Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.

Consul of the Underworld: End of Disc 1

Chapter Five: Holiday at Ginzan Onsen

Beta: ShadowofAxios


Arriving in Ginzan Onsen during the mid afternoon, Alkaid and Pyrrha had checked in and were settling into their room at the Ginzanso Ryokan, the traditional Japanese inn that was the premiere hotel that Rise-sama as her gift to them had provided them a room at.

"The scenery is amazing!" Pyrrha said with a happy gasp as she peered out of the large glass window of their deluxe room that looked out on the bathtubs of their private bath and beyond them into the forest beyond. A forest whose trees were uniformly turning beautiful shades of yellows and reds.

"Yes, it is." Alkaid agreed as she fished out hers and Pyrrha's toiletries bags from the bags that they had stowed away in the room's provided storage space. "It'll look even better when it's winter."

"You know, I think this kind of stuff is the best part of our diplomatic gig." The redhead grinned, bumping her hip against Alkaid's as she took her toiletry bag and followed the daughter of Hades' lead as she led them into their private baths.

"And not spending time with me, love?"

"It's a bonus." Pyrrha answered with a teasing lilt to her voice as she pushed open the sliding door to the small changing area that was the first section of the room's private bath.

"I'll take what I can get it seems." The brunette huffed playfully back as she put down her toiletries and began stripping out of her clothing, with Pyrrha following her lead and doing the same.

"White and black lace?" Pyrrha commented with an interested tone as Alkaid pulled off her dress, revealing her underwear.

"I know what my woman likes~" Alkaid teased as she finished folding her dress and putting it in the provided cubby hole before hastily divesting herself of the aforementioned undergarments.

"Damn right she does, my temptress of a wife." The daughter of war growled playfully.

"Save it for later, Py. You know I'd never disappoint my War Muffin." Alkaid replied coyly as she picked up a few towels and her toiletries and pushed aside another sliding door to enter the wash area.

"You know not to say that in public." Pyrrha shot back, sounding embarrassed as she followed Alkaid into the wash area, closing the sliding door behind her.

"But it makes your face look so cute!" Alkaid teased back as having put aside the items she'd brought in with her, she sat down on the stool in front of one of the showerheads provided and began washing her body. "Besides, we're not in public~!"

"Ugh, you win this round." Pyrrha groaned even as she followed her wife's lead and began washing herself.

"As I always do!" Alkaid replied smugly. "Oh, and remember it's rude to splash me."

"...Don't lie, 'Kaidy. It'll make your head swell more. And like I'd not know not to splash you unless I wanted to."

"Boo. Just be sure to clean really well. If you want I can do your back~?" Alkaid replied, ignoring the second part of what Pyrrha had said. She knew what her wife meant by that and they'd have time for that later.

"Is this your inner weeb showing? And seriously, we're gonna soak in a tub, why are we washing before we do?" Pyrrha asked as she nevertheless continued dutifully washing herself like Alkaid was.

"Hygienic reasons. If we went in as we were, we'd contaminate the water."

"But we aren't sharing the tub with anyone else, this is our private room and baths." Pyrrha argued. "Surely the staff clean the tubs between guests anyways."

"It's an onsen policy. No shortcuts!" Alkaid shot back with a pointed finger as after a thorough cleaning, a few spells here or there made things quick, she turned off the water before pulling out a hair tie and a few clips from her toiletries bag and used them to secure her hair in a bun.

"Alright, alright, next thing I know you'll be running with bread in your mouth or whatever."

"It's toast."

"Weeeeb."

Alkaid pouted mightily at her for the remark. Sadly, the smug look her love shot at her in reply rendered it ineffective.

"Do you need me to wash your back or not?" Alkaid asked as she finished with her hair, having kept her bun simple.

"Nah, you'd get yourself all soapy and have to clean yourself again. Let's not make this part take longer than it needs to." Pyrrha shook her head as she finished with her washing, whilst she hadn't used magic like Alkaid, like most demigods, the daughter of Ares knew how to make it quick and thorough in her own ways. "By the way, what's with tying up your hair? You almost never do it."

"Oh? Do you like it?" Alkaid teased as she played with the bun.

"Gives you that teacher-vibe." Pyrrha muttered with a blush even as she stowed away their toiletries back into their respective bags and the bath equipment they had used, beating away Alkaid's hands when she tried to do so for her own. "But seriously why?"

