Rubbing Shoulders with Royalty
I'm not dead yet- and neither is this story. Just a reminder: I don't plan on writing a similar story to this one for mods (at least not until I look into the lore, which could take a while) but I leave an open invitation to use this concept however you feel fit- I love me some bad harem comedies.
Admittedly, the village was looking pretty strange, considering how there were relatively normal houses mixed with a truly massive structure that he was constructing. Cyrus eventually decided to relax his pacing a little- he didn't have any urgent deadlines after all, and there were a number of enjoyable things he could do with his time.
Of course, the most obvious thing that he could spend his time doing was hanging with the girls (or rather, his girls, he supposed- which of course, he spent a lot of time doing. Of course, he wasn't focusing just on his girlfriends- there were a lot of wonderful people he could spend his time with, after all.
Sometimes, he would spend days in the greenhouses, talking with whatever girl was tending to the plants. In particular, Aria was very happy to spend her time with him, talking away about the applications of medicinal plants or whatever sweet smelling flower she was tending to, and Cyrus was more than happy to listen and help.
"Could you pass me the moonglow, please?"
"The… moonglow?" Cyrus asked.
Aria sighed. "The plant with the soft blue flower that glows, Cyrus."
"Oh. Of course." Cyrus chuckled, and passing a plant and the soil it was in to Aria, who took it in her cupped hands. Of course, Cyrus was struck by just how warm her hands were as she gingerly took the plant and placed it in the ground.
Cyrus certainly didn't have Aria's green thumb, so in large part he just watched in silence as she managed the plants, handling even the most hostile looking plants with dirt stained hands. Fireblossom, so warm he could feel the heat radiating off of it, or shiverthorns which sent a strange chill through the air- she handled them all deftly.
There was another thing that Cyrus enjoyed doing: flight. It was quite the liberating experience, seeing the ground fall away below as you ascended to heavens, far above anything that could ever drag you down… except maybe the occasional wyvern.
Cyrus was preparing himself for a long flight when he heard someone walking behind him. He turned to see Regina, the Queen slime, walking up to him, her great white wings open behind her. "May I accompany you on your flight, Cyrus?"
"Sure? I mean, I'm not really going anywhere, so…"
"The joy of flying is enough for me."
"A woman after my own heart."
"One of many, apparently." she smiled at Cyrus.
"Ha ha. Now let's get flying, alright?" Cyrus stretched his wings, and then launched himself into the air with one smooth, explosive motion- he still had Titania's little insignia thing after all.
Behind him, he could hear Regina shouting to him. "When did you get so fast?"
Cyrus pulled out the insignia, being very careful to hold onto it tightly. "Compliments of Titania."
Regina chuckled as she started flying next to him. "Oh, so you've even gotten through to our Empress? You're quite the smooth operator, Cyrus."
"I wouldn't say that- she still seemed pretty irritable."
"Have more faith yourself, Cyrus- you're slowly melting through the ice, you know. Just got to rough it through that tsun, right?"
"What?"
Regina laughed. "Well, if we're not flying to any particular place…" she rolled through the air, until she was flying nearly abreast with Cyrus, wings mere inches apart- then she tapped him with a slimy hand. "You're it!"
Before Cyrus could fully react to that, she adjusted her wings and started slowing rapidly, pulling her out of range as she laughed maniacally.
"Well if that's how you want to play…" Cyrus sighed, before pivoting in the air- he certainly couldn't loose, could he?
Tag was a fairly simple game, and even in three dimensions the tactics didn't get much more complex- it was still a matter of keeping your distance, and maybe a bit of feinting or mind games if you were really determined to win. Cyrus and Regina were both good fliers, so it began an elaborate game of cat and mouse in the air, spiraling around while flying high and low- skimming the clouds one moment, and skimming the tree tops the next.
Admittedly, Cyrus had the edge when it came to sheer speed and maneuver, but he was still adjusting to the insignia, putting him at a disadvantage to Regina, who was practically born with wings. She was also more than willing to use verbal digs or disarming commentary to shake him, giving her a chance to fly in and get a tap in.
