Heeeeeeeeeeeeeey everybody! I've been on fire these past few days and thus managed to pump out a whole other chapter! not very heavy in terms of action, something I'm going to change in the next few chapters or though, but for now we have more of the exposition! In the meantime, lets exposition us some reader reviews now shall we?
MGEobserver:I see you noticed that! Like I mentioned before, I plan on trying to incorporate Canon of the MGE, but at other times I plan on screweing around with it. as you said, it is an AU after all, so not all rules of the MGE will need to apply in this setting.
notstudying6527: No whole crew this chapter sadly, I do realize that if I tried to write out so much sex, I would probably end up burning myself out, so I'll try to be somewhat sparing with it... that or try to write separate stories for things like that.
Karharot: He he he... all I can say is wait and see. However, I do see your point about the elven temple. But don't worry, it's not off the table as of yet in regards to being visited in the future. maybe a little bit later, but we'll see where we go with it.
Astrogamer: why learn a magic about it when the canon has a potion that can do that. Giggity
The Impossible Muffin: One of my bad habits sadly is that I tend to write and write and write, but never end up trying to finish. turns out my new years resolution was to try to finish this story. maybe not this year to the next, but I do plan to keep writing it... if my time table stays as open as it has been of course. Also, you don't have to ask a question for me to respond to reader reviews, I just enjoy responding to them is all. So review away I say!
Chrito74: I'm happy to see such a long time fan of my previous works here and looking at my new stuff. makes me very happy
Now that we have that out of the way, let us continue on with the chapter!
Chapter 14
Andrew let out a low sigh, His eyes heavy and his body aching from the waist down. Which was why he was currently laying down on the bow of the ship. He had yet to get a wink of sleep since last night, most of the crew of the Blissful Tied having gone at him with fervor. They had taken turns swapping out until they had each had their fill of his semen, and after all of that, Lab had opted to join in as well, perhaps having had more shots put in her then the rest of the crew combined. Which was why she was standing off to the side looking as awake as could be while he felt like a turkey baster used within an inch of its life.
"You look like absolute garbage right now, you know that?"
Serena said with perhaps a little too much smug in her voice. She had come up onto the deck earlier, obviously well rested for her night in a decent bed.
Andrew only opted to look at her with equal levels of annoyance. Though that quickly changed to a small and devious smile when he thought of something.
"What's the matter, jealous you didn't get any action."
Serena's face quickly changed to the same shade of her hair color, the Red head blustering a little bit as she turned away from him.
"N-No! Shut your mouth!"
Andrew could only smile to himself at that, but his victory was short lived when he heard the sound of Unoma clearing her throat.
"Dear Master, given you stayed up all night, I can't ask you to pay attention when I'm trying to teach you, but this is pretty important to our future endeavors on land. So if you please try your best to listen to me despite your situation, I would highly appreciate it… since, you know, I was pretty much left out and everything."
Andrew felt that last statement was directed in a more passive aggressive manner, but he really couldn't say anything given he knew of Unoma's nature and desire for self-pleasure. Clearing his throat, Andrew opted to keep the conversation going.
"Sorry about that… anyway, not trying to sound like an idiot or anything, but what where we about to talk about? My mind is a little fuzzy right now."
Unoma only let out a low sigh before she tapped her foot impatiently.
"We are currently going over about training you in regards to suppressing your power Dear Master. We will need to work quickly seeing as You'll need to be able to do this as well as a master would in the span of three days. Understood?"
Andrew nodded his head at her before he managed to work himself into a sitting position.
"Got it. So… what do I need to do?"
Unoma, seeing as she had Andrews full attention, nodded her head once before she began explaining.
"Well, what we need to do is try to get you familiar with your power. See what you can feel of your limits. Normally we would have you try to exhaust yourself by using all of your mana, but we can't do that seeing as even some of the simpler spells run the risk of you going out of control. Anything large scale would only result in a repeat of yesterday, and when you're like that, Lab and I can't act since the dissonance wrecks havoc on our empathetic link. Thankfully suppressing power isn't hard to do by itself, it's when you need to do it unconsciously all the time is when it turns into a real issue. Thankfully you seem to be doing this passably already. This tells me your used to holding yourself back often, this can be seen as a good or bad thing depending on how one looks at it. However, we need you to get to a point where your power isn't leaking like it does now."
Andrew nodded in understanding at the Silver haired Dark Mage.
"Alright. So I'm doing thus subconsciously, that's a good start I suppose, but what do I need to do to make it where no one will jump me at the first opportunity."
Lab walked up to her master and sat down next to him.
"Simple really. You're gonna envision it. Like Unoma and I have explained to you before, magic is just as much about imagination as it is willpower and conceptualization. You need to try to find an image that works best for you to emulate the scenario you want to create."
Andrew nodded again, this being familiar.
"Okay… so what you two do to help you with this? Gimme an example."
Unoma actually cocked her head to the side curiously.
"An example of how I do it? Well… it's been so long since I last had to think about it… but if I recall… I originally thought of it like a ring around a flowing cylinder. To suppress it completely I would… tighten the ring, to allow more usage of mana, I would loosen it. If I wanted all of it, I would simply remove the ring entirely. Of course, that was when I was still human, as of now, I don't bother trying to regulate it."
Andrew nodded at her explanation, but he couldn't help but think of something else when her heard her analogy.
"So like a dick and a cock ring then. That makes sense."
Unoma had to blink a few times before she actually started to think about it.
"Hum… never thought about it like that before… that makes a lot of sense though."
Serena could only let out a low sigh.
"Leave it to this group to turn something magical into something sexual…"
Andrew only smiled at her before he brought his attention to Labareda.
"So what example do you have for me oh wise and powerful Demon lady?"
Lab poked his nose with her padded paw tip with a smug look on her face.
"I'm no demon dear master, but I'll let it slide seeing as I'm quite content with your seed in my womb. In answer to the question though, I've known how to do it since I came into existence. I never had a need for visualization. And most of the time, I don't even bother trying to hide it anyway."
At that, Andrew became curious, the both of them having said similar things.
"Wait… so if neither one of you are trying to regulate it, why am I not feeling it?"
Unoma scooted up close to him before she tapped him on the chest.
"Because dear master, your mana capacity is far to large and the mana itself is thick. When your letting it all out like you do, it's like someone is smothering us. As for why you don't feel us, it's because the world is thick with magic as is. All you really do when you try to sense it is pick it apart from each other really. The World Tyrants power is a foreign thing to this world, thus why everyone can feel you so easily when you use it. Well, it used to be at any rate, seeing as it seems to have seeped itself into the cracks of reality, it's not quite so foreign anymore, but you get the gist of what I'm trying to say."
Andrew could only nod in agreement and understanding.
