Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos
chapter-802

After entering into the orb, it wasn’t long before a somewhat heavy weight landed on his abdomen, something he had gotten used to over the last few weeks. This was none other than Alexa who, though she was only around 144cm tall, weighed around 65kgs, as all True Dragons were a lot ’denser’ than normal. He was currently located in her ’nest’, the place where they would usually nap before he was kicked out of the orb. Just as Eva used to do, Alexa had developed the habit of ’greeting’ him whenever he would apparate into the orb. This time, she was especially excited because she knew today was her last day in the orb, causing her to knock the wind out of him after she plopped down on his stomach...

With her glimmering green eyes, Alexa looked down at him with a smile, saying, "Papa is getting soft, ufufufu~." While speaking, Alexa moved around as if she were getting comfortable before leaning down and ’hugging’ him with her wings like a blanket, asking, "How much time do we have...?" Though she was happy to be leaving the orb, Alexa was going to miss the fact she was able to monopolize her Papa for four day periods, even if was only every two months. In the real world, she knew it would be almost impossible to have him to herself and it was the one thing she wasn’t looking forward to after leaving this quiet and peaceful place...

Vahn released a lighthearted chuckle and lifted Alexa’s body away from his own so he could sit up, answering, "Everyone is waiting to celebrate your emergence from the orb, so we shouldn’t keep them waiting for too long. Besides, I know you’re probably thinking we won’t have any time together in the future but you seem to be forgetting that this orb still exists. Though it would only be your spiritual body in the future, we can always come back to visit this place whenever you want." Since the Space-Time orb was simply too useful not to ’exploit’, there was no way Vahn could simply set it to the side and ignore it. He and Terra would be ’resetting’ their memory fragments so that they could make use of their increased capabilities, but that would be the only significant change. In the future, this orb would become a place where he could relax with the girls while also mass-producing items that he didn’t have time to produce himself.

Hearing her Papa’s words, Alexa had started off sad but became progressively happier as he explained that she wouldn’t have to give up this place. Though she didn’t really care for it that much, it was still the home she had made for herself over the last 120 years, a place where she and her Papa had spent a lot of time together. Just knowing she could always come back to it, even in a spirit form, made Alexa feel a great deal of relief. As a result, her tail began to snake around behind her body as her wings began to rustle happily. Vahn, seeing this, habitually rubbed her head, making sure to avoid her horns after learning how sensitive they were in the past...

After spending a few minutes together, Vahn gave Alexa a piggyback ride as he casually strolled through the forest and made his way towards the cottage where his and Terra’s memory fragments resided. Alexa rarely spent time there over the last twenty years, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t been looked after by the two memory fragments. Though they were already aware of the situation, Vahn was giving Alexa a bit of time to collect herself since the hour-long walk to the cottage would only consume a minute of time in the real world.

The two memory fragments were waiting outside the cottage by the time Vahn reached the outskirts of the forest, both smiling as they stood side-by-side. There was no fear or trepidation about being ’reset’, as neither truly possessed their own ego, but Vahn still expressed his gratitude towards the two of them for everything they had done. It was a little strange, thanking himself for working hard, but Vahn had long grown accustomed to such things. When he was done, the two burst into particles of light as Alexa looked on with an unfaltering expression. To her, though she didn’t really treat them badly, neither fragment was real and the only reason she interacted with them at all was that they were emulations of her ’parents’...

Once the two had vanished, Vahn’s own memory fragment popped back into existence, this time having all the memories he had acc.u.mulated until this point. There was a brief moment of incongruity, as his senses were momentarily split, but Vahn had gotten very used to having two bodies in the real world. After a few seconds had passed, the fragment had completely stabilized and released a light laugh before making his way inside the cottage, no words necessary since it was updated with all of Vahn’s current thoughts and ideas. When he had left, Vahn turned his head sideways and asked, "Are you ready, Alexa...?"