Both of them were admittedly putting on a bit of a show: performing great loop-de-loops in the sky, going into dives that turned the world into blurs of color, and even diving into the forest when they were feeling particularly bold, weaving between trees. (Cyrus had to wonder what would happen if he hit a tree- with his armor, he felt more like a wrecking ball than a person at high speeds.)
Still, these sorts of tricks, while very impressive, were also pretty exhausting, and eventually Cyrus could see that both he and Regina were beginning to flag, their wings beating slower as their breath came in pants…
"Hey, you want to take a little break?"
"Not until I catch you!" Regina shouted- and it seemed like she meant it. Feeling a little concerned about her, Cyrus decided to cut to the chase, or perhaps it would better to say he cut out the chase?
He snapped out his wings and spun in the air to face her, trying to slow down so he would be an easy target, not realizing just how dogged her pursuit was. So instead of getting tagged so things were over and done with, he got hit by a slimy missile. Thankfully, her gelatinous form didn't make it hurt to much, but she did send them both spiraling through the air wildly.
Of course, Cyrus did his best to recover from their impromptu mid air collision, wrapping his arms tight around Regina and spreading his wings wide in a desperate attempt to stabilize them, but even then he could recognize that they were coming in way too fast…
Well, between the two of them, he was the one that could probably could survive smashing into a tree best, so he wrapped his arms around Regina, bracing for impact, and…
BOOM.
Yikes, that hurt. He would probably be feeling that for a few days… Cyrus shook his head and looked down at his passenger, worried that maybe the impact would have been a little harmful for the slime girl…
He was met with a stunning smile, as her hand carefully reached up towards his face... "You're it!" She crowed, before hopping backwards.
"Really? You can't even let me have that moment?"
Regina laughed. "I do appreciate the sentiment Cyrus, and I'll be more than happy to give you a check up later- but I'm a slime, Cyrus. I could survive getting splattered against a wall, I'd just have to reconstitute myself."
"Oh. Woops."
"Don't worry Cyrus- I think you're very noble anyways."
Their conversation was interrupted by faint clapping- had someone followed them out here? Cyrus turned to see a fairly young looking girl with brilliant pink hair and an equally pink dress, who was staring at them with deep amaze.
"Wow- you're both so good at flying!"
Cyrus looked over to Regina, who seemed just as confused as he was. She shrugged, and Cyrus turned back to the girl. "Thank you very much- who might you be?"
"I'm Emilia, a princess!"
Cyrus leaned towards Regina and whispered into her ear. "You ever hear of this girl before?"
"No?" she whispered back, "but I don't know much about humans- there might be a human kingdom out there, but you haven't run into them, right?"
Cyrus looked back towards Emilia. "Alright, Princess- uhh, do you have parents or a kingdom you could point us to?"
The girl hummed, idly spinning a strand of her cotton candy colored hair around one of her fingers. "Well… I can't remember much… but I'm sure I'm a princess."
"Alright then- I suppose we should introduce ourselves. My name is Cyrus, and this is Regina." Regina gave a quiet nod to the princess. "If you'd like, you could come to our village, maybe see if you can get your memories back?" Cyrus couldn't help but feel some sympathy for the amnesiac girl- maybe she be luckier than Cyrus and get her memories back.
"That sounds wonderful!" She smiled brightly, before pressing her fingers together in a sudden bout of nervousness. "Say… could you fly me there?" Cyrus almost wanted to insist on using his magic mirror, just because it would be quicker, but one look at those puppy dog eyes and he was done.
"Alright- Regina, do you think you could lift her?"
As it turned out, Regina could lift Emilia and fly at the same time quite easily, and Emilia seemed amazed to be flying, even if she was being carried. Cyrus could sympathize with her sheer joy, although he wasn't sure he could really pull of the laughter and squeals of delight without looking silly.
