Tekeshi had to be forced to leave. Tsukune had little confidence in his son's temper at a time like this. He hated losing any bit of self autonomy with a passion, which had made his brief incarceration an incredible thing in and of itself. They just couldn't afford for him to lose his temper and try to harm Madonna. This also meant that Moka and Anne had to be told to leave as well. Anne was self explanatory, and Moka, well Tekeshi had to get his temper from somewhere.
"So, you are indeed, 'THAT' Morgause," he asked cautiously, watching her face for any hint of danger.
Rather than danger though, a strange melancholy seemed to show, "I am. Power such as we have, it makes a really good anti-aging treatment. I am truthfully, six thousand three hundred and, I want to say twenty four, but it may actually be twenty five, years old. I also may have made a few modifications over the millennia to my appearance."
This made Tsukune raise an eyebrow, "That is, I want to say unbelievable, but almost everything that you, your sisters, and Utsuki have done, are unbelievable. What I don't understand, is if you are really that powerful, what are you actually afraid of? It sounds like you could control the world if you so desire."
"Aono-san, our power is more limited than you would think. While we can force our will upon reality, we must still abide by its laws. We cannot reverse the forces of gravity, we cannot make a fish breathe air, nor could we reverse death once a soul has passed from their body. While we are very powerful, even young Tekeshi-san holds more power than even Mother Madonna here. What our powers are, are what makes us seem like we are so powerful," when Madonna did not answer after a minute, Tomoe interjected to explain.
Ruby thought on this for a second, "So, you can't harm reality in a way that could irreversibly damage it?"
"No, everything is a slave to reality, short of a god. I could no more destroy the world and erase its existence, than an ant could. We can change certain things, force occurrences, and even stop certain processes. We cannot, however, do anything that would push the actual, I can't think of a good concept to use to explain it. The ideas and theories are so esoteric that even I, having lived longer than any other human, can truly comprehend. Let me put it this way, and it may not be a great comparison. I can change my body to appear as a man. I would have an Adams apple, a penis, and heavier muscle mass and bone density. I would to all appearances be a man, until you were to look at my DNA, it would still be female. I have actually done this. The poor doctor that did the actual work was having a fit, because there was no way that should have been possible. I even had Agrea do so, with the same results. DNA is irrefutable, we cannot change it, because it is a fact. Appearance can be changed though. I don't understand why myself," Madonna took a second to gather her thoughts before continuing, "I think, though, that it may be that the simpler you go, the more immutable something becomes. The less there is to change. I can can blur your perceptions, because there is so much information entering your mind from so many different inputs, that your brain tries to adapt to the strongest bit of information. Mr. Aono, are you ok?"
"Oh, uh, sorry. I, I'm not necessarily the most adept with this kind of thing. I tend to do better with patterns. I think I get the basics though. You can't change things at a foundational level, but the further you get from that, the more you have the ability to do," Tsukune was struggling to stay fully conscious during the explanation.
"I apologize. To put it in its most basic terms, yes. That said, there must be a price to pay, and I didn't find it out at first. My first husband, well the exact term was different, but it is the same concept, was killed in a raid by a neighboring village. Village may be, not quite right, the, the idea we have of language now is different. The people that raided us were looking for slaves that could raise crops, and herd animals. My people knew how to do this, they did not. They settled our homes, took them for themselves. They killed every man that could fight, and took the women for their own. I think that I may have been, thirteen or fourteen years old, my husband sixteen. We were children by today's beliefs, I had already had a child by then," Madonna's melancholy seemed to deepen slightly as she spoke.
"Incredible, I didn't know anything about any specifics of marriage traditions in the neolithic era, there isn't enough evidence to say anything about them," Ruby sudden became much more interested in the, apparently ancient, woman.
