> Ellie PoV

I’ve gathered everyone in the conference room.

Well, it’s really just the living room with a large table in the middle, but that’s not important.

It’s time to give them an actual briefing.

“Our mission is to find a titan.” (Ellie)

“If you need to find a titan you should have said so earlier! I can lead you to the one called Dorr. My team and I met him during our travels.” (Roel)

“Really now? You met an actual titan just like that!? You know we had to take down a bloody dragon before-” (Kelly)

“Kelly! Not important. I appreciate the input Roel, but we need a specific one, know as the Soulforger.” (Ellie)

“The Soulforger?! Wasn’t that the one that was... you know…” (Brand)

“Completely bat-poop crazy? Yes, that one.” (Draglael)

“Ah, excuse me Mrs Quasse, but who is this shiny know-it-all lady?” (Roel)

“That’s Draglael, the Steelmother. Also a titan. She’s here to help us find the one we are looking for.” (Ellie)

“Huh? But… can those beings really be that small? The one we met was at a colossal treant!” (Roel)

“I used to be larger, you know!? A 50-meter tall mass of steel and awesome!” (Draglael)

“Then, how did you obtain that form?” (Roel)

“The miracle of dieting!” (Draglael)

“Draglael, do you want to get stabbed in the face again?” (Ellie)

She kept trying to crack those stupid jokes, I warned her multiple times to take this seriously.

After thirty knife wounds to the face she said she would stop trying to be funny.

I guess since she healed herself almost instantly, the lesson didn’t sink in.

Maybe I should have went for the full course of 100 stabs after all?

“Fine! Fine, I get it. Sheesh.” (Draglael)

“Honestly… And you call yourself a mother with that attitude…” (Ellie)

“Better than you, Mrs Stabby McPsycho.” (Draglael)

*SHLUP*

“AAAARGH!” (Draglael)

“What did I just say?” (Ellie)

“WHY!? WHY IS IT ALWAYS MY FACE!?” (Draglael)

She’s trying to pull the Letterminator out of her left eye socket.

I have to thank Olboun for that later, it really is a good weapon.

“Mrs Quasse! What are you doing to that poor woman!?” (Roel)

“Discipline. Don’t worry, she’s fine. There isn’t even any blood, see?” (Ellie)

“B-But she’s a woman, right?! How can you cold-heartedly attack her just for that?!” (Roel)

“Mistress’s words of wisdom are never wrong. The filthy vermin deserved what it got for ignoring them.” (Ariel)

“... What?” (Roel)

“Trust me, it’s your loss if you mind it.” (Kelly)

“I don’t… quite… follow…” (Roel)

“She’s saying don’t let the small stuff bother you. You’ll live longer.” (Brand)

“Here, have a Calming Cookie and relax yourself!” (Lara A)

“Th-thanks…” ( Roel)

Why is Zublos raising his hand like that?

Oh, he must want to ask a question!

“What is it Zublos?” (Ellie)

Now he’s making some weird hand gestures to Lara who’s sitting beside him.

Probably related to his promise to keep quiet for Kira’s sake.

At least someone here has decent manners!

“He’s asking how finding this titan relates to Kiressara’s... condition.” (Lara A)

Lara is being careful not to spill the beans on Kira’s pregnancy.

Well, we had to tell Zublos to get his opinion on the matter.

And since it was a complicated topic, Lara had to be present so we could understand him better.

She was super excited for Kira when she found out, but at the same time she had several scandalous misunderstandings.

That sort of thinking is why we want to be careful.

I want to avoid starting any weird rumors that might hurt Kira or our family.

“Long story short, we need that titan’s power to make Kira better.” (Ellie)

“Okay… but will that titan just willingly cooperate like that with total strangers?” (Roel)

“Draglael?” (Ellie)

Looks like she’s fully recovered already, as expected.

“Haah, that stung like a cunt! Honestly why don’t you-” (Draglael)

“Answer the question or else you get the knife again.” (Ellie)

“Okay, okay! Damned psycho... Right. The problem with Skittles is she’s the only one of us that inhabits a flesh and blood shell. A titan’s vast power trapped in a fragile vessel like that does weird things to your mind, see?” (Draglael)

Why is Zublos nodding with a face like he’s being sympathetic?

Well, either that or he’s smelling something bad.

