Deep within a mountain forest, in a place that is far from the larger cities of Gaea, there is a cave mouth carved into the side of a titanic mountain. Deep within this yawning maw of stone is a network of tunnels and caverns that spread throughout the mountain and into the earth below like a collection of veins, only to converge on a single spot that light has not touched in millennia.

A ways away from that lightless, mysterious spot and the dungeon which holds it, there lies a surprisingly large cottage in a lovely field, surrounded by a forest and all but invisible to prying eyes. While this delightful homestead is normally quite lively, today it is exceptionally so.

Over three dozen women, whether they be children or adults, monster or Beloved, rush around the place in a frenzy, their collective energy practically making the air buzz in anticipation of whatever has them so excited.

Really, it's leaving you feeling rather left out. Whatever has your various lovers and children (or in the eldests' cases, both) is something that they've not felt the need to let you in on, meaning you're basically the only person without a clue what's going on. Well, almost the only person. One of the others is currently harassing you at this very moment, in fact.

"Who you?!" A tiny, childish voice reaches your ears for the fourth time today and you look down to see exactly who you expect to see — Brynhildr, your second youngest child at the moment, who has had an odd fascination with that particular question recently. Her cute little cheeks puff out and her brows arch down over her azure eyes as you lock your gaze to hers, an apparent imitation of a stern look demanding your answer.

"I'm your mama." You answer her, as you always do, but this doesn't seem to be what she's looking for. A little harrumph escapes her lips, followed by a repetition of her question.

"Who you?!" She demands, her four miniature white wings fluttering as if to make her look bigger than she is in order to intimidate the answer out of you. You do your best not to giggle at the girl — she takes this game very seriously and you'd hate for her to feel mocked. Still, you can't have your own daughter attempting to talk down to you like this, especially since she's done it for the better part of yesterday already. It's high time you put her in her place.

"The Kissy Monster." You answer this time, leaning forward so that you're looming over the little pale-blonde angel. Her stern look is replaced with confusion as her toddler brain attempts to reconcile her knowledge of you as her sire with this new information.

"Kissy Monsser?" She asks, her little childish lisp mutating the 't' in monster into a longer 's.'

Without warning you sweep her up into your arms and bring her face to your own so that you can positively bury her in kisses. A girlish shriek of protest quickly gives way to the delighted laughter of a child as you teach your daughter a lesson many of her elder sisters already know — mama always wins. Always.


When you've had your fun you let the girl go, watching as she immediately runs up to the next person she sees to accost them with another demanding cry of "Who you?!"

"I'm your sister, you little gremlin," huffs an exasperated young teenager. "Now go be a nuisance somewhere else, I've gotta get this to—mama!" Remiel has kept her black hair relatively short through her childhood and early adolescence in an attempt to avoid imitating you. It backfired on her, however, because now when her face turns crimson in embarrassment at accidentally slipping up and calling you 'mama,' she doesn't have a curtain of hair to hide behind like some of her sisters.

"W-what are you doing here?" Remi manages to squeak after getting a hold over her emotions. "Soni said she was going to… I mean, nevermind." A little insistent 'who you?!' sounds from her side once more and she rolls her eyes, looking down. "I'm Remiel, you monster. Go bother Aunt Ulfhild."

Apparently this idea appeals to little Bryn, as she perks up immediately, shouts "Gramma!" and darts off to find her grandmother. Remi 'hmphs' as she watches the girl go, but you can spot the little smile tugging at the corners of her lips despite her attempts to pretend otherwise.

You also notice she's hauling a surprising amount of gold in a large sack, for some reason. "Going shopping?" You ask her, making her nearly jump clean out of her skin.

"NO!" She shrieks, her eyes doing their best not to meet yours. "Why would you think that? Just because I'm carrying gold? I'll have you know I'm just… uh… just carrying stuff for Ivule." She finishes a little lamely. At your disbelieving stare, she continues. "What, is that not allowed?"

"I'm surprised she asked you instead of Akael." You reply, poking a hole clean through her obvious lie. Aside from Ivule and Akael just generally being closer than the former and Remi, Remiel herself is notoriously reluctant to do anything for anyone not named Adalinda.

"She's busy. What is this, an interrogation?" Remi huffs, clearly sweating beneath your gaze as her own eyes continue to dart around, looking for an out.

Normally you'd let her go — Remi's not a bad girl, despite her feigned attitude problem, and you're sure whatever she's up to is benign. Still, you've been feeling left out all morning, and you're certain that her haul has something to do with things.

