Symbiotic Ascension : A Progression Fantasy Adventure

'Ow...' Glenn rolled in his bed, his forehead as heavy as a football made of lead. Laughs and dirty songs still rang through his ears, the world and his mattress spinning around him. The warm morning light was trying to pry through his eyelids, forcing him to clench them tighter.

The previous night had been very fun and a great way to get rid of all the stress that had been piling up. 'Really living the life, huh? One day, I fight vampires or other ungodly creatures, and the others, I party like there's no tomorrow.'

He tried to laugh at the thought, but the pain in his head stopped him from doing so. After realizing he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Glenn grumbled himself awake, rubbing away the tiredness in his eyes. He yawned lazily, looking through a blurred sight at the room he'd ended up in. A guest room, it appeared, with no special particularities—oh.

The wall was missing, giving way to space for three entire floors.

'An odd choice of room,' he thought. He stumbled out of the bed, struggling to extricate himself from the covers. It was as if they were trying to grab and stop him from leaving!

The young man eventually escaped from the covers, groaning as another massive headache almost made him regret his actions.

'That's the moment I say that I'm never drinking again, right?' Glenn dragged his feet to the destroyed wall, peering down from it. The Sorenas' Estate was half-destroyed, large crevasses ripping the earth open and revealing intricate subterranean passages. Gold and magenta-clad Royal Inquisitors were scouring the ruins, extracting bodies and evidence. Glenn's good mood soured slightly as he saw the bodies being transported respectfully. They were all empty husks, dry like sandpaper, all of their blood sucked out by the vampires who dwelled below King's Rise.

Glenn shook his head, grimaced in pain, and resolved himself to use his powers to cure his hangover. A quick use of Laurance's monstrous Regeneration was enough to get rid of the ill that plagued his mind and bowels. A dark, condensed pearl of filth trickled out of his finger, dropping on the floor with an intense stench of alcohol. Glenn scowled in disgust and immediately got rid of the waste with an additional Mundare Aqua. The cleaning water trembled as it touched the remains of the alcohol that ran through Glenn's veins before disappearing in a small cloud of steam.

"Feels better," Glenn murmured with a sigh of satisfaction. He stretched, his eyebrows raising as he realized he was wearing only his underwear. A quick search of the room revealed that he was surprisingly thoughtful when drunk. Neatly stacked on a chair next to a familiar, dark-blue dress were his tailored clothes. Glenn's eyes slid over the foreign garment before snapping back to them in disbelief. His gaze lingered upon them as he heard a calm breath coming from the bed he'd been sleeping on.

His heart missed a beat, the realization hitting him violently like Truck-kun.

It felt like time itself stopped when he turned back to the bed, discovering that the sheets weren't the ones trying to keep him in there. No, it was a tanned woman with hair like chalk and a white cross on her forehead who was hugging the covers with a dissatisfied expression. Even now, drooling on her pillow, she appeared like the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen in his life. Not even Onnea herself could compare to her.

He floated in an instant of wonder and shock before the whole thing connected.

'Holy shit, HOLY SHIT,' he thought as his jaw dropped on the floor. 'W- What the fuck happened last night? No, did we...? Shit, I don't remember anything! Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.' His thoughts were set on an infinitely repeating band, permanently shocked.

His wobbling knees brought him next to the bed, where he sat without daring to look upon the sleeping beauty—his sleeping friend! Friend!

'God damn it. I really am deep in it, aren't I?' He clasped his head in his hands. He knew himself to be slightly more daring when inebriated, but to that extent? No way. And Liara just rolled with it? Really? His mind raced as he seriously began considering a relationship, ignoring the fact that he still couldn't isolate Diamanes from his private life. What would it change, anyway? They were hanging together all the time, killing and saving stuff.

