.
tex
-"Dialogue"-
("Inner thinking")
This is a time skip: MWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMW
.
.
Totalitas Gloriae Fluxa
.
Noise of some ruckus woke Aria up. The mercenary quickly rolled away from the couch and took a combat position, her eyes changed to red and the needles of her suit were already extended and in direct connection to her neural system; the combat mode already activated, but her sensors didn't detect anything in the room. Her heart skipped a beat when she looked around, her now furry boyfriends nowhere in sight. A new noise was heard and she focalized the source.- ("The kitchen.")
As she ran towards the kitchen she removed a charm from her charms bracelet and transformed it into an UZI submachine gun, and as soon as she arrived, she kicked the door and stepped in with fierce determination ready to shoot down any intruder; but what she saw was merely the two foxes making the mess. Ace was trying to raid the fridge and Julius was growling, yipping and barking for Ace to stop making a mess. Both of them stopped to look at her.
Aria sighed in relief even if she wasn't aware she had been worried. She yawned, converting her weapon back into a charm for the charms bracelet on her wrist that help many others and then eyed the coffee maker. -"So you are still like that?" -. She then scratched the back of her head and leaned on the door's frame to see the scene for a second before getting the pot to prepare coffee.
Ace yipped and continued scrambled on top of the cupboards and nearly lost his grip, and while steadying himself he kicked bowls and plates down onto Julius, causing the barking silver fox to ran around to avoid the saucers of death before scrambling towards the doorway and Aria's legs where he yipped angrily as Ace snickered, the red fox still continuing to climb up before he bit into the corner of a small box of cereal despite his stomach already looking bloated from eating anything he had been able to get his paws on.
Aria ignored Ace and the disaster that was the kitchen, and when Julius noticed he was cowering under her, he let out a new huff of indignation and dismay before trotting away from her in annoyance. Aria twisted her lip and gently but firmly stepped on his tail to force him to stop.
"Don't you huff at me. You are half the cause of this."- She grabbed Julius into her arms and pressed him over her chest where he laid without resisting too much while she passed her hand over his fur. Aria look at the red furred troglodyte and decided to leave Ace in the kitchen; she returned to Julius's office and sat on his chair with him silently curling over her lap.
Julius remained limp as a log, mourning over the loss of his fingers still and brooding over how terrible this situation was. Not to mention how far with would put him behind on his work. The mere thought made him slump deeper onto her lap, almost bringing to metaphorical tears at his pitiful situation.
Aria pet him somewhat until he was more relaxed. - "I need to head out, Julius. Partly to take your samples to be analyzed." - Her fingers trailed on his back, his soft fur parting and he curling in her lap. For some reason she felt uneasy about leaving them behind under these furry circumstances. -"You do realize that you CAN'T repair clocks like this, right?"- Her hands went to his ears to scratch at their base and rub the soft tips. -"And if someone comes you need to either hide or act as a pets."
Julius let out an annoyed huff, stretching out over her before sitting down rather heavily at her side, and glaring over his work which he knew would be piling up during his terrible time as a tiny defenseless fox. He felt a slightly hard pull on his ear that became a nice scratch that caused him lean into it and lay down back on her. Now Julius knew why Aegis loved to be pet so much; still, he would not be caught begging for it anytime soon.
"You can't really do much like this. So take this as a mini vacation."- Aria grabbed his front paws and lifted them, making him sit on his haunches legs as she moved his paws up and down, softly pressing his paddings - "According to what Ace said, you two are going to stay like this for a few time change at most, so calm down and relax."
Julius's limply allowed the playing, unable to enjoy the petting or her presence, really. He couldn't even touch her how he wanted to, nor work, nor shop, nor … do anything. It was certainly embarrassing being this vulnerable.
She sighed and then kissed his forehead before carrying him towards his desk where she set him down . - "Meanwhile please write up all your sensations and changes and such. It would be good to document everything" - She pointed to the laser keyboard and then she lowered down to kiss his head again and Julius took the chance to lick her mouth. Aria blinked surprised before she smiled before giving him a quick peck of kiss to his nose and then pulled back. - "Even when I know it's you, it's hard to contain the cuddles even for me. Don't count on them once you are back to normal, so enjoy it while it lasts."- She shrugged again while lightly shaking her head and giving him a hug, a kiss on his cheek and a bite on his ear. Then she began walking away towards the door before she stopped at the entrance, looking back over her shoulder with a smirk on her lips while she winked - "Honestly, I wouldn't complain much if you changed back but kept the ears and tail."
