"So, wait, is the bad guy the god or the priest guy?" Amy asked.
"Both, because the priest guy wants to become a part of the god that wants to destroy everything…so he can destroy everything so the god doesn't destroy everything." I explained slowly, chuckling a bit as yet again I'm reminded of how stupidly funny that realization is.
"But… so what? He wants to kill everyone just to be the one killing everyone?"
"He wants to kill everyone so the god doesn't kill everyone." I said.
"By…being the god?"
"Yes."
"... Why do you like this game when the bad guy has the dumbest idea ever to exist?"
"Seriously, it's because the characters, the story, the land and the gameplay." I answered. "Plus, just as a spoiler, the priest thinks this is cool because he was traumatized as a child because Anime, his specific Aeon…is his mother and she forced him to turn her into an aeon."
"And they let that guy become a priest? Yeesh."
"Yeah, that's what happens when you allow dreligion's to get out of control and corrupt." I said honestly.
"So, how long have you been playing this game? I've never seen you play it?"
Huh… actually, when was the last time I played a video game? Maybe… uh… ten years… I looked over at Amy, then chuckled… Well… that's awkward…
"Last time I played this was before you were born." I chuckled.
"Oh… and it's still as good as you remember?" She asked me with a raised brow.
"Yep, this game wouldn't be considered a classic, or remastered, if it wasn't a good game." I said honestly.
"... I don't like it."
Agh! My heart! It has shattered!
"Why must you hurt me like this?" I asked while playfully holding my chest.
"It's just too confusing. And this level up sphere grid makes no sense."
"The sphere grid I can understand, but what about it is confusing?" I asked. "And sorry for making you confused with this game."
"Well, you literally took an hour to explain the bad guys plans which just can be summed up as traumatized man wants to become god to kill everyone. Then you went on a tangent on how Tidus isn't a real person but made up of fake memories or something inside a fake world the dead are dreaming or something… It's all a bit… much…"
"I understand…" I sighed. "I'm sorry, this is what happens when someone talks about what they enjoy…"
"Do you have any other games here that are… beginner friendly?" She asked, pressing the home menu button and looking through my games… oh no…
"Uh… mom…"
"When you're older." I said quickly as I covered her eyes again. "And yes, I have beginner games, let's do…Spyro the Dragon." I said readily as I quickly went to the old classic collectathon.
"What's this game about?"
"It's very simple, you play a young purple dragon who has to save all his dragon friends after they get petrified by a big mean guy." I answered. "And you get to explore a lot of places and collect a lot of things."
"Sounds neat."
I booted up the game for her and let her start a new game.
Amy seemed way more into this game, and that made me happy. As she played I eventually stood up and went to check on the others.
I decided to check on Jack first. As he grew up, Jack developed a mostly shark like body, but has patches of fur along his arms and chest. He's mostly all black save some stripes of white along his body. And yes these colors and stripes are the same for his fur patches too.
I walked up to his door and knocked.
"You in here Jack?" I called out.
There was no reply. I put my ear to the door… Ah. He's listening to music. I can hear the muffled base from his earphones…
I opened the door, entering my son's room and listening to music on his bed, earphones on full blast. His room was… messy. Tossed clothes and trash on the ground. Jack acted more like a teenager than a nine year old…
"Jeez, maybe it's his inner racoon or something…" I muttered, reminding myself on why Raccoons are playfully called 'trash pandas'.
I walked up next to Jack as he was just laying on his bed, music on full blast and eyes closed. He was smiling so I guess he's listening to good music. Hmm… Should I interrupt him or leave him be?
I gently poked his arm, just because I wanted to talk and also…get to know why he likes to keep his room so messy.
He opened his eyes. He looked over at me and took his earphones off. "Hey mom. What's up?"
"Just wanted to talk and see how you're doing." I said honestly.
"I'm good." He said.
"And mind if I ask about your room?" I motioned to it.
"What about it?"
"It's a mess, and I just want to know why you think it's fine to keep it like this?"
