Chapter 31 – The Parasite's Search for Space-Time
Ram's POV
"Alright! Let's go find that princess!"
"Yeah…"
"H-Hey! Slow down, you two! Neither one of you are familiar with this world!" I heard Blanc yell at Rom and me as we stepped outside for the first time in days.
The reason being that we finally have a way to leave this world and even go to the world where Lidelle, Chu, and Dongurigaeru came from. That being Primp Town!
And it's thanks to how Nasos explained it earlier…
*EARLIER…*
"Manipulate a portal? We can do that?!" Blanc asked in shock from what Nasos had just told us.
"It isn't a common thing…but Space-Time Portals can be manipulated into having them take us to where WE want to go. All that's needed is someone with the right power to do such a thing."
"The right power?" C-Sha asked. "You mean this isn't something the Queen of the Stars can do?"
"*sigh* Unfortunately, no. In fact, the only person that can is the Libra Princess Raum. And her power to open portals at will."
"Sh-She can do that?"
"Out of all the Zodiac powers, Libra is more of a wild card." Neva began explaining. "Raum can do things that the rest of us can't do on our own. Sometimes, she can even copy our own powers."
"Woah…" Rom, Chu, and I said in amazement.
Zodiac powers are pretty freaking awesome!
"In fact, it was Raum's power that sent Resta to Primp Town during the invasion. As the two are parallel to each other."
"W-Wait, seriously? The two worlds are parallel?" Blanc asked in shock.
"Hmm…now that I think about it, the environment in this world does seems similar to Primp's." Lidelle said. "It felt like I ended up in a different town at first."
"Yeah, the two are parallel." Nasos said. "What kept our worlds separate, though, is due to the power from the Gemini Princess Pollux. Her power is in the same category as Raum's."
"I see…"
"Anyway…in order for this to work, we'll need to find Raum and have her use her Zodiac Stone, the Libra Opal, to manipulate one of the portals scattered all over this world. And if it works out, we'll be able to have easy access between Babylon Nebula and Primp Town."
"And if it doesn't work?" C-Sha asked.
"Then it'll just send us to a random location. Space-Time travel is never exact with its destinations."
"I see…so, we're taking a huge risk with this."
"I say we do it!" I cheered. Gaining everyone's attention.
"You really wanna take that risk?" Chu asked. "Space-Time travel isn't an easy thing to deal with."
"Oh, come on! If it's to get you, Lidelle, and Dongurigaeru home, then I'm all for it! Plus, it'll be an added bonus if we can get Lowee back this way."
"I guess…"
"Blanc! Rom! You guys agree with me, right?" I then turned to my two sisters.
"W-Well…" And while Rom tried to answer…
"I'm with Ram. I say we give it a try."
"Alright, Blanc!" I cheered even louder.
"You sure about this?" Lidelle asked. "Even with the risk it has?"
"I get that…but being afraid of that risk isn't going to help us with anything. I want Lowee back and I'm sure everyone here wants the worlds back to normal. If we don't do anything about it, then those psychos will definitely kill us all without any remorse."
"That's totally what I'm getting at!" I yelled. "We've been through some traumatic crap this past week. Now's our chance to fight back and give them all the same fear they gave us before! Who else is with me?!"
…
…
…
"I…I'm with you, Ram." Rom said as she gained a confident smile on her face.
"Yay! I knew you'd stick by me, Rom!" I replied as I gave her a hug.
"*giggle* Ram…"
"I'm in, too." Chu said. "Shigu's supposed to be home soon and I want to see him okay. Right, Venom?"
Chu's butterfly then flew off her head and onto her nose. Probably meaning that it agrees with her.
Who's Shigu, though?
"Well, if Blanny and the twins are okay with it, then I am too." C-Sha said. "I don't mind saving the world again. Or, in this case, three worlds."
"I still have some doubts about this…" Lidelle said. "…but a chance to go home is something I'm not willing to pass up. I'm sure you feel the same too right, Dongurigaeru?"
"Ribbit!"
