I would like to give you all a lemon chapter (as they call it) but let's just say that I was not comfortable with mentioning the events, since I was also technically having sex with my little sister in Firkle. But thankfully, she and Marionette did promise she wouldn't have any part of it and they did honor their promise and Firkle simply had a nap while I had a session with Marionette... but I still felt wrong, since I had sex with someone who I only just met, and not even the one I had married.
"I hope that Simona and Jona are okay with me doing this..." I admitted to my allies after the two of us got to the upper deck (after cleaning up... don't worry, I didn't do it in the vagina, I did it in the butt). And Keira smirked at me widely.
"You don't need to worry about it, mister Drake," the smarmy little Armamentalist smiled at me as I saw that they had led us to the north of the Djust Desert, where my least favorite character in the game resided, that being Queen Voluptua.
"So what's this place?" I asked with a smile, lying intentionally.
"This is my home, where I learned my craft as a warrior under the royal guard of Gleeba, which is run by King Aqueus. He made the city able to survive on water made by amazing waterways underneath the island. I left shortly after his daughter was born," Dillon said, me frowning at that, but hiding it by looking out at the giant desert island.
"Hopefully, if there is a Fygg there, we'll get it without much hassle. But do tell, when did you leave Gleeba?" I asked Dillon, him thinking on that before then counting on his fingers.
"Probably about... 18 years ago? I was 19 when i left," he said, me then looking at him in surprise.
"You're... 37? You look like you're 20, though!" I gawked when he said that.
"Hehe, that's because I have a secret to young and tough skin. The Parched Peckerals have Duneberries that can make your skin either extremely soft and young, or very young and tough. The dancers of Gleeba use it for the former, the warriors the latter," he explained, me being surprised at that.
"Huh... didn't expect that..." I admitted.
"So if I were to have a Duneberry, does that mean I'd make Marionette 6 years old like I am?" Firkle asked like an innocent little kid, which was expected.
"No, it just effects the skin texture and muscles, not the age," Dillon smiled as we then got to a place to let out at the north, where we then left the boat using the plank... which Marionette then demonstrated how it worked.
"Saying the word "extend" makes the plank move out," she said as the plank then did just that and we walked across it to the sandy beaches. "And saying "retract" makes it go back." And it was then that the plank went right back to the boat. "This way, there's a low chance of the ship getting stolen."
"You learned that from the ship tender, Marion, or Randolph. Which one?" I asked, her smiling at that with a bit of a blush.
"From Marion. She shared many stories with me while she was still alive... but I could never say anything before the Fygg went in me," she smirked.
"So what did Marion look like? Because I've seen our reflection an' it looks nothin' like I do," Firkle asked as we then trekked our way through the desert.
"Exactly like Marionette, only she wore a blue ribbon and dress. Trust me, we saw her spirit after I gave her some of Crux's wing feathers," I smiled.
"I still want to know how I got to this world instead of back home, big brother. And if there's a way to get me out of this doll girl and as my own self," Firkle asked as we then had to fight a couple of enemies, though none of them really hurt us with our added stats.
"I don't know how you or Carly got to this world, since you arrived after I did... but as for me, I was playing on my DS and then, out of nowhere, I'm sucked into a different reality," I said, that making Carly confused.
"Wait... a DS? You mean a game? So does that mean-" she was about to say, before I shushed her... but it was too late and the others heard her.
"Game? What kind of game? Are you saying that this world is just a game to you?" Stella asked with a huff as I frowned.
"Ugh... yes, but it's a bit more complex than games that this world is known for," I said with a frown. "Imagine it like you're able to control a character, in this case, Crux, and you can have him fight monsters, recruit allies, and solve problems with the end goal being a happy ending... and basically, everything that's happened so far has, for the most part, been the same as it would've been in said game," I frowned, that making Pavo and Veronica raise their eyebrows.
"What do you mean 'for the most part'?" Pavo asked.