"... Because I don't have a laundry basket?" He offered, giving me a small grin that I could tell he knew he was in trouble.
I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow as I stared at my music loving kid.
"... I also don't have a trash can…"
I sighed, gently patting my son's head. "We'll both get this cleaned up, but what music were you listening to? Must have been something good."
"It's some new stuff momma Jenny brought on her last scouting trip."
"That's cool, mind if I listen to some of it?" I asked, wanting to know what kind of music Jenny's been giving my little boy.
He handed me the headphones and I began listening to the song.
"Well, it certainly fits the theme of the place." I said honestly. "Nice song she found."
"It was one of several albums she brought."
"What were the albums you found?" I inquired.
He showed them to me, taking the CD boxes out of his Assistant. Hmm… They're all from the same band as that song. Hm. Neat.
"Good to know they're all from the same band." I said honestly.
Jack took the CD's back, storing them in his Assistant before sitting up fully. "So… clean my room?"
"Yep, let's get to some cleaning." I said, bringing up my assistant and bringing out a speaker for us both. "Cleaning with music, helps make things quicker."
With a nod, he had his Assistant connect to the speaker and started some music. Picking up the dirty clothes and trash was easy. Once those were in piles I pulled out a trashcan, trashbags and threw trash with trash and grabbed out some laundry baskets and tossed the dirty clothes in them. With all that in Jack and I finished with some vacuuming and that was it.
"Wow. I can see my floor again." He said.
"That's the power of cleaning." I said with a smile.
"Um, by the way mom… are you okay?"
"I'm fine, why do you ask?" I asked, looking over myself to see if I was somehow hurt or looked off.
"I saw how upset you looked in the living room earlier after Dexter left…"
Oh…
"Well…I was sad because one of my kids had to move out and…can't come back." I sighed. "I'm fine now…I just miss him."
"I know… At least he got a hot girlfriend out of it. Literally the only way he was ever gonna get laid but… eh." Jack shrugged. I didn't want to, but I laughed.
"I know I shouldn't laugh, but it was funny and…sadly true." I chuckled.
"I'll be here all week." Jack smirked as he picked up a laundry basket. "Welp, guess I'll be doing this for a while."
"Yeah, that's a lot of clothes." I nodded in agreement.
Jack left for the laundry room and I went to talk to another of my kids. The next bedroom door was Rose. She was mostly all shark with a racoon like nose and red skin color.
I knocked on the door. "Rose? You in here?"
"Come in!" I heard her call. I opened the door. The room was pitch black save some candle light and… She's practicing demon magic again… I looked down to see her in her black cloak sitting next to a… I hope that's not blood in the carpet… that will take forever to clean out… "Hi mom."
"That better not be blood in the carpet." I frowned. "And why in the world are you trying to practice demon magic again?"
"I got tired of using necromancy to reanimate demons corpses…" She said, tossing an imp demon head into her blood circle. She waved her hand and the head began moaning and jumping. She grabbed it and put some hot glue on it, then put on some googly eyes. The demon head then smirked… apparently happy with the new fake eyes. "I wanna summon a real one."
I rubbed my eyes. I have four sisters just like this…
"And why in the Mother's name do you want to summon a real demon?" I asked slowly. "And at least the demon is happy with it's new eyes…somehow."
"So I can have a minion."
"A minion or a friend? Cause those are two different things, and you are too young to have a 'minion'." I said, even though my brain immediately went to my cloak covered daughter, who's cloak sleeves were so long only the elbow region was being lifted, being carried on some giant demon's soldier…damn it why does that sound adorable when I imagine her just trying to point towards a candy store!?
"A minion! That way I can have them do all my prep work for harder spells and dress up like a living doll."
Oh she so takes after my sisters… if she ever meets her aunts… they can form a proper coven…
"I don't like how you take after some of your aunts…" I groaned. "Why couldn't you be into greatswords and not demon magic…also, are you trying to summon a demon from the Burning Hells, the Abyss, or the Dark Area cause that's digital code in that sigil." I said, wondering how the hell she managed to get Digimon data into that circle when we were literally in Doom town.
