears flattened, a prominent blush marring their face as they asked, "Can a potion help with something like that...?" before promptly adding, "And this form is the result of Mitty's sacrifice...I'm not entirely sure I should change..."
Punching the top of Nanachi's head with her right fist, Mitty exclaimed, "Don't be dumb, Nana! We both know how much you've struggled these past few years! Vahn isn't like that monster who experimented on us, so don't be a scaredy cat and accept his help!"
"You don't have to hit me..." pouted Nanachi, tears forming in the corners of their eyes but a faint smile adorning their face as after eight long years of trying to put the immortal Mitty out of her misery, even being struck by the red-haired girl made them happy.
"You two are so close~" hummed Riko, pressing her hands together and sporting a broad, radiant smile that could light up the very depths of the Abyss. Deep down, she wasn't totally certain that Vahn would be able to help, so now that he had resolved Mitty's issue and was prepared to help Nanachi, she felt an extraordinary sense of gratification.
"Does hitting one another imply closeness...?" asked Reg, directing the question to Vahn.
"It depends on the emotions behind it," responded Vahn, offering a slight shrug.
Bringing Vahn's attention back to them, Nanachi, while rubbing the back of their head, affirmed, "If it's not too impertinent of me and there are no strings attached, I would be appreciative if you could provide me another of those potions..."
"No need to be polite, but it's very commendable," stated Vahn, producing a second round-bottom flask and proferring it without hesitation. Nanachi was originally a boy when they were first picked up as a child test subject by Bonedrew, but after being turned into a Narehate as a consequence of Mitty shouldering the burden of the Sixth Layer's Curse, which deprived a person of their humanity or resulting in instant death, they lost what many men considered their most vital organ. In its place, despite predominately resembling a mammal, they shared at least one common feature of birds...
With Mitty observing them with glistening, hope-filled eyes and her hands held up, balled into tiny fists, Nanachi inhaled a deep breath through their nose, exhaled from their mouth, and gulped the flask's surprisingly sweet contents in a single go.
As a pervasive, tingling warmth promptly permeated their body, Nanachi stared down at their hands, the thick and fluffy fur coating their arms up to their palms contracting to the point they almost appeared human. Their tail also receded a few centimeters, but their most prominent changes, at least from the perspective of those watching the transformation, were the thinning of the fur coating their torso, the elongating of their stumpy legs, the reduction of their rabbit-like ears, the growth of two elf-like ears, and the almost complete erasure of fur from their face, leaving them with pale brown skin remarkably similar to Reg's.
Noticing the similarity, Riko tilted her head to the side and remarked, "Is it just me, or does Nanachi look a lot like Reg?"
"Do I...?" questioned Nanachi, looking between themself and Reg to get a general impression of their appearance before remembering why they had taken the potion in the first place.
"Oh? What'cha doing~?" asked Mitty, her expression turning mischievous as she saw Nanachi turn around and pull at the front of their baggy pants. She anticipated Nanachi to fluster and get defensive, but they ostensibly hadn't heard her as, rather than reacting to her words, they allowed their pants to snap into place, pumped their fists, and then raised them with a triumphant, "Uooooooooooooooooooh~!"
Though she felt strongly compelled to demand that Nanachi let her see what they or, more accurately, he was so excited about, Mitty ultimately exhaled from her nose and permitted her friend to celebrate the moment unaccosted. After all, now that she was no longer a prisoner in her body and could think and act freely, she would have plenty of opportunities to tease and savor his reactions moving forward...
With such thoughts in mind, Mitty shifted her gaze to Vahn, finding him observing the scene with a faint, almost fatherly smile. When he noticed her gaze and smiled back at her, she felt like a halo illuminated behind his head. She also recalled Riko attesting that he was a God, so without even a moment's deliberation or doubt, she brought her hands together, closed her eyes, lowered her head, and sincerely thanked him from the bottom of her heart...