"I mean that, due to some circumstances that were unexpected, a lot of things have been changed slightly or drastically. For example, the Wight Knight would've danced with Simona in disguise as Mona, not a combination of Morag and Mona. The Ragin' Contagion would've only infected four of the residents of the town and Catarrhina the only death. Jona would've been eaten by Lleviathan, Marionette would've reverted back into a doll since, in the game, you never acquire your wing feathers, and finally, the biggest twist, nobody could see the spirits of the deceased or Stella in the game, since the main character never talks and they never have the power to have people see the Celestial Realm via touching," I explained in full, the group gawking at that.
"Wow... okay... that is a whole lot to take in... so... what do we expect in Gleeba? You can at least tell me that, right?" Dillon asked as I frowned.
"I'll only tell you this one time what is supposed to happen, since I don't want to be used as a crystal ball. Expect the current sovereign to be Queen Voluptua, King Aqueus having passed away when she was young, and she's so stuck-up and snobby, that she siphons the town's water so she can bathe multiple times a day. And, pardon my language, she's a huge bitch that would rather tell you to your face that she'll slice up the Fygg and simmer herself among the slices in the bath," I said, Dillon gawking at that.
"S-S-So what happens to her?" Dillon asked.
"Something I hope to prevent by telling her the blunt truth, since I believe her to be the worst character in the game, morally speaking. Her pet lizard would eat the slices of the Fygg, turn into a giant monster, and somehow fit both himself and Voluptua into a small well in the bathing chambers. He'd try to keep her there, believing he's mortal, and only learns he isn't after fighting the Celestrian. But let's just say, even after all that, I still hate Voluptua," I frowned.
"She sounds like a piece of work," Carly frowned. We then finally got to the desert city itself and we then went to the Mirage Mahal, where we saw that there was a maid that was looking very concerned and looking all over.
"Draaak! Prince Draaaaak? Oh deary me, I'm going to be in so much trouble..." the maid said, her only then noticing our large group. "O-Oh! Visitors? Could I ask you to help me with something important?" she asked, me smiling.
"I'm listening," I said.
"My name is Misslei. I'm trying to find our beloved queen's favorite lizard, Prince Drak. She cherishes him above all other things, but he simply ran off when I turned my back. I'm currently looking indoors, but maybe you can look elsewhere for him?" she asked, me nodding at her.
"We'll do that. Where does he usually hang out?" I asked.
"He prefers quiet areas with little noise. If you make a loud and annoying noise, he should appear," she said, me then smirking as I knew what to do.
"Let's get out there and find a lizard," I smiled, my group following me out the way we came in as I led us to the left side and then, when I saw a shuffling in the tree above us, I then shouted something very annoying.
"BWWWWWAAAAAHHHHHH!" I shouted exactly like a Raving Rabbid, which made Drak so spooked that he fell from the tree along with something else that I immediately snagged. The Fygg he was about to eat! Drak then chirped at me angrily, which Pavo picked up the pouty lizard as we went back inside and we approached Misslei, who was all aflutter when she saw we'd gotten Drak back.
"OH! You found his Dryness! How can I ever repay you, fair travelers?" she asked with a smile.
"How about getting us an audience with the queen?" I asked.
"Very well, I shall go fetch her right away," the maid said, me feeling worried for her, since I knew Voluptua was a bitch. I then waited with the others with Drak still in our hands until, finally, the queen came out of the bathing chambers, completely soaked, yet still in all of her royal attire. And when she saw that we had her lizard, she growled at us.
"Unhand him right this instant," she said with a glare, Pavo then simply letting him down gently and me frowning.
"He was about to put himself in danger, but we stopped that from happening," I said, Voluptua frowning at me.
"Nonsense! What I'm more pressed in wondering is why Prince Drak would run off in the first place. Misslei, you were the one watching over him, were you not?" Volutpua asked, the maid looking worried.
"W-Well yes... one minute I was cleaning his Dryness, and then, the next, he suddenly takes off... he's never done so before..." Misslei said with a frown.
