Chương 6: Chapter 5 — The God in the Mist

Chelsea blinked. Her cheeks were still damp from crying, but Adriane's arms were gone. The bedroom had vanished with her. Mist covered the space around her. Light broke through it from somewhere overhead, bright enough to make her squint. Chelsea lowered her gaze, expecting to find clouds beneath her feet, but there was nothing there. She could feel solid ground supporting her weight, though she couldn't see it. Her wings pulled at the muscles along her back. Was she floating? Was this a dream?

"Hello, sweet girl," a woman called from somewhere ahead. The voice was gentle and carried clearly through the mist. Chelsea turned toward it, searching for whoever had spoken.

"Errr, whaaaa!?" Chelsea flinched.

"Why are you a demon!?" A figure appeared through the haze. Chelsea braced herself for another impossible sight, but the approaching woman looked human. She had no wings or crown of light. There was nothing about her that immediately suggested she was anything more than an ordinary woman wandering through a strange, empty place. Chelsea's disappointment must have shown.

"Seriously. Why are you a demon?" The woman stopped several feet away and stared at her. Whatever calm she had intended to present was gone.

"I was summoned to some place and appeared there as a demon. That's all I know," Chelsea said quietly. The woman pressed a hand to her forehead.

"I swear, if this is Bodarex's doing, I am going to…" Her attention returned to Chelsea.

"Sorry. This is probably my fault. I am Magalesa, God of Summoning and Reincarnation. Let me fix you up a little." Chelsea stared at her. A god. Magalesa raised one hand and moved her fingers. Chelsea felt nothing. No light appeared, and no strange energy passed through her. The god lowered her hand and waited.

"C'mon, say something now."

"I'm sorry… what is happening?" Chelsea asked. Magalesa began walking around her.

"There we are," she said.

"You no longer speak Bontune. That's good. An ailment alongside an enhancement…" She stopped behind Chelsea. Her attention remained there long enough that Chelsea resisted the urge to turn and see what she was looking at.

"That ailment is nasty. Nothing I can do about it. Soul-marks are stubborn things, deeply ingrained. Also, sorry kid but I can't un-demonify you. I would if I could. Honestly, I don't even know how this happened." Chelsea's throat tightened. So this was permanent. One of her wings shifted behind her. She could feel each movement through muscles that hadn't existed yesterday. Her tail dragged against the back of her leg before curling away again. She didn't want either of them.

She didn't want the horns, the teeth, or the face she had seen in the mirror. Nothing about this body felt like hers. Magalesa reached down and took hold of the pointed end of Chelsea's tail. She turned it over in her hand, frowned, then released it.

"Because of this mess-up, I'm going to give you a title. It'll let you level skills up to level six. Not much, but it'll keep you alive in this world."

"Oh!" Chelsea exclaimed. The title appeared before her, but her attention caught on something Magalesa had said.

"The… words."

"Words?"

"When I was being summoned, back in my room… it said something like 'summoning corrupted' and 'error.'" The message had sounded more appropriate for a computer than a world filled with kings and magic. Chelsea had been too terrified to think about it when it first appeared, but Magalesa's confusion brought it back.

"Ah. That. Ignore it. Technical mishap. Happens sometimes when the summoning threads overlap with… complicated variables. You've been pulled through a messy intersection of worlds. Lucky for you, I managed to keep you intact." Chelsea didn't feel lucky. Magalesa's explanation confirmed that something had gone wrong, but she had offered little else. Chelsea looked down at herself. The dark fabric covering her body was unchanged.

Her tail rested against the invisible ground, its tip moving whenever her attention slipped away from it. How much worse could the summoning have been?

"I'm going to do some digging and find the exact reason behind this error. I should have some idea by the next time you fall asleep. Expect to see me then." The mist disappeared. Light struck Chelsea's face. She groaned and covered her eyes.

"Mmmm!"

"My apologies, Miss, but by His Excellency's orders, we are to have you dressed and downstairs to eat and start your assessments," Adriane's voice called from nearby. Chelsea opened one eye. She was back in the bedroom, half buried beneath the blankets. Morning light came through the opaque window and spread across the far wall. Her conversation with Magalesa already felt distant, but the room remained unchanged from the night before. The new body remained too. Chelsea pressed her face into the pillow.

"Please tell me you're not a morning person, Adriane," she muttered. Silence followed. Chelsea lifted her head. Adriane stood near the side of the bed with both hands clasped in front of her. Her practiced composure had slipped.

"I-I understood you, Miss!"

"Good," Chelsea muttered, rolling onto her side, "then you can understand me saying 'five more minutes.'" Adriane took a cautious step closer.

"How… how is this possible?"

"That god, Magda-something, the one in charge of summoning me, came to me in a dream and said she fixed my language," Chelsea replied.

