Chapter 57 - The Undiscovered Country
Alice had decided simply flying directly to the city of Grand Noah would draw too much attention and elected to land near an outlying community so that the two of them could walk the rest of the way. Alice was overjoyed that she could finally travel the road without having to change into human form. After all, she wasn't the only monster openly walking down the road.
Will thought it was a surreal sight to see: monsters and humans living side by side like it was the most normal thing in the world. After all his time in that world he realized he hadn't seen that before. The closest to that was Sylvia and her daughters in Iliasburg, which didn't quite compare to the sheer number of monsters he saw on the road or in Grand Noah itself once they arrived in the city proper. Alice's tail unconsciously wagged back and forth, betraying her excitement.
The sky line was dominated by two imposing structures, a castle and a gigantic colosseum. The sounds of battle and cheering crowds echoed out of the latter, audible even to regular humans on the street. The noise filled Will with disgust and irritation, knowing exactly what was truly taking place at the colosseum.
It was a large prosperous city with wide streets packed with people going about their daily routines, centered along a bustling marketplace. There were shops run by monsters offering special products only they could produce, and plenty of shops catering to monster clientele.
"Huh, look at that. We could get you full body plate armour if you wanted," Will remarked as they passed a blacksmith shop advising armour designed for monsters with strange body shapes.
Alice stared at the shop with keen interest before shaking her head. "No, it wouldn't be worth the cost or wait for armour that's weaker than my scales. Besides it'd be far too constrictive and uncomfortable to cover my tail up like that."
"That's fair. It wasn't a serious suggestion, so much as an idle remark that you could, if you wanted to," Will replied with a shrug as they continued window shopping. It was supposed to be a date and sightseeing tour of sorts, so neither of them were in any particular rush.
"I'm quite content with my current outfit. If I was going to buy anything it'd be a simple accessory that complimented it," she explained as her eyes surveyed the plethora of wares available in open stalls. "And it'd have to be durable enough to survive combat."
"That narrows it down to… just about nothing," Will replied.
He recalled that in the game Luka bought Alice a ribbon for her tail while the pair were in the city. The idea crossed his mind that perhaps he could do the same but it didn't sit right with him. It felt like… he'd be reading from a script again. He absolutely hated having to do that before. So he resolved to simply point it out if he saw it or buy it if she requested it, but otherwise forget about it. They were there to make their own memories, not recreate someone else's.
It was only moments later that Will suddenly stopped at a stall. Sitting on a display amongst other tail ribbons designed for lamias was the offending black ribbon. 'Speak of the devil,' he thought in mild amusement.
"What about that one?" he gestured to it. "Its colour matches your outfit."
Alice stopped and turned towards it. She cupped her chin and hummed in thought, looking it over for several seconds. "It looks cute but it'd be torn up during a fight. Maybe in the future."
Will nodded in understanding and the pair moved on.
-
They eventually stopped in a small coffeehouse café. Alice eagerly dragged Will inside the moment she saw a large display case filled with desserts, and he saw no reason to protest her choice. They quickly seated themselves, Will on an actual chair and Alice on a reclining couch built with a lamia's tail in mind.
They sat in relative silence as they snacked on their respective sweets and pastries, simply enjoying the atmosphere of the location and each other's company. Will thought it was a welcome reprieve from the stress of trying to stop the end of the world, amongst other things. It felt normal.
He was privately thankful that it'd be almost impossible for him to get fat again. The enhanced metabolism meant he'd keep a good physique for the rest of his life, however long it might be.
"This is nice," Will idly remarked, looking around the coffeehouse with a contented smile on his face.
"It is," Alice hummed in agreement before she finished her mocha and placed the empty cup onto the table. "I've heard this is what couples are supposed to do."
"It's much more fun than picking a fight with royalty. That isn't something most couples do," Will replied with a chuckle. "It isn't something most people do, period."
"No it isn't," Alice laughed in amusement.
"It is funny though, how we've," Will gestured between himself and Alice with his fork, "developed as a couple. We started as fuck buddies and now look at us."
"I know, you went and complicated it with your sentimentality," Alice replied with a smirk, nudging him with her tail.
"I don't recall you ever saying you disliked it. I wasn't getting wrapped up in your tail by accident after all," Will said before taking a sip of his own drink.
Alice waved off his comment. "You would have crawled between my coils even if I hadn't wrapped them around you. Besides, you were a good bed warmer, so I suppose it worked out."
"A royal bed warmer, thank you very much," Will corrected her, smiling and shaking his fork in her direction. "I worked very hard for that title."
"You were quite enthusiastic, I'll give you that," Alice smirked back at him. She went silent for several seconds as her gaze shifted towards the diverse crowd of people in the coffeehouse. "I wonder if this is how Remina looked in its prime," she wistfully remarked. "It must have been quite the sight."
Will turned and followed her gaze. He hummed in agreement. "Yeah, it must have been. I hope we can rebuild it in the future."
"It'd be a long time before Remina could recover, if it ever truly can. It'd have to be built from the ground up and a city of over fifty thousand people doesn't appear overnight," Alice pointed out with a frown.
"Well, Rome wasn't built in a day and we're going to live long lives. Perhaps it's not an immediate concern, but maybe one day it can be rebuilt. It'd just feel wrong to leave it as a mass grave," Will replied, glancing down to his own cup and swirling its contents about. "Remina was a symbol of peace and coexistence, and I think it should become that again. The world's going to need new symbols like it in the future."