"Doesn't matter how much you clean your hair, having it touch the water is taboo too."

"Weeb~!" Pyrrha teased as done with her tasks, she pushed open the door to the outdoor bath area and finally let in the chill Fall air. It wasn't all that cold, they had felt worse, but stepping out of the climate controlled interior to the chilly outdoors was still a little bit of a shock to the system and their bodies reacted in kind as the two women's skin turned slightly red and their exposed nipples pebbled.

"It's in the pamphlet!" Alkaid bemoaned as her pale cheeks turned a rosy tint, which she totally blamed on the sudden drop in temperature.

"Yes, I did read it, you know." Pyrrha said with a roll of her eyes as she began heading to the bathtubs filled with steaming hot spring water. "I'm just not a stickler to its rules or an expert like you, 'Kaidy."

"You should be," Alkaid chided as she grabbed the towels she'd taken for them from where she'd left them and followed after her wife. "We're here to enjoy onsen culture. The best way to do that is to adhere to the rules and experience it as it was meant to be experienced."

"Just hope you don't get too excited while in the bath." Pyrrha said with a sultry wink before noticing the towels in Alkaid's hands. "And what's with the towels? You want us to wrap ourselves in them in the tub? You're sending contradictory signals here, wifey."

"Excited?"

"I mean, with your new bath fetish and all."

Alkaid squawked at that, making her wife laugh out loud.

"But seriously what's with the towels?" Pyrrha asked curiously as she reached the tubs.

Calming her flaming cheeks, Alkaid cleared her throat. "Don't step into the tub on the side where the hot water pours in. It might contaminate the water. And the towels? No, they aren't for us to cover up in the tub. Considering we're married and are naked already, that'll be pointless. Besides, the towels aren't allowed to touch the water either-"

"For the love of-!"

"-Aaand." Alkaid gave her wife a chiding look for interrupting. "They're for drying off enough after we are done before entering the changing area."

"Yeah, but we have our own private bath. Do we seriously need to follow the rules religiously?"

"Yes! How else will we get the best of the experience if we don't? It would be a folly to not do so!"

"I love it when you go all nerdy, 'Kaidy. You're an adorkable weeb."

Alkaid just rolled her eyes at her wife and put the towels on a shelf by the tubs.

"Wait! We just don't need to drip as we head into the changing room, right? With the normal flooring there, I'd get why. But if that's the case why are you bringing them out here and not leaving them in the wash area?"

"Ah~! So you noticed that, huh? Well~! Let's just say we might need something to serve as bedding." Alkaid said with a smirk as she slipped into the further of the two bathtubs and let out a sigh of contentment. The mineral rich spring water felt wonderful!

"Bedding?" Pyrrha asked, blinking in confusion as she slipped into her tub as well and released her own pleased sigh at contact with the spring water.

"You did say I had a new fetish~"

"Oh." Her cute Py blushed in surprise, but the gleam in her russet eyes told her all about the excitement she felt as well.

"Someone's excited," Alkaid teased as she leaned back and relaxed in the tub, letting the spring water work its magic on her muscles as she admired the wonderful Fall view before her. "But later. Let's soak a bit first."

"Fine~!" Pyrrha replied with an audible pout as she leaned back to soak and enjoy the view as well.

A few minutes passed in companionable silence as the couple just soaked in the hot spring water before Pyrrha let out a happy sigh.

"This is great. It's so relaxing."

"Told you it would be," Alkaid replied smugly. "It'll be even better if it was Winter. The view during that season is Ginzan's biggest draw. We should look into coming back during Winter sometime."

"Maybe we can bring Mina and Gracie next time. Mina'll love this I think." Pyrrha hummed thoughtfully. "Not sure about Gracie though, she's not that into scenery."

"She'll like the town's history. And both of them will enjoy the onsen experience. If we bring them, we might want to consider bringing Bianca and Nico too, though getting Father and Chiron to agree to that will be hard. They both want them to focus on their training."

"It won't be easy to convince your Father or Chiron, but we probably could." Pyrrha said, continuing to hum thoughtfully. "But I'm not sure about managing to arrange a return trip during Winter? You think it's possible?"

