章 45: Bedtime Stories

A short later, the two arrived. Chiho saw Takumi and talked to her. "They stopped?" Chiho asked. "Yup. Maeru backed off for some reason" Takumi confirmed. Chiho looked at everyone, then at the soldier. "Who's this?" She asked. "We... wanted to keep him for questioning" Ayumi said. "...After that, then what? We just can't keep imprisoning them, they might pull something crazy. We need as few as possible Prohorovkans in any of the villages" Shu Fang said. "I ain't talking shit!" The soldier shouted but got ignored. "Well? What do we do to him after?" Chiho asked Takumi.

"H-huh?! Why are you asking me?" Takumi points to herself. "You're the one keeping him alive! It's your call! You can let him join you, enslave him, rape him, torture him, kill him, do whatever you want! No one's stopping you!" She smiled. Everyone looked at her. "Whatever you do to him, he will just be revived back to our world, right?" She looked at the soldier. "Wha..." He jerks up as something snapped in his mind. Takumi kept her smile as he walked in front of the soldier. "It was you... It was YOU!" He pointed at her with fear.

"Who the hell are you...?! How are you able to slip past everyone?!" His fear got everyone curious. "I'm that same Takumi Saito you guys know..." "What?!" Both the soldier and Emiko shouted in surprise. "There's a lot of things you have to tell me after this, Red Mosin!" Emiko angrily said. Takumi looked back to her. "I just have to tell Shichiro!" The soldier quickly stood up. The moment Takumi turned back to him, he teleported.

Takumi disappeared immediately right after him, and they quickly reappeared. The soldier got thrown back to the ground. "There ya go!" Takumi sighed deeply as she placed her hands on her hips. "How the...?!" He looked up to her, completely puzzled. "Hm?" Takumi raised a brow. "We teleport all the time, you still don't know how I caught you before you appear at the main headquarters?" She asked and he didn't respond.

Takumi sighed and scratched her head. "You see, when you teleport, you have to go through this dimension. You don't just disappear and appear wherever you wanted to be, it's not how you think it is" She crosses her arms. "Ordinary magic users are not aware of this fact, nor it is told. If you actually learned this from either of the Daiwa, you will know something's missing... The blueish black surrounding you see before you appear? That's not the blue leaves you see falling from you, it's the dimension. That, however, is the end of it. A god can choose if they want to travel through that dimension slowly than usual and see all different kinds of colors and patterns"

She then pointed at the soldier. "That's how I caught you!" She grinned. "I saw you. By allowing myself to be aware of that dimension with the power, I flew towards you and grabbed you and teleported again!" She said, leaving the soldier with no response. "And yes, I'm pretty much a God myself..." She shrugged. "I...I don't get it..." Chiho looked up the skies, trying to process what she said. "Let's get back at the Inn and I will answer every question you ask" Takumi then walked towards the Azumi.

"Just leave him to Gentaro-san" Chiho said to Ayumi. She nodded in response. "Alright, time for you to SLEEP!" Mariko bashed the soldier's head with the stock of her AK. He lost consciousness due to blunt force and laid to the ground. "So, can you teleport us now?" Mariko picked the soldier up and carried him on her shoulder. Chiho didn't give an answer and was flustered as they were all looking at her.

"Uh..." Mariko looked worried. "Y-yeah! yeah! I'll... do it..." Chiho stuttered and quickly readied herself. "Are you afraid now, Chiho?" Takumi teased and made Chiho jerk. "You've done it yourself many times, why be scared now?" She said. With that, Chiho took a deep breath. Everyone held on her. "Guess I'll be with Azumi on a night ride" Takumi said as she climbed up the Azumi. "See you there, guys!" Emiko shouted. The rest of Takumi's group waved at them before they teleported away.

Chiho's group teleported to Saiju's gates and they carried her to the Inn. The soldiers insisted that they will report back to Gentaro instead. With that, they all headed to their own rooms and changed clothes with the Inn's. Later on, Takumi's group finally arrived. Their arrival is quite loud and can be heard from the rooms upstairs.

