Eldritch

 

"I'm telling you once again, Chiaki, I was just checking on my dreamworld to see if everything was still alright." (I)

 

Just why the hell is Chiaki up so early in the morning?
Is it her extra energy that makes it somehow okay for her to only sleep for four hours max?

 

"Sure. And what is happening on the other side?" (C)

"Just the usual. Things are slowly calming down, people still zealously believe in that one weird god, and you're somehow revered as some kind of saint." (I)

"A saint?! Tell me more!" (C)

 

And after that, I have to tell her that the people indeed hold her in high regard for her "sacrifice" against the primal evil that I impersonated.
Which I'm sure won't do much good for her ego.
That she's growing excited isn't making things any better.
However, I'm able to talk her down from that emotional high.

Afterwards, we get ready for the day and then it's already time for breakfast.
Mum again prepares the meal but the amount clearly starts to decline.

 

"Sigh. I wish I'd have more but our living cost really exploded recently. And it's still a bit till the end of the month." (S)

"I'm sorry, mum. I know this is partly my fault. You know, I don't really have to eat." (I)

"Oh no, you won't get out of our family dinners like this!" (S)

"Couldn't Iori just create food out of nowhere." (C)

 

Mum's scrunching up face says enough to know what she thinks about critter-created food.

 

"Uh, I think I had enough of nightmare world food for a while." (S)

 

Understandable.
That stuff looked kinda weird and often was either rather bland or had a foreign aftertaste.

 

"But I'll still look for something I can do to help." (I)

"As much as I'm sure that you're capable of doing so, please refrain from anything paranormal." (S)

 

I guess she means stuff like bringing over food from my world, creating treasures to sell them here, or any other way that would showcase my powers to make money.

 

"If you need money, I might be able to help." (C)

"Chiaki, I already told you that I won't take money from you." (I)

"Nothing like this. But I have a great idea." (C)

 

I'm afraid to ask her what it is.

 

"It's nice that you're all so concerned and want to help but I won't take any money from my daughter." (S)

"Mum, please! Let me at least take some responsibility for the demon daughter I brought in." (I)

 

The girl in question stuffs herself full with what is served.
I should teach her to hold back a bit.
Or that something like money exists in this world and that acquiring food requires spending it.

 

"Sigh, we'll look into it. But Chiaki, your mother isn’t expecting you until this evening. Is there anything you'd like to do before you return?" (S)

"I don't know. I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't have time for any real vacation stuff. We were in that ocean just once and the rest of the time all of us were busy. It was fun, but something relaxing would've been nice too." (C)

"So you want to go to a bathhouse?" (I)

"What is a bathhouse?" (K)

"A place with big pools where you can bathe." (I)

"Uh, I don't want to." (K)

 

Wow, on one side it's concerning if she doesn't want to bathe, on the other it's the pinnacle of emancipation for this little sprout of mine to not want to go with me.
She was always so dependent so this is proof that she has a will of her own.
Do I feel proud because of this of my little litterbug?

 

"Bathhouses are boring. The swimming halls here too. There isn't even one with a slide. I want to have fun! The ocean is far more exciting than some stupid pool." (C)

"What do you want me to do? We can't return there. I'm a defeated primordial demon and you're dead. I don't even want to think about what kind of chaos this would mean for the people there!" (I)

"Aww, is there really no way? Couldn't you bring us somewhere else?" (C)

"And where? Hawaii? You might not be aware but one can't just show up at some place without raising suspicious questions." (I)

"...I know. It's just a bit sad. I mean, you have unlimited possibilities and we still can't do whatever we want." (C)

 

What you want you mean.
But she has such a sad expression now that I feel a bit bad.

 

"Sigh, fine. I have an idea. Mum, is it okay if I go with Chiaki somewhere?" (I)

"Sure." (S)

"Great, thank you. Chiaki, stay still." (I)

"Why? What exactly do you..." (C)

 

Before she can say much else I grow something like a snapping maw cocoon around her that quickly absorbs everything on the inside and then I blink back into my dream.

 

"Sigh, that's not really what I had in mind." (S)

 

The first thing I need to do is bring Chiaki out to avoid any mental issues for her.
Aaaand... there she is!

 

"Urbh, seriously, could you warn me before you do such a thing?" (C)

"Would that really help?" (I)

"Not really, but it's basic courtesy. Anyway, didn't you say that you couldn't bring us back into your world? Yet here we are." (C)

 

This might technically be true but there's one important point to it.

 

"You're right, but we are a great distance away from any living beings, somewhere in the nowhere of the plains." (I)

"And what exactly are you planning to do here? Not that I don't appreciate... ground and... Honestly, I don't see much more than this. It really lacks... Oh, wait! Do you really want to do what I think you want to do?!" (C)

"Yep, we're going to do some terraforming so that you'll get your day at the resort." (I)

"Oh yes!!! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!! This is gonna be awesome!" (C)

 

Sigh, and she's getting excited.
I wait until she calmed down again.

 

"Ready?" (I)

"Sure, but what do we want to start with?" (C)

"I think we should at first make sure we aren't seen. We might be a good distance away, but a great deal of the plains are flat so people could spot what is going on here even from a far distance. I'd like to avoid that. This means we can't do anything too great like the ocean wave from last time and some cover would be nice for the start." (I)

"Ah, you want a mountain-themed resort! I understand! Not like I'm against this direction." (C)

 

Glad that she's open.
Also, I'm very aware that there's stuff in that ocean's depth that I don't want to have here.