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Around the same time that Mitty had her cognition and mobility returned, a tall man sporting mostly black clothing, consisting of a long coat, a suit, and a black, visored helmet, which included a slit down the front, emitting bright amethyst light, received word that the connection to Nanachi and Mitty's had cut out.
"My, my, my...how intriguing..." the man mused aloud, sitting in a high-backed chair in a room filled with cables, monitors, cylindrical containers containing dubious objects suspending in luminous green liquid, and what looked like an operating table. For the past three, going on four months, a number of issues had been popping up. Before, he assumed it was merely a coincidence, but as he played back Nanachi's observational data, which included Riko speaking animatedly about Vahn and the existence of other worlds, he began considering some unknown force was responsible. The only reason he wasn't certain was because, no matter how many times he viewed the recording, the only sign of Vahn was Riko being suspended in the air as if she were hugging something...
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After permitting Riko to show Nanachi and Mitty around the palace, sans Reg, who was unable to depart his world for reasons related to his origin, Vahn teleported to the ninth floor to take a bath and decompress before retiring to his room for the afternoon. It took considerable restraint on his part not to teleport to the bottom of the Fifth Layer and rid Riko's world of Bonedrewd's existence, but he believed she, Reg, and potentially Nanachi and Mitty would be able to handle him.
"Oh? I didn't think you would come here to bathe at this time..." remarked a familiar, mature voice, drawing Vahn's gaze to a curvaceous, sharp-eyed woman with dark green hair and lighter green eyes.
Recognizing the woman at a glance, Vahn unabashedly approached as he asked, "Fubuki-san? I was under the impression you only appeared late at night to avoid our paths intersecting."
"Oh? You noticed that...?" asked Fubuki, doing her best to appear calm and composed as Vahn entered the bath a short distance from where she was seated. Due to the many benefits, she had previously registered with the Dragon's Pavilion as a First-Grade Maid. However, as she had never been with a man and was afraid of both embarrassing herself and losing her virginity, she generally only entered the ninth floor during times when Vahn was commonly indisposed.
Fortunately for Fubuki, though it also annoyed her quite a bit, Vahn didn't attempt to move closer or lay a hand on her. Instead, he leaned his head back with his eyes closed and arms along the bath's ledge, asking, "How are things back in your world? I recall Venelana mentioning that you were considering cutting ties with the Hero Association to establish your Fubuki Group as an independent organization..."
Following several seconds of deliberation, Fubuki took it upon herself to move closer to Vahn, sitting next to and even leaning into him slightly, her face lightly flushed as she answered, "We have the funding covered and a fair amount of support, but my name isn't enough to bring in the power we need to cement our position. I've tried convincing my sister to join as both our strongest force and as a kind of mascot, but the two of us owe a great debt to the Rank 1 Hero, Blast. Since he's been absent for some time and she's the Rank 2 Hero, she feels obligated to remain with the organization to prevent it from collapsing from within..."
"Your sister sounds like a very dutiful person..." remarked Vahn, the image of an inordinately petite woman with emerald-green hair that curled at the ends and matching eyes appearing in his mind. He honestly expected the woman, Tatsumaki, to appear at the palace to pick a fight some time ago, but Fubuki and the subordinates she periodically brought to the first floor had been exceptionally tight-lipped regarding the existence of the palace, the Tower of Ascension, and other worlds.
"She's a monster..." muttered Fubuki, stressing the word and leaning her head against Vahn's shoulder before conceding, "But you're right...she is a very dutiful person, and though she frustrates me to no end, she's a great Hero and someone I both envy and respect..."
"Then here's to the health, fortune, and harmony of you both..." stated Vahn, producing a floating platform with two napkin-wrapped containers of hot sake. Fubuki immediately assumed he planned to get her drunk to take advantage of her, but as she had signed a contract stating she was willing to have sex with him on demand, she ultimately accepted the cup he poured her without protest. When she later awoke in her room, snugly tucked in with a pitcher of cool water near her bed and a remarkably well-penned letter telling her she shouldn't force herself to drink if she couldn't hold her alcohol, the embarrassment and vexation she experienced were beyond expression...
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