Chapter 29: The Real Me?

[WoooOooooO! Ow!] - Rose

If I had to say what I expected the result of launching myself out of a gigantic catapult, like some kind of jumping snake toy from the 80's, it was death. Honestly I fully expected to splatter against the ground in a pile of paste regardless of how big a crater I'd made only a few minutes earlier. Luckily that wasn't the case however as I suddenly impacted a spongy dark purple wall that looked strangely organic with only enough force to knock the breath out of me.

My momentum completely halted by the surprise wall that jumped out of nowhere I then fell a good 90 feet to an equally spongy ground that looked similar to said wall.

[Ooookay now what?] - Rose

Looking around I realized that the rift that I'd flown in through was nowhere to be found and in either direction I saw passageway's splitting off from the one I was currently on. Trying to decide which direction I should head the only think that popped into my brain was an old movie quote from a science fiction when I was young. Doubting that the Schwartz's 1It's the Force but certain companies are scary... Ow and bonus points for anyone that's seen the parody which Schwartz comes from! would be much use here.

[No enemies either huh? Kind of wishing there were some then I could just follow them to the final boss... I mean what dungeon doesn't have some kind of.... huh.] - Rose

Glancing back and forth between the two choices presented to me I suddenly felt a strong urge to take the pathway in to the left, at least it was left from the direction I'd hit the wall anyway. I wasn't sure if following vague feelings inside what was apparently my instinctual/impulsive mind was a good or bad idea but it was better than just randomly choosing a direction so I brushed myself off and got going.

Boring. Long and boring. I'd been following the directions of a vague "tickle" in the back of my mind now for what felt like days and the only exciting events was when I took a new passageway. Even worse, or better depending on perspective, was the absolute lack of enemies. And I mean complete lack of baddies, as in I was all alone in a creepy, spongy looking labyrinth without even a clue as to where the entrance was since I'd someone just teleported into the middle of it rather than the beginning.

The one thing I could say for certain was that without the guiding "tickle" in the back of my brain I'd have never made it as far as I have so far. The maze was completely nonsensical to say the least and I'd have been lost in less than an hour without some sort of direction.

[How long HAVE I been in here anyways? I wonder how my body is doing.] - Rose

Taking a break as I pondered that question I curiously poked one of the walls of the maze. Feeling it give slightly to my finger I found myself wondering how something like that could have possibly stopped the momentum from being shot out of a catapult. Taking a pensive expression I backed away from the wall and braced myself for the strongest strike I could manage while pushing off with my tail for even more impact.

[Aaagh!] - Rumbling Groan

[What the?!?] - Rose

Expecting to do minimal damage at most I was nearly scared out of my tail by a rumbling sound that emanated from the entire passageway around me. Walls undulating as the pained cry echoed from every direction I pressed my hands against my ears as the sound got loud enough to start being painful.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it ended. Breathing a sigh of relief as the movement of the walls died down as well I froze when another, far more terrifying sound, echoed down the passageway.

[RaaAaaaAAaaaAaaaRGH!!!!] - Unknown

Ground shaking with what felt like an earthquake I felt, rather than heard, a part of the wall explode outward from the direction that I had come from as hundreds of reaching arms came out of the hole.

[Oh shit!] - Rose

Immediately turning to escape the unknown foe I once again took direction from the strange feeling in my head, only this time I had a time limit what with the giant mass of grasping hands with arms that just kept stretching after me.

[Shit shit SHIT!!! Why won't it work?!?] - Rose

Slithering along the ground as fast as my tail could take me I continued to rapid-fire Firebolts over my shoulder as I fled. I'd even attempted to hit a few that had gotten close. Unfortunately none of that did anything other than to slow it down slightly. I still had no idea what the hands were attached to, if they were a part of anything to begin with, as whatever it was hadn't shown itself. I was, for all intents and purposes, running from a crowd of hands attached to extendo arms.