He had no personal connection to the city itself, but knew its destruction sent shockwaves throughout the world that still reverberated. It cast a shadow over the lives of everyone in the world and served as the impetus for nearly everything that had happened in the last thirty years since.
'Ilias picked her target well, I'll give the cunt that,' Will thought to himself.
Alice paused in thought before responding. "It's so… strange to think about the future. I'd convinced myself that I wouldn't live to see it. That I shouldn't be allowed to live to see it and had to die to make amends for ruining my mother's plan," she spoke in a forced neutral tone, keeping her voice even.
Will reached across the table and held her hand, gently rubbing it and offering support.
"Now however, I see that I sunk into a malaise of apathy and despair. I have you to thank for helping to shake me from it. There's only one person's death that'd make the world a better place and it's not mine," Alice spoke with confidence, allowing herself to smile. "If she wants me to die she'll have to kill me herself. I won't do it for her."
"Damn fucking right!" Will exclaimed a bit louder than he meant to, causing some patrons to momentarily turn and glare in his direction. He lowered his head and spoke in a much softer voice. "We're going to finish the fight she started, whether she likes it or not."
"And I'll treasure the look of shock on her face when we do so," Alice remarked with a hint of sadism, her own fingers intertwining with Will's and gently squeezing him back. "Giving her a black eye was extremely satisfying."
"I can imagine," Will laughed in agreement.
"If I had known then what I know now I would not have been satisfied with only giving her a black eye," Alice sighed before releasing his hand to grab a tart and promptly popping it into her mouth.
Will hummed as his thoughts drifted onto the future. They'd been focused on preparing to fight Ilias and Black Alice, for obvious reasons, so it felt odd to talk about what would come afterwards. The immediate future was always more important than anything beyond the next few months.
Alice pointed at him once more with her tail. "You're thinking again," she observed. "Care to share what it is you're contemplating now?"
Will perked up slightly, shaken from his thoughts. "The future, I suppose, and what it holds for us once she's dealt with. We haven't really spoken about what we want, like as a couple." He gestured between the two of them, trying to put his thoughts into order as he spoke.
"I suppose not," Alice hummed as she placed a hand to her chin. "What came to mind?"
"The topic of children," Will started with a hint of apprehension. " What's your stance on them?"
"How neutrally phrased, though I never considered it a possibility before," Alice remarked as she thought over the question. "I believe that… I'd want them, eventually. The Fateburn line must continue but more than that I think I might like being a mother. Tamamo certainly seemed to enjoy raising me, and generations of kitsune."
She closed her eyes for a moment. "And I'd want twins, one boy and one girl. It's only fair," she added with a shrug.
Will nodded along. "Personally, I never really wanted kids, for understandable reasons. They're messy, costly, a hassle to deal with, and require devoting decades of your life to raise them," he spoke honestly, idly scratching the side of his cheek. "Though having a kingdom's worth of resources and skilled care takers like Tamamo mitigates some of those concerns. We wouldn't be dealing with it ourselves."
He glanced down at his cup and swirled around its contents once more, attempting to think of a way to properly phrase what he wanted to say. "I also know how much trouble my brother and I gave my parents. They say we were great kids, but I remember how much stress we caused."
"Most children do," Alice pointed out. "Tamamo has no end of stories praising and complaining about dealing with difficult children."
"True, I suppose," he reluctantly agreed, "but I'm concerned about possible hereditary issues that could pop up in any kids I have."
"If there's any genetic problems then I can simply edit it out of any child we conceive. It may require a few months of work to do so the pregnancy will last longer," Alice casually shrugged, "but if you're concerned about it then it'd be worth it."
Will owlishly blinked and stared at Alice in silence for a few seconds before laughing in relief. "I'd forgotten just how… odd some of your abilities could be," he smiled and drank the rest of the liquid in his cup.
"A benefit of being a Fateburn," Alice remarked under her breath with a smirk.
"I guess so," he put his cup down. "I still have reservations about having kids, but… I suppose I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. Though I'd at least like to put it off for a while, a few years or so. It'd be a bit overwhelming to have kids right away."
"I can accept that," she nodded in agreement, "so long as I can name our daughter Alice. It's only fitting. It was my mother's name."
"It was a lot of your ancestor's names, Miss Sixteenth," Will replied with a cheeky grin.
Alice ignored the jab at her family's repetitive naming tradition. "You can pick our son's name."
"Easy, Alexander," he immediately replied. "It was my great grandfather's name and what my parents considered naming me instead of William. Plus it'd fit with Alice. Alex and Alice, perfect twin names really."
Will wouldn't say he was enthused about the prospect of kids but at least they'd have support to handle it. Though he couldn't see himself as a father and the idea of trying to raise someone was stress inducing. Downright terrifying even. 'Tamamo will help, so there's that,' he assured himself. 'And a few years to deal with it.'
"It's quite fitting," Alice nodded in approval. "Now, let's focus on more important matters at hand, dessert. I require a third course." She raised a gloved hand to get the attention of a server and proceeded to order a diabetes inducing amount of sweets. Alice lounged back on her couch and let out a sigh of content once the server had left their table.
"I couldn't agree more," Will chuckled as he raised his refilled cup towards Alice. "To us."
She lifted her own cup with her tail and raised it to his, clinking them together. "To us," she echoed him, smiling back in satisfaction.
Whatever the future would hold, they'd face it.