"Alright then… since you explained all of that, I have a good idea of how I need to suppress myself. You guys will need to tell me if it works though, I'm not gonna have an idea if it is or not."
Lab nodded knowingly at him.
"Just try to suppress is all you need to do. As long as you don't try to let it out, everything should be good."
Nodding in understanding, Andrew let out a low breath of air. Thinking back to the last time he tried to get in touch with his power, Andrew opted to go slowly, to take his time to feel his power. Just like when he had obtained is ax, Andrew could feel the energy in his… soul? Body? He still wasn't sure exactly where he was feeling it from, but he couldn't deny that it was familiar to him at this point. However, he tried to look at it a little more closely, to feel it like how he had tried to feel his inner emotions yesterday, only without going that far.
'Try to visualize it… that's what they said right?'
Taking it to heart, Andrew decided to do just that, to project an image onto his power. At first, he wasn't sure what kind of image he could project into something like this, but then small things began to come to mind. About how he had heard how vast his power was in comparison, like an ocean. it was with that thought that he finally managed to grasp an image of what his power might be like. A deep and unknowably vast ocean. This seemed to root itself into his mind, which he figured was a good thing, but at the same time, it brought about its own complications. If his power was an ocean in his mind, how was he supposed to put a lid on it per-se? nothing as far as he knew existed that could be that big to cover such a large body. This is essentially what he spent what had to have been the next twenty or so minutes on, the sounds of the water around him along with some hustle and bustle from the crew working as white noise.
Eventually he simply sighed to himself and fell flat on his back, getting some curious stares from his team. Labareda leaned over him with a curious look in her eyes.
"Having problems?"
"Yeah. Weird question, how do you cover a body of water as large as the ocean?"
Unoma, Lab, and Serena all looked to each other with a perplexed look before Lab simply turned her attention back to him.
"You don't. If something that large existed, it would be able to cover the world itself. There might be some magical means, but I hazard a guess that explaining that will do you no good."
Huffing from his nose, Andrew sat himself back up.
"Yeah… I can't think of anything natural that could cover something that big."
Unoma leaned over onto his shoulder with a look of concentration on her face.
"True enough. However, its good to see that you have a good scope of what it is you need to think about. It's a pity that it just so happens to be something so massive."
Andrew looked to her for a moment before he smiled with a playful grin.
"A pity it's so massive? Then what was the point of making my cock so big?"
Unoma looked down at him with a chuckle before she brought her hand to his pants and gripped his limp dick.
"This could actually do to be bigger in my opinion."
"Jesus woman, do want a fucking python to fall out of my pants at some point?"
Serena didn't let them get any further with that before she spoke up.
"Can we get off the sex stuff for the time being? Let's try to focus on the important things right now."
The other three looked to the twin tail before they could only agree with her. Andrew opted to look at her for a moment before he opted to point something out that had been bothering him for a bit.
"I know you guys are responsible in your own right, but if all of you are up here, who's keeping an eye on Aruma?"
Lab lay down next to Andrew, her eyes up into the somewhat cloudy sky.
"The elf is looking after her right now. She said she wanted to, and since you trust her enough, I let her."
"I see… makes sense…"
With the conversation having run its course and Andrew having gotten a small mental break, he opted to go back to trying to figure out how to suppress his power. For the next hour or so, he tried to make some headway with some ideas that came to mind, however Unoma and Labareda said they only noticed small changes in his power, thus leaving him at a conundrum. It wasn't until another hour later when he finally opted to give up. In one part that he had been thinking about it for too long and that he was tired from getting no sleep. The other was that Jonathan had come up on deck and he had actually wanted to practice fighting him again. Something Jonathan had been more then eager to do. However, the result was pretty much the same when they sparred, though Andrew had to admit that he may have gotten a tiny bit more reactive to Jonathan then he had been yesterday. Though that thought didn't save him from tired muscles and aching joints.
After having gotten done with that, Andrew opted to stay out of the way of the crew by laying on the bow again, simply staring up into the sky with nothing much occupying his mind. Everyone else had gone off to do other things for the time being, leaving him there with naught but his thoughts. That is until the sound of hoof on wood caught his attention and forced him to look and see the Captain walking toward him.
"Oh, hey Captain. Your looking quite lovely today."
Kanneth smiled at his flattery, the Hakutaku staring down at him while he simply lay there.
"Hello Andrew. I take it the training is giving you some issues?"
"Eh, a little bit. We still have a few days though, so I'll try to work something out by then. Where I come from, my job pretty much forced me to find resolutions to problems that no one else could come up with. Though I will admit magic based things are a first for me. But I digress, did you need something from me?"
Kanneth, deciding that staring down at him from up high was somewhat rude, opted to sit down next to him.
"Not much, I was actually hoping to talk with you about the Dragon Turtle you killed."
Feeling that it would be rude to keep simply laying there, Andrew sat himself back up with some effort and a few groans.
"Ugh… okay, what about it?"
"Did you have any plans on what you where going to do with it?"
Andrew shook his head at her.
"Uhhhhhh… no, not really. It's not something I considered important at the moment, but since you bring it up, it will be something of an issue when we do get to land. I take it you wanting to talk about it means you wanted something to do with it?"
Kanneth simply chuckled.
"Quick as ever to get to the point I see… yes, I was actually hoping you would sell it to me if you had no use for it."
Andrew cocked his head to the side curiously, but at the same time, he opted to be cautious about business like this.
"Maybe… I mean, you are right, I don't have a use for it. But I'm curious. What are you willing to offer for it?"
Kanneth nodded at him.
"A fair amount of money for it. Any dragon, even those of a subspecies, sells for a fair amount on the market."
"How much are we talking here?"
"A Dragon turtle of that size and age would put it at a rank of young adult. Not quite at the prime of its life, but still developed enough to get decent material out of it. Depending on who buys the materials, we could be looking at a sum of well over seven to eight hundred gold. Though many things are to be considered when it comes to buying and selling of dragon parts. Granted even at a low sum you would still be able to get quite a bit out of it."
Andrew, not used to market prices, tried his best to look neutral, though it wasn't very hard considering he wasn't aware if that was a large sum or not.
"Alright… if I sold it to you, how much of that would actually go into my pocket?"
Kanneth had a quick reply to that.
"It depends really. If you wanted money now, I could give you a lump sum of two hundred. But if your willing to wait a week or two, I could give you double that. The kill was clean and the body is in very good condition after all, so you don't have to worry about bad parts. I've also taken the liberty of getting the crew to cut some sigils of preservation into its body, which should keep it fresh for a week or two."
Andrew let a low hum escape his lips.
"I really don't know if I'll be able to wait a week… but only getting twenty percent of the profit seems like a serious loss…"
Kanneth nodded in agreement.
"For you yes, but if your willing to come back, I can have more of it prepared for you."