That enthusiasm only seemed to grow once she saw the village, and once she was safely on the ground she practically started hopping around. "Wow- this place is wonderful!" she turned to Cyrus, "Did you build this place, mister?"
"Most of it, yeah- I mean I wouldn't say it's that great…"
"Have more faith in yourself- you've done a lot for this land!" she started stage whispering to Cyrus in a rather melodramatic fashion. "Say- would it be possible to go flying again? You know, see the realm?"
"That sounds fun- not like we've got much else to do." Cyrus said. "Still, why don't we show you around town first? There's a lot of people we can introduce you to."
For a second, it seemed like her eyes were genuinely sparkling. "Yes- you'll have to introduce me to all of my subjects!" Cyrus did his best not to cringe at that particular statement- most everyone would probably play along, but he wondered if Titania would dispense her usual brand of vitriol on a young girl. Technically, there were quite a few royals wondering around the village- it was just that only some of them kept the ego and styling.
As if reading his mind, Emilia turned to Regina, as if she had only just noticed that they were both wearing Tiaras. They were actually surprisingly similar when it came to their outfits and appearance- although Regina was a bit more purple.
"Your tiara- are you a Princess too?"
"Technically a queen- of the slimes, that is."
"The… slimes?" Regina nodded in the affirmative, but seemed a little worried about how Emilia was going to respond. "Really? They're so cute! They come in all these bright colors- I even saw one that was rainbow once!"
As Emilia chattered on about her various experiences with slimes, Cyrus could see Regina starting to flush as she smiled. It was probably gratifying to not have people who were grossed out by your domain or subjects- slimes weren't exactly everyone's cup of tea.
Funnily enough, the first person they ran into was the other Slime monarch in the village- Visca, who decided to greet him with a surprising (although certainly welcome) kiss. Begrudgingly, Cyrus pushed her away after a few moments.
"Hey, what gives?"
Cyrus replied with a whisper. "Could we not make out in front of the little kid?"
"The little-?" Visca turned and realized that the two of them had an audience. She was rapidly flushing, and Cyrus decided to jump in before the silence got awkward.
"This is Visca- she's the King of the Slimes."
Emilia's head tiled to the side. "King? But you're a girl, right?"
"Yeah. What about it? Why can't a girl be a king?"
"I suppose I never thought about it that way…"
Visca huffed. "Nobody ever does…" Thankfully, there wasn't any real vitriol in her voice- it was hard to stay mad at a little kid.
"So- how many other royals do you have wandering around here?"
Cyrus hummed. "Well I suppose there's those two, there's Titania the Empress, Bea the Queen Bee, and… Crista the Ice Queen, right?"
"Technically there's also Aqua- she's a Duke, I think."
"A Duke, really?"
"I think- she could just be calling herself that, but maybe?"
"Wowie- there's an awful lot of people I've got to meet, huh?" Emilia spoke.
"Yeah yeah, kiddo- We'll show you around, alright?"
Their tour lasted most of the day- not that Cyrus really minded- thanks to Emilia stopping and investigating everything and everyone- it felt like just about everyone got to know her at least a little by the time they reached the final stop on their tour, the greenhouse.
By the time they had arrived, it was mostly empty (of people, it was quite full of plants) sans Aria, who hummed to herself as she tended rows of pumpkins. She turned around as they entered, and almost went for a hug before stopping herself- her hands were caked with dirt, after all.
"Cyrus- it's good to see you!" She turned to their newest- and youngest- guest. "And who might you be, little lady?"
Emilia gave a curtsy. "I'm Emilia- a princess!"
Aria smiled. "It's nice to meet you- your majesty." Emilia beamed at her and started looking around the rows of plants, oohing and aahing at the brilliantly colored flowers.
"So, ah…" Aria sent a glance in the girl's direction, who was getting worryingly close to staining her dress with the rich soil of the greenhouse. "Where exactly did you find her?"
"Oh, we were just out flying… a bit of tag, actually" Regina had the decency to flush, "When we came down to land, she was just… there. She had watched the whole thing and… well, we couldn't just leave her out there, could we?"
