Arika, I’m glad you matured.

“Wow, Arika, you really have grown….”

With a smile slightly covered by her palm, my Grandma stood there, and that’s how I knew my silly plan really worked. I clenched my fist as I raised it in victory. My impromptu plan really worked to get into this space once again!

“Oh yeah! It worked!”

I yelled on top of my lungs, feeling light as I understood it was just some form of lucid dreaming I forced in with magic. However, the fact that I am here may not be my Grandma’s concern to begin with, as she just giggled happily with her palm covering her hand again.

“It really surprised me that you would bring your boyfriend to this…”

“Wait, what boyfriend?!”

As I looked down to my feet that my Grandma pointed at with her giggle, a guy was sleeping like a baby as he clung to my feet as if it was some kind of plushie. Of course, it was no one else than Rama. I sighed loudly— he was accidentally taken to this space too because he held my arms when he fell asleep. Thankfully, he’s still asleep….

“My, my. To have someone interested in you that easily in this world… I underestimated my own granddaughter, it seems.”
“Grandma, listen up! This is a misunderstanding….!”

I know it’s a space of dreams, but I could feel my face flared red to the ears, maybe even back in the waking reality. I flap my arms in panic as I tried to explain what’s going on with my own words, but Grandma’s little giggle that accompanied any of the explanations just made me feel more embarrassed as I knew she’s not taking my reasoning seriously at all.

I then slapped both of my own cheeks, as carefully so it won’t wake me up back to the reality I’m getting used to. This isn’t the time to do this! Even though that was the biggest magic stone Dellney had, our time in this space must’ve been limited. That’s why I need to make my questions as compact as possible! First thing first…

“Grandma! You should’ve known, right? What should we do to get Rui back? I’m worried… and I’m sure Rama is too, even when he’s sleeping soundly like this right now!”

“That kitty I gave to your boyfrie— I mean, Rama, right? I may be able to help in my own ways when you’re awake. I don’t want that child to be harmed either….” Grandma tilted her head a little, as she started to think.

However, it may be because of how his name is called, Rama opened his eyes and jolted awake from his sleeping-inside-a-dream state. It took quite some staring at me and Grandma for him to react.

“Where am I?! Who are you guys?!”

What he said made me realize something important— he didn’t recognize me and Grandma. As I gazed down to myself again, it surely wasn’t the form of Angelica I had started getting used to being. It was the good ol’ fired office lady Arika from my previous world, complete with a suit I last wore before I got transported here.

But before I could say anything about it, Grandma with her signature smile bowed down to him and patted his head like a caring relative. In some ways, she must’ve thought of her as one to Rama as she misunderstood him as my boyfriend….

“Take good care of Arika, okay, Mr. Boyfriend?”

“Arika…. Wait, don’t tell me you’re— Hey, what’s your ___ing problem, probably Arika?!”

“Yes, I am indeed Arika! It just feels unfair, that’s all! She’s my Grandma, after all!”

I shoved Rama away. Him being babied and head-patted by Grandma somehow made me feel jealous— since I haven’t been babied by Grandma for years! It seems like Grandma understood my sentiments too as she giggled and gave me a head-pat in return— wait, we have no time for this!

“Wait, wait! Grandma! You said you were going to help us with Rui, right?” I asked Grandma once again in a rush, all while she’s still patting my head.

“Yes, I did. Technically, I could within my own limited abilities. That far I can tell you.”

….As expected, despite ascending to some sort of Goddesshood in this universe, Grandma probably still has her own limitations and not almighty as one would’ve thought from a Goddess. It’s something we have to figure out in later terms, especially if I want to navigate through this world.

“I have many questions that I wanted to ask you regarding that, but for now, can you assure Rui is alright?”

“Yes. He’s stronger than you thought. He’ll be fine,” Grandma nodded with a smile. “I see you all got help from that child, Dellney. She gathered quite a variety of pieces I let down that I’ll probably be able to help in some forms. However, I can’t say for sure everyone else in that… Temple thing is as easy to convince as her. Are you sure you wanted to confront them and not run away, Arika?”

“What do you mean—”

“I mean, you almost harmed yourself today permanently with your misunderstanding of your extent of magic….”

Grandma looked down worriedly. This is definitely about that time I used vague teleportation magic in a row that Rana scolded about, isn’t it? She’s worried about that, obviously— She wouldn’t want her granddaughter to come to another world only to be permanently crippled by overuse of mana and magic.

“It’s a shame that you lost that child Rui, but as I said, he’s stronger than you’d expect. I’ll help him to stay safe in my own way.”

I clenched my fist. Grandma’s worries made sense to me. It’s much safer to just travel on our own from here on than risking it all to save one life that probably doesn’t even need to be saved if he has Grandma’s back up in some form. Yet, as I thought again of Rui’s fluffy fur and the way he’s friendly to me, I couldn’t help but deny that in favor of helping it. I can’t just leave him alone without even trying!

“But Grandma—”

“I’m well aware that some Temple members might be dangerous.” Rama suddenly spoke up as he bowed down. “I’ll assure you that even if they are— I’ll be there to help Arika in her adventure and protect her with all my life— Miss Real-Angelica.”

“Oh my…”

Grandma blushed as she put a hand on her mouth, gasping at Rama’s unexpected side of chivalry. Well, at least it was unexpected for me, that I ended up finding him cool. Maybe it’ll be fine if he’s really a boyfriend of mine like Grandma was saying— wait, what am I thinking here?! I need to convince Grandma for now!

“Grandma, I’m—”

“You have a good boyfriend in the first few days of getting here already. That’s my granddaughter.”

“...He’s not my boyfriend….!” I yelled correcting her, before I coughed up to make myself heard. “A–anyway, you heard him! Grandma, you said I should have a fun adventure like I was a kid, right?”

“I sure did.”

“I can’t have a fun adventure here if I carelessly left anyone or anything behind like that. Even if he’s just a Cheshire— even if he’s just a big cat!”

Grandma’s eyes widened in surprise, before she began smiling gently. There is a certain feeling she wanted to say that’s reflected in her eyes, but I couldn’t tell for sure what it is. It does make my heart feel warm and cozy, so maybe not knowing anything would’ve been just fine, even if there’s a little tear on Grandma’s eye.

“...Arika, you really have matured.” Grandma said with a smile, wiping the small tear on her eyes. “Looks like time is almost up… That’s the extent of the magical stone’s power even if it’s quite big of a piece. You two will be back soon to your reality ....”

“Already?! That was faster than I expected!” I complained, even when I probably had no rights for complaining. Light started to envelop both me and the confused Rama, and that’s how I noticed what Grandma said about how our time’s up is really true.

“Right. Arika, I should let you have your special gift. The magic stone should’ve been leaving it automatically before you woke up ....”

~*~*~*~

The gift Grandma told me was a piece of my memory, long forgotten in years of living. I should've expected it. After all, the first time I had contact with such a stone, I had a similar dream, too.

It was really just a small, peaceful moment in my past. I was reading comic books as my Grandma was busy with something I later learned as a ‘Raid’ in online gaming terms, where she banded together with other people online to defeat a large boss monster. Apparently I got bored with my comics, as I slid to my Grandma to watch her try and defeat the boss monster together with her friends.

As my memory plays of me watching my Grandma play as ‘Angelica’, suddenly, I feel a sudden spark of magical inspiration. It was as if I learned how the real Angelica is supposed to use her magic, especially offensively….