Julius let out a yip of surprise before falling silent and looking away with a deep embarrassed frown as she walked out the door that connected to the towers. How terrible! How could she think that?! Julius glared up, annoyed before his gaze softened a tad. At least she was helping them … and she was clearly treating them nicely, which was a surprise to him. He could have sworn she'd be more rough and mocking. With a huff and nothing else to do, Julius stared at the device arrange, seeming to be deciding before he began tapping his paws against the keyboard and type in the strange sensations he had experimented due to the transformation. Of course he would keep to himself how good it actually felt being pet, to cuddle with and how nice it was to be carried in her arms.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Ace was over the counter resting all stretched out and belly up after the excessive amount of food he had consumed for his small body, which right now was a stuffed ball of fluff. Luckily for him, his oh so emotionless girlfriend liked his fluffiness a lot and he was not gonna deny he liked the attention and the petting. Once they were back to normal, he could return all the affection. But for now … he would enjoy it. He yawned and licked his lips. He stretched forward, already digesting what he had eaten earlier. Why was he so hungry? Well, not hungry, more like simply having a need to eat more? Maybe this smaller body couldn't hold all the food he needed for his energy needs in one go?
He shrugged it off and stretched back, his eyes ignoring the mess he had already caused and focused on the cookie jar on top of the fridge; Aria's cookies. For a second he was about to think about the perils of messing with Aria's cookies, but his paws were already taking him up in jumps to his yummy target. He had the brief lucidness to pull the jar down to the counter first, and once he had it there, he dropped the lid and got his head inside to enjoy the baked goodness, thinking on baking something for Aria and Julius once he was back to normal, and once he was done and tried pulling back, he realized his head was stuck inside the jar.
Back in the office, Julius had finished writing all he could think of regarding this situation and now he was bored. He sighed and then looked around his office. The piles of clocks everywhere looking bigger than ever for him. He whined. Surely he could at least organize them, right?
Jumping down to the floor, Julius walked towards the closest pile. It was as big as half his normal human height and it wasn't even one of the bigger piles. One of the clocks at the base caught his attention due to the simply kind of repair it needed, so he pawed at it to try and get it out before he tried grabbing it in his jaws but it was stuck, so he pulled harder; faster than he could utter a yip or turn to flee, the entire pile cascaded over him.
MWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMW
Hours later, Aria shut herself in her office on the underground sanctuary of the Lullaby's headquarters in Clover for a rest. She had started her day with her faction by dropping the fox's samples in the lab to be analyzed, compared with samples from cases of the experiments with similar potions, and tested for the current antidote in the market. Right after that, she had a meeting about establishing a better telecommunications network by setting radiophony towers to create cellular networks. Then she had personally reunited with various members to provide some career planning that she was following through her databases, in a way that assured all Lullaby cards that she had personal interests in their wellbeing; of course, she had also performed some combat exercises with some of the units in the place. That, along with checking paperwork and revising financial balances, plus checking some other plans and projects had been her productive day. Still, she wasn't satisfied by it. She hadn't even gotten time to personally go and check on the various establishments that were linked to her faction, revise the status of some experiments or seen the maps for the whole underground train project and it's construction. With a groan, she dropped face first on her sofa, and shadow tendrils immediately appeared to massage her shoulders and back.
"I must remind you that you are still under recovery" - Aegis's voice sounded half reprimanding and half worried. -"The doctor said you should over exert yourself. "
"I'm not. But all the mana experiments are really draining"- Aria shrugged, causing her shoulder to crack. - "And I'm taking a break right now, aren't I?"
"Yes. As draining as literally draining your own blood to create ink for the tattoos of the members or making ruby red pills"- The A.I. went on to massage her shoulders and neck.
"Uugggh… Just gimme a report of what else is in our 'to do' list'" - She groaned. "Only the main ones."
While the tendrils continued the general massage, Aegis became a bobcat that started to walk, paw pressing on her back to improve the massage session, earning a moan of approval from Aria, who very slowly began relaxing. - "You were going visit Joker to ask advice how to control two bodies so we can practice our level of combat coordination if I form a body to assist in combat. Also you wanted to check on the powers of the key of the way and see how far you can cross through portals or what other things can be opened or closed." - The bobcat then laid over her back and began vibrating at a 10 HZ frequency, purring without sound - "You also asked to be reminded about revising the data from when we opened the door randomly and the Bandersnatch appeared and to check how your no-tax-ever can help you create a fiscal paradise."
