Marie was shivering from fear, hiding in the deepest depths of the 28th floor. Something was coming, something hungry and terrifying. She had heard that something terrible happened, had felt it.
The others who were like her, the Xenos, were mostly gone. Killed and devoured by the very thing that came now closer to her. So she hid so deep in the water that no one could find her.
It began to feel lonely in here, Marie always had to be careful of the other monsters, but now she was alone. Probably the only monster left in the water capital. She could hear Mother´s voice only in a faint mumble, not like the times when she yelled out and unleashed her wrath.
Mother had gone...silent.
But it was a deadly silence.
.
.
Fafnir growled while he went deeper into the water. He growled almost all the time. The smaller claw went over his stomach, enjoying the suffering of the god inside his stomach, in his mind, he could hear the cries and screams of this god, who was tortured for all eternity now.
Due to absorbing and trapping Diyonisus´ soul, Fafnir became quite the sadist, who enjoyed slaughter and suffering.
When the water was high enough to reach his chin, Fafnir blinked one time, then he went underwater. The scales along his neck moved slightly, revealing gills. Mother had ordered him to devour all the monsters here that had gills, so he would evolve again. Whenever he ate enough of something, his body adapted to it.
So he got gills, hidden under his hardened scales, just for this one task.
Fafnir was aware of the last monster hiding in the depths, with his enhanced perception he felt where she was. But he wasn´t interested in her, also, mother had scolded him for slaughtering all the other intelligent monsters. A few would´ve been alright, but not so many of them, she had plans with them.
So he would do his best to please his mother, all that mattered to him was his mother.
Going after the mermaid wasn´t allowed, he wasn´t interested in her anyway. Also, Fafnir was too heavy and slow to get her, she could flee from him forever.
But speed wasn´t necessary for his goal.
No, his goal needed something different.
Strength and to be able to bear a lot of pain. Just like when his muscles nearly tore apart when he forced the gate to Knossos open. Every living being had something in their brain that stopped them from using one hundred percent of muscle strength, or they would damage their muscles. Fafnir could get past this point, it happened mostly when he fell into his rage-filled frenzy.
Thankfully due to his skill "Chaos Eater", he could regenerate faster when he ate something.
And this was what pushed him forward when he would fulfill this task and what came afterward, Mother promised him slaughter and carnage enough to satisfy his rage for a few moments.
And to devour another god...
So he went deeper into the water to find what he was looking for.
When he found it, Fafnir bared his fangs.
It was a wall, or rather, a massive rock. The other monsters never came to this place, something here scared them off. He also felt the urge to move away, but his will and mother´s will forced him to remain here.
Giving in to the rage and fury inside him, letting his stomach boil to let the god in there suffer even more, Fafnir started to hammer his body against this rock.
Claw, fist, tail, shoulder, head. Everything got used to attack this rock. No matter how long it would take him to break through.
And it would take him a long time.
.
.
"Ah, Orario...finally back again."
They were gone for three weeks and it was a nice vacation. They immediately noticed how noisy Orario was, compared to the village.
Also, a surprisingly large amount of adventurer groups seemed to leave the city, judging by their equipment they went out to go on monster hunt quests outside. It wasn´t that uncommon that adventurers did that, but normally not such a large amount. There were even groups returning to the city, looking a bit like they were in a haste.
But that something uncommon happened in Orario was quite...well common.
Miach smiled slightly. "It´s good to be back. Let us go, I bet your Mom is waiting for you, Bell."
"Hehe, I think so too. And I can´t wait to show her "that thing"."
They decided not to name the phoenix tear in public, since it was very valuable and expensive. And despite his gentle and chivalrous nature, Bell would fight anyone who would dare and try to steal this tear! Not that he had to protect it for long, they would leave the tear with Alfia.
Naza had argued that no one was better to protect a treasure than a dragon. Bell only smiled wryly, Alfia got more than one time compared to a dragon, but strangely, no one ever dared to do that when she could hear it.
"Lord Miach?"
"Lena?"
"I...can I?"
"It´s alright, go to him."
"And I really can have "that"?"
The god chuckled. "Of course, I wouldn´t dare to stand between an Amazon and her love."
"Yeah! You´re the best god! Naza, kiss him from me! I´m oooooooooff!~~~"
Lena waved happily while she ran, with the enormous backpack and the skull of the serpent. When they left the village, she took the skull with her, it was meant as a gift for Bete, a symbol of her love.
And that wolves were better than serpents!
So while the others went in the direction of Babel, it was the fastest way to reach their home and the Stardust Garden, Lena ran north, to the Twilight Mansion.
She was in a really good mood and couldn´t wait to see Bete again! While she ran, Lena noticed that Orario looked a bit strange, somehow less lively than usual. Not as grim as she heard it had been during the dark times, but somehow...more quiet?
There should be a reason for it, but Lena didn´t care at the moment, only Bete was important now!
So she ran and ran until she arrived at the gate of the Mansion of the Loki Familia. As usual, two guards stood at the gate.
"Who´s there?"
"Yahoo! It´s me!"
"And who´re you?"
"Oy, that´s mean! We saw each other in Knossos!"
"You´re...the girl that Bete brought with him?"
"Jup! I´m here to see Bete Loga! Is he there?"
The guards looked at each other for a moment.
"We can´t give you permission to enter."
"Eh? Whyyyy?!"
"Because you do not belong to our familia."
"But I want to see him! I have to see him!"
One of them shook his head. "We can´t let you enter."
"Mouh! Then I will wait here!"
"You can´t this is our ground."
"Well, technically it´s a free street in front of your grounds!" Lena grinned, amazed by her intelligence.
"Still, w-"
"Then I want to talk to your goddess, I have a message from Lord Miach for her!"
"In what business?"
"My business!"
"Everyone can say they have a message for our goddess."
"Why are you so stubborn?!"
"Because Orario is going through a rough time?"
"Is that so?"
"Didn´t you notice?"
"Nope, was on vacation for three weeks."
Now the guards mumbled with each other.
"Could be the reason why Bete was so pissed..."
"Yeah..."
Thankfully, a savior arrived at the gate.
"What´s going on here?"
"Ah, Alicia."
"Ms. Alicia, there is a visitor here who wants to see Bete and Loki."
The young adult elf looked at Lena. "You´re...the one that Bete brought with him?"
"Jup! I want to see him and talk to Lady Loki!"
"And why?"
"Message from Lord Miach to Lady Loki, about the favor. And I want to see Bete, I know that he is here! I can sense him!"
"You can sense him?"
"Jup!"
Lena put a hand on her lower stomach. "I can feel it deep inside me that he is here!"
