500th Time Reborn, A World Only Known By Women: The Karma System

That one was going to be a tough nut to crack, and Elfinia really didn't seem like her time with Listenia had improved her mood at all. The memories that I could remember with her were mostly her bickering with me or getting violent. That made me worry about her, but I wasn't going to give up. This trip might be exactly what she needs, danger and all.

I took a deep breath in and then sighed it out before turning back around to look for my follower, but I couldn't spot her. I headed over to the last place that I had seen the head poking out from and walked into the back alley, looking around.

"I know you are in here, so you might as well come out," I said, looking around but not seeing anything.

There were barrels and boxes scattered everywhere, with clothes and other things thrown all over the place, but I couldn't see anything that looked like it moved or breathed. It was at this point that a small piece of paper falling from one of my pockets caught my attention.

When I reached down to grab it, something hard hit me in the head.

"Really?" I growled as I winced and emitted an oppressive amount of Spiritual Pressure.

"Ahh!" A little girl's voice cried out from behind me, and I whirled around to find the small finger twitching on the ground under my pressure with the brick she had used to hit me on the back of the head.

I glared down as I decided what to do about this. This creature just tried to kill me for all I knew, and I knew that neither size nor sound was a proper indication of how strong a person was. Still, I needed to know what this was about.

"If I let you go, are you going to try and kill me again? Or run away?" I asked; the body looked up at me, and I finally got to see the face.

Her face looked like it was made out of porcelain, and her features painted on. While it was a cute face, it was poorly made, if this is what I assume her to be.

"No. I did... not try to... kill you, just to... incapacitate you," the girl said, and I released the pressure, making the girl's body relax, and then she slowly picked herself off the ground to stand in front of me.

The girl was no more than four and a half feet tall, but I could only see her doll-like face. I had yet to meet one like this in previous lives, but I was positive that this little woman was a Living Doll, even if she was poorly built.

"So, how's about you tell me why you decided to hit a God over the back of his head with a brick?" I asked, and the expressionless face just blinked at me.

"His? God? What is that?" The child-like voice asked, and I blinked back.

"Wait... do you know who I am?" I asked, but the doll shook her head, and I lifted an eyebrow. Not to toot my own horn, but at this point in things, I had thought that there wasn't a woman in the world that didn't know who I was.

"You are someone that saved the city from a Riftwalker and someone that the people all adore. You also help people and don't seem to ask for anything in return. I was hoping that you would hear my request," The girl said in a flat tone, but I narrowed my eyes.

"What does that have to do with hitting me over the head with a brick?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head where I had a lump and using a bit of making to bring the swelling down.

"I was going to drag you to our secret base and then ask you. There is an Automaton in the city posing as a nurse, but she is really a Seeker that is trying to find and recapture people like me that have escaped."

"What is your name? I am Galio, and yes, I do help people when I can, but I am less likely to do so when a said person assaults me before asking.

"I am Five, and I only did what I thought was best for the others that I am trying to protect," the girl said, and I nodded, then grabbed my cat medallion, transforming into a black cat, making Five step back in shock.

"Okay, let's go, and I will see what I can do to help," I said, but Five was still staring at me in shock.

"You... can become a cat?" Five asked, and I nodded.

"Yes, now let's hurry. I have other things that I am doing today, and then I will be leaving the city for a little while," I explained, and Five finally snapped out of her trance.

"Yes, this way," Five said and walked deeper into the alley.

The alleyway was fairly long and had small pathways leading off to other alleys. Five took a few of these turns before stopping in front of a wooden door that looked like it had been cobbled together from scraps.

Five knocked three times, and the door opened just enough so I could see someone peeking out. When they saw me, however, their eyes got wide and then shut quickly as the door slammed closed again with a click which meant it was locked from both sides now.

"Let him in! He's here to help," Five called at them through the wood, but I could hear nothing on the other side after that besides a lot of shuffling around, followed by heavy footsteps getting closer to us slowly until finally coming up behind us rather suddenly making me jump back in surprise while Five simply stood quietly.

There were now five sitting behind us, all wearing hooded cloaks much like my own little companion did. I was wondering if they were all going to pull weapons out.

"This is Galio, and I think she can help. She is the one that everyone is talking about," Five explained.

"This cat is the one that will help us?" One of the other dolls asked, but Five shook her head.

"Let's go inside, and we can talk there about this," Five explained and then turned back to the door. "Fourteen, open up."