A Space Oddity

by J. J. Pavlov

  "Have you heard of Kiamedras?" Tamariki turns to Ninlil and asks with an eyebrow raised. The catgirl is, if her claim that she helped Aldeath in his ascension to the throne of the Dominion is to be believed, at least five centuries old.

  "I haven't." She replies before looking into Asoko's golden eye while the latter is turning her head to listen to the conversation. Ninlil's expression suggests that she's wondering why Chloe and Asoko can transform into this appearance.

  "Do you know Aurelia, the Golden Queen, then?" Hestia pursues the matter. She seems to have talked things over with the catgirl and is back on casual speaking terms with her now.

  "I don't recall having heard that name either." Turning to face the fallen angel, Ninlil replies in a curious tone. It doesn't seem to be an act.

  "Well, the member of the Nomads of Ogin we met in the Mineva Republic did say that she was struck from history." Finally, Asoko joins the conversation and speaks with the deep rumbling voice of Kiamedras. Daica stares at her in surprise.

  "Y-you never told me a-about that." Her tone isn't an accusing one, but the big dark elf seems to be a little peeved at not having been told that they met other dark elves. Chaos clearly didn't have time to do so, and Asoko never considered it important enough to mention.

  "They led us to the ancient abandoned fortress Castra Legionis, where we wanted to use the transportation circle in its dungeon." Hestia takes over the explanation, not mentioning the names of their dark elf guides. "But the dungeon was filled with active traps. And in the treasure room, we encountered Kiamedras."

  The angel girl then proceeds to tell their story from her perspective, embellishing the role Chloe played a little. After she finishes relating their encounter with Queen Aurelia, she stops and looks around. Tamariki's eyes are glittering like those of a child who just heard an incredible fairytale.

  The others are both awed and shocked that the three of them were able to kill an elder dragon and then went on to fight an existence that stood even above that.

  Dregana and Ninlil exchange uncomfortable glances when their suspicions are confirmed; Asoko is either a sibling or even Chloe's twin. Which would mean she's also a Crawling Chaos - and in turn proves the age-old theory that Queen Pelomyx is a remnant of the original Crawling Chaos.

  But unlike all the other creatures they encountered or heard about, this one not only possesses reason but also moderation. All the others were self-serving monsters that lived solely for pleasure or mindless consumption. Chloe and this individual here are clearly different from those.

  "How do you think I got this form?" The Crawling Chaos peeks back over her shoulder and asks in a grumble when they question the veracity of Hestia's story.

  But the moment she poses the question, the answer comes to her already; none of them understand the true abilities of her kind. Only those who were told directly, which are only Senka and Hestia, know that by ingesting genetic material from a living being, she can replicate them perfectly.

  Thus, she keeps out of the conversation and slowly but gradually speeds up so that the winds make speaking hard. After all, flapping mouths give birth to disasters, and with enough people talking, one may eventually hit upon the truth of her abilities.

  Luckily, they seem to settle on an even more magical explanation than the truth before the winds become too strong for them to keep speculating. The guess is that only after killing something can she take their form. If they knew that even the exchange of certain bodily fluids is enough for her to gain their templates, they wouldn't be able to remain sitting on her back.

  When she glances at the now silent group, her eyes meet Dregana's, whose yellow glare pierces her as if having seen through her existence. Maybe she knows the truth about her ability, but since she doesn't like to talk much, the secret may be safe with her.

  Considering her position once again, Asoko realizes that three outrageous people are traveling with her. And one among them has unfathomable power she doesn't know how to oppose yet. Maybe the biggest danger on this journey isn't encountering Fatas or dragons, but giving them a reason to kill her - again.

  Suppressing the urge to sigh, she sympathizes with Lenoly's sentiment when she asked whether or not they would be fine on this journey. She's not so sure herself anymore.

  To everybody's surprise, they didn't see any more dragons on their journey across the Dragon Mountains. And since humans and Fatas avoid these regions, those didn't appear anywhere near them either. It was an uneventful three days aside from that tense encounter with the black dragon.