For a short while, Alexa’s grip tightened around his neck as her body tensed up, understandably a little hesitant since she would have to reduce herself to her core state for the first time. Though she had the ability to break out of the orb forcefully, it would destroy the orb in the process, destroying 120 years of development within the space, including all of the rare herbs and materials contained within. Since this would also destroy Alexa’s ’nest’, though she would probably build another one in the real world, it was obviously not the best course of action.

After preparing herself, Alexa nodded her head and said, "Please, treat me well, Papa..." as her body began to break down in rainbow-colored dust. Vahn felt his own body shudder slightly, as it was actually more than a little unpleasant to watch one of his companions, especially his child, dissolve into dust. He prevented her core, which was a resplendent green with a wispy rainbow gradient in the center, from falling to the ground. Though she was in an inactive state, Vahn could almost feel Alexa’s trepidation and fear radiating from the core. Fenrir and Terra had described being in that state as having no sense of feeling at all, even though your mind was constantly active. Staying within the core for a long period of time could be a very maddening experience, which was fortunately mitigated when they were placed in his Inventory.

Once Alexa was within his Inventory, Vahn closed his eyes and ejected himself from the space this time, breaking down into small particles that became progressively smaller until they didn’t exist at all. The next time he opened his eyes, after only being ’asleep’ for little over a minute, Vahn was surrounded by all the girls of the Manor as Terra held the space-time orb within her palms. Vahn accepted Tiona’s hand, even though he could have easily come to stand on his own, and immediately pulled out Alexa’s core. Everyone watched with bated breath as he channeled his energy into the core, especially those that had never had the opportunity to meet Alexa in the past.

Fortunately, though Alexa was already 120 years old, she was still a juvenile and it only took around 60% of his energy before her core began to emit a large amount of rainbow-colored dust, forming into the shape of a young girl around 11-12. Since he knew she would be disoriented at first, Vahn already prepared a blanket for her, even though it wouldn’t have mattered that much with everyone present being female. Khaos was currently hovering in the stratosphere as he absorbed the energy of space while Fafnir was sunbathing in the clearing at the center of the forest. Neither really wanted to upset Alexa by being present so they had elected to avoid being present during her emergence.

After a few seconds, Alexa opened her aquamarine eyes and began to look around, slightly surprised by the number of people present as she naturally gravitated towards her Papa. Vahn had a gentle smile on his face as he reached out his hand, stroking her emerald green hair as he reminded, "Alexa, clothes..." in a soft tone of voice. She quickly donned her custom outfit and, as the blanket was uncomfortable against her wings, handed it back to her Papa before taking a deep breath and turning towards everyone. Her eyes passed over every single person present, lingering a bit longer on the goddesses before politely bowing as she said, "Greetings, my name is Alexandria Eva-Evergreen Mason...I will be in your care from now on. As there are many things I do not know, please be patient with me..."

With Alexa’s own introduction finished, everyone took turns introducing themselves before the entire group moved to the large table set nearby and began Alexa’s birthday party. To make sure she wasn’t too perturbed by a large number of people, both Vahn and Terra flanked Alexa as the other girls asked her a variety of questions. It was very similar to when Asfi had entered into the Manor what seemed like a month ago, though Alexa was far more composed. In fact, as the celebration continued, she seemed to grow progressively more confident and had started asking questions of her own. Vahn noticed she had the most interest in the ’stronger’ girls in the group and wondered if her competitive spirit had been ignited...

True Dragons were very prideful creatures and, the moment another entity near their strength was present, they would compete to become the strongest in the area. Though Alexa may never be able to overcome her parents, it didn’t mean she would ’tolerate’ being weaker than anyone else. Her current strength would put her around Level 5, but it wouldn’t be difficult for her to fight against someone at the peak of Level 6 with her racial traits. Not only was her body immensely powerful, but it was also equally as durable to the point that she would never need armor. After all, the hide and scales of a dragon were literally the best material to make powerful armor and Alexa, being a True Dragon, was essentially wearing full body armor at all times.