"It seems that everyone is on-board with the idea." Neva said. "Then, let us proceed with the plan, Lady Nasos."
"Well, if all of you are okay with it, then I'm not gonna stop you." Nasos said. "First off is to find Raum. Since all of the princesses had their stones taken during the invasion, there's no pinpointing her actual location. So, your best bet would be to start at the Lilac Kingdom. The area that Raum rules."
"The Lilac Kingdom, huh?" I said with a confident grin on my face. "Sounds easy enough! Let's get going, everyone!"
"You sound very excited about this, Ram." C-Sha said to me. "Did becoming a parasite boost your confidence or something?"
"I hope that isn't that case…" Blanc said with a concerned sweatdrop.
*PRESENT TIME*
And that's what brought us here. Now, we're on our way to the Lilac Kingdom to hopefully find this Raum girl and get us out of here.
…
You know…now that I think about it, this girl has the same name as Rom. Only with a different spelling. Didn't know you could spell it like "R-A-U-M". Must be a thing only in this world.
"So, how do we get to this Lilac Kingdom?" Blanc asked.
"The Lilac Kingdom is in the south-most region of the Babylon Nebula." Neva said. "It's so down south that daytime is only 2-3 hours there."
"S-Seriously?!"
"Woah…living in a place that's mostly nighttime…that sounds so freaking cool!" I said.
"Wouldn't it be bedtime for a long time, though?" Rom asked.
"The people of the Lilac Kingdom are very much used to it." Neva explained. "They know when to wake up and go to sleep no matter how dark it is outside."
"Wow…"
"This would be perfect for you, Venom." Chu said as she was talking to her pet butterfly. "You could stay up at night and do whatever you want."
Venom responded by rapidly flapping his wings while sitting on Chu's nose. Seemingly excited about the idea…I-I guess.
"What does a butterfly do at night, anyway?" I asked.
"Butterfly stuff. But I'm not sure what any of those are since I'm always asleep."
"Huh…" I gained a sweatdrop.
Butterflies are weird…
"Though, even if we start from that one area, it'll still be tough to find her." C-Sha said. "Considering the state of this world right now and that most of us don't even know what she looks like."
"That's true…" Lidelle said. "…*sigh* if only Poochy were here. He would've made this easy."
"Who's Poochy?" Blanc asked.
"My dog…kinda. He's got a sniffing power that could find anything you've lost. Just one scent and it's back in your possession."
"Wow…that's actually impressive, Lidelle." C-Sha said.
"What was that "kinda" part?" Blanc asked.
"You're imagining things, Blanc."
"Seriously…"
"Well, even if we don't have the sniffing power of a dog, I'm sure we'll find her." I said. "All 8 of us."
"Speaking of which…are you sure you didn't want to stay behind, Dongurigaeru?" Lidelle asked him.
"Ribbit. Ribbit ribbit."
"I get that staying inside all day is boring, but…there still are monsters roaming around. There's no telling when one might show up on our way there."
"Quit worrying, Lidelle." I said with a confident grin on my face. "If we do run into any monsters along the way…" I then transformed into my new parasite form without finishing my sentence. "I can just use my tail again to devour its damn worthless soul~! *creepy giggle*"
"R-Ram…" Rom said with a little fear.
"Hey. Didn't Nasos say not to play around with that?" Blanc scolded me.
"I'm not playing around~. I'm dead serious when I say that I'll protect everyone~. I'm just happy that I have a new titillating way of doing it now~. *giggle*"
"Wh-Wha…don't say that word!"
"What word, Blanc~? Say it so that everyone can understand~. Fufufufu~."
"Tch! You little…"
Blanc then came over towards me and bashed me on the head. Making me turn back to my normal self.
"Ow! Geez, I was just joking! No need to get violent!"
"You're enjoying this parasite form way too much…" Chu said with a sweatdrop.
"*sigh* Whatever. My point is that fighting these monsters won't be a problem for me. So, you have nothing to worry about, Dongurigaeru."
"Ribbit!" Dongurigaeru cheered.