"From this book I found." She said, pulling out a leather book with a tanned face on it, still with it's teeth and red gem eyes.
"The dark arts are strong with this one. She will bring unto the world hellfire and crimson rain!" The book said in a high pitched whisper. It's eyes glowed when it talked.
I looked at the book…the high pitched voice…I…I couldn't help but laugh. "Aw, aren't you just adorable." I giggled, reaching over and pinching the demon books cheek. "Where'd you find this book?"
"Your secret closet in your closet."
Secret closet in my- Oh shit that's where I also keep all my… fun toys for the adults…
"You didn't see anything weird in there did you? And you," I glared at the book. "You better not have told her anything about what might have been in there." I frowned. "And you, young lady, how did you get into that extra secret room? That place is off limits and for adults only."
"Lockpicking spells." She said, hugging the book. "You and everyone were out of the house and I was bored. I found your secret closet and it opened easy with the spell. I found the book calling out from under a box full of dog collars and weird balls in straps."
I blushed so hard… crap… That's the Wednesday box…
"That's…not something you should know until you are very older." I said. "But that book I was gifted to me by one of my sisters when I was a kid…nowadays I've been given a much more…advanced collection of books that are locked in my assistant cause there's no way I'm letting them get out on accident…" I said, even though my brain went back to a memory where one of them was out and was practically telling me to 'grow a dick and bend that hybrid twink over a table'...one of the most embarrassing home dates ever.
"Can I keep this one? He's funny."
"I will teach her all the dark arts written upon the skin and leather within my bindings." The book said.
Despite everything, I'm not worried since that's literally, as my sisters put it, 'Babies First Necronomicon.' Basically a beginners guide to demonic rituals and summonings and necromancy. Those magics aren't illegal, no field of magic is actually considered forbidden. Some might be frowned upon but technically that bok if ment for kids ten and up… but eh, she's nine. Close enough.
"Yes, you can keep the book, and it's…one of the safest book demons I have." I said. "Want to see what you'll be looking forward to in the future?" I asked, which made her gasp, the dark hood and it's 'shadow' over her eyes doing nothing to hide the sparkles in her eyes…why is she so cute in cultist robes!?
"Thank you mo-oof!" She said, getting up to hug me but tripped over her large robe and face planted in the middle of her circle. She then inched herself to my ankles and hugged me from there on the ground. "Thank you mom!"
Awh… my adorable little necromancer… Pretty sure an Isekai parent could not handle this…
I gently picked her up. "My adorable little necromancer." I cooed, giving her a big hug and nuzzling her.
I gave her a kiss on the forehead and put her back on the ground. She went back to her circle, the reanimated demon imp head cuddling up next to her as she opened the book up and began reading.
I left her to her own studies and went to the next child's room. This was Donna's room. My fox like daughter had some fins along her arms and head that poked out along her hair. She was mostly orange with racoon stripes around her arms and tail. My little fashionista was a real girly girl.
"Considering I'm in a demon world, maybe I should bring out one of my books as a little 'play date' with Rose…yeah, summoning Beelzemon would be hilarious to show off." I thought to myself with a chuckle as I knocked on the door. "You in here Donna?"
"Coming mom!" She called out. In a few seconds she opened the door. She was dressed in a different outfit from earlier. This one was a lime green dress decorated with mother of pearls. "Hey mom. What's up?"
"Just wanted to hang out and talk for a bit." I said. "I've already done it with some of your siblings…seen Rose get blood in the carpet…again." I groaned, forgetting that I'm going to have to clean that up…ugh, blood is a bitch to get out.
"Oh, well come on in mom. I'm mostly going through old shoes."
Heh… how did I ever give birth to such a girly girl? I've only worn a dress once and that was to prom and it wasn't anywhere near as fancy as what she likes…
"I'm still surprised how myself, a tomboy of tomboy's, gave birth to such a fashion queen." I chuckled.