The girls she had taken the biggest interest in, excluding the goddesses, were Fenrir, Ais, Tiona, Haruhime, Lefiya, Lili, and, somewhat to Vahn’s surprise, Ryuu. Though the latter could be argued to be the weakest among the ’strong’ girls, the fact that Ryuu had a form of energy that could naturally counter many of Alexa’s own affinities was something she instinctually picked up on. After all, Ryuu’s Star Elemental energy was near the same tier as Space and Time. It was also the natural counter to Darkness, Ice, and Fire, which were Alexa’s primary elements until she had a better understanding of the three dominant forces in her body, especially her Source Energy.

As for the number one ’threat’ within Alexa’s mind, however, that was none other than Ais, a girl who was ’fated’ to be a slayer of Dragons. She not only had an Innate related to it, but Ais’ [Avenger] was super effective against Dragons, even without her full ensemble of dragon-slaying equipment. At the same time, her [Ariel], which was a spirit-based Wind Elemental ability, was also a very powerful counter to Alexa’s affinities. As a result, Alexa would actually twitch slightly whenever Ais would move, something the taciturn woman seemed completely oblivious of as she fed cookies to the gluttonous Lefiya...

Towards the end of the party, Loki, always being the one to point out the ’necessary’ matters, chimed into the ongoing conversation and asked, "So, where will you be staying, Alexa? You should know that, here in the real world, your Papa is a pretty busy man. He also needs to look after his other children, you know~?" Upon the completion of Loki’s sentence, Alexa had already looked around the table, eyeing all of her would-be siblings, especially Ina, Vana, and Erika. She had interacted with all three of them within the orb and had grown particularly close with Erika in the past. However, now that she was in the real world, Alexa knew she would have to pay closer attention to each of them...after all, they were her Papa’s cherished children. Even without him telling her to do so, Alexa had a natural inclination to ’protect’ them in order to make her Papa, the ’King’, happy...

In response to Loki’s question, Alexa turned her eyes back to the sly looking goddess and said, "I’m a little uncomfortable with making my nest in my Mama’s territory, but I don’t want to go that far away from Papa. If possible, I want to find a comfortable and quiet place where I can build my nest in peace..." To this, Terra brought her hand to her daughter’s shoulder and smiled naturally as she said, "This place isn’t just my territory, Alexa, but ’our’ home. Everyone here is one big family so, even if you feel like fighting with them a little, never forget that they are all important to your Papa. As long as you remember that, you can create your nest anywhere you want. In fact, you can stay inside mine if you don’t want to go build your own...honestly, I wouldn’t mind spending time with my cute little daughter, ufufufufu~."

Alexa was more than a little surprised by her Mama’s words, especially since it didn’t make sense given that they were both True Dragons. Unless they were sharing the nest of the ’King’, two female True Dragons would never stay in the same place. This was even more true for males but, after recalling what her Mama just said, Alexa was able to realize that this ’was’ her Papa’s nest. This entire Manor, including the people residing within, all habitated her Papa’s nest. The girls were his mates and the children he shared between them were his ’brood’. Realizing this, Alexa felt strangely happy and, surprising her Mama this time, nodded her head and said, "I will stay with Mama then, at least for the time being."

Though this seemed to be perfectly ’normal’, Loki couldn’t help but laugh mischievously as she said, "I just hope you don’t become an exhibitionist like that mother of yours...seriously, every time I visit the Garden I can’t help but want-." Before she finished her words, Vahn sent Loki a wry look that caused her to begin laughing in a somewhat awkward manner. Try as she might, it was impossible for Loki to completely constrain herself at times, especially when she was in a happy mood. She understood it wasn’t exactly the time or place to make such jokes, especially with children present, and had nearly slipped up with the complacent and lively atmosphere...

To segue the conversation in a more appropriate direction, Vahn ruffled Alexa’s hair and said, "Alexa will be accompanying me on the expedition. I want to give her the opportunity to fight against monsters so she can polish her skills and release some of the stress of being a True Dragon. Since we’ll be leaving tomorrow morning, I’ll let her stay inside my room tonight and would like to have a sleepover with all the children so they can get to know their big sister." Alexa’s eyes were squinted with a pleased expression under her Papa’s hand but they opened wide when he mentioned her sleeping in the same room with all of her ’siblings’. As a True Dragon, it was ’very’ difficult for her to be okay with actually sleeping around others, especially since she had never slept with anyone but her Papa...