Alicia backed a bit away, it was always hard for elves to talk to amazons.
"Wait here, I will go and talk to Loki."
Lena nodded happily and waited.
Minutes later, the door of the Mansion opened and Loki came out, accompanied by Alicia again.
"Jo, little amazon. What brings ya here t´day?"
"I came to see Bete! I want to see him!"
"But yer aware yer from a diffrent familia, eh?"
"Jup, but won´t you let me come in?"
"Not willing to let everyone come in that wants to come in."
Lena grinned wide. "Hehe, and that´s why Lord Miach is the best god. He told me to tell you something in case you won´t let me in."
"And what would that be?"
Lena cleared her throat.
"Ahem. "Loki, I´m calling in the favor you owe me. That you let Lena enter whenever she wants and go to Bete Loga."
Loki grinned. "Hah, gotcha!"
"Hm?"
"Hehe, I would´ve let you enter anyway, but now Miach used his favor for that."
"That´s mean, Goddess Loki."
"That´s the way I am, a trickster. Come now, I will bring you to him. Can only hope he will be less pissed then."
"But how could you know Lord Miach would give me the favor?"
"I know him long and good enough, to expect something like that. It is just in his character to do something like that for one of his children."
"I guess you´re right."
Lena followed Loki, while Alicia went her way into the garden.
"Why is Bete pissed?"
Loki grinned. "Guess because you´re not here."
The heart of the young Amazon jumped in joy. "Really?!"
"Yeah, he got like that when you left the city. Things got a bit rough in Orario since the dungeon stopped spawning monsters, Bete is mostly in the city and takes his stress out on adventurers who go too far."
"The dungeon stopped spawning monsters?!"
"Jup, roughly three weeks ago. Dunno why that, everyone´s worried. My super cute children went into the dungeon to farm all they could. Dungeon´s empty now down to the 44th floor."
"Oh man...this is a big problem."
"I know, right?"
"Like this, I can´t get much stronger! I promised Bete to become strong, so he will let me bear his children!"
Loki looked dumbfounded. "He said that?"
"Word for word!"
"Oh man, no wonder he´s pissed when you´re away."
By herself, Loki´s thoughts went crazy.
Whaaaaat?! Bete is in love?! No way! Gonna see that! Gonna tell the others! Mama must know it!
Riveria would be relieved, not because of Bete, but because of Ais. Many of them had thought that Bete had his eyes on Ais, but since Lena said that it was most likely wrong. Most of them knew, ever since Knossos and what happened before, how Bete felt towards his familia and how bad he was at showing his true feelings. So while Loki knew that Bete was a huge softie on the inside, he was sort of a bad boy sometimes and had a nasty mouth.
So the sort of guy Riveria didn´t want for her foster daughter! If Ais would fall in love with Bete and date him, maybe even together with Lena, this would break Riveria´s heart.
And Loki´s!
And probably Tiona´s and Tione´s. Bete was a very dear friend and much more...but not as Ais´ lover!
Thankfully things got clear for Loki now.
"Say, little Lena?"
"Hm?"
"What would you do in case Bete had his eyes also on someone else?"
"Challenge her to a fight until one of us submits or dies, why?"
She looked so innocent at Loki, but the goddess felt it, Lena spoke only the truth and had no doubt.
Amazons...
If she thought about it, Tione was probably the same. And maybe Tiona would become like that too once she found a lover.
"Do men and women have separated rooms in your familia?"
"Jup, can´t risk some of them doing something dumb when they´re drunk or bored. Can only guess that a lot of adventurers in Orario currently do it every day, since there is nothing much else to do. Don´t tell me Miach handles it differently?!"
"Hm, Lord Miach and our captain share a room, she is his lover. And Belli mostly shares his room with Haru Haru, even when she has her own room."
"Ohooo?~~ So dragonboy and that exotic foxy are a thing?"
"Jup! They make a cute couple!"
"Hah, hm. And is he strong enough to protect her?"
"Boss Bell? Of course! He´s only level two, but man he is really strong! He beat me and one of our new members, who is also level two!"
"Well, beating two level two´s is something some can do at level two."
"Yeah, but from status alone I´m stronger than him, and I have more experience. But his technique...he is really something else. If I weren´t into Bete, and Bell would be more of a bad boy, I would probably go for him too."
Loki grinned, it was refreshing to talk to someone so openly about these things. Sadly there wasn´t much development in her familia. Even when she had walked in on Raul and Aki kissing! Which was a very nice moment, both had been very embarrassed, Loki told them to don´t mind her and just continue! Sadly they didn´t continue.
It amazed Loki how attached Aki got to Raul, she heard about cat people behaving like that when they were in love. Getting all cuddly and affectionate, often her tail touched him now when no one could see it, well mostly no one. And when they kissed, Loki had even heard how Aki had purred.
Purred!
It was this rare sound that a cat person would only make when they touched their lover.
The trickster goddess hoped to see some cute kittens...soon!
Loki was about to check Bete´s room first, then look somewhere in the garden. It was always one of these spots.
.
.
.
Loki saw how Lena´s nose twitched a bit.
"Lena."
A voice came from behind them, and Lena immediately whirled around.
"Bete!"
Loki turned around too, less impressed that Bete had smelled Lena, but more that Lena had smelled Bete before she saw him! Well, Bete had a particular smell to him since he was a werewolf, even more so when he got wet from the rain...
But it was still impressive that Lena noticed Bete so soon. When Loki thought about it, in the last two minutes the amazon got all fidgety and sometimes put a hand on her lower stomach.
Don´t tell me...she can feel him with her maiden parts?! Is that some kind of Amazon radar?!
And Loki saw how much Lena´s expression changed and just how much she beamed all over her face when she saw Bete.
"It´s been so l-"
"It´s good to see you´re back."
Loki´s jaw dropped when she heard Bete´s reply. This was the nicest thing he ever said!
Before Lena could do something, Bete stepped in front of her, put a hand on her head, and leaned forward to smell her.
"You smell stronger now."
"You can smell that?!"
"Of course I do, you don´t reek like simple fishbait anymore."
"Hehe~~~ I leveled up to three during our vacation!"
"Good, then I need to be less worried about you."
"You´re worried about little old me?"
Lena looked up to Bete like a maiden in love, blinking almost innocently.
"How can I not be worried about you?"
Loki clapped her hands in front of her mouth. Is this a confession?!
Lena smiled, but it wasn´t her usual energetic, over-the-top, smile. It was a more gentle, loving one.
"That makes me happy, Bete."
"What is this that you have with you there?"
