NOVEL NEXT Ch.48: The Stench of Himself
Today was kinda feeling like a lazy day. After how Mark’s dad acted about dragonesses yesterday, it’s obvious that he knows something but why didn’t he say anything more? Maybe he was cautious about my instincts acting up? That is partly why I left, though mostly because I didn’t want to hurt little Stella with my leaking mana. It’s easy to ruin someone’s life if you mentally scare them as a child…. I hate that I know that. Well can’t ask him now, he’ll probably avoid answering it or only give me a half answer. Where did you really hear that?
Laying on the couch, I began playing with my long hair. I never cut it. Why didn’t I? If I’m trying to present as a guy, you’d think I would do more than say it and try to wear baggy clothes. But could I really ignore fashion? Being a guy I was limited to only male clothing and being muscular meant I wouldn’t pull off what some skinny guys can. But now in this body I’m free to try both sides. The hair just pulls the look together and I’m stuck like this anyway~. No one can judge a guy for trying out different looks right? hmm…..
Sitting up I walk back to my room and straight to that walk in closet. I got the house all to myself today sooooo…… digging through my dressers I find what I was hoping my mom would’ve sunk in. changing my clothes, I slowly walk in front of my mirror, there we’re wearing a white skirt with golden buttons and a pale purple shirt tucked in. it looks cute and maybe it feels good too….. the thought makes my cheeks heat up as I nervously look at the floor. Noticing my clawed feet, I sigh. “Socks would look good with this too. Too bad I’d just rip through them.” I say mourning the possible outfit combinations, I can’t try.
Whatever. Quickly turning, my skirt swirled around with me. This feels really nice! I like it so much that I end up putting extra effort to exaggerate my movements just to get the skirt to move around more. I wonder if I had a fan blowing at it might feel nice too? Like a cape around my waist!
Rushing to my door I freeze. Would it be wrong to run out into the rest of house dressed like this? Would I be judged, or seen as something else? Would I be admitting that the past me is dead if I did? These thoughts made me feel as if hundreds of eyes were watching me at all angles, leaving nothing to imagination, no longer a person but a animal. I looked down at myself, the clothes I’m wearing, the scales and even my tail. Reaching up, I grab one of my horns, feeling the ridges that loop around them, it feels like a bone cast in some metal.
I really don’t like thinking about all these changes but then again, once I figure out how my instincts work, I’ll be right back here, questioning myself again. Am I really happy about this? Will I end up forgetting myself in these instincts, stuck as some half animal, human brain? Then there’s my dragon side and how I’m perceived by the outside world…..
“No!” I shout at the imaginary eyes, opening my wings in anger. “I’ll just have to figure it out one step at a time! If I discover something about myself I don’t like then I’ll just work on changing it.” I say my defiance to the world as I pull my door open to look for a fan.
Walking down the hallway, I check through all the cabinets I find in my search. Finding cleaning supplies, a lot of metal cookie tins. All of them filled with sewing supplies, damn I really wanted a crunchy cookie for my journey for fan of destiny. Pulling another cabinet open, I finally find the circular dish filled with the metal blades I was looking for. As I pulled it out I found a medium box labeled, ‘Oly’s’ behind the fan.
“Hello~.” I greet my latest find with a curious smile. Did I just discover my missing stuff? “Don’t mind if I do.”
Hauling my treasures back to my room, I quickly plug in the fan, it immediately hitting my face with its air. This made my hair blow backwards into a wild mess. Jumping to my feet I pose with shoulder up with my fists on my hips as try to do jazz hands with my wings behind me. “You’re over presumptuous in believing a mere wind is enough to defeat me!” I shout in a heroic voice while my skirt billows in the wind just like a ca- The fan moves and the wind blows up my skirt, giving my whole room an eye full of my panties.
I stand there with my eyes wide open, filled with shock, while my cheeks slowly heat up at my realization. My weakness as it was. Skirts can’t defined your dignity in the onslaught of a cruel wind. Slowly falling to my knees, I shakely hold down my skirt. “oooh…that…um, yeah…..” I quietly mumble to myself.
Welp nothing a good perusing to forget your stupidity! I quickly turn around totally not dyed a dark orange blush, NOPE, couldn’t be me!
Tactfully retreating to my box of things, I quickly open it to find another skirt.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
After a quick run to the fridge for a cup of ice cold water to calm the mind I slowly made my way back to that
box. Its probably happy at its surprise attack I bet. Looking at the pink frilly skirt, finding a small note.‘Hey Oly! If you find this then I probably forgot to hand you your things back! The skirt was something I made I after I bribed the store clerk for your measurements! If you’re curious about the other side, I recommend you wear it………… then show it off so I can figure out if it suits you or if I need to make adjustments. Love you!
Mom <3’
I put my palm on my forehead. “Oh mom…… Thanks for gift and the scare…” I say half sarcastically.
Putting aside the skirt, I find a few sketch books from my childhood. Opening one, I’m reminded just how bad I was at art, finding several poorly drawn bird bat lizards? Another page shows a fanged turtle with the outline of spikes on its shell, it wasn’t bad for a kid’s drawing but I’m pretty sure I could’ve done better.
