Trapped in Another World With No Magic

Chapter 138: The Emperor’s Heart

Xyreko appears in the observation deck of the airship, where the five Dragons other than Neith are gathered, along with Hekate, Wenlianna, Aramellianna and her other daughters, Veiranoie and Kalegrynten, Gwenesphia and her full available family, Treia, Kera’tai, and Aoloan. The only ones not currently present are Senn, Doephluev, Vaergraes, and Illianna.

Unfortunately, the golem caretaker just witnessed something truly horrifying to her, and it has rattled her as she tries to start teleportation, only to realize she needs the others, but she has only produced the word, “Daniel! What-!?” She glances around at the confused stares.

“The Emperor’s Heart! Do any of you know of it!?” She fiercely searches the group, asking just as quickly before anyone has any time to even process her question, “Where are Senn and Vaergraes!? No, Doephluev! She knows ancient spells! Where are they!?”

“Prime Minister, please elaborate,” requests Aramellianna as she stands up to approach.

Xyreko’s mind is locked between two different priorities; return to Daniel and find a solution. As he does when he’s set on something, he tricked Xyreko into leaving so she couldn’t stand in his way. She should have commanded the golems to prevent him from stowing Nemaisol, but it’s too late now.

And, worse than her indecisiveness now is the fact that she doesn’t want to discover the worst case scenario upon returning to his side.

No! I have to save him! Whatever it takes!

“Daniel has been cursed! It’s something called ‘The Emperor’s Heart’! We all need to go to him and save him!”

“Cursed!?” cry out almost everyone as they spring up. 

Xyreko does her best to explain through her own distress, wavering when she reveals the last moments she witnessed just before arriving in the observation area herself, where an informal gathering was being held to relax and talk to each other.

Since Daniel made his excuse to deal with Veuthene without them knowing, they all assumed he was either spending intimate time with someone, or he was working on some secret devices.

It’s clear that Daniel is afforded too much privacy when it comes to allowing his reckless behaviors, but the primary focus now is ensuring he survives to be scolded later.

“Take us to him immediately!” orders Ryuogriar as she storms towards Xyreko.

“What is the ‘Emperor’s Heart?’” asks Geirahoel sternly. “Did Doephluev cast it?”

“She left to follow him, like she always does,” adds Hekate sourly. “If she did this…”

“It wasn’t Doephluev,” explains Xyreko. “It was the spy, Veuthene.”

This surprises everyone, but none more-so than Aramellianna.

“The spy? Daniel’s instructions were very clear.”

The golem caretaker replies coldly, “I know your own soldiers were following her, but she managed to evade them. You’ll likely receive a report about it soon.”

Aramellianna’s expression turns grimly serious. “Just because I said I would observe his wishes does not mean I will let a spy continue to exist after what she learned.”

“M-Mother?” asks Yanidere nervously. The Grand Duchess cups her daughter’s cheek.

“Yanidere, this is an inevitable truth of being the Grand Duchess. You must take action, even when your allies want plausible deniability.”

“Which is exactly why… Daniel did the same,” replies Xyreko with disappointment in her voice. “He claims he doesn’t want to be an Emperor who sends assassins to kill his enemies because it’s too impersonal.”

Aramellianna is a little surprised, but quiet about it. And, given the ponderous silence from everyone, Xyreko adds, “He… couldn’t do it. He couldn’t see her as the threat she was. However, when he wanted to inspect one of her belongings, it triggered the curse, only held at bay by Nemaisol.”

She clenches her fists, struggling to explain the rest. “The last thing I saw… He was stowing Nemaisol because there’s a chance he’ll… survive.”

“We need to go, now!” shouts Treia. “What are we standing here for!? Ryuo already gave the order!”

“I must caution against such a rushed decision,” calls out Aramellianna. “All of you travelling to an uncontrolled area is just as reckless and dangerous. Can the Emperor not be brought here?”

