Chapter 96: Chapter 22
AN: Self-advertisement time. I have started to rewrite my first story Lords of Ooal Gown. You can find it in my profile under the name Overlord: Advent of the New Gods. I would appreciate it if you all at least give the story a chance.
All seven stood on a platform of pure bluish light over a massive crystalline mountain that was located in the very heart of the labyrinth. Around it in the distance there still were walls but they were so far away that it almost looked like they stood in some sort of void.
"You will have to do it one by one. Step to the center and recite a prayer and maybe a spirit will answer." Ramiris instructed.
"Maybe?" Buku turned her head to look at the fairy still sitting on her shoulder.
"If you force them then they may try to harm their host." Ramiris said. "So don't get any ideas!"
"What if I try to convince them?"
"You can try but they usually negotiate with the one they are forming a relationship with."
"Hmm, I have a thing or two in mind if they won't cooperate. Who will try first?" Buku turned her attention to the kids who timidly stood behind her.
Gale was the first to step forward. He walked to the center of the light platform, kneeled, and held his hands together in prayer. Small glistening specs of light appeared around him, but no sentient spirit showed up.
"Why are they not coming?" Buku whispered.
"Maybe no one finds the boy interesting enough." Ramiris shrugged.
Buku started walking towards him and lifted her hand to take off the ring of the false data.
"Hey, what are you planning to do?" Ramiris raised her voice.
"This!" She took her ring off, letting her intense aura spread. Ramiris shot off her shoulder like a bullet and hid behind Alice. "Stop it!" She screeched after Buku.
Buku, meanwhile, chose to ignore her and stepped right behind Gale. She spread her hands as the night sky appeared above them with a bright moon shining down. "I, Bukubukuchagama Tempest, the Goddess of the Moon, call out for you to come into my service! Come and help those in my care!"
Tens, if not hundreds of various spirits appeared; some stood on the circle of light, while others hovered in the air at a wary distance. They stared at each other as if some intense mental battle was going on. Then one of the massive plate-clad figures approached. It stopped about two meters away.
With a voice deep and as a distant rumbling quake, he slowly spoke. "With your permission, Goddess, I will become this boy's guardian."
"You are permitted to do so. Gale, do you agree?"
"Y-yes." He stuttered as he looked up at the metallic giant.
The massive figure became a dark brown light and slammed into the boy. Gale sharply exhaled and stood up.
"How do you feel?" Buku asked him in a gentle tone.
"Umm, I don't know how to describe it. Like the energy within me is calm now, I guess."
"Looks like it worked." Buku smiled at him. She gently patted Gale on the back for him to return to his peers and then turned to face the kids.
"Who's next?"
Kenya bravely stepped forward and walked in front of Buku with a face radiating determination. If not for him shaking like a leaf in the wind, he would be the very picture of confidence.
Just as he took his final step, a light spirit descended and flew up to him. "Heya, let's be friends." He said in a cheerful voice, but then added much more timidly. "If the Goddess permits, of course."
"Kenya?" Buku patted the boy on the shoulder as he had frozen in place.
"Yeah! Let's be friends." Kenya replied with a forced smile holding his hands together.
The spirit turned into a white light and just as with Gale, slammed into Kenya's chest. With him having the same results, he left to let Alice take his place.
She was approached by a spirit that looked like a three-dimensional shadow of feminine proportions. As the spirit moved it looked like space was bending to accommodate its presence.
The spirit spoke with a gentle, echoey voice. "I would like to be this girl's guardian, with your permission."
"Alice?"
The girl nodded timidly.
"Permission granted." Buku said.
The spirit turned into a ball of darkness and fused with the girl.
The next was Ryota. Unlike his peers, he was approached by two spirits. One was similar to a dryad; a young blonde translucent woman with two transparent wings. The other one was made out of pure water with similar feminine proportions.
"I wish to guard this boy!" The wind spirit spoke first.
"I also offer my guardianship." The water spirit floated in front of the wind spirit.
"Ryota, you will have to choose." Buku said to the boy who just looked at the two spirits with uncertainty.
"Umm, I'm not sure. Miss Buku, can you pick for me." He timidly asked.
"I don't know which of them would be more compatible with you. Take a deep breath and sense which one would help you. I don't think both can be with you at the same time."
"We can." Both responded in unison.
"If the boy accepts us, we can share." The wind spirit added.
With Royota not protesting, both turned into a light and dark blue light respectively and fused with him.