The question is, do you push her or not?


You could push her pretty easily, but she might pout about it later. If she were actually up to no good you'd consider it, but you trust… well, pretty much all of your girls.

"Alright. Be careful, sweetie. You'll hurt your back if you carry it like that…"

You show her the appropriate way to lift things, even as she insists that she totally knows how to do it and you're treating her like a child. Once you're done she's a lovely shade of red from both embarrassment and shyness. "There. Go on then, Remi. I'm sure Ivule is waiting for her treasure."

"It's not… oh! Yeah." She coughs. "Bye."

"Love you~" You call after her, and she mumble-yells something that can maybe be interpreted as a reciprocal call.

A small, bell-like laugh erupts next to your right ear and you turn your head to see your oft-quiet fae companion. "It is fortunate you did not push her. It would have ruined their efforts."

"Wait, you're in on this too?" You ask, suddenly concerned. Saoirse may not be actively malicious, but you don't doubt she'd encourage chicanery among your family just for the fun of it. Particularly chicanery that you end up at the end of.

"Not in on it so much as enjoying the spectacle." She shrugs her dainty little shoulders. "It reminds me of another instance of a similar experience my siblings and I shared with our Princess."

"There's a faerie princess? Don't tell Akael, I think she might go out of her way to meet her."

"It is far too late for that." Saiorse grins at you. "Who do you think sparked her interest in the subject of royal heirs to begin with? But you need not worry about Akael meeting my Princess. She is very… shy, I suppose one could say, and more tied up in her personal fascinations than anything else."

You digest this nugget of information as Saoirse observes the goings-on of your home. "Ah! It would appear your presence has become a hindrance." The fae chuckles.

One of your elder daughters rushes across the field directly towards you, apparently trying to get your attention…


Maribelle, your second eldest, rushes across the field with uncharacteristic haste. You find it a little hard to focus on her face as she runs — like her sister, she's inherited her mother's massive breasts, and from the way they're bouncing under her movement you can't help but wonder what sort of insanely powerful material her bra must be made of.

Mary stops just as she reaches you, quickly wiping away the flustered look that paints her features. "Mama. I…" She frowns, as if trying to recall something, then continues. "I forgot I wanted to show you what I learned in my classes. If you wouldn't mind coming with me?"

You actually haven't had much chance to talk with your oldest daughters about their experiences at the university yet — they've only just recently dropped by for… whatever nonsense is being plotted behind your back at the moment. With that in mind, you allow your daughter to lead you away from the cottage and into the woods.

You assumed she was just flying by the seat of her pants based on her earlier clear fumbling for an excuse to get you away from the cottage, but she does actually have a nice spot to paint you. Hell, you didn't even know there was a waterfall anywhere near the homestead.

Granted, it's not a massive one, more a solid trickle, but it's still a lovely backdrop for you to pose in front of. "There, that rock." Mary points towards a sizeable stone in front of the waterfall, and you sit down upon it as she directs.

"So…" You begin as she starts to draw you, doing your best not to move from the slightly-less-than appropriate pose she requested of you. "How's school?"

"They're alright." She replies easily, not at all incapable of talking and painting at the same time. "I'm learning more than I thought I would, actually. I guess when you're self-taught you have a lot you can learn from." She smiles to herself.

"That's good." You smile as well, and you notice she blushes a little in response. "I'd ask what you learned, but I can't draw to save my life so I imagine it'll go over my head."

"Maybe a little." She admits.

"Have you made any friends? Or… girlfriends~?" You tease, and she shakes her head, the smile still present.

"I've actually gotten on pretty well with the professor, she says it's unbelievable that I can draw as well as I can when I've only been doing this for a few months. I told her it must be because of Justicia's blessings, which made me feel a bit guilty, but…"

"But it's better than revealing what we are." You sigh. "I know, sweetie. I'm sorry you have to lie for me."

"Don't be." She almost whispers, making it difficult to hear her over the water flowing behind you. "Don't ever be sorry for what we are, mama. I won't stand for it."

You blink, a little taken aback, but smile again. "Thank you, Mary."

The two of you sit in silence for a while before she finishes her painting and beckons you over to look at it. It's as good as anything else she draws, which is to say you expect it would fetch a hefty sum from some rich collector somewhere… though it feels a bit narcissistic to say as much, considering you're the part of the painting and it's overall main focus.

Mary clicks her tongue in frustration and you look at her in surprise. She's not actually looking at the painting, however, as much as the sky above you. "Too fast." You hear her mutter.