"Haha! I have finally found you!"
We suddenly heard a new voice that didn't belong to any of us. A kind of voice belonging to a snooty noble or something like that. But when we turned around, the source of the voice wasn't ANYTHING I expected.
I-Is that…a pink fish?
"To find you traveling in a remote place such as this…you are indeed an adventurous little acorn!"
"Ri…Ribbit…" Dongurigaeru gained an "aw, crap…" look on his face.
"O-Ocean Prince?!" Lidelle yelled in shock.
"Oh? Lidelle and Chu reside here as well. I was not expecting to see any peasants in this area."
"*sigh* Of all people to show up in this world…" Chu said in an exasperated tone.
"W-Wait, you guys know this…talking fish?" Blanc asked Lidelle.
"Yeah, we do. This is Ocean Prince. The prince of the ocean back in our world. He also goes by his real name being…uh…wh-what was it again?"
"Prince Salde Canarl Shellbrick III in your presence." The fish spoke.
"Yeah. That."
"Ha! You mean to tell me that this minnow is a prince? What kind of joke is this?"
"How DARE you call my regain a joke?!" Ocean Prince yelled. "You should be bowing down and showing me your loyalty, you common peasant!"
"Wh-Who the hell are you calling a peasant?! You got a lot of nerve for a f*cking fish!"
"Using such language in front of a prince…where is your sense of dignity?!"
"I don't care if you're the freaking Prince of Persia! Nobody calls me a damn peasant!"
"Hmph. So, I see that wild beasts reside in this strange land as well…"
"What the hell did you just call me, you little…"
"H-Hey, Blanny…try to calm down a little, will, ya." C-Sha said as she held Blanc back from attacking this fish.
Though, I would really blame her for doing so…
"Hey, Lidelle. Is he normally this much of a prick?" I asked her.
"Yeah…kinda." Lidelle gained a sweatdrop. "He can be a bit of a selfish spoiled brat due to him being a prince. Which often gets him screwed over."
"He also tries to force everyone he meets into submitting to his whims and working for him." Chu added. "Even resorting to bribing things like meals, naps, and walks as if they're a freaking dog. It's sickening!"
"Y-You seem pretty…agitated about it, Chu." Rom said.
"He did the exact same thing to my brother once. Somehow, they're on good terms with each other…but I can't stand him."
"Wow…"
"Is he really a prince?" Neva asked. "He seems to give the idea of being royalty a bad name."
"Yeah…he is. Though, he's normally human. And was turned into a fish so that he can escape his royal duties."
"He went THAT far to not do any work?!"
"Yep. He's pretty lazy, too."
"Geez…"
To be honest, I was shocked, too. Granted, I didn't do any of the work required for a CPU Candidate and left it all to Rom. And Neptune did the same thing to Nepgear. But to hear that someone ACTUALLY changed species just so they could not do any work…
I certainly wouldn't do such a thing…but would Neptune do it? She is the laziest person I know…
"*sigh* I have had quite enough of this banter from this common nobody."
"You just don't stop, do you?!" Blanc yelled as she was still being held back from going at it on Ocean Prince.
"Um…Ocean Prince…how did you get here?" Lidelle asked. "This is an entirely different world and all…"
"Hmm…well, I was fleeing from Otomo's captivity once more…"
"Otomo is his butler." Chu whispered to us. "He's constantly trying to get him to do his work. But ends up getting treated like crap."
"Huh…" Was all Rom, Neva, and I responded with.
"…when this star-shaped portal appeared out of nowhere. It looked promising as a good hiding spot. So, I leaped inside and it brought me here."
"So, you just jumped inside a Space-Time portal, not knowing where it would take you, just so you could hide from Otomo?"
"'Twas my only option at the moment. Plus, it ended up being in my favor."
"How so?"
Ocean Prince then grew a really huge grin on his fishy face as he looked at Dongurigaeru.
"Because it has brought me a reunion with my savory treat once more! Hahahaha!"
"Wh-What?!" Most of us yelled in shock.