"Obviously you must have done something horrible to my adorable Drakky-woo. Pack your things. You're fired," she said, me immediately looking at the queen with a frown of anger.
"Now hang on just a minute! She was working tirelessly trying to find him and even asked us for help to find your lizard. If anything, you should be giving her praise, not firing her for a crime she obviously didn't commit!" I said angrily, the queen leering at me angrily.
"You have no right to talk to me like that! I am the queen and what I say goes!" she shouted, me then simply holding the thing that I'd gotten from Drak that she gasped at.
"W-Where did you find that?! You stole it, didn't you?!" she asked angrily as I simply took out the four others we'd obtained, and she gawked at them.
"No, your lizard was about to eat it in the privacy of a palm tree outside the palace. And if he would've eaten it... well, let's just say a lot of bad things would happen, considering what these other Fyggs have done to those that eat them," I said, Voluptua raising her eyebrow at that.
"Are you trying to say that those beautiful fruits are dangerous? Don't make me laugh! What could they possibly have done?" she asked.
"In order of the ones we got them from, it turned Abbot Jack from Alltrades Abbey into a fearsome monster, a fisherman from Porth Llaffan into a giant whale, created a giant living gargoyle that nearly killed a traveler named Collapsus, and gave life to a doll along with absurdly strong strength. And considering that three of the four have led to bad things, I doubt anything good would've happened if your lizard happened to eat this Fygg," I said to her.
"Hmph! You're going to give me the Fygg that you have on you right now. Or I'll have the lot of you executed," she said, me then simply responding by doing something that made everyone gasp. What did I do? I slapped her across the face like the bitch that she was! And everyone in the group was shocked at me doing that, but none more so than Voluptua herself, who gasped at how my slap managed to cause her extremely soft and fragile skin to bleed.
"W-What the... WHY YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" she shouted angrily at me as I then frowned.
"You deserved it. We save your lizard from the dangers of these Fyggs, and not only do you still want it, but you also fire an innocent maid and you threaten to have us executed for taking what rightfully belongs to the Celestrians, which is what I and Pavo are. Just because you're royalty, it doesn't mean you have to treat others like the shit spewing from your mouth," I said, that making the queen look at me with a growl before then finally collapsing into tears. By this point, some of her guards noticed us and immediately grabbed onto us, but I didn't care.
"Great, now we're all gonna pay. Good idea, Drake, NOT!" Veronica frowned at me.
"What should we do with these heinous fiends, my queen?" the one guard asked as Voluptua regained her composure and then looked at me.
"Let me speak to the one who slapped me. Alone. As for the others, keep watch over them until I'm done speaking with the one with the halo," she said, the others looking confused as I frowned.
"You heard her, go on then, Slappy," a female guard said as she poked me in the back with her spear, which pinched a lot.
"Okay, okay! I'm going," I groaned at her as Voluptua then led me to her own private quarters... AKA, the bathing room. And of course, Stella followed after us via sitting on mine and Crux's head. And when we entered, Voluptua then had me sit on a chair and then strapped me down with a single rope around my legs.
"Now, I want you to tell me something. Why do you have a fairy on your head? And how come I can't see her unless I am in physical contact with you?" she asked as Crux explained.
"Because we're half Celestrian and half mortal. I make up the mind, Drake makes up the body. And any mortal that comes into contact with either myself or Pavo is able to see Celestrians, ghosts, and Stella, the skipper of the Starflight Express. The latter is the fairy on our head," Crux explained as Voluptua then frowned at me and held my hand with a single finger.
"Now tell me something else... why did you slap me so hard to the point that I'm bleeding?" she asked as I frowned.
"I wasn't even using any kind of force. Trust me, if I really wanted to, you'd be unconscious from the force I slap you with and you might also have some chipped teeth. The reason is because, bathing WAY too much and WAY too often makes your skin more fragile than an ancient book's pages," I said as Stella then spoke.
