We are unable to depart immediately, as we have to wait until the others recover and are fit to make the trip back down. So once again we find ourselves using beds and other supplies of a place that has been recently vacated. Is this some sort of sick joke being played by the gods? I purposely avoid Selena and Beruka, why would big sister send them without me having control on what they can and cannot do?

Hinoka is dead because of it. 'It wasn't supposed to go like this!' I smell food being cooked, but I don't think I want to eat right now. Keaton and Phoenix are the only ones that are still out, it turns out the Wolfskin is suffering far worse injuries than he was letting on earlier. Phoenix… gods, she still looks pale and Elise only guesses that it is from using more magic than what her body would normally allow. Still, I wonder what type of magic she possesses? Why is her right hand wreathed in a dark cloud? Why do the incantations for those spells cause me so much discomfort? Who would weave a spell that shatters bones?

"Lady Yasei? I have prepared some stew." My Butler comes up and asks, "You still need to eat, I fear to think what would happen if you were to go too long without eating."

He gently moves to grab my arm but I pull away, "Are those two women in there?"

"I am assuming you mean Lady Camilla's retainers? Just Beruka." I growl in response, "Would you rather me bring you a bowl here?"

"Please do." He bows and takes his leave, I decide to go back to the makeshift infirmary to keep an eye on Keaton. I open the door and I immediately go over to my mate, breathing quietly and stable. I catch another scent that is beside Phoenix and I turn. It's the other retainer, Selena, I let out a growl.

The red-haired woman seems to ignore me, instead focusing on the Tactician. "Lady Yasei, what…" She starts after some time has passed.

"Find someone else to talk to." I snap and she thankfully remains silent. Do Beruka and Selena deserve this treatment? No, they are just following their orders, after all, but I really don't have anyone else to vent my frustration on, considering that I cannot explain this situation to Camilla. Jakob returns with a bowl of stew and hands it to me, I accept it with a nod. It actually smells pretty good, my recent diet taken into consideration. One spoonful tells me it tastes much better than anything I have eaten, well, with the exception of that one bowl of...fruit. 'She's dead.'

"Er, Lady Yasei? Is something wrong with the stew?" Jakob asks.

I notice that I stopped midway from taking a second spoonful, my hands are trembling and tears threatening to form, "It's good, I just had a bad memory pop up. Thank you, Jakob, that'll be all for now."

"Always at your service, Lady Yasei." He smiles then makes towards the door.

I start downing the stew to keep my mind off of… it. Once finished, I place the bowl down and turn my full attention back to Keaton. "I know that you said you are fine with my human side showing up every once and a while," I place a quick kiss on his lips, "But I still wish I could just toss it to the side and stay with my shifter side. Nothing would be better than that." I pause. "If you aren't cleared to leave by tonight, Elise will be sharing my bed again." I decide to get up and leave.

"Big sister!" Elise is the first sight to greet me, which I thank the gods for, Keaton, Elise, and Jakob are the only ones I would want to see right now. My little sister jumps towards me and wraps her around me. "Mmm." The way she hums sends shivers across my body.

"Hey there!" I return the hug. "How are you?"

"Feeling better. Much better with you in my arms." We part enough to see each other's face, but not enough to break the hug. "And you?"

"About as good as I am going to get after today." I look away.

Elise moves her left arm and holds my face, directing it back towards her own, gods, she looks so precious right now. "Is it okay if…?" She bites her lower lip, a blush forming.

I giggle, "Only you and Keaton have that right." I still care in more than a 'big sister' way, "You don't have to, you know. Holding you is enough."

"You're right, but I want to." She moves in closer, "You can probably already tell with your 'scent' detection, but I… still really want you, regardless of what I say."

"'Scent detection'?" I giggle again, "Yes, I can tell that it goes your feelings run deeper than lust. Like how I can smell your desire right now."

That causes her entire face to redden, "Y-Yasei! Gods, you usually aren't that blunt."

I smirk, "You're welcome to silence me..." She pulls me in for a kiss and my legs threaten to give out. She stops just short of wanting to explore my mouth again, probably for the best right now. I personally am in a very wanting mood right now, considering that I could not keep my promise to Keaton. We pull away and I see her eyes are half open, "I hope you haven't forgotten how easily it is to get me going now, right?"

Her breaths grow short, "Maybe that was the point?"

A third giggle, "Then save it for bed, all right?"