"Maybe I get it from dad?" She pondered.
Huh… well… since becoming a herm Casey has gotten rather… feminine…
"Well…your father has always had an eye for detail." I said honestly.
"Yeah. Plus they look really good in a dress when they wear them."
I nearly fell over at that… Casey has been wearing dresses?!
"When in the world did this start? And why didn't he show me?"
"Dad usually only dresses up when he plays with me."
"Okay, that makes sense." I nodded. "I'm sure he looks very pretty in those dresses."
"I have photos."
"Can I see them?"
"Yeah. I have them right here." Donna said, walking over to her desk and pulling out a small notebook. Inside were taped photos in a makeshift photo album.
My eyes immediately fell upon Casey dressed in a long black dress showing off just enough of their right hip and leg and was supported solely by their chest.
"I didn't know you could wag your tail like that mom." Donna said.
I looked behind me…I blushed brightly as I remembered…"I…forgot I could do that…"
I forced my tail to obey and once it was still I sat down and looked through the photos… damn it, how does Casey rock all these dresses when they were born all male before? Beginning to wonder… then again they also rock the… thin and lacy clothes we keep in the bedroom…
Is my husband more of a woman than I am?
… I'm not sure how to feel about that?
"I'm a tomboy, I should know better…" I muttered, reminding myself that I am fine with how I dress and act, cause I'm still a sexy woman even without dresses. "But…wow, Casey looks amazing."
"Dad said he was happy he agreed to play dress up with me. He was a bit awkward at first but he ended up liking how he looked. Said he hadn't done much with their new looks since changing to look more feminine."
Huh… I guess that is true. Casey aside from the… bedroom fun didn't do much girly things… then again between caring for the kids, work, then ending up here… there wasn't a lot of time…
"Well…at least we finally have the time to do things."
I flipped through the photos. Casey in various dresses, shoes, make up and hair styles… wow… they're gorgeous…
"Dad said with how I dress and style them I can work in fashion someday." Donna said with a smile as she leaned against me.
"And I know you'll do amazing Donna." I said happily. "My little fashionista."
"Thanks mom. I have always wondered though, why are you and dad hermaphrodites? Mamma Jenny said you both used to just me a male and female, what made you wanna change?"
"Well, Jenny wanted us to 'spice things up', to stop being so vanilla that it wasn't even funny."
"Oh… so Mamma Jenny made your sex and personal lives way better?" I blushed and nearly fell off Donna's bed at hearing her say that.
"Please don't talk like that yet, your too young." I said quickly. "But sex life? Yeah. Personal life?" I asked, now wondering if our sex life made our personal life better…I hope it didn't cause that would just mean I wasn't…good enough normally…
"Aren't you and dad even more happy now?"
"We are happy, but we're happy to be a family and have…a whole lotta kids." I said honestly.
"... Are you pregnant mom?"
I laughed. Thankfully no.
"No, I am not pregnant, thankfully."
"... Is dad pregnant?" I laughed again. "Cause I did have to extend one of the dresses they've been wearing yesterday cause they said it was feeling tight on them.
I… promptly froze.
"Uh…" I started, trying to think of I might have accidentally done the thing. "I…don't know…and I'm concerned about that…"
"Oh… maybe you should ask?"
"Yes I should." I nodded. "I'll probably be back to spend some more time honey, but I have to talk to your father." I said, getting up and heading off to find Casey.
I ended up not needing to go far as I found them sitting in the living room reading a book.
"Hey Casey, are you pregnant?" I asked, seeing them fumble with their book immediately after I said that suddenly.
"Heather…" He sighed, closing the book. "Y-yeah…"
"When, how, and with who?" I asked, as even though we're in a polyamorus relationship and we've both gotten each other and our lovers and Nanny pregnant…something about it…
"I just found out this morning. When I woke up I felt nauseous and dizzy and… well, puke first thing was an immediate flag. We don't have pregnancy tests but Nanny told me and confirmed it. Being a Dire Wolf and a Den Mother she can smell when someone is pregnant."