With a lot of questions arousing her curiosity, Chiho gathered her strength to get up from her bed. "Where are you going?" Ayumi asked. "Takumi..." Chiho sighed. The things she heard about teleportation have gotten her afraid. As she slowly walked towards the door, she heard footsteps outside. She reached for the doorknob. As she tries to open the door, the doorknob moved on its own and the door pushed open.

"Ah!" Takumi appeared from the other side and they both got surprised. "Chiho, you can lay down to your bed. I will be with you" She laid her hand towards the bed. Chiho then walked back to her bed. Takumi closed the door behind her and went and sat to Chiho's side. Excited to hear their conversation, Ayumi hurried to their bed.

"So, what do you want to hear?" Takumi let herself fall to the bed, her legs playfully sway. "Tell me everything you know about this teleportation..." Chiho said. Confirming her guess, Takumi giggled. "Your ears don't lie. What you heard is right. When you cast the teleportation, a portal about your size appears and takes you in. And as I said before, it all happens very fast... You see those magical leaves that drop whenever you teleport? those are from the portal, so if you see any of those, that means someone teleported away. But they won't stay long, they will soon turn into dust and fade away in the air"

"You will not be aware of the dimension I mentioned before, because like I said earlier, it all happens very fast. The Gods only managed to adjust themselves to the process ONCE. They can't go any slower" She finished explaining. "W-wow..." Chiho is very astonished. "How did they do that, then?" Chiho asked. "To slow themselves in that dimension? It has something to do with time-stopping power" Takumi responded.

"Time-stop?!" The two spoke at the same time. "That's so coooool!!!" Ayumi sounded very amazed. "How exactly does it stop time?" Chiho asked. "They have two kinds of time-stop. One is where everything freezes. You can walk around and punch someone you don't like and they will be hurt once you return the time. Second is for the environment only. The second one is made by its original user, the Kumori Daiwa's genius, the one and only Tokiko Nagishima!" She sounds proud saying the name.

"She made this for dueling purposes. As for how, well, they say that you just have to travel at light speed in order to 'time-stop'. But, you know, who knows. She refused to give her powers for the Kumori to be learned. One thing we know is Mariyou is said to have traced magic all over the world when she was traveling Tokiko's world, that's how she found her, and also currently the only knowledge we know about that power. Oh, and uh, the light speed. You know how fast light travels right? They... For example, this" Takumi opened her palm and casts a ball of fire.

"See how it quickly brightens up this dim-ass room? You might think it just lights the place instantly, but they travel as well. It's just, it's fast for human eyes!" She said as she puts out the fireball. She's more or less amused by their quiet reaction. "Did you... understand?" She asked and they didn't respond. "Well...shit, fuck me" Takumi sighed.

"Uh, apparently that's too much for you. What else do you want to know?" She asked. "We... uh..." "Can you tell more about Shichiro?!" Ayumi interrupts Chiho. "Oh?" Takumi suddenly gained energy. "What do you want to know about Shichiro?" She asked. "Those blades that appears from your forearms!" Ayumi pointed at her arm. "Oh..." Takumi raised her right arm and pulled down her sleeve, exposing her slender arm. "Watch" She said.

She extends her fingers open, once she did, a continuously moving pattern of light-blue magic draws the shape of what seems a wrist accessory. It goes for a second before showing a dark blue, almost black accessory wrapping around her wrist. Its surface, which is at the back of her wrist, has a very ancient-looking rectangular crest. It has different patterns all over, and in the middle of it, two dusty-looking yellow curves enclosing a shining circle gem. The gem has a natural blue-green color that currently displays.

Suddenly, Takumi clenched her fist and the blade came out loudly, extending past the back of her hand. The two silently gasped. "You cast the magic and they just appear! To let the blade out, you just have to clench your fist like I did!" She said. "Oh, that is easy!" Ayumi said. Takumi smiled and pulled back her blade. "It is easy. But it used to be difficult... You want to hear Shichiro's story about learning these magic blades?" She asked. "Ooooh! Yes! But, magical blades? They look like normal steel blades!" Ayumi said. "Yeah, but they come out of these things right?" Takumi pats the bracer.

"We summon these things with magic as you saw before. And they aren't steel blades before" She said, making them curious. "The blades, they used to be pure energy, burning and cutting through enemies. And letting them out used to be difficult" Takumi rests her right leg on top of her other leg. "Mariyou gave these blades to him, but he wasn't capable of wielding the blades yet. But Mariyou insisted him to keep practicing... Let me tell you his story..."

