Reincarnated as a displaced monster

It started out as an average day for Ruby and Lilith. But today they were going out to dinner for the third anniversary of when they first started dating at a local restaurant. The evening itself was crisp and cool, letting the autumn atmosphere swirl and embrace any passers-by as the pair of young lovers made their way to the restaurant. One of the two seemed to almost bounce on her heels as she walked eagerly towards their destination.

“So, you said you wanted to ask me something once we got here… What is it?” The naturally blue haired female asked as they sat down at their table.

Ruby smiled broadly as she leaned forward a little. “I finally have my costume done and I wanted to know if you wanted to go with my brother and I to a local event they’re planning for Halloween!” The slender female asked excitedly. “My family’s going to be there along with a few others, we still have a bit of time if you wanted to work on a costume as well.”

“I don't know… what would they think if I showed up? They don't exactly like me…” Lilith replied.

“Why wouldn’t they like you?” Ruby asked as the light from the windows made her tanned skin and blonde hair seem to glow in the fading light. “Sure, my dad’s a devout christian and all that… but Mom strong armed him into at least shutting up when you’re around.”

“And your brother? He constantly teases me because I look like that virtual singer Miku…” Lilith sighed.

Ruby rolled her eyes. “He’s my brother… and you’re my girlfriend, he’s going to find some way to tease you. And he only does it because he cares about us.” Her grey eyes traveled slowly over Lilith’s form. “Obviously not as much as I care about you… but he cares.”

“I know, I know… But it still doesn't make him any less annoying and my halloween costume for this year is going to give him one too many opportunities to pick on me…” Lilith said as she flopped on the table, causing her D cup to squish against the table and emphasize her generous curves without realizing it.

Ruby smiled a bit as she sat up with a bit of her excitement coming back. “Really! What costume did you plan on using?”

“I-I’m going to be… Rimuru?” Lilith admitted nervously.

“Isn’t he just a ball of slime?” Ruby asked curiously as she sat back a bit. “...Sure I could see my brother teasing you for going as a slime… but that’s not a big deal.”

“But he’s cute! and I would be going as his humanoid slime form…” Lilith defended, while making a cute pouty face.

“Humanoid slime? Well… I can’t say I’m familiar with him more than the RPG-mob slime form he has… I’ve never read the Manga myself.” Ruby admitted.

“Then I will show you an image when we get back to my apartment!” Lilith said as she perked up. The tanned female smiled a bit before she began to look around.

“You know… does it usually take this long for someone to start taking orders?”

“EVERYONE ON THE GROUND NOW!” A man in a mask shouted as him and a group of other people wearing black masks barged out of the kitchen holding various types of guns, from handguns to almost-stereotypical assault rifles.

Ruby let out a small shriek as she pulled Lilith to the ground.

“By the ancestors! Whats going on!?” Lilith cried as she hid under the table with Ruby.

It was somewhat quiet as the masked people began making their way around, gathering the restaurant patrons and telling them to move to the center while staying low. They didn’t even bother looting for valuables as they worked, one of the masked people grabbed Ruby’s coat by the back of the neck and pulled her close like a human shield as she and Lilith were being moved.

“Get your hands off my girlfriend!” Lilith shouted as she and Ruby were dragged towards the center of the room. Sadly, the only compensation she had received for her protectiveness was the butt of a handgun across her jaw with a pained crack causing her to faint moments later.

The masked people seemed to be speaking in several different languages, a few even seemed to be shouting in the other languages on purpose, as she woke up. Flashing red and blue lights lit up the restaurant as the masked people who couldn’t find cover used patrons as human shields to keep the Police from simply putting a bullet in them.

As Lilith’s attention managed to pick out Ruby she crawled over to her girlfriend and embraced her... Putting herself between Ruby, the terrorists, and police so that she would be safe.

The lightly-tanned, younger girl had tears streaming down her face as her hands were clenched around a bleeding wound on her side, as much as she tried to stop the whimpers of pain they still escaped her lips as the crimson pool she was laying in slowly started to grow. The pain itself kept her from talking and her strength was fading faster with each second as several objects smashed through the windows and began to send a cloud of smoke out to fill up the entire dining room.

