Eating Your Weight: A Bit of Clarification

Okay, so the explanation took closer to thirty minutes, but luckily the first three were enough to keep Miyo from making good on her threat.

“And then I walked inside and you slammed me against the wall and threatened to slit my throat which totally didn't turn me on or anything.” I finished my story, watching the woman across from me for her reaction.

As I said before, Miyo apparently believed me enough not to immediately murder me in cold blood, and the two of us had transitioned to the sitting room, lounging across from one another on separate chairs. The glowing water knife was still in her hand, and she slowly ran her fingers across its smooth surface as she stared at me, intently in the wake of my explanation.

Eventually, she leaned back, sighing lightly, “I never would have expected… I'm so sorry, Naomi.”

I blinked at her sudden words, “So you believe me?” I asked hopefully.

“I do.” Reaching forwards, Miyo held her glistening knife over the potted plant on the table. The golden shine disappeared and it suddenly came unraveled, water splashing into the pot below, “I originally didn't believe you, but nobody but Naomi could manage to slide that many innuendos into a story about her death.”

I grinned, “They were pretty good though, right? I was thinking about the one with the big angry ‘dragon’ all the way here.”

“I'm not sure equating a supernatural creature to a brand of dildos is a comparison most people would ever think to make.” Miyo said, before her eyes sharpened, “Though, speaking of which. I have a few questions for your partner, if you wouldn't mind bringing him out to chat.”

I blinked, “Oh uh, sure. I'm warning you though, he's not really much of a conversationalist.”

I held my hands out and concentrated. A second later, the scaled gloved appeared in a flash of light. Miyo looked them over, with an interested expression on her face, before speaking.

“Get out here, Nidhogg.” Miyo stared at the gems on the back of my hands intently, “I have questions for you, and you're going to answer them.”

The gems glowed as the dragon tuned in to the conversation, "You dare make demands of me, human?”

“Yeah, I dare. And there’s not a thing you can do about it trapped in that gear!” Miyo said angrily, “What's your plan with Naomi? I know good and well that you have no control over the power her Sacred Gear uses. Why did you make her make that deal and what did you ask for?"

I winced at her tone, already knowing what was coming, “Arrogant mortal. You have no possible way of grasping the full scope of my magnificent power. I am not some paltry demon or the faded remnants of a once-powerful spirit. I am one of the most powerful dragons to ever exist! Entire pantheons have quaked in the mere shadow of my power!”

“As you can see, he’s a little full of himself. But he’s literally the only reason I’m here right now so please don’t rile him up.” I interrupted as Miyo’s eyes narrowed dangerously. I knew that the woman before me was more than okay with threatening a dragon if it meant protecting me, and I really didn’t want to know what Nidhogg might do in response, “He asked me to take care of his vendetta or whatever. Apparently I'm supposed to beat up the guy who got him stuck in there in the first place and then our debt will be settled.”

Miyo's eyes widened, before her glare at my Sacred Gear intensified, “You're having her do what? She has no training or knowledge of the supernatural and you're throwing her to her death.”

“With my powers and sufficient instruction, she will be fine.”

“Your powers weren't enough to stop you from getting beaten last time!” Miyo's voice raised with her anger, “What makes you think it'll be any different this time coming from a teenage girl!?”

“Alright, that's enough of that.” I dismissed my Sacred Gear before Nidhogg could respond and the argument could escalate. I could immediately feel my Sacred Gear try to make a reappearance but I stamped down on the feeling and it retreated. Hopefully he'd just go back to brooding or whatever he did when we weren't talking.

In the meantime…

“Hey so uh, you weren't really wrong there. All this supernatural shit… Do you mind telling me what the fuck is going on? I was sort of dropped into this without any explanation and while I’m not really freaking out about it, I’m definitely confused.”

Miyo took a deep breath, calming down from her encounter with my live-in roommate, “That’s understandable. I’d be more than happy to enlighten you on what you’ve gotten into.” Miyo said reassuringly. She straightened in her chair, taking on a posture that I had long come to realize meant she was about to lecture me. Straight back, squared shoulders, and hands folded in her lap. Classic teacher pose.

