So, err, what do I do about this now? It's a completely unexpected development. I look to Senka, but she just shrugs. Thank you for not being helpful at all in such a situation.
"Um, Vitalis?" I try to speak to her, but she's completely out of it. When I look at her intact clothes, I know that I didn't accidentally dissolve her. Then it's something caused by herself? I turn to Hestia, but her expression is one of disgust. Not at the mess that Vitalis is, but because of her perceived relationship with me judging from this situation. Could you please not go yandere when I'm trying to figure out whether this is a situation of life and death or not?
"Bring me a mop, Kamii." Hestia suddenly says with a determined expression. Does that mean you know what's wrong? "I'm going to clean this up." Her tone leaves no room for doubt that she's going to dump her in the toilet and also flush.
"Wait, Hestia-tan, don't be hasty." I have to stop her or I'll also be marked as a murderer. Since whatever bad happens these days is always going to be my responsibility in the eyes of the people at this academy...
"Whatever could you mean, Onee-sama?" Oi, that smile is just reeking of fake innocence, and you're note even trying with that monotone voice! "I will throw the trash out and then you can tell us all about what happened at the library~" Stop it!
"Oneeee... samaaa..." Vitalis finally cries weakly. Her voice is as hot as she looks, and her eyes remain unfocused. Please don't say something like I'm at fault here or so. "Mooooreee~" I look at her blankly, my mouth a straight line. Yes, I'm sorry...
"Well, what do we do about this?" I'm at a loss. I think mopping her up is very undignified, but we can't just leave her on the floor like this. Especially since I'm about to teleport to maou-mama's side to tell her about the brewing conspiracy. Considering the circumstances and how she seems to have hopelessly fallen for me, I think it doesn't really matter whether she sees it or not, though.
"Like I said-" Hestia begins.
"You shut up for a moment." Huh, why does she look happy at my scolding tone? "Hm, no other way to go about this." I sweep Vitalis up inside my body by expanding my hand, then go to the bathroom and put her in the bathtub - with the plug left in, of course. Closing the door behind me, I return to the room. Out of sight, out of mind.
"So, are you going to do it here?" Senka asks right away.
"Yes, the sooner the better. If it wasn't for this, I would be enjoying a nice bath right now..." In Vitalis, that is. I'll have to put that off for later, when I return. I pull out a copy of the transportation circle from my palm and lay it on the ground. Such a small thing is my gateway back to the demon castle, and into the race for the throne of the demon lord. Well, I intend to return here right after, so it should be alright.
I stand on top of the piece of paper and begin to visualize the demon castle, more specifically the bathroom where I first properly woke up. Full circle, huh? But when I activate the spell, it feels different. Instead of a soft stream of bright lights, it's a space filled with dark purple and red.
"Onee-sa-" I can hear the voice of Hestia through it, but it's cut off before she can finish. In the next instant, I feel like I'm falling, the world around me dyed in streaks of dirty colors. This is clearly wrong, it's not a proper teleportation. But it doesn't feel like I'm getting ripped apart like when maou-mama did it. Instead it just feels like I'm falling at an incredible speed.
I'm reminded of a certain game that worked with portals. "Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out" was one of the lines the computer told me and I think my face is going really white here. If I'm really falling I'll splatter at my destination. Luckily, I have Hestia's template, so I quickly pull my clothes inside my body and grow wings, using them as a means to slow my descent.
Really though, I can't see where I'm falling towards at all. And this journey through the portal has been going on for pretty long, compared to any I've been through before. I do see a correlation between distance to travel and time spent in here, since it took only an instant to teleport a few steps away inside the library, but much longer to reach the Kingdom of Lares from the Demon Continent.
And then I'm out, in a place surrounded by brightness. It's morning here, so this is a completely different time zone. Since I slowed down my fall considerably, I'm gently floating down. It looks like I'm above an open field and surrounded by what seem to be rows of stone plates. Before me kneels a girl with dark brown hair, younger than Senka looks, and is staring up to me with large round green eyes.
"A-a-a-a..." She stutters. "... a Fata..." Her voice is little more than an awed breath. Ah, I forgot to turn my wings black - in solidarity with Hestia - and her genetic template has white feathers. The girl clasps her hands together and closes her eyes in prayer. I land on the stone plate before which she kneels and look around to get an understanding about where I am.
This is very obviously not the demon castle, and most likely not even the Demon Continent. I didn't think my control would be as bad as maou-mama's, that I'm thrown into a random place in the world, but I am her child after all. I sigh and look down at the girl again. She looks dirty and is dressed in rags. A bunch of randomly picked flowers lie in front of her. Oh, this is a graveyard. I'm standing on the gravestone of whoever this girl came to visit.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Great Fata... does something displease you?" She looks up almost fearfully at the sound of my sigh. Her weak smile is trembling and only now do I notice that her eyes appear really sunken and lifeless, with dark rings surrounding them. She's clearly malnourished and too thin to be healthy.
I step down from the gravestone and lower myself to her to examine her. I'm a real sucker for tragic children, aren't I...
