Chapter 60 – Just Your Average Day
It was morning, two days after Melty arrived in the village.
"Ah, Dante…"
"Just a little more."
The discussion about what to do about Melty—and, by extension, Malty—didn't bare much fruit. If Dante was going to bring her back, it would've needed to be right away. The day after, when they had their talk, was too late. Eclair sited 'body doubles' being the lead reason, where they—the church, corrupt ministers, Malty's allies, etc.—could claim an imposter was returned to do anything, including killing the king. Brainwashing was also floated. Eclair's position on Malty leaned much more toward Dante's depiction after learning she helped promote Davon Mallory.
"Not there…"
"You're doing so well."
While being reactive wasn't preferred, going back to Melromarc castle now would cause too many issues. They decided to wait and see what would happen next. Hopefully, it wouldn't be war, though that might be Malty's plan to get her sister killed. Rally the heroes to save her sister against the Shield Demon, only to find she's already dead. That sort of thing. It wasn't as if Melromarc was in good standing with too many countries at the moment, so it didn't seem likely. Siltvelt, on the other hand, had Faubrey and Shieldfreeden. While Zeltoble might not side with Siltvelt, being a nation of merchants and mercenaries, they likely wouldn't join with Melromarc. Summoning all of the Cardinal Heroes, plus Dante participating in their last wave, put Siltvelt in a higher standing.
"Please…"
"Almost there…"
Melty had some idea where her mother might be. Since Lilith was big enough now, Dante would teleport as close as he could and start flying to find her. In the meantime, they were doing a bit of housekeeping. The village still needed to run smoothly, especially with more children being brought in. Dante went back to the slave trader yesterday, as well as Zeltoble after. There, he prioritized children that were sold by their parents first. It was a dark memory from when Dante first met Fohl. Shieldfreeden's wave was also soon, but it was that country's third wave as well. Only potential invaders were the issue. His party still went out to gain levels.
"I can't take it…"
"There! Hold that pose!"
The lack of urgency is what led to the current situation.
"Dante, Keel! Stay just like that!" Ann shouted from her seat, a drawing pad placed in front of her.
The setting for this scene was Dante's room within the bioplant manor. Specifically, Dante's bed. The characters were Dante himself and Keel. The plot…two young men expressing their love for one another. One was timid, unsure of the emotions welling within him. The other was hungry like a wolf, eager to please himself and his partner.
Ann was much more specific for what she wanted to see.
"This is so embarrassing!" Keel whined, his head turned to the side. He was in his demi-human form, and was not enjoying his time.
"It's the consequence for killing Armor, I suppose." Dante reasoned, finally speaking.
Keel had his back on the bed, one arm up and pressed against it by Dante. The other was gripping the bed itself at his side. Dante was positioned above him, his bare chest firmly pressed against Keel's. His free hand was placed on Keel's lower hip, his thumb sliding over the younger man's toned stomach.
"I thought you said that was a good thing." Keel tried arguing, though his voice was growing softer.
"It was, but it still caused problems. Honestly, this is nothing compared to all the other crap we've had to deal with." Dante's point was hard to refute.
"Please don't move." Ann said, switching her focus between the pair and her drawing pad, furiously scribbling on it.
Once Ann had a good night's rest, she ended up talking with Dante. As a way to make amends for everything she had to go through—something Dante insisted she deserved—Ann asked to draw him and Keel in various positions. It only cost time, so a morning drawing session would be good.
Additionally, Ann was able to decipher Dio's rather strange description of Takt. When she finished, the bird girl was overjoyed to see the accurate drawing. Needless to say, doing this as a reward was nothing compared to that.
Keel whimpered as Dante slightly adjusted himself. "But still, aren't you embarrassed doing this with me?"
"It's what we need to do. Part of being a man, remember?" Dante asked.
"I feel like you're really stretching what it means to be a man."
Dante sighed. "Keel, we've had sex. We had sex while other people basically watched. This is nothing."
"Ooh!" That got Ann's attention fast. "If that's something you two do, would you consider—"
"No." The pair responded in unison, though Keel was much more forceful in his refusal.
Keel was vehemently against doing any of this, but Dante was able to persuade him. It was only right, on account of them being the largest contributors to Ann's imprisonment. At the very least, the pair were allowed to have underwear on during this. Brief-like underwear, specifically.
"Oh my~." Unfortunately, Ann wasn't the only person watching. A certain orca was sitting beside Ann.
"Don't say anything!" Keel was far from pleased about Sadeena being present, but Ann thought it would help bring out his bashfulness. She was right.
"Stay in character." Dante smiled down at him.
"Dante! Complain!" Keel's embarrassment was growing by the second.