"Let's try the key of the way thing." - That was something Aria needed to check.
"Perhaps if we analyze the effects of different materials as doors"- Aegis presented the data. They had created a door of darkness, she had crossed through mirrors at the amusement park, and she had also tried normal wooden doors.
"So far, crossing through a mirror is harder and requires more mana than by using a door. I've still got to determine why, but using a mirror is a way to reach the other side of the mirror while opening a door is more viable for the same country. Creating a door out of darkness is not that hard, but unless completely focused it comes out with a random factor and that is dangerous as seen with the Bandersnatch. I should do some tests to see how much mana is needed on a normal door to cross to different locations at different distances so I can get a ratio." - Aria hummed, enjoying Aegis's action, which he was doing completely on his own accord.
Aegis began nuzzling her behind the ear while her combat boots disappeared into the mass of darkness around so the A.I. could massage her feet, making her relax further. - "There is no clear destination on Diamond or data on how both sides of the mirror are connected. Plus Spades should be very unstable still. Attempts to enter Diamond directly could lead to opening a way to Spades, which could be disastrous. I must advise to restrict experimentation to this side of the mirror, da?"
Aria stretched while the relaxing massage continued. - "I know. Data points that I can open a small way to diamond using the mirror Joker has that connects directly to the one there; even if it opens to a random location in it, and maintain the path open long enough to scout or give a message, that assuming the Partitura or other members are still there"- Her lip quivered slightly- "I want them to be fine."
"What's the plan, then?" - Aegis extended the darkness around her form to simulate a hug.
"In a rough layout: First we need to test your autonomy through various distances and determine times, amount of mana and component requirements. Once that is set, I'll convince Joker to let me use that mirror. Then I'll send you to scout and return." - With a sigh and a deep breath she stood up and began stretching out - "After data regarding Diamond is gathered, we can brainstorm plans for connecting both sides. But most likely we'll need to see how we can re-establish the train tracks. If we manage to do that, it will be extremely useful and lucrative for us."
Aegis became a bear sized panther by her side and began mimicking the stretches - "And meanwhile?"
She finished her stretches and walked towards the closet door. While looking at it she extended her hand towards her desk and a swirly black tendril pressed the intercom button on the phone. Aria spoke aloud. -"I'll be running tests and will move away from the facility. Please prepare a list of the small and medium sized familias in Clover that have businesses that may be of related use to our operations. Sent the education and training needs questionnaire we developed earlier to all the location sector leaders and request them a list of political or business requirements or limitations. Have Sonia resume those that I'd need to lobby."
A feminine voice answered through the line: "Yes, my Lady. Anything else?"
"Not for now, thank you. … Wait, there is something. You and some of the guys wanted to set up a café & bakery; right, Tania?" - The Berceuse took the chance to start with the continuous education and business expansion program for her family. Although she hadn't got the chance to eat the delicious smelling cookies Tania had given her earlier, and that left in the tower because of the foxies, she had meant to help the faceless set up a bakery that could alter become a franchise in this world.
"Ye...Yes, my Lady!...Lady A, you… you remembered?" - Tania's voice sounded surprised and moved.
"That interview wasn't just a chat, Tania." - The merc tapped her chin. - "I want to help of members of my family to integrate their abilities and proficiencies, and to achieve their aspirations in ways that help the other member and the whole Lullaby. So please write down your ideas and then revise them with Jude to get a viable business plan."
"I… Thank you my lady!" - Tania squealed.
"That'll be all for now" - Aria flickered her wrist and the tendril holding down the intercom button dissolved, terminating the conversation. The Berceuse's Attention went back to the door.
Aria's eyes changed to purple to see the mana flow and by humming a small tune, she focused her energy to the connective lines engraved in her body to activate the key of the way. Her skin tingled and she could feel a warm chill that condensed and inducted the energy that she catalyzed and projected to the door in front as she considered different locations. The door reacted like a magnet that would pull the energy that she was catalyzing, giving her an indication of how much mana she would require to reach different places, and she realized it would be suicide to even try opening a way to a long distance place. That explained why crossing a mirror in front of another in the amusement park that day had left her so tired. However, she felt the pull of an unknown blanq point location that directly called back to her and that practically didn't need but a pec of energy to reach. She tilted her head, curious about what place it could be. It didn't feel attached to any territory in this country or even in Hearts, and definitely did not belong to the other side of the mirror either.
