Section 3: The Shape of Love's Shape

Raaah!

I'm so fired up right now that I'm gonna toss in even more boulders! Yaaah!

I'd tell you to not wear yourself out...but I'm getting tired of repeating myself.

It's great that you've got energy to spare. Just don't use up so much that you collapse.

I won't!

？！

I agree. I feel more energetic myself just watching you in action.

Master, once we've had a little break, how about we go gather chocolate too?

Hmph. Surely you do not think that an abundance of energy alone is enough to become a hero, do you?

It's not!?

Just kidding. I know that.

Perseus wasn't a "full of energy all the time" kind of hero, either.

I'm not trying to be like anyone specific. I'm just trying to do the best I can in my own way.

As for all my energy, I just kind of get like that whenever I try my best at something!

？！

You...want to try becoming a hero?

... ...

I know what you're thinking. "What business does someone like me have trying to be a hero?"

But please don't take it too seriously, okay?

This is more just a personal goal of mine.

Like, I want to selflessly help as many people as I can, but that's also being driven by kind of a selfish desire.

I'm pretty selfish a lot of the time, actually. Mwuhahaha.

(She's downplaying her feelings by laughing like some mustache-twirler...)

Anyway, that's all there is to it!

So if I ever say anything weird, just chalk it up to that.

In fact, just forget I said anything at all.

Anyway, enough about that. Let's get this show back on the roaI mean, ship back on the river!

？！

All right, that ought to take care of this latest boulder.

You know, there's something I've been wanting to ask you. You called those chains of yours the Oracle's Chains Nereids, right?

Where did that name come from?

Oh, that? There's no deep meaning to it. I just kind of felt like calling them that, so I did.

The Nereids...

Isn't that the name of the divine sea nymphs that led you to being sacrificed in the first place?

Uh-huh. There was an oracle who said I had to be sacrificed 'cause they were so angry...

...and now, they say that's how I ended up chained to that boulder.

("They say?")

So basically, I have these chains 'cause of the Nereids' wrath, which we knew about from that oracle.

But that's way too long, so I just started calling them Oracle's Chains Nereids for short.

I see... Well, that leads me straight to my next question about the nitty-gritty details.

There are differing accounts of why the Nereids were so mad in the first place.

One says it was because your mother, Cassiopeia, boasted about being just as beautiful as them...

...and another says she was boasting about your beauty instead. Which one was it?

Hm? Umm...

Actually, I'd rather keep that a secret, if you don't mind!

Aw man!

But, I can't say I'm surprised. Sometimes, it's just rude to go prying too deep into a Heroic Spirit's past.

Sometimes, there are cases where even they don't remember what happened anymore.

So if you don't want to answer, that's fine. Besides, there's no fun in just having an answer handed to you.

Great, thanks! In exchange, I'm happy to talk about anything else!

What about Perseus then? Would you be willing to tell us about him?

We have several Medusas back at Chaldea...

...so he's not exactly a subject we can comfortably discuss there.

Whoa, you have Medusas? Plural? I can see how that'd be awkward.

... ...

Actually, thinking about it some more, I'd rather not talk about Perseus either. Sorry.

So much for "anything else."

It seems there is a great deal you cannot tell us, girl.

If you mean to betray us, I suggest you tell us now, so I can prepare just the right poison for the occasion.

Oh, no, it's not like that.

It's just, when it comes to actually talking about him...I just kind of get a little embarrassed?

I mean, you don't usually talk about romance with people you only just met, right? At least, that's my impression!

Oh... Good point. Talking about romance is more Suzuka's thing, so I don't have much experience with it either...

But now that you mention it, that does seem right!

So, maybe we can try again once we've all gotten to know each other a little better!

Y-yeah, there you go! Sorry again!

Haha. And here I thought girls your age generally talked about nothing BUT romance.

Well, I mean, obviously we have a lot of people with some crazy romance stories in the Greek myth community...

...but whether you can actually talk openly about your own kind of depends on the person, you know?

Dammit!

？！

It looks that way, Master!

You're discussing love? That's fine. I'm always ready to talk about mine.

In fact, every statue I make is an expression of the love I have for my king.

There, on that other ship! It's Galatea!

Let's see... Yup, she's giving off the same kind of readings as Rama. So the real Galatea is still in Chaldea...

...and that's a Choco Servant made from her desire to see the person she misses, and, well, chocolate!

A Choco Servant? I have never heard that phrase before, but that's no problem. I'm not interested, anyway.

My only interest is in seeing my king once more.

Whoa, that lady's a real statuesque beauty...

...?

I can feel Lady Aphrodite's blessing pulsing slightly.

It seems I'm far from the only Greek here.

I guess the Nereids, Cetus, and Poseidon have a pretty distinctive smell, huh.

Well, never mind that!

So you have someone you miss a lot too, huh?

I do. My husband and king, Pygmalion.