"Keel, you know how much I've gone through since coming here. Holding a man in my arms while someone draws it is, like, the least troublesome problem I've had so far."
The very minor embarrassment from this wasn't the worst thing in recent history for him. Basically being watched by Sadeena and Atla was worse. Siltvelt castle was even more so. All throughout the favor repayment with the women, Sadeena was whispering jokes to him. "Poor little Dante needs me to hold his hand while he's working hard here~." It was less awkward than this drawing session and far more embarrassing.
I can't help but think Sadeena's developing some sort of fetish for seeing me like this. Maybe that's just my curse talking.
"Okay! Next pose!" Ann slapped her writing utensil down after a couple minutes more.
"Hold on, I need a few more seconds!" The second addition in the room voiced.
"Why are you even here!?" Keel yelled at the fox girl.
Reiko smiled. "Because, like Dante, I know things. Certain things he doesn't want his kids to know, like the reason for their names."
"Say one more word and the petting you're already going to get will be doubled." Dante threatened.
It was actually just before speaking with Ann yesterday that Reiko let that slip out slightly to Dio and JoJo. After she learned about the drawing session, though, she demanded to be included.
"Fine, fine." Reiko continued her work.
"You never struck me as the type to be interested in this sort of thing." Dante commented.
"I'm not a fujoshi, if that's what you're implying."
"Oh, so that's the word for it. How do you even remember that?"
"I was more interested in her." Reiko casually pointed at Ann. "I was surprised how quickly she bounced back after being imprisoned. She's like one of those shonen characters that's super pervy but has a ton of fighting spirit."
"You're not wrong…" Dante didn't think he'd actually meet someone like that here, aside from possibly that blacksmith in Q'ten Lo. Meeting a perverted savant in person…it wasn't what he imagined.
Once Reiko finished part of her sketch, Ann declared it was time for the next pose. For this one, she had Dante face the artists with Keel sitting on his lap. Keel squirmed slightly as Dante wrapped his arms around him. One hand gently caressed Keel's stomach while the other went up and over his shoulder. His head was lowered, his lips barely touching the crook of the dog boy's neck.
Keel was to have the same bashful presence as before. His arm closest to Dante's head reached up, fingers running through Dante's hair. The other was latched onto Dante's arm that crossed his chest.
"Perfect!" Ann squealed, renewed scratching practically echoing in the room from her and Reiko's drawing pads.
"Are you really okay with this!?" Keel kept trying to get out of his situation.
"I'm fine so long as I'm touching you." Dante told him.
"Ooh, that's a great line!" Ann almost looked like she was panting. Clearly, she misunderstood what Dante meant. It might have been intentional, since she knew about his curse.
A dull thud caught Dante's attention. He kept his head where it was, but shifted his eyes up.
"You doing okay there?" He asked.
"I'm fine…" The last observer in the room said, keeping her head against the wall.
Keel's not too happy about any of this, but Rifana isn't exactly pleased either.
The overall reason for her presence was due to a rather significant interaction between her and Dante after he spoke with Ann.
~The Day Before~
Rifana had her arms wrapped around Dante. She stood in her demi-human form, something she rarely did anymore. Dio was with them, and had been riding on Dante's shoulders before Rifana came up. When he was asked to set her down for a moment, Rifana hugged him immediately after.
"Is something wrong?" Dante asked, bringing one hand around Rifana's back while the other held Dio's hand.
"I took too long…" Rifana mumbled, the side of her face against Dante's chest.
"For what?" Dante asked, rubbing his hand up and down her back. The sadness in her voice concerned him.
"To be with you." She answered.
"What do you mean?"
In response, she stepped back slightly, but kept a hand against his chest. "Does this help you?" She kept her head down. "Does this help your curse?"
"Well, no." Dante answered. "The person needs to have a slave seal or monster seal with me as the owner."
Rifana closed her hand, tugging at his tunic. "That's why I took too long."
Dante was starting to understand. "Just because you can't help with that doesn't mean you can't help at all. You have the Seven Star Staff now. You can do so much."
She shook her head. "But I can't help how I want to. I'd give the Staff away if I could hold you, just like I did in Melromarc."
It was true, during his fight with Glass, Rifana hugging him was what calmed him down enough to stop.
"But I waited too long. I can't help bring you back when you're mad. All because I was scared of…being intimate with you."
Dante sighed and brought up his hand, patting her head. "I know what it's like to put something off until it becomes a problem."
She nodded, a frown visible under her witch's hat.
"I should have talked with you sooner." Dante admitted. "I put it off, too, and I don't have a good reason for that. It's not like you can't be intimate with me, if that's what you want."