"It'll be tough. Booking a reservation here, especially during Winter, is infamously difficult. This trip was likely possible on such short notice only because of Rise-sama's godly intervention. But we'll try. I think we deserve a holiday."

"It'll be tough since we'd still have to have the family dinner. That limits what days we could book a room out of an already limited set of options." Pyrrha noted with a frown. "It'll be tough alright."

"Yes, but like I said, we'll try." Alkaid said with a shrug. "Oh, speaking of our yearly Winter family dinner with my parents. Mother will be sending an invite to your mom this year. She wants the whole family together. I think she might even invite Lady Demeter."

"Lady Demeter!? Really?" Pyrrha gasped. "Is that a good idea?"

"The War is reaching its conclusion soon. The gods can feel it. I think she just wants a big family memory before it does, whatever comes..."

"We'll win it." Pyrrha assured her with all the confidence of someone who could not accept any other outcome.

"I know." Alkaid agreed with less confidence. But at what cost…


A few pleasurable hours of lovemaking by their baths followed by another round of washing up and soaking in the onsen, Alkaid and her wife had dressed in the yukatas provided by their hotel and were now seated in their room as they were served their dinner. Said meal was a two person serving of the Ginzanso's signature Wagyu beef roast in the form of their Double Wagyu Beef Roast Course.

"You know, 'Kaidy, this ryokan experience really is different, huh?" Pyrrha commented idly as a server laid out the various dishes of their dinner. "Sitting low to the floor like this and sleeping on futons at a hotel is a little odd."

Mm, that yukata really flattered her frame. Drat! Meal first, sexy thoughts later.

"Yes, but it's part of traditional Japanese culture. And we chose to stay in a ryokan precisely so we could experience a taste of that, didn't we?" Alkaid reminded, successfully pushing her thoughts of sex out of her mind for now.

"Yeah, no worries. I know that much, never said it was bad of course. Just, ya know, different is all." The redhead grinned at her. "I think it's a pretty nice change of pace. Another perk, I guess, for our job, seeing all the different cultures. I'm really getting into it."

Both Alkaid and their server smiled at Pyrrha at this before the hotel staff stepped back and with the tray that she'd used to carry their food held against her chest, offered them a bow.

"Your meal is served," the middle aged Japanese woman declared in her native tongue. "Enjoy your meal."

"Thank you," Alkaid replied in Japanese even as her wife did the same in English.

The server offered them another smile before respectfully leaving their room, allowing them to enjoy their meal in private.

"You didn't need me to translate that earlier, Py. Picked up some Japanese, huh?" Alkaid teased as the door to their room closed behind the departed staff and she turned to her wife.

Pyrrha just rolled her eyes at her. "Like I need to understand the language to get the gist of what she said. Just eat, 'Kaidy."

"What's the rush? You don't want to feed each other?"

Pyrrha snorted as she began eating. "I'm not going to fall for that, 'Kaidy. I've seen enough of your anime to know that's a trope and I'm not gonna feed your weebiness."

"Tch, my ruse has been foiled." Alkaid said playfully as she followed suit.

Pyrrha just chuckled before adding between bites of the admittedly delicious food. "Seriously though, eat up. As good as this food is, and it's great. I want to get to doing what we have planned afterwards."

Alkaid pouted at that even as she recalled how she'd lost the sex game she'd had with her wife after their first round of soaking in the onsen and was now subject to her beloved's whims in their next time having sex. "You're that hyped up for having me at your mercy?"

"Well, four times out of five when we play to see who gets to be in charge of our next sexacapde, I lose. Of course I'd savor and be excited for whenever I win a chance to be in charge."

"You're in charge plenty of the time." Alkaid griped.

"Yes, but I like winning the right." Pyrrha retorted. "Now, less talk. More eating. The sooner we're done, the sooner I get to have my concubine at my mercy."

"Yes, Mistress~!" Alkaid teased, even as she rolled her eyes. Though she nevertheless obeyed and quickened the pace at which she was consuming her meal.

"Keep that up and there'll be extra spanks, you pleasure slave~"


The next day after a wonderful night of sex and a nice breakfast in their ryokan's dining room, Alkaid and Pyrrha had set out to explore the town of Ginzan Onsen decked out for the occasion in kimonos from Alkaid's wardrobe.