“Not if he draws Nemaisol again, and…” 

“I’ll send my troops to secure the area,” replies Kalegrynten. “If there’s one spy, there are likely to be more undercover agents.”

“If Daniel is putting himself in danger, then I’m going,” replies Hekate. “I would have nothing without him.”

“Where is that fool who is supposed to protect him!?” snaps Geirahoel.

Magnir replies immediately, “Sir Neith is with him.”

The three Dragon Empresses have the same idea at the same time, bombarding him with telepathy and demanding to know where they are.

“My honorable Empresses, please calm yourselves… His Grace is still alive.”

“That’s not our question! Where is he now!?”

“We’ll be returning shortly. His Grace has endured the curse. We are verifying that it is safe for him to return without risk of harming anyone else.”

“Return immediately!” snaps Geirahoel through the connection. “You should know better! Are you trying to fail us all again!?”

“Your Grace…”

“I don’t want to hear it! You’re the worst brother in the world! I hate you! If you don’t bring Daniel back right now, I’ll kill you!”

There’s a long silence, and not even Neith responds. Geirahoel, whose eyes were already watering, begins to cry, and she sinks to her knees, caught and supported by Ryuogriar as they go to the floor together.

No one addresses the revelation just yet, since she was screaming her thoughts even as she projected them via telepathy.

“There are new circumstances that will need to be clarified in person, your Grace. I will fly Daniel to the airship at once. Please hold further questions until then.”

“Shut up! I hate you!” snaps the orange dragon, continuing to cry into Ryuogriar’s shoulder.

The platinum dragon matriarch replies quietly, “Neith, you will answer for this. Tell us where you are, and we will escort…”

“I am arriving at the airship now, your Grace. I will meet everyone in the lounge in mere moments.”

Everyone is surprised, and they head for the lounge. There, Neith is supporting Daniel with his shoulder as the human wearily walks. They are surrounded in a near-instant, being bombarded with questions.

Neith urges, “His Grace will survive! Please! Let us explain!”

“Now, scum!” snaps Geirahoel. “Stop wasting time!”

The grey dragon sighs.

***

A short while before, Daniel watches as the spell triggers for Xyreko’s teleportation. He has seen it many times, so he has a pretty good idea of the activation sequence and timing. He won’t have long before she can react to try to stop him in various ways, so he had to wait until she was locked into the transversal.

They make eye contact, and the last thing he hears as he is lining Nemaisol up with the sheath is, “Daniel!”

She vanishes, and he says gently, “Neith, whatever happens, thank you for everything.”

“I will stay with you to the end, my brother.”

The human mechanic is reassured by that. Somewhat selfishly, he doesn’t want anyone to watch him die, and certainly not anyone who won’t understand. Neith knows what it’s like to reach the bottom; to no longer have anything else. To get out of that hole, they each found a purpose, and the longer they clung to that purpose, the stronger they became.

Daniel doesn’t believe he’s about to die. In fact, he’s confident he will live. The problem is, no one else but Neith would want him to take the risk. He can’t blame them. He specifically tries to keep them out of as much danger as possible because he cares about them.

In this case, though, he was the fool. He was careless because he became curious and needed an answer quickly, as if it would slip through his fingers if he didn’t address it immediately.

And, it slipped away from him anyways, as if it were some kind of trap. All he ended up with was a blank jewel, no immediate memory of what he saw before that because he was distracted, and a curse that could kill him -and would definitely kill anyone else-.

The mechanic shoves the legendary sword Nemaisol into its sheath with determination. Delaying it now will accomplish nothing. And, if he survives, he will be able to deal with the aftermath.

The sword clicks into place, and almost immediately, the curse springs into full effect.

Daniel cries out, doubling over as his heart feels like it has just been grabbed. An immense feeling of dread washes over him, pulling him deep into a mire of fear and pain. He feels like he’s rapidly being pulled under water as his heart aches, struggling to even form a single beat.

Daniel gasps, and he finds himself without pain, but he also finds himself dazed and confused.