"I don't know if I will or not is the issue… I'll have to think about it for a bit."
Kanneth nodded in understanding.
"That's fine. You'll have a few days to decide on it."
"Thanks." Was all he said before he watched her get up and walk off, leaving him with yet another thing to think about.
'Blegh… responsibility keeps piling up… I think I'll go and see Imh'ege to sooth these poor muscles of mine.'
With a lecherous smile on his face and a growing erection, Andrew did just that, putting the thought to the back of his mind.
After that was two days of sleeping, training, suppressing power, and fucking when he got the chance to, though not necessarily in that order. Despite all that time though, Andrew didn't feel any closer to getting his power under control, though he was willing to admit that he thought his training was starting to show result. At least he was starting to react now and not just standing there like a log. Still didn't help that he kept getting pummeled. He also had decided to sell the Dragon Turtle he had killed to the Captain. Thankfully she was willing to give him a good amount plus free rides on her ship in the future if he ever needed transport on the open ocean. But sadly it still didn't solve the main issue of his power.
Currently leaning against one of the masts of the ship, Andrew only let out a low sigh before he let out an equally low groan.
"Ugggggggggghhhhhhhhh… at this rate we'll have to stay out on the water until I figure this out. That or we get dropped off away from civilization or something."
Serena shook her head at him, her vaguely creepy katana in her hands as she did maintenance on it.
"That's a temporary solution at best. We still have to get to Dragonia right? We'll run into the same issue if you put it off. Not to mention anybody we run into on our way there."
Labareda leaned against her master with a hum on her lips.
"She's right. You're just going to have to try as hard as you can today."
"But I have been Lab. Nothing I'm doing is having any lasting effect. I didn't think trying to suppress power would be this hard."
Labareda only shook her head.
"Hard yes, but the part that seems to be giving you issue is the concept of visualization. Sadly, I can't help you with that."
Letting out yet another sigh within five minutes of each other, Andrew only grumbled under his breath before he opted to start trying again.
"Is it really that important for him to learn it though?"
The sound of an unfamiliar voice in the conversation caused everyone present to turn and look at the speaker. That speaker being Fenella while also being accompanied by Sarya. Andrew could only give them both a somewhat perplexed look.
"Uh… yeah? Kinda? As far as I know, anybody will be able to tell who I am and try to kill me."
"Ummmmm… what if I told you that that might not be the case?" Sarya exclaimed with a sheepish look on her face.
Andrew, Serena, and Labareda looked at her dumbly for a moment before they all exclaimed in a unified voice.
"What?"
"It pretty much slipped my mind since hardly anybody tends to think about them or even like them, but what if I told you that their where actually people who willingly take Oda's taint into their bodies?"
Labareda responded to that one with a none-to-kind remark.
"Then I would say they're fucking insane. Who willingly does that?"
Sarya pointed to Lab.
"Well, the Montre Noire are kinda insane seeing as they actually do that."
Andrew, actually recognizing the name to be French and to mean 'black watch' could only be surprised at the fact of a language like French even being spoken. If he didn't know any better, he would have called it out for sounding like something a fan fiction writer would pull out of nowhere to sound cool.
Author: (;A;)
Sarya started speaking again, so he brought his attention back to her.
"I forgot about them, but the Noire have been around for about two to three hundred years studying and trying to control the taint of Oda through the world. Nobody knows why, but they seem kinda crazy and they have been caught doing a lot of shady stuff in the past. The biggest thing I remembered though was that a lot of them would put the taint in their bodies and give off the same kind of feeling you do. So, rather then try to repress your power, maybe you can pass yourself off as a member of the Montre Noire?"
Andrew thought about it for a bit, his mind trying to think of any pros and cons that went with this idea. Labareda though opted to speak up on it with her own thoughts.
"I'm not sure if that's much better. It doesn't sound like this group is well liked and the stigma that comes from what they do sounds like something that should be avoided."
Serena looked to Lab with a contemplative look on her face.
"True, but it sounds better then being branded the world tyrant himself."
Lab couldn't quite argue that, but before she could begin offering a counter, Andrew spoke up.
"It sounds like an idea to fall back on at least. We don't know much about them, but it sounds like something we can use if I don't get this power situation under control by tomorrow."
Labareda only let out a low sigh.
"Very well. It doesn't sound like a great one, but we'll simply have to wait and see. Other then that, you probably should go ahead and take a break. I'm going to go below deck to check on Unoma and Aruma. Serena, you keep with master and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid while I'm gone."
Andrew could only look at her with some slight disagreement on his face.
"Oh come on, it's been a few days. I think I've shown some level of restraint."
Lab simply gave him a 'oh really' kind of look before she simply stood up and walked off, leaving Andrew to simply sigh at her disregard for his word. Sarya and Fenella, seeing that they no longer had anything to do here, also opted to go ahead and walk off. This left Andrew and Serena by themselves, something not really minded seeing as Serena was still performing maintenance on her katana. However, the act of her working on said Katana got Andrew thinking to his conversation he had with Sarya some days back along with his promise to talk with Serena as well. He hadn't been trying to put it off, but he had also been somewhat dreading telling her about it. He knew it wasn't good to not tell her, but his mind had been filled with other things for the past few days. However, Andrew could quickly see that he had a prime opportunity to talk with her right now.
Letting a small sigh come from his mouth, Andrew brought his attention to the red-headed twin-tail and spoke up, albeit more nervously then he would have liked.
"Hey… Serena… do you happen to remember what we talked about a few days ago?"
Serena stopped what she was doing for a moment, trying to recall what exactly he may have been talking about, it quickly came to mind though, and she looked over at him.
"Ah… yeah. You said you needed to talk to me about something right?"
Andrew nodded at her.
"Yeah… I think now is a good time for it."
For a moment or two, the both of them sat there, Serena writing for Andrew to start talking while Andrew tried to mentally come up with the best way to start what was no doubt going to be a messy conversation. However, the longer he took, the more nervous Serena started to become, the woman feeling the same levels of embarrassment as when he had told her about this. Thankfully they didn't need to wait long as Andrew came up with what he considered the best start.
"Alright… let me start this off with a question. Have you noticed yourself… acting in a different manner as of late? In the last month actually? Maybe even two to three weeks ago?"
Serena had to think about that for a moment, her mind not quite sure what Andrew meant when he was talking about acting odd. However, the things she would occasionally think along with the way her mind would change at the drop of a hat came to mind quickly, thus allowing her an answer.
"Uh… yeah… actually. Now that you mention it, it has been happening to me a lot more as of late… especially when…. Never mind… wait, do you know something about it?"
Andrew couldn't help but feel dread at that question, in one part because yes he did know, and the other in part that he now was obligated to answer her.
"Ah… yeah actually. I do know. Truth be told, someone else actually told me the reason behind it. I had had an idea of what it was, but it wasn't until they told me that I could be grounded in my theory."
