"Young Rika, I choose you!" His eyes were closed as he tried to picture her appearance in his mind.
It was... surprisingly hard to do. Yuta didn't remember much of it, if he was being honest. Mostly because the last time he had seen her like that was years ago, and he didn't exactly have any photos around of her at that age either.
So for him, young Rika was just a big blur. He could remember her features in general, but actually remembering the details of her face were hard for him to do.
To be honest, Yuta had never really cared about that. Curse Rika had become his normal... Or at least he didn't care until now.
Rika sighed, clearly frustrated. "She refused to come out..." That's right. While Yuta didn't care about her form, Rika did.
It was her own body after all, and he wouldn't judge her from wanting to change back into a little girl. He didn't know anything about being a spooky ghost, but it must suck pretty heavily.
He looked down. "Sorry, I don't really get what I'm doing wrong..." He send a pleasing glance to Touko. "Or what I'm supposed to be doing at all in the first place." He was just trying to imagine her becoming her younger self.
Touko shrugged. "Don't look at me brat, it's up to you to figure this whole thing out." They had pivoted from his rune training to this, but...
Well, naturally while Touko was a master of runecraft, she was very much not a master of transforming super ghosts into bratty girls with the power of alien juice. So she was more or less giving encouragement.
Speaking of encouragement, that was kind of the only think Aoko could do. "Stop complaining and go back to doing it, Yuta!" Except she sucked at encouragement. He wished his Senpai had stayed here...
Still, he hesitantly nodded. "Okay then, back to mind waving Rika into a brat..." It made more sense than one thought. The will of the mind was always important with stuff like magecraft. It was why self-hypnosis was so damn important.
The curse pouted. "I actually wasn't a particularly bratty kid, I'll have you know." He would say his memories disagreed, but again, he didn't remember much.
He chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind..." And then he went back to work.
In the end he didn't accomplish anything at all.
"So... any of you have any tips when it comes to transformation of this kind?" As stupid as it was, once morning came, Yuta started questioning his friends if they could help.
Aoko obviously stayed silent. She had nothing to contribute even all the way back in her sister's apartment after all.
Kohaku wiggled her finger around. "When it comes to this, you just gotta tire all of Rika's energy until she reverst back to her kid self." Hah!? Kohaku was actually giving advice!? "It's kinda like Digimon, ya know?"
She put a hand to her chin. "Welp, assuming Rika isn't like a Pokémon of course. If she is then... well... you should have pressed B, Big Bro." Of course her advice was coming from video games and the like.
It wasn't completely useless advice though. "That doesn't seem like a bad idea at all, Kohaku." Maybe Rika would revert back to her kid self! Or maybe she would disappear once her energy ran out...
Actually, now that he thought about the risks of it, maybe the Digimon strategy wasn't worth trying. Though in the end it would be up to Rika.
And then Rika brought up another concerning matter to the table. "I don't know if I can actually run out of energy in the first place though... I mean, I never felt tired at least." Even as she spammed crazy beams of love. And energy.
Yuta tilted his head. "I'm sure you will run out eventually if we try hard enough... I don't have literal infinite amounts of energy... I think." That was impossible, right?
Ciel interjected. "Yep, that's right. Even you would run out eventually... though that may have its own horrible consequences." Like what, he would feel sick for a day?
She continued. "First of all, we don't actually know how you replenish your mana... or how fast. Are you getting mana from the environment and filtering into grain? Does your body produce its own grain? If so, how does it do that?" That was... a really good question.
"Assuming you don't have any way of refilling your reserves, wasting all you have would... well, it would either mean you would become akin to a normal person, or you would die out of exhaustion." Okay then! The Digimon option was out!
Still, Ciel insisted on scaring him. "And even leaving the matter of you dying aside... If you threw all your energy into the air, you would probably end humanity."
Yuta flinched. "Wow, let's not go too far here! Rika and I know how to control ourselves, we wouldn't Kid Buu the world!" In all of their fights, most of the property damage hadn't even come from Yuta and Rika in the first place.
Rika quickly agreed. "Yeah, my beams of love are not beams of destruction!" They just so happened to turn stuff into dust sometimes.
Ciel waved them off. "Don't worry, that's not what I'm talking about. Even if I don't know what a Kid Buu is." Heresy!
She frowned. "The truth of the matter is this, Yuta. Grain is poison, and your body is the only cage for it. Releasing small amounts of it at a time is fine, the planet can handle that, but if you threw away all you had so quickly..."
"The world would end. Gaia would survive of course, but humanity would be wiped out... Even the beings who hide around in the Reverse Side of the World would be wiped out. It would be similar to a nuclear apocalypse." Ah.