"One way to find out. " - Aria opened the way and crossed without hesitation. She did not expect what she saw.
On the other side, she found herself inside an enormous building designed to cause awe and reverence like the ancient temples, cathedrals and palaces were designed to do. Tall walls and ornate columns gave the enormous palace a hard and cold beauty. Most notably, the architectural elements belonged clearly to her world and formed an eclectic style that ranged from renaissance to art deco and passing from oriental to latin. She was not intimidated nor overwhelmed at all; instead, she was fascinated and felt a connection within herself to this cold but welcoming place that invite her to explore the empty layout while the echoing of her heels sounded traveled around the site.
After passing through the chambers of the 1st floor she headed up to the top, where living quarters were set and where a huge terrace existed. From there she could see that this place was on top of a hill, and beyond it, the fertile lands around with woods and rainforest canopy could form a decent sized territory. Aria's eyes were wide and her heart beat fast. The overwhelming sensation of life and energy filled the air, making all her components vibrate.
The foreigner changed the filter in her optics and her eyes shone in bright purple and she got breathless. Mana filled the air as if it was mere humidity or static electricity, but it did so as much as humidity filled the air in a rain forest. Not only that, mana moved through the environment in currents like rivers that flowed from somewhere deep inside this building and disappeared into the distance, which prompted Aria to follow it towards its source.
At the end of the main gallery the mercenary went down ample stairs into the core of the earth towards the heart of this place. It was strange but, instead of her normal wariness and paranoia, she felt at ease and even eager to know this place. After getting to the bottom, she ended in an underground chamber of great proportions with vaulted ceilings above the central nave, where lying at either side and holding memorial plaques made out of darkness at their bases, masterful statues, friezes and reliefs of herself, all in different sizes, poses and attires. Each master work depicting her battles and encounters from this world or the other world. As she stopped in her steps, she clasped her hands digging her nails on her palms while her eyes took on a haunted look over her haggard face. This sight disgusted her like few things could. It was a demential, now she was even more eager to find what the hell was going on with this place.
Hard steps hit the floor as she reached the end to the gallery and entered an open and circular room. A centralized structure, with a dark circular ambulatory with columns decorated with composite capitals, that separated it from the contrasting bright round central space that was topped by a shallow dome. Mosaics decorated the room's ceilings that reflected on the marble floors; Aria would have paid them more attention, but her gaze was fixated over the huge marble sarcophagus with complex reliefs right in the middle of the room. The name engraved in its front along many titles in huge letters was 'Aria Hadron Scherzi'.
The outsider bit her lip and stress lines formed on her brow as she clasped and unclasped her hands before she finally cracked her knuckles. She understood it. This place was not a palace; it was a mausoleum. Memories from her stand with the Jabberwock and the world re-designing she did came to her mind. This was the place she had defined back then, a distribution central to allow mana to circulate properly into all countries so if a country ran short on it, it could borrow some from others and thus preventing any country from disappearing. A place that was connected to all countries and territories but part of none. But more importantly for her, this was the place where she would die. The place where time and life would end for her, Aria Hadron Scherzi.
Looking again at the Sarcophagus, she saw there was an inscription below her name:
.
"Memoir ! Totalitas Gloriae Fluxa. Memento Mori"
.
An ironic smile formed on her face and a chuckled came out of her lips when she remembered last night and the last moments before everything went wrong at the amusement park that now seemed like an eternity ago. Gowland had asked her to say some words in the event and. Her chuckle became a light laugh. That time she had said that these words were so valuable for every and any occasion that if she I were to have a grave then I might as well use them in it. And here they were. Her laughter came light and full as her words repeated the words.
.
"Memoir ! Hominem te esse memento. Totalitas gloriae fluxa. Memento mori!" - She laughed and then translated, savoring the meaning.- "Remember! … Remember that you are only human. …. All glory is fleeting…. Remember you will die."
.
Then she noticed that the 'Hominem te esse memento. ', 'Remember that you are only human.' Was missing from the inscription. Her laugh ending with the final nail on the coffin of her suspicious about herself planted.
