The council was adjourned, and we were handcuffed in the middle of a big room, with Emi at our side, the rest of the gang had been thrown in a dungeon, the Grimalkin had an intricate prison system, and we were taken directly to the high council by Kuro and his gang.
When I entered I noticed a whole lot of Grimalkin, some tall some short, some old some young. I wanted to know more about how their hierarchy system worked, and their way of life. I've been thinking about it the whole way we were riding here. Kuro drives a cool floating motorbike, meanwhile, the rest of us were thrown into what I can only describe as the Tesla of police cars. Except crystals were used to power them, the same type of crystal we found in Tarragon Village and The Forest of Zomearon.
I wanted to know more, but this whole situation was inconvenient. It's not like we did anything bad to them, except maybe a trespass on their property. But I still don't know why we were teleported 600 years in the past, and Sybil has been silent this whole time.
What gives!
The room was dark, a single spotlight beamed on us. They all stood silent, looking us up and down.
Finally, Emi spoke.
"Council, we were wrongly convicted! This isn't right!" Emi spoke with a fervent voice, even in this situation she kept her cool and spoke formally. But it was Kuro the one who interrupted her.
"Council, I've already offered this trespassers a deal,"
Some of them peaked their ears.
"If they are to leave within the next moon ritual, we are to give them hospitality."
The council gasped collectively. One of them had already piqued my attention. A warrior, sitting silently in the corner. His head covered in a hood. As if he noticed my staring he silently lifted up his head - I noticed a scar on his face. His yellow eyes met mine. I pretended like I wasn't staring.
"Blasphemy!" one of the Grimalkin's spoke.
"Inconceivable!"
"We would never!"
Voices started to overlap.
"THEY ARE OUTSIDERS THROUGH AND THROUGH, BROUGHT HERE WITH WITCHERY," spoke a white grimalkin. This one had a crazy expression on his face.
Kuro launched a spell at him, burning a small hole through the fur on his side, it shut him up. And he just sat back down.
"Council, please!" begged Kuro. "They are mere travelers brought here through the moon ritual, let's give them asylum, the moon ritual is only a month, and might they enjoy our festival, would that ever be so bad? Shall we not be of heart?" said Kuro, choosing his words carefully. The council sighed collectively and went into silence. Then one of the elders spoke.
"Our moon ritual is sacred, and the festival within it is too, it's the only month we can relax, while the rest of our days are filled with never-ending work," his voice raspy. "Might be coincidence, but the moon ritual has brought these outsiders to our village, I say give them courtesy." Full stop.
Did that mean that one of the elders had given his approval? Everyone else just kinda mumbled and fumbled with themselves. Not knowing what to do. I could see this elder had some power over the people.
I looked back at the warrior sitting in the corner, he had one eye raised, his expression bewildered, was this somehow out of character for this elder or something?
Through the silence - the elder Grimalkin spoke again.
"But that decision is not for us to make," he started back up again.
"What?" I spoke softly. I was confused.
"It's for Neso to make, our village chief," and with that the warrior in the corner stood up.
He was tall, taller than the rest of them, his body slender, with just some light muscle on him, he wasn't like Dragan, he was built for speed, while Dragan was more of a tank.
The hood dropped and his face revealed for anyone to see. He was strikingly handsome.
He wore a ponytail. On his shoulder, he had a shoulder blade, and armor that covered his whole arm. The rest of his chest was bare. He had harem pants with inline and a skirt that pulled at his waist reaching his kneecaps. He wore wooden sandals. A sword at his hip. He was around 6 feet or so. He was a tower in comparison to everyone else.
Neso walked into the spotlight. He had a cute face. His fur had black and white stripes.
He finally spoke. A soft yet deep tone.
"Hello outsiders, my name is Neso Aphelion Equester, I'm the current chief of this here Grimalkin village," he stopped and sort of blushed with a wry smile, he looked to the side.
He made a long awkward pause.