"That's fair, I suppose- are we just going to take her in?"
"I mean… I think so?" Cyrus shrugged. "I think she's an amnesiac like me- how could I not want to help her?"
"What's this?" Emilia asked, crouching down to look at a horribly malformed pumpkin which was carefully isolated from the others.
"Oh, don't touch that- I'm fairly sure it's dangerous."
"Fairly sure?" Cyrus rose an eyebrow.
"I'm not going to fu-" Aria cut herself off before she could finish her expletive, glancing at the kid in the room, "fiddle with weird soul magic- you're welcome to try if you'd like."
"Try… what? Making it into a pie?"
Aria's nose wrinkled. "It wouldn't make a very good pie, I'll be honest with you- probably wouldn't make a good anything."
Cyrus walked over to Emilia, who was crouching in front of the malformed pumpkin. He had to admit that it was fascinating, in a strange way- pumpkins just weren't supposed to look like that, warped and twisted in such a way it almost looked like a face, glaring at him. Carefully, Cyrus reached out and touched it- only to have it crumble away under his fingers, turning to nothing but impotent ash in moments with a long, rattling gasp that was… almost human.
Cyrus could see a strange orange light filtering through the many windows of the greenhouse, and looking out he could see the source: the moon hung low in the sky, a broad, jagged smile marring the moon's features. "Oh, shit."
Regina glared at him- "Hey! Language, Cyrus!"
"I think I've got bigger priorities than a bit of foul language, Regina." With that, Cyrus opened one of the greenhouse's windows (as kickass as breaking through the roof might be, it was wasteful) and lept through, heading out to see whatever problems would inevitably be caused by this lunar accident- because there was no way it wouldn't cause problems. He had gotten used to how this world worked, and there was no way that a supernatural phenomena like this wouldn't cause problems.
The first thing he noticed was the smell in the air- a sort of autumn smell, damp and earthy with undertones of… pumpkin? Faintly, by the pale orange light of the moon he could see shambling figures wondering around the village- and of course, he dove down to investigate them.
He was met with the stumbling form of a scarecrow, which approached him with a strange sort of hopping motion, thanks to the fact that it didn't have legs- just a post. As comical as that particular sight was, Cyrus didn't want the creature just hopping around his town- the hopping may not have been particularly menacing, but they were monsters, technically.
Unfortunately for the poor scarecrow, the flying leap it took to attack Cyrus put it directly in the path of the burning orange of Cyrus's Solar Eruption, which easily rent the wood and straw composing the creature in two. However, by the warm orange light of both the moon above and Cyrus' own weapon, he could see the scarecrow was the first of many.
Meanwhile, Luna, the (roughly) human form of a horrifying eldritch lunar deity was suffering with some… issues, which stemmed from being connected to the moon. Namely…
She keeled over the middle of a conversation, tidily cutting off Annelida, who was in the middle of a fascinating discussion about caring for extra eyes. Thankfully, Luna seemed to be alive- her chest was heaving, her third eye moving around wildly under a tightly closed lid (and a sash- the girls insisted on that, at least). Annelida turned to the resident… well, what passed for an expert on Luna's health. "Have any sage advice for me, Asteria?"
"Nope." The ex-Cultist shrugged and got back to a far more important task- polishing off the chips she had… acquired from Terra, after no small amount of pleading.
"Seriously? Aren't you the person who would understand her best?"
"For the majority of my life, I've only feared her, as something to be locked away and contained by any means necessary. Do you really think I'm going to complain if she comes down with some weird moon fever?"
"What if she dies, releasing her true from upon a thoroughly unprepared world… or something?"
"Or something, sure." Asteria scoffed. "You sure care an awful lot for the girl who sent your boyfriend into a fainting fit-"
"Well, it wasn't her fault- I can't blame her for the quirks of her form."
"I suppose- I figure that's probably the issue- some sort of sympathy with the moon that's getting her all sick- considering… Cyrus," Asteria rolled her eyes, "It should clear up by tomorrow morning."