"AAAAARGHH!!!" Shichiro charged forward with speed, he raised his arm as he approaches the barrier. "RAAH!!!" He scratched the barrier with his energy blade, then he followed by stabbing the barrier. "There, his blade is stuck in the barrier" Mariyou looked at Maeru. She nodded and looked at Shichiro. "Shichiro! Shichiro!" She called to him as he tries hard to pull away his arm.

"Look at me! Shichiro! You need to control it!" She shouted. Despite her calls, Shichiro remained frenzied, gritting his teeth hard and has his eyes red. "I know you can hear me! You have to control it!" She kept shouting. "Come on, Shichiro, I know you can do this!" Mariyou said. Despite everything, they only made him worse. "Shichiro!" She pounds the barrier with both of her hands to get his attention. "Fight it! You have to fight it!" She shouted. Shichiro is clearly getting annoyed by her. He managed to pull away and quickly stabbed the barrier again.

His blade penetrated through the barrier, it nearly hits Maeru's head. "Maeru!" Mariyou looked at her. "I...I'm alright!" Maeru has her eyes wide in surprise. "What else can you think?" Mariyou asked. "What?" Maeru looked up at her in confusion. "This is clearly not working, there are hardly any changes to him" Mariyou sighed. "Well..." Maeru looked at Shichiro, she gasped. She saw him staring at her calmly. "L-Look!" "AAHH!!" As soon as she pointed at him, he returned to his frenzied state.

"He... He was..." "Yeah, I noticed. He suddenly went quiet" Mariyou nodded. "Does watching him calmly will make him calm as well?" Maeru asked. "Not sure" Mariyou shrugged. "But when we went quiet, he did as well!" Maeru pointed at him again. "Hmm..." Mariyou rubs her chin as she looks at Shichiro. He stopped and breathes heavily. "Are you tired?" Once she asked, Shichiro stepped back a bit with an angry reaction. He glares at Mariyou hard. "When you use those blades, you turn into someone else, you can't even recognize me" There was a hint of sadness in Mariyou's voice.

"We've been doing this for a while now. If you want to count that one, that will be his first sign of control" She said. "If you think about it, it took him long to show at least a slight sign. He's gonna take forever" She added. "Why are you in a hurry though?" Maeru sounded a bit annoyed. "I can't just stay here everyday! Besides...!" Mariyou stopped. "Besides?" Maeru raised a brow. She didn't respond.

Mariyou was visibly struggling. But she soon took a deep breath and sighed loudly. "Fine. I want to take him with me. I have this... school that I own. I want him to meet my students and perhaps he can become stronger" She said. "But since I gave him those blades, I want him to be resistant to its effects, so I want him to practice for now. He will be the first human to ever step on that place so I want him to have a good first impression" She added. Maeru just stared at her.

"What is this school you're talking about?" She asked. "I personally call it the Kumori Daiwa. It's a place for magic-wielders, those who want to learn difficult spells and such. It's not a place for rookies. The blades I gave to Shichiro came from our treasury and I took it for him. I want him to be the one to tame this berserk weapon, a mere human" Mariyou said.

"That's what Maeru told us, she said that Shichiro took another year to finally control the thing" Takumi smiled. "Y'know, during that time when she was telling us that story, I was secretly reading her mind. So that means I get the full image of what she was telling!" She giggled. "So... It drives the user crazy if they use the blade?" Ayumi asked. "Yes, the owner of those blades is an Oni, or a demon. Rage is what makes those kinds of Oni become powerful. So having a mere human use it will completely destroy a human" Takumi responded.

"Mariyou was right about him, he can return to normal once he pulls back the blades. He has the potential to wield powers" She then looked at Chiho. "Just like you right now!" She pointed her finger. Chiho was shocked. "Both of you were originally a human" Takumi giggled. "You are basically going through what he went through. Though, yours is way better" She said. "You can be just like him, a powerful human being. You know what, if you think about it. No matter how many powers your body has learned to be resistant to, you're still a human. I used to believe the opposite, but now I'm realizing something... What only holds us from aging however is Mariyou's power, she... kind of stop the time? so we don't age... I don't exactly know how that works" She scratched her head.