Suddenly tired, Aria let herself slide down with her back against the tomb, a vacant expression on her serene face despite the heavy breathing that started to slow down. Thoughts escaped her mind for a minute as she rested in the calm silence of this place. Her hand trailing the reliefs on the sarcophagi before the merc placed her hand in front of her face and stared at it as if she could already see her graphene enhanced bones and ligaments without X-rays. In due time, this would be her tomb, and not oddly, that eased her weary mind and gave her certainty.
It took her quite some time to calm down and began pondering life and death, her existence and this place. Once more she observed the art around. This still disgusted her, but she understood it was not for her; those weren't idealized depictions of the weird foreigner mercenary she was, they were history lessons and clues to the mechanics and history of this world for anyone who may come by chance long after she was dead to know what she had done to warn about all she had orchestrated. But for her, this place was a calm certainty. She closed her eyes and hugged her shaky knees. She had already changed the world, and it was comforting knowing that her death would come; she wanted that peace that had been taken from her in various occasions; but she also knew that for now she was alive. A huge weight disappeared from her shoulders. Still she wanted a hug, but she felt regardless, fine.
Trembling a bit she stood up and leaned on the open box, her reasoning taking over. This place regulated mana, and she could use and direct it too, even if she didn't produce that much. She crossed her arms and exhaled before taking out a cigar and lighting it and taking a deep pull, the smoke slow to disperse in the air. Being a foreigner gave her freedom of choice and kept her producing mana however little it was. She also could ask for any job but if she was needed for a job she would take on the job, thus the stupid little jobs that everyone tried asking of her, but that aside, mana ran this world and she could use it to make changes. Since that was something no one else could do, then it was a job only she could do, thus, her job was to adjust the balance of mana and generate the changes that were needed, her payment could be anything she wanted given that she could cause almost anything to happen.
"That's crazy. (But so I am)"
She ran her hand through her hair and took some deep breaths that made her finish her cigar faster, the ashes disappearing on the air caused by the mana as much as the smoke. Now she clearly understood it. She had become a mechanic of this world, a game designer, an intended programmer of this dimension. Although she wouldn't ever get a role, she did have a job.
This was a lot to take in and she felt the intensity of her past actions and decisions weighing heavy in both her mind and chest. She had set all this but now she was also conscious on how hard this was as much as how potentially terrible it could go. Not but weeks ago before her faction contacted she was expecting some releasing death. But things were getting her involved into life again, not only with the Lullaby, but also with her boyfriends. They were entertaining to a certain degree, or rather allowed her an outlet from the pressure of her own existence. Still, it was not meant to last, but for the moment it would be fine. As the Berceuse, she had consulted with the top Lullaby members about the possible implications, pros and cons, of her relationship with the clockmaster, the executioner and the knave (not mentioning that two of those were the same). And her faction had agreed that it was far more advantageous if she continue with it, even if it was because they prevented people from approaching her with odd requests and idiotic jobs. At least for the time being, and it confused her that she wanted to spent more time with Ace and Julius, even if it was only because she wanted to figure it out. So her dead would have to wait for a little while longer.
Deciding she had remained idle enough already, she stood up and observed that the whole flow of mana concentrated on and under the sarcophagi, and after a deep penetration scanning she detected that there was a hidden staircase leading even further down. She found out how to open it and went down; soon, broad and thick crystals, so luminous they seemed extraterrestrial iridescent selenite or "moon stone", appeared on the walls, and the farther down she went, the bigger and brighter crystals became, and the higher the temperature was; the icy appearance of the magnificent crystal cave contrasting with the high temperatures in the depths.
The crystal's transparency, shine and enormous unique formations were captivating, however, upon closer inspection they weren't common crystals at all. They were crystallized mana. A macro version of the red ruby pills she created by crystallizing mana into doses of her own blood, except that this mana clang into minerals. Many experiments began forming in her mind. What would happen if she applied her blood to these crystals? Could she use them as batteries of sorts? How they formed and how long it would take for it or to dissipate if the mana was diverted? a myriad of paths and discoveries, scientific, technological, artistic, and else, opened before her. But that would be a matter of another occasion, for she had reached the bottom, where a platform stood over a big pool of mana.
This was the deepest extent of her literal pool of resources in this world and the tools of trade for her intended duty.
With this raw mana filling this place, it was clear why this territory, HER territory, was so empty. Any denizen from this world would not be able to handle such enormous amounts of mana for long. Their clocks would absorb mana till it was too much and would eventually burst. Or worse, she suspected that if someone died here, the clock would disappear too just like the ashes of her cigar.