“As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, the myths and legends that you know as such aren’t exactly as fake as people would have you believe. Gods, magic, legendary heroes, most, if not all of them, are very real. They’ve been kept secret from the modern world for the safety of humanity, for if the greater masses knew, they would be in an incredible amount of danger.”

“So wait, that knife you were using was actually magic?” I asked somewhat eagerly.

“It was. Water magic, to be precise. I’m somewhat proficient in other magics, but water magic has always been my specialty.” Miyo held a hand up and an orb of glistening water appeared above her palm, rippling and quaking. “Most humans don’t have a natural proclivity for magic, but every once in a while you get someone like me, who has an actual talent in using it.”

“So what, you’re some kind of badass?” I asked as I watched the water morph into different shapes, “More importantly, could you teach me how to use it?”

“I plan to.” Miyo said simply, “After what happened to you, there’s no chance you’ll be able to just feign ignorance of the supernatural and hope people will leave you alone. You have a strong draconic aura that will attract people to you. They’ll seek you out, either to fight or just use you for their own plans and you’ll need to be able to defend yourself.”

The water disappeared, “For now though, I should get you caught up on the big players in the world, specifically the Big Three.”

“Big three?” I parroted.

“The supernatural world is made up of several distinct factions, though many have made alliances with each other as a form of defense against the others. While they are spread all over the world, three are the most prominent and powerful. The Angels, or the Church as some refer to them, under the Kingdom of Heaven, the Fallen or Grigori, under Azazel, and the Devils under Lucifer.”

I held up a hand, stalling her explanation for a moment, “Hold on a second. You’re telling me that that was an actual honest-to-god Devil back there? Not just some monster calling itself a demon or something?”

“From what you told me, yes. A Stray Devil to be exact.” Miyo said, “The Underworld is itself, structured by a sort of class system, with the higher ranking Devils creating small groups or ‘Peerages’ comprised of the other classes using magical artifacts. They can also use these same artifacts known as Evil Pieces to reincarnate other races, turning them into Devils themselves and allowing them to join as well. When these reincarnated Devils betray their master or abandon the peerage, they become Strays and often undergo monstrous transformations.”

Evil Pieces? Was that that thing that I absorbed from the Devil after she disappeared?

“A Stray Devil huh.” I said aloud, “Nidhogg said that the one I killed was like a rabid dog, just killing and eating whatever came its way. If these guys are so common, then why isn’t anyone doing anything about them? I just stumbled through the woods and found one, and apparently so did some guy before me because she was stringing him up when I found her.”

Miyo looked guilty for a moment, before her face was back to normal, “They do. All of the three factions agree that the best way to deal with a stray is to kill it on sight. The Church especially has an entire subsect dedicated to hunting down and eliminating rogue supernatural elements, including strays. She hesitated, “They’re called exorcists, and I was one of them before I began working for your family.”

My eyes widened at the revelation, “So you’re telling me that not only does the church have a group of monster hunters under their belt like fucking Van Helsing or something, but you were one of them?” I asked, stupefied by what I was hearing.

Miyo nodded, “I was. For nearly twenty years I was trained and sent on missions to kill any supernatural being that might try to harm humanity. Strays, Fallen, rampaging Youkai, anything that posed a threat to innocents, we would be sent out to deal with.”

I leaned forward, intensely interested, “So before my parents hired you, you were running around cutting up monsters with water? That’s so awesome, Miyo! I thought you were just some lady who knew my mom!”

“That was my cover. Being an exorcist isn’t the kind of thing you can just walk away from, at least not the way I did.” Miyo frowned deeply, “Devils aren’t the only ones who hunt down their strays, and for all they say they follow the teachings of God, the Church isn’t all that different from those they spit on when you look closely enough at things you aren’t supposed to.”

There was a pain behind Miyo’s eyes, a deep sadness that cut through any joy I was feeling and left me wondering what the story behind it was. “Wait, but you’re a Christian. I’ve seen you praying and you have that cross you always wear when you aren’t working. Why’d you leave if you still believe in God?”

“You can believe in God and his message from any place on earth, Naomi. You don’t need stained glass and centuries-old hymns to practice the teachings of our Lord.” Miyo said lightly, before a troubled look came over her face, “As for why I left… I think it would be better for everyone if that stayed buried. Maybe someday, I’ll tell you, but not today.”