Our love was so great that even the gods gave us their blessing. I was transformed from a statue into a human.

I must see him again, no matter what. I must do whatever I can to repay his love.

For I love him too, with all my heart and soul.

I am impressed she can say that with a straight face.

We know firsthand how strong Galatea's feelings are.

？！

Yeah. I can tell how genuine her love is, too.

It's so strong that it's basically all she needs, even at the expense of her own mind.

Hmph. Of course my love is genuine.

But I don't see why you think that makes me some sort of berserk warrior who turned off her brain for it.

(Uh, isn't she actually a Berserker?)

As proof, I'm willing to engage in a peaceful civilized contest to resolve this conflict.

We will calmly and rationally expound on our love and our desire to see the person we miss more than anything...

...and whoever convinces the other that their feelings are stronger will be allowed to proceed.

Hm?

I assure you, I am prepared to win. All I need to do is keep talking until you admit defeat.

My love is infinite, so I can talk about my feeling for my king for days on end...

...and as a Greek statue, I can easily withstand inclement weather as well.

Just look at how many others have remained intact for thousands of years.

Now, where to begin... What if we start with our favorite features from our loved ones' bodies?

I'll go first. His shoulder blade lines!

Ghh... Man, you're strong! I can't believe you just out and said something like that!

I don't know if I'm cut out for this kind of contest!

I see. Then I win by default.

And as the winner, I'm going to keep my river going with, what else, my statue trait.

All I need to do to see my king again now is to keep making statues...

Something I've been doing all this time already.

I'll start by finishing up one that was nearly complete...

Come on, girl, now is no time to be backing down! Your opponent means business!

F-for now, I'll throw in more boulders to match her!

That helped. We're back to a deadlock again.

Should I keep going then?

That'd be better than nothing, but I doubt your boulders alone'll be enough to break past her.

We'll need to use your opponent's traits to further our river, just like we did with the bananas.

Exactly. The statues she's been throwing into her river are being treated as the same material as your boulders.

Which means our boulders are counting as her statues here, effectively giving her double river fuel for free.

So there's no way we'll be able to beat her by playing fair.

？！

I think I have some good news.

Galatea seems to be very particular about each statue living up to her high standards...

...which means she's not going about it very quickly.

I hope we can use that time to come up with a strategy.

The best thing'd probably be if we could throw in statues of our own to give ourselves a boost, like we did with the bananas.

As a member of royalty, surely you must have studied at least one form of art, no?

Uh, well, I did have tutors, but I usually slipped out of my classes to go swimming, so...

(Exasperated sigh)

？！

Is there anything we can do, Da Vinci?

Hmm, good question. Since we have some time to spare...

...maybe we can scrape together enough resources to send someone in to help.

Oh? Maybe we can call on the real Galatea from Chaldea then.

I had the same thought, but she actually just turned me down.

She said there'd be no point in contesting her love for her king with her own self.

And we can't force her to agree. I understand where she's coming from, too.

Hmph. It is true that fighting another version of yourself made from chocolate is nothing less than a nightmare.

So I am leaving the thinking to you.

Hmph. I am leaving the thinking to you.

Even if it does take our opponent time to finish her statues, she will still overwhelm us eventually if we do not keep up our resistance.

So I will release the stockpile of boulders I have accumulated thus far.

？！

...What was that? You have another use for these boulders in mind? What do you mean?

Mwahaha! You made the right decision, calling on me!

I do take issue with one thing, though. My mass productions' quality is just fine.

I can churn out perfectly satisfactory articles at downright criminal speeds.

All I need is this gizmo I whipped up with my incredible genius: The Direct Current Fully Automatic Rock Person Conversion Machine!

Wow! I don't know what half those words mean, but it sounds amazing!

I'm sorry I didn't keep up with my studies more. I don't think I could understand what's amazing about it no matter how simply you explained it.

That's quite all right, my fair and energetic young lady. In fact, that's the greatest compliment any inventor can receive.

You don't need to understand inventions for them to be useful.

All sorts of problems can crop up from understanding them TOO well. Court battles, cheap imitations from competitors who don't know their place...

I don't know how your lion mask works either, but it's amazing, too! It looks so real!

Hahaha, that's because it's not a mask at all, young lady. So would you please stop tugging on my beard?

Rest assured that you don't need to understand how this head of mine works either.

Ahem. Anyway, trust me when I say this gizmo here is something special.

So, how do we use it?

Simple. Hit the switch, throw in the necessary amount of rocks, and...

...it uses those rocks as material to make new statues automatically, like so!

I just wish I'd had a little more time. That way, I could make the statues move around autonomously, too.

Nah, this is plenty. The important thing's that we've now got a way to make statues that'll work with that other river's trait.

Maybe we can't compete with Galatea's statues as beautiful works of art, but this should at least be enough to match her in numbers!

We're definitely outpacing her in units per hour now.