This was enough for one day. It was time to go back before she started trying to experiment. Plus, she was just maybe slightly worried and felt a bit anxious about having forgotten about her furry boyfriends for a few hours. But it wasn't as if they would get in trouble while alone in the tower, right?
MWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMWMWMWMWMWMWWMWMWMWMWMMWMWMW
Once back to the tower, Aria went to the kitchen to prepare some lunch for her thumbless boyfriends. But as soon as he stepped into the disaster zone of the kitchen, she saw the fat culprit of the mess with his head stuck in a cookie jar all sprawled on the floor breathing hard.
"My cookies!" - Aria muttered, her hand over her heart and her eyes showing her heartbroken by the loss of her cookies before her face brightened in anger. - "Ace!" - She tapped him with her foot almost hard enough to call it a kick, and he jumped up from the surprise and tried running around while banging and hitting even more stuff; meaning he hadn't heard anything with that jar on his head. Aria growled, sliding hard her palm down her face in frustration. In a swift jump, she stepped over Ace's tail and grabbed the cookie jar up to pull it off him.
Ace felt the stretch on his tail and neck and whined. When the jar came up, his ears inadvertently dropped, but when he saw Aria's face, he perked and barked playfully at her. Her angry face was cute and funny.
"Those were my cookies, Ace" - Aria' s fake calm voice held a really threatening tone. She removed her foot from his tail and then she kicked him again, although not excessively hard.
Ace, or rather his canine body, had the decency of looking a bit ashamed; his big red eyes looked at her and the white tip of his tail wagging cutely all curled up around his black paws.
"The puppy look it's not gonna work, Ace" - She crossed her arms and tapped her right foot. - "Those cookies were a gift to me"
Ace sat by her side and then he rose up leaning his paw on her knee, giving some whistles of welcome.
Aria growled, then she extended her hands as if she were to strangle him but instead she picked him up by the scruff of the neck, her hand shaking a bit from his weight and Aegis having to compensate with an electric impulse on her nervous system to lock her muscles while Aria set the fox so they were eye to eye. - "Listen up you furry cyclone. My cookies were especially made for me with a recipe from my world that it's on testing, I was gonna share them with you two but since you ate them yourself, YOU GLUTON, I'm never gonna bring special cookies again or share them with you. EVER. "- She narrowed her eyes and hardened her gaze, but Ace took the chance of the proximity to lick the tip of her nose. - "No, Ace. How stupid can you be. What if sugar and stuff is bad for you? You are lucky that those didn't have chocolate. Chocolate is poisonous to canines, you imbecile!"
Ace's face remained grinning with excitement, snickering as his tail wagged back and forth. He was all too happy that despite she being mad she was worrying about him, and she probably didn't even knew it, which made him want to hug her. It was weird in a sense. Aria was the first woman he had liked and that he didn't want to kill; or rather, the only woman he liked that was strong enough to stand him. Plus, Julius loved her and she embraced being in the trio however impossible that was.
Aria rolled her eyes and then, taking him into her arms hugged him while still grumbling how idiotic he was as she walked up the stairs to Julius's office.- "And you are not going to keep eating as much. You are as heavy as a dog as it is."
Ace stretched himself out in her arms, reaching towards the sky before cuddling closer with a satisfied hum. To be honest, he was enjoying this a lot.
"Dammit Ace, you are cuter than a bandicoot"- Aria huffed but pet him nonetheless even if the petting turned out a bit rough. -"I'm wanting you back to human just so you are not as damn cute".- For that she received licks on the cheek all the way up the stairs until she finally opened the door to Julius office. -"I'm back Julius" - She didn't saw the silver fox around, but a whimper came from under a collapsed pile of clocks. Her eyes widened and she quickly set Ace on the floor and both ran towards the pile followed by the red fox.
Very unhelpfully Ace began trying to dig while yipping and barking, putting more pressure on top of Julius rather than helping.
"Ace, stand back, you are in the way"- Aria pushed the red fox away and he ended up rolling a meter away. Then she proceeded to carefully move the clocks of the pile to not cause them to fall over more while she tried locating the other fox. -"Julius, make some noise."