"Oh, this? Ehehe~~~ A gift for you!"
"For me?"
"Mhm! So that you can look at it and always think about me!"
Lena put down the enormous backpack and took the skull of the black serpent, it was cleaned down to the bone.
"I encountered a giant, black serpent on our vacation. I guess you could compare them to a floor thirty monster."
"You slew it?"
"Jup, went all alone!"
"Alone?"
"Alone, naked, and only with my scimitar, like a real Amazon should hunt!"
Bete noticed displeased how Loki had a naughty expression on her face.
"Tell us more about this, little Lena, ehehehe."
"It was really exciting! I was helping the butcher of the small town with a cow, amazon style! Then she told me about this biiiig black serpent and I knew I just had to hunt it!"
Bete frowned. "But why naked?"
"It´s really a pain to get this blood out of the clothes. Also, in my home country, all real amazons hunt naked, which brings us closer to the prey and nature."
"But this was dangerous."
Lena showed a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "So? I´m an amazon, I had to prove myself worthy."
Loki grinned. "Bete, an adventurer's life is dangerous, this wasn´t much more dangerous than going into the dungeon."
The werewolf shook his head. "Maybe you´re right, still."
Lena put a finger on Bete´s chest, it was mostly free as usual, due to his jacket. "And I had to prove that wolves are better than serpents! So take this skull, my trophy, as a gift!"
Loki grinned, it was the old game again, wolves versus serpents. "Tione´s gettin´ pissed when she sees that skull. Wanna hang it on our door?"
"Nah."
Lena looked a bit disappointed, and angry.
"Gonna hang it in my room, can´t have that stupid Amazon smash it."
Lena smiled. "So you will keep it?!"
"Of course, you made the effort to hunt it. What happened to the fangs?"
"They are my personal trophy. Gonna make something good out of it. So we both have a piece of it!"
Lena half grinned, half smiled. Loki could see how happy she was.
"I have something else for you!"
"What would that be?"
"Lady Loki, may I use your familia´s kitchen?"
"Only if ya let me watch."
"Of course!"
Bete looked a bit displeased at Loki, the goddess smirked.
"Fine..."
"Yyeeeaah!~~~"
.
.
It was great fun for Loki to watch the upcoming scene. Lena was happy with the big kitchen and used one of the aprons that they had there. She made sure that Bete looked in her direction when she put on the apron, smiling at him the whole time. Lena didn´t make the effort to let it look sexy when she put it on, she knew how Bete was.
And Loki was amazed when Bete leaned with crossed arms against a pillar, that he just followed Lena with his eyes, not saying something, but going along with what she did.
Is this...is this Bete how he acts when he is in love?!
The others wouldn´t believe her! Bete acting so calm and "gentle" was unheard of! Well in the last weeks, ever since Ais got badly hurt, he was pretty soft to her when they talked. He told her what mattered most was that she made it out alive, everything else would come later, and that her familia would help her.
Maybe Lena really made Bete soft.
Of course, in case anyone would be mean to Ais these days, when she was so vulnerable and emotionally unstable, not only Riveria but also Tiona and Tione would beat this person up.
It´s a good thing Bete has his eyes on this Amazon, otherwise, if he cared more about Ais these days, she might fall for him. And if she did anyway, it might break her heart when Bete told her he had his eyes on little Lena. Hah...it´s not easy these days.
Loki sat backward on a chair, her arms crossed on the backrest, a glass of wine next to her. Partly Loki watched them because it was fun for her, partly because she needed to see something nice and heartwarming currently.
And heartwarming it was, Lena hummed while she moved through the kitchen and gathered all the materials and ingredients she would need. And Bete...he had only eyes for Lena, not looking at Loki at all, or even minding that she was there. He looked a lot more relaxed than in the last few days.
Yet Loki saw how his tail twitched now and then, even his ears. Something was going on in Bete´s mind, something troubled him.
"What are you making, Lena?"
"Well giant black serpent! You really have to try it, it tastes amazing!"
"Is there anything that is similar?"
Lena tapped her chin. "Hmmm...I would say a bit like a mixture of pork and chicken, and a bit salty. So there won´t be any extra salt in there! It´s low in fat, high in proteins, and THE meat for a strong warrior!"
Loki nearly had to clench her heart when she saw how happy Lena grinned at Bete.
The goddess mumbled, Lena wouldn´t hear it, but Bete would.
"Yer got yerself som´thin special there, Bete."
The werewolf didn´t answer, but Loki saw his tail twitch one time.
Really looks like she managed to tear the wall around his heart down.
What Loki couldn´t see from the side, the right corner of Bete´s mouth twitched slightly. He himself couldn´t say if it was the urge to smile or something else. It wasn´t the sudden urge to kiss Lena, Bete had kissed someone before, but this felt different.
Lena hummed while she worked in the kitchen, she told him not to do anything, she wanted to show off her skills.
"Lady Loki?"
"Yes?"
"Do you want a bite too? I can prepare a snack for your drink."
"Heh, would´ve been nice. Never had serpent before."
"Alright!~~"
Lena prepared more than one pan.
"But you won´t get the best parts of the serpent, these are reserved for Bete!"
"T´was to be expected."
Loki grinned towards Bete, who continued to watch Lena. Lena ignited the stove and put the pans on it, putting butter into them.
"The temperature needs to be high before I put in the meat, so it gets crisped from all sides but remains juicy inside."
Bete finally said something. "Didn´t you say it got aged?"
"Yes, but only slightly, it wasn´t even a week old now, so it´s almost perfect."
"How much of this meat do you have?"
"Hmm...should be about a hundred kilograms left."
"I can´t eat all that."
"You are not supposed to eat it all at once, silly."
Normally Bete would react to such a word, but not when it came to her. Loki saw how relaxed both seemed to be around each other.
Quite cute.
Lena had three pans, one meant for Loki´s snacks, and one with a normal-sized piece for Bete, there Lena would use the second best part of the serpent. The best part would be saved for later, if done right it had a special effect on men after all. In the last one she would make a bigger piece of normal serpent meat.
"Little Lena, do you need to put the rest in a cooling box?"
Cooling boxes were an invention from a god, the people never stopped to thank and praise this god for that. They were large boxes, with a layer of a special metal, which would prevent most of the cold from the inside from leaking out. Then they would place special magic stones that emitted a cool aura and meat into the box, then close it.
Like this, even in summer, meat could be stored for a while.
Originally this god made this invention so he could enjoy cool drinks even on hot days.
"No, it´s better to hang the meat up in a room where it can dry and age. Serpent meat doesn´t get moldy easily, just make sure the room is dry. Back in my home country, we didn´t have cooling boxes."
