Chapter 47: Aura Issues
Dave's POV
As I flew closer to the tunnel... we heard a voice, calling for me to stop. "Dave, drop them off and come to me." It was Satan, sounding like he needed me for something. "Satan?" I looked around. "I'm still resting back in my domain, but I'll make a portal for you to arrive there. I… need you." He said. "F-for what?" I stopped and landed. "I'll tell you when we meet face-to-face. Oh, and do me a favor: Don't deactivate your current armor. It'll be helpful for you, trust me." He elaborated. "Sure. ... I was hoping to go back to Ringo and Feli, so that they won't worry any more than they have to." I sighed. "Dave, this is far more important for you and it is of your best interest... coming to me. "Don't worry, I will tell them that you are fine." Accord smiled at me. "... Okay... thank you, Ms. Accord." I bowed. The portal appeared and I waved goodbye to her and Popoi. I entered in it, sending me to a boundary that rests between what I assumed to still be Amitie's world, and this Puyo Underworld. Is this a gate to the Puyo Underworld…? It has to be, there's no way that he sent me to an incorrect location. As I remained in thought, looking at the gate, I heard a voice call out to me. "You must be Dave, our ruler is waiting for you." It was a guard of sorts. He's probably here to keep outsiders away from this place… "Y-yes I am, sir." I nodded. "The next Demonic Dragon Warrior… it would be an honor for us to escort you to him. Have you ever been down there before? You may not know where to go in the underworld to reach Lord Satan." He offered. I shook as a sign of "no" and the guard noticed. "Ah, I see. Men, ease him into the underworld." He alerted more guards. "Come then, Legendary Demonic Dragon Warrior. Follow us to our ruler, Lord Satan." They gestured.
I followed behind the group, not saying much of anything. One of them complimented my stature, but that's really the only thing that I responded to. Other than that, I was silent and listened to the guards explain landmarks and locations. Seeing the Puyo Underworld for myself was certainly a sight to behold. Yes, it was hot since this was basically Hell, but the heat honestly wasn't that bad. I saw people, happily wandering about in leisure. Heh. That's certainly a surprise… people actually being happy to live here of all places? I figured that a place like this would entail eternal suffering for everyone... but I guess not. The children are clearly enjoying their time… We eventually arrived at this castle and I was blown away. I didn't put two and two together that this was a kingdom. It was no wonder why the guards referred to Satan as their lord. "Demonic Dragon, this is Lord Satan's castle. We will wait here and take you back to the gate once your business is done; that is, if you need to anyway." One of the guards told me. "Thank you." I nodded. The door to the castle opened up and it was a joy to the eyes. "People of the castle: The Demonic Dragon Warrior has returned in some form! Please treat him with respect!" The guards alerted the castle-folk. I entered and heard the door close behind me. A servant-like demon inched her way to me. "Ah... you must be Dave, yes?" She smiled. "Y-yes, I am. I must say, this castle is impressive… Anyway, where is your lord?" I turned my head from side to side. "Here, follow me." She insisted. I did and I ended up in a throne room, where Satan sat. "My lord, Satan… I have brought who you requested here." The servant spoke, then left. At this point in time, it was just me and Satan.