If he had to envision an out of body experience, he’s experiencing it now. The dread related to his own death is still lingering around him, like cobwebs tangled in the hairs on his skin, tugging at him with even the smallest moves, but not actually restricting him. Similarly, he has the same surreal feeling he felt when he first faced Mulmonbargonaed, the red dragon that attacked Fort Peony. He feels like he’s awake and dreaming at the same time, unable to tell whether or not he’s actually conscious.

Fascinating… whispers a voice that startles him. Because he can make no sense of his surroundings, he feels like he’s in pitch black darkness.

When he tries to speak, it’s like the nightmares he had as a child; nothing comes out. He can’t say anything, and he can’t even seem to translate his own thoughts. The fear grows stronger, and he begins to feel more and more like his death is truly upon him this time. The fight with the archoneldwyn assassins was much more sudden, and his adrenaline was pumping.

This time, it’s more akin to one time when Daniel took too large of a dose of allergy medication. He wasn’t in pain, but he couldn’t sleep, and he couldn’t escape the certainty that he was dying for hours following. He had hours to reflect on the fact that he felt like he was going to die, and it was all the more agonizing for it.

Perhaps we will both soon be free… whispers the voice. Similar to Xyreko when he first encountered her, the voice is rather androgynous and deep in tone, like a titan speaking to him with a gentle and quiet tone.

As Daniel turns, he finally discovers why he can’t make sense of his surroundings. He must be dreaming, but he’s standing in the shadow of something with an eyeball that is wider than the propellers of an aircraft carrier, which were titanic when Daniel saw them in drydock.

He stumbles back a couple of steps. It may possibly be thanks to the dream-like state he’s in, but the scope of the humongous creature’s eye doesn’t prevent Daniel from being able to tell that its gaze is following him.

The eye has a rather distinct shade of pink for an iris surrounded with a dark, night-sky like sclera speckled with points of light, and a massive iris with four flower-petal like light markings at the four quarter-clock positions of the eye, forming something like a dark crosshair for the eye.

Daniel feels weak upon seeing the eye, sinking to a kneel as he clutches his chest. Maybe it’s the pain in his heart reaching into his out-of-body experience. If he is astral projecting somehow, then he has no idea where he is or what this being is.

Tell me what you are called…

Daniel tries to summon even the miniscule strength to speak, but he still can’t form words or even sounds.

Ahh… I see… Is that how you survived? Very interesting indeed…

The eye suddenly ascends away from Daniel, rising high and gaining distance on him.

For a brief instant, Daniel catches a glimpse of the creature’s silhouette, and he would struggle to describe it. If he goes mad after seeing it, he might feel like he’s in a Lovecraft novel, but it’s mainly the size and scope of the titan, which is singularly larger than anything Daniel has seen yet, that makes it difficult for him to identify any meaningful features other than a mountainous being. It didn’t necessarily look reptilian, like a dragon, nor mammalian, like a feldrok. Daniel has seen drawings of the Strylak, which is a mythical titan of Zenkon, but this thing didn’t have the colossal squid-like shape of a polypus.

In spite of the distance, which now feels like miles, and the additional five eyes that seem to decorate its head in a half-circle gazing down at him, the voice reaches him with ease.

If I am not mistaken, you are the one known as the Harbinger of Calamity.

This surprises Daniel, but he can’t answer audibly, so he nods.

Beastly lips curl away to reveal a row of sharp, shark-like glowing blue teeth.

This returns feldroks to the possible candidates, since Daniel has seen Hekate’s triangular teeth glow in the dark with different colors, though she’s usually careful to minimize showing off her teeth when she’s anything but happy, since she’s self-conscious about appearing ugly or scary.

Good… It has been a pleasure meeting you. Perhaps we will meet again.

With that, the shadowy creature fades into the all-consuming blackness of the void around Daniel, and suddenly he coughs.

At once, he is awake, screaming suddenly in pain as a completely dejected Neith suddenly flinches and perks up. “My Liege!” He does his best to reassure Daniel, as the human is slammed with the aftermath of the pain he felt from his heart seemingly dying.