Rifana grabbed his hand and held it between both of hers. "But I can't do it like Sadeena can. And, if it ends up happening, Atla can do it, too. I was okay sharing you with others, but I thought there'd be times I could have you all to myself."
A blush formed on her face as she said those words. "I know I'm not ready to do that yet, but I thought I'd have more time."
"Let's start now." Dante said, gaining her full attention. "We can't do it how you want to anymore, and I know I played a part in that, but you can still be close to me. Just as we have been, you stay behind me in battle to cast your spells. And, when I come back to the village to sleep, you can do as Atla does."
Rifana blushed even more. "B-But…four people on one bed is…"
Dante laughed, giving her head another stroke under her hat. "I'll have Sadeena on one side, Atla on the other, and you on my stomach. You can be very compact, you know."
Likely to avoid showing her embarrassment any more than she had already, Rifana changed back to her therianthrope form. She pulled her hat over her face. "I…would like that very much."
"Boo!" Dio decided to join in the conversation. "I want to sleep with Papa, too!"
Dante brought his hand down and poked her cheek. "Didn't you and JoJo end up sleeping with Melty after talking for hours?"
Dio looked up at him. "Then Mel can sleep with Joey and me with you!"
Dante laughed. "Somehow, I doubt she'd be okay with that."
~Back in Fujoshi Land~
Rifana was also going out on a monster hunt that included Dante and Sadeena after this. All of this was basically combining a few goals for today, so it wasn't completely out there. The weasel girl was actually invited by Sadeena to this little art program a little after their talk. Dante didn't exactly see how this would help Rifana, though.
"Just imagine, little Rifana~." Sadeena voiced merrily. "Instead of little Keel, that could be you in little Dante's arms~."
"I don't want to imagine it like this!" Rifana cried out, still facing away from the pair.
Well, she was still a little hesitant when I mentioned sleeping with me again. I suppose this could help her get over that…or make it worse. I never really know what's going on in Sadeena's head anymore.
Ann and Reiko continued on with their work, Sadeena making small comments all the while. They were always about Dante and Keel, though she'd try dragging Rifana into the fun.
"On to the next one!" Ann declared when the pair finished. From the time they took, they weren't full drawings, but enough sketches and concepts to finish later. Dante imagined the mental images were being burned into Ann's mind.
"How many more of these are we going to do?" Keel's despondent tone was enough to keep Dante going.
"Until my artistic musings have reached their limits!" Ann answered joyfully.
"A few more." Dante corrected. They still had things to do today.
"For this next pose, I want Keel on his stomach with Dante on top of him. Maybe bite his ear softly to—"
"No!" Keel shouted, vigorously shaking his head. "I won't do it!"
"What's the problem?" Dante teased, lowering his arm to have them both wrapped around Keel's abdomen. "You know you like that~."
"Oh my~!" Sadeena did her best to hold back her laughter. Dante wanted to think so, at least. She at least covered her mouth as she snickered.
"That was different! You were a woman then!" Keel looked over his shoulder as he glared at him.
Dante grinned. "So, if I was a woman now, you'd be okay with it?"
No words came out of Keel's mouth as he helplessly flapped his lips. He hung his head down. "I can't do it."
Dante reached up and scratched Keel's ears, earning a sharp flinch from the disheveled dog boy. "I think we'll have to skip that one."
"Alright…" Ann sighed, clearly disappointed.
However, Dante had an idea. "But, I suppose I could give you something."
"Give her—Anhh~!"
"Oh my~!"
Dante nearly jumped up from hearing that. Keel covered his face so fast that Dante couldn't even see his arms move. Sadeena's expression…basically confirmed what he thought before.
I didn't think Keel would moan like that. I mean, not that loudly. All I did was give his ear a quick little nip. We did much more when…I might have gone just a little too far there. Again.
It's not my fault! Keel's just so much fun to tease!
Ann clapped her hands together and lowered her head. "Thank you for the meal!"
Reiko had a look of fascination on her face, though there was some fear mixed in. Dante figured she was wondering what was in store for her from him. Even Rifana had turned around to look at the pair. Her fur did little to hide the enormous blush on her face.
"Let's…just move on to the next one." Dante awkwardly forced out. "Ann, you're bleeding."
"I'm fine!" Ann hastily wiped away the blood that poured down her nose.
~The Wrong Hero~
They still had a number of poses to do for the artists. It lasted for another half an hour. They did one where Keel and Dante's positions were reverse, where Keel acted as the dominant one. The dog boy tried his best, but he seemed a bit too frazzled. The last position involved Keel lying on his back with Dante's face just above his stomach. Once fully in the position Ann wanted, Keel covered his face with his hands.
"Ooh, that's a much better pose!"
"I'm not posing!"