"Trust me, he speaks the truth. I had to learn that the hard way roughly 50 years ago when I bathed in a hot spring for 6 hours and then, when I touched a blade of grass, my skin was so fragile that I broke the skin and started to bleed," Stella frowned. And Voluptua looked at her with a frown.
"You're serious? Then how often am I supposed to bathe?" she asked.
"If you ask me, just bathe once every 2 or 3 days. And you only need about 10-20 minutes to bathe. It doesn't take long if you know how to do it properly... also, maybe make it so that everyone can get the water, not just you?" Stella said, Voluptua frowning at her before then sighing.
"Fine... I'll do that and I'll let you have the fruit... on one condition," she said, me raising my eyebrow at that. "You and your group have been through a lot to get four of those fruits, that is, if your stories hold true. I need your help to find my father's spirit. His grave is in the Plumbed Depths, in that well over there," she said, pointing to the well in question. AKA, the one that Drak would fight you in after somehow fitting inside of it.
"Okay, so what's the issue?" I asked.
"The issue is that the Plumbed Depths are off limits to everyone because it's been overrun with monsters. They never leave, oddly enough, but I have a lot of soldiers and paladins on call in case the monsters decide to attack. The monsters are very tough, but I need to see my daddy again. And only you can help me, since you say you can help people see spirits. If you can have me meet with my daddy, then I'll allow you to have the Fygg and I'll also make sure that Misslei keeps her job," she said, me smiling at that.
"That last part was what I really wanted to hear. Okay, you got yourself a deal. But just know, the spirits can usually only appear when the sun is down, so we'd need to wait until at least sunset," I said, her then nodding.
"Very well. I'll be sure to keep you in the castle until then," Voluptua frowned, both of us then leaving the bathing chambers to see that the others were still surrounded by the guards.
"So? What are we going to do with them, my queen?" asked one of the paladins.
"We're going to keep them in the castle until sunset. Then, I'm going to have them go with me to the Plumbed Depths," she said, that making all of them, including my allies very confused.
"Um... why?" Pavo asked.
"Let's just say, I need to meet with my father... if this Celestrian touches me, I can see the celestial realm. I want to talk to my father in person, but the Plumbed Depths is dangerous... and if what you say is true, then Drakky-woo was truly in danger. If they can succeed in getting me an audience with my father, then I shall allow them to have the Fygg and Misslei will not be fired," she said, that making the maid emerge from a room to the west, her looking to have been crying.
"M-My queen... is it t-true?... I'm not fired?" she asked with tears on her face.
"So long as they can succeed in escorting me to my father's grave, you will not be forced to leave... besides, I believe I might have earned that slap," Voluptua said, that making the guards gasp and then for Misslei to look at her in concern.
"If that is what you wish, your highness... we shall make sure they do not leave the castle until the job is completed," the guards said, them then dispersing and going off to block all possible exits and the others looked at me with confusion.
"So... if I may be blunt... I didn't expect that," Keira admitted.
"Neither did any of us," Firkle said. As for Marionette?
"Even though I've not really understood much... I think that I expected the unexpected, to be honest," she said.
"Really?" Veronica asked, me smiling at that.
"So... what do we do until sunset, then?" Carly asked. I then smelled my pits and then realized that, even though I was a Celestrian, I stank pretty bad from the hot Gleeban air.
"Um... I know that it might be a bit much to ask... but maybe a bath?... Because I stink bad..." I groaned, Voluptua frowning at that.
"After what happened? You really think that the fair queen would allow that to a bastard like you?" the guard asked, me recognizing him as being the paladin teacher in Brunhild.
"I'll allow it. But only if you are blocked off of all exits to the bathhouse whilst doing so. And no weapons allowed in there while you bathe," she said, the guards gasping at that.
"B-But he slapped you! Shouldn't he be punished for that?" asked another guard.
"Punishing a Celestrian? That's a surefire way to go to hell instead of with the Almighty on high, you dunce," Voluptua said.
