by J. J. Pavlov
Chapter 70 - The Wayward Child Returns
"That was close." I drop to my knees and heave a sigh of relief. We're inside the familiar transportation circle in the castle of Arkaim after having just barely escaped the collapsing teleportation room in the bowels of Castra Legionis.
Kozii is right next to me, his blank eyes staring into space. He witnessed his father Adano getting crushed under a rock only moments ago, so he will need some time to get his thoughts in order. Especially since that father brought us to the Queen of Gold as some sort of sacrifice, and it backfired on him.
"Where is Asoko?" Hestia suddenly asks, and I spin my head around. Only she and Kozii are with me, and the spot in which my other half stood just moments ago is empty. She was right there, even during the stream of light.
Was it a teleportation accident like the one I had when Maou-mama first sent me through without setting the destination? But I set it right, and everybody else is here with me.
Suddenly, the door to the transportation room is slammed open from the outside, and a group of maids wielding all sorts of weapons or brandishing their claws storms into the room, looking ready for battle. Maybe Maou-mama tightened security around here after I snuck in last time without anybody noticing, fearing that others could do the same.
"Oh, Chaos-sama." Ironically, the first to recognize me is the bat maid Nezera. I learned that her eyesight is pretty bad. She sometimes even stumbles over her own feet when carrying a big tray, as it blocks her ultrasonic sounds from reaching the floor.
That's also around the time I realized that Maou-mama gathered the maids not primarily as servants - even if they do fulfill that role - but as eye-candy. Of course, many of them are unique demons that don't exist anywhere else in the Dominion.
"A Fata?!" Lervia, the bakari maid with the oversized curved horns bleats while pointing at Hestia. Then her alarmed expression makes way for confusion when she reconsiders the color of her wings. There are many demons with black feathered wings, but those replace their arms, like in harpies. Only Fatas have an extra pair of limbs, but their feathers should always be white.
"What is going on here?" Finally, the person in charge appears. Rewera's voice causes all the maids to quiet down, as her towering figure comes through the doorway. She looks at me, stops on Kozii for a tiny moment, and then moves onto Hestia, upon which both her eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Chaos-sama?"
"Where are my mother and Mithra?" I step forward and ask, hoping to employ my authority to avoid having to explain this situation. The court magician might be able to help me find Asoko. After all, he quickly found me when I at first ended up in a random location due to Maou-mama's mistake.
"First, please explain what that Fata is doing here." But the maid leader doesn't fall for it and peers down at me while gesturing at Hestia. The fact that she isn't pointing at her directly or employing a rude tone tells me that she's already considering the possibility of the fallen angel being my companion. After all, her black wings should imply that something is up with her.
"This is Hestia, my lover." I declare in a matter of fact tone, eliciting gasps of surprise from the maids behind their leader.
"And the dark elf?" Rewera doesn't let his presence go unaddressed.
"He's collateral damage." I turn my head to look back at Kozii, who still hasn't moved a single muscle since coming here. The trauma of witnessing his father's death is so fresh that he must be paralyzed. "Give him a room, but keep an eye on him."
Who knows what he'll do if we leave him alone. I'll consider how to proceed with him after I figure out what happened to Asoko, and then gotten Kamii and Daica from Kongenssoevn. They might also be able to talk to him as members of the same race and find out why Adano did what he did. But for now, his priority is quite low.
"The court magician has returned from Pontis Daemonis moments ago and is in his tower." The maid leader finally answers my earlier question. This reminds me that Pontis Daemonis, the previously only human bastion on the entire continent of Ceogath, was taken by Maou-mama last year in a retaliatory strike. "Maou-sama is in the Forerunners Chamber."
The Forerunners Chamber is where the spirits of past demon lords are interred, and only the current monarch of the Dominion is allowed to enter it. There, they may commune with them and ask for advice. Nobody is supposed to disturb them when they're inside, but I will have to knock on the door and ask her to come out.
"I'm going there right now." I state in a tone that leaves no room for objections. Asoko could be in grave danger, and finding her is of utmost priority right now. As I walk forward, Rewera steps out of the way with a bow. Seeing that, the other maids quickly do the same.
"What is the matter, Chaos-sama?" Realizing that I'm very impatient right now, the maid leader follows me while asking. The other maids stick their heads out of the teleportation room to watch us departing, their eyes especially fixated on Hestia.
"Somebody who came through the transportation network with us vanished in the middle of the transfer." For now, I don't want to reveal who exactly that is, as it would be hard to explain. "I need Mithra to find her."
I look down at the tally marks on my arm and add them together in my mind. They come out to fifty-three times in which I cut myself as a reminder for how many days I've been away from Kamii and Daica. I don't want to start one for my lost other half before I can erase these.
"Do you really need to?" Hestia suddenly asks, causing me to spin around on the spot and look at her. Her expression suggests that it wasn't an ignorant question or a thinly-veiled malicious proposition. "I am sure that she can handle herself."
She realized that I don't want anybody else to know that the person I'm talking about is another me. But her expression tells me she's implying that because of who Asoko is, it should be fine. A part of me does believe so, as wherever either of us ends up, we should be able to survive now that we both have the dragon template.