Setting aside the books, my eyes fell upon a golden magnum opus of my box! There sitting in the box was my old Raikaiser figure with its dopy eyes looking in different directions. It looks so stupid but I’ve had this guy since I was three, how do I know that? Because mom loves the story of me crying to have a monster battle with it and how I hugged it like I was dancing. She tells it every time I mention green and dinosaur in the same sentence. Well that doesn’t matter, he’s going up on my shelf right next to Rush-Leo and his friend Angermaw. Taking a step back I smile at my small collection of kaiju but I may have to expand it or find another space once I get those crystal dioramas.
Returning to the box I found a few tapes…OH! These are the ones I got of my favorite athletes! Picking one up and turning it over, I froze.
“Wait….” I said in confusion only for realization to set in. the label on the tape read, “The DOOM defining Runner passes destiny and fucks Fate a new one!’
I’ve never written anything like this, it was the insane Bolt sets records. Not this…. Stuff.
Right…. this isn’t really my body. Not before I woke up a few weeks ago. Did I mentally eat the other Oliver? Fuse souls? Possess his body? Did this process kill the original, seal him or push his mind and soul out into some void?
I really hate this………….whatever caused this happen, something in the back of head whispers that it wasn’t a nice one. The fact that I’m basically a body stealer was something I wanted to avoid thinking about but how can I if I keep getting reminders that I’m not their Oliver. Both Kathy and Mark acted surprised when I offered to help them…. Would they hate me if they found out?
I mean how am I supposed to approach the topic in the first place? Hey I’m not actually the Oliver you know but one from another world and I guess I stole this Oliver’s body somehow. Heck maybe original Oliver wasn’t going to be a dragon but something else, maybe he would’ve stayed a guy!
Sighing, I put the tape back in the box. At least I don’t have to act like some weirdo. They only seem to notice certain small things? I mean I woke up in this body still fit so not everything is different. But what else has original Oliver done that I haven’t? Narrowing my eyes at the box, I begin digging through it to see if I can find some hint or clue to my question.
The only thing that sticks out is a weird brown jewelry box with an even weirder keyhole shape, it looks almost like a broken heart shape. Shaking the box I hear a slightly heavy thump noise hitting the sides, so if I’m right it’s a book or pile of cards or some handheld game.
Putting the box down, I decide to check the sketch books again, remembering how I would sometimes write in them when some things got, crazy……. Flipping through the pages, I see one childhood drawing after another. “Nothing!” Maybe the other one? Jumping to the third page before the final page all I find is the words arm of confusion written on the back of a monster drawing.
“Confusion?” I mumble to myself as I look around my room. “Arm…” I mutter as I begin scanning the figures on my shelf. They have arms but it could also mean some chair arm or something else that works as an arm too. I guess it’s process of elimination then.
Getting up I pick the only figure that might fit confusion, Deluxe-man Spiral. Picking up the gold plated figure, I examine the arms for any breaks, shaking it to find any sounds and moving the arms in case it’s some code thing. “Nothing!” I grumble before looking back at the box…… No way could it be that easy right? Picking up the box, I look at Spiral’s arm and the keyhole. There’s no way original Oliver is this predicable right? I mean sure he’s a kid compared to me but he’s still me to some regard. Slowly I poked the right arm into the key hole, pushing it in up to the shoulder. Shaking the arm left and right until I felt something move and click sounded from the box.
Frowning at how obvious my other wa-IS, I look down in disappointment. “You’re me for god’s sake. At least try to be more cryptic.” I grumble at the mental hit. Going back to the box, I slowly lift the lid to find, releasing a dark bubbly mist from within. The mist carpeted the floor and smelled like rotting apples, making my face twist in pain and disgust.
Jumping back, I almost fall on to my bed. “What the hell is that! Oh my god! Urp-URp!” the smell’s too strong that my lunch is threatening to decorate my whole room! Running to the restroom, I spill my vile disgust into the toilet. Oh god! I really hate- “URP-UHHHh- URP!”
After a quick rearranging of my stomach, I cover my face with my shirt and arm myself with some disinfectant spray before going back into my room. But there wasn’t any smell. Lowering my shirt I wasn’t assaulted by that rotten smell, but I didn’t open the widow either… turning back to that awful box, I worried that, I’d find something dead inside. Maybe other me was into collecting animals? Taking a deep breath, I slowly approached the box, peering inside, I found a shriveled up pair of sliced apples on top of a black book. The apple slices were all wrinkly and super wet like it was covered in dog slobber. Quickly I grabbed in a baggy and tossed it in the trashcan.
Turning back to the book I notice its decorated in silvery webs, spiked tentacles and several pure black gems that look like cat eyes. it kinda felt like it was watching me and the thought of even touching it felt like ooze running down my back. Even my mind found it disgusting, as if I was served a loved pet, half eaten on a dinner plate. Not wasting time I quickly slammed the lid on that book before locking it with Spiral’s arm.
“What was that-that..THING?!” I shout with my face twisting up like I licked sweaty socks filled with shit. “AND why the HELL does other Oliver have THIS! Where DID it come from!?” I stare at the small jewelry box, my muscles tensing up the longer I look at it. Picking it up in another baggy, I rush outside and threw the thing in the large trashcan before running back to grab all the trash bags I could find and burying the box in trash. Even found a log from somewhere and tossed it in with the rest, hoping that this would keep that thing from being grabbed from any passersby.
Once safely in the house, I dropped myself on the couch, my muscles feeling super tight and my tail moving as if it had too much caffeine. What did other me- NO! What did that Oliver do?! I’ve never felt this irrational? This stressed from something before! It was like it was watching my very soul, it was drooling.