“Aww, but Miyo!” I couldn’t help but whine at the lost prospect of learning more about Miyo. Now that all of this had been revealed, I wanted to know everything there was to know about the blonde-haired woman before me.

But she was firm in her stance, “No, Naomi. I'm not talking about it.” she said firmly, and I sat back, not pressing any more.

She glanced at her wrist, “Let's shelve the rest of this conversation for tomorrow. I know you have more questions but it's getting late and I'm exhausted from worrying about you all evening. I'll heat up your dinner. It's definitely cold by now.”

I nodded, smothering my disappointment as we stood. Before I could go up to my room to change out of my dirty clothes, Miyo reached out and grabbed my arm before pulling me into her with a surprising amount of strength.

Her arms wrapped around my back and her breasts squished against my forehead as she pulled me tightly against her. I froze and she spoke softly, her voice trembling almost unnoticeably.

“I'm happy you're safe, Nao.” She said softly as I wrapped my arms around her, “Don't ever scare me like that again. If you do, I'm going to chain you to your bed so that you can't leave the house and give me a heart attack. Understand?”

I grinned, immensely enjoying the feeling of squishy flesh pressing against the top of my head, “Kinky. I'd be more than happy to let you chain me to a bed for as long as you’d like, Miyo.”

Miyo sighed, but there was a fondness behind her exasperation as she rubbed my head, “Go take a shower, Naomi. You smell like blood and death.”

I snuggled deeper into her embrace, “In a minute. I'm enjoying myself here right now.”

“You're incorrigible.” Miyo said, before the arm around me suddenly tightened, “And Naomi?”

I froze at her tone, cold as ice, “...Yes?’

“Tomorrow, we are going to have a long chat about accepting an Evil Dragon's grudge without asking who the recipient is. He may be arrogant, but he wasn't lying when he said that he's powerful. Whoever he wants you to kill isn't going to go down easily.”

Oh right. I had almost forgotten about that… I recalled Nidhogg’s size and the sheer presence he extruded, and then tried to imagine the being that had managed to lock him up in my Sacred Gear.