No, but did he even have the right to have a relationship like this? 'I'm a murderer, a monster, and I have the biggest target painted on my back for Gods to shoot at. Being with me is like sharing that target, that's—that's too dangerous!' He shook his head, steeling his resolve. No, that couldn't fly. His friends had already suffered for their relationships with him; what would happen to Liara if knowledge got out that he was going out with her?

'Do people even date in Limbo? Isn't it, like, courting then marriage? Like super fast stuff?' His eyes almost rolled in their sockets as he imagined himself in a regal suit and Liara in a white wedding dress. His heartbeat quickened at the image, his cheeks flushing red.

That was a nice thought, arguably. But he still shook it off. Fantasy. He couldn't afford that. Perhaps after he got rid of the 'Epinos' problem? Mortelli was also a threat he needed to take care of, as well as the Occult Wanderers. Oh, and there was that war with the Celestial Gods that threatened the country he was living in and depended on.

Glenn grunted distressfully as he hid his face in his hands. 'At this pace, I'm never getting a break EVER! What am I supposed to do, damn it...?'

The opportunity to ponder on the question was stolen from him as a Mana and Aura-empowered arm grabbed him and pulled him into the bed, using him as a comfy teddy bear. Glenn froze, holding his breath. His entire body tensed up, overly conscious of every touch, of every breath the Black Heiress mustered. Even her heartbeat pulsed through him, synchronizing with his own.

'Close. Too close,' he simply thought.

But it did feel good being there. Warm and comfy.

Safe.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

He couldn't do anything as he abandoned himself back to the darkness, sleeping what probably was the best night of his life.

***

"Well, well, well... " A grinning hand appeared before Glenn, floating magically. "Too bad it was basically just a cuddling session, but still. Progress!"

Glenn blinked and glanced at his surroundings. "The fuck? Where the hell am I?"

It looked like he was floating, to speak plainly, in space. Countless stars shone in the distance, in different colors and intensity. Giant clouds of gases encompassed the universe, painting a wondrous celestial picture. Diamanes positioned himself before Glenn's eyes, clenching and unclenching excitedly.

"Doesn't matter! What does, though, is that you're finally with Liara! Hurray! I need to get a human form so I can drink to that, I swear to my Original!" exclaimed the entity victoriously.

Glenn rubbed his eyes, wondering what the idiot was talking about, when he remembered the last instant before he fell back asleep. His cheeks flushed into a dark, ashamed red, and he hid his face in his hands again.

"Shit, shit, that's fucking real," he muttered.

Diamanes clicked his tongue. "Why don't you stop worrying and start enjoying it? I can't say I wasn't surprised when you said that to Liara, and she went all-in on you like some pounding wolf. That was probably a very exciting scene, which I kept myself away from." He added with a grumble. "Not that she seemed to care whatsoever. I tried warning her I was there, but it's like she couldn't hear me. Drunk Liara is terrifying, I swear."

Glenn's face drained of color as he listened to Diamanes' recounting of the previous night's events. "Diamanes, what the hell did I say to Liara?"

Diamanes waved away dismissively. "Bah, in the end, it got you where you wanted to be, so it doesn't matter, right?"

"Diamanes, tell me the fucking—"

"ANYWAY, welcome to your soul, Glenn!" The floating hand danced around. "The deepest part, I mean. I'll teach you how to get there later. For now, let's do what I brought you here for."

"Why aren't you answering my question?!"

Diamanes continued, not caring whatsoever. "Since you need privacy as soon as possible and still refuse to let me be a voyeur, which I still can't understand, I decided to instruct you on how to get rid of me temporarily!"

The entity's barely masked enthusiasm wasn't fooling Glenn, who momentarily discarded his worries about Liara and the consequences of what was going on outside of his soul to focus on what was happening inside.

Diamanes chuckled a little dejectedly, his usual jeer and sarcasm failing to hit the mark. "Ah, I can feel that you're aware I'm not too pleased by this. But, well, that's your privacy. I can understand you wanting to keep it private."

Glenn crossed his arms, sitting on a magically conjured stool. "Then what's wrong with you, Diamanes? What's bothering you?"

