Change of Fates

by Ventanus

A single question at the right time could change the fates of not one, but many people.

55. Food War

"I said I can do it alone, little fox..."

"No, you can barely stand, Mother!"

"Don´t call me mother, fox! You´re not there yet!"

"I will still help you since you will become our mother-in-law! And you exhausted yourself too much, and Bell can´t help you in the bath."

"Tch, know your place."

"My place is currently at your side!"

"Mom, I think you should let her help."

"Et tu, Sweety?..."

"Mom...for me?"

"Kuh...alright..."

Alfia, Lefiya, Bell, and Haruhime were standing in front of the bathroom of the Astrea familia. She still leaned on Haruhime, while Lefiya held her free arm to give her support, using all three of her magic spells and hammering out a good part of her mind power had exhausted Alfia to the point of nearly collapsing.

But she had to go and take a shower since she was still drenched in sweat, even when some of it dried. A disgusting feeling for her. Bell had a few fresh clothes of her in his hands, he was the only one allowed ever to enter her room. The main reason for that was the picture of Meteria on her table. Alfia had said one thing to the familia, if anyone would ever go into her room and do something to that picture, this person would die.

Astrea had asked Alfia with a grim face if that was a threat. Alfia replied it was a promise. Not that any of the others would ever go into Alfia´s room, and especially not mess with the picture of her beloved sister. Despite their past, they could see and understand what this meant to Alfia.

"Fine, but only you, fox."

"You could call me by my name."

"You have to earn that first."

"Then I will do that! Now come."

"Don´t you dare drag me like some kind of old woman!"

Alfia eventually went into the bathroom with Haruhime, and Lefiya stayed outside. One helper was enough, two would make Alfia furious. Also, Lefiya had bathed with Haruhime and the others, facing away from each other, but she wasn´t ready to see Haruhime fully naked or bare her nude body to her. Even when this was a bit easier for both than to see or be seen by Bell.

"Will she be alright?"

"She will, my Mom is strong."

"Hm."

"And how do you feel? You had to face her magic."

Both walked away from the bathroom to the shared room of Filvis and Lefiya, the rest of the Astrea familia sat in the living room, discussing something. While the Miach familia went home, wailing about their destroyed equipment, but also talking about important things.

"It was...something else. I never felt such power before. And you say she was even stronger in her prime?"

"Yes. My Mom is really special."

"That is true."

Bell waited for Lefiya to pull the large curtain up so that Filvis´ part of the room was covered. He smiled slightly when he saw the bunny and fox plushies on Lefiya´s bed. Both sat down and their hands were naturally drawn to each other.

"Haruhime and I will give our best to win and get her approval on our relationship."

"I believe in you, I...I want you to win. But..."

She smiled wryly. "You can´t hope that your Mom loses, right?"

"Yes."

Lefiya leaned closer to him, and her head slightly against his, they didn´t kiss, just holding hands. Haruhime and Lefiya had promised Alfia that during the trial week, they wouldn´t get lovey-dovey with Bell. Also, the door to the room was open and Lefiya wouldn´t kiss him when others could see it. Handholding on the other hand was alright!

Out of all the elves of the familia, only Ryu insisted on handholding being something "lewd". Then again Ryu said that a couple should kiss for the first time during their oath of eternal love, or as others called it, marriage. That was why Ryu was quite ashamed that she kissed Alise BEFORE they had their oath. Then again, since she had known Alise for a long time now, at least the five-years-courtship rule was fulfilled. For many elves, it was the norm that partners should court each other for five years at least before they became a couple, in some forests this rule was for ten or even twenty years! But elves had time...

After they separated their heads, both looked into each other´s eyes while holding hands, they didn´t go further in any way.

"Lefiya."

"Hm?"

"I love you."

She smiled lovingly. "And I love you."

He smiled a bit embarrassed. "I know, some might say our relationship started really fast..."

"Yes, that may be. I never thought it would go so fast, but...it just felt right."

He nodded. "That it did."

Bell saw how much she loved him in her eyes, Lefiya didn´t hide her feelings for him at all. "And I don´t regret one bit to move so fast with you and Haruhime, Bell."

He chuckled. "Honestly, I was a bit surprised that you were the first to say these words."

Her cheeks turned pink. "Don´t tease me on this..."

"I don´t intend to, my love."

She squeezed his hands gently for a second. "Then I will also be honest, I´m glad that we didn´t move too fast with each other. These things should take time."

"I agree, we shouldn´t rush anything."

Haruhime´s trauma aside, they would take their time anyway, none of them were in a hurry. Lefiya was an elf, even when she came from Wishe, and was a free spirit among elves. That she had already kissed Haruhime and Bell, sometimes even in a bit passionate way, was almost a bit too fast for her. Cuddling, kissing, handholding, and yes...even sleeping together, was more than enough for now. And for Bell, despite what Alfia feared, he didn´t intend to climb the stairs to adulthood with Lefiya and Haruhime. He was a growing, young man, his grandfather had a certain influence on him, but if Alfia knew that Bell had quite a low libido, she would probably cry tears of relief.