Of course, it's still an open question as to whether the lower quality of our mass-produced stone statues will make a difference in our river's propulsion...

...but the only way we'll find out is to try it and see how it goes.

Then, that just leaves the question of material?

Indeed. Not even a genius of my caliber can make something out of nothing.

This is only a test run. The machine will soon shut down unless we can keep providing it with rocks.

Then we're all set! I'll feed it rocks for as long as my magical energy lasts!

？！

Right, Master! Fortunately, Semiramis has already figured out where we can find more rock piles. Right, Semiramis?

Oh, very well.

Come, I will show you the way. Let us hurry and get this over with!

So you wish to call on my golems, hm? Good idea. I can't say I especially care what they look like, though.

In this case, you need a way to produce lots of them quickly and efficiently, yes? Fortunately, I've pursued this branch of golem research before.

Let me show you how it works. If I cast this spell on this large boulder...

Wow, it turned into a statue in no time! That's amazing!

You must be one hell of a mage! Did you ever work at a palace or something?

Hehe. I appreciate the kind words, Princess Andromeda.

But the truth is, I'm merely an ordinary scholar who specializes in golem making.

This is great. If the river accepts these rocky golems as statues, that'll be a big help in advancing our river.

I should warn you that these particular golems are strictly form over function. Although they can move, they will be of no help in combat.

The best I could program them to do is to jump into the river automatically.

That should be more than enough. Throwing boulders into the river is a lot of work...

...so if they can throw themselves in, that should save us a lot of time.

I'm glad to hear it. That just leaves the question of material.

I can make as many golems out of boulders for you as you like, but I can't make boulders out of thin air.

I can handle that! I'll pull out as many boulders as you need for as long as my magical energy lasts!

？！

Right, Master. Fortunately, Semiramis has already figured out where we can find more rock piles. Right, Semiramis?

Oh, very well.

Come, I will show you the way. Let us hurry and get this over with!

...That helmet looks very good on you.

Silence, or I'll hit you with a manchineel.

The plan worked! We did it!

Ahh... So once again, I won't get to see my beloved king. Once again...my love has failed...

It's okay. There was nothing at all wrong with your love.

I guarantee it.

Then...why did I fail to reach him?

Because I failed to meet my deadline?

Uh... Maybe?

But, I think it's more like...

...it just wasn't meant to happen for you at this time and place.

...I see. That's too bad.

Ahh, I miss him. I miss him so much.

But...

...I'm sure my love will reach him one day, as long as I don't give up. I've always believed that.

This time, you'll just be going on ahead of me, right?

That's right. It's not about whose love is stronger or weaker. I'm just going first, that's all.

...Come to think of it, I never did take a turn, did I?

This is a little embarrassing, but since you told me a little about the person you love...

...I don't think it'd be fair if I didn't return the favor.

The person I want to see again is named Perseus.

He came down from the sky and saved me from being eaten by a monster.

There are lots of things I love about him. So many I couldn't even count them all.

He's very strong, and very kind. He's honest and straightforward, and kind of a crybaby even.

He's a great hero who never gives up and who always succeeds. Everyone knows how wonderful he is.

I see. I don't know how he compares to King Pygmalion, but it does sound like the object of your affections is a great man.

It makes sense that you'd miss him.

Well...that's part of it, sure, but that's not all there is to it.

Sure, he was a great hero who had everything and could do anything...

...but that wasn't all there was to him.

There were also sides to him that I think only I knew...and it's those sides I miss more than anything.

That's why I'm here now.

...I see.

All right. Now that I've seen that expression of yours, I'm willing to let this go.

Because that is unmistakably the face of a woman in love.

Now I know what theme and motif to use for my next piece.

Huh?

I don't know what she was talking about at the end, but...I'm glad it sounded like she made her peace with this.

？！

？！

Yes. It looks like a cute miniature form of Galatea.

She must have carved out her own core in the last moment before she disappeared. Impressive.

(Hang on. Maybe I could give Senpai a cute miniaturized version of him in chocolate form this year!)

(...O-on second thought, never mind. I do think it would make for a very unique Valentine...)

(...but I don't think I have the technical skills to make it at the quality it would deserve.)

(But I'll have to remember this idea before I make my final decision, just in case...)

Yeah, it's really impressive, but now I definitely can't eat it or throw it away... Guess I'll just hang on to it then.

Anyway, we managed to win the second river battle, too! Yay!

Sure did. The river's flowing nicely again. So what say we get this ship back on the way to its destination?

Hmph. All this talk about love is giving me hives.

What, you never talk about love yourself, Empress? Isn't there anyone you're interested in?

No, there is not.

... ...

Why're you all looking at each other like that?

Be honest. There is someone, isn't there?

One more word, and we will have war on our hands.

C'mon, Galatea and I talked about the people we love. It's no fair for you not to do the same.

So c'mon! Spill already!

Hanging Gardens, activate!

？！