"You really are such a weeb, 'Kaidy." Pyrrha commented with what seemed to be her favorite tease this trip. "To think that you'd actually have kimonos waiting for us in your wardrobe."

"Actually, I got these whilst we were in Tomoeda." Alkaid countered as the couple strolled along whilst enjoying the scenery of the picturesque town full of buildings built in the traditional Japanese aesthetic. Some of which Alkaid knew from her limited research on the town was authentically from the premodern era. "I was thinking that if the negotiations with Takamagahara dragged on beyond more than one day we could wear them on one of those days as a nod of respect to their culture."

"You did? I didn't notice." Pyrrha said in surprise as they crossed one of the many bridges that spanned the river which ran through the town.

"I got it whilst you were busy gushing over the gems on sale in the shop where you bought your Apes Igniferae (Crimson Bees) ruby for your labrys." Alkaid explained as she stopped and took a photo of the view from the bridge with their vintage camera. They might not have brought Mina and Gracie on this trip thanks to Marie-sama's advice but that didn't mean they couldn't bring back some souvenirs for them and some photos would be a nice part of that. And of course, the same logic applied for her siblings, family and friends back home too.

"Hell yeah. That ruby was a damn good buy. The things it shoots out are the size of those huge hornets that live here in East Asia!" Pyrrha gushed, brimming with happiness.

"I can see you inducing budding melissophobia in many in the future. Though maybe spheksophobia might be more appropriate since despite being named after bees the projectiles of that spell look, like you said, more like Asain Giant Hornets than any actual bees." Alkaid said as she moved to the other side of the bridge to take a shot from the other side.

"To-meh-to, to-mah-to. And not my problem. More the enemies', right?" Pyrrha said with a shrug. "By the way, you think we've snapped enough photos for the girls?"

"I'd hope so. I'm almost done with the second roll of film." Alkaid said as she finished taking the shot and checked the counter on how many she'd taken since she'd reset it when she'd reloaded the film roll. "We only have one more. If we need more, I'm not sure we can find a store which sells them."

"Sucks that we can't use a digital camera or a smartphone like everyone else." Pyrrha said with a sigh.

Alkaid could only agree. If they could, the problem with film rolls wouldn't be a problem. However, as it was, they simply couldn't. Their magic had a high chance of scrambling the digital camera and the issue with a smartphone was even worse, what with Lamia's Death Curse compounding the problem.

Alkaid couldn't wait for the efforts of her friends back in Wizarding Britain to develop a magitech smartphone that circumvented both those issues to succeed. She couldn't wait to fully join the modern world, thank you very much! The way of the Postal Owl will be obsolete sooner rather than later if she had anything to say about it!

"Yeah," she said whilst giving voice to her frustration with a sigh. "Anyways, we can stop by that shop, Taishoroman-kan, that the concierge back at the hotel recommended and grab them souvenirs too."

"Can't forget that." Pyrrha agreed as they started walking again. "I don't know about Gracie, but Mina will throw a massive tantrum if she doesn't get a whole bunch of souvenirs as appeasement."

"Gracie wouldn't make a fuss, but she would be disappointed if she didn't get any."

"Think we spoil Mina too much?"

"Never!" Alkaid gasped at the very notion, making her wife roll her eyes.

"Says the one who's always pampering her."

"Like you don't do your fair share of pampering," Alkaid said with an annoyed huff.

"True," Pyrrha conceded with a thoughtful look. "We should probably tone it down."

"Yeah, we probably should. But that's a problem for when we head home." Alkaid agreed and pointed at the bags that Pyrrha was carrying. "For now, why don't we find a spot to enjoy the snacks we bought."

"Any suggestions on where we can sit down to eat them? I don't fancy walking or standing and eating them."

"As a matter of fact…"


"Isn't this supposed to be a major tourist attraction of the town? That's what the brochures said, didn't it? Why's there so few people around?" Alkaid heard Pyrrha ask as they sat down beside each other on one of the stone benches perched along the edges of a number of pools of hot spring water that lined the Warashiyu rest area where the couple had decided to enjoy their snacks.

"It's the timing." Alkaid explained as she slipped off her geta and her socks. "We're between the arrival times of the buses that bring new guests to town and it's a little early for most guests already in town. We set out especially early this morning."

"You even got the bus schedules?" Pyrrha looked befuddled as she followed Alkaid's lead and removed her footwear.