"That's it?"
"I'm not sure what you want from me, honestly- do you think there are any experts in the field of 'monsters-turning-into-girls' we could call up to get her checked out?"
"Eat your damn chips, then." Annelida shot back before doing her best to scoop up Luna- the least she could do was move her to the sickroom.
After Cyrus had gotten rid of the first few scarecrows, he was presented with a new enemy- threat didn't feel like the right word for the little wooden creatures which charged at him, trying their best to scratch at him with twiggy claws or strike with knobbly limbs- admittedly, Cyrus derived a bit of perverse pleasure from kicking them into the air and watching them fly.
He was just about to try punting one into low orbit when his instincts screamed at him- and so he lept backwards as a great beam of brilliant golden light cut through the air, superheating the air and quite thoroughly obliterating the unfortunate little wooden creature.
"Hey- watch where you aim that thing!" Cyrus shouted, seeing Titania standing rather proudly, her finger pointed almost lazily in the direction of her laser.
"If you didn't dodge it, you deserve to get fried!"
"That cuts deep, Titania- at the very least, try to aim away from anything important?"
"Alright then- I suppose I'll aim for those heaps of rubble you call architecture?"
"No need to be mean about it-"
Cyrus was met with a honest to goodness pout. "But that's my brand, Cyrus- you just can't expect me to drop it." With an idle wave of her hand, she sent a gleaming blade of pinkish light to her right, easily cutting some sort of massive, flame-eyed dog in half.
Before Cyrus could form a comeback of some kind, he was forced to fend off an attack by a similar creature- it wasn't strong enough to dent his armor, but the creature's sheer mass was enough to send him stumbling as it clamped onto his arm.
After dispatching the creature, Cyrus turned to see… something approaching the outskirts of the village, a tree that seemed to be moving on its own, its naked branches swaying gently in the dark of the night, a face in the center of the trunk seemingly lit from a fire within. As the tree shambled closer, branches and twigs shook themselves loose and felt to the ground, rapidly growing limbs and rushing off to cause mischief.
Then the tree turned towards him, its eyes burning hellishly in the night as it opened its mouth and let out a great spray of… fire? No, it was a spray of flaming splinters which soared through the air, coming down in a disorganized pattern as Cyrus dodged- even then, a stray fragment of flaming wood hit his wings, causing him to hiss in pain.
Cyrus responded with a lash from his flail, cutting off a massive chunk of the creature's wooden body as it let out a shrill cry of pain and belched an actual wave of fire, which burned hot on the ground, forcing Cyrus to take to the air and attack the creature from above, weaving in and out of barrages of fire or flaming projectiles.
Quite frequently, he would be distracted by a brilliant flash of light as Titania contributed to the defense of the village- Cyrus just wished that her light show was a little less blinding. Thankfully, she seemed to be dragging away all of the other small fry while Cyrus focused on… killing a tree. Not quite as impressive in words, actually.
Still, Cyrus wove out of the way of the tree's determined projectile attacks, all the while whittling away at the creature, cutting away branches and limbs until the tree was left with little more than a stump. It let out another unearthly bellow as it released a vicious spray of fire, which Cyrus spun to avoid- a spin which saved him from getting cut in half.
A great silver blade passed through the space where he had been mere seconds before, a blade that was wielded by a great viney arm- even worse, there were two of them. Two of such arms sprouted from a great, tattered cloak, which was worn by… a giant floating jack o' lantern?
Cyrus shook himself and dove out of the way as the pumpkin creature did its best to cut him into ribbons, all the while keeping a careful eye on that cursed tree, which seemed to content itself with providing fire support, trying to hem Cyrus in so the blades could do their bloody work.
"Hey, Emilia, could you do me a favor and back up from the window a bit?"
"But why, Mrs. Regina? It's just so cool!" Emilia was doing her best to watch the ongoing battle through a window- she had let Regina drag her out of the greenhouse, but refused to abandon the window she now stood at- the fight outside was far too amazing to just ignore.