He feels like his very veins are on fire, and his head is throbbing painfully, while his weakened heart flops around pathetically and erratically in his chest.

“I’m here, Daniel! Stay with me! You’re back! Pain is inevitable, but you’re back!”

Daniel can barely breathe. Every inhale feels like he is taking in glass into his lungs. Every exhale feels like his ribs are about to burst out of his skin. He squirms around, trying to find a position to make the pain go away, but every single movement just antagonizes every nerve in his body.

Neith can only stay close and try to keep Daniel from hurting himself further with his writhing, while the golems around them keep guard.

When Daniel finally wears himself out and can no longer struggle, Neith tries to help him be as comfortable as possible, saying with a light laugh, “I thought I lost you, My Liege.”

Daniel pants, wheezing with exhausted lungs. He manages barely a whisper, “H-How… l-long?”

“Moments, but after you collapsed, your heart stopped, and all traces of mana left your body, as Kaeralegier said. I feared the worst.” He winces, as if a sudden headache is afflicting the dragon. The loyal grey knight simply scoffs. “It took longer than I expected… Our beloved Empresses are simultaneously demanding that I return with you.”

The fatigued mechanic rasps out, “Buy me… a minute or so… It’s… c-c-calming…”

Neith nods in understanding. He had to endure his own revival, though the potations used that day do provide a nice alcoholic effect which helps dull the pain a great deal. His body may not have been mutilated, but Daniel just endured a painful curse that seemed to have killed him.

Daniel breathes deeply, trying to catch his breath and stabilize himself. He doesn’t want to move. He feels far worse than he did after being stabbed and nearly killed by the other archoneldwyn with Doephluev, and even railgun exploding in his face or firing a 20mm round against his chest don’t compare.

Still, he is alive, and he can tell that he has a future beyond the next few minutes, given the pain subsiding slowly. As long as he can get to where he can walk, even under assistance, he can survive the lectures he’s about to get.

While he doesn’t enjoy worrying his family, it does remind him that he is deeply loved, and it reinforces everything he fights for.

This time, he didn’t intend for it to be even remotely dangerous. A valuable lesson about curses has been learned. If he had more mana, he’s certain he wouldn’t have awakened ever again.

“I’m sorry, my Liege. I can’t talk them down. If we don’t return immediately…”

Daniel nods. “I’m ready… Can you teleport?”

“Not yet, my Liege.”

“Alright.”

Neith reveals his wings, instructing the golems, “Return to the airship unless otherwise retrieved by Xyreko. I shall return with his Grace at once.”

The golems nod, watching long enough for Neith to pick up Daniel onto his back. Since Nemaisol is sheathed, he doesn’t actually need his wings to fly with both of them, and only really has them ready in case something comes up.

The grey dragon flies back to the airship quickly, which is thankfully only a short distance away. From the sounds of it, Ryuogriar, Reignleif, and Geirahoel were ready to rush in, along with everyone else if they each had their say.

Though he was technically supposed to already be on house arrest, Daniel is forbidden from leaving someone’s side for the foreseeable future, and Hekate orders Xyreko to inform her and the others immediately if Daniel tries to do another solo mission. She then makes Daniel give the same order.

Neith does most of the explaining, and Daniel is too weak to mention the strange vision he had. It seemed to be unrelated to the curse, though it did also happen while he was under the effects, and the being seemed to be unsurprised that they encountered each other. It was actually surprised that he survived.

After Neith finishes explaining, Reignleif asks, “Do you need anything, Mukori?”

Daniel sighs. “I am sorry,” he whispers, his voice still weak. “I keep letting you down…”

“Then ask for help, stupid Mukori!” snaps Geirahoel. “We are dragons! Hekate is a feldrok! The others are warriors in their own right!”

“And, how many times do we have to tell you to be cautious!?” asks Treia, wringing her hands in irritation. “I’m not even a mage, and I know to check suspicious items for curses!”