“Don't worry Ruby you'll be fine… I’m sure of it… you'll be…” Lilith said, trying to console her injured lover as the police barged in and the firefight began. Several loud gunshots rang out as the Terrorists tried exchanging bullets with the Police, one of the cracks from a rifle cut her off as a stray bullet sent a spray of crimson out of her back and forced her to collapse in a silent scream.

“L-Lilith…?” Ruby croaked out hoarsely as Police stormed in, shouting orders and calling for medical teams before any of the injured were rushed to the hospital, Ruby being one of them as the field teams tried to keep her from bleeding out on her way to a doctor.

When she had finally had come to her senses with most of them relatively intact she had been told about what happened to Lilith, the news itself had left the tanned girl speechless and nearly unresponsive as she had laid back in her hospital bed. She wanted to feel something… sadness… pain… hell, even loneliness would have been preferred enough to at least let her know she was alive…

But for all she wanted to feel… she just felt cold, that despite the doctors operating and fixing the gash in her side from the mis-fired round, she had died back in that restaurant with her lover.

Days passed in a blur as her family visited, none of the words they had to say seemed to stick in her mind, the cold washed any warmth they held out of the way. Even her brother seemed to be a bit more somber when he visited. Any other time she would have been surprised by how her father was reacting, though at least this time the words seemed to stick.

Ruby’s father was a truck of a man; big, burly and a god-fearing christian. Despite the rocky relationship that he had with his daughter when he had found out about her relationship, his desire to be a good father managed to at least keep his protests about it to an irate grumble. The fact that he seemed… just a little smaller when he entered that hospital room with the nurse was definitely something of note as he helped get Ruby into a wheelchair now that she was able to be dismissed from the hospital.

None of them said a word as they made their way to the ground floor, the silence reigned as they wheeled Ruby out the door. It wasn’t until they got in her father’s Dodge Stratus that anything happened.

The man who had been so protective of her when she was a child and didn’t blindly yell at her for finding someone she loved simply pulled her into a gentle hug, placing her head on his chest. “...I’m sorry… I know it won’t help the situation much… but… I know you loved her, and that she loved you…”

Many tears were shed as she finally felt that sadness that gave her a relieving break from just being cold, wrapped in the warm embrace of her father she finally broke down and cried.

“...How about… We hold a small memorial for her during tomorrow's halloween party? Just for you?” the man asked Ruby, hoping that something would happen that would make his daughter smile once more. Little did he know that someone was listening to his silent wish...

With a sniffle she nodded. “Yeah… that would be good…” She barely whispered.

Ruby’s father nodded his head as he let go of her and got into the driver seat and began to drive them home.

~The next Day~

Ruby sighed to herself as she began to put on the quilted vest and Imperium of Man-themed robe for her costume. A prop set of all her character’s gear was affixed to various places on her robe, like the compact stub revolver at her hip, the Psykana Mercy Blade just to the left of the belt buckle.

The real finishing touch to her heretical costume was when she added the smaller touches that darkened her tan just a little more and added the fake tooth that looked like Rou’s from Re:Monster. ”...if only Lilith had been here… she’d have laughed at the combination…” Ruby thought with a twinge of sadness as she finished getting the rest of her outfit around and pulled up the hood of her robe. With a deep breath she began to make her way downstairs.

As Ruby descended the stairs the doorbell rang, getting her attention. as she walked to the door the doorbell rang again, but only she seemed to notice for some reason… when she opened the door there was a man in a blue robe that made him look like a Nazgul holding a package with her name on it.

She gave him a curious look. “Um… who are you?”

“This is for you young one…” The man said handing her the package. “May you and your love be reunited.” He added before he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

With an even more confused look Ruby looked for a tag on the package. After a few moments she begins to open the package. The first thing that caught her eye was a small note that seemed to be stamped with the Imperial Aquila, a quick flick of her thumb and the note slipped open to reveal a single sentence.

“Only in death does duty end” Gain 1 wound

“What the…?” Ruby stammered as she silently read the Imperial Divination that was meant to bolster the zealous of the imperium to continue fighting. Her attention moved to the other item in the package.

As she opened the letter she found a golden ticket with writing on it. shrugging she decided to read the ticket.