That was really, really scary. "Senpai, I have decided to never, ever use my powers from now on. Thank you for not ending my life until now." How the hell was he more troublesome than nuclear bombs!?
Ciel chuckled. "As your teacher, I'll have to ask you to keep using your powers..." Okay then, but if the world ended it wasn't his fault. "Besides, unless you go out of your way to do it, the planet won't end."
"And even if you did try it... the world would probably put you down." Spooky. "Though that may have its own consequences as well. I'm not smart enough to tell, if I'm being honest." So the fate of the world was up to luck once he died?
At this point Yuta didn't know what to say. "Maybe I should just go to space at this point. It's clear that Earth isn't ready for this Saiyan." Maybe he could go to the Moon with Arcueid?
Rika shook her head. "Please don't. I don't want to live in space, it sounds way too boring." Fair enough. "So now that we have discarded Kohaku's idea... does anyone have any others?"
Ciel looked away. "Sorry, but I don't. While Roa was in my head, and somehow forced my body to not change... I don't know how to apply that to this situation." She knew how to make someone stagnant, but that was it.
Well, Yuta wasn't expecting Roa of all people to be useful.
Hisui was next. "I... I don't have any ideas either, but I'm sure you will figure something out, Elder Brother! You always do!" He sure hoped so...
"Thanks Hisui..." This situation was way too troublesome.
It wouldn't be so bad if he at least knew the first step to take, but he was completely blind. Literally just throwing things at the wall until something worked. If it could work at all and Touko hadn't been miserably wrong.
Rika looked incredibly frustrated. "And so, in the end we still have no clues on what to do..." Ah, Rika was sad. Yuta was horribly failing as a boyfriend yet again.
But he still had some cards up his sleeve. "Don't worry Rika! We still haven't asked someone very important!"
...
"My bad, I don't know how you should go about this."
"You're as useless as ever, Bimbocuied." The card up his sleeve wasn't worth much.
He had one more card up his sleeve! A card that admittedly looked very similar to the Arcueid card however... and also a card he would probably forget about it as soon as he woke up.
Honestly, he would like to say it was better than nothing, but it was probably going to be nothing. Still... he was already here anyways.
"Say, Altrouge... I have more weird questions for you." She had some pretty useful knowledge on the Roa situation, so maybe she would be useful.
Well, she would be if he could actually remember this conversation. Now that he was actively trying to do that however, maybe it would happen? Like someone who really didn't want to forget a dream of his. Even a fading memory would be enough, since he could then write it down as soon as he woke up.
The vampire pouted. "Sure, ask away. Treat me like the fountain of knowledge I am." He had a feeling she wasn't happy about being a fountain of knowledge.
He didn't like being affectionate with her... but she was useful, so he pat her head. "Sorry, but this is... important. Thanks for the help, Altrouge." If she could help at all of course.
She clicked her tongue. "I doubt you and I have the same definition of importance little human, but very well, I shall listen to your very, very small troubles." She looked at her fingernails, clearly disinterested. "Let me guess, you are in debt due to gambling."
Oi. "No...?"
"Oh, then perhaps alcoholism has overcome thee!" Why did she suddenly say thee!? "Or maybe you cannot pay your mortgage!? Or maybe you lost your job!?" Why was she saying random things!?
"None of those things have happened." He was surprised she knew what a mortgage was. "It's... it's a question about the body and the soul."
She raised an eyebrow. "Hoh...? Our conversations are always so worthless that I had forgotten about your origins as a mage." She nodded. "Very well, I shall enlighten you as best as I can. Be aware however, that I am no True Magician."
Yuta nodded. "Okay then... so here's the issue..." And then he realized he didn't actually know how to explain the issue. "There's this friend of mine who's a ghost... and is also bound to me. I made this friend into a ghost."
Altrouge didn't seem all that surprised by this revelation. I guess she was just thinking of me as a crazy magus. And he couldn't blame her, since people like Roa exist in this world.
Yuta continued. "For some reason her form changed into something else... and it's probably my fault, since we are connect. According to some super mage we talked with, she should have changed to look like her... human form, but that never happened."
Altrouge hummed. "I believe I understand the situation... even if I do kind of want context here." He probably couldn't give her that.
He didn't know how well known he was, but surely something would came up if she bothered to search about a boy with a overpowered ghost by his side. And if she found out about his killing of Vlov, these meetings would most likely get a lot more dangerous.
Thankfully Altrouge dropped it. "I do understand mages tend to want to keep their arts a secret however, so I shall not inquire further. Be aware that this may impede my judgment." That was fair enough.
The girl raised an arm. "So, you believe you are the one lacking, yes?" Yep. At least that's what Touko implied. "It could be the case that the ghost herself is the problem." Fair enough, he thought about that too. And it was obviously something Rika had tried.