"Once he mastered the blades, his adventure finally started. Once he was there, he refused to be one of the Kumori, but since Mariyou loved him so goddamn much, she insists on teaching him anyway and he allowed her to. Later on, they proceeded to modify the blades. At first, they are three-bladed and the bracer looks totally demonic. Then they managed to amplify its power and made it one bladed only. Then later, the blades became three again and the design changed to this, it is also powered by magic, then finally, one blade. These ones we got now" Takumi taps her bracer and finally finished. "So, what else do you want to know?" She asked and the two looked at each other.

"Can you tell me more about that?" Chiho pointed behind them. The Peacemaker hangs from the wall. "HEY!!!" Takumi shouted as she points at the gun. "Why is her gun hanged just like that?!" She said. "That's a goddamn weapon of a Goddess! You damn earth-dwellers!" Her hand trembles. "A-ahh, I will take it, I will take it!" Chiho hurried to the Peacemaker and took it from the wall.

"That thing can destroy a planet! And to think it's just hanging from a dim-lit, dusty-ass room!" She remained shouting. "I-it's okay now... I got it..." Chiho looked very guilty. Takumi cleared her throat. "Excuse me..." She said. "PTRD fears that gun. Even the greatest Prohorovkan can't replicate that weapon without asking a Goddess for power. Its technology is unknown, the gun fires a normal bullet but how does it fire a Goddess' power? The maker and the Goddess forbid us to experiment the weapon or there will be trouble"

Takumi breathed a sigh of irritation. "There's a maker?" Chiho asked. "Well, duh" Takumi replied sarcastically. "I mean, I thought the Gods made it themselves?" Chiho said. "Oh, yeah, no. Mariyou, Maeru, and Shichiro stumbled upon this cool world of humans with very advanced technology, way better than Shichiro's world. They met this quiet girl who loves working on weapons. She and her... I don't know, kind? loves making weapons, so it's a good haul for them. What makes it better is that she is one of the professionals and kinda ran off from her own people to make her own business!" Takumi sounded very eager to tell them.

"That's how they approached her. They disguised themselves as the planet's dwellers and used magic to speak their language. I don't know what they offered to her to accept their request" She said. "Anyways, Mariyou admitted the truth and managed to convince that quiet girl into her Daiwa, and now she's one of her students. Though few years ago, she returned back to her home and we no longer ask her to make weapons. She's still on good terms with us, no matter what" She smiled.

"What else do you want to know?" She asked. "A-are you going to tell us the whole story?" Chiho asked, making Takumi laugh. "Sorry that I'm talkative this evening!" She said blushing. "These are the only times I can freely talk to you about us, you know" She added. "That's right..." Chiho agreed and thinks of another.

"Tell us something about yourself" She asked her. "I like birthday cakes. In our world, people celebrate their relatives or acquaintances with a birthday cake. They are these big and round sweet made with different ingredients, toppings, frostings, those kinds of stuff... If I recall correctly, the West in this world is far advanced from this region, right? They probably have those" "Oh!!!" Ayumi perks up. "Cake?! Alice can make those! They are on their menu!" She said. "Cool" Takumi smiled in amazement.

"When it's your birthday, try asking her for a cake" She winked. Ayumi replied with a happy nod. "My friends always make sure they invite me to their birthday and I would quietly maul down their cake then" Takumi giggled as she remembers her past, then her voice started to lose energy. "It's so long ago since the last birthday I've attended in my normal life... I've been living for many years without aging, to think I would get sad even if I have these powers" She said. "Prohorovka is currently 2343 years old. I joined exactly 1525. I've been with them for 818 years" She added.

"W-wow..." Their eyebrows rose in surprise. "Any more questions?" Takumi asked. "Hmm..." Chiho thinks of something. "How about Mark?!" Ayumi asked. "How about Mark?" Takumi looked and asked. "Like, who is he? is he Shichiro's brother?" Ayumi asked. "Oh. Actually, Mark Higashino is Shichiro's best friend. They attended the same school and class. They both share the same silliness and loud personality. Shichiro might not look like it, but he can smile normally around people, he's not totally a grumpy person" Takumi raised a finger.

