The Shota, The Snake and the Centaur


Turns out that the correct course of action when faced with a scarily powerful and incredibly attractive lamia, is not, in fact, to take off running in the other direction. Once she quickly caught up to and restrained me, Alice made this point very clear.

I also learnt that she has enough strength to lift a centaur clear off the ground with ease.

Being held upside down is disconcerting and painful for a centaur, with how fast the blood rushes to your head. I was quick to agree to not trying to run again, under threat of escalating punishments each time I tried. Coming from her and what vague parts I could remember of the game from years ago, I wasn't sure whether to be terrified or aroused. So I went with the median of scaroused. It is totally a real thing.

Thankfully, she put me before it got any more awkward.

Then came the questions.

"What are you?" Alice was staring intently at me as she slithered along, with Luka walking between us. I was going to keep as much distance between me and her as possible. The stupidly sexy she-devil was dangerous, and I was not above using a tiny boy… man? Man-child? He didn't talk like he was as young as he looked, but hell if I knew. Fuck it, shota. I was not above using a tiny shota as a living shield. Especially, since I remember them actually caring for each other.

I look back at myself and then at her with one eyebrow raised incredulously. "I am a harpy. Caw caw."

Her eyes flash dangerously, and she brings her tail up as if to strike me. I raise my hands in surrender. I know when to stop pushing, especially with someone who could break me in two fairly easily. "Ok, ok. Easy, lady. I am a centaur, obviously. And yes, I know you mean how I am a male, since according to Luka they do not exist."

I shrug, interrupting her before she can say anything. "I do not know what to tell you. I was born like this, and there are plenty of male monsters where I am from. There were some species that were mono-gendered, but those are pretty rare. I am certain is has something to do with the magic spell that went off in my face and teleported me to this forest, though. Fucking wizards."

I did not see any reason to lie about the fact that I was from another world. It would not make much, if any, difference to me. And maybe this way I could find a way to get back home. If magic brought me here, magic could get me back right? It had to. No way in hell was I staying in this world any longer than necessary. I would probably snap and go on a killing spree. And I remembered something about the crazy goddess of this world attempting to wipe out all monsters, which I was very much against for obvious reasons.

"Impossible. You must be a complete idiot to expect me to believe that." Alice crossed her arms, which did distracting things to her already sizable assets. And those tattoos were really attractive, doing a wonderful job of leading the eye down her body. That had to be intentional. Either way, they worked well with her lavender skin. Her eyes were slitted, like mine, but were a bright yellow to my vibrant green. Wait, fuck. I am getting distracted! Focus! "There's no such place anywhere in the world that such numbers of male monsters exist. Male monsters are barely more than a story, and there hasn't been one for a very long time; if they ever existed at all."

I snort and roll my eyes. "Oh, really? So I guess what you saw between my legs while you were manhandling me was just my spare coin purse."

That drew a strangled noise out of Luka, who stumbles slightly.

Alice just makes a haughty 'hmph'. "You could be some disturbed, idiotic shapeshifter that wishes she was a man."

I open my mouth to refute that, and then freeze. Shit, how do you even argue against that? Wait, I know! "Scent!"

Luka jumps at my outburst, stammering out a 'what' while looks at me with an expression somewhere between confused and like I am an idiot. "You are a lamia, so you have a pretty damn good sense of smell. Shapeshifters cannot change their scent! So, you should be able to tell I am male from my scent! Ha!"

I jab my finger at her, giving her a shit-eating grin. "Well?"

Alice looks like she would rather pull her teeth than admit it, but she gives in eventually. "...Yes. You do smell… male-" She punctuates the word by dragging those captivating eyes over me and licking her lips. Oop, the scarousal is back. "-and unlike any monster I've encountered before."

"But!" She cuts me off before I can rub it in her face. "That doesn't prove your claims of a place where there are as many male monsters as there are female. That, is still an idiotic claim."

Wow, she really loves to argue. Why was I even arguing? If she did not want to believe me, fine. Would not bother me either way. May as well drop my bombshell, then.

"Well, what if I am not from this world?"

She looks at me blankly, sighs and then turns to face forward again.

