NOVEL NEXT Chapter 217: Face to Face
It was harder than I thought to bring myself to follow her directions, but eventually, I stepped up to my grama and sat down. “Ok, so… do I just sit here or…”
She patted the ground in front of her again. “Why are you so far away? Come closer.”
“Mm… Ok…” I stood up and sat down again right in front of her. Before I could ask again she grabbed me by the waist like she was picking up a cat and flipped me around in the air before setting me down on her lap.
“Ok. So long story short you ate part of a dragon's heart right? That means that a part of the dragon is inside of you now. You have two options, beat it into submission, or make peace with it. Either way, we should start with a conversation. So your adorable self is going to sit here while I do the thing.”
“Grama…” I whined. “What’s the thing…” My voice cracked from how nervous I was but her smile only grew wider.
She didn’t answer, just wrapped me up and squeezed me till I thought I might pop. “Don’t worry, you’ll see ok. Just sit back and relax.” Her grip loosened and her whole body relaxed, but she never let go, holding onto me like I was her favorite blanket. Before long her heart rate and breathing slowed.
‘Did she fall asleep?’
I suddenly felt my body heat up, but only slightly as the energy inside me swirled, mixing together with hers until I felt dizzy and fell into a trance. When I woke up I found myself staring at a split between dimensions. On one side was the mountain top where I met with Agis, and on the other, the ancient cathedral ruins where Rafi blessed me with moonlight. ‘No way… Did she somehow force me into the divine realm? Is Grama a demi-god?’ I looked down at my hands, my clothes had changed, but my body was the same. ‘I guess this is my true self now…’
“She has her priorities! And her promise to me is at the top of that list!”
‘Agis?’
“I could swat you like a fly puny human… Oh, I guess you are a saint after all… You were just so weak I didn’t notice at first.”
“At least I’m strong enough to keep my head in one piece instead of three!”
‘He’s yelling? At… Rafi? The big Rafi…’ I tried to step forward but bounced off an invisible wall of solid air that rippled on contact. ‘Wait, I’m not on the same plane as them?’ I looked down and sure enough, it was a three-way split, not two. Under my feet was scorched earth, red vines sifting through black and white sand and ash.
“Siya?”
“Doggy!”
They each appeared directly in front of me, each standing in their own worlds, only despite what I heard, the little Rafi was the one that popped out of thin air next to me… And with a new nickname that I… Wasn’t particularly fond of if I was being honest… “Hey guys…”
“Don’t call her a dog, what’s wrong with you?”
She crossed her arms and shrugged, “Doggies are cute, it’s totally a compliment, are you stupid?”
He let out an exasperated sigh. “What happened to the adult one.”
“She lost it, she was about to snap you in two, so I had to step in. You’re welcome. Hey Siya.” Her smug face fell completely flat. “Don’t look behind you…”
I looked down again. ‘Ash and sand…’ “Rafi…” I whined. “Why would you say that!”
She giggled, as mischievous as ever, fully aware of how nervous she just made me.
‘Agis… Raffi… The two halves of my soul, magic and dark magic… So number three must be…’ I slowly swallowed before I turned around, tensing my whole body as I felt a puff of air blow down my back under my shirt from above, making my clothes flutter and giving me chills. ‘The dragon…’
It stared straight down into my eyes hovering its nose less than an inch away from my face. My whole body felt limp, and I almost wet myself as my manna all ran away in fear, leaving my body cold down to the bone. ‘So… Big…’ I was small enough to fit inside one of its nostrils, although it would have been a tight squeeze. There was no fight or flight response, just an overwhelming sensation of “I’m dead…”
“You got a new pet! I’m so jealous.” Rafi cheered.
After a moment to catch my breath, I took a step back, bracing myself against the invisible wall and slowly following the dragon's scales up to its eyes, when our eyes locked it suddenly came alive and shook its head, growling, then roaring, breathing fire wildly as it spun in a frantic rage before snapping its jaws around me and swallowing me whole.
In an instant, I was outside again, as if I had respawned.
“No Siya! That’s not how you give him treats! You’re not supposed to let him eat you! Let him eat the stupid bear man.”
“I know you're talking about me…” Agis grumbled as she started to drool, having to wipe her mouth.
“Bear meat tastes so good… I haven’t eaten it in ages…”
My legs felt completely limp and my mind went blank as I crumpled down to the sand beneath me, unable to even process their conversation as my brain caught up with the fact that I wasn’t dead.
“Why is the child version scarier… You know I’m not actually a bear, right? I’m HUMAN.”
She scoffed. “I’m not stupid…” She muttered, before turning back to me, as if sensing the moment I started to fully comprehend speech again, coming out of a state of shock. “Here, try this! Bad Doggies should be punished!”