"Harsh... but she's not wrong... I should know," Pavo frowned as she folded her arms together. I then simply placed all of the weapons I had on my person (shield, sword, side weapons, and damage-making items) on the ground before then going with Voluptua to the bathing chambers... and when out of earshot, what did I hear her say?
"And just to make sure you don't try anything stupid with the maidservants in there, I shall accompany you," she said, me gulping at that.
"O-Oh.,.. I uh... w-wouldn't I be able to... b-bathe myself?... Without people watching?... I'm... shy..." I admitted.
"Peh, not when you slapped me like the bitch I was," she said, me just blushing all over as I saw something in her eyes that I hadn't noticed before until just now... she had eyes that looked like they were staring deep into my soul...
"Oh no... s-she's a seductress... she's trying to s-s-seduce us..." Crux gulped in my head... was this really happening? Was Queen Voluptua... a monster in disguise?
"Oh, not a monster, my dear Drake... more like a... crossbreed," she said, me gawking at that as I started to feel legitimately scared. "My mother... she was a succubus... a demoness of the dark that seduces lovely men... but she was with my father and devoted her life to him... she currently lives far away, in the regions of the northeastern continent..." she said, me gulping at what she said.
"U-Um... I'm very uncomfortable with this... I-If you try anything... I-I can just have my friends... h-have them..." I gulped as I then was silenced by Voluptua opening the door and she pushed me inside, me seeing that her maids were not in the bathhouse... and that it was just me and her.
"Oh, hon... just relax..." she said, me looking at her with seriousness.
"You're playing a dangerous game... i-if you rape me... you're definitely not getting your help..." I said, her then gasping at that and immediately frowning.
"Rape? You think I'm going to rape you?" she asked, me sweating profusely as my face flushed even further. "I just wanted to scrub you up... and make you feel comfy while doing so..."
"Well, I'm definitely not comfortable... I know you're a queen b-but... I do not consent... I do not consent to bathing with a woman I met just today and treated me horribly before I slapped her..." I said, her then sighing at me.
"You're very resilient to my powers it seems... very well... I'll just wait outside of the bathhouse for you to be done... but just know..." she said as she showed off her figure and he bust. "You're turning down the prize of the century," she said with a boast... but I looked at her with seriousness.
"Looks do not matter to me," I said... and when I did, she looked surprised at me. "I care more for character and personality... I'd prefer people that are nice and kind, more willing to show their affection than their assets or lust... so unless you have a turnaround and become a good girl that cares for others kindly... you're not my type."
And when I said that, Voluptua sighed and nodded. "Well... I... I guess I learned something... even though you are a mortal in a Celestrian's body... you are not caring of my advances... not from resisting me, but because of me forcing it and being unkind... I never knew that men could be... that nice," she admitted as I then sighed in and out.
"Answer me one question, Queen Voluptua. Do you want to make a change for the better? To be nicer to others without relying on your wealth, power, or succubus seduction?" I asked, her then sighing at me.
"Yes, I do... you taught me a lot..." she admitted to me. And I could tell by her tears that she was being truthful.
"Then I'll allow you to watch me bathe. But only watching," I said, her then smiling at me.
'Thank you... so... what does that mean, then?" she asked.
"If you want to be a good queen, you need to know the difference between right and wrong. Hoarding water, incriminating innocent people, trying to seduce people to get your way... those are wrong. What's right? Sharing the water, being merciful to even nasty people, and thinking about what the other person wants in their scenario. Okay?" I said.
"I hate to agree with you, but those are all good qualities for a queen... like Princess Simona from Stornway," Crux said in my head. Voluptua simply nodded as she then simply sat on the ground and I could tell she was in the middle of a personal internal crisis.
"I'm going to take my clothes off now... okay?" I said. But Voluptua didn't even notice me. I then proceeded to unclothe bathe myself in the water, using the different fancy soaps to scrub my body... and the less said on that, the better.