"Too fast for what?"

"Nothing!" She answers a little too quickly. "Actually, I forgot again… we're supposed to…" She pauses, mentally grasping at straws, before her eyes wander down to your chest and her cheeks redden. "Ah… supposed to draw someone in the nude. It, um… helps with understanding the shape of the body. I could always ask someone else to model, but since we're here…"


"…sure." You reply, forcibly reminding yourself that this is apparently a class assignment and you probably shouldn't get too lewd with it. Stripping out of your robe, you return to the rock and sit upon it, not doing anything to highlight your sexuality so much as just… existing in the nude.

Poor Mary can barely handle it regardless, which means you probably made the right choice. Her breathing is noticeably heavier than before, and if you're not mistaken her paintbrush actually quavers a little bit in her grasp on occasion… usually when she has to stare at your naked breasts or ass for more than a few seconds.

"So, classes are fine." You say, trying to ease her mind by talking about something else. "Is Zaphi doing alright too? Do you see her much?"

A grin flits across her face for a moment before she remembers what she's painting. "I see her every so often. I think she likes it more than she thought she would, and…" She trails off. "…no. I'll let her tell you that part."

"Oh?" You ask, curious. "Nothing bad, I hope?"

"No, no." She snickers. "I just think there's some things she really likes that she won't admit to herself yet."

Oho. Sounds like your darling Zaphi might have a crush… or maybe she's just found something interesting to study. Apparently you'll have to wait to ask her yourself.

The two of you sit in silence a while longer, the only sound being the waterfall behind you. It's funny, over time you begin to almost physically feel Mary's gaze on your body, and more importantly where it lingers. Despite — or perhaps because of — her own impressive chest she seems to be more interested in your bottom half, if the lingering feeling on what little of your ass she can see is any indication.

It takes Mary longer to paint this time thanks to her shakier hands, and when she finally wraps up the sun has reached its zenith. You notice no small amount of disappointment on her features as you cover yourself back up, making you laugh.

"Don't make that face, Mary. It's not like you'll never see them again." You tease. She opens her mouth to reply, but you seal off whatever she was about to say with your lips, morphing her voice into a sultry, needy moan.

She grasps at you desperately as you break the kiss, but you hold up a finger to her lips in response. "Ah-ah. Consider this your punishment for whatever game you girls are playing today. You'll get the rest later."


When you return you notice that the homestead is a little bit fuller than it was before — a quartet of harpies chatters between themselves and Soniel, and all five heads turn towards you as you return.

"Heya, Ari!" Rosie waves at you cheerfully. "Nice place ya got."

"Rosie?" You pause in your stride for a moment out of surprise, sweeping your eyes over the others. "Shëo, and… Izzie and Millie, right?" You ask, recognizing Rosie's two nieces.

"That's us!" Confirms Millie, while Izzie nods without meeting your eyes.

"I wasn't expecting you." You tell the lot, smiling to show you aren't upset. "If I'd have known I would have set up a welcome of some kind."

"Don't worry about it." Shëo says. "It's not our day, after all."

Soniel coughs lightly before you can ask what the blue-feathered harpy is talking about. "Heya, mama. Can you, like, go see Remi? I think she needs your help."

"…sure?" You say. "If our guests don't mind, of course."

"Like, not at all!" Rosie says cheerfully. "Soni here was gonna show us around anyways, so like… you do what you need to do."

--

"Okay, I was lying." Remi admits as you ask her what she needs help with, pointing to the bag of gold she was hauling around. "I want to go shopping, but I can't just carry this money everywhere."

"What are you shopping for that you need that much money?" You ask, frowning. "And where did you get it all?"

"… I've been saving my allowance." She's lying, you don't give her anywhere near enough to account for even half of what's in the bag. Maybe if all of the girls pooled their allowances together, but…

"Alright, you've been saving it. Why do you need it?"

"I want to get Linnie something nice." She mutters, glancing across towards the cottage, where Adalinda is currently playing hide-and-seek with Sigrun… poorly, since her tail is clearly visible along with half a wing, something even your youngest daughter cannot fail to notice. No-one will ever accuse the crossbreed of inheriting your stealth skills, that's for sure.

"She doesn't have a hoard like our sisters." Remi continues, slowly growing more comfortable with her untruth. "So I want her to have something."

"…okay. And what do you need me for?" You ask, deciding to play along.