 

"Okay, then I'll begin with some groundwork terraforming." (I)

 

This part is actually quite easy and hard to mess up.
I only need the general impression of rising earth around us.
So I...

 

"Wait, wait, wait! Not like this!" (C)

"What is it now, Chiaki?" (I)

"You're just standing there with closed eyes. Can't you make it a bit more exciting? Making a bit of a show?" (C)

 

Is she for real?

 

"I'm already terraforming the world for you! What do want me to do?" (I)

"Something a bit more expressive. Hm, ah! How about you jump up, make a ground pound when you get down again, and scream 'earth shatterer', while doing your thing?!" (C)

 

The cringe is strong with this one.

 

"Are you for real?" (I)

"Absolutely!" (C)

"You know that no one else in the whole multiverse could or would dare to ask this of me?" (I)

"Well, what else is a best friend other than someone who brings you into embarrassing situations? And it's private enough here. Nobody's going to see a thing!" (C)

"In every dimension's hell... Fine, for you." (I)

"Thank you!" (C)

 

I move a bit away from her and start.
Because I concentrate on doing a good jump, I realize a bit too late that my legs transform into their beast version while I'm gathering force to propel myself upward.
This is distracting, but the strength was enough to accelerate me high enough into the air that I have all the time I need to get over this. Then I concentrate on my fist to make Chiaki's custom-ordered move.
Though, I could've anticipated that this would result in the rest of me transforming into my demon self.
However, I don't want to repeat this and make sure that I impact the ground with my black claw first.

 

"Earth Shatterer!" (I)

The effect is instantaneous.
All around me the ground erupts, rises, shifts, and falls in all ways possible.
Small hills erect into mountains, the earth rips apart and forms long ruptures.
But naturally, I made sure that Chiaki's position wouldn't be affected.
In the end, we stand in a perfect little valley in a stupidly wide mountain range that hopefully was far enough away for anyone to see.

 

"Wooaaah! That was so cool!" (C)

 

I think as well that I did a good job.
It wasn't even too loud.
So I look at Chiaki to receive my well-deserved praise.
And freeze.

That little shit recorded everything with her handy camera!!!

 

"Grumble"

 

"Chiaki!!" (I)

"What? That's gonna be a great memory!" (C)

 

I fight the urge to forcefully take it away from her and break it because I am not a bully.

 

"So, what's the next step?" (C)

 

...Sigh.

 

"Next we have to do the fine-tuning. Especially fine in my case since my body likes a bit too much to mess up my commands." (I)

 

Not like I know how it's possible to mess up an idyllic mountain resort but I sure as hell don't want to find out.
However, if I concentrate hard enough I should be able to avoid any deterioration.
I imagine in detail every little thing I want.
First, I shape the surrounding mountains to grant a little more coverage around the edges so that the ambiance is that of an isolated, peaceful place.
Now that the general shape stands I want to cover it in nature.
Plant life to be precise.

 

• Plants
   
• Plants

 

Oh no, not like this.
I know how you're going to pull this off.
This time I'll do the designing.
What I want here are nice semi-high pine trees, so there won't be as much dirt and they'll be evergreen.

You hear me?!
I want them green!

Also, they're supposed to have pronounced branches, not just the big conical ones.
I simply like those better.
And there's no hiding space for creepy stuff in there.

It's a little bit like growing tentacles.
Just a bit straighter in the middle and to the edges I can leave a bit more liberty.
Now just the green needles.
Okay, just a general covering on the edges.
Finished!

Okay... Those are a bit sharper and more solid than I'd like them to be.
And is that a throwing mechanism!?

Right, then counter actions.
I'll simply declare Chiaki as a protected entity.
Now whatever governs those "trees", probably me, should avoid harming her, which is good enough.
Then I'm continuing with putting a layer of grass everywhere and while it looks fine I hope that my powers weren't able to mess this up as well.

 

"Wow, that looks awesome! But there's not much fun stuff here." (C)

"Yes, yes, I was getting to that part." (I)

 

Because now it's time to add another element to this project.

And I mean a literal element because what I want is water.
A nice little lake in the center.
But to make it a bit more beautiful I'm going to have the source coming from above.

 

"Swash"

 

A thought is enough and a rippling waterfall comes down from a specific side of the outer edges flowing into the center.
Slowly the cavity in the middle of the valley fills up.
I add drainage out into the mountain range to avoid t the whole valley filling up to the brim.
For comfort's sake, I leave a strip of stone free at the edge.
And then I also want a sandy beach.
It's always nice to have options.

So, let's get me some sand there.
And not quicksand!
It's actually weird how at my command the stone breaks itself apart as if it wants to please me.

However, now I have two different kinds of nice beaches next to each other.
One made of sand to get in, and one made of stone for when you want to get out without dirty feet.
Yep, that looks nice.

Now all I lack is a place to rest.
So I imagine a Japanese-style mansion on the top of the cliff where the water comes from.
One of those typical spa mansions where you'd get a massage after a long day in the hot springs and good food.
While this kind of construction is a bit too complex to imagine every little detail, here it should be simple enough not to mess this up.
So I want a spa mansion up there!

 

• Mansion
   
• Mansion
   
• Mansion

 

And like an organic thing, it grows out of the cliff.
First the wooden frame, then the ceiling and floors, it even has those paper walls.
While it looks ominous and slightly haunted, I'm sure Chiaki and I should be fine in there.
All that is left is a stairway path from down here to the house.

Aaand done!
I think I did a good job.
Maybe I could do this kind of work to earn myself a bit of pocket money?
Though, maybe better not.