"Ah, Dave… what do you think of this atmosphere?" "I think it's quite… extravagant, Satan." "Yes. I think it's very extravagant as well. But… asking you that was not the reason why you're here." "So what's the reason you have brought me here?" "I've been watching you go out of your way to help Minotauros cure that poison. When you said that you would be holding in that aura from your dragon form, I was hoping that you wouldn't do that." "Why?" "Well Dave, if you want to know why… I'll give you the simplest answer to that question: It'll end up destroying you in due time." "What?! Destroy me?!" "*sigh* Do. Not. Panic. Please. I have a solution to this, and it will end up helping me too. But… the process will be painful and strenuous for both of us." "H-how so…?" "... Remember when Witch purged the evil initially associated with your dragon form?" "Yeah… what of it?" "This will be of similar pain levels… ... Actually... even more so, as I remember it to be." "I passed out when I had that evil purged… will I be put in a coma with this, Satan?" "I hope not, Dave… otherwise I'll be the only one benefiting here." "How does this benefit you?" "As you have noticed… I recently needed quite a bit of rest from light usages of my power. Also, I'm not as strong as I used to be. What I'm hoping to accomplish from this, aside from your safety of course… is a grand return to my original power level. My people don't know that I'm weaker than ever... but if word of this gets out, they'll lose faith in me as a ruler. How can I rule the Puyo Underworld without the strength to rival that of a god's?" "Oh, I see… that makes perfect sense." "Yeah... My power was already on a decline when I met Vyle for the first time in seven years. And then, the fusion with Ringo happened… She was boosted from a majority of what I had, even after we separated. This left me as a shadow of my former self… hence why I haven't really fought anything at all since. So… are you willing to go through with this?" "If… I'm gonna die from the aura staying inside my body, then I'll do it. Pain in any non-lethal degree is better than death." "Good, then we're on the same page... I don't want you to die either, Dave. I'm not just saying that because of the Yog problem, but because I treasure you as a companion."
I was happy with him saying that he treasured me as a companion. "Satan…! Thanks for saying that, your care is greatly appreciated." "No problem… Now, disengage the armor completely." "... Okay… what next?" "Take off your shirt, it's essential because I need to be able to draw something in my blood." "Uh… sure…?" I took off my shirt and Satan purposely cut himself with a knife to withdraw blood. "Satan, is this… a ritual?" "Yes. I must draw a pentagram of blood on your back, then do something called a "devil's chant"." "What's a devil's chant?" "You don't really need to know the specifics, only that it's going to cause your harmful, held-in dragon aura to transfer over to me as stabilized strength." "Okay… but how will THIS be painful for us?" "It'll be painful for you because it's me infiltrating your body. Things tied to your power, even the harmful ones, aren't meant to be ripped away. Therefore, it comes as a shock to no one that ripping away a part of someone's inner power hurts like hell. And the same can be said when inserting a foreign power into your body. For a couple of minutes... it overwhelms you as you're writhing in agony. But… it will, in fact, subside soon after and it is very relieving." His finger slid across my back as he made the supposed pentagram. It felt weird and I did NOT know what to make of it. But it was nothing, and I mean NOTHING compared to what I would feel next. "Here comes the chant… prepare yourself, Dave." Satan alerted me. He began speaking something in a language that I did not understand. When he was done with that chant, Satan placed his entire hand on my back. What I had felt in the heat of the moment... was pretty much indescribable. I was in so much agony, I couldn't scream for the life of me. It was a miracle that I didn't pass out halfway through. I clearly heard Satan wincing a ton, but I could not utter a single yelp. The brutality that was this had come to an end at last. It lasted shortly in reality, but it felt like a goddamn eternity. Both of us were panting heavily as a result. Just before I passed out, I felt like a weight that had kept me down today was gone. My mind went blank after that scene wrapped up.
As I came to, my body shook around. It was like someone was shaking me to wake up. "... Ugh… where am I…?" I got up. "Oh good, you're up. Dave, it worked. You don't have that held-in aura anymore and my power level is restored. Man, I feel good as new!" Satan happily spoke. "Damn… that whole thing hurt so bad that I could not scream. I STILL feel that pain on a lesser scale, Satan…" "Like I said, it'll subside soon enough." After he said that, I checked my phone with what the time is supposed to be. I then saw an unread message from Ringo, saying that she wanted me to come back home before 7:00 P.M. Looking back at the time, it was almost seven. "Ringo will be pissed… I'm sure that it's past dark in Suzuran already." I sighed. Satan looked at the message and nodded. "Hm… Does she know why you didn't return to her right away?" "Not specifically, Satan. Accord seemed to only tell her what we knew beforehand. I'm going to text her that I'll speak about it to her in person." "Okay. So I assume that you'll be leaving now, Dave?" "Actually… there is a favor that I want you to do…" "A favor, you say?" "Yeah. I want to go and see Draco real quick. It may sound trivial, but I think it's important. Can you make me a portal that goes to her house, then reconfigure the coordinates to Ringo's place after I'm done?" "Sure, I won't ask why since I can just watch you from here anyway. I can see it in your eyes that you have a good reason. And before you go… expect me to be helping from here on in. I'll help destroy those Yogs and be there for you." "Great!" "Here you go, one special portal." "Thanks a lot, Satan." "It's my pleasure."