The last one remaining was Chloe. Just like with all other children, she now stood in front of Buku awaiting the spirit who would choose her.
No one approached her. The seconds painfully ticked by. For a child, there were few feelings worse than being singled out and rejected.
As Buku was about to ask why no one was approaching, the spirits suddenly moved aside from a certain spot as an immense aura grew from a single point easily rivaling hers. A moment later a translucent dark-haired woman appeared.
"What is that?" Ramiris screeched. "What did you call here?"
"I didn't!" Buku shouted back. The woman looked around confused and then her face twisted into a snarl as she glared at Buku.
Not wanting to risk fighting with whatever that entity was, she put it in the infinite prison. Yet the entity broke through with ease and flew towards her. Buku instantly stepped in front of Chloe.
The woman stopped in front of Buku. "Where is Rimuru?" The intensity of her voice made the children and Ramiris cover their ears.
"Who? What are you?" Buku asked her in a stern and confident voice.
The woman snarled again and flew through her, colliding with Chloe. Buku flipped around but it was too late. Chloe looked up with tears in her eyes and mumbled. "Rimuru is not here."
Buku instantly grabbed Chloe. "We need to get you back to Nazarick, we will get that thing out of you."
Chloe sniffed and gave her a pained smile. "It was supposed to happen. I will explain."
{ Buku, what happened? Nazarick received new and very powerful skills through Chloe! } Momonga contacted her.
{ I don't know. Something, some unknown entity, possessed her. }
{ I'll look into it. Give me a second. } Momonga messaged back.
{ It's strange. She has a skill with a personality but it's… it's hers. Nothing has taken over her, it's just her skill with seemingly her own personality… One soul… Time traveling skill…. } Momonga slowly spoke as he investigated.
{ What? }
{ It's just a guess, but it may have been her from another point in time. }
{ Are you sure? }
{ No, but that is the best guess I can give you by looking at her skills. }
Buku leaned in so the other children could not hear her. "Chloe, is that entity another you?"
Chloe nodded and whispered back. "Yes. I will explain later. They do not need to know. I won't ever tell them."
"What happened?" Ramiris flew closer despite Buku's aura still being active and asked with genuine concern.
"Everything is fine. I think this was meant to happen. Chloe will be fine." Buku said. First, she needed to get Chloe back to Nazarick and then find out what really happened.
"That's good." Ramiris flew closer, patted the girl on the head, and then turned to Buku. "And you! Stop flashing your power and send them off. Geez, like I need another Milim!"
"Oh, Right." Buku stood up and quickly put the ring on. She then addressed the remaining spirits. "Thank you for responding to my call. You may leave now."
{ We wish to be in your service! } Countless voices invaded her mind.
'Great. I should have thought a bit more before calling half of the spiritual world here.'
{ Momo, I have a group of spirits that wants to serve me, can we think of something? }
{ I guess we can use the Shizu prototypes and other unused golems from the treasury. How many are there? }
{ Not sure, close to a hundred I think. Can I send them in your direction? }
{ Send them to the fourth floor. }
{ Got it. } Buku said and opened a gate on her right that led directly to the fourth floor of the Great Tomb.
"Go. We will find a place for you." Buku addressed the spirits with them obeying and disappearing into the void one by one.
"I guess we are done here. Thank you for your help." She said to Ramiris and opened another gate.
"Hey wait! You said you would guard me!" Ramiris buzzed around her.
"Yes. You can call for help when you need it." Buku said and motioned for the kids to go into the gate. "Don't worry, I will keep my promise."
"But…" Ramiris could not articulate a counterargument.
"Well, until next time." Buku flashed a smile and disappeared into the void.
"But…who will I play with?" Ramiris said to no one.
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Once the rest of the kids were assured that Chloe was fine, she and Buku went to visit Momonga, who had just finished dealing with the elemental spirits Buku dropped on him.
"I guess I should explain things." Chloe started as a maid filled her cup of tea and put a plate of her favorite pastries on the table in front of her.
"So the spirit that you absorbed was you?" Buku asked, eying the girl carefully for any behavioral changes. If something was imitating Chloe she would notice.
"Yes. Each time I die I am sent back to that point, but… this time there is no Rimuru." Her voice broke as she sniffed.
"Was he someone important?" Buku asked.
"He was to me and the world I guess. But now you're here and I'm not sure what will happen."
"What happened in the future I presume?" Momonga joined in.
"Not exactly the future but a parallel timeline. I'm not sure how much I should tell as things are so different."