A canine whining came from the pile and Aria began digging Julius out while Ace tilted his head side to side to listen, his paws moving around but refraining from approaching and getting in the way. The only thing he could do was stay aside and helplessly watch. His ears dropped. Just like when he had been young, he was useless and powerless to help Julius. He hadn't even heard anything with that jar on his head and he had been completely unable to take it off. He lowered himself on the ground and refrained from making noises so Aria could get Julius out.
Aria finally removed enough clocks and the silver furry quickly got out, stumbling and limping away while breathing hard. He found himself being turned over the floor while Aria checked his status and Ace avidly licked him over the face among whines of worry. Julius let out a tired whine. He was not uninjured, but he was very frustrated and utterly exhausted. Maybe even a bit scared. The phase 'Your job's going to kill you' was gaining a whole new literal meaning. The clock master let out a faint sigh as Ace's tongue continued to lick at his cheek, his tongue feeling rather good against his fur along with Aria's fingers over his body. The attention being given to him made him embarrassed but he did not reject them, however, relaxing was not an option. He needed to perform the duties of his role as much as possible, and he schemed about how he could do so while both A's continued to shower him with love, attention and care.
Aria sat crossed legged on the floor and finished her inspection of the silver fox's status. - "You don't have anything broken but you do have a few scratches and your fur is all roughed up"- She let out a deep breath apparently of relief and rubbed his head.-"The heck happened, you troublesome boyfriend?". Her hand scratched his head once more before she took a step back to observe both foxes, and seeing them fine, she could now proceed to reprimand them -"How stupid are you two!? You are just damn cuddly weak and vulnerable balls of fluff right now. You don't have strength and it seems that you can't even use your role abilities, can you? "- She tapped her foot on the floor and crossed her arms, her eyes narrowed and the shadows around getting completely still.- "Worse yet, l'll have to take care of you while this lasts."
Ace immediately laid down and rolled on his back, belly full to the brim and giving off a very satisfied and not at all sorry aura of enjoyment at the prospect of being cuddled, pet and taken care of for a couple of time changes. It was incredibly entertaining to see Aria worried and angry at the same time when she normally was just a stoic rock.
Julius sighed once again and looked away, ears lowered in annoyance. He loathed having to have to be cared for like this. Right now he was a burden to Aria and knew her patience only lasted so long. He could only hope this would end soon and not before Aria grew too annoyed with them. He looked down and caught sight of his fluffy tail just when Aria leaned down to rub his ears in an unusually kind gesture.
"You need punishment"- Despite her annoyed tone, the merc patted them both, clearly loving having them as small furry animals at the moment to pet or make fun of.
Julius's fur stood on edge and Ace just looked at her tilting his head. Over the foxes, a little fluffy owl of darkness appeared and stood on Ace's head, a deep russian accent coming from the bird. -"May I propose something?"
Mere minutes later they were in the bedroom and Aria had her digital camera ready to take a photo of Ace, who now had a cone around his neck and a muzzle around his snout. Besides him there was a piece of cardboard that read: 'I was a fat bastard who ate all of Aria's cookies. Then got my head stuck in the jar of cookies.' Next to him was Julius, who was wearing small socks over his paws and clocks were used to keep another piece of cardboard up. It read: 'I'm such a workaholic that I got buried by my job - literally.'
Aegis kept snickering while Aria took a bunch of photos and even some videos, laughing at the awesome blackmail material she was getting. After that, she snapped her fingers and shadows grabbed both foxes by the scruffs of the neck and raised them in the air.-"The punishment isnt over, furries. "- More shadows opened the door and both foxes were thrown outside with the door closing behind them.
Noticing they were stuck outside, both of them turned around and began scratching at the door.
"She left us outside!"- Julius removed the socks from his paws so fast that he bit himself while rolling on the floor, and then continued to scratch the door of 'His' bedroom. -"This is your fault, Ace!"
Inside, Aria removed her armor and put on her very small and transparent chemise then went to bed, barely looking towards the door and changing the mode of her cochlear implants to block all sound while the scratching continued relentlessly from outside along with yips that she couldn't even hear now.
Julius let out a huff, clawing at the door more to annoy Aria until she opened it. She came into his home, made fun of him by taking those photos, and then decided to lock him out of his own room? Ridiculous! - "Aria! Open The door! It's my bedroom. Let me in!"
Due to the cone and the muzzle Ace could not speak, but he mumbled through the restrain and stopped clawing at the door to paw at Julius.