Serena stopped her work on her katana, her attention now on Andrew and on what he was about to say. Andrew was mentally dreading this next part, but he simply enforced himself to tell her and to do his best to deal with the aftermath when it came.
"So… um… remember that talk we had some time back in the shadow labyrinth? The history lesson that Sarya shared with is?"
Serena, somewhat confused, only answered.
"Yeah."
"Do you recall the part about Mamono."
Serena only nodded again.
"Yeah. Mamono are like what Lab, Unoma, Sarya and pretty much everyone on the blissful tide are right? Also something about being kinda dick hungry or something."
Andrew mentally wanted to stop here and now, but deep down, he knew the conversation was too far along to stop. So he opted to be as blunt as possible so as not to cause any confusion with any vagueness he might try to insert into an explanation.
"Yeah. Kinda right. So, turns out you're turning into a mamono called a Cursed Sword. Reason being because of the sword you picked up in the Labyrinth. Imma go ahead and say that the transformation can't be stopped at this point, and you have another month before you're fully converted."
For a moment, it was as if everything stood still. Serena could only blink, her mind trying to process what it was that had just come out of Andrews mouth while the male himself expected something savage or angry to come from Serena's lips or for her to actually try to hit him. This went on for a moment before, not surprisingly, Serena was the first to break the momentary quiet.
"I… feel like I should be getting angry or surprised… or… something. I really should."
"It might not have set in just yet."
Serena nodded at him, what he was saying sound reasonable. It almost didn't feel real to her at the moment, so she opted to keep talking.
"And… your saying this…" Serena held her blade up to indicate what 'this' was. "Is the cause of what's happening to me?"
Andrew only nodded at her.
"Yes. Apparently it's slowly been changing you."
The red head looked to Andrew before she looked back down at the somewhat grotesque weapon. Despite the oddity of it, Serena had come to like the thing, the blade proving sharper then any she could remember having while feeling like a perfect fit for her. However, now she wasn't sure what to think of it. Putting the weapon down on the deck next to her, Serena simply crossed her legs while she looked out across the deck with a blank expression on her face. Andrew was actually starting to feel kinda worried and maybe freaked out. He was more expecting her to get angry or violent. Not this… somber acceptance. For a few moments, nothing was said, but that changed when Andrew once again dared to speak up.
"Are… you okay? You seem awfully calm about all of this."
Serena didn't turn to look at him, but she did reply.
"I don't know actually. I had the feeling that something had been changing in me a while ago. I just wasn't sure what it had been. Now I do know, and I now know there's nothing I can do to stop it."
Turning to look at Andrew, Serena's expression was a varied mix of several things, leaving her with a complicated expression on her face.
"So… am I going to become… what? Some monster whore or something? Am I going to start seeking out men to sate myself? Have the feelings I've had for a while now actually belong to me, or to this new nature of mine? What… happens to me at this point?"
Despite the lack of anger, it was easy to see that Serena was both scared and confused, her tone shifting between the emotions as she spoke. Andrew felt almost hurt seeing her like this, but he could only tell her the truth on the matter.
"I… I don't have any real answers for you seeing as I'm not going through what you are right now. But, Sarya tells me that she really didn't change all that much when she got turned. The only thing she said changed was that she gets really horny easily and that she got more powerful."
"I…see…"
For a moment, she looked a dash more reassured with his words, but she simply looked away again to stare out at the deck, her mind obviously on this current development. Andrew still felt hurt seeing her like this. Serena was a headstrong woman, and seeing her look defeated like this only added to the empathy he felt for her.
"Hey… Serena… I know your thinking a lot right now… but I just wanna say… I'll help you in any way I can. I promise you that if it's in my power, I'll do anything to help you."
Serena looked over at him, a small smile on her face, though to Andrew, it looked rather sad.
"Thanks… I… I think I'm going to go below deck. I need to think about this for a bit…"
Watching her stand up, Andrew watched her pick up her sword and strap it back to her waist, the girl walking off to leave Andrew with a complicated feeling of remorse and helplessness. Labareda, who had made her way back up to deck, walked past Serena on her way to sit with him. Though the familiar stopped to look at the girl as she walked past, the twintails downcast expression not something she was used to seeing. Watching her disappear behind the door to below deck, Lab turned back around and made her way back to Andrew, a questioning look on her face.
"I wasn't even gone for five minutes, what did you do to that poor girl?"
Met with an accusation he hadn't been expecting, Andrew was about to try to defend himself when it hit him that she wasn't wrong in her implication. Letting out s low sigh followed by a weary sounding groan, Andrew lay down on the deck and looked up at the sky.
"I told her what was happening to her."
Labareda cocked her head to the side in some confusion.
"You told her about what now? Wait, you mean about how she seems to be changing into a denizen of this world like me and Unoma?"
"Yeah. On that note, why didn't you guys say anything about it to her? I only found out about it because Sarya told me about it."
Labareda nodded her head at getting an answer to a question she was going to ask. She then decided to sit down beside her master.
"Me nor Unoma said anything about it because we figured it wouldn't have been all that important. The pros to her transformation far outweighed the cons, if she even has any. However, I do understand that humans are not delighted at the fact of such things happening to them. I actually was going to tell her at some point, just later was all."
Cocking his head to the side in some confusion, Andrew opted to ask.
"Why wait?"
"Because further along in her change would have had more visible side effects while helping to cement her mental state. It would have been obvious that she was changing yes, but it would have been equally obvious that she would have been more aware of how in control of her emotions she truly was. At this point I feel it would do more harm then good in that she was still unaware of the effects. Now that she has been made aware, she will begin to question her emotions and thoughts, wondering if they where truly her own."
"But Sarya told me that the effects where really only limited to increased libido and power."
Lab leaned into her masters shoulder.
"And she would be right. But think about it this way, if you where suddenly made aware of a fact that you where being changed in any way, how willing would you be to believe it?"
Andrew thought about it for a moment before he answered.
"Truth be told, I would believe that person quite readily actually. I went along with your deal the first time we met and I didn't really think all to much about it afterward."
"True enough, but I know your attentive enough to be aware of what it is I'm saying. I also get the feeling you kinda just go with the flow on many things, thus why you end up in the situations that you do."
Andrew laughed sheepishly at that, the constant reminder further cementing the facts. Labareda only huffed before she moved her head from Andrews shoulder, to his lap.
"Well, regardless, it's done now. We should keep a close eye on Serena for the time being to try to help her along as best we can. Until then, it would be best for you to keep practicing. Leave our lovable redhead to me and Unoma."
Andrew nodded at her, understanding what it was she was saying. Knowing that there wasn't much else he could do at this point, Andrew put his break on hold and got back to his suppression training.
