Warm.
It was so warm.
Slowly, my eyes creaked open as I roused from my sleep. My vision was blurry, and I blinked for a few seconds as I tried to clear the lingering fog in my head.
My attempt was halted when a mane of grey hair suddenly fell across my head. It took me a second to remember that my own hair was chestnut-colored, and that this bed I was sleeping on was far too warm to be the bed I'd gotten so used to for the past month or so.
Electricity jolted through my veins, and my eyes snapped wide open. The world sharpened with stark clarity, and suddenly I realized that I wasn't back in Secretariat's mansion—that the room I slept in was far smaller, and that there was someone else sleeping together with me.
My breaths slowed, and a warm smile unconsciously grew across my lips as I saw Oguri sleeping next to me, mumbling incoherently as she clutched onto my arm like a koala.
A shuddering breath left my lips, and my tension eased as I sunk back into my pillow. "I'm home." I whispered, and a pleasant shiver ran up my spine at how right those words finally felt. My eyes lingered on the sleeping Oguri, doing little else but soaking in this warmth I'd missed out on for the past month.
In truth, I didn't really remember what happened last night. The most I recalled was Oguri tackling me into a hug, me reciprocating, and not much else. The rest of the night was a blur, though I remembered something about a…song?
Hmm. Strange. Did we go to a karaoke bar or something?
Regardless, I was back home now. I'd yet to meet with everyone else, and I was honestly fine with that. I didn't think I could greet them like I normally could, especially with how it felt like I was on cloud nine. My Oguri-Withdrawal had suddenly shifted into an Oguri-Overdose, and it felt like my head was filled with nothing but cotton.
I laid in bed for quite some time, content with doing nothing.
At least, until I felt a strange sensation in my legs.
It wasn't anything dangerous. Rather, it felt almost like an…itch. Similar to the one I felt right after I began running again, but not quite. It felt like my legs needed to move, and it had a destination in mind it wasn't telling me.
For a moment, I contemplated trying to ignore it. I didn't want to leave Oguri just yet, even if only for a moment. But the itch only grew and grew the more I ignored it, and before long, I found myself quietly slipping from the bed, careful to not wake Oguri up.
Once my feet touched solid ground, the itch somewhat went away, but the urge to head somewhere still remained in the back of my head.
I sighed softly as I prepared to leave, but before I did, an idea popped into my head that caused my cheeks to warm. And while I wasn't the sort of person to normally do this kind of thing, Oguri was asleep right now, and we'd only reunited just the night before. A little bit of indulgence wouldn't hurt, right?
So, with a slightly embarrassed smile, I reached down and gave Oguri a kiss on her forehead, before quickly escaping out the door of my bedroom. After a quick sigh to clear my thoughts, I began walking to wherever my legs were trying to bring me to.
It was still early morning by this point, so early that the sun hadn't even risen from the horizon. Most of the Academy was still asleep by this point, and the hallways I walked down were similarly empty.
I walked for quite a while, going all across Tracen Academy in a seemingly random pattern. First the cafeteria, then a random track, then the indoor pool—so and so. It was honestly pretty unnerving, especially since I could still feel that feeling that I was being led somewhere.
But before I could begin panicking, I eventually ended up in quite the familiar location;
The statue of the Three Goddesses stood before me, and suddenly all my questions were answered. The itch in my legs, the strange urge that pulled me to this location—they were all things I had seen before, just not in this life.
So I took a deep breath, and looking up at Goddesses' eyes, I smiled. "So, were you the ones who called me over?"
And the moment I said that, I felt my heart beat painfully against my chest. I winced at the sensation, but my eyes then widened as I saw the statues suddenly glow gold, radiating with particles that resembled the sparkles of stardust. Then, all that light condensed into a single golden orb that gently floated down, hovering just over my hand.
"A literal ball of gold Inspiration…" I whispered, a wry smile on my face. If I'd seen this back in the game, I would've been quite happy. It meant that I'd be getting the best rates on my Inspiration—not that it stopped me from getting the absolute worst rolls at times.
But here?
I took a deep breath.
Gritting my teeth, I shoved the golden orb straight into my chest. The sensation was strange—almost sickening, and made especially worse as I had full view of that golden orb straight up melting into my chest, looking almost like some alien that was trying to bury itself into my ribcage.
Suddenly, the world went dark, before a bright light overwhelmed my eyes.
And before I knew it, I was standing on a track that seemed to stretch into infinity, the edges sinking both into the horizon and the fog that permeated the edges of this strange reality I'd now found myself in. There was no one around me, yet I could faintly hear the sounds of excited cheering from a crowd I could not see.