"Alright."
When the meat went into the heated pans and the nice sizzling sound came, Loki sat up more, she saw how Bete reacted to it too.
"Ooooh!~~ That´s a nice smell!~~~"
Bete nodded. "Indeed."
"Hehe~~~ I´m glad you like it!"
In a fourth pan, Lena prepared vegetables to go with the meat.
"Normally I would make Amazonian bread too, but this would take too long today, so I will make it another day."
"What´s Amazonian bread?"
"It contains a bit of bone meal and bone marrow from a cow."
"So you had cows back at your home?"
"Nope, we used all kinds of animals, but beefy ones like a cow have the best taste. It needs to give a contrast to the serpent meat, so we didn´t use serpent bone marrow."
They watched how Lena skillfully turned the meat so that it got seared on all sides. Loki´s parts were smaller slices, so they would get more crispy.
When Bete´s part and the bigger normal piece were far enough to let Lena nod, she put them in the oven so that they would get ready there.
"Makes it more juicy."
The meat and the vegetables gave off a pleasant smell.
So much that...
.
"*Growl*"
.
Loki and Bete turned their heads when they heard a stomach growl. A young, blond woman stood in the door to the kitchen.
"Ais."
"Ais-tan, feelin´ better?"
The cast around Ais´ hand was gone, but she still had problems with her foot and the bandaged eye. One of her hands rested at the doorframe. When she walked through the house, Ais stayed close to the walls, to move a hand along it. She just couldn´t used to the problem with her depth perception. Loki hoped that Ais´ eye would heal soon.
Amid even told them with a grim expression, that Ais might keep a scar, Loki hoped it would be a small one. A young woman so pretty didn´t deserve a scar in her face.
For a change, Ais didn´t look as gloomy as the other days.
"Something...smells good..."
"Hehe, are you hungry, Ais-tan?"
She slowly nodded.
"Do you want to eat with us?"
Ais´ eyes wandered past Loki and Bete to Lena.
The Amazon grinned. "Don´t worry, Sword Princess, there is enough here. Sit down, I get you some ready."
Ais nodded and carefully walked to Loki, sitting down next to her. She didn´t smile, normally Ais would always be in for fine food and smile because of it. But ever since Revis had nearly killed her, Ais didn´t smile at all. Most of the time she looked gloomy or cried in Riveria´s arms.
Even more so after an incident the day before...
.
.
Alicia walked through the garden and sighed, thinking about the day before.
I was really horrible...
The whole familia had noticed that Ais had started to often call Riveria "Mom" a week ago. Loki had just grinned but said nothing. Others thought of it as adorable. But the elves of the familia, for them it was something different.
All of them, except Riveria, were upset, some even slightly angry. Alicia was one of them, the elves had discussed this with each other and the lot fell onto Alicia to talk with Ais about this. So Alicia went to Ais and explained to her that this wasn´t alright and even offensive, since Riveria was their princess.
"She isn´t your mother, Ms. Ais, so you shou-!"
Alicia´s words had died out when she saw Ais´ reaction. It took only a second for the elf to see that she had done something horrible and wrong. Ais´ lower lip trembled, then she burst into tears, looking like a hurt, young girl.
"I´m sorry..*Hic*..I´m sorry..."
"Ah, Ms. A-"
"Ais!"
Riveria had the sharpest ears in her whole familia when it came to Ais´ cries. So she immediately came when she heard Ais starting to cry. Ais tried to back a bit away from Riveria, but the adult elf wouldn´t have any of that and pulled Ais into a hug.
"What happened?!"
Ais explained it with a few whimpers.
When Riveria turned her face to Alicia, the younger elf gasped.
Riveria´s glare was as cold as ice.
"How dare you, Alicia..."
"Lady Riveria, I´m sorry! I di-"
"Didn´t think? Obviously!"
"No, I..."
Riveria held Ais close, gently stroking the head of the girl who cried into her robe. Alicia saw how Ais´ arms clenched around Riveria, scared to let go of her.
"Then what did you think, Alicia?"
"I...we...about calling you...that..."
"That she calls me Mom? Did I say it displeases me?"
"No..but...you are..."
"I am what? The princess? Is that all I am for you?! Do I have to stay separate and noble so you all can be satisfied and admire the princess? Am I nothing more?!"
"I didn´t mean it like that..I´m sorry...I..."
Riveria sighed. "Even if it displeases you, did one of you think for one second that there might be a better time to talk about this topic than now? When Ais is like this?!"
Alicia felt a sharp pain in her heart when she saw how hurt Ais was.
"And even when it upsets you all, you have no right to interfere in this matter. Also, Ais is a member of your familia. I thought better of you all..."
These words hurt...a lot.
"I´m sorry to have angered you...Lady Riveria..."
"I´m not angry at you, Alicia."
"Not?"
Riveria shook her head. "I´m deeply disappointed."
And these words hurt even more. It would´ve been easier for Alicia if Riveria were just angry.
.
.
Alicia sighed while she walked through the garden. When Ais had calmed down, Riveria called all the elves of the familia together. And it had looked like that Riveria wasn´t only disappointed, she was furious.
All of them had seen just how furious and fearsome their princess could´ve been.
Riveria forbade every single one of them to ever speak about this matter with Ais or one of the others again. This was something between Riveria and Ais alone.
And she forbid them from ever calling her "Lady Riveria" again. "Ms. Riveria" was fine and allowed. They were members of the same familia and Riveria said she was more than just the princess.
It was always troublesome for Riveria, but most of the time she could bear with it. But currently, Riveria´s skin was as thin as paper and she wouldn´t tolerate anything like this.
Seeing Ais hurt like this awakened every last maternal instinct in Riveria.
Alicia scolded herself for doing something like that to someone that was a friend and a companion...
.
.
.
When Loki heard about this, why Ais cried again, she was upset too. But since Riveria took care of the matter, Loki wouldn´t dig more into it. Riveria was the vice-captain and the elves of the familia were her responsibility.
Ais hadn´t eaten much in the last time, but when she sat down next to Loki now, the goddess noticed that her eyes didn´t look red and as glum as usual. So maybe Ais did look forward to this food?
"Hehe, Ais, did you ever taste serpent?"
"No."
"Smells good, hm?"
The blond nodded.
Lena hummed while she continued her work in the kitchen.
"Lady Loki, your snacks are ready, the other meat will take a bit longer."
"Yeah!~~"
Lena carried a plate to Loki and put it down next to her, with a napkin next to it. These snacks were meant to be eaten with hands. Loki took the plate and sniffed at it.