She gives a quick peck, "Okay!" We finally break the hug, "I'll talk to you later, gotta check up on our patients!" And with that, she enters the room I just exited.

I smile, Elise always knows how to brighten someone's day. "Ah, Lady Yasei." Jakob greets me, "I just wanted to inform you that everyone that is conscious is in excellent health."

"That's good. Anything else?" I catch an scent of nervousness, "You can speak freely, you know. I doubt you can make my day any worse."

"Of course, are you well? I realize that things didn't go as planned."

"I didn't want them dead. I plan on having a word with Camilla when I get a chance." I realize that comes out harsher than I intended, "My family loves me, I don't doubt that for one bit. But, I don't think they know what is best for me… I'm not the same woman I was a few months ago." I pause, "And it hurts that they don't understand… except for Elise, she gets it."

My Butler takes the information in for a moment, "As I understand, you have not had a proper chance to introduce your situation to them, correct? Had you had the chance to explain yourself, I'm sure they would understand."

"You're right about that." I let the sentence hang, 'but I don't think they would get it if I explained it, there is nothing more than instinct.' "Thank you for listening, Jakob."

"Glad to be of service, Lady Yasei."

I take a moment to look around the room, it almost seems that there has never been a fight here to begin with, all the bodies have been removed and the blood is nearly gone. Yet in my mind's eye I can still see Hinoka on the ground and her Pegasus looking more like a rug than a majestic beast. 'What kind of sick magic does Phoenix wield to do things like that?'

"Morgan! Breathe!" I hear Selena shout. 'Wait, who?' I can barely make out Elise saying something, "Sleep staves won't work! Let me handle this!... I know what I am doing."

I dare to walk back in and see Phoenix as a mess, her eyes are as open as they can be, her breathing is rapid and I can even feel her heartbeat from the door. "Gods… I saw Gri…" She pants and nearly rips off her robe.

"He is dead." The red-haired mercenary looks worried, "The Shepherds took him down, remember? We are not in Ylissa right now." She then lowers her voice, "This isn't our timeline."

As she talks, the Tactician slowly calms down, "I…" a deep breath, "Right, I just drew too much from his brand." 'His brand?' "I'm fine… I'm fine." another deep breath and she is near calm again, eyes no longer wide, "It just looked so real. I saw him as clearly like he was in front of me." She shakes her head, "But he's dead, no longer coming back."

A small smile shows on Selena's face for a moment, before fading just as quickly, "Phoenix, is it okay if I check you over again?" Elise is fiddling with her staff, the Sleep Staff sitting a few inches away from her.

"Yeah… sorry." She nods, "I just been through a lot, that's all." Her voice grows small and she turns towards Selena, "Thank you for being by my side."

"I just happened to be here when you woke… Gods, don't make it awkward!"

Elise walks up to her and applies a few pulses of magic over her, before nodding in satisfaction, "Do you mind standing for me? Slowly, that is."

Phoenix gently rises with next to no difficulty, "Give me something else to think… How was the mission? I mean, we're alive and not captured, right?"

"We won, but…" I finally speak up, "Big sister's retainers killed Hinoka." I look away and I can smell the anger coming off of Phoenix.

"What!? I risked…" She grips her head and applies some cold magic to it. "...Wait, you weren't here before, were you?" She turns to Selena.

"I am under Lady Camilla's orders, Beruka and I are to take out any who threaten Lady Yasei's life. Then make sure she arrives back safely."

"Hinoka didn't want me dead, she would have just ferried me back to Hoshido." I point out.

"My liege wouldn't see it that way."

"Then she can…" I raise my voice.

"B-big sister?" Elise stops me. "Let's all take a minute to calm down, alright? Walk it off." There are no arguments as Phoenix and Selena just leave the room. I take a few breaths, "Yasei?" She has walked closer and is within grabbing distance. "I don't like seeing you angry…"

"Sorry, little sister." I look away, "It's just… gods."

She extends her gloved hand, "Here." I grab it and she guides me to one of the spare cots, "Sit."

"Aren't you being bossy?" I smile and she giggles, yet I sit down on it regardless. Then she begins undoing the straps and I immediately tense up, "Uh, now? Isn't that a little...?"

"I was thinking of a massage, silly." I can just imagine her smile, "and I can't do that if you have armor on… maybe if you wore a dress."