"Yes, we were much more interested on surviving, than recording that we found a very nice rock that made our hands leak the wet, dark stuff. Again, a much different period of time. I managed to escape at one point. I had been beaten, used until my vagina was raw and bleeding, and I was near to death. I was angry, no that isn't a strong enough word. I ran, even though they didn't care enough to chase one almost used up slave. I soon came upon Rougar, and he had intended for me to be his meal. He grabbed me around the throat and was examining me, quite possibly intent on other things before he ate me. He pushed his finger in my mouth, doing what, I have no clue. I bit the end of his finger off. The pain from his blood knocked me out, and nearly killed me. When I woke up, he wanted to know what happened. He was just as angry as I had been. There was something I realized though, I could feel him. I told him to tell me who he was, and what he was. He answered me before he realized it. After that, I had him slaughter all the fleas that were using my people."
Dibea suddenly found the confidence to speak, "That is terrifying. You, took your partner as resistance against what should have been by nature. I, understand."
"Thank you Dibea. I am, sorry, for how I spoke to you earlier. Yes, I refused to lay down and die. It was during the slaughter that I discovered what watching it caused. Fidelity to our partners, wasn't really a concept we understood. If we felt the need, we found someone that also felt it. Regardless, our partner was the one we raised any children with. It was a result of how small populations were back then. Many had children with half siblings, which back then, the weak didn't survive. Inbreeding, wasn't a huge issue, and as time went on mutations and migrations occurred that increased genetic diversity. So, it wasn't such a big issue to deal with the urges. I became a, guardian, of my people. They found Rougar, distasteful, or more accurately, in many ways, demonic. My name, was given by them after I became this, and actually would translate roughly to woman of the devil. Updating the language some, Maiden Demona. Which makes the funny occurrence of my order actually meaning the Sisters of the Order of Me, language can be so much fun. I am getting sidetracked though," Madonna chuckled at the end.
Ruby was listening like a child with a bedtime story, "This is so incredible. I don't even know where to start asking questions. Oh, you are the mother of the first witches, but you are almost a thousand years older than the first known witches, what caused that."
"I was forced to eat roots that caused miscarriages. Usually that was reserved for times when it was feared that we would not have the food to support a larger population, but they feared me enough that they forced it upon me. I don't know exactly how old I would have gotten had I never severed myself from time, but I was still fairly young at that time, well relatively. After a thousand years, and so many population fluctuations, no one understood why their guardian couldn't be allowed to have children, so they stopped making me eat the root. I then had a child. They discovered as they grew, that they could influence things, as long as they understood what was happening. Rather than force their will upon things like I did. Over time, I helped others that had been harmed greatly to bind demons to themselves. While I remained, they traveled, to find their own place in the world. When my Village died out, I traveled. I found many had tried to become the equivalent of modern warlords, and others had died in battle. Even more had died from a lack of purpose. They had passed on the knowledge to bind, and thus many other demons were bound. I began to see what I had done as such a sin. I soon traveled to a large island, modern England. I saw their differences, and continued to travel the island. I soon found a decent size island that seemed to always be shrouded in mist. There was a woman there who I learned was a god."
"A god," Tsukune asked.
"Yes. She used the name Ni'ne. It has been corrupted to Viviane today. She found me interesting, and offered to let me remain on her island. I soon learned how to move without moving, or as I named it, locata. The magic circle means absolutely nothing, but I found that it makes things easier to keep in order. I watched over the children I had born, and noticed as they found others. They also found contact with other races. Orcs were the worst, big surprise. They mainly lived in an area of the Caucus Mountains so contact wasn't that common, or long survived. I watched for a thousand years. I saw others bind demons in mutually beneficial pacts, and others coldly drink blood and make them simple slaves for their powers. Around four thousand years ago I, well I may have accidentally found out that I was able to influence the world to forget in perpetuity the slave contracts. Both those that were done cold, and the more hot blooded ones like I had. I never could figure out how I did it, so I haven't been able to change it back, even demons can't remember for some reason. I returned one day, and found Ni'ne laying within her, well it was really just a hut. She was dying. It sounds strange to say that, but a god was dying. She didn't understand why either, and I never did learn. She was worried about leaving the island without someone to care for it, so she taught me how to sever myself from time. She said that she had devised it out of boredom, and felt that since half my soul was half of Rougar's, and demons didn't exist with time, I just had to move time to his half. I don't actually know what that does, but well, I lost the ability to have children. Nothing else seemed to change, at all. Anything you could call a ravage of time, no longer touched me," Tomoe held her hand up.