  Once they saw the ocean glittering in the distance on the morning of the fifth day since leaving Blereath, Asoko set down in a forest similar to the one they made camp in on Enorath. This time, they would spend the whole day hunting and gathering food so that the supplies will last for the entire journey to Ceogath.

  In the evening, everybody reconvenes again to make camp for the last night on solid land before the nonstop flight across the ocean. Their destination is Pontis Daemonis, which had been retaken by the Dominion in the previous summer.

  "Why can't we stop in Yagrath?" Asoko asks for the third time, earning her a frown from several people at once. Although the reason seems to be religious in nature, Hestia isn't one among them. Instead, Daica, Ninlil, and Tamariki are the ones looking at her with disapproving gazes.

  "We said it before, but the gods have forbidden entry to the Dark Continent." The catgirl explains in a tired tone.

  "Not even land on the shore?" Asoko knows that it's just splitting hairs, but she still feels compelled to try asking.

  "Y-you will get d-divine punishment." Daica stutters with a nervous expression, glancing around as if expecting a god to appear and reprimand them for even discussing this.

  "Well, considering we ran into a god on our journey, I guess I can believe that it's best to not make them angry." Shrugging, the Crawling Chaos finally drops the topic. This only causes everybody but Hestia to stare at her with flabbergasted faces. It seems that neither her other half nor the angel girl had mentioned the episode of their chance meeting with Al-Majnun when they were crossing the Nagirah desert. And in a sense, it didn't contribute to the overall outcome of their journey, so it wasn't important.

  But meeting a real god of this world should be an incredibly important event for those who were naturally born into it and grew up learning about them throughout their lives. Though surprisingly, the fallen angel seems to be wholly uninterested despite being of the Fata race, said to be messengers of the gods.

  "What was he like?" Tamariki can't help but loom over Asoko while asking with an excited grin. She seems to love hearing stories about famous or eminent people - or in this case, gods. Chaos told her that the towering demon cried after listening to the history of Demon King Aldeath. And she was hanging onto Hestia's every word when the latter related the story of their battle with Kiamedras and Aurelia.

  "I didn't see much of it since I was under his spell. Chloe fought him." Shrugging, Asoko remarks before realizing that it may have been a bad idea.

  "She what?!" Everybody stares at her with eyes round like saucers, yelling in a choir. It was already bad enough that they killed an elder dragon and defeated a being with godlike control over gold, but fighting a god is on an entirely different level.

  "Well, he was clearly toying with us. Chloe burned away his body, but his voice was still there. Then he tossed us out of his mirage city and back into the desert." Scratching the back of her head, the Crawling Chaos relates with a nervous glance at the faces around. Senka and Hestia are sitting to the side, sighing at Asoko's loose lips.

  "C-Chloe attacked a g-god just like that?" Daica's face looks pale as if she's ready to faint at the thought that her beloved made an enemy of one of the thirteen principal gods of this world.

  "We're learning more and more shocking things about Miss Marcott every day." Ninlil mutters with a troubled expression. She most likely already suspects that they're hoping that Chloe will return fro
m space. And hearing that she stood up to a real god makes it not just a distant possibility but a distinct eventuality.

  Asoko realizes that throughout their journey, she essentially revealed to Ninlil and Dregana that she's closely related to Chloe. Both in abilities and looks, they're practically indistinguishable from one another. If her other half being a Crawling Chaos is known, then her identity has been exposed as well.

  Chloe already killed several professors in her first battle, and the second one seems to have been even more devastating. Being directly related to her may cause them to direct their hatred toward her.

  Luckily, at least Tamariki doesn't seem to make the connection and is joyously listening to every new tidbit from their adventures.

  Chapter 87 - The Dragon Jet Engine

  On the third noon above the high sea, with no solid ground in view for as far as the eyes could see, their fears came true. Barring their way forward is a massive black cloud that extended from north to south, in what appears to be a storm front that spans almost the entirety of the Solus Ocean.