...The hell is that supposed to mean!


With the questioning done for now, though I had a feeling it was by no means finished, Alice called a stop for the day. We moved off the road and into a small clearing just out of sight, and set about making camp.

Luka had a small, almost threadbare tent that he managed to put up without too much struggle. It looks barely large enough to fit him, though. Why would someone even make a tent that small?

Alice… didn't have anything in the form of sleeping equipment, or at least didn't bother to set it up, and instead raided Luka's pack for his cooking gear and went about setting up where we would cook later. I think I vaguely remember her really liking food or something. Not important either way.

Turning away from the two, I scope out a good flat piece of ground without much in the way of rocks or other things that would make sleeping uncomfortable and drop my packs, bow, sword, buckler and other equipment off to the side. That done, I remove any of the larger rocks from my chosen spot and go back to my stuff, crouching down and opening one of my most prized possessions. Reaching inside, my hands instantly wrap around a large cloth bundle and drag it out. The bundle was far too large to have fit inside the bag, which is why it was one of the best, and most expensive, things I own. A bag of holding. It still blew my mind to have it actually exist as something more than a fantasy, as well as the sheer convenience of it.

I roll out the bundle, and after moving the poles to the side begin to start putting up my centaur-sized tent. It was tall enough for me to stand up inside of with only a small amount of bending over at the waist and could fit me comfortably length-wise with room to spare. Trying to get a centaur to crawl inside of a regular tent was an impossible task, so I had a tent that almost rivalled a small shed in size. I still remember how troublesome it had been to carry before I got a hold of the bag.

With the tent set up, I move my stuff inside of it and out of any possible bad weather. The sky is clear and there is not any real moisture in the air, but I would rather be safe than sorry.

Satisfied for the moment, I step back out of the tent and into the bewildered and mildly curious expressions of Luka and Alice, respectively.

"What- Where'd you get that from?" The purple-haired hero was the first to speak. I guess he did not see me pulling it from my bag, then. "I didn't- you weren't carrying that just before..."

"Hmm?" I look back at the tent. Yeah, I guess it would be pretty confusing to see that seemingly come out of nowhere. "Oh, it was in my bag. It is bigger on the inside. The bag that is, not the tent."

"Really?! Wow, that's amazing!"

"Yeah, it is pretty damn c- wait, where is Alice?" I glance around and catch sight of her off to the side a short ways away, going through my bag of holding. She sticks her hand in, pulling out a bag of spiced jerky. "Whoa, hey, what the fuck?! Get out of my bag! What the fuck is wrong with you? You cannot just go through my shit like that!"

She shoots me an uncaring look and drops the jerky back into the pack, then once again reaches in. This time she comes back out with a loaf of bread wrapped in cloth. "Interesting. I can't see into it, but the moment I put my hand inside, there is something there. Where did you get it? How much can you put inside of it? And how does it work if you can't see what's in there?"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, murmuring angry words in Centaur under my breath. Do not snap at the angry snake lady, Nilas. She could literally eat you if she felt like it. Relax. "I will explain. Just could you… please, not go through my things. Not everything in there is safe."

I look her dead in the eyes, meeting her cold gaze with a sturdy, serious one of my own. Finally, she clicks her tongue and hands me my bag. I let out a silent sigh of relief and pull it close. "Thank you. Now, for what you asked. I bought it, they're not uncommon but pretty expensive where I am from, I do not know how much you can fit in it, I have never found a limit so far, and when you put your hand inside of it, whatever you are thinking of, or something similar to it, will be within reach. Happy?"

The exotic-skinned lamia makes a non-committal noise. "And let me guess. Where you are from is another world?"

"Yep."

Alice shakes her head and slithers past me, back towards Luka. "Idiot."

As she reaches Luka, she looks down at him with a small smirk. "Luka, make dinner."

I turn my focus away from the exchange and instead start checking the contents of my bag to make sure everything is there and ok. I do catch Alice exclaiming that 'nothing is impossible for the Monster Lord!'

That actually gives me a good opening to ask about it without being suspicious, and who knows, maybe things aren't the same as I remember. And I know I've forgotten a hell of a lot, as well.