I waved goodbye and leapt inside the portal, ending up at Draco's house. I knocked on the door and she opened it from the inside. Huh… it looks like she already bathed. Draco's wearing pajamas, cute ones at that. "O-oh, Dave! What's up? Why are ya here this late?" "I know, Draco… it's a weird time to come to you, but… do you have a "cell phone"?" "One of those portable phones? Nah…" "Well uh... I was thinking that maybe tomorrow we can meet up in Primp Town… and have you get one of them. I want to be able to stay in contact with you." "Oooooh, so that's what this is about… 'kay then, what time? I might have the gold and silver that I need." "12:00 P.M. There should be a clock somewhere in the middle of town to help you keep track of time, should you come early Ack-!" "...! Dave?!" "D-don't worry about it, Draco… today's just been a little busy for me." "I-if you say… so…" "Heh… here's something that might lift your spirits." I went straight into kissing her on the lips. "Th-thank you so much, Dave… I really missed kissing you!" She kissed me back. "Aw, you're so sweet, Draco..." "Hey, maybe you can take me on a date through the town while we get that phone for me!" "... Not a bad idea… after all, I have to treat all of you girls equally. I already took Ringo on a date, so it's only natural. School is kind of wrecked at this point, might as well have plenty of fun! Welp, see you tomorrow!" "You too!" Draco closed the door and I jumped back into the portal. Very conveniently, it dropped me off EXACTLY where I wanted it to, what I considered to be my home at this point. "...! *cough* … *cough cough* *hack* Dammit… When is this fucking pain going to go away?" I pulled myself together and entered inside. Ringo saw and scolded me for being back late, because of course.
Meanwhile, Serilly still rested on the couch and noticed the scolding. "Y-you're back…" She looked at me. "Is everything okay for you, Serilly?" I checked up. "Yes… not much happened while you were gone, but I did talk to Ringo's mother for a bit." She told me. "I-I see. … Huh?" My talk with her was interrupted by a news flash. "Authorities confirm that a group of criminals are responsible for taking many citizens of Suzuran hostage. It's unclear who these individuals are... but they are looking to threaten the city, so that they can acquire control of its political power. Police and SWAT teams are trying to find the scoundrels as we speak. So far though, there doesn't seem to be much of a trace of a hideout. The only other thing that we can confirm at this point is that investigators are not giving up. That is all we have to say about this situation for now." A news anchor spoke. "Are… you thinking what I'm thinking, Dave?" Ringo gave a serious expression. "Yeah. Those bastards… they've struck again." I gritted my teeth. "Those terrible people from before?" Ms. Ando had a look of concern. *buzz* "Hm? It looks like I have a call… I'll just go over there." I pointed. I picked up the call and it was from Jace. "We have bad news, Dave. It's REALLY bad…" "I know. I just watched the news report of this. Those criminals taking citizens from Suzuran, then making them hostages… just so that they can "negotiate" in having the city's political power. What are they hoping to gain by doing this, Jace?" "I honestly could not tell you, they are becoming insane. Before, they were just another criminal organization; now though, we're dealing with terrorists. If they were smart... they would have taken a prime minister from somewhere and used them as a bargaining chip. Instead, they just took a bunch of people from here. Were they not confident enough in taking an elected official hostage? I cannot understand what's driving them to do this." "Shit, I dunno… Either way, those people need saving and I doubt the criminals are patient enough for us to stall." "... You're going to help the authorities, right?" "Not tonight, today was taxing for me… a lot happened." "I… understand, Dave. Have a good night." "You too, Jace." I ended the call and made a heavy sigh. "Dave? You should probably eat before you starve for the night." Ms. Ando led me towards some food. "... I should, Ms. Ando… I should." I ate what I could and bathed with Ringo.