"Of course, I wanted it to be the perfect time for us. The less crowded the better!" Alkaid said with a grin as she slipped her unclad feet into the foot spa and let the hot spring waters do wonders for her feet and relieve it of the soreness that spending all morning walking had engendered.

"Man, you always plan our travels down to the minute detail. You rock, girl."

That earned the redhead a peck on the cheek for her sweet remark.

Pyrrha blushed prettily at that but otherwise didn't react and instead began pulling their snacks out of the bags they were in and laying them out. "So what do you want first? Curry bread or tofu? I'm going for the fried tofu."

"Hmm…" Alkaid hummed thoughtfully and tilted her head as she pondered her three options: the famous curry bread from the town's Haikarasan-dōri Street or one of the two types of tofu they'd bought from a famous shop named Nogawa Tofuya. "I think I'll start with the bread."

"Right," Pyrrha said as she handed one of the curry breads over to the daughter of Hades and picked up the plastic container with the fried tofu and using a set of the wooden chopsticks they were provided with their purchase picked up one of the two pieces inside and began nibbling on it.

Following her wife's lead, Alkaid also began eating her curry bread. And it was truly delicious! The flavor of the curry filling at its center seamlessly blended with the texture and taste of the bread to create as close to a perfect pastry as the demigoddess imagined mortal hands could manage. Or close to it.

"This is good." Alkaid said excitedly to Pyrrha.

"So is this tofu." Pyrrha said with a shocked look on her face. "Tofu has no right being this good."

Alkaid just chuckled at that. "Neither does this bread. I'd almost say it's world class, it's that good. Almost godly good."

"Really?" Pyrrha said skeptically. "I've got to try it."

"Later," Alkaid said. "Finish your tofu first."

"Right." Pyrrha replied with an embarrassed blush, before taking another bite of her tofu and changing the topic. "So, 'Kaidy, want to take a nature hike to see Shirogane-no-Taki Falls and visit the shrine of its local Kami, Taki-no-Fudoson? The brochure mentioned neither are far from town."

"I'm not up for much of a nature walk." Alkaid said, a little frown on her face. "I'd rather stick to viewing the town."

"Aw, you just want to avoid exercise." Pyrrha couldn't help but rib her.

"Hmph! I'm on holiday, I can afford to not do something I don't like."

"Well, yeah, but are you sure it's wise to just up and ignore the Kami around here like that? Isn't it rude and stuff?"

"It should be fine." Alkaid assured her. "He's the Kami of the waterfall, not the town itself. If we aren't visiting it, there is no need to pay respects since this isn't his domain. Now, if the town had a Kami, we would have headed there first to pay our respects."

"Alright, I get ya. So I guess we aren't going out to visit the mines that started up this town either?"

The daughter of Hades raised an eyebrow to that, "What do you think?"

Pyrrha just chuckled and nodded.

"So what do you want to do instead?"

"Well, first off, let's finish our snacks then go walk off the meal by touring the town some more. We could see about using up that last roll of film we have." Alkaid said in between bites from her curry bread. "Then once we've worked up an appetite again, go grab lunch. Soba at the Izu-no-Hana restaurant like the concierge recommended?"

"Sounds good," Pyrrha nodded in agreement with her suggested plans so far.

"Then maybe we can swing around to the souvenir shop and grab some for Mina, Gracie and everyone else before heading back to the hotel?"

"Works for me." Pyrrha said with a grin. "And smart move making the trip to the souvenir shop last. You didn't want us lugging the souvenirs around while we toured the town, did you?"

"Did you?" Alkaid countered with a cocked eyebrow.

Pyrrha shrugged. "No, but I wouldn't have minded it too much. Though, like I said, smart move on avoiding that. Even if I'm sure you only thought of it because you want to avoid doing more exercise than you need to."

Alkaid pouted at that. She wasn't that bad!


That evening, after another sumptuous dinner courtesy of the Ginzanso's kitchens, Pyrrha and her wife found themselves finishing up their washing in the wash area of the ryokan's public baths in preparation of taking a nice soak in the hotel's large public hot spring pools.

"I mean, we got our own private one, right? Can't we just go back to that?" Pyrrha asked, a little whine in her voice as she fidgeted a little to expel some excess energy she had as her eyes darted around. "I mean, I get they're women, but isn't this kind of exposing?"