"B-but he looks scary" Ayumi said. "Y-yeah, I'm gonna agree to Ayumi" Chiho also agreed. Takumi looked very amused at their response and giggled loudly. "That's very true! That's why people are surprised when they see him smile!" She said. Chiho chuckled. "You're smiling ears to ears" She said. Takumi sways her hand. "Sorry, sorry" Despite her excuses, she kept her smile. "You have no idea how many times I talked to people and say the same thing, that he looks scary. I just find it funny!" She said.

The two were affected by her giggling and end up smiling. Few seconds later, they calmed down. "Bad or not, he still kills people... Nothing will change my mind" Chiho said. "He destroyed and slaughter our people and took away our homes. I don't care whatever reason he has by doing this, in the end, our only choice is to fight back and defeat him" She said as she looked down the floor. "It doesn't matter if I have to get rid of my humanity for the powers, what matters to me is the safety of our people and their home" She clenched her fist.

Then she looked up to Takumi. "I will defeat you with all I got and bring back the peace we once had" She said, staring directly at her. Eyes filled with determination and will to fight back the evil, Takumi has thought. "W-wow, Chiho... I'm... moved" She gulped. Chiho then looked back down to the floor. "I will not be surprised if you betray us in the end, Takumi, considering how messed up your organization is" Her words surprised her. "C-Chiho...!" Takumi nervously laughed.

Her laugh died down quickly. "You... still have doubts on me?" Her voice was low and sounded sad. "Takumi..." Ayumi saw the look on her face. "Here I am, I thought we're having mutual friendship despite everything" It was the first time Ayumi saw her wear a very sad and pained expression. "I... I think that's what Onee-san thinks too! R-right?" She looked at Chiho. "Y-yeah... I'm sorry..." Chiho realized and quickly apologized.

"It's just that... what's happening right now is too much for me..." She said. "I get it, I understand" Takumi smiled gently. "I won't betray you, Chiho. I know you're aware of that" She said. "I cherish every people I get to be friends with" She added. "I see... It's... kind of hard not to have doubt too, you know... Everything you said until now is probably a huge lie" Chiho said awkwardly. "Uhuh..." Takumi nodded.

"I can't blame you. But I just wanted to say that, I'm genuine. Right now, I'm being overwhelmed by the feeling of wanting to do everything to make you trust me" She closed her eyes. "It hurts to hear the people you consider friends have doubts on you, you know..." She weakly smiled. They were quiet for a while.

"I-it's good that we have you here, you know?!" Ayumi spoke up to break the silence. "The war will be totally different if it weren't for you! You and your friends are great help!" She said. Takumi looked at her for a second before breaking into giggle. "I know that you appreciate my company, but hearing it from you directly makes me happier" She said. "It might be hard for her, but at least you have me!" Ayumi made a big grin, making the two giggle. "D-don't worry about me, sooner I might calm down" Chiho said in embarrassment.

"It's all good" Takumi went to her usual energy and taps Chiho's back. "Shichiro and Mark have this group in their class, their classmates nicknamed them 'The Great Six'. Aside from Mark, Shichiro has four more friends...or five" Takumi paused on the end. "Shichiro had his first girlfriend and joined the group, then they changed to 'The Imperious'. Silly name, until Shichiro broke up with her later. They reverted back to the good 'ol great six" She slightly giggled.

"They didn't talk about much on how they broke up despite the PTRD wanting to know since she was his first girlfriend. Then later, the topic just went down" Takumi crossed her arms. "It's not out of shyness, I feel like it's something more. I wished to sneak up to him and read his memory, but I was busy" She sighed.

"Oh, by the way... I think I'm forgetting something..." She slightly moves away from her. "How did you get your powers?" She asked. "Oh, uh..." Chiho thinks. "We drank a very bitter juice!" Ayumi answered first. "A-ah...!" Takumi bursts into laugher. "A what?!" She slowly calmed down as she asked. "W-what? what do you call them, then?" Ayumi asked. "Oh, really? Juice?" Takumi stopped and asked.