"...Dresses can't hide my deformities." 'Ugly, scaled.' "Can you do this without lights?"

"Yasei, you are beautiful just the way you are, don't think otherwise for a second."

"You never saw this stuff." There's no way, it was near pitch-black last time I was naked near her.

"I could make out a few details, nothing definite. Besides, I don't need light to feel ." She hums, "Trust me, okay?" A few latches come loose and she is nearly done, "Let me take care of you, alright? Since Keaton is still out."

"Only you and Keaton can touch me." I nod, "I trust you, Elise."

"Yaaay!" My armor drops off and I am once again bare, "Door's magically locked, so don't worry about that, either." Her hands glide up to my shoulders first, one of the few spots where there are no scales and she begins testing the area for knots. Her touch sends an immediate warmth throughout my body and I don't bother restraining a moan that leaves my mouth. She giggles in response, "After the massage." Her fingers deftly start loosening the knots and relieving the soreness that has made its way into my shoulder area before dropping to my back. I can imagine her scrunching her face as she tries to figure out how to massage muscles under the layer of scales.

She figures it out within a minute and the world just starts to feel right. "Haah… Elise, gods." I feel no shame right now. My core is wet and I just don't care. One of my hands travels lower to at least calm the intense need I feel right now. My breath quickens as she continues her journey to massage my body. I can hear her own heartbeat increase and her body growing hotter as I start to stroke myself, "Elise…" Another moan escapes.

Then my little sister gently pushes me down onto the cot, her face is completely flushed, a smile on her face as she starts to remove her own clothing, "You're making this really difficult for me to finish, you know that?" I return the smile with glazed eyes that are halfway open. Soon she is left bare before me, then climbs on top of me, legs straddling me like she would her horse, her vagina just mere inches away from my own. She leans forward and brings me into a kiss, my own hand still inside myself, while the other brings her closer. Her tongue gets into my mouth first and begins exploring, I shudder and I moan. 'More . ' She breaks the kiss with heavy breathing and her mouth travels lower and nips at my jawline.

"Aren't you being the little dominate?" I manage to ask. She responds by nipping on my neck, not nearly as deep as Keaton would, but more than enough to leave a mark. In fact, it is on the opposite side of where Keaton bit me, "Marking me, too?"

"Oh, shush." She giggles. "And maybe I am." Her hands glide downwards to my stomach area, being mindful of the Wyrmslayer scar that will never heal properly. Her fingers gently pass by the wound, tender enough that it actually causes me to squirm in pleasure. "I found a weak point…" She nearly sings.

"Just be careful, it's li…"

"Actually, you know what? Be quiet." She commands, "I think I will be on top…" She pauses as she realizes the irony of the statement, "Dominate this time." My mouth shuts and I feel a warmth pass through me. "Ooo, you like that." Now she is starting to think more like a Shifter. "Get your hand out of you." She raises an eyebrow and I comply. She has this huge smile on her face, gods, she is enjoying herself right now, if this is not such an intimate moment, I am sure she would start hopping and clapping her hands. She grabs my wrist and brings my fingers to her mouth, lightly sucking each of them clean of my juices. A moan echoes through her body and I clench my legs in response. 'More . '

She scoots a little closer and our cores are even closer, I can feel the heat from hers. "You may touch me." She says as her own hands start traveling across my body. I bring my own up to hers, pulling her closer and rubbing about anywhere I can get my hands on. Shoulders, back, stomach, breasts, I just want to touch. She moans in response to my advances and return them in kind as she explores me. "aah, Y-Yasei…" She starts thrusting her hip forwards, causing our cores to get close enough to just brush against each other.

"Gods… Elise!" That brings a huge amount of heat and I start panting. 'More!' She then starts to repeat the motion, while forcing herself to get closer to me, the effect is immediate and my hands pull her closer. I lose my will to talk in favor of just moaning and panting. "I-..." I cannot even get the time to finish as I climax. She continues for a few more seconds and her own follows.

"Haah… gods, Yasei..." she breathes deeply and looks directly at me, body shaking and her breathing quick, "That was… wow." She lowers herself and lies on top of me. "Amazing." She wraps herself around me.

A few minutes pass and she has yet to even budge, "So… we're sleeping like this?" I ask.

"Mmm..." Is her response.

I yawn, "Alright, good night, Elise."

"'Night, sis. Love you."

"I love you, too."