Meanwhile, aforementioned redhead had made her way back down to the cabin, still lost in thought over what she had heard. As she entered the room, she noticed that Unoma was currently laying next to Aruma, the young girl still asleep while the Dark Mage held her close. She didn't need to question if she was awake or not as a moment later the sound of Unomas voice rang out.
"Oh? Is that you Serena? Coming to check up on her or have you come to relive me for a moment?"
Serena took a seat on the couch, only half listening to the mage woman.
"Sorta… I'm just here I suppose…"
Unoma worked herself to a sitting position before she looked at the swordwoman.
"I see… well, if you don't mind, I'm going to head up to the deck for a moment to check up on Dear Master. If you would be a love and keep an eye on Aruma for me. Don't worry about her waking up though, she did a little while ago and I managed to feed and bath her before she went right back to sleep."
"Alright… I'll keep an eye on her…"
The answer came somewhat in a dismal tone, something the silver haired mage did not miss. She opted to not say anything about it though, the woman figuring that she would get an answer from Andrew or Lab first. However, as she began making her way to the door, the sound of Serena asking a rather unusual question beckoned her to stop.
"Hey… Unoma."
Turning to look, Unoma responded in kind.
"Yes?"
"Do you… love Andrew?"
Of all the things she would have expected, a question of her feelings for her master had not even been on that list. However, she responded without hesitation.
"If I was to think on it for a moment, then I would probably respond yes. Though it's not quite the possessive love that Labareda has, I do care for him and wish for his attention."
Serena wasn't sure if what she heard was the thing she needed to hear, thus she continued questioning.
"Do you know if it's real though? I mean, you said yourself at some point that you've been… changed into something. A mamono, are you sure it's not a result from that?"
Unoma could be called lazy, she could be called a hedonist in her past life, but she was far from anything connoting the word 'idiotic' in it. It was easy to see for her that someone had told Serena what was going on with her. She could only guess Sarya or someone else who had been aware, but she opted to answer for her.
"My emotions are my own regardless of what may or may not have been done to me in my many years alive. Of course, this change in me just makes me more of what I am then when I was human. Your not aware of this, but I used to be as bad as some warlords back in my day when it came to vices. I still am technically, but I'm actually more subdued then I used to be."
"You know… I can actually see that."
Unoma simply smiled at her.
"Did that answer your question?"
Serena thought about it for a moment before she let out a small sigh.
"Maybe? I dunno… I think I need to ponder on it more…"
"Well, ponder as much as you want. Your thoughts and your ideas are your own to see and shape as you wish. Though do recall that communication exists for a reason."
With that, Unoma made her way out the door, leaving the redhead to ponder on that.
"Thoughts are my own…" she said before she lay down to think more on herself and her changes.
After that, the rest of the day proceeded without issue, though Andrew did get invited to the captains quarters at one point in the night, though that's something for another time. The next day was spent making sure everyone was ready for landfall, Andrew having done everything he could to suppress himself, but not having been able to actually do it in the allotted time. Thus it was decided that they would simply need to adopt the idea that they had come up with yesterday. Eventually though, it was simply a waiting game, though Kanneth had assured them that they would be getting to town mid-day. Andrew, who was currently on deck by himself as his party was down below getting things in order, felt a certain eagerness about visiting this place, his childhood rearing it's head from deep in his soul at the advent of a town in a fantasy world. It had been almost a month since he got here in this world, and in all that time he had spent it down in a musty dungeon, thus this would be a very nice change of pace. Looking up into the sky to admire the clear azure of the world above him, Andrew couldn't help but notice a small dot on the horizon. It was tiny, but he could make out just the vaguest form of bird like wings.
He thought it might have been Tannath. But then he recalled that she was currently on one of the masts looking out for things such as this. With that thought in his head, Andrew turned to call out to said albatross harpy.
"Hey, Tan. I see something on the horizon there."
"It's alright. I already saw it before you did. It's not anything to worry about. Its one of Gwents port scouts."
Andrew only had a vague idea of what a port scout was from the name. However, seeing as Tannath wasn't worried, he opted not to worry about it either.
"Does that mean we're close to Gwent at this point?"
"Yes, if I flew there right now, it would only take me twenty minutes. Meaning we are less then an hour away from Gwent itself. Do you mind going to inform your group? I'll let the captain know myself."
Andrew nodded at her.
"Sure thing."
Whirling himself around, Andrew quickly made his way down below deck, passing Jonathan on the way to his room and giving the gentleman a quick rundown of the time frame for arrival. After that was done, he then made his way to the room and made his way inside. It should be said however, that Andrew did not knock, just as he was used to doing, thus when he opened the door, he was pricy to see Unoma currently with the upper half of her outfit missing from her person while she looked to be in the process of either picking it up or putting it down. He wasn't sure, she had stopped in the middle of what she was doing in lieu of the door opening. Andrew found his eyes zeroing in on her exposed breasts, the weight and size of her tits giving them that wonderful large titty sag that he couldn't help but want to fondle when she had them exposed.
Smiling lewdly, Andrew crossed his arms.
"Oh? Were you looking to entice me when I came back? Cause if so, I'll be more then happy to oblige."
Unoma, only momentarily caught unaware, came back to the situation when Andrew spoke up, a smile of her own stretching across her lips.
"Odd as it is of me to say, that wasn't my intent. I actually just got out of the shower with Aruma. The poor girl managed to stay awake long enough to do that. Sadly she fell back to sleep when she came back in here."
Looking to the side, Andrew could see that Aruma was currently laying on the bed, though she wasn't alone in that Serena was currently dressing the unconscious girl. Upon seeing the familiar twin tails of the swordwoman, Andrew felt a slight pang in his chest. She didn't look much better then she did yesterday, Serena having forgone any conversation last night and keeping her silent vigil well into the morning. Andrew was sure he hadn't heard a word out of her, and he felt that it would be some time before she spoke. She didn't look much better either, some bags under her eyes and expression looking pitiful. There wasn't much he could do about it though seeing as he had offered to listen and she had yet to take him up on it. The sounds of something shuffling off to the side caught his attention and diverted him away from his thoughts about Serena. That thing being Labareda as she stuffed Andrews military boots into a bag much to small to hold them. However, they seemed to vanish into it without any issue, leaving Andrew to wonder if it wasn't some kind of bag of holding. Though he was more curious about how or where she even got a bag like that.
His staring only persisted for a moment longer before Lab turned around to look at him.
"Hello master. Did you come running when you felt Unoma had taken her clothes off?"
Simply rolling his eyes at that, Andrew shook his head.
"No, though have no doubt that If I was able to detect you or her undressing, I would be running. The reason I'm down here as that Tannath informs me that we should hit Gwent under the hour. I was sent down here to let you all know along with Jonathan's crew."