“As a result of being completely fooked in the head, she has several personalities inside her. If we catch the friendly one, she’ll help out for sure.” (Draglael)

“... Why do I get the impression that’s not going to happen?” (Kelly)

“It’s unlikely, yes. She has loads of different sides of her and only one of those will be willing to help us right away.” (Draglael)

“Then, what are the other ones?” (Brand)

“There’s ten of them in total.” (Draglael)

Wow, that many!?

As expected of titans, even their mental illnesses are on a different level!

“Her original personality - the white one - is the only reasonable one. That’s the one we want. If we get angry red or feral brown she’s likely to attack us on sight.” (Draglael)

“Titans can get violent?” (Kelly)

“She’s completely bonkers, remember?” (Draglael)

“Right, right. Stupid question. What’s with the colors though?” (Kelly)

“Ah right, it’s the color of her hair. It changes whenever a new personality takes over. Trust me, that slag is extremely easy to read once you meet her.” (Draglael)

Okay, I take it back.

The name Skittles is perfect for her.

But if things escalate to the point of a fight breaking out, will she still be willing to help us?

“What do we do if we don’t get the white one?” (Ellie)

“Depends on the personality. For example, if it’s one of the violent ones then you have to pound some sense into her until that part of her retreats and a new one takes its place. Also, it’s a bit of a tall order, but if you can completely decimate her body, her original personality will resurface for sure.” (Draglael)

Okay, that’s a bit of a tall order.

If Draglael and Umph are anything to go by, titans are super sturdy.

That Elder Dragon’s regeneration was good, but those two completely overshadow it.

“Isn’t that basically telling us to kill her!?” (Roel)

“Titans are immortal. As long as we make a new shell for her, she’ll be just fine. Besides, I’m sure she’ll run off to get a new flesh and blood one from that chrome dome the instant she gets a chance.” (Draglael)

“If we’re going to fight her, we need to know what she can throw at us.” (Ellie)

“Well, the red one is a mass of rage while the brown one is a ball of instincts. Red mostly tries to punch you into soup while the brown one will ensnare you in thread and weaken you with poison.” (Draglael)

“Thread and poison!? Why does she sound like a spider?” (Brand)

“Because she is. Her shell is a spider body with a woman’s upper torso sticking out of the front side of it. The first and last of the Arachne. Progenitor of all spider monsters on this world.” (Draglael)

“Then… those things in the Depths…” (Brand)

“That’s right. Those are her kin. Her… vengeance.” (Draglael)

Brand and Kelly’s expressions get dark all of a sudden.

The majority of monsters inhabiting the depths under Ecebis were giant spiders, right?

That titan seems to have filled it to the brim with monsters for some reason...

Those senators said the threat in the Depths reduced drastically when Khamis and Draglael woke up, but that doesn’t make sense.

Come to think of it, that thing that we fought during the ceremony with Umph was also in the shape of a spider.

It seemed really determined to stop the whole thing from happening.

Seems Skittles has a grudge against Umph and/or Draglael and wanted to keep them dormant.

But since that’s no longer possible, she lost her reason to send spider monsters at them?

On the other hand, it’s also possible that Skittles is the origin of that Calling thing that gave Kelly so much trouble.

She’s obviously connected to it in some way.

If you think about it, the Calling is just an extra-potent curse targeted at titans.

Curses, souls and madness are right up her alley, right?

It’s all connected in some way, but I’m missing part of the picture.

If it was Kira, she’d probably have seen right through this...

But ultimately, none of that is important right now.

Knowing the truth won’t change what we need to do to save Kira and our baby.

If I remember right, Kelly said titans aren’t inherently evil, they just are.

Discerning their motives is like trying to guess what the wind is doing.

But if that one really is as insane as Draglael says, I think we can safely file her away under the Ancient Evil category.

Thankfully we have our own Ancient Evil with us this time.

He’ll be really useful as long as he just follows his instructions.

Same with Roel, and pretty much everyone else when I think about it.

I pity the person who has to give the orders around here.

…

Oh wait, that’s me!

* * *

“Yo. I’ve been meaning to talk about that gryphon of yours. He seems a bit odd.” (Draglael)

Draglael approaches me in the yard after the meeting.

She said we’d reach that crazy lady’s position in a few hours, so I’m in the middle of preparations.

“Hmm? You mean Puff?” (Ellie)

“Kyak?” (Puff)

The saddle we got for him from the capital had gotten too small before we realized it.

He’s still growing and it’s been a while since he wore it.

I’m making sure the adjustments Nano made to the straps fit comfortably and snugly around his body.

Preparations are important.