"Well, you have the magic coin bag." She points towards your waist. "So I wouldn't have to haul this around like an idiot. And… well, Linnie kinda looks like you, doesn't she? So I can maybe have you try stuff on to see how it might look on her."

"That sounds… reasonable." You admit. "Do you even know where to look, though?"

"I asked Zaphi and the others about jewelry stores and stuff." She sniffs, looking offended that you'd doubt her ability to plan ahead. "Just, I might need you to show me the way is all."

You smile, doing your best not to allow it to morph into a laugh, and nod. "Alright then. Are we going now?"

A wave of relief and pride floods across your daughter's features before she remembers to school them back into her standard haughty look. "I guess."

As the two of you leave the homestead, you catch her giving a thumbs-up to someone on the ground, though it's hard to figure who exactly it is since there's so many people.


It says something about the activity at home that Skask feels calm in comparison. Remiel, as with every one of your children to visit the city, looks positively enthralled by the place.

"Wow. How do people even get around with it so crowded?" She mutters. "Whatever. Store time. We've gotta go…"

She frowns, tapping her chin. "To the Tiger's Eye first."

"That's a jewelry shop, I take it?" You ask, recognizing the name of the gemstone.

"Yeah. Auntie Eva told me about it."

The Tiger's Eye is a lovely little shop on the edge of Gobtown, right where the monster section of the city meets the Beloved part… though that line is less and less distinct as time passes, you notice. You enter the store and are immediately aware of the distinct smell of some kind of incense, which hangs in the air of the shop and gives it an oddly mystical vibe.

"One moment." A deep, sultry voice calls from another room behind a counter on the opposite end of the shop. "Where did I leave you, you little... ah, there."

A cat-eared woman slinks out of the back room, driving a long needle-like object through a bun in her hair. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the striped markings on her cheeks and the bare dark skin which pokes out of a dress that wouldn't look out of place in a harem.

"I get it. Tiger's Eye." You say aloud, and the tiger-woman winks at you in response.

"I thought it was funny, and I do have an eye for my product." She replies cheerfully. "I am Varani, connoisseur of all things jeweled. How may I help you, dearest customers?"

"I'm looking for something for someone special." Remi says immediately. "For an important occasion."

You frown. What important occasion? There isn't anything special right now, you don't think. At least, not as far as Adalinda is concerned, though there could be some little sisterly bond thing they're celebrating that you're unaware of. Hell, even outside of that you can't really think of anything special that might be worth celebrating. Certainly not important enough to get your entire home into a tizzy like this.

"I see. She has wings too? I happen to have specialized wing-tips, for the forewing. The harpies love them, you see." She explains as she reaches behind the counter to produce a few such items. "Not very practical if she is a fighter, but they stay on in flight."

"I… sure. Can we try a few things on? My… sister here will serve as a model." Remi catches herself before she can say mother. It's actually sort of surprising how easily she shifted into no-nonsense here — you're so used to her false attitude issues that it's a rather stark contrast.

"Very well." Varani replies. "Let's see… does she resemble the recipient?"

"Greatly." Remi confirms, making you frown again.

"Our faces are similar, but her wings—"

"It's fine." Remi insists to both you and the shopkeep. "Linnie will want whatever looks good on you."

Seeing no reason to argue, you serve as a model for several different pieces of jewelry, and over time Remi narrows them down to three options…


"I think the wing-tips would look good on your sister." You tell Remi.

"Those… those are your favorite?" She asks you, her eyes boring into yours with surprising intensity.

"I'd say so, yes." You affirm with a smile. "I'm sure she'll be happy no matter what you get for her, Remi. I would."

Her eyes break from yours as she blushes. "How much are they?"

Varani informs her, and Remi nods confidently. "Better make it two sets, so she has a spare just in case."

The two of you leave the shop with the two pairs of wing-tips, Remi humming happily to herself all the while as she glances at the sky. "Perfect. They should have just enough time to finish up by the time we get back."

"Any chance I can convince you to tell me what you're all up to?" You ask, and to your surprise you get a roguish grin in response.

"Nope. You'll see." Her grin vanishes and she looks around, seeing that you're both nearly alone as people make their way home for the evening. "Um, I'm sorry. About… being rude this morning. And… all the time." She mutters.

"It's fine, sweetie. I know you don't mean it." You assure her, reaching out to brush her hair with a hand.

"You do?" She asks, genuinely surprised. "Right, of course you do. You're perfect."

"I'm not perfect," You half-laugh. "I'm just old and very experienced."