[Daaaammit! You guys would give the Fantastic Five 2The doctor has a super stretchy body in the Fantastic Four.... a run for their money!] - Rose

Still following the directions in my head, that I was hoping wasn't a hallucination, I somehow felt that I was getting closer to wherever I was going. Apparently the giant mass of hands must have also realized this as they suddenly sped up significantly.

Turning a corner as they smashed into the far wall from their momentum I saw a small archway directly in front of me, the first real difference so far in this endless maze of passageways. Noticing the shadows of countless hands around me I coiled like a spring and jumped through the opening, expecting to be dragged back through the door seconds afterwards.

Only, nothing happened. Breathing heavily from my recent impromptu marathon I looked behind me only to see a mass of flesh pressed against an invisible barrier, writhing as it attempted to reach me. Realizing that my tail was only barely through the door I yanked it back and warily got off the ground, noticing that it was no longer the same spongy material as before.

Curiously glancing around as I approached a wall I knocked only to hear a dull sound emanate from the white wall and after a moment I checked the floor and got the same result.

[Bone? If that first maze was flesh and this is bone does that mean I'm inside some kind of creature? It can't be me afterall cause I doubt my flesh is purple... I think?] - Rose

Puzzling over the confusing situation I brushed off a bit of dust and felt the same "tickle" within my brain, still guiding me to wherever I needed to go. At this point I was completely trusting the feeling to at least reach the big boss if nothing else. Hell for all I know it was the final boss itself guiding me and I was walking directly into a trap. Regardless it did me no good to just loiter here so I once more followed the "totally not a hallucination" in my head.

If the first maze had a lack of enemies, other than whatever those hands were, this one made up for it in spades. Literal waves of various skeletons and other undead had continued to throw themselves at me constantly since I passed through the archway. Unfortunately physical attacks did nearly nothing as they would just put themselves back together within moments so I was forced to rely on Firebolts casted liberally at any enemy that got back up after taking my fist.

Luckily not all of the enemies were immune to physical strikes but I kind of wished they were. Zombie's. Dripping, disgusting, smelly zombies. Unlike the skeletons enough force to the head made it explode like a watermelon, red insides and all, and would immediately drop them where they stood.

[Ew! Gross gross gross! Why zombies?!? Why couldn't undead look like the ones in manga? I want my shopkeeper lich!!!] - Rose

Reminiscing about some of my favorite anime and manga from my previous life as I exploded a group of skeleton's with several Firebolts, I made a quip about being an explosion loli under my breath while giggling to myself. Distracted by my musings I didn't notice something sweeping from above until I was suddenly airborne, pulled up by the shoulders by something huge and winged.

It didn't take long for whatever it was to drop me roughly onto the calcified ground. We'd gone quite a distance and luckily I still felt that vague guidance coming from the back of my mind even after we'd taken several wrong turns. Turning to confront my aggressor I felt my body lock up in instinctual fear when I locked eyes with them.

Dragon. God of Lizards. Thought of in the same breath as immortals and Gods but greater than either of them. And one was currently staring me down, not mere feet in front of my face. I'd love to tell you that I got a good look at the thing but I'd be lying. In fact the only thing I can really tell you is that it's eye's were deeper than anything I'd ever met before and it was so large that the skull of the thing filled my line of sight completely.

If I'd had the strength to turn my eyes away I would have but as it was the black scaled monstrosity in front of me was the only thing I could see.

[Ah... um... ......] - Rose

Attempting to speak I found my jaw locking up and rendering me mute as I waited for the death that was almost certainly a moment away. Suddenly a sound that was similar to rocks hitting each other echoed off the walls and I realized with a start that the dragon was laughing at my reaction. I hoped that was a good sign.

[Gahahahaha! Be calm little granddaughter, I mean no harm to my own kin.] - Dragon

[Gran... Wh... <gulp>] - Rose

[Oh right! Sorry about that. How are you feeling now?] - Dragon

Trying to open my mouth to respond to the terrifying monster once more I found my jaw still refused to work correctly as some kind of deep seated instinct screamed in my brain to flee with everything I had while the rest of my brain refused to cooperate. Apparently noticing my plight the dragon did something and the pressure vanished, my body crumpling to the floor a moment later like a ragdoll.