"I still think it's best to find her as quickly as possible." Shaking my head, I continue on my way toward the northern corner of the castle, where a winding staircase leads up into Mithra's tower. I've never been there before, but I imagine his room to be filled with books, notes strewn across tables, flasks, and beakers full of glowing liquids, and all other kinds of evidence for a mage's abode.
As I round a corner, I nearly run into a figure in blue - who turns out to be the court magician himself. This is just like last time when I came here to report my seeing him at the champion selection. But unlike then, he's the one who lowers his head upon recognizing me. As always, every inch of his skin is hidden by bandages, so I can't tell what his expression at seeing me here is.
"Your Highness." He says in his usual muffled voice, no surprise to be found in his tone.
"I need you to find a person who disappeared during a transportation network transfer." Without wasting any time on pleasantries, I get straight to the point.
"That requires me to know where you transferred from." Mithra doesn't deny that he can do it and asks for specifics right away. Considering he can teleport wherever he wants to, I'd think he can also see ahead to wherever he wants to go. Clairvoyance, so to speak. I'm sure that he's those eyes Maou-mama mentioned keeping watch over everything I do.
"From Castra Legionis. But the whole place came crashing down." I exchange a glance with Hestia at those words, remembering what Asoko said to me about breaking old ruins once the story in them is concluded.
"That... makes things more difficult." The court magician tilts his head and leans on his staff.
"Can you do it or not?" My impatience gets the better of me, and I snap at him.
"It shall be done, Your Highness." Lowering his head, Mithra answers in the positive. "But I will need Her Majesty's help."
"Then I'll go get her." I click my tongue and turn to head for the Forerunners Chamber.
"Nobody is allowed to disturb her when she is in the Forerunners Chamber." Rewera quickly objects despite sensing that I'm approaching my limits in patience.
"No, this can't wait!" I shout and stomp my foot on the ground before realizing that I'm acting like a spoiled brat. Taking a long breath, I force myself to calm down and look up at the maid leader. She maintains her stoic façade even at my outburst, most likely used to seeing a certain childish queen do the same. Raising my voice made me seem immature, but I won't budge on this. "Find a way to call her out of the Forerunners Chamber, or I will do it myself."
"Please calm yourself." Hestia grabs my arm and presses her chest against it. The feeling does help distract me a little. "You do not have to be so impatient."
"Why?" I try to make my question not sound stubborn, but it will always come across that way. A part of me does see where she's coming from; we're in the castle of Arkaim now, and I doubt Maou-mama will run away once she emerges from that room. So it's only a matter of time before I get to speak to her.
"Please get clothed and take some time to rest." Rewera suddenly suggests, and I realize that I've been naked since the battle against Kiamedras. But she should be used to me using body paint or go nude with the important bits erased, so this is most likely just a distraction.
Then I realize that she's looking at Hestia rather than at me. That draws my attention to the fact that there's a hole in the angel girl's bloodstained clothes. It's from when the golden spear pierced through her chest. The wound is healed, but she still came close to dying and should be exhausted; after all, we just made it through two back to back boss battles. And although it's bright outside, we do come from a place where the sun had already set when we last saw the sky, so it should be time to sleep now.
"Then prepare a bath and a meal for us. In that order." Giving in out of consideration for the fallen angel, I heave a sigh. I can't keep worrying about those who aren't here while disregarding those who are. Before anything else, I should make sure Hestia won't collapse on me.
"I will see if I can wake up Maou-sama... I mean, contact her in the Forerunners Chamber." Rewera respectfully bows to me while maintaining a neutral expression. She quickly corrected herself there, but I'm sure that was on purpose. Despite being the stoic maid leader, she does like to crack deadpan jokes every so often.
So Maou-mama is sleeping in there rather than doing something constructive? Maybe I should go there right now and knock down the door after all...
"You lived with them for three weeks before departing on your journey?" Hestia glances at the demon maids surrounding us on all sides during our meal in the dining hall after we took a bath together. We're both used to having a lot of people watching us eat in the academy. Still, it's something else when all those eyes are filled with warmth and curiosity rather than reverence and jealousy - or even the aversion we received after Hestia's corruption.
"Are you jealous?" I lean back on my chair after finishing my overloaded plate and grin at her, and she reacts with an outstretched tongue. She didn't hesitate to try from every dish even though I told her that the demons do eat humans. But it seems that they ran out of them sometime last year already - I detected no human genes in any of the meats I tried.
"Chaos-chan! Did you bring me a souvenir?" Suddenly, both wings of the door are slammed open, and Maou-mama comes in while calling out to me, closely followed by Mithra and Rewera. It seems that the maid leader wasn't able to inform her of anything before she stormed off to see me right away. I did promise to bring her something, but I wasn't really in a position to think about that when I came back here. In other words, I completely forgot about it.
She then notices Hestia and stares at her for a moment, but doesn't look too surprised. I'm sure her eyes already told her everything there is to know about the angel girl.