"Alright…with who?" I asked. "Since we're all horny most of the time I just want to make sure…"
"... Heather. Love. The only other one with a cock in this relationship is you."
Oh! Right… forgot…
I groaned and facepalmed. "Mother help me, I am so sorry for freaking out in a bad way…now I should freak out in a good way." I said. "Just…been really busy and all…" I sighed.
"I know. Dex leaving really put you in a sour mood earlier. And I've… mostly been processing the news myself of this…" Casey sighed. "Ever since becoming a hermaphrodite with you I've felt different. Not in a bad way just… like something was missing. Playing dress up with Donna, taking those photos… it reminded me of simpler times. Before Armageddon and all this. I even discovered a new interest."
"Lingerie? And yes, you do look sexy in them." I said honestly, which my tail smacked the ground in horny agreement.
"Heh. I enjoy modeling as much as I enjoy photography. And the two come together perfectly."
"I could tell given all the pictures I saw." I chuckled.
"I was wondering if it would be possible to start up a magazine company and publish photos of her clothes and maybe even other stuff. There's a lot of bad things about Armageddon but maybe we can help bring some normalcy to it."
"Yeah…normalcy would be something this world desperately needs." I chuckled. "That's…the thing missing here…just something normal to make this feel…less bad."
"I know a magazine might not feel like much but it can probably help out way more than people think. I was gonna talk to our Slayer friend about options for that. Based on what I do know our best bet is to go through the Greed Chaos Guild. It seems anything marketable has to go through them on this planet."
"Well…as long as we don't have to deal with the more…insane guilds." I said carefully. "Greed is probably the best since their just a merchants guild at heart."
"That's what I figured." Casey nodded.
"So, setting up a fashion magazine and reopening your photography shop…well, at least it'll be good for all of us to get back to that daily grind…"
"Yeah. So, was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"
"Well, so far our kids are doing fine…one snuck into my trophy room and another snuck into the secret secret closet…but otherwise fine."
"Heh. They're getting bored." Casey chuckled. "Guess this idea came at a good time."
"Yes it does…oh, and Rose got blood on the carpet again with her finding the 'babies first necronomicon'...and can you believe how adorable she is in her cultist robe?"
"Yes… and we should consider replacing her carpet for tile or hardwood…"
"Yeah, we really should." I sighed. "Really hate cleaning up blood…"
"Well, if this was all, may I go back to my book?"
"Alright my love." I said, leaning over and giving them a quick kiss.
"Thanks hun." They replied as they opened their book back up.
With a smile and… an overwhelming newfound sense of pride I did not expect, I happily walked down to the last of the children I birthed's room door. Micky.
He looked the most like his father with some fins on his arms and back and the back of his head.
I knocked on the door. "Are you here Micky?"
"Yes!" He called from inside the room. I opened the door and saw him playing video games.
"How you doing Micky?" I inquired with a smile.
"I'm okay. How are you mom?" He asked as he paused his game.
"I'm doing good, what game you playing?" I inquired.
"Stardew Valley."
"Ah, a classic." I nodded. "How you liking it so far?"
"It's relaxing. Kinda wish farming in real life was this easy."
Heh… in some worlds it actually is…
"Yeah, wish it was easier here, but sadly we're not in an 'easy farming' area." I shrugged.
"Easy farming?"
"Well, there are some worlds where it's actually as easy as the game." I answered.
"Wait, how?"
"Either how the world works, like you could happen to land on a world that's just like Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon, or if your friends with nature spirits and can help make things faster."
"Really? That's pretty cool. Are there any places like that on Armageddon?"
Huh… actually… I have no idea…
"Uh…maybe?" I said sheepishly. "Cause while Armageddon is a world where every apocalyptic event is happening all at once forever in their own special box's…which begs the question how in the world some apocalypses are staying still when their powered by being's that are several times multiversal in strength at worst and god tier reality warpers at best…"
"Maybe the zone barriers?" Jack offered. "You said on normal planets they kept monsters from spawning in safe zones, like Mamma Nanny's barriers. Maybe they act as restrictions for the entities inside?"