Once finished, the two models dressed and the group left. Reiko quickly made herself scarce, claiming she needed to do work in the lab. That was actually true, given the presents Dante left for her.
Something Dante had forgotten was that Reiko couldn't use any bodies he stored in his shield, which she reminded him of when he dropped them off. What they didn't expect was that she promptly claimed otherwise. One by one, she looked over the bodies of the dead knights and found them all usable. Dante wanted to believe it was because Reiko had grown stronger, since it had been a while since he last tried pulling out bodies for her. The only other change from back then would be with him—specifically, his shield—and he didn't like the implication.
Ann went to finish her drawings, using another room in the manor. Dante offered her a home in the village, should going back to Melromarc not be an option. Having a professional tailor would be useful. She told him she would consider it, though this little stunt with Keel might have confirmed her decision.
As for the dog boy…
"Why do I feel so dirty?" He listlessly asked, still in his demi-human form.
"Probably because you're about two steps away from being a whore." Dante reasoned.
"Little Dante." Sadeena gave his arm a quick pinch.
"I'm not wrong." Dante argued. "So long as he doesn't keep doing things like that, it won't escalate."
"What about you?" Keel asked in turn. "You're with all those women in the castle."
"I am a whore." Dante told him with no uncertainty. "I mean, I'm a lot of things. It's just that being a whore is pretty low on the list."
There was some flowery language he could use to describe it. Werner and the other nobles would dress it up as doing his duty, or bringing glory to Siltvelt. The bottom line was, he was receiving payment for having sex.
"Let me make it up to you." Dante offered. "I could cook you something. Maybe some pancakes or fried meat?"
"No thanks…" Keel's refusal would have been more worrying—considering how much he liked Dante's cooking—but the reduction in quality was pretty apparent.
Dante didn't have any workarounds for that at the moment. He could give instructions to others and have them cook, but it would be around the same level as his current cooking abilities. He'd spent a lot of time with his Brewing Shield trying to make something good.
Ever since his second curse started, Sadeena hasn't had any alcohol. To be more accurate, she tried a sip before stopping. It wasn't bad, she claimed, but she wanted to wait for his crafting abilities to return. Sadeena drank alcohol like a fish, pun intended, so the drop in quality must have been significant. When he asked the others about the taste, most said it was like the drinks were watered down. Dante didn't want her to go without it for long, so he endeavored to improve what he could.
"I could do something else for you." Dante switched his shield as he approached with Sadeena, a soft 'pop' sounding.
"You don't need to—" Keel shuddered when Dante placed his hand on his shoulder. With Keel's head turned back slightly, Dante could see confusion on his face. "H-How did…"
Dante slowly turned Keel around and pulled him into a hug, with two mounds pressing against the slightly taller boy's chest.
"I could help you out tonight if you want~." Dante said, wrapping his more slender arms around Keel's neck.
Keel sputtered. "When…?"
"That's not the question here~." Dante winked at him.
Keel did mention certain things were okay when Dante was a woman, so he decided to make the offer. Though, to answer his question, a certain shield was unlocked. It was from the idol Dante brought back from Gaelion's island. Once Rat was done examining it, Dante absorbed it and got this shield. It looked to be made of gold, with bands of the metal bending this way and that. If one looked at it hard enough, a face appeared in the design.
The stats were surprisingly good, though far from his other combat shields. The effect of it was pretty obvious. Dante had tried using it before to turn back into a man, but it didn't work. Rat theorized it was because it was basically the same effect as the idol. It wouldn't work on Dante because the effect was already being used.
"The question here," Dante continued, giving Keel's hair a quick flip, "is: what do you want to do?"
If Keel's blush was any indication, the answer was obvious.
"So mean~!" Sadeena pouted, though Dante could hear the teasing tone in her voice. "To do such a thing in front of your lover~!"
"You're enjoying this." Dante glanced at her, seeing her hand against her smirking face.
"I…" Keel barely found his voice.
"Sorry, Keel, but I love teasing you." Dante turned back and smiled. "Your reactions are adorable."
If someone were to claim Dante had mood swings from day to day, they wouldn't be wrong. He preferred liking it to his Greed curse. Instead of hoarding what was his, he was playing with what was his. He just kept a positive mental attitude about the whole thing and it didn't bother him as much.
"All joking aside, think about what you want as an apology from me for—"
Dante tried to move back from Keel to reach Sadeena, but the dog boy grabbed his arms. In one quick motion, Keel pulled him close and pressed their lips together. The kiss didn't last long, though Dante was thoroughly surprised. Keel then transformed and ran off, leaving Dante to quickly grab hold of Sadeena.
"K-Keel!" Rifana found her voice too, having spent the bulk of the time in silence.