"You spoke to Magalesa!?" Chelsea pushed herself upright and rubbed her temples. There would be no returning to sleep after that.

"You win. I'm up." She moved her legs over the side of the bed. Her tail had wrapped itself around one of the posts during the night. Chelsea grabbed it with both hands and unwound it, trying not to think too hard about how naturally it had moved without her. She attempted to spread her wings. The muscles responded, but only enough to pull the folded wings away from her back. A dull ache formed near her shoulders, and she let them settle again. Adriane recovered before Chelsea finished standing.

"You slept in the clothes you arrived in, so I took the liberty of preparing a bath for you. It is through that door." You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Chelsea followed the direction of her hand. Her feet sank into the rug before touching the dark wooden floor. The adjoining room held a deep bath surrounded by pale marble. Brass fixtures had been built into the wall above it, though Chelsea couldn't tell whether they were meant to carry water or magic.

Steam rose from the surface. Chelsea undressed and eased one foot into the bath. She felt the water close around her skin, but there was no warmth. She lowered herself further. The water moved against her body, yet its temperature remained absent. Chelsea held one hand beneath the surface and watched the ripples spread away from it. Fireproof. Apparently that changed more than her ability to withstand flames. She washed while trying to ignore the tail following her through the water.

Cleaning around her wings took longer. She had to feel along their edges with her hands, learning where they connected to her back and how far they could be moved without discomfort. By the time she finished, Adriane had laid out clothing in the bedroom. The dress was burgundy with ivory fabric beneath it. Despite Adriane calling it casual, the stitching alone looked more expensive than anything Chelsea had owned before.

The back had been made to accommodate her wings, and a separate opening allowed her tail to move without pulling at the fabric. Adriane helped her fasten it, never rushing when Chelsea struggled to move one of her wings into position. Chelsea turned toward the full-length mirror. The dress fit. It sat comfortably around her shoulders and fell cleanly to the floor. Her wings remained visible behind her, and her tail curved out from beneath the fabric without exposing more than necessary.

Chelsea adjusted a strand of black hair away from her face. For a few seconds, she liked the dress enough to forget who was wearing it. Adriane stood behind her with her hands folded. Her attention kept returning to Chelsea's wings, though she tried to hide it. The stiffness in her shoulders had been present since Chelsea woke. Chelsea couldn't tell whether Adriane feared her, expected danger from somewhere else, or simply disliked being responsible for a demon.

She turned away from the mirror before the thought could settle. Adriane led her into the corridor. Two armored knights waited outside the bedroom. Each carried a long weapon with an axe head fixed beneath a pointed blade. Chelsea didn't know its name. She decided long axe spear weapon things was close enough for now. The knights stepped behind them. Chelsea glanced back once. Were they guarding her? Or guarding everyone else from her? Their armor shifted with each step as the group moved through the palace.

Chelsea had to keep part of her attention on her own body. Her wings extended farther behind her than she expected, and her tail had already brushed one wall before she caught it. She moved closer to the center of the corridor. Adriane adjusted her pace to stay beside her without commenting. Voices reached them before they entered the dining room. The conversation stopped as soon as Chelsea passed through the doorway. People stared from several tables. One man held a spoon halfway to his mouth.

A woman near him turned so quickly that the jewelry hanging from her ear swung against her neck. Wow… everyone is staring. King Paul stood and came toward her. Roderick followed him, looking far more entertained by the room's reaction than his father did.

"Miss Chelsea," the king boomed with exaggerated cheerfulness, his voice filling the room, "I do hope you slept well. Please, come, eat. My chefs weren't entirely sure what demons ate, so we included a large selection." Chelsea looked toward the tables. There was enough food to feed everyone in the room several times over. Bread filled wide baskets between serving trays. Cooked meats occupied most of the nearest table, while fruits had been arranged farther down.

"That was incredibly thoughtful," she replied. She tried to stop twisting her fingers into the front of her dress. The king glanced at Roderick before turning back to her.

"You speak common now?"

"Yes," Chelsea said brightly.

"I spoke with the summoning god, and she seemed sorry about all the mix-up. The first thing she did was fix my language." The king lowered his voice.

"You spoke with Magalesa?" Chelsea nodded.

"I did, and she's going to try to figure out what exactly went wrong with the summoning. She seemed completely surprised by…" She reached back and lifted her left wing with one hand.

"She said she'll talk to me again tonight when I go to bed to give me an update." The king looked at the wing, then at Adriane. Chelsea couldn't tell whether that information had reassured him. Her stomach growled. She turned toward the nearest table and reached for an apple slice. It looked familiar enough to be safe. The moment she bit into it, the smell filled her nose. Rotten sweetness coated her tongue. The apple itself was firm, but the taste was so strong that Chelsea couldn't force herself to swallow.

She covered her mouth with a napkin and spat the bite into it. Roderick grinned.