"Let me introduce you, mama." But I feel the need to do this officially and stand up from my chair while gesturing at the girl in focus. "This is Hestia, the Fata I met at the academy and one of the people most important to me in this world."
Maou-mama looks at Hestia with a warm gaze but remains quiet. That causes the latter to get up from her seat quickly as if noticing something. Despite wearing only a bathrobe, she performs a curtsy with perfect elegance, incorporating her wings in the process as if they were another pair of arms. Technically, they are.
"Your Majesty." She lifts her head but maintains a lowered position before proceeding to speak. "My name is Hestia. Unfortunately, I have been stripped of my family name and have no titles to give. I am unworthy of being with your daughter, but I-"
"Oh, stop being so formal." My mother's charismatic façade cracks, and she waves off the angel girl's self-deprecating speech. "But I can tell that you are a sincere one. Even though you come from such a prestigious background, you do not flaunt it when facing somebody of rank."
"I am an illegitimate child, Your Majesty." Hestia lowers her head again and denies the praise.
"That is only a recent construct in Fata society, brought on by none other than your birth. By the old laws, you are Hestia Moirael." With a sly smile, Maou-mama reveals the fallen angel's family name. It seems that she already found out everything there is to know about those close to me.
Wait, I've heard that name somewhere before. I feel like it was also here in the castle, but it's been a while, so I'm not entirely sure. What was it we last talked about when I was here? The conversation moves on, so I have to shelf this for later; I'll ask Hestia about it directly then.
"So, what is the relationship between you two?" That's a question meant to gauge Hestia rather than to gain information. Maou-mama definitely already knows.
"We are lovers." But the angel girl comes right out with it and announces it in a proud tone. Her determined expression tells me that she won't even let the person she would have to call mother-in-law stand between our relationship.
But the moment Maou-mama motions to speak, Hestia wavers and blinks her eyes as if realizing what she just said. I suppress the urge to laugh, and so does my mother, only causing the fallen angel to lower her head further as her ears grow red from embarrassment.
"So, what brings you here? What was so urgent that my sleep- I mean, my meditation time in the Forerunners Chamber had to be interrupted?" She corrected herself too late there, but I don't comment on it as the conversation is finally moving in the right direction. Something tells me it was on purpose, too.
"We had one more person with us-" I start, but Maou-mama interrupts me.
"The dark elf boy you brought with you. I have no information about him, so you must have met him shortly before coming here." It seems that she wasn't monitoring me in real-time, or not all the time.
"No, he's not important. There was another one." I'm not sure I want to tell her what Asoko really is without being able to show her, so I'll keep it vague. After all, she eats those children that don't see eye to eye with her, and I know myself better than anyone. I do keep grudges, and my other half seemed to be holding one over being accidentally thrown into the desert without a clue about this world. If she showed too much disrespect, she might get eaten on the spot.
This causes me to remember the other topic I was about to broach the last time I was here. It felt so natural this time when Maou-mama used the Japanese suffix of endearment with my name that I didn't even notice it. She said she would explain this matter to me when I come here again.
"This reminds me... Before anything else, I want an answer to this: Are you somebody who reincarnated into this world from another?" I quickly bring it up again. I need to know why she and many of the maids use Japanese personal suffixes.
"Leave us." To my surprise, Maou-mama lifts her hand and orders everybody else to exit the room. It seems that she's ready to talk about it now, but doesn't want it to be overheard by others.
"Me too?" Hestia blinks her eyes in
confusion while shifting her gaze between my mother and me.
"No, it's alright." I lift a hand toward the angel girl while looking at Maou-mama with an expression that suggests I don't have any secrets with her.
There can be no greater secret than what I really am, and I revealed that to her already.
Maou-mama agrees by closing her eyes and nodding once. I'm sure she understood that I would tell Hestia later if she were made to leave the room now, and that's precisely what I would have done.
But I'm surprised to see that Mithra is allowed to remain while Rewera leaves the room and closes the door behind her after the other maids left. I'm sure she'll wait outside to keep them from trying to eavesdrop on our doubtlessly important conversation. They may be servants, but most of them have playful personalities and only behave properly when other demons visit the castle. With us members of the royal family, they've always been quite casual unless we make a point of being serious. They still call us by our formal titles though - that's most likely something Rewera drilled into them.
"Chaos-chan." My mother calls out to me, and I turn to see her smile at my quick reaction. This was just to confirm once again that my suspicion was right. She walks forward to the end of the table and gestures at me to come over. Exchanging a glance with Hestia, I do as I'm asked and walk up to my mother. "I am so glad that you turned out to be the one."
"What do you mean?" I raise an eyebrow at her words. Then I'm surprised to see tears appear in the corners of her eyes as the demonic colors fade from her skin and make way for those of a human's. The horns retract into her forehead completely, and to my horror, her voluptuous breasts shrink quite a bit. But when her hair shortens to shoulder length, straightens out, and then turns black, my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets at the person standing before me.
"Makoto-chan." She calls my real name, speaking with distinctly Japanese pronunciation.
"Mama?!"
Chapter 71 - A Mother's Love