"Smells delicious!"
She held the plate to Ais, Loki could see her gulp slightly as she smelled the crispy strips of meat.
"Wanna try it, Ais?"
Ais only nodded, Loki took up a piece and moved it to Ais´ hand, until her fingers touched it, while Loki took another, giving it a lick.
"Hm, nice."
Ais looked at her strip of meat, her stomach growled again, and then she bit into it. Her eyes widened and she gulped more.
Loki took a bite of her strip of meat and enjoyed the taste in her mouth.
"Uuuh~~ So that´s serpent, nice."
"Giant black serpent. A red one would taste even better." Lena continued her work while she explained it.
Loki saw with a smile how Ais swallowed her meat.
"And, Ais? How is it?"
"Tasty..."
"Hehe, good. But the other snacks are mine, you will get your food soon, alright?"
Ais nodded.
Bete looked from his spot, he saw that Ais looked a bit better compared to the last days. In his mind, he thanked Lena for that.
Lena looked up. "Lady Loki, do you have herb butter somewhere?"
"In the cupboard over there, Elfy made it two days ago."
"Thank you."
Loki enjoyed her snack and the show, she couldn´t resist giving Ais another one of her snacks, since the growls of her stomach broke Loki´s heart a bit.
A few people passed the door to the kitchen, but no one came inside. Yet the smell of Lena´s cooking moved through the Mansion and a few people just had to notice it.
Soon Loki heard bare feet hitting the ground as two young women approached the kitchen.
When Tiona and Tione entered the kitchen, Tiona cried out.
"I knew it! That´s serpent I smelled!"
Lena turned her face to the other amazons.
"Jup, giant black serpent!"
Tione raised an eyebrow. "Why are you here?"
Bete remained at his spot. "She wanted to cook for me. Loki and Ais joined in."
Tione smirked. "Heh, nice for you, to have such a caring girl."
"You are right."
Tione looked dumbfounded, this was not the reaction she had expected of Bete!
Tiona jogged to the kitchen and leaned over the counter, looking at the pans.
"Aaaah~~ That smells so good! It has been ages since I last had serpent! Tione, do you remember back when we were small and Bache made serpent for us?"
"Yeah, it was indeed quite tasty."
"Hehe, I always loved Bache´s serpent dish. Hey hey, Lena was the name, right?"
Lena nodded. "Yes. And yes you can have some, there will be more serpent stored up, so don´t worry."
"Yyeaaaah!~~~~"
Tiona smiled happily, then went to Loki and Ais and sat down next to Ais.
"Did you already try it?"
Ais nodded. "It was good."
Loki offered Tiona a slice. "Here."
"Ah, thanks Loki...Mmmmhhh~~~ Just like I remember!"
Tiona smiled like a happy child.
Tione looked like she was in thought, and then she went close to Lena and whispered.
"Say, is it true what they said back then..about this special meat part of serpents?"
Lena smiled at her and winked. "Oh, absolutely. Make it for your man and he will be able to go all night, never run out of juices."
Tione´s cheeks got pretty dark when she heard this, the way an Amazon blushed.
"Do you...also have this one?"
"Oh yes, but all of it was reserved for Bete."
"Lena, I can´t eat that much meat."
Tione turned around and was about to say something. But Lena put a hand on her hip, leaned to the side, and looked upset at Bete.
"Eavesdropping isn´t nice, Bete."
Right now she looked more like an upset wife.
"I´m a werewolf, it´s not like I can not hear you two."
Tione looked mostly upset because it was a bit embarrassing, even for her.
Lena whispered into her ear. "I will give you some of the special meat. Do you know how to make it?"
"No.."
From how Tione fidgeted, Lena understood one thing. Tione was one of these rare "pure" amazons, who were actually deeply in love with a man and still untouched by any other. But while she was looking forward to it, Tione also seemed to be a bit shy when it came to sex.
"Hehe, leave it to me. Your man will be all over you, so be prepared. You won´t get any sleep that night."
Tione gulped, the "pure" Amazon didn´t know if she was ready for that. But maybe in the future? Probably...at least later...definitely later!
She sat down next to her sister and they all waited.
"What did you talk about with her, Tione?"
"Nothing! Not important!"
Tiona looked curious but didn´t ask further.
Eventually, Lena was finished with her cooking.
.
.
.
"Soooo! Here!"
She held a plate with a good portion to Bete, holding a knife and fork in her other hand.
Bete looked at the dish.
"Thank you, Lena."
She beamed all over her face, Loki knew this expression only from Tione so far when she looked at Finn.
Then Lena brought plates to the others, of the normal meat, Tiona got the biggest piece. The others noticed when Lena got close to Ais, she almost gently put a bowl with meat and vegetables in Ais´ hand, until her fingers touched it. Then she held a fork close to Ais´ other hand and touched the fingers with it.
It seemed Lena noticed what Loki had done before and that Ais had problems with her depth perception. Also, Ais´ meat and vegetables were already cut.
When Lena went into the kitchen to start cleaning up, Bete went with her and ate on the side. The first bite of this serpent meat was very delicious, Bete didn´t expect this taste, but it was beyond awesome.
He mumbled. "That was really nice of you."
"Hm?"
"Cooking and all that. Also with Ais."
Lena smiled in a special, maybe slightly sad way.
"Back in the Pleasure Quarter, we sometimes had girls who ran away from their men, they were beaten up and more than one had a swollen eye, and couldn´t see well. That way we learned how to take care of people who have problems with seeing. Is she going to get better?"
Bete nodded. "It just takes a while, said the healer."
"That´s good then. Now tell me how it tastes."
"Amazing, the best meat I ever had."
"Really? Or do you just say it so I feel better?"
"I see no need for this, I´m honest with you, Lena."
She noticed how he spoke her name, Lena smiled only more.
"I really love you, Bete."
When he didn´t answer, Lena looked at him.
She saw the troubled expression on his face.
"Bete?"
For a second, his expression contorted slightly, as if he was fighting an urge.
"Be-"
He put down the plate with a clank, thankfully it didn´t break. Lena couldn´t turn around fully to him in time.
He wrapped his left arm around her waist, trapping her left arm so that it was impossible to fight back. Lena turned her face that way out of reflex.
"Eh?-!"
Bete grabbed her right wrist, then leaned toward her neck...
And bit.
He dug his teeth into her neck, his canines had become slightly longer. The bite was strong enough to slightly pierce her skin and draw blood.
"Kya!"
Lena cried out, Tiona, Tione, Loki, and Ais immediately noticed what happened. Tiona and Tione jumped to their feet, ready to help Lena, did Bete snap again for some reason?