"What happened to your power? I noticed an intense drain, and something pulled away your skills as well. Luckily, I managed to stop it, made copies and returned them to you with at least some of your power." Momonga said.
"Oh that… yes, I noticed. My old self is still in this timeline. It's hard to explain but each cycle I have two-time travel points and I am split for a while. Or at least, I should be. The other me is in stasis and we always merge when she is awakened, but now, I'm not so sure. This Nazarick skill, mister, I mean, Lord Momonga has granted me, fully separated us."
"So there is a copy of you with the majority of your power, somewhere in this world?" Momonga asked.
"I… I don't think the other side has me anymore, just my other side. My darker side." Chloe took a large sip of tea. "I know it sounds weird and I can't provide too many answers but the other me is called Chronoa and is what I used to hide my frustrations that were growing over the many timelines I have been a part of."
"How many? And how old are you?" Buku asked.
"Many, but each of them starts about fifteen centuries ago and ends some years later after this point, most of the time. In some, I or Rimuru died less than a year from now."
"You are thousands of years old?" Buku almost spit her tea.
"Yes."
"Why is this Rimuru so important?" Momonga asked.
"He was doing most of the things you have done. You even named the monsters with the same names."
"I see… I already knew of him and why I always knew what to call them. If I had to guess, we replaced Rimuru in this timeline. Can you tell us what kills you or him?"
"Mostly the Eastern Empire. Once it was me in rage. The last time I tried to shield him but was struck down instead. He saw me and all his friends die before his eyes."
"How powerful is this empire? What do we need to prepare for."
"They have one of the true dragons and a lot of other very powerful individuals, but miss Buku and you are at least as strong as Rimuru when he became a true demon lord so I think you could stop the empire…."
"You want us to win, but that would mean you would never see Rimuru again." Buku guessed what the girl was thinking.
"I can't be that selfish. I have seen him die so many times. All of Tempest. I'm sorry I can't tell you more but I will warn you if I see something bad coming." Chloe let out a sigh and wiped away her tears.
"Does your alter ego, Chronoa, share your attachment to Rimuru?" Momonga asked.
"Yes. If she knows Rimuru is not in this timeline she might not be consolable and rampage through the world. I'm not sure what to do in that case."
"We will try to think of something." Buku leaned to her side and put a hand on Chloe's shoulder.
"Thank you." she said. "I surely hope this is the last time I have to travel back in time."
"It must be hard. Living for thousands of years only to repeat the same tragedy at the end."
"I'm used to it. I know how to play my role. The rest of them will not find out."
"But you have been an adult woman for so long. How can you get back to being a child?"
Chloe smiled and suddenly grew into a young woman, identical to the spirit Buku saw. "Unlike last time, I already can change my physical age. I can play along during the day and be myself when no one is around."
"There is another question I need to ask. When I investigated your soul, I saw that a cord goes to another you which is dormant, and I was not able to interact with that self. If she awakens and is not controllable, should I cut the link?" Momonga asked
"I don't know. If she dies, so should I, so I can go back in time again."
"We will not let that happen. Chloe, we will figure something out. Even if we need to summon Rimuru from that last timeline you came from."
"I don't think that is possible. I have tried many things with my time travel but nothing really works."
"We'll see what we can do." Momonga said. 'I will need to investigate the time travel skill and see what can be done to improve its utility. Maybe there is a possibility that we can pull her friend from that timeline and use him as insurance against her alter ego.'
Chloe also mentioned that it was her past self that imprisoned Veldora and trained Shizue. It was obvious that she purposely avoided telling anything related to the future, but maybe it was because she was afraid to negatively impact what was about to come with what she knows.
As Buku and Chloe left his quarters and neither of his girlfriends or consorts, as they called themselves, were finished with their daily duties, Momonga had time to investigate Chloe further.
Her other self was much stronger than Chloe, and even now the Chole that was with Nazarick was on par with the area guardian Guren. It was no wonder she could take Veldora in one on one with her full power at her disposal.
There also seemed to be another soul connected to Chloe's other self but it was distinctly different and clearly not any sort of manifestation of Chloe.
That left a question of what to do with her.
Obviously, he could not just kill her off, Buku would never forgive him for that. For now, he attuned the cord connecting both halves to slowly siphon power back to Chloe, who was on their side.
Proofreading by Visur Nyxan, Alassandro, Rotten Pizza, Kazuma, Sad_Smiles, Tophrel, and I AM THE STRING CUTTER.
AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (Link is in my profile) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader.
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