"Well I'm barely over a month old, so you may as well be perfect." She sniffs haughtily. "And don't think I'll ever say as much again. Today is special."

"Special how?" You ask, seeing a chance to weasel an explanation out of her.

"Geez, Auntie was right. You care so little about it that it doesn't even occur to you." She leans in close… or as close as she can, being more than a head shorter than you, and gets a smug look on her face. "Maybe you aren't perfect after all. I take it back."

"What? You can't take it back, you said today was special!"

"Eh, I changed my mind. Too bad~" She takes a few step slow steps away from you and turns back, giving you a truly beautiful, playful smile.

Sometimes you really worry about your girls. If anyone other than you saw that smile just now, they'd be head over heels for life.


The homestead is quiet when you get back, which of course raises your internal alarm level to max. Silence always precedes a storm, and that goes doubly true when children are involved. Especially your children. Your eyes desperately scan the area for Signali — if anyone has gotten into trouble, it's going to be her.

Your scan proves fruitless, however, as you can find no sign of her — or anyone else, for that matter. "What, is everyone hiding inside?" You ask Remi, who shrugs.

"I dunno. Why don't you check? I'll wait here."

You do so, entering the cottage and going through it like an addict looking for her personal poison. To no avail, as it happens. There's no sign of anyone in the cottage, though you do find the leftovers of some truly massive baking project.

Baffled, you step outside to ask Remi to just spill the beans already and are assailed by a solid soundwave of cheers and shouts.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"


Sybil, Liane, Merin, Evara, Fi, Ju, Eluvi, Asteria, Fenri, Echo, Ilyen, and… Eona(?!) are all standing around a massive cake which stands as tall as Ju, who… admittedly isn't the tallest woman, but still. That's a lot of cake.

Surrounding them are your myriad daughters, all generally hovering in the vicinity of their mothers. To your surprise and delight, even Liangyu is here, wearing a few new pieces of gear and looking slightly more muscle than when you saw her last.

A host of guests is present as well. Many who know of your true nature are here — from the harpies to Lia's adventuring friends to Sister Chalice to… is that Kyl and Sirri? When did they get back in town? Is that Ranger?

More surprising than even her are the pair who burst from the cake mere moments after you take in the sight of everyone else — Kynael and Tamael, the former looking smug and joyous and the latter looking more embarrassed than you've ever seen her.

"Gotcha!" Kyna laughs triumphantly. "You should see the look on your face! I told them you never remember your birthday!"

"I…" You frown, thinking. "What month is it?"

"Asmodan." Ju replies, a little incredulous. "The sixteenth. Did you truly not notice?"

"I did not." You admit with a shrug, still somewhat shocked at the surprise and those in attendance. "It's… never really been all that important."

Kyna tries to free herself from the cake and nearly falls on her face, explaining all the while. "I try to make her celebrate it every year, but she's busy a lot and doesn't really care anyways."

More than one sad look gets sent your way and you raise your arms defensively. "I'm over four-hundred! You stop paying attention after a while. Stop looking at me like that!"

"She's four-hundred and twenty-two now, by the way. I asked Mika." Kyna adds as she helps free Tamael from her baked prison.

"Pfft. Youngster." Evara mock-scoffs. "All the elves are gonna call me a cradle robber now."

"You hush." You reply, feeling a few tears well behind your eyes despite yourself. "How… how long have you been planning this?"

"Kynael told us your birthday was coming up soon before she left." Sybil informs you as she hugs your arm to her side. "We started planning then, but you made it a little difficult, love."

"You never leave the house." Merin adds by way of explanation. "It's a pain to organize all this around a woman whose entire job for centuries was sniffing out this sort of problem. Luckily the kids managed to drag you away long enough for us to get ready."

"I… don't know what to say." You say truthfully.

"Say 'ah.'" Mei says, holding a forkful of cake. "I worked on this all day and I'll be damned if you don't eat at least a little before the little ones tear it apart."

You open your mouth obediently and are immediately rewarded by the softest, fluffiest, most delicious cake you've had in your life, and immediately after your surprise party is underway for real.


You decide to be a good host and mingle with your guests for a while. "Ranger."

"Angel." The Ranger smiles at you warmly. "Happy birthday and all that. Can't say I've ever attended a party for an angel. My old coworkers will be pretty jealous… so long as I leave out the Fallen part, I suppose."

"Old coworkers?" You ask, curious.

"Ah, right. Never did tell you." She shrugs. "Guess I'll call it your birthday present, seeing as I didn't have time to get you something decent. I used to be an Inquisitor."

