Stuck Together

It was nearly noon when I awoke from my slumber. Lyra was roasting something by the fire, while Fione was back in her adventurer outfit and tinkering with the same weapon Komoria had.

Komoria had her head down, while she slept sitting up on the log. I guess she stayed up a little too late.

Still…

I eyed Fione who was still happily messing around with the weapon that even Komoria couldn’t figure out. The machine guy probably forgot the instructions for her, but it looked sketchy as fuck.

She pulled a few things out and shoved some wires back in before closing the side. “Phew...I think I fixed it.” She wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead. “Komoria told me this was a love ray, so I wonder…”

She pointed it right at me.

What? Komoria had to be joking...right?

“Now hold on a moment, that thing is a little—”

"Be mine!" She squeezed the small trigger.

“—dicey…”

A massive purple ray beamed out of its small frame. Not only did it cover me, but it also enveloped the slumbering Komoria to my right.

I...feel...sleepy.

I opened my eyes to see both Lyra and Fione looking over me, a flash of concern in their eyes. 

Screw that princess! She is going to pay for knocking me out!

“She’s awake...but she looks different, right?”

“Raze just disappeared, you said? But this cannot be a coincidence. How vexing. That magical object truly is something of wonder."

What were they talking about? I was right here? Did I hit my head when I fell off the log? Or maybe the beam turned me invisible. An invisible Raze sounded pretty sick to me.

I let my back sink, feeling a lot more exhausted then I was earlier. Did I age? Why did my shoulders feel so damn stiff?

“Why are you too looking at me like that…?” My voice trailed off. It wasn’t my voice and yet it was my voice. What the hell was wrong with me? I did not sound like myself. I sounded like—

“So you are okay, Komoria? Are you hurt anywhere? Raze disappeared, but you have also clearly been affected.” Lyra held out her hand and I instinctively took it. It was an action that felt familiar, though old to my mind. Why was that?

She pulled me back upright, but I felt even heavier than before. Were my shoulders always under this much pressure? And my skin... Wait! Did they just call me Komoria?! Is the scorpion finally going nuts after all those brawls?

“W-w-wait! Why did you call me Komoria, you dumb arthropod? I’m Raz— What the fuck? My voice...it sounds just like her! What the hell is going on?!” I screamed in an unmistakably soft, familiar, and feminine 

I touched my neck with my hands. For one thing, One of them was covered with my [Wrath] piece of armor, but it looked way smaller and slimmer, perfectly fitting onto my new arm.

I looked down. Woah

“Why do I have tits?! They're huge too! Hrph...so heavy... Like wearing a backpack on my chest.”

Lyra approached me closer. “So you are Raze…? Your demeanor sure matches.”

I nodded. “But why do I have boobs and tan skin and my back feels like there's something swaying down on me and—”

“Raze,” Fione said coldly. “I think you should see yourself in the mirror.”

She thrust a small reflection in front of my face...but it wasn't my face.

“WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUCK?!!!”

My face...it fits Komira’s exactly, my hairstyle too. I had those childish twin tails and large fluffy ears above them. I had her adventurer dress on to boot. It was the black one that was cut by the waste and her long socks and boots. I had her large rack staring right up at me as well… It felt so weird.

Two pitch black wings sprouted from my shoulders. I really was the spitting image of Komoria.

...Well, except for a few things. For starters, my hair was the color of ash and my eyes were closer to pink than red. My [Gluttony] and [Envy] marks were missing, but I retained my [Wrath] piece of armor as well as my crimson-colored scanner.

What happened to us? Did we…

“...Did we combine…?” I asked in a voice that was very much not my own.

Lyra hung her head while Fione turned away and whistled conspicuously. She reminded me of whose fault this was in the first place!

I moved to grab her, but the weight of my body I was used to was way off its normal axis from the introduction of wings and massive tits...and so I fell on my face.

“Urg… Fione! You twisted bitch! Why the hell did you fire that thing at us? Where the hell is Komoria, I don’t sense her anywhere?” Could she be dead? I don't know what I would do if she was.a

Fione veered backward and started her ramble. “I-I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t know that it would combine you… Well, I did recently discover that the name of this creation is the Combine-a-nator 9,000, but Komoria said it was a love beam so I thought...you know…" She gazed at me with upturned eyes. "Anyway, I’m sorry! I will find a way to fix this, Raze! Just hang on…”

Why the hell was she acting bashful and apologetic now of all times?

“Komoria was joking with you...she thought it would make you obsess over it… Why did I know that? Oh… I can read her memories. So we really are in one body, huh…"

Does that mean she can read mine? But where is she?

I tapped my temple where my bangs now were

This body was really troubling. Long hair that I needed to stop from flying in my face, wings that felt far too heavy for anyone to carry, especially someone skinny and weak like myself—I mean Komoria. Having an ample bosom was also something I never really expected to deal with again.

Back when we fought the Imp Lord, I had to disguise myself as one of the imp women I killed, but it felt fake and more like a disguise. This felt really real—it was real. My mind was in utter turmoil. I had to determine what memories were mine and what were Komoria’s. If they clashed then what would happen to either of us?

“Anyway…” I puffed out my chest which ended in a jiggle of flesh. “We need to get separated soon...I think our memories will start to merge or something soon and we will become some weird being that isn't exactly me or Komoria…”

This could be bad...like really fucking bad.

Fione sized me up before finally opening her mouth. She must have really been taking all of me—well, all of her—in. “I once read a tale about a sage in the east that knows of every cure in the world. If we can find her, then maybe….”