Hello there,

If you are reading this you have been chosen to be sent to another land where your actions will either help or destroy those you find there.

Good luck!

“...Okay, now this is just getting weird.” Ruby said as she put the package back in one box and took it to her room. With an idle thought she placed the package on her bed and got herself prepared again for the Halloween party. With just a little curiosity she picked up the ticket again, reading the slip of paper over as her mind mentally chanted ”This is bullshit” over and over again while her heart felt that same icy stab again when she had been told that Lilith had died.

‘Oh you think this is fake?’ a voice said In Ruby’s head that seemed to come from the ticket. With a yelp she dropped the ticket and nearly fell backwards in surprise, backing away from the possessed scrap of paper. ‘Do you wish for a second chance? Do you wish you could start over?’ it asked.

“N-no… I… I don’t have any need to start over, demon ticket…” Ruby stuttered as she fumbled for the door handle.

‘I am no demon, I am an eldritch abomination thank you very much! And do you really not wish to be reunited with her?’ It said, irritation in its telepathic voice.

She wanted to scream as she finally got the door open and began to sprint down the hall in a dazed panic. As she rounded a corner she found herself back in her room for some reason.

‘Really? you're going to run? arnt you at least curious what I meant by reuniting you with her?’ the ticket said to Ruby.

“You are talking about doing things against the law of nature…” She nearly screamed as she began to panic a bit more.

‘My master does not defy the laws of nature. And we could reunite you with her, no necromancy involved.’ The ticket deadpanned. ‘All we do is bend the rules to make people be able to have a second chance or to set their fate into motion.’

Ruby was paralyzed with fear, in front of her was a creature that was promising to do what her upbringing had told her was impossible, and behind her was just a loop back to the creature that was making the situation worse. Fear and panic built up and continued to root her to the spot before she began to break down again.

“Why?! Why are you doing this?”

‘Because we pity the plight of mortals and we wish to help them.’ the ticket said in a sad tone.

Her fear slowly managed to subside for just a moment. “So… you’ll bring her back here?”

‘No, we can not do that… she has left this plane and can not return, but we can reunite you with her in another. That other place is the one mentioned on my surface.’ The ticket said.

She shook her head. “No… I… I… you’re asking me to abandon everything else I have… my family… my friends… everyone else that I care about…” Tears began to build up. “Why do I have to give up everything to have her back!?”

‘Blame the unfairness that is this dimension.’ The ticked sighed. ‘If we were aloud we would re-write this hole branch of the multiverse, but we do not have the jurisdiction to do that… so this is the best we can do.’

She continued to shake her head. “I… I won’t abandon them… no…” She cried as she buried her head in her hands.

‘Then I shall wait for the day you decide you have changed your mind.’ the ticket said before going silent as the hallway behind Ruby returned to normal.

The phone began to ring as her parents tried to find out why she hadn’t arrived at the party yet, though their question was only recorded by the answering machine. The tanned girl slumped against the wall and continued to cry as her mind began to think back to the lore of her favorite game… in a way she prayed that somewhere in the Galaxy, the Emperor of Mankind was watching over her.

It was over an hour later when she finally got up and made her way over to the phone to call her parents back, apologizing for not being able to make it… they had told her that they understood and had been worried. Her voice trembled as she thanked them and hung up the phone. “...I want Lilith back… but… my family… my brother… why do I have to lose them too?” she cried as she sank to her knees.

A honk from outside of her home had alerted her to her dad’s car waiting for her. She made at least an effort to not appear as upset as she made her way out to him. The ride was quiet as they began to make their way across town to the building the party was being held at, even the radio seemed to be playing rather somber music as they traveled.

Something caught the edge of her vision as a pair of headlights screeched past the red light before everything went dark with the sound of rending metal.

The ticket cursed as it sensed the fate of its charge, and began emergency procedures as it teleported to Ruby. ‘I will not let the merchant get his way!’ It practically screamed in its mind as the truck that hit the car Ruby was in dissolved into smoke. the ticket then began to glow as it stretched and wrapped itself around Ruby’s bleeding body before vanishing in a burst of golden particles.

{Equestria, Somewhere in the everfree forest.}

‘W-what's going on?’ Ruby thought as she opened her eyes. ‘I could of sworn I was hit by a car…’ as her eyes adjusted to see her surroundings. As her vision cleared she noticed she was in a cave for some reason before she felt herself being picked up.