Neith tries to defend him a little, though everyone present knows Daniel should have had a golem take it. “In my Liege’s defense, your Grace, it was an article of clothing actively being worn. Even I would consider it extraordinarily rare to see a two-part curse like that one. I can’t name the last one I’ve heard of or dealt with.”

“That’s no excuse!” yells Geirahoel. “You should have…”

“Mukori,” blurts out Daniel, all but coughing the word, and she halts, glaring at him with hurt in her eyes. He speaks as loudly as he can without hurting himself further, which is barely above a whisper, “Mukori, I have been meaning to ask this for a long time, and if you’d prefer to talk about it in private, I’ll ask you again later. What is your relationship to Neith?”

Everyone falls eerily quiet for a long time, and Aramellianna states quietly, “I’ll excuse myself for now, your Grace. I’d like to speak to you at a later time, though.” She departs upon Daniel nodding, and Geirahoel continues to stare at nothing on the floor.

She finally glares at Neith, who is remaining silent, allowing her to control the facts.

“I’m told we share parents. I remember Mother speaking to him before she left and never returned. Then, when I was still a child…” Her eyes burn with anger at the grey dragon.

Ryuogriar finally speaks, “He was chased out…”

“Then he should have taken me with him!” snaps the orange dragon. “I didn’t have anyone else!” She then shifts to a growling tone, “And then Morthybargaron took over…”

To Daniel’s knowledge, there is a lot of time in between those two periods, since both Neith and Morthybargaron studied under the feldroks of the Citadel for a long time before Morthybargaron’s betrayal. Then an additional stretch of Neith wandering the world for more powerful magic to try to counter Morthybargaron stretched even longer.

He hasn’t asked, but he suspects Geirahoel is roughly half Reignleif’s age or younger, but that still puts her somewhere in a couple of centuries old, most likely, while Reignleif and Ryuogriar are each over four hundred. Geirahoel does seem to be speaking of a time before the feral feldrok, and unless Daniel misunderstood, he thought that was even longer before.

Neith fills in Daniel’s misunderstandings. “Morthybargaron… used his same strategy on dragons. Those who did not agree or go along with him spent a great deal of time trapped in void spaces. Siblings… were not spared…”

Hekate and a few of the others gasp, and Geirahoel seems to be most hurt by this revelation, looking at Daniel with watering eyes. “I… I was punished because of him!”

“That’s despicable…” murmurs Kera’tai. She’s not making a joke in reference to how she met Daniel, but rather, the fear it causes, which Daniel witnessed first hand via Shek and, to a lesser extent, Kera’tai. If Morthybargaron was using it as a threat, he undoubtedly would ensure the other dragons knew exactly how precarious their fate was, and that it was in his hands.

Ryuogriar confirms this, “In addition to the torture, he used it as a means to delay everyone else’s growth, ensuring that he would remain the most powerful among all of us.”

“All but the one dragon who fled…” remarks Gwenesphia as she glances at Neith.

Neith is silent for a long time, while Geirahoel starts to cry. Daniel does his best to climb to his feet, limping slowly to her to hug her, and she sobs into his shoulder, though it takes a great deal of his miniscule remaining strength to support them both. 

Neith finally says, “My Liege… no, Daniel… What she says is the truth. I did abandon her when I was her only adult family member. I left Morthybargaron in power for far too long. I wanted to ensure… but, regardless, I am a failure.” He kneels. “All of you… Ryuogriar, Reignleif, Geirahoel, Roeta, and Magnir… I am sorry. As you have said, I am weak and a coward. If I had fought him right away… perhaps I could have spared the rest of you…”

Ryuogriar has a cold tone when she remarks a little nihilistically, “Had you destroyed each other, his brother or that green idiot would have simply taken charge.” She scoffs. “And, their children would be plaguing this world without a curse to temper them.”