I scowled. “You want us to find someone from your fucking fairy tale?” I spat, speaking in a tone I could never dream of Komoria speaking in, even in her eldritch form. “I don’t even know what to do anymore…”

I sighed loudly, but Fione was quick to reassure me and placed her hand on ‘my’ shoulder while saying: “I’ll use my [Temporal Distortion] Skill on your split memories in the meantime as for confirmation on whether the sage was real or not...well there was a way to solve that too.”

I gave her a puzzled look as she strangely slid her slender fingers down my arm. It felt way too sensitive. Must be this new body…

Right...new...female...body.

A horrifying thought plagued my mind. How the fuck am I going to take a piss? My nether regions were already giving me an off-putting feeling that felt a little familiar. 

Also, where did my scythe go… It just disappeared when I woke... And now I'm pretty sure I gotta piss!

The situation after that went like this: Lyra took me aside and explained some things I didn't want to know. I ended up just holding it in which worked out because of Fione proposition.

“My attendant once told me that a special information network spans the whole continent. And get this! It's run by a few people in a town in the middle of nowhere! If we go there, then I’m sure we can find the truth of the sage.”

Lyra nodded away. “That sounds like an appropriate move...but I must say, humans tend to treat us beast-kin with quite prejudices. I don’t mind it, but it may restrict us from getting what we need…”

I agreed with her but wanted to make something clear. “I’m human...I can easily walk on in there and...oh…shit”

“So you realize you are no longer human. The three of us are all beast-kin, though, with a hat, Fione could easily pass as human.”

Lyra was very right and yet I didn’t want to believe it. I snuck a peak at my chest and then at the wings on either side of me. I also recalled the canines that stuck out of my mouth in my reflection when I grinned. I was most definitely not human…

But wait!

“What about using [Envy]? I could change back into myself. That should be easy...right?”

Lyra looked at me with a grim visage. What did she know, that I didn’t?

“I found this piece of paper inside of the playset Komoria was given. Please read it.”

She handed me a piece of paper with very neat handwriting on it.

Dear new Champion,

Here are the Conbine-a-nator 9,000 instructions: First of all, always be aware of what you want to mix. When you point it at a target, make sure the other object you want to combine it with is adjacent or it won’t work.

I must also warn you that there is no way to reverse the process, but do not fret! Your stats will be combined as well as everything else. Your memories, Skills, derivative magic. All will be combined with the other object/person...besides the ages. It picks one at random because that’s just weird if you combined someone and they perished of old age or were in a far too crippled state to do much. I hope whoever receives this weapon is able to accomplish great things with it. It sure made me strong. One last thing...if you have a blessing or Skill from anyone in either Heaven or Dark Heaven...those abilities become null and void—negated. I hate the divine, good and evil alike. Follow these guidelines and be cognizant of what I said when you use it. The weapon also has a recharge time of 24 hours, so don’t miss!

With best regards,

Machine God King Emperor Sexta IV

“Why didn't we know this earlier!” I screamed like a teenage girl (which I guess I was now).

“I only discovered it recently, but Komoria must have missed it. You saw what is stated, though. You won’t be able to use any of your Skills from the gods.”

“Then how the fuck am I supposed to fight anything, let alone fix this! The Scythe and rabbit were my go-to kill weapons! I can't even Soul Duel! What does Komoria even have without my Skills? Fire blasts? Healing? That won't do shit for me!”

“Geez, Raze. You really sound like a pent-up city girl right now. Are you on your monthly cycle or something?” Fione teased.

“Monthy cycl—what...what? NO! That’s a guy joke anyway, how do you know it?” Do fantasy worlds have those kinds of jokes?

She covered her mouth with her hand and giggled. “I have observed many retainers of my father in my life...I have heard more than my share of fighting and gossip. He-he.”

She walked up close to me and grabbed a really sensitive part of my chest. Yes...she was groping one of my boobs… Goddamn you, woman! What's wrong with you!

What is up with this perverted princess? I would never dream of this shit!

“Ugh...can...stop..will..you— Eeeeck!” I jumped up as I squealed and clasped a hand over my mouth to silence my squeal as she clamped down harder with her iron grip.

“Ah-ha-ha! How does it feel to be the one being groped? I bet you have tormented many women this way, but now you are in the same situation! A man now as a girl... That shift of power just excites me!”

She was back to her darker self. The predatory one that I recalled last night. I did not like this side of her. She was inching toward one of those psychotic women from movies. 

I haven't ever done something like that...have I? Just who does she take me for? Wasn’t she into me? What is this mental manipulation?

“Ohh, your face is beet red. And that scream—so adorable! I could just eat you up!” she beamed.

OKAY, this chick has to be bipolar or something like that.

I finally regained enough composure to swat her hand away. I did not want to feel that sensation again. It was too...stimulating. Fuck!

Fione frowned at my thousand-yard stare but said nothing. I turned to Lyra. “Sooo, are we going to just waltz in there as beast-kin?”

“We would most likely be fine. The town is rather docile and known for their lumber. The amount of guards stationed around is few and far between due to them being far away from the Lord of Calamity's borders,” Fione butted in with.

“And what town is this?” It sounded familiar.

Fione’s lips curled into a sinister smile. It scared me. There was something about her that she wasn't telling us.

“Oh, silly Raze. You have been there before with your bat friend. The town is called Listra.”

“H-how did you know that?” I trembled. “It was just Komoria and I then… The fuck?”

Fione narrowed her eyes and took a step closer. “Let’s just say I have been your fan...for quite some time.”

I unconsciously gulped as her gaze tore into me. Why do all the crazy bitches always follow me?!