"You shut up. This is your fault, you idiot!"- As he kept scratching furiously at the door, Julius made mental reminders to himself to replace his door at a later time when this nightmare was all over. That was all he could concentrate on at the moment. He didn't want to think on how humiliated he was by the photo session or this pitiful and weak condition.
Ace's ears fell as he lay down and continued to mumble stuff while Julius kept on screaming or rather yipping for Aria to open the door.
It took Julius an entire minute before he noticed the silence and he looked down at Ace. The red fox had tucked himself into a ball of fur and was actually silent with his ears sloppy. Julius sighed and finally helped him take off the cone and the muzzle. Ace's demeanor changed immediately and Julius was promptly buried under a red ball of furry affection. -"Get off , Ace! I'm still mad at you"
"But the potion is working, Julius." :D - Ace perked with a satisfied smile, his ears up and his tail wagging at his side while he gave a foxy hug to the silver fox. - " Aria hasn't been as caring before! Haha, and her belly rubs are awesome. It's cute that she shows she cares for us, isn't it?"
Julius remained stubbornly silent, flushing for a slight moment before gnashing his teeth together. -"Nothing about this situation isn't troublesome." - He grumbled, looking away in annoyance but did not deny the other side of Aria they've been seeing... Or the nice belly rubs.
"Now Julius.." - Ace trapped Julius between himself and the door and began nuzzling him slowly, his voice a sly purr as his body was pressed over Julius's in an intimate way. Ace got his snout practically inside Julius ear to murmur -" Maybe if you correspond too the spell will break."
Julius's ears pressed over his head and his blue eyes widened in alarm. He jumped up towards the doorknob but in vain. He immediately began scratching madly at the door before Ace could try something else, because in this weak form, there was no way he could repel the bigger and heavier fox. -"Aria opened the door to my room now!"- Julius barked as loud as he could, but the door was a solid impenetrable wall. ("Damn. She surely went to sleep already")
Ace snickered and sat aside. -"It's our bedroom too, you know?" - He unhelpfully added while puffing himself out and stretching and looking at the door. - "I want to hear her heart and now I fit perfectly well between her breasts". - He grinned and raised his snout in the air to unleash the 'fox yowl of terror' (AN: Seriously, just seek a video of what a yowling fox sounds like, it's horrible XD) and continued to scratch at the door, with Julius, unable to come with any other idea, following Ace's noisy example, the howl being so terrible that it probably caused rumors of the tower being haunted to reek onto the population of the territory.
After who knows how long the door to the main bedroom finally opened to let the two foxes enter, but instead of Aria welcoming them back inside, no one stood by the door, instead the shadows moved by themselves and then returned to shape some folded clothes and armor on a chair.
Both foxes looked at each other and came to the bed, hopping on it to see there were two full body pillows made of darkness sandwiching Aria where they, her boyfriends, should be. As soon as they approached her the pillows disappeared to let them take their place.
A deep voice came from the shadows. -"My master can't hear with the cochlear implants active. I noticed she had trouble setting up for rest after she fell asleep. My observations lead to her getting used to physical company for resting."
Ace immediately got under the beds to crawl besides her and tossed the shits aside, then he somehow managed to undo her chemise so he could get between her breasts, his favorite spot ever to listen to her heart, and almost instantly, Aria unconsciously hugged him close.
Julius looked as if he was deciding if to go and curl by her back, but Ace moved slightly aside to make space for him under Aria's arm, and without a say, Julius crawled in between them and pulled the sheets back over while receiving a couple licks from Ace as Aria held onto them both. Julius bunkered down, letting out a sigh as he turned his head against Aria's hand. - ("So troublesome … but perhaps resting when it's needed is fine … here … on Aria's lap.")- As long as Aria was there with them, this whole situation would not be as terrible as it could be. Laying on his side to take go to sleep he took another look at the two most unstable characters in all of Wonderland, finding himself discomforted with how at ease he felt with them. He was getting too used to these people around him to think anymore. Their insanity was rubbing off on his sanity.
.
.
.
.
Because they are cutter than bandicoots XD Do you think potion is working according to what Ace thought? And now that the reality about her status has been revealed (or has it? ) dot you wanted how she'll react. Or how they'll react if they learn it?
I admit I want to get done with this story, so I'll probably release chapters more often.
.
.
Thanks to peekodemeeko12. She's being helping me proofreading and at this point we are even co-writing some stories. She's awesome for writing characters and emotions, and I'm better at action plot and settings, so we make quite the team and I just want her to credit her :3
.