But Lena shook her head as well as possible, Bete let go of her right wrist and pulled her closer. So Lena used her free hand to wave the others away at first, then she put it onto Bete´s head from the side.
He bit again.
"Aaahn!~~~"
Loki shielded Ais´ eyes from the scene, which wasn´t really necessary, since Ais focused on her food, to not let anything fall off it.
"Oy, Bete! What are you doing?!"
"What are you doing, you horn-dog?!"
Tiona and Tione didn´t know what to make out of this moment, they saw that a bit of blood was on Lena´s neck, but the amazon looked more than just happy.
Lena moaned slightly again. "D-Don´t interfere!"
"What?!"
"He´s biting you!"
"Yeees!~~~ He´s finally biting me!"
It didn´t seem like Bete noticed any of the others, his eyes had a strange expression and were focused on Lena.
Lena whimpered and shook happily, Bete didn´t let go of her.
"How long have I waited for this!~~~"
The Amazon twins and Loki looked heavily confused.
Lena almost cried from happiness. "He´s marking me!"
Loki´s jaw dropped, and now she got what she saw.
"A marking bite?!"
"Yeees!~~~"
Tiona and Tione looked upset and confused at Lena, then at Loki.
Loki shook her head. "Heard ´bout dis...Werewolves do that to their partner...when they choose a mate...they bite them out of instinct, to mark them as their mate."
"What?!"
"That´s absurd!"
"Nope. Aki did something similar to Raul, trust me."
"But she is a cat!"
Loki shrugged her shoulders. "All carnivorous beast people behave like this with their partner."
Even though Loki didn´t see it, but Aki had bitten Raul´s neck too. Cat people bit their partners more than one time. Sometimes it was enough that they cuddled and kissed, the cat person could become so happy that he or she didn´t know where to vent their happiness, which resulted in a bite. Love bites. Aki was pretty embarrassed about it, but Raul didn´t mind not one bit!
The three looked how the very happy Amazon whimpered and held Bete´s head with her free hand, her fingers crawling to his right ear. Bete´s tail wipes around, touching Lena´s left hand, her fingers closed around the tip. And she felt how Bete pushed himself against her from behind, her butt got pushed forward by his crotch. In a way it looked like a pretty intimate and erotic kiss. What Bete never managed to do with a sane mind, he did now out of instinct.
But he didn´t become horny, to push against Lena, touching her with his tail and as much of his body as possible, was his instinct to mark her with his scent. And Lena welcomed it all too happy, she wanted his scent all over her so that every single woman in Orario would know, she belonged to Bete Loga!
This was why his lips had twitched, even when he didn´t understand it. His body, his instinct had chosen Lena as his mate. So he marked her now. Haruhime had done the same with Bell and Lefiya, even when she bit more gentle. But Lena was happy, a strong man needed a strong bite!
And that Bete did all that in front of the others, made Lena even more happy. Love had to be shown openly, it was the Amazonian way! Even if Bete decided to take her right here and now in front of them, Lena wouldn´t mind!
When Bete finally separated his mouth from Lena´s neck, they saw drops of blood on his lips and teeth. And the bite mark at Lena´s neck, the quirky Amazon really hoped this mark would never fully vanish.
Lena turned her face to Bete and looked at him with a loving expression.
"Now I´m all yours, Bete.~~"
"Lena..."
Lena Tally was an amazon, she didn´t wait for him to kiss her, nor did she wait that they would be alone. Her hand was still on his head, so she pulled him towards her, but no resistance came.
She moved her face forward and finally, got her first kiss from Bete. With her blood on his lips, as it should be!
And even when an upset, female voice shouted, Lena and Bete heard nothing of it.
"What are you two doing here?! In front of Ais?!"
"Mom..what are they doing?"
"Ais, don´t look, it´s too early for you to see these things!"
Riveria had come into the kitchen.
Not that Bete or Lena noticed her.
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.
.
"Sorry that I b-"
"Don´t you dare apologize for biting me! It made me happy!"
Bete and Lena stood close to the gate of the grounds. Her backpack was now mostly empty, she would only keep around ten kilograms of the meat for her familia and herself.
"Lena..."
"Sh! Don´t say a word. I belong to you now, forever and ever. I know that you are worried, but I will become even stronger so that I can stand at your side and you don´t have to worry about me!"
Bete looked troubled, Lena knew what was going on in his heart.
"I will not die. I will not go away. I´m too stubborn to leave your side, Bete Loga! Especially not after the day I became Lena Loga! And gave birth to your children! By the way, I want at least three!"
Lena didn´t mind the guards standing nearby, she wore her heart on her tongue and was straightforward with her desires and wishes.
"Alright, I will believe you."
"Good, then kiss me."
Bete put his hands on her shoulders, she smiled when she felt his strong grip. With a fierce glare, Bete scared the guards away, so that they would look in a different direction and hear nothing.
Still, Bete´s kiss was much softer than Lena had expected.
"You don´t need to hold back, I´m not made of glass."
"I´m level six..."
"So?! I´m an Amazon! So kiss me like the wolf you a-!"
And then, Bete claimed her lips for himself. Forever and ever.
Lena exhaled happily when Bete kissed her more passionately this time.
She licked her lips when they separated. "That´s more how I like it."
"Lena!"
"Eep!"
Bete pulled her close and kissed her again. Lena felt more than passion in this kiss and how his arms closed around her, trapping her arms again. She knew he was afraid of losing her, so she would train like a madman to become as strong as him!
So that she would also give birth to strong children!
Aside from that, she didn´t try to get naughty or lure him into his bed. Lena knew that Bete would take a while until he was ready for that. At first he had to calm down his troubled heart, calm down his worries.
For that, Lena needed to become strong enough to protect herself from everything.
Which meant...
The more Lena would train, the faster she would have sex with Bete! Then get impregnated by him! And give birth to his children! She felt a tiny bit bad that all of their children would turn out as amazons, something deep in her soul longed to give him children who would look similar to him.
And if he desired so, enough to fill a whole tribe!
Unknown to Lena at this moment, something formed in the Falna on her back.
A skill.
A very rare skill. No...not only rare...a skill so unique that it was above something rare!
Before she left to go and brag to Aisha and Samira, Lena got a brilliant idea.
"Lena, are you free tomorrow morning?"
"I am."
"Then come here as soon as the sun starts to rise."
"What have you planned?"
"Training. I am worried about you, so you have to become stronger. So we will train every day possible together. I´ll make you stronger personally."
Bete saw the fire lit up in Lena´s eyes, she liked the idea, and it would make him less worried.