Unoma, who pulled up the rest of the dress to cover her upper body, let out a content huff.
"I see. That's good to know, I look forward to seeing what all has changed in the past fourteen hundred years. But before that, do we have everything?"
Labareda lifted the bag in her paws.
"It's all in here. Money, what little clothing we have, and a few things of food that Fenella was willing to part with."
Andrew nodded his head.
"Awesome. Other then that, we need to think about what to do with Aruma."
Serena, having been dressing said girl while everyone else had been chatting, put on the last of the girls attire before she spoke up.
"We should carry her. I'll volunteer to do it first seeing as you guys will probably have to handle things like lodging and figuring out what we need to do."
Andrew nodded at her.
"Makes sense. We'll take turns carrying her around, but you do bring up a good point. Our first order of business will be to discover some lodging, after that we'll try to form some kind of plan. Agreed?"
Everyone nodded with no objections to be found in that logic. After making one more sweep of the living space, everyone's bags in hand before clearing out of the room, Andrew insisting on being off the deck and ready to get started on what needed to be done when they got there. As he and the group began making its way out the door, he couldn't help but notice that Jonathan was still out in the hall, as if he had been waiting for him to come back out. Andrew was pretty much spot on when Jonathan noticed him and called out to the only other male in the vicinity.
"Ah… Andrew, do you mind if I have a word with you in private?"
Curious, Andrew turned to look at Labareda and the rest to indicate for them to go ahead and head on up. However, Lab simply gave him a look before she looked to Jonathan.
"What do you need to talk with my Master about?"
Jonathan didn't get the chance to answer before Andrew spoke up.
"It's fine Lab. It's probably nothing all that important anyway. It probably won't even be that long, right Jonathan?"
The blonde simply nodded.
"No, it shouldn't take that long at all."
Lab looked between the two of them for a moment before she simply sighed and relented.
"Very well. I trust that nothing will happen. We'll be waiting on the deck for you Master, don't dawdle please."
With that out of the way, Andrew watched everyone make there way down the hall, allowing him to bring his attention to Jonathan.
"So, what do you need to talk about?"
For a moment, Jonathan didn't say anything, but the look on his face looked both guilty and nervous. Andrew didn't like where this might be going with an expression like that, but he decided not to talk. His patience was rewarded when Jonathan finally spoke up.
"Do you remember me telling you about how I'm part of a hero's guild of sorts?"
"Yup."
"And you do remember when I said that me and my group had gone to the shadow labyrinth to investigate a rumored dark power there right?"
"I do recall this being mentioned at one point, yes."
Jonathan let out a low sigh, as if to steel himself for what he was going to say next.
"Alright… well, seeing as I'm one of the few people in the world who is meant to deal with things relating to Oda and his spawn, I'm sure you're aware that… I'm going to need to report the things that happened in the labyrinth."
It took Andrew a moment to realize what it was Jonathan was getting at, but then it hit him.
"Ahhhhhhhh… hum… yeah… that… huh… yeah. That's going to be a problem."
Jonathan nodded his head.
"Yes, I figured that when I do this, it would bring you a great deal of problems."
Andrew grimaced at the absolute in that statement.
"So… ah… I guess I can't ask you to fudge your findings? Maybe not tell them about me?"
"I… wouldn't feel right about it. I'm honor bound to report things pertaining to Oda and his power like all other hero's are meant to do. I do apologize about it. That's why I'm letting you know about it now rather then not at all."
Andrew nodded at him, understanding that this was Jonathan's job after all.
"Well… you're doing me a solid by telling me about it. So, how long do you reckon I'll have before people start looking for me?"
"I won't give the report immediately. Though we are expected to give it quickly, I might be able to stall on it for about a week. Any more then that though and I might get into some serious trouble with the Hero's association. I'll also see about downplaying your power if I can, though I won't make any promises on that."
Andrew nodded at him.
"That's helpful. Me and the girls will try to be gone before then. But if worse comes to worse, I'll try to work something out on my own. Thanks for doing this for me though, I know you are probably breaking some rules doing this after all."
Jonathan only smiled at him.
"It's alright. I know you for who you are and not for what your power is defined as, so I don't harbor any ill intent toward you. Sadly, I know many won't see you in the same light."
"Tell me about it…"
Was all he said before Andrew let out yet another sigh.
"Well, I guess that's how it goes. I'm sure we'll be fine though. Anyway, I'm going to go ahead and head up on deck. I'll see you up there, unless you need my help with Morgana?"
"No, I'll be fine with her myself, this not being the first time I've had to deal with this."
With that out of his mouth, Andrew said one more farewell before he made his way to the stairs. But just as he was about to make his ascent up said stairs, he felt the pull of something on his leg for a moment before he felt like a fish be hauled through the air on a line. The next thing he knew and he was staring into the multi-iris visage of one Kraken girl while he was being held up in the air by one of her powerful tentacles.
Not even missing a beat, Andrew smiled and spoke.
"Hey there Imh'ege."
A moment later and Andrew felt himself be flipped around and let down to the ground in front of said Kraken. She was looking up at him with a bit of a pouty look on her face.
"Leaving? Leaving! Andrew leaving Imh'ege all alone! Alone! Even after so much fun time!"
Andrew chuckled at that. In the last few days, every time he would have a sparring session with Jonathan, he would almost immediately come down to the bilge to get healed by the violet haired seafarer. And about ninety nine percent of the time it would result in him having sex with the Kraken. Though he couldn't be faulted in that he had become addicted to her tentacles and the sensation they brought.
"I'm sorry Imh'ege, but you knew that I wouldn't be around on the ship forever right? Hell, we got to spend more time together then I thought we would What with the captain having to slow us down for the last few days. Besides, If I'm ever back to Gwent, then I'll be sure to look up you guys from the blissful tide. You and the crew have become my favorite boat by far after all."
Truthfully it had been the only boat, but he wasn't necessarily lying about this being his favorite crew after all. For a moment, the Kraken only stared at him with a pouty look on her face. Andrew found it cute despite how she was feeling and moved his hands to her face, where he then grabbed her cheeks and gently squeezed them.
"Don't be so glum. I'm sure I'll see you again some day soonish. You'll just have to be patient is all."
The Kraken tried to maintain her air of cute anger, but the feeling of his hands on her cheeks left her with a warm and fuzzy feeling in her body that repelled any form of anger, forcing her to smile up at him with a content look following after.
"Is true. Imh'ege has seen, thus Imh'ege know. Coming soon? Coming soon! Imh'ege will look forward to day of return. Must be careful. World seeks the tyrant, and the tyrant seeks the tyrant."