She began to talk to me as we sat in the bath. "So, you messaged me that you would talk about this in person… Why didn't you come back right after curing that Minotauros guy, Dave? And… what the hell's up with this bloody pentagram on your back?" "Satan knew something was wrong with me… Remember when it was said that my aura while as a dragon is hazardous in a nutshell, Ringo?" "Yeah, not to be approached by weaker entities, right?" "Well, I kept in that very same aur- -Ack! … Damn, this still hurts… -so that I could fly Ms. Accord to her house to retrieve Witch, then fly to Witch's house to make an antidote. And then, I had to do the same thing when going back. Meanwhile, the held-in aura made me exhausted so easily. But… that's when the freezing cold wind came in. It was simply too risky to be in the dragon form, so I landed and downgraded to my bulky armor. Minotauros said that he can go on his own and I let him. This left me to drop Ms. Accord off near where you guys were, but not before being told by Satan to go somewhere else afterwards." "Why?" "He knew that me holding that stuff in my body was bad. Thus, he had me come to the Puyo Underworld and meet him in his castle. Through an unspeakably painful ritual, he took all of my stored aura and converted it into more power for himself. So yeah, he looks like he's back in business as far as his power level is concerned. At least somebody got something out of this…" "How… much did that ritual really hurt you, Dave?" "*sigh* It hurt me on the inside so much… to the point where I couldn't even scream. That's why I said that it was unspeakably painful, Ringo. ... Wash this bloody pentagram off, I don't want that to remain on my back." "You got it." "... … Great. Just great… the water around us is turning red. I'm now getting chills from this making me think of murders in bathtubs."
No shit that you're getting chills from this, Sherlock... "It's okay… I'm here with you. Your special girlfriend is bathing here with you. Speaking of which… How do my breasts feel? Do you like them?" "U-uh… well… um… I think they're fine the way they-" "*sigh* Dave, turn around so that you can see my face. Do you not like how my breasts are SUPPOSED to be?" "N-no, it's not that… I like smaller breasts just fine, they're cute, really." "Let me guess… you would rather want them to be milk jug sized, like when I fused with Satan. Isn't that right? You went head-over-heels for that look of me." "I-I mean, big breasts aren't everything… they typically look better on a taller woman. Like, don't you think a big rack would be awkward looking on a smaller girl? Just saying…" "Oh! So you mean to tell me that mine are perfect…?" "As good as they can be, Ringo." "... As a reward for saying that, you can touch them in any way you want." "Uh, let's save that for the bed… I want to clean myself." "Fair enough." We got out of the bathroom and slipped into my bed. "Time for some fun, Dave." "Heh. Getting on top of me, I see." "*giggle* I do love you, so duh." We went back and forth with the kissing for a while. Every so often, I would softly grope Ringo's bosom. It was obvious that she liked it. We then decided it would be a good time to sleep. Ringo decided to go back to her room and it was just me laying in my bed. Ringo… you are so feisty. Whether it's a good or bad thing, I don't know. Actually, you're not the only one. You, Feli, and Draco are all feisty in your own ways. … Draco, I don't know how this date is going to play out but… I hope we both enjoy it. I fell asleep while I was deep in thought about the next day.
Author's Notes: Dave went to go and see Satan in the Puyo Underworld. It was revealed that he wanted him to come, so that he can remove the dragon aura. After a grueling ritual, Dave passed out and awoke feeling leftover pain. A missed text message from Ringo alerted him to head back to Suzuran, but not before going to Draco's place. He wanted her to get a cell phone for the sake of having contact. After talking to Draco about the arrangement, he left for Suzuran, not wishing for Ringo to wait any longer. The rest of the evening came through mostly how Dave expected it to be. The criminal/hostage situation was the only thing that wasn't expected. He and Ringo got a little frisky in his bed before the two separate for the night. How will Dave's date with Draco play out? How much time will there be left before the criminals threaten to kill the hostages? Next chapter, Chapter 48: Love, Hardships, and Guns.