The lewdest things that Bell had in mind were lap pillows! And maybe touch their ears now and then...and Haruhime´s tails.

While Bell was really fascinated by their beauty, and he could admire their bodies and alluring curves. But even when he glanced at their chests, hips, and wonderful behinds, not that he could see much of Haruhime´s, he did that more out of admiration for the beauty of nature. He had no desire to take off their clothes and see their bodies naked. In fact, this would be quite embarrassing for him too!

"Lefiya."

"Yes?"

"You´re really beautiful."

He just loved how her ears wriggled slightly when he complimented her, just like when Haruhime´s ears twitched. Both had their own small quirks, and Bell loved every single one of them.

And there was especially one that Lefiya and Bell loved about Haruhime.

She purred.

When they cuddled or kissed, Haruhime made a special sound, she started to purr. Only Renards and cat people made this special noise, and it was too adorable.

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"I will wash your back for you."

"Do that..."

If she would´ve been honest, Alfia was glad that Haruhime was here, she felt so weak. She sat naked on one of the small washing chairs, while Haruhime knelt down behind her, equally naked. She never thought she would take a bath or go to shower with one of her future daughters-in-law.

"But don´t you dare let your hands wander where they don´t belong..."

"I would never do that, Ms. Alfia."

Haruhime decided not to call Alfia "Mother" for the time being, so that she wouldn´t become angry.

So she gently started to rub Alfia´s back, which let the adult woman sigh a bit.

"You have really smooth skin, Ms. Alfia."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Ehe, you´re just like Bell said, quite beautiful."

"Is that something you say to your future mother-in-law?"

"I don´t know, I never had one before."

"Hm."

Alfia even allowed Haruhime to wash her arms, sides, and armpits, of course, they were smooth and perfect. There was something that other women didn´t know about Alfia, and it was probably better this way, or she would be hated even more. Alfia´s body didn´t grow body hair below her head, except for her privates. So she never had to bother with her armpits, arms, or legs, everything was smooth and perfect.

She really was a cheat.

And Alfia would´ve thrown away everything she was and had if that would mean getting her beloved sister back. Haruhime felt that Alfia shivered very slightly, but pretended not to notice anything nor say something.

"Please say when I´m too rough."

"Do you think I´m made of glass?"

Haruhime chuckled slightly, she spoke only very softly since she knew Alfia didn´t like loud noises.

But what Haruhime couldn´t know, the reason why Alfia shivered slightly...she had to fight her tears. What Haruhime did for her right now, was what Meteria had done for her in the past. The twin sisters always bathed together and enjoyed the time they had.

And now she got reminded of that, and a lonely pain filled her heart.

Meteria...how I wish I could see you again...

Alfia never stopped to grief because of her sister. Her other half got stolen from her after all, Meteria meant the world to her. Just like Bell did now. And even when her mind and heart refused to acknowledge that...maybe one day...his children.

If she would live long enough.

It took a bit for Alfia to regain enough strength to go and shower alone, so she was a bit glad that Haruhime helped her. Both bonded a bit due to this experience.

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"Lady Astrea?"

"Yes, Alise?"

"Things keep running through my head. Things that Alfia said, and what she showed us."

"Go on."

Alise went up to her feet, and walked slowly back and forth on the carpet, looking at her goddess and fellow familia members.

"I was thinking about that for a while now, ever since we found Alfia. And even more after a few things, she said...especially after today."

Her eyes wandered over her familia members.

"We need to get stronger. Much stronger than we currently are."

A few of them nodded.

"So that we can protect what is important and precious to us."

Her eyes wandered from her familia to her goddess.

"And, to protect what and who we love."

Now Alise looked at Ryu, whose ears got a bit red, but now was not the time for teasing.

Kaguya nodded. "I agree with you. But not because Alfia said this and showed us these things. Just because of what this all means. We are strong, yes. But not compared to Zeus and Hera familias."

Lyra nodded. "Even if we would count Alfia´s strength to ours. But we all saw how much it cost her today, and she said to herself that she doesn´t have long anymore."

Astrea looked a bit sad. "Even when Bell does his best to gather the materials for a potion that could heal her."

"Could this potion work? We could help him, getting mermaid tears is easier for us than for him. If that would heal Alfia..."

"Do you see her as one of us now, Alise?"

"In a way. I can see and feel it, Alfia has her own sense of justice. Plus, it would be easier for her to atone for her sins when she is alive."

Neze´s ears twitched. "What do you have in mind, captain?"

"The Education District is returning to Melen again. Lady Astrea, I think we should go and recruit new people, as well as look around in Orario."

Kaguya slightly tapped with her fingertips on her forearm. "But we shouldn´t lower our requirements, new people still have to be worthy of justice."

Alise smiled wryly. "This will be Lady Astrea´s job to judge."

Lyra leaned forward, her chin resting on her crossed fingers. "But what if we don´t find enough women for us...what if...we find young men that meet Lady Astrea´s requirements?"

