The Demon Lord Is An Angel
Chapter 347: The Sisters

Chapter 347: The Sisters

Bright light and pain woke Ferro.

He found himself in a room that was almost clinically white, where it wasn’t entirely made of metal, laying in the softest bed he could remember, and surrounded by strange devices that beeped steadily.

Where...

He tried to ask aloud, but his mouth felt like it was full of cotton and sand. And when he had more of his thoughts gathered he noticed he was the only one in the room, except for a white version of the insectoid machines that hovered patiently nearby, its abdomen hosting a range of tools and a small pair of arms with fingers arranged in circles at the end.

It was with these strange fingers, which rotated in or out to form six-digited hands, that the drone presented Ferro with a cup of water.

As soon as he realized, he gulped it completely, using his tongue to scrape out the vessel. When he was done, the drone offered its "hand" and received the cup.

"Thank you," Ferro bowed his head, and the drone chirruped happily and returned the gesture, before flying off to deposit the cup somewhere out of sight.

Ferro noticed then that, oddly, his body did not feel much need for water, which might have had something to do with the bag of clear liquid suspended above him, with a tube leading into his arm.

The sight was jarring, but when he jumped at the realization it was in his arm, the pain told him that taking it out was probably not the best idea, since it was clearly there for a purpose and he wasn’t dead.

The bag looked mostly deflated. Otherwise, he might have tried to tear it open to quench his throat some more.

It took him a few moments to realize that it wasn’t made of glass, but some kind of clear, flexible material.

This whole place must be worth a fortune...

He thought about the things the delving crew had found on the way down.

Dusty storages with preserved, unreadable books.

Hollow skeletons of steel laying flat, perhaps buildings, but difficult to say because of all the rust and growth.

Evidence that once people lived deep within the most dangerous dungeon on Ayther, and not just on its topmost layers.

That was to say nothing of the fantastical monsters and plants and vistas that made Ferro feel as if he’d journeyed through a hundred lands when he wasn’t worrying over how to survive in a camp that didn’t need him.

He was starting to wonder if he should try to stand up when the drone hovered back, one of its small arms taking him by the wrist while the other gently extracted what turned out to be the longest needle Ferro had ever seen from his arm.

The process was surprisingly painless, and a moment later the drone used another strange limb to spray the spot where the needle had been with some sort of stinging solution that closed the tiny wound right away.

His arms were still a mess of burnt fur, but he was alive, and as he slipped off the bed, he found himself wondering, "What kind of place is this?"

The drone made some kind of... not angry, but negative noise. And then it hovered over to a section of wall and made a two-toned chime that drew Ferro’s attention.

For no other reason than that it seemed to want him to approach, Ferro approached and was surprised when what had looked like a set of lines from floor to ceiling split open, revealing themselves to be a door.

The drone hovered its way out and to the left.

"Hey wait!" Ferro ran out of the room but he needn’t have rushed, as the drone was hovering next to an open door. Inside of it was a small close, and he saw his clothes resting in some kind of tray, completely clean.

He realized he’d been naked the whole time, but was so used to being scantily clad that he hadn’t noticed.

Nearby, on some hangers just above his height, were hooded robes that seemed to be held together by some sort of teeth arranged in lines. At the top of one he found a tab, and when he pulled on it, it went Zzzp! in a way that was oddly satisfying.

Instead of wearing his harem things, he fit himself into the smallest of the strange robes, which could be opened along the sides. Even though it was the smallest size available, it still went to just above his knees, and he found himself wishing for some sort of belt.

Attached to it was a clasp with some odd jewels in six colors. And when he touched one, the robe suddenly shifted from pastel blue to yellow. He tried the other buttons before deciding he liked green the best, and that was when the drone chirped at him again.

"Oh... um... sorry," Ferro bowed his head and received the same gesture in return.

Pocketing his old clothes, he stepped outside and the door closed with a hiss.

He continued to follow the drone through corridors where the walls became clear.

Empty rooms suggested this was a place meant for lots of people, but the only things he could recognize were chairs and couches. Everything else was strange and alien.

One room contained rows and rows of plants, and another had what looked like machines that were creating meat as they hovered over trays.

Another room had machines that were creating strange shapes out of metal, by ejecting strands of the stuff precisely into formation. Larger drones, many of them with abdomens that had flaming tips on their stingers, hovered into the room to pick up completed parts before leaving back the way they came.