"Oh my~!" Sadeena's laughter was loud, practically echoing throughout the village.
"Well, that was…" Dante couldn't really process it. He changed out his shield and reverted back. "I…should probably talk to him later."
"Is that all you're going to do~?" Sadeena traced her finger on his back.
"Don't know."
Dante watched Keel run off and disappear around a building.
I think I went too far again. It's just so addicting teasing him. And I am an addict, given that I still smoke from time to time.
"What was that?" Raphtalia asked as she walked up to the group.
"Just me taking a joke too far. Again." Dante sighed.
Raphtalia had been waiting for them to finish their time with Ann. The four of them, plus either Dio or JoJo, would be going out to slay monsters. Keel was supposed to come as well, but Dante wasn't about to drag him along now.
"Should I be worried about the number of people in our party you've slept with, or had sex with?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not going to go after you or Eclair, if that's what you're worried about." Dante responded.
Raphtalia shook her head. "I swear, sometimes you can be so…" She let her sentence hang in the air before turning her head away.
"Something you want to say?" Dante leaned forward.
"No." Raphtalia gave an immediate answer.
"Really? It sounds like there is."
"Let's get going!"
Dante laughed as he followed after her.
Her demeanor was largely due to another one of his playful interactions, though she hardly saw it that way. Dante had been getting his familiars XP here and there, which allowed another shield in the familiar series to be revealed. It gave some bonuses to his familiars and allowed him to alter a few more things about them, plus granting him an ability or two.
One such ability was to increase the size of a familiar. Its stats would change similar to his Giant Size ability, though to a much lesser extent. While nowhere near his party, let alone those with hero weapons, the growth would bring up their stats to an above-average-to-good adventurer. Which was good, since the familiars couldn't really use armor or weapons. Not that Dante planned on using his familiars for such. They weren't designed for combat and would require too much managing.
Besides, there were other things he could do with them. In a pinch, Dante could use them to satisfy his Greed curse. However, that only worked in two different situations that Dante found. One was having almost all of the familiars touching him, which was highly impractical. The other, curiously enough, was enlarging one and being in so much physical contact with it, he'd basically be better off using the other method.
Raphtalia and Eclair saw him using the enlarged method with Raph-chan. They were not amused. Dante was. Raph-chan wasn't the only one they saw enlarged.
"Come on~. It wasn't so bad!" Dante laughed as they went to find one of his kids.
"I'm not talking about this." Raphtalia didn't even look back.
"It was kind of like being hugged by a giant doll." Dante continued.
"I'm warning you…"
"Hmm. You know, if you and Eclair ever need to be separated, you could always borrow Berry-chan and—whoa!"
Dante practically skidded to a stop. Raphtalia turned around, transforming and towering over him in her therianthrope form. Her red tea leaf colored eyes bored down into him.
"I will throw you off a cliff." She threatened.
"Could you actually? I never really tested falling damage in this world and I'm kind of curious." Dante had a smirk on his face.
In response, Raphtalia grabbed under his arms and lifted him.
"Oh my~." Sadeena watched, keeping her hand on him.
"Off. A. Cliff." She slowly repeated her words.
"Wow. Now that's impressive." Dante nodded.
Stats could be a bit funny at times. If he allowed it—or didn't actively fight against it—someone in his party could pick him up without issue, assuming they had the minimum strength to do so. However, against an opponent, stats played a bigger role. It was the grappler's strength, attack, and defense against his strength, defense, and attack, in that order of relevance. The difference determined how much difficulty the task was, or if it was even possible.
Right now, Dante was resisting, so he knew how strong Raphtalia was, with both her own stats and those granted by the Hammer. Sure, her arms were a little shaky, but the fact that she was still able to lift him exemplified her abilities.
"Alright, alright. I'll stop." Dante waved his arms.
Raphtalia slowly set him down before turning about and transforming.
So serious~. Sure, Berry-chan looks a little strange with the growth. A little doll-like, and her eyes don't change, so they're still large pools of blue in white.
Dante wasn't sure how everyone felt about his swaying moods with his Greed curse. He knew some preferred one over the other. Sadeena was an example of one who probably couldn't decide which one she liked more, seeing as she was pretty content on him claiming her as his. Raphtalia was one who likely couldn't decide which one she liked least.
They found Dio and JoJo playing with Melty and the other village children. To be precise, Melty and a few others were riding on top of Dio as she ran around the surrounding field. JoJo played a sort of tag with others where he'd chase them around. Even Lilith was playing, giving kids a ride as she flew. She could carry a few around without issue and she didn't fly up high, so there wasn't much danger. No more danger than riding on either filolial, in any case. Eclair, Atla, and Fohl were also watching them play.
