With a blinding light, Nagi exited from the Akarana Corridor and tentatively stepped forward. Immediately she found herself with a strong sense of déjà vu, as she quickly realized that her surroundings where exactly that of the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado, which she had only departed from after having recovered from Inanna's curse, which resulted in the better part of a year being pregnant to the point of immobility until finally giving birth only six weeks ago. This being time travel however, Nagi had a hunch that the world she was currently in would not be the same as the one she had last visited. Something she was proven right on when no one seemed to know who Flynn was when asked about. Seemingly having never existed in this timeline, she learned that the Samurai never ventured very far past Naraku. Without access to Tokyo, Nagi was desperate to find a familiar face, even though they would have no prior memory of a meeting from a different timeline altogether, it would be a better alternative than being completely alone and lost.

Luckily for Nagi, with some prodding she managed to gain access to the Monastery to finally meet with someone for whom the citizens had managed to actually confirm their existence. Yes Isabeau, the beautifully strong willed and dignified Samurai, was one of the first people to help Nagi out when she was flung into the other version of this world. In fact in Isabeau she felt like she had found a kindred spirit of sorts, and after the messy business with Inanna, the stories Isabeau told of her and Flynn's many battles reminded her of her own travels with the Devil Summoner back in her own time. Not to mention the other, more spicier, stories Isabeau shared from her secret collection of 'manga' helped out greatly in alleviating Nagi's boredom while stuck with her absurdly gravid condition, though it did little to help with her raging pregnant hormones.

Realizing where she was currently, Nagi shook off such inappropriate recollections, and tried asking around for where Isabeau was. As she asked one nun after another, Nagi noticed that every woman she talked to while here was quite pregnant, something she figured would be normally frowned upon in the normally uptight Monastery. In fact, as she looked around, she saw that every single nun here was in various stages of pregnancy, with some barely noticeable to others that seemed to have trouble carrying around a larger than normal swell. Of course none could really compare to what Nagi was unfortunately accustomed to herself, at least they were able to move around, unlike the times when she had been forced to carry the burden of uncountable number of fetuses. But still the sight of so many expectant females made her feel uncomfortable, as she had grown quite wary of anything resembling fertility these days.

“May I help you child?” came a soft voice, one Nagi quickly recognized as belonging to Isabeau herself. As she turned however, she saw that the once proud Samurai wasn't the same woman she remembered. It came to no surprise that Isabeau was also a nun herself, the citizens directing her here clued her in on that fact. Though she had been chosen as a Samurai along the same time as Flynn, in this world it seemed that her family pushed her into the life of the Monastery instead. No, that was not what shocked Nagi, it was what Isabeau was softly cradling in her hands that caught her off guard. Like a snow covered mountain, Isabeau's belly projected grandly from her frame. Despite wearing the concealing wardrobe of the clergy, there was no hiding the pregnant girth she was carrying around, the fabric doing little compared to the sheer gravidity of her middle, it being almost as large as she was tall. Nagi knew Isabeau was a normally lithe looking girl so her being able to maneuver this boulder attached to her was quite the impressive feat.

Noticing that she was being stared at, this world's Isabeau blushed, not used to being looked at so intently. After a bit of an awkward introduction, the two began to talk, with Nagi explaining her situation, though leaving out the part about having met a different version of Isabeau, as well as her own tribulations involving pregnancy, she figured it would only complicate and confuse matters for the time being if she brought them up. Luckily for Nagi, this Isabeau was as kind and considering as her counterpart, and was more than happy to assist the lost time traveler in whatever way she could.

“By the way,” Nagi began to ask, “is there a reason why every nun here is, um, in the family way?”

“Family way?” Isabeau answered back, puzzled at the choice of words Nagi had used. “Oh, you mean our Blessings?”

Gently rubbing the top of her vast pregnant belly, Isabeau explained that several hundred years ago, an invasion of demons from Naraku had tried to breach the castle walls, not only that, but many people had fallen into the temptation and became demons themselves. Though they were victorious against the demons in the end, there was such a heavy loss of life that the future of Mikado seemed dubious. However a woman, who in battle had revealed herself to be the angel Gabriel, promised them that God would make sure that they would prosper and never be destroyed. With that the archangel designated that the nuns of the Monastery would be blessed by heaven itself and bring forth abundant life to populate the kingdom anew. So for Isabeau, she was part of a long proud line of women who entered into nun-hood to take part of a blessed covenant in order to make sure that the Eastern City of Mikado would always prosper. Knowing the events that transpired in the other Mikado, Nagi knew that there was more going on behind the scenes involving Gabriel, but she held her tongue on that as well, not wanting to get in over her head with this world's issues. Isabeau continued, not bothering to hide the pride in her voice that she was on her sixth pregnancy, and that she looked set to break her own previous record in the amount of babies she was carrying. It seemed that she had become something of a renown figure within the halls of the Monastery.