Taking a breath the onna-musha spoke, "Mother Madonna, please give us a little time to process what you are saying before just charging forward. I can direct armies, but I am not an intellectual. I don't process such knowledge as easily."
Madonna nodded and gave them several minutes before speaking again, "Anyways, nothing much happened. I started bringing others to the island after her passing. I always chose to let them decide whether they wanted to abandon time at that point. Men and women both were welcomed. This continued on until the 1100s. It was during this time that I met, and fell in love with a mercenary named Arthur. He was an, odd man. I met him from his horse throwing him in next to a river I was bathing in. I ended up kicking him in the testicles, multiple times. Over many, strangely convenient meetings, I eventually fell for him. He was one of the inspirations for the Arthurian legends, mainly in name, he had taken over an old roman fort called Caer Camel, and for some reason he and his men liked round tables rather than long squared ones. He wasn't a knight or a king. I don't know how many of the other parts came into it. The island that my fortress is on is Avalon. I have no idea where the two swords were supposed to come into things. I did go by the name Morgan Le Fay at one point, which for some reason Rougar thinks that fae and demons are the same thing. Anyways, after his death, maybe I should say. There was some force that wanted Caer Camel. They attacked, multiple times. Arthur sallied with his men many times and beat them back, but he was eventually captured," Madonna trailed off, suddenly going from melancholy to full on depression.
"We aren't in a hurry, tell us when you are ready," Ruby seemed to get over her fear as she rolled over and put her hand on the woman's leg.
"They tried to use him to get me to order the gates opened. He had almost died a few years earlier, and I had given him a drop of my blood, he became heartsworn. I felt his death, it shattered me. He had a taken a dagger, and drove it into his heart, so that they lost their leverage. He saved the lives of the injured, women, and children that were within the fort. I don't know what I did, but our attackers suddenly began screaming and slaughtering each other. The next day I returned to Avalon, slaughtered men who had decided they should rule, blocked the truth of it, and became the tyrant I did. I rarely left unless I felt another woman who awakened her powers. Eventually I established the spell to bring them to me. That continued until recently. From then, you already know," she finally finished her story.
Silence reigned for what seemed like ages. Tomoe and Dibea had some knowledge to start to comprehend what they had heard, but Tsukune and Ruby were stunned. They knew that she had really only hit the most important notes, except for when she started rambling at times. It was incredible, most historians and archaeologists would have a heart-attack if they knew she existed. She was a living piece of history.
"Um, Mother Madonna, you said you weren't as powerful as you thought? So, who could be more powerful than you," Dibea suddenly asked.
"Ah yes. Believe it or not, I believe that young Utsuki, is already surpassing me in power," a smile finally started to crack her dark mood.
Tsukune cocked his head over, "What do you mean? Is she in any danger due to this, and if so is there anything that can be done to help her? Is Tekehsi in any danger, or anyone else around her?"
"Do not worry. Though it seems strange, I don't believe that she is a true Witch of War. Her abilities that seem to be manifesting, are different. I have also noticed that she only seems to suffer from the sexual excitement, when it is young Tekeshi who is fighting, no one else. I don't know quite what to call her. She still forces her will upon things, but where as we tend to be more violent and dangerous in what we do, she seems to help people more often. She is more, benevolent. A witch of war feels anger when they bind their partner, she said that she was feeling grief for young Tekeshi. I think her power is more manifested in, for lack of understanding, love. I could tell from the incident of her spontaneously bursting into flames when she first tried to use her powers, that she was, this will be corny as anything. She was burning with a passionate love for him that she hadn't even fully accepted."
"Heheehehehehhehehhehhehehhehhehhehehehehehehehehhehehhehe," Ruby began to breakdown into uncontrollable giggles.
"Oh for the love of, yeah, that is corny. They used to make large numbers of manga with that kind of a plot line. So, I don't even want to say to any of this, and thank god that Kurumu and Yukari aren't here. So she is some kind of, Witch of Love," Tsukune was a little disappointed with the turn of events, but it was what it was.