She grinned. "Leaving matters like that aside, transforming into another form is a simple process." She sent the boy a thumps up. "Just look for the switch inside of yourself and transform!"
"L-like... like a magical trigger?" Well, it did sound like his theory of self-hypnosis.
She waved him off. "No, no. Nothing like that." She closed her eyes. "Just find that trigger inside of your heart and then... boom! You have changed!" She then scowled. "For a few hours at least. Then you go back to normal." Well, Rika's normal was the little girl version. "Oh, and making a pose helps too." What...?
How was he supposed to answer that...? "I-I feel like what you are describing isn't actually how it works." It sounded very Arcueid of her.
With a quick jump she got up from the fake dream bed. "Are you calling me a liar!? I'll have you know that I need not bother with such things when dealing with an animal!"
He slowly shook his head. "No, I'm not calling you a liar. I just think your experinces with the transformation of the body are a bit... different from what I've heard form other people." She sounded like a magical girl.
She huffed. "You...! Get ready to feast your eyes, lowly human!" She then...
Then...
The made a heart symbol with her two hands, and slightly tilted her head. With a toothy grin she exclaimed. "For the Moon!" And then started to shine so brightly that Yuta felt he had just been blinded.
Once the magical flash bang ended, what Yuta saw was...!
A woman who really needed to purchase clothes her size. She was wearing the same clothes as Altrouge, but since she was looked much older, that poor clothing couldn't keep up, and now the woman looked like she was about to star in a porno.
And as for the woman herself, she looked similar to both Arcueid and Altrouge, except she was much... bigger. Yes, and much more mature looking in general. If Altrouge had the age of a young teen, Arcueid had the age of a young adult, then this woman had the age of a woman in her thirties.
Yuta had to concentrate all his power into not getting hard. Mostly because this woman was clearly Altrouge herself! Ya know? The one who did a few genocides here and there? Basically evil incarnate!?
Altrouge did a little spin. It caused her assets to... bounce in certain ways. "See? See? I was telling the truth!" She puffed her chest. "All I had to was flip the trigger, assume a pose, announce my intentions... and my most fearsome form was achieved!"
Yuta's jaw hit the floor. "Yeah, it's fearsome alright." It had the power to manipulate his instincts as a male after all.
Thankfully he had enough self-control... and self-preservation, to not push her to the ground right there and then. Also, she was evil and stuff!
She chuckled. "Indeed. This is a form I assume for combat purposes!" What the hell was she combating while looking like that!? "My power and connection to the Moon skyrockets when I'm like this." And so did other things...!
Even her voice sounded more mature. It was certainly a nice change of pace from her usual brat self, he almost waited for her to say ufufu or something of the sort.
Though... it was clear that she was still as much of a brat as she had always been. For some reason that made his heart beat even faster...
But he had to ignore his lust for evil women right now. "Altrouge... why... what is that battle form anyways?" Did that mean her soul was actually super hot? But then again, this wasn't her standard form either...
She shrugged. "I do not know. I have simply always had this... Though I do have a theory." She started laughing. "My power is simply far too great, so I can only unleash it in short times, else I may destroy myself!" That was more embarassing than anything.
Nonetheless, he got it. "So you're Freeza huh..." Maybe she could make this form permanent if she trained enough?
He couldn't see someone as arrogant as her ever training however, so it didn't really worry him too much.
She grinned. "I do not know who this Freeza is, but I shall assume you would not be foolish enough to insult me while I am transformed, and simply accept the compliment!" Sure.
Suddenly she went still. "Ah... it's ending." The transformation? "As usual, dreams fade and return to nothing." Ah, so that was it.
What a shame. He had pretty much learned nothing here, since this... magical girl transformation was clearly something exclusive to Altrouge, and so were its mechanics. At least she tried to help, he supposed.
"I see... Goodbye then, Altrouge." It was time to forget about her yet again. Which wasn't a bad thing, she was super evil after all.
Her smile left her mouth. "Indeed. Goodbye, little ant." She tilted her head. "Or are humans even lower than ants? They have you beat when it comes to numbers after all."
"Are you for real?" He was hit with another flash bang. This time because the dream was over.
...
Yuta slowly opened his eyes.
He had a... weird dream. Didn't he? What was it about again?
It felt both important, and unimportant. His experience in life told him that such feelings probably meant this whole thing was even more important than usual.
There was one thing he was sure of, however. A desire that awakened inside of him with the force of the sun.
"Argh...! I want to impregnate a magical girl who's past her expiration date!" Naturally his exclamation was followed by groans of anger.
He had just woken up everybody. Oops.
AN: One day Altrouge will appear in official media, and she 100% won't have a milf form. Sorry.
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