After confirming that Alice the idiot had not managed to break or accidentally open anything, I gather up my weapons and the rest of my equipment and move it over to where Luka is sitting by his lonesome.

The hero looks up at me as I settle myself down across from him with an embarrassed expression on his face. "Uh, sorry about Alice. She can be..."

"Pompous? Haughty? Rude?"

"Uh..." His eyes widen in shock and panic, and I can see them darting to the side where Alice is cooking.

I smirk at him. "Heh. It is fine, Kid. I get it. She called herself the Monster Lord, not sure what that is, but it sounds like she is nobility. The attitude is par-for-the-course with them."

"Par for what?"

"Ah." Damn, cannot believe I was still doing that after this long. At least it is not as bad as it used to be, referencing things that only exist on my old world. "Par-for-the-course. It is a saying. It means something that is expected or common."

"Oh. Wait, you don't know about the Monster Lord?!" He looks like he just heard something impossible.

I cock an eyebrow at him. "No. I am not from here remember, most likely not even from this world from what I have seen so far. There is no such thing as a Monster Lord there. Except maybe something a bandit would call themselves. Or a wizard."

Luka scratches the back of his head. "Uh, well see, the Monster Lord is-"

That's as far as Luka gets before two figures suddenly appear out of thin air in front of him. A short, tan-skinned girl with small pointed ears, massive green eyes and brown hair, wearing an odd green and brown outfit consisting of a high-collared dress that covered the lower half of her face and a fancy jester cap stood next to-

My heart skips a beat when my eyes focus on the small white-haired figure flying in place next to the girl.

Even as my brain catches up and realises that it's not her, my mouth reacts in disbelief. "T-Tasi?"

I immediately flinch internally, berating myself for the slip up. She does not even look like Tasi, beyond a few general things! This girl is shorter by a good head, has hair that is white-green instead of silvery-white, which is also far longer than Tasi would ever let hers grow, and is wearing an outfit she would sooner burn then wear. Not to mention the weird fluffy ears and wings.

"Huh?" The fairy, she could not be anything else really, tilts her head in confusion. "Who is Tasi? I'm Sylph! And this is, Gnomey! Say hello, Gnomey!"

The girl standing beside her with the surprised and confused expression, who my memory now told me was Gnome, shot Sylph an extremely dirty look and then practically punched her out of the air.

"Bwah!" Sylph went spiralling ass over tea-kettle for a few meters before managing to right herself. Gnome turns her head back and apparently catches sight of me for the first time, her eyes barely widening, the expression gone so quickly I was not sure if I imagined it. Her hand comes up in what I assume is a wave, albeit an incredibly reluctant and awkward one, and then she disappears; Leaving me staring at Luka, whose confused expression probably mirrors my own.

We both open our mouths to say something, but once again we are interrupted by an excited fairy.

Sylph zips in front of my face, close enough that my eyes almost cross trying to look at her. Slowly leaning back, her face finally comes into focus; a big beaming smile spread across it and her eyes sparkling. "Hello! You're Nilas, right? I heard you tell Luka that was your name. And you're a male monster! I've never met a male monster before! Can I see?!"

The excitable fairy flies down towards my lower half, circling around it while looking for a way under me. I put my hands down to, if not grab her, try and shift her away from getting under me. That would not lead anywhere good. "Whoa, hey! I would rather you did not, actually."

Sylph floats back up in front of me, pouting and giving me puppy dog eyes. "Aaaw, buuuuut-" A stern look brings her whining to a halt, though the pout remains. "Fiiine."

I sigh silently in relief, that look was powerfully adorable. I smile at the fairy. "Well, it is nice to meet you, Sylph. Yes, I am Nilas. Now, where did you and your… friend? Come from?"

"Oh! We came from inside Luka! So did Gnomey! We're best friends!"

I crack an amused smirk and raise an eyebrow. "I could tell. And what do you mean, from inside Luka? That… sounds uncomfortable. And like it would break whatever 'Ilias' commandments' about sex are." I send the hero an amused look, which sets him stammering; face red from embarrassment.