"Yes."
"I'm fine Utsuki. I just had the wind knocked out of me. Tekeshi-kun, could you hand me that bottle of water," Utsuki's mother was a little irritated with the extreme concern her daughter was showing right then.
"Yeah, here you go. That bitch really doesn't know how badly she screwed up now. First she kidnaps us. Then tries to force 'Suki to stay, even going as far as drugging her. Now she attacks you and tries to abduct 'Suki again. I don't have anything against the other three, but Madonna has lost any respect I had for her," Utsuki looked over as he spoke through grit teeth, and almost thought that she could hear his sword crying in pain from the death grip he had on the tsuka.
Deesseedra was just as angry, "How could Rouseals let her do that. If it wasn't for the fact he would die too, I would rip her head off and shove it so far up her ass it got put back on right. I don't know what this is, but I almost think it is a feeling, which means you are angry at her Lovely Mistress."
Surprise took all of them, "I'm not."
"You aren't mad at her, 'Suki," Tekeshi was the one that spoke.
"I'm not. After I, blew her away, something changed in her face. She, almost seemed like she was defeated somehow. I don't really know what it was, but, I kinda, feel bad for her," she stood from where she was next to her mother, and walked over to Tekeshi and burrowed herself under one of his arms.
"Utsuki, I don't really know her. I think we may have said good morning a couple times in the staff lounge, but I didn't even know her name offhand. She is, your, teacher? For the witchcraft stuff," her mother asked concerned.
"Something like that. I don't really know that I can make that much sense of all of it. She has tried to teach me to do some fairly violent things, and while I can do them, I just don't have that much of a knack for it. Yet, she has seemed kind of concerned, or maybe curious, when I tell her about the things that I just do, or suddenly know how to do. They all seem to help people, rather than hurt. I don't understand it, and neither does she," was the reply.
Tekeshi gave the girl a gentle squeeze, "Maybe that is for the best. If violence needs to happen, you have me and a blindfold. I would rather you be able to help others, than hurt them. There is enough pain in the world, that you don't need to add to it. Regardless, I would love you either way."
"Lovely Mistress, I wonder. I hadn't thought much on it until you said that, but I have really become very undemonlike. I don't have the same taste for flesh that I used to, I have calmed down quite a bit, and I think I am starting to feel, feelings. I am going to have to take some time to consider this," Deesseedra sat forward in her chair as the gears started turning in her head.
Tamiko looked between the demon and her daughter, "I have to agree with Tekeshi-kun. There is enough pain in the world. We know that better than anyone. Maybe this is in some way a reward for enduring it. A chance to make a positive change in the world, rather than dragging it further down. I know your father would agree. Though, that said, if your powers, help, people, then how did they help your father's cousin with what you did to her? I mean, I like a good orgasm as much as the next woman, but having them so strong and often that I lost the ability to have them seems extremely cruel by any standard."
Tekeshi and Utsuki both went red as the finest tomatoes before Tekeshi spoke, "Well, maybe she was helping everyone else be safe from that weirdo slut. Uh, this suddenly got very uncomfortable."
"You are seventeen and lived in the United States. I know what that place is like even the short time I lived there, so why are you acting so innocent. I have also met those three girls you run around with from there," the older woman said.
"I, I'm not, I... I'm a virgin ok. I didn't run around like a lot of people did. It's, it, it isn't something that a person should really be talking about like that, alright? You are supposed to be a counselor, you aren't a very nice one," Tekeshi seemed much less threatening than he usually did as he tried to hide his face in his girlfriends hair.
Utsuki giggled, though she was still embarrassed herself, "Yet I can't find anything wrong with this situation."
A/N: I don't know if this will reach a hundred chapters. It may, but I think we are going to be coming into the home stretch soon. I want to thank everyone who has been sticking with me so far. I know there have been issues with the site that have made it difficult, even for those with an account following the story. I want to know what happens next as much as anyone, so the story will be finished, I just don't know when. Until then, we get to laugh at embarrassed Tekeshi.