“I hear Victor Hugo's wife is mad with jealousy that I've overtaken her position of top Blessed Mother.” she said with a grin on her face that reminded Nagi of the Isabeau she had known instead. “ At this rate they say I alone will be responsible for a sizable percentage of the new generation!”

Nagi giggled at hearing Isabeau's not so pious boasting. She was glad to see that the Monastery had not turned her into an uptight bore like so many others. Still, she continues to feel that certain sense of uneasiness that had dogged her ever since stepping foot in these halls. Like a sort of feeling of butterflies in her stomach. Trying her best to quell her uncertainty she then asked if there wasn't a problem with overpopulation then, considering that the nuns of the Monastery had a tendency to produce quite bountiful amounts of children.

“Ah of course. That certainly would be a problem wouldn't it! But that was easily solved with the stipulation that only those from a bloodline touched by the Archangel Gabriel could be chosen, and of those even a select fewer still get to be called upon to serve. Only then do they get to pass under the main doors of the Monastery where they are then blessed and filled with the Holy Spirit upon entering. That is why it was quite a shock for me to hear they let you through the entrance! Only expectant nuns are allowed to do so as to avoid such issues.”

At hearing that, a chill ran up Nagi's spine as she suddenly felt that all too familiar pang deep within her womb begin to make itself known. With wide eyes, Isabeau watched in awe as Nagi suddenly jumped to her feet, as the time traveling heroine's belly began to rapidly inflate, filling itself as new life within her began to multiply at a dizzying pace. With her shirt's buttons ripping off their seams in quick succession, the round pink orb dangled free out in the air as it greedily took more and more space in front of it until it soon rivaled Isabeau's own. With one last pop, Nagi's bellybutton transformed into a prominent outie, the fleshy exposed nub signaling that her growth spurt had ended, for the time being at least.

“Oh my.” Was all Isabaeu could say after witnessing this rapid pregnancy. “This is most unheard of!You wouldn't happen to be a descendant of-”

“No I am certainly not.” Nagi sighed, placing her hands on her now sore back, leaning back to try and alleviate some of the weight pulling at her spine. She knew there was little to zero percent chance she was related to someone who had been touched by Gabriel, but unfortunately for her, she herself had a run in with an angel's blessing previously. Feeling a strong kick near the front of her stretched middle, Nagi could sense that this batch of babies were already at a prodigious and healthy size. As they squirmed vicariously about inside of her, she hoped that they wouldn't end up as large as when Inanna had blessed, or rather, cursed her. Up until then, she did not think it was even possible to pregnant with fifteen pound babies.

“I see...Well if you would like, you would be more than welcome to stay in the Monastery until you deliver your Blessing.” Isabeau warmly offered.

“And I will more than gladly accept. Just make sure that it is very, very spacious. I am sure this won't be the only 'blessing' I'll receive.” Nagi said to a puzzled Isabeau who nodded and began to waddle away slowly in order to prepare for her gravid guest's new accommodations, unaware that her position of Blessed Mother was more than likely going to be challenged soon.

Trying her best to ignore both her aching back muscles and long stares from the other stunned nuns, Nagi noted that she was getting more and more used to being in a state of massive pregnancy, not that she wanted to ever get familiar with such a thing. But for the better part of over two years now she had been stuck being pregnant on a massive scale to the point where it was starting to impede her attempts to go back to her own timeline. Not to mention the lengthy births and postpartum recovery process, at this rate it would take years. And even if she ever did return home, how would she ever begin to explain. That she left a trail of innumerable offspring littered across time accidentally? Just the thought of it left her mortified. She wanted to lay the blame on Remiel for starting this whole mess, but really she knew that fault lay with her and her alone for being foolish and naive when it came to messing with the Akarana Corridor as a Time Tourist.

An audible gurgle emanated from her middle, shaking Nagi from her jumbled thoughts as she winced from the sensation of her skin being forced to stretch further again. She could feel her brood move and try to readjust themselves from the sudden inclusion of newly gestated siblings, who were just as large and heavy as their slightly older brothers and sisters.

“Oof..I think I better get moving, unless I want to get stuck here of all places.” Nagi said, grunting as she shifted her weight and took slow, meandering steps to where Isabeau had went to. At the very least, it brought her some small sense of comfort knowing she was in the care of other women who shared a similar condition, albeit on a lesser fertile scale than her. Next time though, she thought, I'll make sure to do some research beforehand. And maybe find a way to get rid of this inconvenient 'blessing' I have on me...

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Previous pictures in this now sort of recurring series where Nagi can't catch a break.

https://aryion.com/g4/view/276543
https://aryion.com/g4/view/527169

Special thanks to  Draconatedz and  Zagine for proofreading this!

Picture drawn by the talented https://cross-crescent.deviantart.com/

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