Andrew wasn't sure what she was on about with that little bit of info, but he figured it had something to do with her future seeing madness. Getting one more gentle squish of her cheeks in, Andrew bade the girl farewell while keeping her words in mind for later. When he finally did manage to make it to the deck, Lab gave him a chastising look, but didn't seem to dwell on it more then that. This left Andrew the freedom to look in the direction the ship was heading, and unlike the last time he was up here, he could see land on the horizon followed by a town in the distance. Feeling excitement well up in him, Andrew made his way to the bow of the ship to try to get a better look. The first thing noticeable about the distance was the gulls flying overhead, though not all of them where of the animal variety. Andrew could see harpies and other winged creatures in the air above the town, either taking flight or coming to roost, the air a vast array of activity. But more then that was the number of ships lined up where he could see, the rolling of the waves causing them to gently bob up and down on the clear ocean waters. The town itself looked like what one would expect from a harbor town, bustling with people, ships, the gray stone of the many buildings that indicated the town itself. Andrew looked to the area around the town, the rolling of green hills behind looking for all intents like a landscape painting.
It was a wonderful sight to behold, one Andrew appreciated seeing as the last time he viewed anything like it was when he was back home on earth. However, Andrew opted to get himself back under control and took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He then made his way back to the group, who all also looked equally impressed with the town itself. Unoma looked out at the town with a hint of nostalgia on her face.
"It's been a long time since I last interacted with civilization. I'm actually looking forward to it."
Labareda smiled at the Dark Witch, the demons smile looking smug.
"Did you ever interact with people before you sealed yourself away for fourteen hundred years?"
Unoma thought about it for a moment before she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Eh, not really."
Andrew chuckled at the two of them, but his attention went to Serena, the girl looking less like a bag of depression and more like the girl she normally was, the sight of the town seemingly filling her with some emotion and understanding.
"I wonder if I'll regain more of my memories here…"
Andrew nodded at her.
"Who's to say? All I know is that we finally got here."
No one could disagree with him on that. After that, nothing but small talk was made for the last bit of the trip, though they where joined by Jonathan and his group, Morgana looking as if she would be ill while Sarya could worry about Aruma. Eventually though, they did dock at port, the whole process going awfully smoothly, though the reactions from people on the pier who saw the dead Dragon turtle where filled with nothing but admiration and disbelief. As for the people themselves, Andrew could see that there were a variety of them out and about, most of them human looking, but he could also see a good majority of them were mamono as well. With all the admiring going on, Andrew only jolted out of it when he felt the boat come to a stop followed by the crew quickly dropping a plank from the side of the boat onto the pier. Kanneth walked up to the group and gave them a smile of her lips followed by a small bow.
"Despite one or two hiccups on our journey, you can see we have all safely arrived… albeit a few days behind schedule. I do apologize for that."
Jonathan only shook his head at her.
"It fine captain. I don't blame you for it."
Andrew could only agree with him.
"Likewise. You can't predict everything after all. If I ever need to go out on the water, I'll be sure to come looking for the crew of the blissful tide."
With that out of the way, there were a few more farewell before everyone who wasn't the crew departed (Morgana being a lot faster then the rest of them upon debarking).
Jonathan and his group where the first off the boat followed by Andrew's group. It wasn't until they where off the boat and walking away from the pier that Jonathan stopped, and turned to Andrew.
"Well… it has been a fun few weeks with you Andrew, but I do believe this is where we must part ways."
Andrew couldn't help but feel sad at those words.
"Ah… yeah… I guess you're right on that. Can't stay together forever can we?"
"Very true. Me and my group will be heading for an inn called the 'Bear Arms'. It's the usual Inn my group stays at here in Gwent, so if you need us, you can find us there for the next week."
Andrew nodded at him.
"Got it. Me and my group will try to find a place to stay, get a map, maybe some provisions followed by information before we start making our way to Dragonia. Preferably all within the next few days or so. I don't wanna waste any time in getting Aruma fixed up since I get the feeling this won't be a short trip."
Sarya spoke up at that.
"That makes sense. A little helpful tip from one traveling group to another. Gwent has a ton of people coming and going from all around. You might be able to hitch a ride up north to Dragonia if you're lucky. Otherwise you might wanna buy some camping supplies as well."
Andrew nodded once again, not having actually thought about that.
"Good call. I'll see what we can do. In the meantime though, I wish you guys good luck in your future endeavors along with the chance we might see each other again some day."
Jonathan smiled at him.
"Let us hope."
And with that, all goodbyes had been said, allowing Jonathan, Sarya, and Morgana to walk away into the growing crowd. Andrew let out a low sigh before he turned to his own group.
"Welp. An inn won't find itself, lets get to it."
With that said, the group began its search for an inn. An ordeal that didn't take all that much time nor effort based on the fact that a sport city like Gwent had a multitude of inns. However, as that search had transpired, Andrew had been met with a number of looks from many different people. Many of them ranging from uncomfortable to neutral, but none of them being pleasant. Aruma received pitying looks of her own, but it all eventually came to an end after an hour of looking. They had managed to find some place that was serviceable for their needs.
It was called the Boars Rump, an unusual name in of itself especially since the owner was some kind of elf. With a name like that, Andrew was sure it would have been owned by an orc. The irony was not lost on him. Thankfully the inn keeper was more neutral when Andrew had purchased a large room for the next few days, so it was a small blessing in of itself. They had managed to get a room for large groups thankfully, so there were enough beds to work with, allowing everyone to get settled down and giving Aruma a bed of her own to sleep in. Andrew, sitting down on a plain wooden chair, looked to everyone in the room, who had all taken their own respective seats on beds, or in Serena's case, leaning against the only wardrobe.
Seeing that he had everyone's attention, Andrew cleared his throat.
"Alright then. Since we now have our base of operations for the next few days, we need to go ahead and decide on what the next course of action is. I vote we start collecting provisions for our journey along with camping supplies. After that, information in regard to Dragonia itself."
Unoma, who had lain down on one of the beds, propped herself up on her elbow as she looked to Andrew.
"That makes a fair amount of sense. However, I think it would be best if you remained here Dear master."
Serena looked at the dark witch curiously, but Labareda only nodded in agreement along with Andrew.
"That would probably be best for the time being."
However, Serena wasn't sure what exactly they were on about, thankfully she knew if she asked, they would be more then willing to divulge answers for her.
"Uh… why is that exactly?"
Labareda, who was used to someone in this group asking a question about something, only looked to the other redhead.
"I'm sure you noticed the stares and the uncomfortable feeling people had when they where around Master, did you not?"
"Ah."
Serena was suddenly not so mystified.
Andrew only laughed under his breath as he looked back from Serena to Labareda.
"Yup. I'm going to have to ask you guys to go about and get everything that we need ready. For the time being, I'll stay here and look after Aruma. I take it that you guys know what we might need without me saying anything about it?"
Unoma managed to work herself into an upright position.