"So, is that a no on apples?" Chelsea stared mournfully at the remaining slice.

"Awwww… I used to love apples," she murmured.

"Maybe try one of the meats?" Roderick suggested. Chelsea moved the napkin away and fanned her mouth.

"I need something to get this taste out of my mouth," she admitted. Adriane selected a plate and brought it to her. It held a roasted chicken leg, ham, and a dark cut of meat Chelsea didn't recognize.

"Try this, Miss," she suggested. Chelsea looked over the choices.

"Thank you." She took the plate and picked up the chicken leg. Its skin broke beneath her teeth with little effort. For an instant, the seasoning tasted close to something she recognized. Then she began chewing. The meat broke apart into dry grains that filled her mouth. Chelsea stopped and forced herself to swallow the small amount she had bitten off.

"The flavor is almost there," she admitted, brows furrowing, "but the texture… It's like biting through sand. So dry."

"Dry?" Roderick took the drumstick from her plate before she could object. He bit into the other side and chewed. Grease coated his lips.

"No, you're wrong," he said around a mouthful.

"This thing is delicious." Chelsea watched him finish chewing. Her tail struck the back of her leg once.

"Then let's try the ham at the same time," she challenged. That caught the attention of everyone closest to them. King Paul remained beside the table, while Adriane watched the plate. Chelsea could hardly blame them. She had arrived as a demon yesterday, and now nobody knew what she could eat. Roderick cut two pieces from the ham. Chelsea took one from him, and they ate together.

"Mmm! Perfect," he declared. Chelsea tried to chew. The meat resisted her teeth and stayed tough in her mouth. The outside tasted burnt, though Roderick had clearly enjoyed it. Chelsea reached for the napkin again and removed the piece before she gagged.

"You're crazy!" Roderick laughed, slapping the table once for emphasis.

"That was so good."

"Same problem," Chelsea countered.

"The flavor was almost there, but it tasted like it had been cooking for hours too long." Her stomach growled loudly enough for Roderick to hear. Nothing made sense. The food smelled stronger than it should, and anything that appeared properly cooked felt ruined in her mouth.

"No way. It's perfect," Roderick insisted. Chelsea leaned toward him.

"Keep it up, and we'll see how Roderick tastes," she quipped, clicking her teeth together twice with a playful snap. The room reacted before Chelsea remembered what those teeth looked like. Someone gasped. A utensil hit the floor near one of the other tables. The king's smile disappeared. Roderick stopped moving. Chelsea's own amusement died with his. He was staring at her mouth.

"Joking, only joking," Chelsea blurted, raising both hands.

"I forget what I look like sometimes. I'd never actually eat a human." Her laugh came out strained. The people nearest them began speaking again, though more quietly than before. Roderick's shoulders loosened once Chelsea closed her mouth. She needed to move past this before someone decided the knights outside her room had been necessary after all.

"Here," she said quickly, tapping the plate with one claw.

"Try this last one with me." Roderick looked at the remaining meat.

"I don't really want to…" Chelsea leaned closer and kept her lips closed over her teeth.

"Oh, come on. I tried those last two. The least you can do is suffer through one more with me."

"Go on," the king encouraged with a knowing smirk.

"Try it." Roderick looked at his father, but the king offered no help. He sighed. Chelsea pinched off a small piece of the meat. She had to watch her claws to keep them from cutting through more than she intended. Roderick took a piece from the other side.

"Three… two… one." They placed the meat in their mouths. Chelsea bit down. The taste spread across her tongue at once. It was rich and carried a strong iron tang. The center was softer than the chicken and ham had been. It still seemed more cooked than her body wanted, but she could chew it without forcing herself. Her stomach cramped with hunger. Chelsea swallowed and took another breath through her nose. The scent made her want the rest of the plate. A pleased sound escaped her before she could stop it.

Across from her, Roderick gagged. He covered his mouth, his face losing color as he struggled with the bite. Chelsea watched him reach for water and attempt to swallow without tasting it again.

"What exactly did I just eat?" she asked. Adriane answered without hesitation.

"That would be pig liver, Miss. Cooked rare." Chelsea looked down at the meat. The center was pink.

"Cooked… rare?" she echoed. Her body wanted it less cooked than this. She leaned closer to Adriane and lowered her voice.

"Do you think you could acquire some raw? Maybe just… slightly warmed up?" Adriane nodded and left through a doorway at the rear of the room. King Paul stared after her. Roderick gulped down more water and coughed into his hand.

"You're seriously going to…"

"Shh!" Chelsea scolded, finger to her lips as her eyes darted around the room.

"You don't need to make a royal announcement about it." The king laughed. It wasn't the loud, formal laugh Chelsea expected from him. He tried to hold it back, failed, then covered his mouth while Roderick glared at him. Chelsea looked between them and found herself smiling too.