THAT DAY I BECAME A STAR

KEVIN DRAGONROAD POV:

"Achoo!" 

"Yeuk! Hey! Go away with that!" 

Maria, you really act as if you are still alive so times, it's almost funny. Anyway, the other day, out of the blue, Cissa just told me that the time was drawing near. She doesn't know by how much nor does Maria knows how time has passed but one thing is for sure, I have to hurry a bit more. 

I am now at the eightieth floor and just as she said, the walls from the fiftieth upwards have been absorbing my Angas to the point even using physical Angas is hard. Though it doesn't seem to absorb my draconic energy. It's the only thing I have been using until now and it has helped me realized how it is overflowing in my body. Even my dragon heart that I didn't pay much attention to until now is beating more vividly and I can feel it. 

"Anyway, this labyrinth sure is long. Why did he make a different one on each floor anyway? It's not like anybody would remember the pattern of this thing." 

Especially with the beasts and monsters roaming around inside. To think that I met a wolfider as big as K'nor here. I would have liked to keep it alive and bring him back to K'nor. He would have certainly be happy to have a friend the same size as him. Sadly, Maria said everything here would disappear outside the tower so it is no use. 

Anyway, I am advancing rapidly towards the next floor. I have tried breaking through the walls on the precedent floors but not only were the stairs not in the same place, all the monsters here also came running because of the noise. Making me fight more than necessary with Maria laughing my stomach off in the back. I am grateful that she is protecting Rebecca's body while I fight but her laughter is, let's say a bit irritating.

"Is that so…Well, why don't I-"

"I said a bit, okay?!! And stop reading my thoughts already!"

"Yeah, yeah." 

Speaking of Rebecca, her hair has started glowing since the last floor. There is a powerful aura that emanates from her but her face, her body has shrunk as well. She looks like somebody who hasn't eaten for a long time. I have tried giving her something to eat once or twice under Maria's command but her mouth didn't move. Nor did her body. 

I guess you must feel, the desperation that comes with not being able to do anything. I wonder if you can understand even a little of how hard it was, how difficult it had been for me. While you were having some fun and joyful moments with the heroes, I was spitting blood every day. I saw people die every day. Now, this is the rightful retribution. This is your punishment.

"You should stop trying to persuade yourself." 

"I am not trying to, Maria." 

"I can hear your heart. And the way it is beating is-"

"Aren't you hearing my dragon heart?" 

"Dragon heart? Wait, you have two hearts?" 

"Yup." 

"So cool…No, no, I mean, isn't it an overcheat." 

"Don't know. Ask that to the one who gave it to me." 

"Woof!" Another wolfider pops up and I start fighting. Me, persuading myself? My anger and hatred are genuine. And nothing can remove it. Because they made me who I am now.

***

"Ah…I am so tired." 

"You haven't slept in the last ten floors. You should take some rest and eat as well." 

"Hm…Maria, you said all this can't exist outside the tower, right? Does it not mean everything I eat here will eventually disappear from my stomach?" Then I will super hungry when I go out of here. 

"I don't really know myself. I did eat them as well so I think there shouldn't be any problem. But we can ask N'donkeu once we reach him." 

"Okay. By the way, you didn't finish your story about the guy from Yris who got drunk." 

I would rather listen to your stories than sleep. I feel so sleepy I am afraid if I close my eyes now, I might open them in three months or something. Though I don't know how much time has passed until now. 

"Oh yeah, right. Well, you know, when he…" 

Yeah, that's it. This is better. It is better than…

***

"Hey!"

All of sudden, Maria's voice pierces my eardrums. Shit!! I fell asleep. So I couldn't resist then. Well, nothing I can do about it anymore. 

"Let's go." I stand up straight and try to grab Rebecca's body but my hand doesn't move. 

What is happening? Now that I think about it.

"Why is it so bright he…" I look at my hands and they are nowhere to be seen, only blood is spurting out of them, same goes for my legs. What the fuck happen…

"Hey, get a grip already!!" Maria's voice once again pierces my eardrums. When I look in front of me. She is standing together with a man. In front of them, there is a woman, flying, with three pairs of wings made of light, a golden aureole above her head, and holding a sword also made of light together with a shield. 

"You didn't think you could escape me for so long, did you?" 

I cannot see the woman's face but her voice somehow comes ringing deep into my brain. Then she raises her sword and my vision fades. So I am dead? Just like this? That must have been the goddess I am sure. But to think I couldn't even raise my finger and fight…I cannot accept it. I will not accept it!! 

"I will definitively stand back up!! I will fight you and win!!! You fucking-"

Somehow, my vision comes back but I am nowhere near where I was first. I am back on the same floor again. 

"She made you see it as well?" 

"W-w-what was that?" It felt so freaking real. Even the pain from my limbs…the pain from when she cut my head. 

"Premonition. Look around you." 

Maria points at my body and it is glowing. It is the same kind of light that Rebecca's hair are emitting. Even worse now, Rebecca's hair have turned gold and to my surprise, her skin has started turning white as well in diverse places. 

"Why is her aura spreading to me as well?"

"She is trying to enslave you. Just like she already did for your mother. That's how she takes your body over."

"Wait, so she is having that dream as well?" 

"No. What people see depends on the person. Since you are a traitor cooperating with us, she used a nightmare to warn you first. She did the same for N'donkeu at the time. Though that's how I also learned to sever the connection I had with her." 

"I see. So, basically, she is trying to say that if I cooperate with you guys longer, I will feel her wrath, is that it?" 

"Yup. But as I said before, I hope you won't resent my mother too much. She can be very…" 

"Stupid?"

"Fufu. No, I would say obsessive. She still didn't forgive us for what we did at the time." 

"Oh well, I will give it to her anyway." 

"You can try to at least." 

"Can I stop this thing, by the way?" 

"Nope. Once she has her grip on you, you can't escape unless you beat her. Just bear with it for now. Once we reach N'donkeu, we will deal with it." 

"Okay." I carry Rebecca's body and we resume our ascension of the tower. There is not a lot of floors left so I will try to make it in one go. I can't sleep anymore anyway. 

"Oh, by the way, Kevin. You…" Maria starts blushing all of sudden. I say blush but seriously, can a ghost really blush? Anyway, What is happening to her? "You…you had s-s-s-s…"

"Yeah, I did." If you trying to say what I think you are trying to, then yeah, we made love with Farner.

"I-I see. Then, that means she is pregnant, right?"

"H-how would I know that?" What kind of question is that? Why is she asking me this now of all times?

"You didn't ask her?" 

"No. How would she even know that she is pregnant?" 

"The priests can't tell if people are pregnant anymore?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess they can. But why are you asking that?" 

"N'donkeu said something once. That possibly, we can get pregnant as well. But he was concerned that if it was the case, what would the child born between a human and a hero who has the imprinted soul created by the goddess herself be? Would he also be a hero? Would he be a regular human? Or would he be a Diz'kar?" 

"You guys were planning on having kids once you won the fight against the Longinus?" I am pretty sure that's what they planned to do. 

"Well…If everything was over, surely one thing would have led to another and…" She hides her face with her hands but I can see the hollow red ears of a perverted hero. 

"Surely, eh…But still, it doesn't explain why you would ask that now." 

"What do you think the goddess would do if she learns that one of her child got pregnant from a human?" 

"Ah, okay." When you say it like that…