  According to Senka, such clouds can reach upward of ten kilometers above sea level, and a hurricane could be a thousand kilometers across. Depending on the direction the one in front of them moves, they could be traveling with it rather than circumvent it.

  "In other words, you're saying we need to go through it?" Asoko wonders while beating her wings to hover in place and trying to discern the direction of the storm's movement.

  "Are you insane?" The doll girl stomped her foot, but the impact is so weak that the dragon scales absorb it completely. The Crawling Chaos wouldn't even have noticed if she hadn't seen her do it. "How fast do you fly? That was a rhetorical question: It's around one hundred kilometers per hour. A hurricane can go more than twice that fast."

  "That does sound fast. Could I somehow ride the winds?" Since Asoko is in dragon form, she can't scratch her chin in a thoughtful gesture, but she would have done it otherwise.

  "If you don't care about our lives, you can try." Crossing her arms with a grumpy expression, Senka concludes the conversation on her own by turning away.

  "It was a joke." The Crawling Chaos lies, but only earns a doubtful look from Ninlil, who seems to see right through her.

  "Can't we fly over it?" Lenoly asks while peeking at the still distant storm front sheepishly. They've been maintaining a constant altitude of a few hundred meters above the water, so their sense of scale has become blurred. Of course, Senka using kilometers, rather than a measurement they understand, has contributed to that.

  "Remember how cold it was above the Dragon Mountains?" Dregana unexpectedly speaks up. Her glare makes everybody wonder whether or not that was a rhetorical question, but she continues to speak after a short pause. "The higher it is, the colder it gets."

  Asoko suppresses the urge to add that the temperature rises again at a certain altitude since that would only complicate things. Not that it's in a place any of them could survive since oxygen is practically nonexistent there.

  "What about I pull all of you inside me for as long as it takes to fly over?" She instead suggests with a question. But Tamariki and Dregana glare at her for even thinking about swallowing them whole.

  Strangely enough, Ninlil looks away without saying anything despite being the one person here who has experienced being inside Asoko for longer than any of the others. She should be able to tell whether or not it's safe.

  "I don't think it's safe to keep everybody inside you for half a day. Potentially longer, if the storm is traveling in the wrong direction." Senka rejoins the conversation after finishing her pouting.

  "Maybe I could find a way to fly faster then?" Asoko suggests with an irresponsible tilt of her head. Dragons are the fastest creatures in the air when flying horizontally, though hawks are the undisputable masters at nosedives.

  "Yeah, just add some rocket boosters to your ass." The doll girl rolls her eyes while suggesting in a tone overflowing with sarcasm.

  "That's it!" But the Crawling Chaos takes it at face value. A quiver runs across her entire body, seemingly from suppressing an urge to jump in joy.

  "W-what is it?" Daica holds onto the tentacle around her waist in fear, not understanding what has Asoko so excited.

  "I just need to concentrate for a moment. Everybody be quiet." She says while beating her wings in place. Then the indentation on her back opens into a maw all of a sudden and swallows everybody.

  "Hey!" Tamariki tries to climb out, but a mass of tentacles grabs hold of her. Ripping them apart one by one, she tries to free herself but is dragged into Asoko's depths all the same. The horned demon's skin bursts out in flames, causing the red tendrils to coil back from her. Still, at that point, she's already deep enough to be dropped into the dragon scale-covered room Asoko has created inside her unfathomable body.

  With that, the clock is ticking. Daica, Hestia, and Lenoly seem to be most affected by the corruption, and she doesn't know how Tamariki or Dregana will react to lengthy exposure to it.

  Closing her eyes, Asoko visualizes the form she wants to take, upon which her flanks bulge out into two horizontal funnel-shaped growths that replace her legs. In the center, suspended by thin spokes made from dragon bone, she places a cup facing inside the funnel, in which she creates one mouth each.

  "Ventus Fortior!" Those mouths shout in unison, upon which a gust of wind originates from them. It hits the inside of the funnel and is pressed outward along its walls. It causes her entire form to shake, but nothing more happens.