"I will be here! Every day, I like this idea!"
"I will not be gentle with you."
Her lips curled up into a smile.
"I just told you I already brought the idea, you don´t need to sell it to me.~~~"
She felt his hands clench around her arms as he pulled her almost forcefully to him and pressed his lips onto hers. Lena was really happy that Bete understood that she liked it a bit rough.
Her Amazonian blood sung in glorious, bloody victory and joy. She had her strong man! Time to go and brag about it!
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.
While Lena became happier by the second, and would eventually leave the Twilight Mansion with the biggest grin possible. And directly running to Aisha and Samira to brag about her luck and her man, that her kids would have something in the future that no other Amazon had...a father...before Lena returned home.
While this happened and the biggest part of the Miach familia went to their home, it took a while since Talvi couldn´t stop gawking at everything, but mostly Babel. She asked again and again how it was possible that this tower didn´t collapse under its own weight. Bell, Haruhime, and Lefiya went to the Stardust Garden. Lefiya had to return home and Bell wanted to see his Mom, Haruhime also wanted to visit this house.
When they arrived there, the mood seemed a bit...off.
Lefiya was the first to go through the gate that led into the big garden.
"Hello, is anyone here?"
"Welcome back, Lefi..."
She looked up but saw nothing, yet she heard Neze´s voice from above.
"Ms. Neze?"
"Sunbathing."
"Ah, I´m back."
"You better go inside, Filvis is getting on our nerves, she started to go mad since you´ve gone for so long."
Lefiya chuckled.
"But don´t expect a good mood."
"Did something happen?"
"You will see. I hope Bell is with you...Alfia is getting even worse than Filvis..."
Lefiya looked a bit uneasy to Bell. Haruhime seemed to be confused.
"Why is she sunbathing on the rooftop of your home?"
"Ahm...Ms. Neze doesn´t wear any clothes when she does that. And up there no one can see her."
"O-Oh!"
Haruhime got a bit red, as did Bell.
"Bell, you better not imagine Ms. Neze naked! And you better not try to climb up there!"
"I don´t! And I won´t!"
Again, Neze´s voice came from above. "Lefi, please keep your delusions in check."
"Huh?!"
"Geez, you elves...always have naughty thoughts in your head."
"I-I´m not naughty!"
"Hay Hay..."
So they left Neze to sunbathe and entered the house. They understood right away what Neze meant by bad mood.
The first person they saw was Kaguya, sitting on the couch in a very unladylike way, only wearing a short shirt and panties. Bell averted his face when he noticed this.
"Oh thank fucking gods, you are finally back!"
Haruhime clapped her hands over her mouth in shock when she heard Kaguya´s foul mouth.
"M-Ms. Kaguya! You shouldn´t curse by using the name of the gods!"
"Oh be quiet, Lefi! I´m pissed. Pissed!"
Kaguya pointed at Bell.
"And the reason is the mother of this dragon boy over there! Go and do something about her, Bell! She´s really pissing me off! And everyone else!"
"What?!"
"I swear, she is less our prisoner and more a shitty tyrant taking over the rule here! Not even Lady Astrea goes completely against her! Tch!"
While Bell still looked away, the three were kind of shocked.
"Dammit, she even made Lion cry! And that is my job!"
"Ms. Alfia made Ms. Ryu cry?!"
"Yeah, slapped her pretty hard, made our little elf cry."
Bell couldn´t resist for a moment to look at Kaguya in shock. "Mom slapped Ms. Ryu?!"
When he noticed again how Kaguya sat there, he looked away in shame.
"Yeah, by accident, still happened. With her ridiculous giant boobs!"
"""What?!"""
"Yeah, she went around a corner, it´s always her giant boobs that became visible first. Lion went in the other direction, so when Alfia turned around the corner, she slapped Lion with her boobs right in the face. You should´ve seen Lion´s face! Her pride as a woman was obliterated! Getting hit by something so big! Now she´s weeping in the garden, Alise tries to console her."
Kaguya clicked her tongue. "Damn Alfia and her ridiculous womanly, erotic body! She´s showing off so much!"
"Please stop talking about my Mom like that!"
"Oh please, as if you never noticed that! Now go and take her into the garden or something like that!"
"Where is she?"
"In the kitchen! Shitty old hag! I bet she´s making the next one of us depressed!"
"Ms. Kaguya! Even when you´re upset, it´s not nice to talk like that about Bell´s Mom! And have some shame!"
Kaguya glared at Lefiya, but the young elf didn´t back down.
"Get going already, and calm your sister down too."
The others went to the kitchen.
What they saw there was...ridiculous. To say at least.
The kitchen was quite big and for some reason, there were more than a few chairs here, a special one for Astrea. The goddess sat there and looked pretty amused, chuckled by herself. A few members of the familia were here too. For a reason they didn´t know, the dark elf Viana was on her knees, hugging Astrea´s legs while the goddess gently patted her head, consoling her weeping child.
"Alfia, this wasn´t nice. You know how weak Viana is in that matter."
"I don´t care, she has to get stronger."
Bell´s jaw dropped when he saw Alfia.
"M-Mom?!"
She turned in his direction and a bright, gentle, loving smile appeared on her lips.
"Hey, Sweety."
Alfia didn´t wear her normal goth-style dress, not even the nice blue dress that she recently often used. No...Alfia wore something different this time.
"A maid outfit?!"
Alfia indeed wore a maid outfit, but a goth-style maid outfit. It didn´t let her look small or timid at all, she stood there with all the pride of an unrivaled queen.
"Filvis!"
Lefiya dashed into the kitchen when she saw her sister kneeling on the ground close to Alfia, shaking with angry tears in her eyes.
"Lefi!"
Lefiya went to hug her sister, glaring up to Alfia.
"What have you done?!"
"Showing her her place...you should prepared too for the next days..."
Lefiya looked at Filvis, her big sister looked humiliated and angry.
"Filvis? What happened?"
Astrea then clapped her hands. "Alright, this settles this. Alfia wins again."
"""""""TCH!""""""""
The various members of the familia looked quite...pissed. Even the normally so reserved Laurier clicked her tongue. And the motherly Maryuu too!
"Mom...what happened here?"
"A cook-off. These little brats here think they can rival my skills...pff."
Filvis looked up with tears in her eyes.
"Did you just laugh at me?!"
"Why would I? It´s not worth it."
"Haaaaaah?! I will get you, you old hag!"
It was rare to hear an elf shout like this. Lefiya was shocked to hear her big sister like this!