"But of course. It may have been almost fourteen hundred years since I last interacted with people, but I'm at least aware of how to conduct business. Barring that, Serena and Labareda should also be able to help out if necessary."
Andrew nodded at her, content with her answer.
"Alright then. You guys might want to get to it then, but don't be out to late alright? Also, I gave the money to Lab since she's able to store it in some kind of magical space, but what I said about safety still applies."
The three women only got up and made there way to the door, with Labareda only looking back and giving him a look that said they would be fine. Andrew didn't feel that would be the case even when they closed the door to leave. Letting out a low huff, Andrew looked back to the Angel child, his mind finally starting to come to terms with the situation they where in along with what may or may not be a needed to see this task through. Letting out yet another sigh from his mouth, Andrew simply got up from the chair and made his way to Aruma's bed and lay himself down next to her, the large male wrapping one arm around her as if to keep her safe while she slept.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group had quickly made its way out of the inn, the three of them coming to a stop when made their way onto the street. The first to speak up was Unoma.
"Alright, so we have what we need to do, how should we best start it off."
Serena spoke up.
"I think we should split up and get everything quickly. That way we don't waste any more time than necessary."
Labareda looked to Serena curiously.
"That sounds like the opposite of what I thought we would be doing."
"I think you and Aruma have enough sense to know what might or might not be necessary for a month long trip. What's more important is that we try to gather information along with what would hopefully be wagon heading to Dragonia itself. I personally think it would be better if the two of you went to go and find information and a carriage while I went to go and get supplies. I might not have all of my memories yet, but I do have a good majority of what would be necessary for a trek through the land."
Unoma and Labareda looked to each other, the both of them rather aware of the fact that they honestly didn't have much experience roughing it in the outdoors. Well, Unoma more then Labareda, but it was still present.
Unoma nodded her head at the girl.
"That makes sense I suppose. No point in wasting time if we can get everything we need quickly. However, the information along with safe passage will take some time, thus I would ask that you come back here when your done with getting the supplies. Lab, do you still have that bag of yours?"
Labareda nodded at the silver haired woman and seemed to pull a bag mysteriously out of nowhere, holding it up to Serena.
"This is a magical bag. It should hold a good deal of anything we may need, so use that so you don't have to try to take multiple trips."
Serena reached out and pulled the bag over her head and slung it over her shoulders.
"Got it. It shouldn't take me very long to get what we need, so I'll see if I can find some information out on my own."
"Understood. Be safe then." Was all Labareda said before Serena turned around and started to make her way, the girl attempting to find any kind of area she might think would be a vendor or Bazaar. Making her way through the street, she found her thoughts coming to the task at hand, but also to the other reason she had wanted to split from the group. The very thoughts she still harbored about what Andrew had told her. About what she was becoming.
The thought of her body and mind changing in ways like this left a gnawing doubt and suspicion of her own mental facilities. She had been showing feelings and wants toward Andrew as of late, things she never knew she had in her. Where those a result of changing self, was she truly as she used to be?
She didn't know, and she was honestly scared of what might be the answer. But it was an answer she felt she needed to know regardless. Thus why she had opted to separate from her group.
Yes, she would buy the things necessary for travel, but also, she was going to test her mind and spirit. She felt she had an idea of what it was she need to do, but it made her nervous. However, she only pushed that nervousness to the back of her mind as she made her way through the street, stopping every once in a while to ask questions to people she thought where locals. It didn't take her long to find a market. Or what she assumed was the only market in Gwent. She did not, however, begin buying all that was needed at first. She was instead searching for something else in the crowd of people and mamono that seemed to swim in the area like water. Something that she felt would help her. For what felt like an hour or so, All Serena did was people watch, the coming and going of those who sought items for purchase, or for company that one might find delightful. Her interest lay in that second option, one for seeking company.
She had to know if what she felt was a result of her changing, if what she was feeling for Andrew wasn't something that her body was simply craving for. If she wasn't in fact simply looking for a dick. After a little while, Serena happened upon someone she thought was perfect. It had been hard to see him in the crowd at first, the red-head not having been looking for him specifically, but he had become more visible as he had come closer to her. The man she saw was tall like Andrew was, but where Andrew was more built and a little thicker, this man was thinner, but still retaining the muscularity of one who did training of the body. His expression seemed soft, but always thinking, his hair was quite long for a mans, well to his hips with some of it covering the upper left half of his face. He carried himself with grace and beauty. He was quite charming and handsome, his clothing looking to fine to be that of an average person. He carried a longsword on his back, the weapon ornate and catching like the one who wielded it. Honestly, if she was going to check and see if she was a cock hungry slut, then she would prefer if the guy she tested with was at least nice to look at. Mustering her courage for a moment, as if not sure this was the best thing to do for this, Serena made her way over to him, the man's attention having been caught by something he saw on one of the stalls. When she was close enough to call out, Serena mustered what resolve and courage she had at this point to get his attention.
"H-hey, ah… Handsome?"
She honestly could say that that was the cringiest attempt at seduction she had ever heard, and she was the one who said it. However, the man turned around to look at her, as if this was the most common name he recognized.
"Hello. Can I help you?"
Now that she had his attention, it suddenly dawned on Serena that she wasn't sure how exactly she was going to go about this, any attempts at seduction of the opposite sex never actually existing. Save for Andrew, but she had never actually seduced him and he had been a horny male. Seeing as she was kinda just stammering, Serena just decided to fucking go with it.
"You… ah… you look like a guy who has some… ah… experience with… the sexual stuff."
'Oh my god, what the fuck am I doing.' Was the first thing she thought.
This was not seduction.
This was awkward.
Suddenly realizing that she was making an utter fool of herself, Serena was about to say something to try to correct the situation, but surprisingly, the man in front of her nodded his head at her.
"I may know a thing or two about sex, yes. Why are you asking though?"
Not sure how she had not miraculously botched this attempt yet, Serena found the answer out of her mouth before she even thought about it.
"I want you to come with me so I can have sex with you."
'Oh my god, did I fucking say that out loud in public of all places?!'
If she had been expecting people to taunt or demean her for her sudden words, nobody seemed to care, the crowd looking far to busy with other things rather then a young woman's very bad attempts at seduction. However, the man in front of her simply looked her up and down a few times before he simply nodded.
"Very well. I will humor you. Lead the way."
Not sure if she was hearing this right, Serena dumbly looked at him for a moment before the words actually sunk in. However, she didn't stay that way for much longer before it did in fact hit her that he had agreed.
"Oh! Yeah… Right! Yeah, just uh… Follow me!"
Turning herself around, Serena quickly began making her way out of the crowd with the man in tow, her mind racing with what she was actually suggesting she was doing, while something in the back of her mind couldn't help but wonder if this search for understanding wasn't going to land her with an answer… or into a mistake she couldn't erase.
8D
Lets see where this goes shall we?!