"Yes, Shu Fang brought it to us and just told us to drink it. Then later, we have powers" Ayumi said. "Huh..." Takumi was led to thoughts. "They... enchanted the powers to the juices? Does she knows where they came from?" She asked. Ayumi shrugged. "She didn't told us, and we didn't bother asking" Chiho said. "W-wow... How if those are poisons? Your world is done for already by then" Takumi looked troubled. "You don't just drink something a stranger gives you" She scolded.

Takumi thinks for a while, then spoke up. "It's either brewing or something else..." She said. "I skipped those. Might as well learn how to cook foods, right?" She asked and they gave no response. "I wished to be a scientist, not a goddamn witch... But I'm gonna admit, brewing is interesting" She mumbled to herself. "Okay... Here's what they probably did. There's a thing called 'Enchant'. It's what you call the process of putting something with magic. Basically, they enchanted those juices with magic..." Takumi stops as if realizing something.

"But you drank it no problem right?" She asked and they nodded. "Then there's something else..." She whispered, then looked at them. "If any liquid is enchanted, that renders the liquid dangerous. It's basically liquid magic, even magic wielders can't just drink any of that. You can call it a potion, but it's more than a brewed ingredients, we're talking about godly powers here..." She thinks again. The two are in silence, trying to process what she said. "And drinking it as an ordinary human... The damage that will harm your body depends on the magic's power. But you haven't said any harm..." She stops again.

"There's no way an ordinary human like you would be able to digest and absorb the magic enchanted to the juice like normal food's nutrition... The magic enchanted to it will totally mess up your body" She grunts as she thinks. "Unless the human digestive system can actually withstand magic, OR!!!" Her eyes opened wide and have her finger raised. "There's a spell I haven't known yet to make you capable of gulping down enchanted liquids as a human!" She grinned.

"When you drank the juice, did you feel something in your throat or your intestine? or your whole body?!" She asked. "Like, some kind of unstable, colliding energy or feelings in your body?" She added. The two looked worried and confused. "I, uh..." Chiho looked at Ayumi, lacking a clue on what to respond. "I-it's... okay..." Takumi calmed down, sounding disappointed.

Chiho apologized and Takumi swayed her hand. "Do mind that drinking it and absorbing the magic is different. Your stomach might have withstood the liquid, but how did you absorb it with an ordinary digestive system? Nothing else will make that possible but another spell! It either made the enchanted liquid go along with your digestive system by changing or disguising the nature of the magic as normal nutrition or it has a specific power that makes you absorb anything that has magic in it"

"And the taste... you said it's bitter. How is it 'bitter'?" She asked. "Like, really bitter" Ayumi replied. "H-how exactly? Does it taste a bitter juice? or a bitter medicine?" Takumi pushed the question. "I... I don't know, both?" Ayumi shrugged. "Ugh..." Takumi couldn't hide her frustration over the topic.

Ayumi apologized but Takumi irritatedly sways her hand once again. "An enchantment doesn't make it bitter just because there's magic mixed on it..." She began thinking again. "Are you certain that it doesn't contain any taste whatsoever?" She asked. "Now that you said it, the box looks like grapes, and it has a bitter aftertaste of grapes, just a little" Ayumi replied.

"Grapes, that means..." Takumi grunts again. "A bitter grape..." Seeing her getting worked up over the juice they drank years ago got them worried. "You see, not only it makes the liquid dangerous, if any liquid that contains any ingredients, juice box, for example, got enchanted with magic, it completely devours the ingredients! If only our enchantments are the same as any anime! ...Also, that means if a normal juice box got enchanted, they become water, no bitterness, no taste at all" Takumi scratched her head.

"I'm guessing they redid the grapes ingredients, but then the enchantment will get rid of it again... So that means..." She slowly looked at Chiho. "They have enchanted another spell to make it so that the ingredients won't disappear. And that spell is what makes it bitter, it tried its best not to take away the flavor... So in shorter explanation, there are multiple spells enchanted to your juices, not just the magic it's supposed to give! " Takumi claps her hands.

"Oh boy how many mana have you absorbed! You are far from a rookie magic wielder the second you absorbed all that magic!" Her eyes widen. "This is really interesting... I didn't know the Kumorian brewery can make up something like magic juices!" She talks to herself, excited to know more. The two were the opposite, looking at her with a terrified gaze.