"Shouldn't you be going to bed or something, kid?"
"Royalty don't have bedtimes." Emilia shot back, all the while craning her neck to look out the window as
"Well, I'm royalty and I certainly have a bedtime."
Emilia's nose wrinkled. "Oh, but you're old."
"Old!?" Regina sputtered, "I'll have you know I'm a spry and sprightly young woman- heck, if we're just counting time spent in human form I'm probably younger than you!"
"But you're so…" Emilia gestured at the whole of Regina's body, "…bouncy."
As it turned out, as intimidating as the giant pumpkin creature may have looked, it was, fundamentally, made of pumpkin- not exactly a material famed for its strength, especially when pitted against the burning fury of the Solar Eruption. So with every lash, Cyrus sent great chunks of pumpkin flying in the air, revealing an ardent flame which blazed at the center of what had once been a jack o' lantern.
Cyrus kept working at it until there was practically nothing left above the shoulders- if such a creature even had shoulders, considering that he had never seen a hint of whatever body was hidden by the great cloak- and eventually, that burning flame eventually faded away, and the vast shadow of the cloak fluttered to the ground.
Of course, something else was falling to the ground, and Cyrus dove steeply to catch the girl who had fallen from the monster's body. Faintly, Cyrus could make out a brilliant shock of orange hair, an outfit in dark shades of purple and black, and a broad orange blade at her hip. Before Cyrus could make out any more of her features, he was forced to swerve out of the way of another spray of fire, compliments of that strange cursed trunk.
As quickly as he could manage with his new passenger, Cyrus gained altitude, getting just out of range of the foe's attacks… before he folded his wings and fell, transforming his flight into a steep fall, which sent his mechanical leg crashing into the tree with all of his weight (along with the girl's, he supposed) behind it with enough force to crush the wood like it was rotten- even if he cringed a little when he felt the metal shear on impact.
Carefully, Cyrus stood up, trying his best to dust off any particularly large fragments of wood- although it seemed like efficiently turned the creature into mulch. Well, mulch and… another girl, dammit?
With a groan, Cyrus adjusted his grip on the pumpkin girl (he'd make sure to get her actual name later) and knelt down to pick up the second woman, which honestly wasn't too hard- she was a slight little thing. Perhaps a polite way of putting it would have been svelte- Cyrus honestly thought that the girl needed quite a few good meals.
If looks could kill, Titania would have officially murdered him- and considering her recent feats with lasers, Cyrus had a feeling that Titania was well on her way to reaching that point.
"I can't believe you've done it again, Cyrus. We need to give you a chaperone, young man- before your harem expands any further."
"Well, there's no guarantee that anyone will join any so called-"
"If you're going to be a raging man-whore, at least have the decency to be honest about it."
Cyrus decided not to dignify that with a response- or at least that was what he told himself- as he carried their two newest guests home, making sure not to accidentally step on the remains of anything unfortunate enough to have provoked Titania's wrath.
Unfortunately, when he arrived in the sickroom to drop their newest guests off, he found that the room wasn't empty- Annelida was watching Luna, who slept peacefully in one of the beds. "Is she alright?"
"I think so? She seemed to be sick with something, but a few minutes ago, whatever was causing it just…" Annelida sighed, "stopped. You stopped whatever was going on, didn't you?"
"Guilty as charged- with a bit of help from Titania, actually."
"Glad to hear she's being helpful." Annelida said, before leaning in to take a closer look at Cyrus. "You look tired- why don't you take a quick nap?" She patted her lap just as Cyrus felt a massive wave of fatigue hit his body- how could he possibly refuse an offer like that?
By the time Emilia and Regina had made their way to the sickroom, both Cyrus and Annelia had fallen asleep, the former dozing in the latter's lap. Emilia was mere inches away from poking Cyrus in the forehead before Regina stopped her with an uncomfortably slimy hand.
"What do you think you're doing?" She hissed.
"Waking Cyrus up- I want to ask him about what happened!"