"We shall give you hospitality, rest assured, but what I want to know, is how the moon ritual brought you here," he was asking the right questions, it made me anxious not to have an answer.
"We don't know yet sir," I said.
"Please, call me Neso," he said. Then he started thinking for a bit.
"The thing is, this has never happened before, the seal that makes the village hide in thin air is controlled via a neuro-uplink to my brain directly," he said.
Was this turning into a sci-fi novel or something?
"So somehow if you broke the seal, you must have hacked the uplink somehow," he said. I didn't get it just yet, had Sybil done something to the uplink, and because of that, we were able to travel back in time.
Ugh, my brain was starting to hurt. This was all so complicated.
Sybil can't you just explain it?
>Activate Projection?
Took you long enough, I conceded.
Suddenly an intricate circular symbol appeared in front of us. I got the feeling we were about to get some explanation. The projection filled the room.
"What is this about?" said Neso grabbing at his sword. Thinking it might be some kind of hurtful spell. I should have given them the heads-up.
>Beginning Presentation MREV 3457:
>The Moon Ritual opens the shade between this village and the real world, which means here lies within a pocket dimension. My scans indicate we are not currently on Cronus, but a pocketed alternate reality of it. My logs indicate I cast the spell properly, but malware infiltrated my systems.
Sybil spoke to the whole room.
"Malware? How can that be?" Neso spoke like he actually knew what that meant. Sybil continued.
>I am unaware myself, logs of the event have been hidden, and I am unable to access them, admin administrative access is required.
"So basically we need permission from God to see what this is all about?" spoke Neso.
>Affirmative.
Then, a voice spoke, a human voice, not like a computer like Sybil.
"Not from a god," said the voice.
Everyone sort of tensed, Neso once again went into his warrior pose, holding his sword in one hand.
"Oh, no need for violence, I am only a spell caster after all," said the voice.
Then Sybil spoke in one voice but fast, almost to the point where it sounded like jumbled-up words. My head started to hurt, real bad, the pain was like a thousand needles pumping into the sides of my brain. I couldn't help but wriggle to the side and shout out in pain.
"Little one, what's going on?!" Dragan shouted. He was visibly worried about me. I don't know what was happening. My form became unstable. I glitched out of my human and slime form. Even though in this universe Dragan had gained acess to my transformation.
>Initiating Transport;
>Portal Open;
>Access Granted;
>Mana Synchronization Complete;
>Transferring mater;
>Recreating far side matter;
>Adjusting time space deletions;
>Resurgence;
>Initiating First Sphere Connection
>CODE BLUE
>Complete
>Transferring
>Transfer Complete
"What is happening!" I exclaimed. Then the circles stopped spinning and placed themselves horizontally, smoke and mirrors filled the room, and a portal opened, I saw a great city with inventions like the Grimalkins but far more advanced, was this still Cronus?
Out of the image, a man appeared, around 5 feet high, he wore a black cape over him, a pointy hat black leather pants, and black boots, his face was barely visible, and he was using his hat to hide it.
The portal closed with a flourish behind him. The man opened his arms as if he was expecting a great welcome.
Neso instantly bowed to one knee.
"Sir, it is good to see you again," said Neso.
"Neso, my boy, how good to see you again," said the man going up to pet Neso.
Neso started purring.
My head stopped hurting and my form became human again.
Everyone else stood up and held their hands to their heart.
">Long Live Gilgamesh the one true king, long live Akkadian Mana, long live spell caster Zomearon," said the room in unison. Even the words of the world spoke this sentence.
Even Sybil got in on the chant.
We were terrified, to say the least. I hadn't paid a lot of attention to Dragan in this whole thing, but he was terrified, to say the least, he didn't show it, he was putting on a brave face, but I could tell because of the way he squeezed my hand. It's weird for him to not have said anything.
"Oh - You Guys!" spoke Zomearon, his voice was high pitched and flamboyant. "No need for such entrances, however - this little one I am interested in," he said sliding his way across the room, I didn't see him use his feet.