"*sigh* Here we go again…" Lidelle and Chu said with sweatdrops.
"I have been craving you ever so more than usual, little acorn. Now, I can enjoy my freedom AND have a sweet treat to celebrate!"
"R-Rib rib rib! Rib ribbit!" Dongurigaeru yelled in fear.
No way…does this fish prince plan on EATING Dongurigaeru?! That's so freaking morbid! Why the hell would anyone want to do that?!
"Now, just come hither to me, my sweet & succulent little acorn…"
"Hey, you can't eat Dongurigaeru, you stupid pink fish!" I shouted as I stepped in between the two.
"R-Ribbit!"
"Out of my way, peasant!" Ocean Prince yelled. "Thou shall not interfere with my meal!"
"Your "meal" ain't happening! I won't allow you to eat one of my dearest friends!"
"You?! Friends with this mere acorn?! I scoff at your stupidity!"
"He's a frog! Not an acorn!" Chu yelled from behind me.
"That is all but lies! Truly, he is an acorn! And truly, he is going into my stomach!"
"R-Rib rib rib rib…" Dongurigaeru was beginning to cry. Basically, begging for his life.
And it pushed me over the edge.
"Grr…if we're over here talking about eating people…" I then transformed into my parasite form once more. "…then maybe I should eat YOU instead~! *creepy giggle*"
"Wh-What is this? What is this sudden chill I am getting?" It was then that Ocean Prince began to panic.
"I'm rather curious to how a fish soul would taste like~. Care to give me a sample, your majesty~?! *giggle*" I said as I brought my tail closer to the fish prince's tiny neck.
"Gaaaaah! Get away from me! Vile creatin!"
*BONK*
"Ow!"
"Ram, knock it off." C-Sha scolded me after hitting me in the head. "Lady Nasos said not to abuse that power of yours."
"B-But he's trying to eat Dongurigaeru! I can't let him do that!"
"If you want to stop him, then do it in a friendly matter. Like say…that game from earlier."
"Game?" I thought for a moment. "Wait, you mean Puyo Puyo?"
"Puyo Puyo resides in this world?" Ocean Prince asked. "How intriguing…"
"Lidelle said that stuff like this are solved with puyo matches, right? So, perhaps one will decide what happens with Donny."
"Rib ribbit…" Dongurigaeru didn't look all too thrilled about having his life determined by a puyo match. And I wasn't a fan of the idea, either. But since this story's only rated T, I can't just kill this fish brat like how I killed that monster before. So, I really didn't have a choice.
"*sigh* Fine." I then turned back to Ocean Prince. "But if I win, you have to promise never to try eating Dongurigaeru ever again. Otherwise, I won't hold back next time~. Got it~?"
"A-A prince never deals with dishonesty! You have my word that I should play fair!"
"Fine, then. Let's…"
"PUYO BATTLE! EN GARDE!"
*AND SO, AFTER ONE RATHER LONG PUYO BATTLE…*
"Darkness Arrow!"
"Comet Shower!"
"Icecalibur!"
"Icecalibur!"
"Icecalibur!"
"Icecalibur!"
*BOOM*
"Treason!"
…
"The winner is Ram! 2-1!" Lidelle called out as she was refereeing the match.
"Hahaha~! I WIN~!" I cheered before suddenly turning back into my normal form. "You won't have to worry about being eaten ever again, Dongurigaeru!"
"Rib-ribbit! Ribbit!" Dongurigaeru cheered as he was truly grateful for me basically saving his life.
He helped in saving my life. Now, we're even!
"Wowie, Ram…you're really good at Puyo Puyo." Rom said to me.
"*giggle* Thanks, Rom. You know…you should try playing it sometime. It's really fun once you get the hand of it."
"Um…I don't know…it seems rather hard."
"Don't worry. Don't worry. I'll totally teach ya. It's as easy as screwing up Blanc's manuscripts."
*POW*
"Ow…"
"I WAS going to congratulate you…but now you can just forget it, you damn rambunctious brat." Blanc said in anger after hitting me in the head.