…I might be fucked.

~~~

In my bathroom, I locked the door behind me and turned on the light, before glancing at myself in the nearby mirror, taking in my new look.

I ran a hand through my formerly-straight hair, running a finger along the highlights in the wild strands, “Orange isn't really my favorite color but I guess it could be worse. It could be yellow.”

I turned my head from side to side, taking myself in from every angle. My eyes drifted down to the collar of my shirt and the dried blood covering my skin from where that Devil had sunk her teeth into me. There wasn't a wound anymore, but the shirt itself was definitely ruined. Might as well throw it away.

Backing away from the mirror, I stripped off the shirt and tossed it to the side, before unclipping my bra and throwing it in the heap as well. Turning back to the mirror, I paused at what I saw.

“What the hell?” I muttered softly as I lightly stroked the tiny, black scales that were running along my abdomen. They ran along my sides framing my abs as they rose up towards my tits, framing them along the sides and thankfully leaving my perky B’s completely intact.

Was this a side- effect of the changes Nidhogg made? I'd admit, it looked pretty metal, like I was half dragon or something.

And then I pulled down my pants, and I froze at what I was met with in my reflection.

"HOLY SHIT!”

My scream echoed through the entire house, and only moments later, the door burst open and Miyo stepped inside, looking frantic and once again clutching a glowing knife, “Naomi? What's going on?”

I turned to look at her with panicked eyes, “I have a dick!” I loudly exclaimed, gesturing to the swinging appendage between my legs.

The tension dropped from her posture immediately and she gave me an aggravated sigh, “Naomi, I swear if you called me in here just to mess with me, I am going to-”

Miyo froze, her jaw dropping slightly, before falling fully as her gaze moved downwards and…

‘Wow, I didn't know her face could get that red.’

I watched with slight fascination as a deep crimson spread over Miyo's face, coloring it like a ripe cherry tomato, before her expression went completely blank. She met my eyes and the water on her hand splashed to the ground as the knife disappeared, moments before she slammed the door shut.

I stared at the door as the maid stomped away. Huh. If I had known that flashing Miyo would cause that kind of reaction, I would have done it years ago. That was actually kind of funny.

My humor faded as I remembered the actual cause of her actions, and that it wasn't my normal body that she had been so freaked out about

Turning to the full body mirror, I took myself in, fully naked this time as I stared at the dangling tool between my legs. Now that I wasn't freaking the fuck out about it – or at least not as much as before – I could admit that it was rather impressive, from an objective point of view at least.

Being a lesbian, I didn't really know what constituted a good looking dick, but it wasn't exactly offensive to look at. It was longer than most of the ones I'd seen in porn and equally girthy, yet it wasn't monstrous. Even the balls had a somewhat photogenic appeal to them.

My face twisted in disgust as I realized what I just thought. Never in my life did I think I'd refer to balls as fucking photogenic. Being reborn must have given me brain damage.

Turning away from that, my eyes returned to the scales lining my torso and stomach, helpfully framing my tits. Really glad I didn't lose those too. Losing my pussy sucked but losing my tits too? That would be way too far.

Something I hadn't noticed before but definitely noticed now was that I actually seemed to have muscles now, and not just the abs I normally got from my overactive metabolism. I flexed, taking in the modest swell of my biceps where none had been before, and couldn't help but grin. Combined with my new look, I actually looked pretty cool. At least cooler than I did before. I guess the changes weren't all bad.

I still would have liked a fucking warning before the sex change though. My grin fell into a scowl as I caught sight of my dick again, and I brought a hand up in front of my face, making my gear appear with a flash of light.

“Oi, Nidhogg!” I glared at the gem, “You mind telling me what the fuck this is?”

The gem glowed a bright orange as the dragon's voice came through, “What are you talking about, human?”

“I'm taking about all these fucking changes you made to my body! You said you were making me strong enough to handle your power. What part of that makes all this,” I gestured vaguely at my naked body in the mirror, “necessary?”

“The cosmetic changes are not my doing. It would seem that a byproduct of altering your biology with my power has given you a more draconic appearance.” Nidhogg was silent for a moment, “I assumed you would enjoy the changes so I did not say anything. Was I mistaken?”

“Oh no, I look fantastic; I’m really digging the punk vibe. Always wanted to try it. What I don't appreciate is the FUCKNG DICK AND BALLS HANGING BETWEEN MY LEGS! Like what the hell, dude!? Was that an accident too!?”

“No, that was intentional. I have witnessed your habits and know of your preferences for mating with women. I imagined that you would prefer to have the tools with which to do so.”

My eye twitched, “If you've seen my habits, and I assume by ‘habits’ you mean porn, then you know good and damn well I can have sex with women just fine with a pussy!”

I sighed, rubbing my face, “Whatever, that's not important. Can you change it back? Please?”

“No.” He rumbled, and I took a deep breath so I didn't hit something. I wasn't sure anything in the bathroom could withstand my full strength.

“NO!? The fuck do you mean no!?” I snarled at my hand, “Are you being a prick on purpose!? Fucking change and me back! I didn't agree to this shit!”

“Watch your tone, human.” Nidhogg growled, “I cannot change you back because the effort would kill you. The circumstances before were very specific, you were basically dead even without my help. Attempting to change a healthy body in such a way would snap your mind like a twig. Even I wouldn't be able to stop it.”

“So I'm stuck like this?”

“Unless you wish to find another Devil with poison such as the one you killed, yes.”

Fantastic. That was just what I wanted to hear.

“Is there at least a way I can hide it? Like a spell or something? I asked somewhat desperately as I looked down at my new appendage, “I actually like wearing skirts, you know?”

But Nidhogg didn't respond. The glowing gem had dimmed to its normal color, indicating that the dragon was no longer present, and I doubted he would be back any time soon.

I dismissed my Sacred Gear, muttering to myself as I went to turn on the shower, “The next time I see him, I'm going to wring that bastard out like a dish towel.”

Maybe Miyo would be able to help me after she calmed down. She knew magic, right? Hopefully she’d be able to, if not fix, then at least disguise my impromptu sex change. I doubted my mom or dad would be very understanding about their daughter suddenly growing a third leg.

…Shit. What was I going to tell Mom and Dad?