Dragan acted quickly and placed himself in front of me, making Zomearon stop in his tracks.
"Ah!" said Zomearon with a smile. "The brute, is it?" he said.
"Name's Dragan and I won't let you lay a finger on this spirit, he's mine!" Dragan spoke with a fervent attitude.
"But they're called Zomearon spirits for a reason dearly beloved," said Zomearon.
"Because they're not yours, they're mine," that last word made fire blow from below his cape. Then Zomearon placed his left hand just inches on Dragan's face.
"You're level's not that bad boy, weak mana though," said Zomeron almost snarky. "This whole time, you've been doing nothing, it's this little spirit that does all the heavy lifting, his mana is abundant I would say almost infinite, you're nothing without him darling, believe me, I would know."
"How would you?" asked Dragan. With a hand of his motion he called for his lance, it unfolded itself from his hand. The last part of the spear rotated in place.
"Oh? Do you dare challenge me? You dare challenge the angels of god?" said Zomearon.
Dragan exhaled a deep breath, smoke came out of his lungs, and scales started to form on his neck. His teeth started to change.
Zomearon cocked his head.
"You're not ready." He said all of a sudden.
"I see that sun spirit you hold within, sacrificing it might help you ascend. But I believe that goes against Dragonkin morals, or whatever..." Zomearon rolled his eyes.
What was he talking about?!
Neso lifted his head.
I stood on his right, the spear on his left. Grabbed his arm. Trying to calm Dragos down.
"Dragonkin?" I asked.
"What is Zomearon talking about?" I asked Dragan, it only made him more mad.
His eyes changed color, he was starting to grow fangs, and his face changed shape. I could see his humanity being stripped away. The more mad he got, the deeper his transformation was becoming.
"What is this?! Dragan come back!" I said, worry and anxiety were seeping in through.
My stomach was hurting, just slightly.
I felt like crying.
"With all the mana flying around this room, it's not surprising his transformation would start." Said Zomearon.
I was crouching now, my whole body was in pain.
Zomearon sassily approached me, and crouched down to my level, picked up my chin and made me look him in the eye.
Dragan roared once Zomearon touched me, a scream mixed with a roar Dragan went in to attack. His hands had claws and his skin was red, scales trimming from it.
Zomearon opened the palm on his hand in front of Dragan and with a flash of bright light, Dragan was sent flying to a wall, it made him lie unconscious, and the scales reverted. The pain subsided.
Zomearon didn't even look at him.
"You see, Dragan doesn't have any innate power, all of his mana always comes from you, little one, you've been giving him everything, he has given you nothing -" I suddenly interrupted him.
"He's protected me, he needs me, our bond is special," I said.
"Ha! You mean the symbiotic relationship he's been selling you on?" he said with a chuckle.
"That's nothing more than fallacies and lies, he's a Dragonkin do you know what that means - No you don't, so let me spell it out for you. He needs you, to ascend and evolve, that little transformation you just witnessed was his true form. Once he becomes a dragon, he'll kill you, believe me, I've seen it more than once."
Suddenly a memory flashed.
Was this the reason Dragan had not wanted to accept Sybils evolution?!
I coulnd't help but the tears rolled down my face.
"He won't! He would never do that! He loves me" I shouted. Zomearon chuckled, and looked away, then looked back at me.
"Love?" he finally said through heavy breath.
"Between two men? You're so naive," he said finally standing up.
"Dragonkin will do anything, and I mean anything to get you to trust them, he took a human form because only humans can enter my forest, but for them, that means de-volving, and it's a painful process.
I couldn't believe, what was happening.
"How many times did you have sex with him?" he said nonchalantly. "Oh, no need to answer that, it was rhetorical, let's see your taboo level," he turned backward and faced the floating circles.
"Worlds, can you show me Dragan and his Zomearon spirit taboo level,"
>Confirming
What the?! Zomearon had a Sybil too? Not only that I could have sworn I heard multiple voices.
A thinking icon appeared and the circles froze. Then finally the word Taboo with the number 82 next to it appeared. And the circles started spinning again.