This leaves a sour taste in the air, but is a very distinct point. Neith didn’t believe he could defeat Morthybargaron at the time, and certainly wouldn’t have survived even if he did. And, in the infinitesimally small chance that he survived, he would be weak and easily slain by those very two dragons who were picked off by Daniel by surprise before he had the Citadel to back him up.

Daniel asks a question that he doesn’t want to ask, but he knows he needs to. His voice is weak, and he has no strength to accomplish anything. But, he needs to clear the air.

“Geira-Mukori… Do you want to send Neith away?”

She grips his shirt tightly, and her knees weaken. The human mechanic braces himself to try to keep them both on their feet, but he won’t make it if she goes limp.

The orange dragon finally whimpers, “N-... No…” She looks at Neith, her expression hardening. After a moment, she tears her gaze away and finally sniffles. She snaps her eyes up to meet Daniel’s once more, this time with a fiery determination that startles him somewhat.

“Mukori, will you obey one request? No, not a request. A demand. I have a demand, and if you don’t accept, I’ll never forgive you.” The youngest of the dragon empresses sniffles again, and Daniel replies with his torn up voice, “I’ll do anything in my power.”

“This one is.” She straightens and orders Daniel, “From now on, you must treat him like your shield. If something must be touched, Neith does it. If enemies are near, Neith is in front of you. If you are going somewhere, Neith is beside you. Always.” She wipes her eyes, staring seriously into Daniel’s to await his response.

Daniel glances at Neith, who nods. “I could not agree more, your Grace.”

The human from Earth nods. “I’ll do it. I’m sorry. I just want to…”

She puts her finger to his lips to hush him, and she then looks at Neith. “Neith, I have an order for you. You will not hide Daniel’s comings and goings from us ever again.”

“That’s right,” adds Hekate. “Even if Daniel tells you to keep it secret.”

“In exchange,” starts Ryuogriar when she notices both Daniel and Neith become uneasy, since they both agree that, at the very least, the Dragon Empresses are precious to the dragon race. “Just as the mission with the mantaroucks and Yaulwembor, we’ll listen to reasons to hold back. If they’re convincing reasons.”

Reignleif, Hekate, and Geirahoel nod in agreement, and Gwenesphia speaks up. “Um… C-Can I add something?”

Ryuogriar nods. “Please do.”

“I-I’d like… I’d like you, Daniel, to stop feeling like you need to handle everything yourself. If the spy needed to be dealt with… You should have sent the golems.”

Daniel tries to speak, but he begins coughing. Neith speaks on his behalf, “His Grace expressed concern that he will become too detached from the consequences if he can simply send unfeeling soldiers to accomplish tasks.” The inexperienced emperor nods to confirm this statement.

“That does not matter,” replies Xyreko passionately. “You do not make decisions from a place of cruelty, greed, or petty malice. And, if you seem like you are, you hear reason when we express concern.”

“Mother was already going to take care of it,...” points out Wenlianna softly. “Were you afraid we would see it as cruel?”

“She was a child…” murmurs Daniel.

“Then imprisonment,” retorts Ryuogriar bluntly. “Her age would not have stopped her from causing harm against us or our children. If you allow such a weakness to be exploited, it will become the primary method our enemies will exploit.”

Daniel slumps, and she quickly softens. “I… I didn’t… Mukori, I just want… I want you to use us more. We’re not just freeloaders or precious flowers you need to protect. I’ve taken more lives than you. Very few of them I regret. If you must condemn yourself, you must condemn me.”

Daniel is quiet for a moment, and he sighs. “I won’t condemn any of you… And, I’ll struggle and slip, but I’ll try to include everyone, even when I don’t want to.”

“At least some of us, and we can go from there,” replies Vaergraes. “Decisions made in a void can easily lead to destruction.”

“Or curses,” adds Treia sourly, twisting the knife a little.

“Thank you all…” murmurs Daniel.

“Thank us by taking better care of yourself,” retorts Reignleif.

He nods, and he is then escorted to bed to relax.

***