"Hey, Raphtalia?" Dante looked at the tanuki woman next to him.
"What is it?" She let out a breath.
"We did this."
"Huh?" She turned to look at him.
Dante moved his head toward the children playing, extending his free arm to them. "This. We did this. All of this. The village, the families living here now, the happiness you see in their faces. We helped make this possible."
True, Dante's earlier actions led in part to Reichnott's death and the deaths of many from his lands, but that was merely shifting things around. If Idol wasn't stopped, he would have kept killing and eating demi-human slaves, not to mention what that baroness was doing. There wasn't a way to tell how often they did that, but surely more would be dead now than if they weren't killed. That's not mentioning how many people Eclair had set free after then.
"Yeah." Raphtalia gave him an earnest smile. She watched the kids as well. "The children in the orphanage you set up seem to be slowly adjusting."
While an actual caregiver was hired among the people here, Raphtalia had been spending some of her free time there. Dante had heard a few of the children refer to her as 'Big Sis'.
"I know this isn't your village, or the friends you grew up with, but I hope this can be the start of something new. For all of you." Dante gave Rifana and Sadeena a look as well.
"It already is." Raphtalia placed her hand on his shoulder. "But thank you for saying that."
"Papa!" Dio called out and ran over. JoJo heard her and came as well.
"Hey, you two." Dante waved at them both, which quickly turned into head pats when they brought their heads to his hand. "I'll need to borrow one of you for some ocean fighting."
"Awww!" Surprisingly, both of them made that noise.
"You don't want to fight monsters?" He asked, hand on his hip.
"We're just having so much fun playing with Mel and the others." Dio said.
"Yeah! Sis knows so much about filolials. It's fun talking with her." JoJo added.
"I'm glad to hear…'Sis'?" Dante looked at Melty, who was beaming.
"They're so nice and friendly and fun! Ah…" Melty cleared her throat and started again, her expression slightly more neutral. "You have two wonderful children, Dante."
Dante smirked. He wasn't sure if it was because she realized how much like a child she was acting, or she remembered who she was speaking to. That being, the man she believes raped her sister. Either way, she really had a way with filolials.
"Thank you." Dante gave her a nod before addressing his kids again. "You can play some more later. Right now, I'll need one of you for work. Actually…" Now that he thought about it, he could work on something else. "Melty, why don't you come with us?"
"Huh?" Her eyes widened slightly.
"It wouldn't hurt to raise your level, and I have a way to raise your stats even further." Dante explained. It wouldn't hurt to make her a bit more durable, just in case anything came their way.
"That's not necessary, Dante." Melty shook her head.
"I insist. If nothing else, I can at least get you to level 40." Dante said. "Consider it…what's it called? Improving diplomatic relations? You can spend more time with my kids, and you can even take this one along."
Dante pointed next to him at an empty space. With the Soul Eater Shield unlocked, he could tell one of Melty's shadows was standing there. He had chased one off that was watching him yesterday.
Seeing that their cover was blown, the shadow appeared before them.
"I…suppose I will take you up on that." Melty relented.
Dante didn't have much for Melty to do in a diplomatic sense. They went over some of his other crimes, or allegations, to determine what could be done. Of course, they had some irreconcilable differences, namely Malty. Depending on what they could verify, Melty would work with her mother to spread that it was part of a plan to purge the filth that has been plaguing Melromarc. She had her wits about her, that much Dante knew for sure.
She did go back to the capital with Dante when he handed over the sketch of Takt. Melty's presence in Siltvelt wasn't exactly a secret, but it wasn't being spread around either. There was another meeting with Werner, as well as a few other moderate and anti-war nobles. A lot of political talk went on that Dante didn't follow too well, but the consensus was what his party had thought. Melromarc declaring war seemed unlikely, especially since the Seven Star Staff was with Dante's party.
In her downtime, which she had plenty of, Melty would play with Dio and JoJo when they weren't helping in hunts, or visit the other filolials in the village.
"Good. Now, you might want to change into something you won't mind getting wet. I have some spare clothes that…I can ask for some spare clothes." While there were a few sets of children's clothes in his shield, either from Korokan or the bioplant infested village in Melromarc, they were all taken from dead bodies. He wasn't about to offer them to a princess.
"That's alright, Dante. I can remove the water from my clothes with magic." Melty said.
"Good. Also, you'll be wearing one of these." Dante pulled a kigurumi from his shield.
Melty stared at the armor. "Is this…a joke?"
"No. They have great stats and will allow you to stay underwater for some time. I'll have you put it on when we get there."
"…Very well." Melty nodded hesitantly.