Sylph comes to his rescue. "I can turn my body into a spirit and go inside him to give him my powers. And Gnomey does the same. I'm wind and she's earth. And we're really, really strong!"

She somehow manages to bounce in place, despite being airborne. "Ooh, can I meet the spirits with you as well? I didn't know there were more of us!"

My ears turn up and I cock my head to the side, genuinely confused. "...What? I do not have any spirits with me."

"Of course you do! There is one inside you and one inside of your bow. A wind one as well! I thought I was the only wind spirit! Is it a boy, too?"

What did she mean Razor Gale had a-oh. Right, it was a magic item. It had a spirit stone in it. "Oh. Yeah, there is a wind spirit in my bow. It is only a, uh, small one, though, inside of a spirit stone. It is not intelligent like you are. Pretty much just a compressed ball of wind magic."

"Oh." Sylph droops a little lower in disappointment. I felt kind of bad, she seemed excited to meet another like her. "Well, what about the one inside of you?"

I shake my head at her, smiling gently. "I am sorry, but I do not have a spirit inside of me."

Sylph puts her hands on her hips and pouts. "Yes you do!" A finger came up to rest on her lips. "At least, it feels like it. It's kind of scary, though. Like a big hungry beast."

Ok, that was news to me. What hell did I have inside me that was a big hungry beast?

No… it could not be. She could feel it? How could she feel my Blessing?

...I will just chalk it up to magic and move on. Does that mean the Gods are here as well? That is not possible…

"That sounds like my… Blessing."

It was Luka's turn to jump into the conversation. "You have a blessing?! F-from Ilias?" His face was a mixture of shock, confusion and… envy?

Ilias! That's the name of the crazy bitch goddess! "Uh…no. Not Ilias, whoever that is."

Luka's face twisted even more. "Y-you don't know about the Goddess Ilias?"

I shrug. "No? There is no God called Ilias where I am from. They do not have names, just titles. God of Life, God of Fire, God of War, God of Love."

"Ooh, the God of Love sounds fun!" The fairy's eyes glinted with something that should not have belonged on a face that innocent looking.

"But, there's no such thing as any of them! Ilias made the world and everything in it; she would've told people if there were more gods."

I shrug at him. "That just gives more credence to the idea that this is not my world. There are plenty of Gods on my world. Demi-Gods too." I look at Sylph. "That is what my Blessing is, actually. A Blessing from the Demi-God of the Hunt." I point at my slitted eyes and bare my enlarged canines. "Gave me these eyes and teeth as part of it, among other things. No spirit, though, I am sorry to say."

A sudden roaring burst of heat and pressure ignites just off to the side, the sound flattening my ears in pain and the shockwave whipping my braid around and into my face. Sylph was blown away with a shout of 'Awaaa!' and Luka dove to the ground. Turning, I look over to find Alice standing over the scorched remains of the cooking area with a smug look on her face.

I was in awe. "...Really?"


With their dinner ruined, Alice decided it was time for Luka to train. I watched as Luka… 'trained' to use the spirit's powers, which mostly consisted of him running around like an overexcited child swinging his freaky sword. There was a foundation of skill in there, but… it was still pretty cringey.

I would have offered to teach him, but his sword lent itself to a far different style than mine, and I was hoping to get home as soon as possible. Alice was my first option; she might have the power to get me home. I'd have to ask tomorrow. If that didn't work out, Alice reminded me of Tamomo. I vaguely remember her being a kitsune, but apparently she was really old and taught Alice everything she knew, so she'd have to be powerful and intelligent. Maybe enough to find me a way home. Guess I was sticking it out with them until I found a way back.

I settle myself in to the pile of blankets in my tent, trying not to think about how empty it felt with Tasi missing. I hope she was alright, and did not get hit by the spell…

I shove the darkening thoughts into the back of my head and try to sleep. I only had a few hours before Luka was due to wake me for my watch. Turns out they did not even set a night watch when camping in the middle of nowhere. Idiots. I was quick to point out how stupid that was and managed to get Luka to agree to it. Better slightly less sleep of a night then dead, or a slave to a monster girl. Ugh.

Finally, even with ache of loneliness filling my chests, I drift off to sleep.