Vahn gave a comforting smile and continued patting Alexa’s head as he looked around at his children, especially the Vanir. Even the youngest amongst them, Autumn, looked to be around 2-3 years old. Lenneth and Aisha were around five while Ina and Vana were around 13-14, physically. As for Erika, she looked to be the oldest, around 15-16, and had the most mature disposition amongst them all. The rest of his children, at least the ones that could safely sleep in a bed with other people, were all around seventeen months old, or younger.

Within the group, Meinya had practically climbed onto the table with an excited expression and said, "Nyahaha, Meinya stay with Papnya~!" Then, spurred on by her competitiveness with her similarly aged sister, Sakuya put on a fierce little expression and said, "Papa...I stay...!" Tsubaki, sitting at her side, laughed boisterously and, even though it was embarrassing for the somewhat proud toddler, pulled Sakuya into her embrace and tightly hugged her. Not to be left out from the other girls in her ’generation’, Anise pulled on her mom’s dress and put on a pitiable expression as she asked, "Mum..stay with Papnya~?" To this, Aki pet her daughter’s head and nodded, causing the small Cat Girl’s tail to curl up happily as a large smile spread across her face.

After the adorable trio made their decision, there was two more candidates that Vahn wanted to attend the sleepover. These were his eldest son, Masonia, currently sitting next to Riveria with his expression stoic and thoughtful. He was a brilliant little boy and had already started to develop an intelligent expression with slightly angular eyes, giving him a cool look like his mother. Sitting right next to him, with a shy and demure appearance, was his daughter with Ryuu, Alise. Perhaps because Ryuu herself didn’t speak much, but Alise was a very quiet girl who was quick to hide behind her mother when others were around.

Somewhat regrettably, though Vahn had expected it, Masonia shook his head and, with words you wouldn’t expect from someone so young, said, "My apologies, Father, but I think it would be best if I stay with Mother. I’m not comfortable sleeping in the same bed as so many people, please forgive me..." To punctuate his sentence, Masonia even bowed in a polite manner as Riveria showed an apologetic expression of her own. Vahn didn’t really mind it much and just gave a small nod to Masonia before looking towards Alise. Though she was shy around most people, this didn’t extend to him and, being very fond of spending time with her Papa, Alise nodded her head without saying anything.

With the inclusion of Alise, that meant he would have the opportunity to cuddle up with a total of eleven of his adorable daughters. If he included Doppel, who would undoubtedly come out to cuddle, that meant he would get to see his children dressed up in twelve different outfits. Just imagining this scene in his mind caused a silly smile to spread across his face, earning laughter from the table who knew what he was thinking. Unexpectedly, Erika raised her hand at this point and said, "I think I will..." before swallowing her words. From her perspective, it was almost like she could see her Papa deflate suddenly and she couldn’t find it in her heart to say she didn’t want to attend such a large sleepover...

Erika’s failure to avoid the inevitable meant that Vahn’s ’dream’ of a slumber party with all his adorable daughters quickly became a reality. Though it was a bit hectic, especially with Meinya jumping around on the bed and wrestling with Sakuya, Vahn was able to quickly pacify them when it was actually time for bed. To give them more surface area to work with, he split into both of his forms and ended up spending the most blissful evening he had experienced, surrounded by a horde of adorable little angels wearing a variety of different animal jammies. Even Erika wasn’t an exception and, after Ina and Vana readily accepted their fate, she eventually gave up and ended up snuggling up with her Papa while Doppel clung to his leg...

(A/N: I am very tired this morning, so I will try to get out the third chapter after taking a nap. However, as there have been A LOT of people asking me to write some FJ, I might spend the afternoon releasing a few chapters there instead. Tomorrow will be the official start of the expedition and it the events within the Dungeon will likely continue for the remainder of this volume :)...)

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’True Dragons are complicated (x__x)’,’Ais is going to dethrone Seigfried at this rate xD...’,’Paradise...RIP Erika’)