You blink in shock, and she grins at you. "Don't act it, do I?" You shake your head. "'cause I got sick of it. Only so much evil you can look in the eye before it starts to wear you down… though I guess that might sound cowardly to you, considering how long you've been at it."

"Not at all." You assure her, recovering your wits. "I… had my moments of wanting to stop, but…"

"But there's no easy way out for an angel like there was for me." She grimaces. "Sorry, angel. Didn't mean to dig at your wounds like that."

"It's fine, Ranger." You reply, giving her a smile. "If you ever need to talk about what you've seen…"

"Aye, I'll bring it to you." She laughs. "Just promise I won't be pregnant by the end of it, yeah? I'd be a shit mom."

--

Syl and Kirri both leap up to wrap their arms around your neck. "Happy birthday, daughter-in-law!" Kirri titters happily into your ear.

"Happy birthday." Syl repeats as they both release you. "How'd you like the cake?"

"It was delicious. Did you have a hand in it?"

Both of them grin at you mischievously, and for a moment you see where Fi gets it. "Halflings can hide in lots of places, you know?" Syl says proudly. "And we're bakers. Not that your kid needed a ton of help, mind you."

"Oh, it's hard to believe she's not one of ours!" Kirri adds with a smile. "You'd think Mei had been baking for decades. We're actually considering opening a bakery closer to you — to be close to the little ones, you understand — and we'd love to have her by some time."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate the offer." You say. "And I'm sure Vati was happy to see you again finally."

"She's gotten so big!" Her grandmother says, holding her arms out to emphasize the point.

"I'll say. We knew you monsters grow up quick, but it was still a shock to see her nearly grown already." Syl adds. "Can't say it doesn't sting a bit to have missed so much of her growth, but I suppose there's no helping it."

"So, how does it feel to be four-hundred twenty-two?" Kirri asks.

"About the same as it felt to be four-hundred twenty-one, to tell you the truth."

"Doesn't set in until partway through the year, does it?" Syl sighs.

--

Lia is catching up with her sisters, so you take it upon yourself to greet her friends.

"So, how long was it before Lia let the truth slip?" You ask the goblin who leads the group… Griveet, as you recall.

"Not long." She admits to you, her eyes twinkling. "She can't really keep her eyes from wandering that well, and Viria here has dealt with angels before."

"They do not have four wings." The elven bard of the group says matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, that… that's something of a giveaway for those in the know." You admit with a sigh.

"You should start claiming you're something else. I'd buy you're just a really sexy crossbreed harpy, honestly." Griveet comments.

The cat-eared shaman of the group, whose name you never caught, nods. "Some of those end up with arms, I hear. Never seen one, though."

"That's crossbreeds for ya." Griveet shrugs. "More rumor than fact. Which you can use to your advantage, I might add."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." You smile.

"Sure. Call it your birthday present." The goblin grins up at you. "Or thanks for giving me that monster you call a daughter. You should ask about the Winged Terror next time you're in Skask or thereabouts. Bandits cry when they hear the name, so I hear."

--

You nearly jump clean out of your skin when a woman in garb not unlike that which you gifted Tianshi appears at your shoulder. "Young Tianshi has proven an excellent disciple. I thank you for leading her to me, and offer you congratulations for surviving another year."

"You're welcome and thank you?" You say. She simply nods, then somehow melts back into the throng of bodies that makes up your surprise party.

What a weird lady.

--

Kyna, Tamael, and Sister Chalice are all standing near the cake, the latter insistently clinging to the Tamael.

"I could just lick it off." Chalice mutters, much to Tamael's exasperation.

"No, little love. There are children present."

"They're all over there, though."

"Hey, sister!" Kyna grins at you. "Got you this year, didn't I?"

"I suppose you did." You're forced to admit. "Perhaps I'll be more cautious next year."

"What? No! You have to just let it happen now." She insists, offering you a slice of cake. "It's not just me trying to make it a thing anymore."

"No, I guess it isn't." You reply with a small smile. "I do appreciate it, Kyna. Thank you. Whose idea was the cake thing?"

"Mine!" Chalice says proudly. "I just wanted to see mistress come out of a cake, though."

"Wh… you told me it's traditional around here!" Tamael flushes a furious shade of red at having been tricked by her pet.

Said pet, for her part, seems quite pleased with herself and the 'punishment' she's likely to receive later. Your opinion of Chalice's scheming capabilities has increased considerably.

--

The harpies are all chittering amongst themselves when they see you approach.