"This is just the culture. Plus, it's the novelty of the experience, love." Alkaid told her as she tied her hair into a simple yet elegant bun. "And wasn't it you who said you wanted to try out the public baths at least once?"

Still nervous, the redhead nevertheless nodded as they headed out into the bath area. "Yeah, but that was then. I'm having second thoughts."

"Well, we're here already." Alkaid pointed out as she gestured to the outdoor pool area with its wonderful panoramic view of the mountains behind the ryokan. "And it's not like we haven't been giving the free show that's got you so embarrassed to all the other guests here since we got undressed in the changing room."

Pyrrha frowned at the reminder that they weren't alone. The public baths weren't crowded but they weren't empty either and there were a few other female, both Japanese and not, bathers scattered throughout and since she was following her wife's lead and hadn't covered up with a towel as she'd exited the wash room, she had indeed been flashing all of them. And that was not to mention how she had exposed herself in the wash area…

"That's true…" Pyrrha allowed as she followed Alkaid as her wife, who looked completely comfortable with her nudity and exposing it to the strangers they shared the bath with, slipped into the hot spring bath. Nevermind that they were getting quite a few glances from the other guests.

"They're probably looking our way because they heard us talking and maybe caught a bit of what we were saying." Alkaid said, clearly having discerned Pyrrha's thoughts, as they moved through the pool to find a comfortable spot. "Japanese do learn English in school and many tourists at least know rudimentary English too."

Pyrrha just shot her wife a disbelieving look. "And the fact that we're exotic thanks to being both foreigners and our divine heritage has absolutely nothing to do with it?"

"Oh, I'm sure it does." Alkaid said as she found a ledge along one side of the pool that allowed them to sit down in the water and relax. "But we get that everywhere we go. That's not new."

Pyrrha was tempted to remind her that they weren't typically nude when subjected to such glances but was fairly sure her wife would just dismiss the notion like she had her other concerns.

"Py, need I remind you that you were the one to do this?" Alkaid asked, seeing her continuing discomfort. "If you really changed your mind, we can go and soak in our room's baths instead. But I've gotta ask, are you giving up so easily?"

Pyrrha frowned at that. On one hand, what Alkaid had said was a little underhanded. As a child of Ares, she was predisposed to not want to back down in the face of any challenge. Much less a self-imposed one. And her wife knew that. On the other hand, she was pretty damned uncomfortable being naked around strangers like this…

But am I really going just to chicken out because I'm uncomfortable? Pyrrha thought, .her inner monologue taking on a tone that reminded her very much of her Father at his most assholeish.

She'd been working so hard in recent years to distance herself from the person she was in the past. A silly child who had shaped almost her whole identity around pleasing her father, eschewing much of her femininity in the process. So much so that she almost reflexively rejected the implied criticism in the question her thoughts had brought to the fore based on the tone it had taken alone. Thankfully, Pyrrha had grown mature enough to not react in such a knee jerk way and could actually see the merit in the criticism.

If I let a little discomfort scare me off from this, then I risk walking down a slippery slope. Pyrrha concluded. One that I refuse to walk down.

"No, I won't." Pyrrha answered her wife at last. "I'll stay."

The proud smile that Alkaid offered her in reply to her decision was almost as great a reward as the reaffirmation to herself that no matter what about her had changed, she was willing to do what needed to be done to surmount whatever challenge appeared in front of her.


"Okay, I'm done on my end. What about yours, 'Kaidy?" Pyrrha asked as she began zipping up the last of the bags she had been assigned when she and her wife had decided to split packing up their things for the trip home. As she did, she turned away from and towards her wife who was likewise doing one last check on the contents of her own last suitcase.

Thus distracted, neither of them noticed as a sliver of darkness detached from the shadow under the main table of their hotel room and shot into the bag that Pyrrha was closing seconds before she pulled the zipper closed.

"Same," Alkaid replied with a wistful sigh as she waved a hand and used magic to close the suitcase. "So, we're ready to go?"

"Yup. I can't wait to see Mina and Gracie again. And your siblings too."

"Same." Alkaid admitted. "But I also find it a shame to leave such a picturesque place and have to rejoin the war so soon."

"I know the feeling, but we have to." Pyrrha reminded her wife.