“Puff. You named him Puff. Why would you name him something ridiculous like that?” (Draglael)

“Show her, Puff.” (Ellie)

“Huuuu-KUHAAAAAA-” (Puff)

*FWOOOOSH*

He draws a line in the air with a dragon-like breath of blue flame.

You can really feel the heat from it, especially in contrast to the cold air!

Thankfully the weather so close to the polar ice cap is dry.

Getting heavy snow onto the flying tower might cause us to go over weight capacity, you see.

“-AAAAH! Kah. Koff.” (Puff)

Ah, he choked a bit on the leftover smoke!

Well, the breath is magical in nature rather than chemical, so he should be fine.

“Good boy! That was perfect!” (Ellie)

I pat his neck several times as a reward.

“Kuuuuu.” (Puff)

He’s looking awfully proud of himself, as well he should be!

Both the amount and his control over it grow day by day!

“Who’s mommy’s awesome harbinger of destruction? Yes you are! Yes, you, are!” (Ellie)

I praise him as I keep petting and scratching his head.

He especially likes this one spot under his beak.

Ah, I probably shouldn’t, he might get cocky again.

But I’m super proud of him, so I can’t help myself!

I don’t know if there’s anything cooler than a fire breathing gryphon!

No, wait!

What if Scrappy rides on his back while he breathes flames!?!

Just imagining it is intense enough to make me almost faint from excitement!!

“Okay. That just happened.” (Draglael)

Oh right, she was still here.

“So, what did you want?” (Ellie)

“That gryphon’s a bit… where did you even find this guy?” (Draglael)

“Huh? He hatched out of the egg we bought. Where else?” (Ellie)

“Okay... and what did you do with this egg?" (Draglael)

“What we were supposed it. We gave it plenty of mana every day and eventually Puff came out of it. He hatched just like Fluffles did.” (Ellie)

“... You gave it mana? As in, you poured mana into it on purpose?” (Draglael)

“Of course.” (Ellie)

That’s how you normally incubate a gryphon egg, right?

“What were you thinking!? Gryphon eggs absorb all the mana they need on their own! Without any of your meddling!” (Draglael)

Hmm?

“Was there something like that?” (Ellie)

“Yes. Yes there was! That’s how gryphons normally get born!” (Draglael)

Come to think of it, Lara and Sophie can’t do mana manipulation and still hatched a healthy baby gryphon.

“So?” (Ellie)

I still don’t see what the big deal is.

“So something like forcefully filling it with mana is… It’s a miracle you didn’t boil that egg!” (Draglael)

Ah, I see, we unknowingly did something bad...

Still, what’s done is done.

Besides, I still don’t see any reason to be so flustered.

“He’s growing up just fine, isn’t he?” (Ellie)

Better than fine, actually.

It took me a while to notice, but Puff is much stronger and faster than Fluffles.

His reflexes are top notch as well.

When we played fetch he caught the stick I threw every single time!

Fluffles, on the other hand, couldn’t even see it!

I used the same level of strength I do when throwing knives, you know!

Sophie and Lara had to console Fluffles for the rest of the day since he was upstaged by his younger brother.

“Just fine she says… Do you have any idea what this creature you’ve created is!?” (Draglael)

“Of course. He’s Puff the Magic Gryphon.” (Ellie)

“Kwaa.” (Puff)

“Fine! Do what you want! Don’t come crying to me when you’re all bowing down to your magical gryphon overlords in a few hundred years!” (Draglael)

She walks away in a huff while complaining about something incomprehensible.

Hmm?

Puff’s looking her way with a weird glint in his eye.

Damn, I think she gave him some weird ideas.

Let’s talk some sense into him and nip this one in the bud.

“Puff, no taking over and enslaving the free world, got it?” (Ellie)

“Kwak! Keeee!” (Puff)

“I mean it. I’ll get very mad at you if you do something pointless like that.” (Ellie)

“Kuuuu…” (Puff)

Some mother she’s turning out to be, her bad influence almost rubbed off on Puff.

He’s still only a few months old, so he’s quite impressionable you know!

I have to set the record straight here.

“It’s far more effective to control the world from the shadows through a combination of debt, blackmail and bribery while masquerading as a benevolent person to the general public.” (Ellie)

Honestly, these people don’t know the first thing about clandestine operations.

“Kooooh! Kwaa.” (Puff)

“Good boy. Now don’t move, I still have a few straps to buckle up!” (Ellie)

Some trivia - initially I was going to make Puff a two-headed gryphon. But then I couldn't make a satisfactory pun or reference out of his name, so I went with the fire-breathing one.