That… makes sense. Like a game map separating safe areas, mob spawn areas, even boss zones… fuck that's exactly what they are!
"You Jack, are a genius." I said immediately.
"Can you tell Donna that?"
"Of course I can." I chuckled.
"So, basically what this means is that the demons are stuck here in this zone. The next zone has their stuff stuck there, and so on. Right? Well, in a game the best way to travel is Fast Travel but warps need to be built or you have to have been there previously. Maybe someone sells fast traveling?"
Selling… Greed totally would!
"Well, it's kind of a good thing that we're planning on getting into contact with Greed, this worlds Merchant's Guild, to try and reopen the photography shop to also be a fashion magazine…so we could probably buy some of the warp's we need."
"Sounds like a lot is gonna change around here."
I smirked and nodded. Yeah… it is.
"And it'll all change for the better." I said with a warm smile, lightly ruffling Mickey's head.
"You wish to get in contact with a Greed Merchant?" Carver repeated. We called and had us meet him here since he is probably the only one who can get us connected with one of those members.
"I know it sounds like a dumb idea, but please, here us out." I said carefully. "We want to reopen our Photography shop, and also brand it as a magazine just for thing's like Fashion for instance." I said carefully. "Just to…bring some normalcy to this very depressing and dangerous place."
"I actually don't have a problem with it." Carver said. "As far as the Chaos Guilds go, Greed has always been a neutral guild. They even do business with the New Foundation regularly. Even the Slayers have made deals with them before."
"Oh, okay cool." I nodded. "I'm glad that we were right in thinking Greed would be helpful for what we had in mind."
"Majority of its members are people looking to make a living on the planet. Despite the fact it's the largest out of all the Chaos Guilds it's also the weakest, yet their numbers allow them to have secrets and deals with all the guilds in a way that keeps them at an uneasy peace. Course that peace between them was forged sturdier back when the old leaders of Lust and Nexus got eaten by an Isekai with Consume."
Consume… that's like the sister ability to my own if I remember…
"Oh…Consume…that's uh…a horrifying thought…" I said worriedly.
Carver nodded. "Story goes that Isekai now runs Lust, and Nexus is said to be run by one of the Five Brothers."
Five Brothers… damn it that name rings a bell… was it something I learned in school or…?
"I…hate how familiar that sounds…" I said, trying to think back through all my life to who, or what, the 'Five Brothers' is.
"The Five Brothers are supposedly five very powerful reflections of the same person. They're some of the oldest of the Isekai and all arrived within the same year. They're all basically identical save their hair colors. Never met one though."
Right! Back in the adventurers guild, all five Brothers supposedly were the first to beat a level five void dungeon. One of those guys now runs the Violence guild? Yeesh… what happened?
"So…why is one of the Five Brother's running one of the most dangerous Chaos Guilds around?" I inquired.
"No idea. In any case, I know a Greed Merchant that's got the kind of resources and connections you'll be needing."
"That's great." I nodded. "Who's this merchant you have in mind?"
"Her name is Omega. She's a Clockwork synthetic being. She's done business with the Slayers since Era two and always keeps the List and Nexus products out of Slayer territory."
"Good to know." I nodded. "Hopefully us trying to start this business just to have some normalcy won't immediately have other guilds try and ruin it…"
"So long as you're in my territory, only the stupid would try." Carver said, standing up. "I'll contact Omega. She'll meet you here shortly. Oh, and mind her pets. She's a hobbyist Beast Tamer."
With that Carver left.
I sighed, sitting on the couch. Welp, time to wait for-
A portal opened up in the living room. I got to my feet and saw a female clockwork synthetic walk out of it. Their face a blank plate of metal holding a feminine porcine mask on it's surface.
"Greetings! I'm Omega." They introduced.
…. That was fast.
"I'm…honestly surprised how fast you got here." I said honestly. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Heather."