Alkaid sighed again and nodded. "I know."

"So how are we heading back? We can't exactly check out and just teleport from the reception." Pyrrha asked curiously since her wife hadn't shared her plan on how to get them home.

"We'll want to create at least the beginnings of a believable travel history back and forth, it'll make us stand out less." Alkaid said, prompting Pyrrha to nod. The less they stood out, the less the Mist had to cover for them and the less they would annoy whichever god governed it in the local area. It was never a good thing to annoy a god so it was best to avoid doing so whenever possible even if it made things inconvenient. "So we'll take a bus to the nearest train station, JR Oishida, and teleport back home from one of its restrooms. That way the Mist can just spin it as us proceeding to take a train from the station back to Tokyo where we caught a plane back to the States."

"It would be so much easier if there was a magical area nearby we could disappear into and teleport back. That way the magicals can handle covering up our comings and goings." Pyrrha said as she and Alkaid picked up their luggage and began making their way out of their room towards the ryokan's reception to check out.

"The nearest magical community is a community of Wizards in Hokkaido and going there would require a teleport anyway which still means we'd have to travel to JR Oishida."

"Would that save us from annoying whoever is in control of the Mist in the area?"

"Doubt it," Alkaid shook her head. "They'd still need to explain how we disappeared from the bathroom in JR Oishida."

"We could sneak away to an out of way spot in Ginzan Onsen or in the surrounding woods and teleport from there?"

"The former will be harder to cover up since it's easy to track travel in and out of the town thanks to how remote it is and the latter has that problem plus the issue of us having to lug our luggage through the woods."

"Man, going through these hoops suck." Pyrrha grumbled, but relented.

"Why do you think I've never suggested we travel overseas for holidays? Or why when we do travel internationally, we always do so at someone's behest when they can handle these issues?" Alkaid said in a joking tone.

"I thought it was because you just don't like to travel much." Pyrrha replied, playing along prompting Alkaid to smile though it faded quickly.

"I promise that after the war I'll take us somewhere nice." Alkaid said, voicing the real reason for their lack of recreational travel.

"I'll hold you to that." Pyrrha said with a nod as they finally made it to the reception area and they moved to the counter to check out.

And as they did and all throughout their trip back to the United States, neither of them noticed their little hitchhiker. An oversight that they and their family would be thankful for in the years to come.


Done and done! Thanks to Nameless and Axios as always!

And there we go, the hot spring episode! For an anime aficionado/gamer like Alkaid, it was a must. Plus, the other heroines don't globetrot so this gave us a chance to enjoy the culture. We also gave a couple of gifts for our Ao3 readers, hope you enjoyed it~!

Nameless: Well… The other MCs of the Heroineverse haven't gone globetrotting yet. According to our plans a certain daughter of [Redacted] will have quite a trip after her Titanomachy, won't she? But back to COTU and this chapter specifically, yup, we gave Alkaid and Pyrrha a hot spring episode. Hope you guys like it! As for who/what the hitchhiker is, well… Just look up what region Ginzan Onsen is in (not just the specific prefecture but the region) and what Yokai/spirits are considered endemic to it and you'll have your lists of suspects. Won't narrow it down beyond that, not when the answer will be in the title of the next chapter. ;)

There was a lot of back and forth teasing between Alkaid and Pyrrha this time, but with how nerdy Alkaid was, Pyrrha certainly got a small win streak going on. Which is rather rare. We hope it didn't feel too OOC for her.

Nameless: Yeah, they're pretty equal as partners but Alkaid definitely is the dominant partner so having Pyrrha suddenly "win" so much just felt a little odd. We evened it out as the chapter went on so it should be alright. Let us know if it isn't.

And before we go, just a quick clarification in regards to chm01's review on FFN. First off, thanks for pointing out that Inaba appears in the Japanese myth of Ōkuninushi. We hadn't realized that till you did. That said, after a little research what we can say is that the Inaba in our story is a different place. The Inaba in Ōkuninushi's myth is a mythical land. In the COTU/PJOverse context, it would be a realm like Olympus, Atlantis or the Greek Underworld. The Inaba that serves as the town/main setting in Persona 4, and which inspired the one in this story, is probably named after that mythical land.

E4E: You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you love! No flames and peace off my peeps!