  That means this simplest of wind spells isn't enough.

  "Grandor Ventus Procursus!" Asoko chants through the mouths again, using the highest wind spell she learned from her other half. This time, the burst of air pushes her forward noticeably. Still, for all its thrust, it wears off immediately and won't be usable.

  But that gave her insight into the fact that with a dragon's wings, she won't get very far; the force pushing her forward will cause them to turn into sails that slow her down. It's a big gamble, but she'll have to use a more dangerous spell. At the same time, she will have to turn the mobile wings into fixed ones, which means that if this goes south, they'll end up in the ocean.

  "Grandor Ignis Fortior!" Putting her mind into it, she chants the incredibly destructive fire explosion that Chaos taught her. But she omits the mico modifier, which makes it a remote spell, and aims it into the funnel's center. There, the heat has nowhere to escape but backward.

  Like a rocket engine, the explosion forces her forward with a great jump. Even before the effect can run out, she uses her mouths to chant it again. Another explosion occurs a moment later, sustaining the earlier thrust and propelling her toward the black cloud at an incredible velocity. Compared to that, a dragon's usual speed is inconsequential.

  Repeating the incantation without pause, she flies forward with a jet of flames trailing behind her. The noise from the explosions is awful, but within a few minutes, she reaches the storm front. Turning her fixed wings slightly, she begins to ascend so that she can clear the clouds and fly over them. At this speed, she should be able to cross the hurricane in maybe an hour or two, which is well within previous experiences for those inside her body.

  The sensation of speed gets to her, and she can't help but try to laugh. But due to the velocity, the air gets stuck in her throat, and she has to cough instead. Opening one's mouth when moving at the speed of a jet plane without an oxygen mask is pretty stupid - is what she learned from this.

  Within seconds, she clears the apex of the storm clouds and sees a sea of white. But right around that time, her engine seems to stall, as the fire spells run out of oxygen. As her other half noted in the desert, water magic is far less effective when the moisture in the air is low. All magic seems to follow at least some laws of physics.

  "If not over it, then how about right through it?" She mutters to herself despite the lack of breathable air. The absence of oxygen doesn't really seem to affect her. And the earlier cough
was merely a physical reaction due to the dragon's biology rather than her limitation. Everything should be fine even if she doesn't breathe.

  With this thought, she flaps her wings to regain her bearings. Then she fixes them in place again and dives down straight into the storm while chanting the fire explosion into her funnels. The moment she breaks through the clouds and enters the hellscape of the hurricane's interior, her engines catch on again and propel her forward.

  She laughs out loud like a madwoman through the dragon's mouth, forcing the air out despite traveling so quickly that it should be getting compressed inside. After all, she doesn't need to breathe when she turns her organs into Crawling Chaos matter.

  Trailing mad laughter behind herself, she shoots through the rain like an organic jet plane, accompanied by the howling wind and lightning bolts snapping across the sky. Brute-forcing one's way is always incredibly fun, especially when one isn't afraid of anything. And that goes doubly so for a force of nature that everybody else would be terrified of.

  It's the birth of the Dragon Jet Engine!

  "Never do something like that again without warning!" Tamariki stomps her foot on Asoko's back, which caused her entire frame to shake. Once they were through the storm, she quickly took them out again, but it was still at least a couple of hours that they spent inside her.

  At one point, the red demon had started to fling incredibly destructive spells inside the dragon scale room that the Crawling Chaos had prepared for them. That's when she had to pull out all stops and separate her from the others. She was pulled into another space where she was restrained with tentacles just as Ninlil had been before.

  "Without warning? So you're fine if I warn you beforehand?" But Asoko feels that something may have awakened in Tamariki due to the overwhelming corruption inside her.

  She only gives a more powerful stomp in reply that causes everybody to hold on out of fear that they might crash. But the fact that she silently sits down with a grumble suggests that Asoko may have hit upon the truth.