The first room that actually looked lived-in was one with a giant table in the middle. Off to one side were a set of metal sticks that tapered to a rounded nub, and a circular board with some darts sticking in it, ringed by what looked like numbers. A set of cards lay scattered on the floor, and it was the first room with plants that were in standalone pots, more decorative than anything else. A pile of books occupied one chair entirely, stacked haphazardly and clearly worn with age and use.

On and on he walked, until at last the drone hovered to a stop at a final door. One that opened to -

Stars.

The first thing Ferro noticed was the stars. Even though the Duat had its own day and night cycle, stars were never a feature of the latter. But here, he could see stars in unfamiliar formations, twinkling in a night sky that seemed more real than anything he’d seen since the last time he saw the true sky.

And at the center of the sky was a pillar of light, which drew his gaze down until he noticed the grass and the trees. The manicured lawn with a small trail of stepping stones.

And in the middle of that path was, "Santina! Lawre!" Ferro called out.

He and Lawre were seated at a table, drinking from cups of clear crystal. And across from them were three human women. One was young, perhaps not even a teenager. The other was middle-aged. And the last was old, but there was a strength to her eyes and body even so.

All three of them were wearing dark, skin-tight suits with glowing lines that followed the hexagonal patterns of the material.

But there was something disturbing about them. Something Ferro couldn’t quite put his finger on.

As everyone turned to look at Ferro, Star called out, "There you are! It’s been hours. Lawre already ate without you."

"It was really good!" Lawre beamed. Someone had braided his mane and added a yellow bow askance of one of his ears.

"Where are we?" Ferro asked as he took the final seat.

"Now, Ferry, don’t be rude. We’re guests. Introduce yourselves to our hosts."

"Oh, uh..." Ferro stood once more. "I’m Ferro. Thank you for, uh, helping us..." As he nodded his thanks, as with the drone, a small swarm of smaller machines came bearing food, which they placed in front of his spot.

His stomach growled but he held back from touching it, not wanting to seem rude.

"Pleased to meet you, Ferro," the old human spoke. "I am Aiko, the Elder, Numbered 8490."

"I’m Aiko 8491," the middle-aged woman said.

That was when it clicked for Ferro that these two women sounded almost exactly alike. And because they had the same first name - though why they used numbers after was beyond him - it was almost like they were the same person...

"I’m Aiko..." the youth said, clearly not used to Common. "Nice to meet you."

"Forgive our sister, she is still learning your language," Aiko the Elder said.

"Aiko... You mean like Eyko, the goddess? Why do you all have the same name?" Ferro asked.

"Because we are the same person," Aiko the Middle answered. "Copies of the first. We have our own names for ourselves, so at this point ’Ayko’ is more of a title for us."

"The one you call Eyko was one of us," the Elder said. "Sent out long ago to help organize the survivors of the disaster that befell Ayther, following the descent of this facility to your world. She returned and was sent out once more. But then she did not return."

"That was 129, right?" the Middle asked.

"109," the Elder replied. "But enough introductions. We-" her gaze quickly snapped next to Ferro, where the younger one was petting him awkwardly between the ears, having left her seat a moment before.

"Yawarakai~" she cooed.

"What’s she saying?" Ferro asked, unsure of what to do. A goddess... a copy of a goddess was petting him.

"She says you’re soft. Don’t mind her," the Elder answered as the youngest started to twirl her fingers through Ferro’s mane. "As I was saying, we’ve spent the last few hours acquainting ourselves with your friends. The surface has changed much since we last investigated, it seems. "

"7387," the Middle interjected.

"Indeed," the Elder replied. "From what we have gathered, and the fortunate timing of your arrival, you, Ferro, have a significant part to play in what’s to come."

"Me? Wh-what do I have to do with anything?"

"Perhaps so. That is your choice. But of the three of you here, you are the most qualified for our needs," the Middle said.

"What needs are those?" Ferro asked. "What would a goddess... er, goddesses want from me?"

The Elder laughed, and the Middle chuckled a bit. The Youngest just looked at them, confused.

The Middle began the process of answering. "Gods we are not, just clones. Copies of a woman who lived and died in a completely different universe. We pass our memories onto each other when our bodies can bear it."

"And we are at a crucial point. One for which we have decided that we shall be the last of our kind," the Elder continued. "We would like you, Ferro, to carry our memories for us."

From underneath the table, the Middle produced a thin band of silvery, braided metal. "This contains all the knowledge we have accumulated for over eight thousand lifetimes. Touching this section here-"

"No need to bore him with the technical details. Come, Ferro, eat. Speak with your friends. There is still plenty of time for you to decide and learn. And then after that, we can prepare you three."

"Prepare us for what?" Ferro asked.

"To meet God."

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