Dante stored the kigurumi back in his shield. He'd give one to Raphtalia and Rifana, too, as well as the shadow. Neither of the women looked happy at seeing it. Since neither of them had many underwater bonuses or a weapon forms that had the same effect as his Bubble Shield skill, they would need them.
"I'll need one too, Mister Dante!" Atla appeared before him with her hand raised.
"Sorry, I'll have you three stay here for now." Dante shook his head. "Melty will be with me, so she'll be fine. Consider it a break. This will be for raising levels and unlocking weapon forms anyway, so the fewer people, the better."
They would already have eight people in the group with Melty and her shadow. That was two over the limit before any XP penalties. As for the weapons, the Staff had barely any forms revealed. Dante wasn't sure if it was because the Staff was angry, or because it had been such a long time since it was truly active, or some other reason. All the same, he would help Rifana get as many forms for it as possible. He already handed over a lot of monsters he had extras of for the Job Level power up.
"Okay, Mister Dante." Atla lowered her head, but perked up a little when Dante started petting it.
"We'll be back soon enough."
Once everyone was mounted on a filolial, Dante cast his Aura spell and they ran off for the coast.
~The Wrong Hero~
That night, Dante lay on his bed in the manor. On one side of him was Sadeena, happily snoring away. On the other was Atla, peacefully sleeping. Since the shadows were guarding Melty at night, she wasn't needed there. And, on Dante's stomach, Rifana slept. It took a little prodding, but the weasel girl finally relented and gave into her desire.
Dante, however, wasn't ready to rest. Usually, he would work with his Potion Maker's Shield to brew up a bunch a potions with the abundance of ingredients he's collected. Sometimes he'd go over his shield forms to see how well they would upgrade. Sometimes he'd switch to a locked shield for the night and rest. On this night, like his most recent ones, he chose something different.
Using his Czar Shroom Shield, Dante shrunk himself down to nimbly move out of bed. He didn't want to disturb the others. Ducking under an arm and sliding between another set, he quietly climbed from the bed. Once at the door, he grew, slowly opened it and left, with no one with him.
He made his way through the halls of the bioplant manor until he reached the entrance. It was dark out, but not pitch black. The manor, plus the other camping plants, gave off a luminescent glow. A few standing torches were set up as well to help watch for anyone sneaking around, much like himself.
A few guards walked the grounds of the village, but none paid him any mind. Aside from them, there were a few other people around. Those people were hidden from sight and barely registered to his senses.
The Q'ten Lo shadows.
Dante hadn't really thought about Q'ten Lo recently. It was more of an out of sight, out of mind kind of thing. Ever since unlocking the Soul Eater Shield, he could somewhat sense them. Normal shadows could mask their presence, but the ones from Q'ten Lo could do it far better. The flames they appeared as in his mind were fairly dim. Combined with the energy the camping plants gave off, it took some time to get used to parsing them out.
Dante had asked Sadeena about their ability when he first noticed them. According to her, the technique they used completely muted any sounds they made, in addition to their improved hiding skill. The exchange was that this technique couldn't be used quickly, nor could they make any attacks or cast any spells while using it. Life Sense went out to about 50 feet, so if it came to it, he'd have an easier time seeing their attacks coming and blocking them, even if they had weapons strong against heroes.
It wasn't long before he reached his destination: the building housing the Whip and Axe Vassal Weapons. The two knights stationed there gave him a nod as he entered the building.
It wasn't large, only a little bigger than the average house in the village. Inside, there were three vaulted doors, though one was broken. He stood before one and waved his hand, unlocking it. Pulling it open, he stepped in and stood at the stone slab housing one of the Vassal Weapons on top of it.
The Axe.
Dante stretched out his fingers as he stared at the weapon. He could feel something from it every time he passed by this building. It was faint before, but unlocking the Soul Eater Shield increased it. Life Sense didn't really give him a measure of how strong someone was, but it did differentiate between people and monsters, as well as the bioplant. The Axe, however, felt like something different. The Whip didn't give off anything, and the Hammer and Staff felt like extensions of their wielders.
He slowly moved his hand forward and took hold of the handle, lifting it up. He turned it around in his hands, looking at the jagged edges of its cursed form.
"Why is it that when you call for me, I don't need to be close to anyone?"
He asked himself that every night, when he felt a pull from the weapon. He had other questions, too. Why wasn't he affected by the Axe like everyone else who touched it? Why, despite its cursed nature, did it seem to calm him? And why did it have a cursed form at all? Or, likely the correct question, why didn't his shield?
He had no answers. The report from the priests about his curses spoke of dangerous forms the weapons would take, granting great power, but at a great cost to those who used them. Dante had power and cost, but no alternate form. That wasn't to say he wished he did. The curse series would greatly alter the minds of the heroes that used them. Still, it was an oddity that he couldn't figure out.