"Tsk Tsk Tsk," said Zomearon.
"He never explained why the act between two men is banned, right?"
"Because you're a dirty homophobic piece of crap," I said, it's what I would have said on earth. He just laughed it off.
"Kid, I have sex with men all the time, I have sex with women all the time, they/them, shemales, they males, everything in between, Grimalkin's, Norse's, Astranod's, angels and demons, eternal and elder gods, I've tried it all." He stood close to Neso, petting him even more, Neso fell weak to his knees.
"But my taboo-" he said snapping his fingers.
The appeared - it was only a 3.
"I bet he told you something like sex will make you both stronger, right?" I nodded, as angry as I was, I nodded, because it was true.
"Mana transferred through intimacy is the purest form of mana there is, you don't even have to do the act for it to happen, his penetration was just the easiest way to get mana out of you, he steals your magic, and I bet he hasn't even given you a name yet,"
There was a pause.
"Here's the thing - You can have all the sex you want, make an all male harem for all I care, however transfering mana through intimacy - that's where the problem lies. Sex for love, I'm all up for it; please fuck like bunnies... Sex for mana transfer - is actually banned by the high council of ten, little one..." explained Zomearon.
"Dragan has been exploiting you - and you're just his bottom bitch -" he explained.
I couldn't believe what was happening. I redirected my thoughts to something he had said earlier.
"My name?" I asked.
"Zomearon spirit owners are the ones in charge of giving out names to their spirits, but it takes a lot of mana out of them, and since Dragonkin have none in their primordial state, or human form. Giving you a name would mean the death of him, literally. He would revert to an absence of mana and de-evolve into a primordial god. Losing his humanity in the process. The Gates of Aljiam would appear and he would return with the words of the world. Back to the First Sphere. Too bad someone else had to give you a name for him," Zomearon chuckled with a scoff behind it.
I let out a moment of silence. I was defeated, and couldn't even make eye contact with him, I looked at Dragan, his skin still had scales on them. Something in me changed, I don't know how to explain it or pinpoint what it was, but it was like a fire was lit beneath me and I couldn't do anything else but chase it.
"What the fuck kinda nonsense are you spouting?" I said. Zomearon gasped, it was incensere and flamboyant.
Neso was about to draw his sword, but Zomearon stopped with a movement of his hand. I bet people usually believe whatever crap he spouts. He spouts nothing but fake gods,
None of this can be true, he has to be playing tricks on me. If I wasn't handcuffed I would have beat the crap out of him. Sure Dragan might have some secrets, but I already knew that I signed up for it. He's a Dragonkin so what? Let him explain I say, I'm not gonna stand here and listen to someone else badmouth him.
"Nonsense - How dare you?!" Zomearon spoke. "You think you know better than me, slime, you're nothing but a low-class mob!" his glove left his hand and slapped across my face, and then they flew back at him, gently being placed.
"Zomearon, please, they're our guests," said Neso, his expression changing. Zomearon jumped at his voice. Neso retreated his words. Then he looked at me, his eyes read like I was the scum of the earth.
"Don't worry Neso, I've played my fun," Zomearon said.
"Thank you, my king, I'm honored in your presence," said Neso. Zomearon approached him.
"You do have a way with words my sweet little pussy cat," Zomearon petted Neso, Neso couldn't do anything but succumb to the will of his master.
"My king, ~ ~ ~," said Neso, falling to his knees. Then with a wave of his hand, the words of the world disappeared. tHe UI floating in the air. And with that, he was strutting off the exist.
"I'll be in my chambers," he said as he strutted almost giddy. Then he stopped. "This isn't over - little one," he gave a cackling laugh. And exited the room. Everyone finally relaxed.
"I'm sorry you had to see that -" suddenly started Neso speaking to me.
But my head felt heavy, I saw Neso running towards me, trying to catch me, my eyelids closed on their own and my body hit the floor. I fainted, and nothing but black remained.