It took me several minutes to regain control of my body, most of which still felt like jelly, but that time allowed my logical mind to push away the fear that this self-professed "grandparent" meant any harm to me. The lack of any aggression paired with the disappearance of that weird pressure from before had reassured me of that.

[W-Who... Who are you? Y-You called me your granddaughter?] - Rose

[Hmm? Robert hasn't told you about me?] - Dragon

[M-My dad? How do you know about him?] - Rose

[Looks like I may need to discipline my son the next time we see each other. Regardless...] - Dragon

[I am the Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis. And I... am your grandfather. But you can call me Grampa Mor. Teehee!] - Grampa Mor

Staring at the enormous natural calamity before me in surprise, both from his revelation that he was my grandpa as well as the fact that after his teehee he literally bonked his head lightly as if he was some kind of clumsy anime girl that was being cutesy, my jaw immediately dropped.

[Wait what? Why? How? Why? Seriously why?] - Rose

[Calm down little one, I just wanted to see my cute little grand baby and since you were in the Place Between I figured I could drop in and say hi.] - Grampa Mor

[The what? And no seriously what?] - Rose

My mind reeling from too much excitement all at once caused a massive headache to hit me as I struggled to comprehend what was going on. Taking a few calming breaths I decided to start over again to order my thoughts.

[Okay okay. Let's start from the beginning. So you are?] - Rose

[Your grandfather Mortem Restisis, I'd be more happy with Grampa Mor or even "my favorite grampa in the whole world" if you have to...] - Grampa Mor

[M-Moving on! So you came here to?] - Rose

[See my cute granddaughter of course! Unfortunately because of that damn bastard God getting in the way I wasn't able to make it to see your hatching. It's been what 1 year? You're awfully big...] - Grampa Mor

[6! It's been over 6 years since I was born!] - Rose

[Oh is that all? Not much difference then.] - Grampa Mor

[Not much...?!? Ahem! Anyway onto the last question. What did you call this place?] - Rose

[Oh this? Why are you here anyway? I would think that your father would have warned you about the danger's of the Place Between before allowing you to come here.] - Grampa Mor

[Huh? I was sent here by Gilgam... I mean uhh...] - Rose

[Gilgam...? Gilgamesh? Are you speaking of the heroes companion Gilgamesh?!?!] - Grampa Mor

[...............] - Rose

Suddenly rising from the ground as his anger filled my entire being the entire area began to vibrate and several cracks appeared along the walls. Fortunately for me the brunt of it was directed away from me as I was sure that if I had taken that surge of anger head on I would have instantly died regardless of this not being real. Noticing my distress and inability to do more than foam at the mouth the wave of anger subsided as my "Grampa" apologized.

[Oh! Sorry once again! I forget how fragile little ones are before they reach their molting stage.] - Grampa Mor

[Ha... Ha... M-My what?] - Rose

Breathing heavily as I attempted to catch a breath I hadn't realized I was holding I asked about the word that he had nonchalantly dropped.

[Your molting. Did my son not tell you of what happens when you reach adulthood? Not that flimsy excuse for adulthood that mortals have but the age for those with Dragonblood.] - Grampa Mor

[I... wasn't told. I wasn't told anything...] - Rose

[It seems that my son has forgotten to pass along a lot of things that he should have...] - Grampa Mor

[M-Maybe he wasn't sure if I had inherited his Dragonblood! M-Maybe.... Hiii!!!] - Rose

[Hmmm..... possibly... but I can't see how he could have mistaken the power radiating off you for anything other than that of a Dragon.] - Grampa Mor

Staring closely at me once more as I locked up unconsciously in spite of me knowing he wouldn't hurt me I nearly peed myself when he nudged me with his snout. As it is I let out a feminine squeak and nearly collapsed again.

[M-Maybe I h-have an answer for that...? perhaps...?] - Rose