Still can't take a joke…
"Ugh…I lost. Chivalry truly is dead…"
"Hey, you better keep your end of the deal." I said to Ocean Prince as he was slowly getting up. "You leave Dongurigaeru alone or else I'll REALLY skewer you down."
"Y-Yes, yes! I understand!" Ocean Prince panicked a little. "*sigh* How humiliating…if I would have known this would be the outcome, I would have stayed with Yumi."
"W-Wait, what? "Stayed with Yumi"? What do you mean by that?" Lidelle asked.
"Hm? You did not know, Lidelle? Your mother is here, as well."
"S-Seriously?! Mother is HERE?!"
"Indeed. I saw her not too long ago, myself."
"No way…"
"Mother?" C-Sha asked. "Wait, do you mean…"
"My mom, Yumi Namanari. Wife of the late Demon King Namanari. She's fully human…but still a pretty big figure in the realm of Hell."
"Woah…both mother and daughter are in this world. Pretty exciting, when you think about it."
"How, exactly?" Blanc and Neva asked with sweatdrops.
"When did you last see her?" Lidelle asked Ocean Prince.
"Hmm…I remember her being with a girl with purple hair…wearing a purple sweater…and she was holding a floating scale of some sorts. Truly gave me uneasiness."
"Wh-What kind of person is that?"
"That description…it's Raum! Without a doubt!" Neva yelled in excitement. "*sigh* I'm so glad she's okay…"
"If you wish to see them, I believe they were heading towards…"
"Prince! Prince! Where are you, Dear Prince?! Please come back to me!"
"Gah! It's Otomo! He somehow found his way here, as well! FLEE! I MUST FLEE!"
"H-Hey! Wait! Ocean Prince! Where are they?!" Lidelle shouted as we saw the pink pain-in-the-ass minnow run away in "fear" of his butler.
"*sigh* Damnit…"
"So much for that…" Blanc said. "Now, what do we do?"
"I don't know…maybe Nasos found something while we were gone. I'll trying asking her."
"Well, whatever." I said. "I'm gonna go sit down. That last battle has me dizzy as hell."
"This is what happens when you abuse your parasite form…" Chu said.
"I don't need you to rub it in!"
As everyone was sitting around doing their own thing…waiting until we heard a response from Nasos, I was leaning against a nearly destroyed building trying to regain my energy. Which is a lot harder to do in my normal form than I remembered it being.
Maybe I should've just sucked the life force out of that fish brat…
"Excuse me, Miss."
"Huh?" I was then spoken to by a guy with short blonde hair and wearing a green suit of some kind.
"Have you seen where our beloved pretty pink pampered prince has gone? I could have sworn I heard his sweet delicate voice just now…"
Wait…is this Otomo?
"You mean that talking pink fish, right? Yeah, I saw him. But you gotta help me with something, first."
"O-Of course! Anything to find the prince!"
"Have you seen a woman named Yumi Namanari anywhere? She's with someone else that we're looking for."
"Oh. Miss Yumi? I do remember seeing her along with a purple-haired girl near a place called…Pleione Cove, I believed it is called. It seemed like they were looking for something."
"Thanks!" I cheered. "Oh…and your fish prince ran down that street over there. I doubt he got far enough since we just had a puyo match earlier."
"Oh, thank you ever so much, Young Miss!" The guy named Otomo cheered greatly before running in the direction I pointed in. "Prince! Prince! Even though we are trapped in a different area, I WILL RETURN YOU HOME!"
"Good luck with that, bud…" I mumbled to myself with a colossal sweatdrop. "Hey! Guys! I know where they are!" I then yelled as I ran up to the others. Excited to share the info I got just by pure chance.
*giggle* Having protag luck is fun! I wish I had this more often…
Author's Note: The search for the Libra Princess begins…and immediately has a detour when the group runs into Ocean Prince, who once again attempts to eat Dongurigaeru.
Luckily, the fear of being siphoned to death managed to put a stop to it. Yay!
Thanks for reading. Later.