"Hwa, Great Fata!" She prostrates before me, clearly intimidated. What is this place that a young girl like her will show such fear before me in the appearance of a Fata, while at the same time sounding like she's worshipping me? Something feels wrong. I'm reminded of what Ninlil told me about the empire and how they see Fatas as the messengers of their one god. But apparently people of the empire most likely never see one in their lives, while this girl sounds like she's met others before. Maybe that's the reason she was afraid of my displeased-sounding sigh.
"What are they doing here..." I grit my teeth. I think this may be the Fatas Triarchy. Hestia did say that the Fatas are nobles and I know that they live apart from the general population. Don't tell me they're the type of scum aristocrats that looks down on commoners, even going so far as to mistreat them out of spite or for their own amusement. This would clearly explain this girl's attitude.
"I-I am visiting the grave of my parents, Great Fata!" She answers without looking up. Apparently she thought I was asking her. Damn, my mood is growing sour really quickly. Not only do they engage in power games and exile a (formerly) innocent girl like Hestia, they rule over their nation in a way that children like this one exist.
I lift the girl up and notice how light she is. Under my palms I can feel all the way to her bones with little resistance between them. She did say her parents died, so I guess she's an orphan. But in a peaceful nation, orphanages are able to provide for the children in their care. I was led to believe that humanity was mostly at peace, with the very rare incident surrounding invasions by maou-mama.
And then I see it. This girl has no lower legs. They end in stumps below her knees. Where I thought she kneeled before is a small wooden board with wheels attached to the sides -practically a makeshift skateboard.
"G-Great Fata, I-I am dirty, you should not lower yourself to touch someone as lowly and filthy as myself!" Her voice is cracking in anxiety, but when she sees my expression her face goes white in terror. "I-I-I-I-I am so-so-so-so sorry!" I'm very irritated now. If this really is the result of the governing of the Fatas Triarchy, I'll give it my all to bring it down!
I hug the little girl and mutter Sano repeatedly. She stiffens up like a mouse caught in the snake's gaze, but when she notices the warmth spreading to her body, she softens up. I really am a sucker for these kinds of things...
"I'm not a Fata." I say as I put her back onto the skateboard. With this, I retract the wings into my body and her eyes grow even bigger at the sight, as her mouth hangs open.
"Y-your wings are gone? A-are you... a goddess?" She looks at me with even more reverence now. That's a first. This girl's innocence, so similar to Kamii's, is even more heartbreaking due to the fact that she seems so much more articulate and aware of her own situation. Of course, Kamii knew she was being held as a slave, but she has no understanding of social circumstances - endearingly so - due to it.
"... yes, maybe I am." I'm acutely aware of my current situation, being in a foreign land that I'm only guessing is the Fatas Triarchy, and with no idea why I ended up here in what should have been a normal teleportation. I have absolutely no means to save this girl. But I'll damn well try.
The little girl has gone back to prayer, so I can do this; from inside my body I take out the fruit pie I stored for later consumption from dinnertime. It was so good that I just had to. "Here, have something to eat." I may not be able to save every orphan in this world, but those I come upon, I can show some kindness and give some warmth at least.
She look up and her face reveals a fascinated expression, but there's some apprehension at taking this from what she seems to seriously consider to be a higher being. Well, I do have some really godlike abilities, if I may say so myself. And to her, it must seem like I just created this out of thin air.
"What's your name, child?" I'll be disappearing from here soon, so I want to give her the illusion that I really was a goddess to give her my blessing, just so she can live on with a stronger heart.
"My name is Diana, Great Goddess." She says with a radiant smile. Her eyes were faking life earlier, just windows to an empty husk of a human being mimicking the motions that are expected of one in her situation, but now a spark of light has returned to them. Whether that is newfound devotion in the gods of this world, gratitude to me as an individual, or something else, is not important to me right now. To see her like this is filling me with a warm and fuzzy feeling. "Thank you so much! I will share this with the other children."
"I see. Yes, do that." And even in her misery, she still has the magnanimity to share with those equally poor as her. With these words I grow my wings again. "Ventus." I mutter and create a gust of wind underneath them to give me lift. I don't want to run to gain speed in front of Diana, since I think it'd look pretty lame. I take to the skies and look down at her with a smile, as we grow further apart. I will be using a transportation circle to return, but far from anyone who could witness it.
From high above I see that there's a church-like building nearby - most likely the orphanage where she's living. Further beyond is a village without any defensive walls, so this place is most likely located near the core of this nation. I fly towards the wilderness, away from human habitation, so I'm undisturbed in trying to get to the demon castle. Yes, I still want to get there, before returning to the academy. It was my primary goal after all.
I find a glade, retract the wings and place down a copy of the transportation circle. Just to be sure, I light one corner of it on fire with a tiny Ignis flame, so that I don't leave behind any evidence that I was ever here. If it causes a forest fire, I'm sorry... but it should be far enough fromwhere humans live.
This time, it feels very stable, the same way it went when Mithra sent me to the kingdom. A smooth ride through a stream of lights, the soft sensation of floating, before the scenery around me appears again. It's the overly gaudy room inside the demon castle, where I first became aware of myself. I did it!
And in the mirror I see that I'm naked. Growing wings would have ripped my clothes, so I had pulled them inside my body. But it had felt so natural without them, that I forgot to put them back on. I was naked all the time while talking to Diana.
At least she thinks I'm a goddess, so it should be alright...