"You saw everything, though- not to mention the fact that's he going to very tired. If you want story time, maybe try tomorrow?"
"It's not story time! I just want to hear about how this wonderful little village came to be- I mean, I assume he's the one that brought everyone together?"
"You're right about that at least- Cyrus is the glue that sticks us all together. Some more tightly than others…" The last part came out as a bit of a mumble, but Emilia still heard it.
"What do you mean, more tightly?" Emilia looked at Regina at a second then glanced back at Cyrus, who still resting on the lap of an utterly content (and asleep) Annelida. "Wait a minute… is Cyrus cheating on Visca?"
"No- they've, ah… got a thing going on."
"A thing?"
"Our man Cyrus is collecting girlfriends like they're going out of style- I mean of course everyone agrees to it, or so I've heard, but he's on what… six of them now?"
"So… he's not a two-timing rascal?"
"I don't think so, kid. Now how about you get a good night's sleep before asking anymore questions?"
Titania hadn't run into Emilia while Cyrus was asleep- the Empress and Princess completely missed each other over the night, which was honestly understandable, concerning the circumstances. Cyrus was still antsy though- of course he didn't think Titania would hurt her or anything, she wasn't that mean, but she could give a fierce tongue-lashing...
When Titania walked in for breakfast, practically glowing, Cyrus almost cringed, especially when Emilia shot out of her seat and rushed over. "Wow miss, you sure are pretty!"
"Why thank you, young miss. So few people give me the recognition I deserve." Titania seemed to puff up a little, and Cyrus had to wonder if it was really that easy. "Can I have a name? I'm Titania."
"I'm Emilia- a princess!"
And then Titania smiled, ruffling Emilia's hair. "You are? Well, I'm an empress- I don't think we're related, but it's something, isn't it?"
Well that was a pleasant surprise, but certainly not anything to complain about- he had to admit that it was… nice seeing this side of Titania, the one that indulged in the whims of a child over breakfast.
Cyrus enjoyed walking around the village- he was proud of his work, and liked the little community that had sprung up around it. Sure, there were a few eccentric personalities- but compared to horrifying monsters… a few personality quirks were downright fun.
Eventually, he found himself in a room with Aria- surprisingly, a room that wasn't the greenhouse.
"I'm uh, sorry about that whole… orange moon thing- I think it was my fault? Kind of?" Aria was fiddling with her skirt as she sat.
"Ehh, it's fine- we handle weird monsters all the time, don't we?"
"Well you certainly don't need anymore in your life, do you?" She sighed, "If I had, no pun intended, nipped this whole thing in the bud-"
"We'd have two fewer villagers- the whole thing turned out all right, I don't really see the problem." Carefully, Cyrus reached out and took one of her hands. "I appreciate you- I care for you. A lot."
He found himself leaning in towards her as her face grew flushed, and… wait a minute.
"Aria?"
"Yeah?"
"There's ah…. Something up with your hair, I think?"
"What do you mean…" Aria reached up and grabbed a strand of her hair, her fingers brushing past a small pink blossom- one of the many which had grown in her hair, turning her normally green hair into a motley of color.
Cyrus gave an experimental whiff of the air- and was hit with a heady smell, sweet as honey but so intense he almost swooned. "Wow…" he muttered- and Aria flushed brilliantly as her hair physically lengthened, leaving more space for the vibrant blooms.
Gently, gently, Cyrus reached out to touch the long strands of green hair, his fingers brushing past the blossoms- he held a petal between his fingers and Aria practically squeaked. "Hey, could you not? They're sensitive!"
"But… it's your hair?"
"And I'm not exactly human, am I?"
"I suppose not." Cyrus backed up a bit, but he couldn't help but stare- when did she get so cute? The wild mess of her hair, her flushed expression, the way she stared at him with those emotional eyes…
She spoke up. "So… is this the part where we make out?"
Asteria liked finding nice little hidden nooks in the village- some small little spot where she could curl up and go through whatever book she had gotten her hands on, reading by sunlight or candle depending on the time.