Alfia moved a hand through her ash-colored hair. "Little girl, you clearly don´t see the appeal and charm of an attractive, adult woman. You all still have to learn much!"
"""""""Kuuuh!""""""""
Haruhime turned with an uneasy expression to Astrea, who let go of Viana. The dark elf fixed her veil and went to a chair in the corner to weep, Laurier tried to calm her fellow elf down.
"Lady Astrea..could you maybe explain the situation to us?"
And so Astrea did Haruhime this favor, the goddess couldn´t help but chuckle a few times. Since she understood what Alfia did, and why.
It had started with Alfia´s demand to use the kitchen often, to sharpen her skills so they wouldn´t become dull. During the first evening when the Astrea familia enjoyed her cooking, it hurt the pride of more than a few of them.
Alfia had looked at them with a superior smirk on her lips.
"Come at me if you dare."
Maryuu was the first who couldn´t bear this smirk and challenged Alfia to a cook-off. Alfia knew no mercy, she trampled Maryuu´s pride and broke her heart.
"You need to try harder, so you may one day be able to find yourself a man."
"B-Be quiet!"
Alfia then glared at the rest of the familia.
"So...who´s next to dare?"
Since the challenge came from Alfia, a few of them wouldn´t back down. Alfia even went so far as to allow them to choose a theme and the main ingredient, so they would have as much advantage as possible.
Kaguya chose salmon and...Sushi!
She got taught back in the Far East how to be a proper noble lady, how to make tea in an elegant way, and even how to make this complicated fish dish! Kaguya would show Alfia her skills!
While both went to work, for the others it became quite the show and it looked like a fierce battle.
Kaguya went all out, for the others it looked like she used a giant katana, in the form of a salmon to attack Alfia. But just like during their "fight" in the dark days, the image of Alfia caught the salmon´s head between two fingers. Kaguya couldn´t wrestle against this ridiculous strength...her cooking talent...
Alfia snapped the Salmon´s head off, just like she had destroyed Kaguya´s katana back then.
Then she raised her hand and a giant, glowing salmon appeared in the sky, moving like a bell, before shattering into pieces of starlight, hammering down at Kaguya.
.
.
"Salmonus Angelus!"
.
.
Kaguya screamed out and got thrown backward, her kimono shredded to pieces, leaving her in her underwear...
The whole image was just a show of Alfia´s immense cooking skills. While Kaguya´s sushi was fine, Alfia´s was out of this world.
"I added a few twists here and there, I call it...Temari Sushi."
It was a piece of art, the others felt almost sorry to eat this. Not one of them could stop themself from crying in defeat, yet smile at the same time. Alfia had served twenty pieces of each of them, arranged in a fine box, truly a piece of art.
This was why Kaguya was so upset and fumed in the living room. When Viana had challenged her, Alfia just went close to her.
"So...what will the topic be? Little elf?"
"I..ahm..."
Alfia went closer, and Viana backed away a little, nervous.
"So? Say the theme, elf."
"I...c-could you please stand back?"
"Why?"
The others had seen how Alfia had moved closer and closer, Viana got more and more nervous, and even tears appeared in her eyes. She couldn´t bear someone getting so close to her!
When Alfia took Viana´s veil and moved it up, the dark elf burst into tears.
"I yield!"
Then she went and looked for shelter in Astrea´s comforting hug.
Filvis wanted to defend her pride and avenge her familia members. She chose elven cuisine.
This was a bad idea since Alfia had looked into this too.
Filvis had no chance against the Monster of Talent.
.
Astrea finished her explanation. The slap on Ryu´s cheek was actually just Alfia bumping into Ryu, but since the pure elf had a bit of a complex with her body...she was devastated. Alise outside tried her best to console her beloved, telling her she loved Ryu´s body the way it was! Yet she still explained to Ryu that eating more meat would help her body, just like it did with Lefiya. Ryu decided to eat more of it. In the end, this would be the reason why her body would fill out more in all the right places. Alise would actually be quite happy with this too!
And only Astrea understood why Alfia did all that. On one hand to sharpen her skills. On the other to secretly train the familia, so that they would be able to find partners.
So that they wouldn´t go after Bell!
Alfia didn´t challenge Ryu and Alise, they were out of the picture already, as was Iska. And apparently, Neze got caught looking at a certain guy from time to time in the pub, so out of the picture too! Alfia wouldn´t give up until all of them wouldn´t be a danger anymore!
Lefiya and Haruhime looked at each other, then nodded with grim determination.
""Ms. Alfia, we hereby challenge you!""
Alfia opened her eyes for the first time, a scary sight.
"So be it, the next week will become hell for you."
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.
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Lefiya and Haruhime prepared themself for the challenge of their lives.
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Two weeks away from Orario, a truly titanic ship, with the size of a small city, was slowly moving towards Orario. It was time for this District to come home once again and visit the city.
And with this ship came something...something that awakened dreams of darkness approaching the city, dreams that a certain prophetess had.
Yet...this darkness didn´t scare her. In a way...it felt like a good dream.
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Author`s Note: Hello everyone. First thing, please don´t be mad when I don´t answer every single Review, I read them all, sometimes multiple times. But there are some things I can´t answer, it would spoil the story.
One thing that appeared again and again is pointing out how weak Bell is compared to the original story. As I wrote, this isn´t only a story about a hero and a few characters on the side, it´s about Bell leading a group of upcoming heroes, that´s why I work so much with side characters (like in this chapter).
Many things will become important later, even the stuff here with Lena befriending a few Loki members.
Bell will of course become stronger, but he has to earn it through challenges. At the same time, the big evil, Fafnir, will also continue to grow. I won´t show everything that Fafnir does, but he has to do his own little journey to be prepared for the plan of the dungeon.
About the very long Review I got from Levin Menace, thank you. The pacing is always a bit of a problem for me, things shouldn´t go too fast, yet not take forever. About Mikoto, I already started to rewrite parts of her mentioned feelings for Take in the earlier chapters and turned them to Ouka, so it wouldn´t just be a sudden cut.
A few general things. Lefiya and Haruhime are Bell´s only lovers, no further lovers, nope. No harem. Even when he will get a few very dear friends and have special relationships with others, like Sowak (it will be revealed in the future who she actually is, but I guess a few can already guess by the hints I gave). So just because Bell has a good chemistry with someone, doesn´t mean they fall in love.
The topic Ais, I have a lot of plans for her in the story, I didn´t hurt her and let her like this because I don´t like her, but things have to get built up properly. I actually quite like Ais and will do my best to do her something good in the story too.
And a tiny spoiler for the future, there will be another wargame in this story at some point. And this time it will get more personal, I won´t say against who.