Chapter Text
April 2017 — Almsworth, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Elliot Lordly had a problem. By all measures, he was a NEET. A shut-in. A hikikomori, if you wanted to be a weeb about it. Despite the tropes, he had no major traumas, failures, or accidents of birth that kept him inside. His parents were doting and kind, his degree in political science achieved a First, and there was enough money to do whatever he found appealing year-round.
The issue, of course, was that nothing that sounded appealing right now. Almsworth was a shithole beyond the university, and all of his other interests were online. His best friend and long-time shitposter Refreshing-Storm was easily accessible on Umacord, all of the British Centaur-racing Authority and Japanese Umamusume Racing Association races he watched were livestreamed, the National Library had a digital portal for the 'original' material, and his… okay, his Arthurian fanfic was all on UmAO3.
Still, his parents took a little bit of issue that their eldest son refused to leave the house unless forced to. Elliot didn't mind, being a shut-in was better in most ways: there were no judging eyes, there were no clawing feelings in his gut, and there weren't as many lapses in his memory.
"Ellie, dear… it's dinner. There's also something me and your father want to talk about." His mum knocked on his door, a certain sorrow in her voice. The nickname his parents used felt more like his own name than Elliot ever did, but it wasn't all there. The meeting at the table probably was going to be another 'scolding' about not getting a job and wasting his 20s, maybe even his 30s, in his room. He sighed, typed up a minor apology to the server for leaving, pulled away from the desk, and headed downstairs.
Merthur First The Rest Nowhere (EllBeeYo)
sorry everyone, got a meeting to attend
something's happening, ill say if its anything actually important
Refreshing-Storm
the server wont detonate without you yknow
go actually spend time with your parents dipshit
[:umanod: 4] [:digiboom: 1]
"What the hell?"
His father looked solemn as the four around the table poked at the curry. "Ellie, me and your mother think it'd be best for us if we got a drastic change in our lives. We're old, we need to retire, and your grandparents in Japan are… not doing well. We'd like to be with them."
"So what, you're going to retire there on mum's family to look after them? That's great, but what about us?" Elliot's eyes darted between Natsuki, Lloyd and his younger sister, Emiko. Surely she'd agree this is unreasonable, surely she'd come up with something to keep him here and not in bumfuck nowhere Japan.
"Elliot. I have a job. I've only finished my first year of uni. I have off-campus accommodation lined up for summer with Diane. I'm not coming with you. I'll figure something out by the time we'd normally visit Sobo and Sofu" Emmy shoved a chunk of chicken into her mouth, chewing loudly to make it clear she was not going to add any more to his defence.
Right, Diane. Emmy's new transgender roommate and likely girlfriend who previously lived in the ever-weird Dorley Hall on Saints' campus. He recalled vaguely that Emmy's previous posh wanker roommate disappeared at some point, but it must have taken some real arm twisting from the university to get her in there.
His father reached across the table to… console him? "I know it's a lot, but you're under our roof as an adult. You can leave, and figure something out. Make a name for yourself like Emmy's working towards. However, me and your mother know you. We think…"
"We think a change of scenery would be good for you in a different way from us."
That was settled then, he was done for. No more Almsworth, no more shitty weather, no more weird auras coming from the local university. He sighed, deciding to mentally check out of the rest of the discussion. NEETs had it better in Japan, or so he'd heard. Konbini meals and seamless online shopping, or something. He didn't particularly care. There was one thing he did want to know though…
"When are we leaving?"
"Were you not listening? The move's starting next week, in May. Goddesses, Elliot, you're worse than Diane when she was younger." His sister snapped at him, properly bringing him back to the conversation.
"Emmy!" Natsuki shot back.
Emmy took her cutlery together and went to take her plate to the kitchen. "Whatever. You can discuss the logistics later, this was a very nice dinner before you left. I'll miss you, mum and dad. Umype and Umacord are good for keeping in touch." She paused at the kitchen doorway, before she disappeared into the darkness. "Oh, and Elliot? Please… get a life."
The goodbyes at the door were a blur. He didn't know what to make of any of it. The thoughts of leaving Almsworth behind were too much, and for what? He– he had no reason to stay here. There wasn't anything he did regularly that required being in this city. It was the change that scared him.
As Emiko Lordly left, he could hear a voice whispering in his ears. A twitch in his legs and a quiet, almost silent desire to run after her.
July 2017 — Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
The move took two whole months. In those two painfully long but oh-so short months his entire life had been upended by his ageing parents moving halfway across the globe to be closer to his maternal grandparents. You know what? It was terrible. Of course it was terrible, the time zone was all wrong, the food was all different, and the summers were too bloody hot!