"I don't want to be alone," the entity stated plainly. The honesty Glenn felt in his friend's words made his heart ache. He thought back to the time Diamanes spent floating aimlessly in space, shooting by his lonesome toward the Moon Rift that led to Limbo. All the time spent waiting in the Still Peak's depths for someone capable of housing him and getting him out of his crystal prison.

It made so much sense for Diamanes to fear loneliness that it was almost painful.

"That's why I didn't want to teach you this," admitted Diamanes. "I don't want to be just sealed away forever, back to waiting to one day talk to someone again. I simply can't even imagine it. Trust me, that is not a pleasant experience, even to someone as mighty as me."

The last, self-gratifying words lacked the usual arrogance and haughtiness. Glenn made not mention of it, instead sighing heavily.

"I won't seal you away forever, Diamanes. Before, I might have done that. But now..." He cackled dejectedly and leaned back on his stool. "It's only thanks to you I'm still kicking, Diamanes."

"At least you do realize that," grumbled the entity.

"That doesn't mean I forgive you for trying to kill what is dear to me, though." Glenn's expression hardened. "You took over my body and saved the lives of my friends and me. For that, I will be eternally grateful. But why try and take away Pebble, Raijin and Whitey's powers, at the risk of killing them?"

"What help will be pets the size of thighs in a fight against Epinos, Glenn?" Diamanes exploded, his teeth clenched tightly. The purple hand was frozen before Glenn, taking his entire field of view. "Do you think they'd survive a Divine Punishment? They're just dead weights with uncommon abilities! Logically, it is the right choice to take their powers away for yourself so you can go and get rid of the actual problems!"

Diamanes clicked his tongue haughtily. "You can always get more pets once that's done, anyway."

Glenn stared at Diamanes and chortled in disbelief. "You're misunderstanding something, Diamanes."

The entity sealed its lips shut, listening intently to Glenn in a challenge to be proven wrong.

"I do not want to get rid of Epinos," Glenn said softly. "What I desire from the bottom of my heart is to live freely, in peace, with my family. I want to enjoy life! Have fun, laugh, cry, all without the worry of a cult trying to hack my balls off!" The young man stood up to the floating hand and poked an emotionally charged finger at it. "I want to experiment with magic, try and create things for fun instead of an attempt to keep myself alive just a little longer."

"What's the point of being the strongest being alive if I'm alone in the end, Diamanes?" Glenn squinted at the entity, which couldn't find words to retort. "These 'pets' like you call them, I actually hold them close to my heart! Pebble has been around for ages, he's almost like a lucky charm to me. Raijin and Whitey are literally the products of Sahro and Liara's powers. Why would I want to take away their strength when I know they'll stand next to me no matter what?"

Glenn was almost shouting at this point. "Can't you see the flaw in your so-called logic?"

Diamanes stammered, floating back a few steps away. Glenn exhaled heavily and collapsed back on his stool, waving his hand away in a tired gesture. "What is done is done. I understand why you'd want to do what you did, Diamanes."

The entity held his breath as Glenn's eyes fell upon him. Eyes filled with a resolve as strong as his own, that would never give up on what's dear to them.

"If the price of getting rid of my enemy is losing everyone I love, then I refuse to pay it," he declared bluntly. Diamanes gasped as Glenn's will overcame him. His soul vibrated with this will, the countless stars scattered across the space united to form a great universe behind the young man's back, supporting his words.

"I see. Well, it's hard to rebuke you when you spoke so eloquently, fucker," Diamanes laughed dryly, still surprised.

Glenn nodded slowly, his arms crossed. His mind had never been so calm, so resolute.

"Well, now that we got this strong emotional talk out of the way, let me teach you the way to properly please a woman," Diamanes said in a complete turn of events. Glenn choked on his saliva as Diamanes's wicked laughter rang out in his soul.

Truly, some things will never change.