"Ari! Happy b-day, girl!" Rosie throws her arms around you. "Like, four-hundred something! That's like… at least twenty times what I am."

"Guess the number of kids seems less impressive when you consider your age." Shëo teases. "What, only one kid per like… fifteen years? That's not so many."

You laugh aloud. "I guess it's not. Do you have any kids?"

"Nah." She shrugs. "Don't have the time, and being pregnant makes it hard to fly. So I hear."

"Oh right!" Rosie claps her hands and wraps her arms around her nieces. "Ask her!"

Izzie freezes up, but Millie looks you in the eye… for a moment, before your raw appeal forces her to break eye contact. "Um, may we claim your daughter as our nest-mate?"

Your brain pauses and reboots. "Sorry?"

Rosie laughs. "It's like, not as big a deal as you think, Ari. It's, uh…"

"A soft engagement." Shëo clarifies. "Nothing is set in stone, but it's an expressed intent to court someone. It's sort of old-fashioned, but pretty romantic by our standards."

"I… well, if she agrees. We're talking about Soniel, right?" You ask, and they nod hurriedly. "Then… like I said, as long as she agrees."

The two brighten noticeably, bowing their heads low in some harpy gesture, before chittering once more between themselves in their language.

"Neat! We'll might end up being, like…" Rosie frowns, thinking. "Cousins? Or something. Whatevs, we'll be family!"


You're pulled into your harem and laden with more kisses than you assaulted your daughter with this morning, which is saying something. "Ah! Give me a chance to breathe!"

"Worn out already?" Eona asks, a malicious glint in her eyes. "You may have beaten me alone, but with this many on my side…"

"Don't you dare." You reply, feeling suddenly like a cornered mouse as the other members of your harem realize they can seize the upper hand together. You've taken them on one by one before, but all at once? That… might not go your way.

"Mm. Something for later, I think." Eona relents. "I still have yet to meet my step-daughters."

"Watch out for Sigrun." Ulfhild warns, glancing over at her daughter playing in Soniel's lap. "She's getting very precise with her throws."

"At least she's been sticking to soft things for now, thankfully." You say, rubbing the back of your head. "Or I'd have a knot in more than one place right now."

Fi snickers and gets a smack to her bottom in punishment. "Ack! Hey! My moms are here!"

"So? They probably already know you're a slut." You reply.

"She has a point, Fi." Merin laughs. "You're not exactly subtle."

"I'm a thief, I'm super subtle." The halfling pouts.

Sybil takes your arm in hers once more as the two begin to argue. "You know, I never imagined I would be married, much less to an angel, and here I am helping throw you a surprise party, of all things."

"It's just as odd to me, don't worry." You assure her with a laugh. "Honestly, Kyna is the weird one. Most of us don't really care about our birthdays. Like I said, after a while it's just another day. I think the last real celebration I had was…" You frown, thinking. "My twenty-fifth? Somewhere around there. Mika managed to make enough time to spend the whole day with me. She even made me dinner." A little laugh escapes your lips at the memory. "She's a terrible cook, but I loved it anyways."

"You—" Liane says, poking a finger into your chin as she takes the other side. "Are just the saddest woman I know. My grandmother always said I'd fall for a tragic woman, and here we are."

"You're super sad." Eva agrees. "Lucky for you we'll be here to force a birthday on you every year from now on."

"I'll get you a hoard for your own next year." Eluvi tells you excitedly. "Not as big as mine, though. Mine's pretty great."

"That reminds me, how did shopping with Remiel go?" Ilyen asks you, a twinkle in her eye.

"It went fine. We found something for Ada, and even got… wait." Your eyes widen. "That little monster. Did she trick me into picking out my own present?"

"Many of your children are devils in talent, if not spirit." Asteria says, grinning.

"Some of them in spirit, too." Echo admits. "I adore our little Signali, but she can be a bit much, no?"

"Hmph. You are fortunate there is only one of her. If my triplets do not burn this cottage down before they reach adulthood I will offer thanks to every goddess there is." Ju grumbles.

Fenri, instead of saying anything, simply lays her head in your lap and closes her eyes, wagging her tail happily all the while.

"I… well, it's sort of lackluster to say after all you've done for me, but I love you. All of you."


"Happy birfday! Who you?!"

You're greeted by Bryn's habitual question when you join your daughters. "I'm the birthday girl."

"Oh." For once Bryn seems satisfied with your answer, and her little sister toddles out of Soniel's arms holding her own little arms out, wriggling her wings.