“Ah, the first girl to be born this year. And she is prettier than the ones born in previous years!” A ugly green creature that looked like a old man said as he held Ruby in his hands. “Lets call you, Cyrine.”

Memories burned through her mind, shouts of praise for a corpse-god to protect them as the searing willpower of that very being tested her soul and found her worthy while those around her were used to fuel the machine that kept the creature alive. Her life in a far-flung solar system flashed in such a painful blur that she started to bawl in the ugly creature’s grip. Even if they were just memories, she remembered the pain that she went through to get them.

The ugly creature then cradled Cyrine in his arms as he carried her into another part of the cave full of crying green babies that looked like the older one holding Cyrine. He then set her down on the ground next to the babies and walked back into the part of the cave he came from.

After a while Cyrine began to quiet down, her mind piecing together the memories that she had of her life both in the Imperium and on Earth… soon after she began to sit up, gritting her teeth as she tried to figure out what was going on. The first thing she noticed as she finally started concentrating was the presence of The Warp, how it cradled her mind in a much less chaotic way than she was used to… it felt… much more stable as her power began to manifest.

Her mind brushed against the presence of all her ‘brothers and sisters’ as well as the old creature… a few other presences made themselves known but she couldn’t place exactly what they were as she looked around.

“Elder! The new one is already up!” Another of the ugly creatures that looked like it might have been a female said. Cyrine looked over at the possible-female in slight confusion.

“Oh?” Said the old creature from earlier as he came back to the room Cyrine was in holding another ugly green baby that looks like it had just been born. “Well, we have a fast grower on our hands!” He laughed as he looked at Cyrine.

Cyrine tried to stand, though failed as her legs weren’t quite suited to it yet. It would be a few days before she was finally able to get up and listen to some of the news that the older creatures had been talking about regarding the horse-people again and how the ones in gold armor continued getting independant adventurers to push closer and closer to their home to drive them away.

While the rest of her ‘siblings’ were begging for scraps of food, she was mentally familiarizing herself with this world’s version of The Warp so that she could keep an eye out for any of those adventurers the elders spoke of. ”...what happened to me?” she asked herself as she spent one evening sitting at the entrance of the cave and staring towards the sunset. “...Lilith… where are you?” she whispered sadly.

“Cyrine, is something wrong?” The Goblin elder said to the 5 day old Goblin as he came to the cave entrance.

“I… I remember…” She replied with a sad sigh. “I… remember my old life… both of them… before I came here…” Cyrine explained quietly.

“Interesting, So what were you before you became a goblin?” The elder asked.

It took several seconds before Cyrine replied as she tried to think of what to say. “I was a human… in both lives… one where I was just trying to make it in life as… well… I don’t remember that part… but… in the other one I was a powerful human that could control something kind of like magic…” She explained as she tucked her knees a little closer.

“Hmm… I don't know what a human is but this is intriguing. And if you can use magic, why don't you try hunting?” The elder said scratching his chin.

Cyrine nodded. “I might as well… is there any sort of dagger that I could use?”

“Come with me.” The elder said leading Cyrine to the room that she was born in. She obediently followed behind the elder. “Take your pick.” He said as they entered the room. In the back of the room was a pile of armor and weapons, but scattered around the room were female anthropomorphic ponies in various stages of pregnancy with blank looks on their faces between her and the pile.

Cyrine had a horrified look as she noticed the ponies. “W-what are they doing here?”

“Those? Oh, they were captured by our raiding party for breeding from nearby villages.” The elder said with a smile.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Goblin birth rates are low and females of our kind are rare. So we use Pony females to give birth to goblin children faster because they are more fertile.” The elder said as a bulge began to form in his pants.

“that’s absolutely disgusting…” Cyrine scowled, she tore her eyes from the females and quickly made her way to the weapons while keeping a distance from them the entire time.

The goblin elder ignored her comment and walked over to one of the females and dragged her off into a dark room as she kicked and flailed.

Cyrine scowled as she left the cave. ”I will not be part of anything like that… it’s… it’s…” she growled in frustration as she quickly made her way into the forest.