"Charmed. Now then what was this about a Magazine?"
"So, before we were…rudely kidnapped from our home, me and my spouse Casey opened up a Photography shop, for pictures, displaying all our exploits and all that, so right now we were planning on turning that into a sorta…Fashion Magazine to start, and we can move from there into other such things like pictures of area's, monsters, and all that stuff if and or when we have enough time and resources." I explained. "Just…a bit of normalcy is what we want from this…something that we've felt was missing in our lives and hopefully, through our work, we can help bring it to others across this giant ball of pain."
"Hmm. A fashion magazine? It would be different." She said, bringing a hand to her porcine mask chin.
"And currently, I have a professional photographer, Casey as I've mentioned, and an up and coming fashionista, our daughter Donna."
"It's definitely refreshing, but I wonder if fashion will be enough?"
"It's at least a start, and if need be I can get you a set of photos to try and show it could be a good idea."
"I'm not saying it won't. I'm saying perhaps variety might help your publishing brand." Huh? "Fashion alone will sell but it's a minimum income stream. You could expand to have multiple magazines covering a variety of topics. Things the people of Armageddon both dream of but can also use In the everyday survival."
"I suggested that after we at least got some headway through the fashion magazine, cause currently we have only the one photographer…but I can put in a section based on fighting and survival, I do know my way around survival areas." I admitted, cause doing a lot of things all at once would be a bitch and hoping we can at least start slow.
"Hmm… that would be useful but what people of Armageddon need most is information. Those with this information often sell it, but they don't just need information on survival basics. They need information on the various zones, their dangers and advantages. Safer, habitual zones on Armageddon are few and far between so to help the people truly thrive then people need to know about the zones. Perhaps a travel guide as well?"
"Hmm, well a Travel Guide would be helpful…" I hummed, scratching my chin…before starting to chuckle at my dumb thought. "My first thought about a travel guide with this area just had to involve my adorable demon summoning daughter…ugh, she's just too cute and innocent but wants to summon demons…I suppose it could help with getting to know the 'locals' and learning about what places are safe if we can summon them."
"Oh an aspiring necromancer and demonic sorcerer. A zone like this one would be perfect for folks in that field. I can recommend some tutors if you are interested in helping her develop her skills and knowledge."
Tutor? On Armageddon? Wow, Greed does sell everything…
"Well…it would be preferred, cause while I have dabbled here and there into some high end necromancy and demonic sorcery, due to my sisters being…well, high class Warlocks, I think getting some true tutors would be a good thing." I nodded. "Though…I might as well ask, what does Greed sell? Cause I've heard your guild sells just about anything it could get it's hands on."
"I'm glad you asked! Greed has two major Mottos. 'Everything has a price, the product, the employees and if need be, the customer,' and 'The world is a store and you're in the aisle, but whether you are a customer or product, that's up to you'." She said. "So basically. We sell everything."
Right… I guess that tracks…
"Yeah, that sounds about right." I nodded. "Just…bites we might not have the right amount of money for the kind of things we need, especially the tutors."
"I suppose money is the immediate issue, as is everything. Well, why not take advantage of this zone's resources?"
"We have been trying, but with kids to raise and me wanting to be a good mother, I can't just leave my home and trek around for years on end and lose all the time with my kids." I said honestly.
"Hmm… this is a dilemma. Oh wait, I have an idea. The money won't be a lot but it will be constant and the best part is the resource is quite limitless for you."
"Is it demon blood or something?" I inquired. "Cause that's technically an unlimited resource in this area and in some cases can be worth something."
"Close. Demon meat." Omega stated. "As you can imagine meat is a high priority food item. Most settlements and towns almost never get fresh meat. Demon meat of these demon species can taste like beef or pork or mutton and have roughly the same nutrition and with your endless hoards outside you can easily sell huge amounts in bulk at the markets for a lower than competition price."
Huh. Well, we aren't strangers to eating demon meat here. The farm has that cloner for animals but the cloning takes a while and raising and caring for the animals takes a long time.