"Mama. Up."

You pick Sigrun up and she nuzzles into your neck sleepily. "I suppose you all think you're very clever." You tell the girls as Remi and Adalinda place what you now realize is their collective gift upon your forewings.

"Well, we did trick you." Lia says with a grin. "That has to count for something, yeah?"

"Hush and come here. I missed you." You tell her, holding out an arm and a pair of wings to embrace your wandering daughter. "I hear you've been beating on bandits."

"They're a bunch of pu… pansies." Liangyu corrects her language after glancing at her youngest sisters. "I hear you beat up a dragon."

"She was no bandit, but we can't all be as impressive as you." You joke, and her face lights up in laughter.

"No, I guess not."

"Oh, Soni. Your little girlfriends asked me for your hand in marriage. I said yes."

Your eighth daughter's eyes twinkle. "I promise we'll hold off on having kids for a long while. I figure we'll get plenty of chances to practice with yours first."

Hmph. "What's with all of my children bullying me today?"

"You're very bullyable." Tia says from behind you. "I saw you met my sifu."

"Yeah. She's… certainly a character." You say, recalling the woman ninja-ing in and out of conversation.

"I like her." She shrugs.

Kaliyah rests her head on your shoulder opposite her youngest sister. Goddess, but she's getting big — bigger than you and her sire. At this point only Io and Asteria are bigger than the black-scaled dragonling. "Mom." She rumbles. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you, sweetie." You reply, reaching up to tickle under her chin, a gesture that she leans into. "All of you. It means a lot to me that you put this together."

Seraphiel wraps her arms around your side, much like her mother before her, leaning into you. "We love you, mama. It's the least we can do."

That triggers a metaphorical landslide and soon you're wrapped in one massive daughterly embrace… which is sweet, but also more than a little suffocating. "Ack! When did there get to be so many of you, anyways?!"


"No, Mary, I've got it." Liane assures her daughter as she sets up some sort of magical device. "There, see? Now go stand with the others."

The device looks like a box with a crystal protruding from it, aimed directly at yourself and everyone else in the party. "And this isn't some sort of death laser?" Fi shouts out.

"No, and stop asking that!" Liane huffs as she tinkers with a dial on the side. "It was very expensive and difficult to make, I'll have you know. Any idiot can make a ray."

"If you say so." Fi mutters.

Once Liane is satisfied, she infuses the box with magic and darts over to join the rest of you. "Alright, now look at the crystal and smile. And don't blink!"

A flash of light erupts from the crystal a few moments later, leaving spots dancing behind your eyes. "Was it supposed to do that?" You ask the witch.

"It was. One second…" She runs back over to the box and opens it to reveal a scroll, which she then unravels and examines critically. "Oh, good. It came out well."

When she returns to the group and reveals what's on it, you feel your breath catch. An exact image of the group at the moment of the flash is etched upon the scroll, a permanent memento of that single instant of time to keep for all eternity.

"Wow." You mutter, taking the scroll from her to examine it more closely. "How does that work?"

"Well, there's a lot of advanced magecraft that goes into it, and Mary helped with tuning the fine details as far as getting it to come out appropriately, but suffice to say that crystal captures an image and then the box paints it from that information."

"Huh." You say. "You made this?"

"We did." Liane replies. "All of us put something forward in some way. Eluvi found most of the parts at a reasonable price, Fi helped 'acquire' some of the others… well, you get the idea. It's not at all ready for easy reproduction, but for capturing moments here at home while Mary is at school it should work fine."

"I… I love it." You say, wiping away a few wayward tears before they can fall onto the image. "Thank you. All of you. I… don't know what else to say."

Merin leans in. "Well… another I love you couldn't hurt."

It's certainly a start, at least, so you go with that.


Authors Note: It's been a whole year, and I honestly can't really believe it. When I sat down to write this quest I honestly wasn't sure how long I was going to stick with it, or how well it would take off. Suffice to say, it's been more popular than I ever expected it would be and gone places I didn't imagine originally.

Most of my self-indulgent nonsense I want to save for when the quest comes to a close, so I'll leave it at that for now barring the following: at the risk of sounding sappy, this quest really wouldn't be what it is without all of you. Every little choice you guys made and still make guides the stories in ways I didn't predict, and in many ways you're more responsible than I am for the way Ariel's life has improved.

All of that is to say, "Thank you for playing." Whether MGE goes on for another full year or comes to a close before then, I look forward to the rest of our time together with this quest. See you next time!