I felt a sharp pain in the side of my head and a piercing wound through the side of my chest as the invisible wall between Rafi and me shattered and her greatsword stuck in the ground next to me. ‘Right… Grama said I had to make peace or win through force…’ I stood up and grabbed the sword. It was as light as it looked when she swung it as if there was no blade at all. Although from the feeling I got when she broke the wall, I figured out pretty quickly that everything that happened in there would actually affect my soul… In a way, I was even more scared.
“Use your dark magic and put that overgrown salad in its place.”
“Right!” ‘Wait… What?’
Agis protested as I tried to gather myself. “What are you doing!”
“I’m bribing her, if I help her then she’ll like me more and help me first.”
“That’s not! You can’t just!”
“I just did.” She said smugly, sticking her tongue out.
“Thanks Rafi… But… How am I supposed to win?” I looked back up and once again the moment we locked eyes it began to twitch and in an instant, it sneezed out fire scorching my clothes off and covering my skin in snot and scorched marks. It still didn’t hurt at all though. ‘WHAT IS HAPPENING!’ I slowly looked down and froze stiff at my sudden lack of clothing but a moment later I was suddenly yanked backward into the abyssal third of the plane and wrapped in Rafi’s cloak.
“Don’t worry, he didn’t see anything.”
‘What?’ I turned to Agis who was rubbing his eyes and growling. “You little brat! You’re worse than me when I was a kid!”
The dragon began going on a rampage scorching everything around it, even scorching the tall grass and melting the snow in Agis’s third, lighting up my chest like I had turned into a living oven, and the flame was just set to high. I started to feel more angry, and less rational somehow. It was like I was in pain, but not physical pain. I wanted to cry and scream and hit something all at once.
The fire bounced off the abyss like water crashing into stone. Thanks to that I was able to finally get my bearings again, slowly pulling her cloak tighter around my shoulders. “Thanks…”
She looked up at me and scowled before jumping into the air and landing on an invisible step so that she was above me before smiling again. “So, my brave demon-slaying knight queen of divine darkness. What’s your plan to tame the big doggie.”
“I still don’t even know what’s happening… and… I’m covered in snot… And my clothes just melted off… Can’t I just wake up and try again later?”
She sighed. “Well, that’s disappointing… But yes, I guess you can. It’s not like he can actually devour your soul sense you know dark magic, dragons are completely incompatible with it, they can’t interact with it at all.”
“Oh?” ‘So that’s what’s happening. This must be the part of my soul that I manipulate when I use soul arts.’
Her smile came back in an instant. “I know that look. You’re about to do something fun aren't you.”
I looked down and shuddered at how gross I felt. “Uh-I-uh… I appreciate the cloak… But, is there any way I can get any other clothes?”
She paused. “Why… You’re covered aren't you, a real knight would fight naked, no matter who was watching!”
“How often do you’re knights end up in this kind of situation!”
She rolled her eyes as she started taking off her clothes, making me stop her before she went too far. “What are you doing now?
I grabbed her shirt holding it on and turned to Agis who just rolled his eyes, slowly rubbing his brow with one hand. “Siya, this is your soul, you’re mind, you’ve already practiced this, just make yourself some new clothes like we did last time.”
Rafi suddenly shot him a sharp glance, growling. “LAST TIME! What have you been doing to my favorite knight that she needed new clothes!”
‘It’s like watching two donkeys but heads like rams…’ I snapped my fingers and got rid of all the slime, and with another snap, I created a set of my old armor that I wore through the dungeon. The only difference was that it was all black and dark blue with pale moonlight coloring, well, that and it fit properly. ‘What the…’
“You’re MY knight, stop wearing other people's banners…” Rafi groaned.
“It’s my family colors though? Wouldn’t it be normal to wear both?”
She paused, tilting her head. “Is that how people do it now?”
“It doesn’t really matter, it fits the same, and I am your knight.”
She smiled so brightly her eyes actually started twinkling, even the one that was pitch black suddenly looked like it was full of stars.
‘All three of you have been in here for how long? I’m starting to see why I feel so tired all the time…’ I grabbed Rafi’s greatsword again and channeled my soul through the blade, watching her third of the plane shrink as my soul bent into the greatsword. “You said dark magic and dragons don’t mix right?”
“Yeah.” She replied, still grinning with anticipation.
‘No way I can beat this thing in a fight… But I don’t really have to, I just have to contain it.’ I stepped out and worked with my soul, kneading the darkened parts until it became easy to move and manipulate. ‘Ok then. Let’s do this.’ After a few quick breaths to psych myself up, I stopped my legs from shaking and locked eyes with the dragon. ‘Right now it’s acting irrational and infantile. Probably because I only drank a very small sliver of its heart… So this should be easy… It should be…’ The dragon suddenly turned and stared at me. ‘It… Should be easy…’