She had to admit that Cyrus had a knack for creating a bunch of neat little cozy spaces to hide away in- although she supposed it was possible that he designed them for the sole purpose of getting cuddly with one of his many girlfriends.
Still, there were awfully nice places to just relax and unwind-
"Hey- who the hell covered this room in flowers?"
The room was thick with plant life, green vines and blooming flowers of every shade that were admittedly rather cushy, all soft beneath her feet, although there was a major question: where did it all come from? Yeah, there were a lot of gals with green thumbs in the village, but they had never gone after random rooms before- instead they focused on the greenhouse.
It was weird, sure, but there were a number of eccentrics on the base- why not just sit down and read, enjoying the sweet scent of the plants?
"So, uh…" Cyrus gulped. "I kind of… uh, well…"
"Just say it Cyrus." Cthylla said, "It's not like we'll bite… unless you'd like us to-"
"Ahem!" Medulla cleared her throat. "Let him speak, won't you?"
"Could… could Aria join the group?"
Annelida's eyes narrowed for a second, and Cyrus almost flinched back before- "My man!" she crowed, "I called it!"
"You called it?"
"Looking at the data- there's a bit of a trend," Medulla said, "the harem always continues to expand." She kept on talking even through Cyrus' objections to the use of the dreaded h-word, "Maybe you should just accept it."
"That's assuming I don't somehow manage to scare you all off."
Cyrus was fairly used to Annelida wrapping her tail around him- it was one of the ways she showed affection- but something about this time was a little… chilling. "Oh honey, you're not going to get rid of me that easily- as long as you stay Cyrus, you're stuck with us."
Of course, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, now was it?
Cyrus decided to at least handle some business before he was… indisposed. "So is that a yes for Aria?"
"I mean- why do you think we were talking about the harem expanding if we were going to say no?"
"You know, I still object to that term-" Cyrus was cut off when Annelida's lips slammed into his.
Dramatis Personae:
Cyrus: the player character, harem protagonist
Cthylla: ex-Eye of Cthulhu, in relationship with Cyrus
Annelida: ex-Eater of Worlds, in relationship with Cyrus
Medulla: ex-Brain of Cthulhu, in relationship with Cyrus
Visca: still insists on being called King of the Slimes, in relationship with Cyrus
Bea: ex-Queen Bee, in relationship with Cyrus
Lacrima: ex-Skeletron, clothier replacement, in relationship with Cyrus
Andrea/Andi: ex-Wall of Flesh
Asta: ex-Spazmatism
Tina: ex-Retinazer
Francisca: ex-Skeleton Prime
Regina: ex-Queen Slime
Ditra- ex-Destroyer
Aria: ex-Plantera
Picea: ex-Everscream
Nicola: ex-Santa-NK1
Crista: ex-Ice Queen
Aqua: ex-Duke Fishron
Titania: ex-Empress
Terra: ex-Golem
Asteria: ex-Lunatic Cultist
Cera: ex-Mothon
Christina: ex-Flying Dutchman
Maia: the Nymph
Stella: ex-Pillars
Luna: ex-Moon Lord
Nissa: the Dryad
Veronica: the Zoologist
Meredith: the Mechanic
Abigail: the Nurse
Judith: the Steampunker
Roxanne: the Stylist
I thought turning Asteria into a sort of hikikomori/neet gal might be interesting- after a life spent studying and practicing to keep evil at bay, she just… takes a break in spectacular fashion. Idk thought it would be fun. I know I'd be tired in a similar situation.
I'm open to just about any suggestions from here on out- if my characters are good enough to have become someone's favorite, I'd be happy to spend some time writing about them in a more slice of life style- not to mention the Old One's Army is still out there.
As for Aria's whole… plant thing, I was like- plant hair cool, would be cooler if it had flowers, and from there I was like… what if the plants took on a life of their own beyond her? I realize in hindsight that the plant is basically just the horny but whatever I like it.