I'd been here before. I'd raced on this very track before, faced an umamusume I could never hope to defeat.
Which meant-
I smiled wryly. "So my Parents are the Three Goddesses, huh?" I asked as I turned around, and as if they'd always been behind me, three umamusume stood there.
Dolphin-chan smiled, tucking her light blue hair behind her ears. "I suppose I can't use the excuse of being a ghost anymore, can I?" She asked. I just returned an amused smile, and she giggled. "Oh well. Then there's no point in hiding it, is there?" She placed a hand on her chest and bowed. "I am Godolphin Arabian, but please call me Dolphin-chan~"
The fierce-eyed umamusume stared at me for some time, before she gave a satisfied nod. "Byerley Turk." Was all she said.
The last umamusume smiled at me, her green eyes pairing beautifully with her red mane. "And I am Darley Arabian." She said, her voice both youthful and soft. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face, Hero."
"And it's nice to meet you too." I said, my voice a little faint. I mean, considering the fact that I was standing in front of the Three Goddesses themselves, the fact that I wasn't panicking was rather commendable. "That whole thing was a bit flashy, wasn't it? Won't people notice?"
"They won't." Byerley said tersely. "They can't."
"Well, some can." Godolphin corrected, causing Byerley to frown. "But there's a reason we called you out here at such terrible hours~"
I nodded. I'd somewhat guessed that when I was first brought to the statue of the Three Goddesses. "So, why am I here?" I asked, tilting my head slightly. "Are we going to do an actual Inspiration?"
Darley smiled softly. "It would be my honor to stand as your Parent, Hero. But alas, we were not the ones who mothered you, nor the ones who had stoked your dreams." Her smile soon faded, and the previously soft expression she had steeled into a piercing gaze. "Rather, we have called you here for one last test."
"Last test?" I asked.
"Destiny has changed, and it won't be long before Fate finally breaks." She smiled sharply. "Soon, the rules of this world shall change. The paths of those horses who were brought into this world would soon cease to be their containers, and instead become the springboard by which they would soar to new heights."
"We have waged this war for countless eons, through endless repetitions, both digital and not." She clenched her fists, and a look of regret flashed across her face. "We have relied on many to get this far. So many who have willingly thrown themselves against Fate, all in hopes that one day all Umamusume would truly be able to Run to their hearts' contents."
My eyes narrowed. There it was—that emphasis on the word Destiny. And from the way Darley described it, it almost seemed the 'careers' that were shown in the anime and manga weren't ones they themselves wanted.
Though, the more I thought about it, the more that made sense. After all, who would willingly want all these umamusume to suffer debilitating injuries and setbacks, all because it matched up with their real counterpart?
Still-
"So I'm next on the chopping block." I said playfully.
"No." Byerley said.
I blinked. "I'm not?"
For a moment, the usually stern goddess looked away. "You are not our last. Someone has taken that role." Her eyes softened with reminiscence. "Destiny had been changed even before you were brought into this world. A goddess now lives as a normal umamusume, and another has taken her place."
I narrowed my eyes. So someone had already changed things even before I came into this world? And one who became a goddess, no less?
…
Wait-
"The one whose Destiny was changed-" I began. "Are you talking about Sunday Silence?"
Godolphin nodded. "Indeed. Had things gone normally, she would not have existed in this world. She would've been a companion to many, before becoming anchored to Manhattan Cafe." She smiled sadly. "And now, all we can do is to honor the promise she made to us."
I frowned slightly. So the reason why Sunday Silence existed was because…there was another ghost umamusume? If that was the case, then where was she? And who was she haunting this time around?
Before I could ponder further however, Darley suddenly stepped forward. The track beneath our feet trembled as a fierce flame bloomed around her. "Blossom Star." She called, and the flames wrapped around her coalesced as they morphed into a racing outfit; a modernized mimicry of the uniform of English soldiers.
"Defeat me."
[Mission: Promise of the Brave
The Goddess Darley Arabian has asked the Hero for one last race to determine whether she is ready to become the Shooting Star she was meant to become.
Task: Achieve victory.
Reward: {Unique Skill: Starlit Crown} Level Up, +50 to all Attributes, 400 SP
Failure: -10% to all Attributes]
I took a small breath as I read the new Mission I'd just received, before I grinned fiercely. "Then let's do this!" I shouted, just as my clothes suddenly sparkled and changed into my G1 outfit. My blue cloak fluttered behind me, swept up by the winds that suddenly blew across this ephemeral world.
Darley grinned back, and everything suddenly went white.