"Well, that is a pretty good idea." I admitted. "And demon meat is pretty reasonable…yeah I think that can work, but wouldn't the sudden influx of demon meat kinda screw up some prices or are the market's so huge it wouldn't matter?"
"Oh contraire madame. See, the meat markets within Greed are owned and run by several major producers and they all keep supply low to ensure high profits. Your influx of meat would tank their sales, leading them to either sell their shares of their factories, or start pumping out more meat at cheaper prices to match yours as they are capable of. Either way this is a win for the customers."
"Wow, I'm surprised you care about the Customers considering…well, Greed being the name and all." I said honestly. "But I suppose it would be bad business to basically scalp people for everything they have."
"Oh it's not all as selfless as it sounds. The more customers that can afford the products they need from Greed, the more gets sold and the more we get in our shares for marketing the products in the long run."
Ah. There it is. Fair.
"Being selfless for selfish reasons, sounds reasonable."
"Indeed. So, you can start amassing your fortune in the meat markets and over time work on the magazine idea and expand to as many fields as you can. Here." Omega said as she handed me a flip phone that was also clockwork based. "This will let you contact me so when you have products to sell I can show up to take them to market. Which brings me to the next matter of this meeting. The shares." She said, a compartment on her arm opening up and out printed some paper. Once it was done she handed it to me. "Now, standard fair for these matters is forty sixty. You taking the forty and Greed taking the sixty. However out of respect for Carver and the feeling this little endeavor gives me at crashing and forever altering an essential food market, I'm going fifty fifty for this deal."
"Hmm…" I hummed. "Well…fifty fifty does sound better than forty sixty…also you sound very eager to try to crash an entire market…"
"Not every day you get to stick it to some of the oldest rip off artists on Armageddon. Plus, through me you as a supplier maintain your anonymity, and on Armageddon, that's worth more than life itself."
I can guess… If these guys knew it was me… they'd target me… and my loved ones… dirty business. Greed offers safety as well to their suppliers…
"Well…works for me but can I get a second opinion real quick? This is a rather big thing." I said, trying to think of who could help me out here, thinking either Casey cause he was the one mostly running an entire business or Nanny cause she's experienced in a lot of things.
"If you wish."
"Thank you." I nodded, deciding to give a call to Nanny, since she probably has more experience dealing with business and also dealing with Greed.
It took a second for her to walk into the room.
"Well I'll be rusted." Omega chuckled. "Sophia, is that you?"
"Omega. Long time no see tin can." Nanny said with a nod.
… Sophia?!
"Uh…one, Sophia? Pretty name…and two, you two know each other?"
"Know her, this old bitch built me!" Omega chuckled.
"I see you have been well Omega." Nanny smirked.
"Well, that's good to know." I nodded. "And…well, I know her as Nanny cause she is but also…well, my cracked pelvis can explain the rest." I said. "And…well, plenty of shark dire wolf hybrid kids…"
"Awh, just can't keep those legs closed can ya Sophia?" Omega chuckled.
"This one's different. For once the fathers of my pups live in the same home as me. It's a nice change."
"Heh, surprised you went for someone so… short." Omega said, patting a mechanical hand on my head. "Well now, a fifty fifty deal for fees and services."
"That is a good deal. Is this for the magazines?"
"The magazines will have to wait, but Heather can easily start up a meat producer with all the demons. A no cost on start up and plenty of demons to carve up."
"Hmm, that is a good idea to earn the town a steady income. And I believe there were meat processing plants as part of the environment. We can bring the buildings here and once they have power and such, just have some people work there and others slay and bring the demon corpses to the factories."
"Then we have a deal?"
"Sounds like a deal to me." I said honestly.
I grabbed a pen and signed the paper. Once I did, Omega put the paper in their assistant. "Call me when your first shipment is ready. I look forward to seeing the quality of your product!" With that, Omega walked back into her portal and was gone.
"It's nice to see Omega doing well after all these years." Nanny said.