One thing that had especially ticked him off was the fact that neither of his parents, nor his sister had said anything about his 30th birthday coming and going. It was right in the middle of the move, sure, but a card would have been nice. Or some chocolate from home. He missed his Twirls, though he conceded they probably would have melted immediately in the scorching weather. instead, he was lifting boxes around the decaying house, organising contractors for repairs, and sorting through customs and imports to get all of the prized possessions out of the UK and over to Japan.
They really were serious about this being where they retired, huh? Everything that wasn't necessary or had enough sentimental value didn't make it to Chiba. The remote work that Lloyd did was still based in the UK, and Natsuki had a lot of time on her hands to work on whatever she felt like. This left Elliot at home, a lot.
Soon enough, though, the work was done. The house wasn't collapsing in on itself and all of the sentimentals had arrived unharmed. Elliot Lordly was firmly and irrevocably stuck in Japan unless something drastically changed. His 'room' (more accurately the attic of the house that he had co-opted) was barren and dull, the solitary window letting in minimal light and the computer providing the only other light in the attic. It felt comforting, but in the way a puncture mat was comfortable. It was… familiar. That was the word.
Even if it had been two whole months since he'd first set foot in Japan, the jet lag was still going strong. Waking up at 3pm, staying awake until 6am — unless he needed to be respectable for the construction workers which felt like such a drag and a waste of his time, only getting a few hours of sleep before talking project plans.
It didn't matter now, everything was in order and Elliot could go back to his NEET ways, partially helped by the fact he now technically shared a time zone with Refreshing-Storm.
As the sun began illuminate his room, he decided to call it a night. He bade his farewells to the group chats on Umacord, he powered down the spinning fans on the PC, and he disconnected himself from the headphones. It was dark in his room, quiet in a way he wasn't quite used to after two whole months of work and hassle.
The futon was buried under the newest pile of clothes (he wasn't some greasy otaku, he did still have some sense of personal hygiene), which required more effort than he was expecting to remove. It didn't take long, though, and Elliot pulled the thin blanket over him to settle in for the first night he might actually get a full night's rest. Sleep claimed him easily, it had been a long ass time and he deserved a real rest.
???? ?6?0 — D??gh???, L?i????r, ??e?a??
He jolted awake in a field– no, not quite a field, verdant and perfect for an umamusume to run on. A battlefield, perhaps? It would certainly explain the sorry state the Irish grass found itself in– how did he know it was Irish? It probably didn't matter. What did matter, though, was the two figures in the distance. Two figures that stood together in the mud and muck, waiting for something important to happen or someone important to arrive.
The first one appeared to be old beyond her years. The other one was younger than he was, though he could not identify exactly how much by. She was certainly a child, at least. The two were both draped in a thick shadow that left no room to visualise or identify their figures, only their sizes against each other and the demeanour they carried. The older one spoke of something to the younger one, something about him, and beckoned for the child to follow her.
He certainly had no idea what they had said exactly, nor how he knew they were talking about him, but he had to know more. He simply had to follow them, he had to run towards them. Faint whispers of something carried him forward, to start running towards them. As soon as he picked up the pace to a normal jog, though, the two began to pick up the pace to a jog, that increased to a sprint.
So that was how it was going to be, huh? The two figures wanted to stay away from him. Normally, it would've been fine, he was used to people not wanting him to listen in. He knew people didn't want to be around him. This wasn't a normal desire, he wanted– needed desperately to know what was being kept from him.
And so, he ran.
He ran as fast as a human's legs could carry him, he ran for as long as a human's stamina could support him, and he ran with as much force as a human's muscles could produce. The two figures seemed to notice his attempt to catch up, speeding up in kind into a full run of their own. It was beautiful, majestic, like nothing he'd seen in person before. The battle roared around them, nothing else mattered on the once-emerald field to the two runners and Elliot.
The running continued for a long time, longer than Elliot could keep track of. Slowly but surely, the two figures sped over the final hill, smoky gunfire covering their tracks. At that moment, he collapsed to the earth, the sounds of flying bullets and dying humans and centaurs alike almost rocking him to sleep with the sheer exhaustion he felt.
July 2017 — Chiba, Chiba Prefecture, Japan
"Elliot Lordly" cracked open his eyes with a start. He had just had a horrible nightmare, or perhaps a beautiful dream. He couldn't tell. What he did know was that he was exhausted, sweaty, out of breath, and downright exhausted from whatever his body was put through on that battlefield. He could have sworn that the faint scent of gunpowder lingered on his skin.
He had never felt so alive in that singular moment when consciousness returned to him that morning.