"Mister Dante?"
He quickly turned around and saw Atla standing there. She didn't sneak up on him, he was just so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice.
"Hey, Atla." Dante hid the Axe behind his back, quickly realizing how pointless that was. "Having trouble sleeping?"
Atla shook her head. "I'm not the one who still can't sleep."
Dante sighed. "You knew?"
She nodded as she came closer. "I've been sleeping next to you for a while. I know how your breathing changes when you fall asleep." She lightly gripped his tunic, looking up at him. She actually opened her eyes. "You haven't slept since you gained your last curse."
It was true. After gaining Wrath, his need for sleep decreased to about half of what it used to be. His party knew about that. With Greed, it reduced to none. That, he kept to himself. It wasn't even that he didn't need to sleep. He couldn't. That was why he was surprised to learn he passed out the other day. Dante still needed to rest both his body and mind, but sleep wasn't an answer.
"You are very observant." Dante brought up a hand and patted her head.
"Sadeena knows, too." Atla revealed, leaning her head into his hand more.
"Heh. Of course she does. Was I really that careless?"
Atla shook her head, Dante's hand passing over her ears as she did so. "I don't think anyone else knows."
"Well, she's observant too." He didn't want to worry her about something they couldn't fix. She probably didn't want to make an issue out of it, especially since he would rest next to her anyway.
The pair stood in silence for a bit, Atla enjoying Dante's attention. Eventually, she broke that silence.
"May I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"…Why do you come here?" She turned her head to the side, facing the axe-holding arm.
"I'm…not really sure." He held up the Axe to look at it better. "It…calls to me."
"Isn't it dangerous?"
"To everyone except me."
No one else could so much as touch the Axe without going mad. Wearing gloves, gantlets, or even equipment imbued with holy magic couldn't prevent that. Priests from the Shield Faith have come to try purifying it, but nothing changed.
"Honestly, keeping these weapons here is dangerous enough. With Takt possibly lurking around, or anyone else who thinks their clever, they could fall into the wrong hands. Despite being able to free them from bad hosts, there isn't really a way to make them find new ones. The Staff was an exception because I had just taken it, I think. I could give the Whip to Siltvelt and have them try performing a summoning ritual, but I don't know who we'd get. Really, it might just be better to destroy the Whip for now."
"Destroy it?" Atla asked.
"Yeah."
Dante had asked the priests about this before. In the past, there were times when a Seven Star Hero had their weapon broken in battle. The same could happen to his shield, or to Raphtalia or Rifana's weapons. His shield had sustained heavy damage before, but it repaired itself quickly enough. Fragments from old Holy Weapons could be used to help summon new Holy Heroes, too. The Whip, on the other hand, still had damage on it from when Conrad wielded it. A broken weapon from a dead hero stayed broken, so the spirit must have left it to find a new host and recreate its form, or waited until it was needed.
"Just the Whip?" Atla looked back up at him. "Not the Axe?"
"N-No…"
"I see."
Dante couldn't even consider destroying the Axe. Out of the two weapons, he knew it was the smarter choice. Something about the Axe just kept him from doing so.
Maybe this weapon is affecting my mind like the others. It's just to a much smaller degree. I imagine the people behind the waves did something to it to cause chaos and remove a potential hero. Maybe it just isn't as strong against people who are already heroes? I don't want to have Raphtalia or Rifana test that, though.
"That's enough of this for now." Dante placed the Axe back on its stand. "We should head back to bed."
"Yes, Mister Dante!" Atla took hold of his hand as they walked out, closing the door behind them.
"You know, I don't need to hold anyone right now." Dante informed her. Whenever he was done holding the Axe, he felt a sort of charge. It was more than long enough to get him back to the manor, even cook a light meal if he wanted to.
"Can't I?" Atla gazed up at him sadly with her dull blue eyes.
Dante snickered. "Someone's been spending too much time around Sadeena. Yes, you can, if only so I can keep looking at your pretty eyes."
That got a blush out of the tiger girl. They continued on to the manor where they rested for the remainder of the night.
Author's Notes:
I wanted to do that first scene since forever, leave me alone. I can't remember if I came up with the idea before or after the gender-swap curse, though some of the lines definitely came after. Fujoshis, rejoice!
Some of the scenes were ones I was going to expand more on, but decided to shorten, like with Rifana and Dante. I could have made more chapters, and part of me wanted to, but I wasn't confident I'd be able to make it worth the time to lengthen them. It also felt like it'd be too much of sidestep from what recently happened in Melromarc. But, if I wanted any of these scenes, I'd have to do them now. Damned if I do, damned if I don't.
Besides, I wanted to get to the next wave sooner. This one will be a doozy.