Astrea nodded slowly. "You mean if I would allow men in the familia?"

"Exactly."

"I personally had never anything against it, in the past there were certain reasons, you all know them."

While the familia was recruiting, then the dark times and the time to build up again afterward, Astrea had explained to her followers that it wouldn´t be a good idea to recruit men. So that they could focus on what was important for now, so that love and flirting wouldn´t get in the way, it could cause trouble.

As usual, Kaguya had formed it into blunt words that hit the nail on the head and were quite nasty.

No fuck in the factory.

It could cause problems if one or two charming guys entered the familia...and then had the personal goal to "enter" the "familia". Especially when more than one woman in the familia got interested in one of the guys. Or a guy turned out to secretly be a player or scumbag.

As for the women, not all of them would turn out like Ryu and Alise, but these two were special anyway.

But now things were different, and Astrea never forbade any of them to find love.

Iska slightly raised her hand. "Ahm..."

"Yes?"

"My...boyfriend... thought about asking...if...you would allow it...for him...to convert."

"Oh?"

"He said he would love it to be in the same familia as me."

"Why didn´t you say anything?"

"I thought it might not be the right time, and also..."

"You thought I would say no?"

"Yes."

"Hm, you would have to ask Ganesha too. My children, please be honest with me, how do you think about it? Would any of you be against it?"

They looked at each other, and Ryu slightly raised her hand.

"Then I will be honest. I can´t say if I would be comfortable with it, we probably had to get used to it. And make strict rules for the bathroom and such. But then again, I doubt you would invite unjust, untrustworthy people, Lady Astrea. Familias like the Miach familia have men and women, and things go well there. Ms. Hiryute told us during Bell´s training, that everything goes well in the Loki familia as well."

Mary smiled. "And who knows, maybe a few of us could find partners this way. We all saw how much stronger Alise and Lion became, to be able to protect each other."

Alise nodded with a serious face. "I can confirm this. When I have Ryu close to me, I become stronger."

Lyra smirked. "That´s your skill, Captain. And her skill, we all feel stronger when Lion is close to us."

What Lyra meant was Ryu´s skill "Astrea Varmas", which gave people with the same Falna a status boost, magic boost, and more mind power.

Alise waved her hand. "Aside from our skills."

Ryu coughed slightly, she got quite red. "I h-have to a-agree...it gives you a strong focus and determination."

Alise continued to walk while she nodded. "But new members aside, we have to get stronger on our own too."

Kaguya sighed. "The dungeon is empty, Alise."

"Alfia said something about training that the Hera familia did, and not in the dungeon."

Kaguya raised an eyebrow. "And she is willing to share these secrets with us?"

Alise nodded. "Yes, as long as it makes us stronger and due to that, helps Bell to live a peaceful life...and kills the One-Eyed Black Dragon."

Kaguya snorted. "Everything for Belli, huh?"

They heard a low voice from the door. "Of course, I do everything for Bell..."

Alfia stood there, she looked a bit better than after her spell. Haruhime had left her side and went to Lefiya and Bell.

"And for that reason, I will show you how we trained in Hera´s familia, and how Zeus´ boys did it. Or we fought with each other."

Astrea looked more than a bit worried. "Is that similar to what Freya´s familia does?"

Alfia shook her head. "It needs more than just to fight and cut each other to go up to the strength that we had."

"Could you also write that down, so that I can give Ganesha information too?"

"Orario´s "shield" has to become stronger anyway, and you will need them as sparring partners. You´re all way too weak."

Kaguya frowned. "Say that again, old hag."

Alfia stared Kaguya down. "And here I thought your skull isn´t that thick or your brain so small. I have more than enough strength to beat you and spank you until you turn into a fine woman...girly."

They knew that Kaguya was pissed at Alfia, even more since Satanas Verion had shattered Kaguya´s katana.

Astrea leaned forward and put a hand on Kaguya´s. "Kaguya, that´s enough."

"Mpf..."

Alfia sighed. "You should really focus on getting stronger."

"It surely doesn´t help that you destroyed so much of our equipment, the dungeon is empty, how are we supposed to make money to replace our stuff?!"

"I will give you the money, it´s only small change anyway."

"Only...small change?"

Astrea raised an eyebrow. "Equipment repair for all of them will cost quite a lot, Alfia. Armors like Viana´s are custom made."

"It´s not much money for me."

"May I ask, how much money do you have?"

Alfia slowly moved her right hand through her hair, while she regained her calm expression with closed eyes, so she looked like usual again.

"Last time I checked it was a bit over two point five billion Vals."

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"""""""""""WHAT?!"""""""""""

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Bell, Lefiya, and Haruhime looked up when they heard the Astrea familia shout in unison, including Astrea.

Alfia looked annoyed. "Do you have to shout so much?"

"How the fog do you have so much money?!" Even when Alise´s expression slipped and she was shocked, she still didn´t curse.

"Never spent much, also we reached the 71st floor back then, and the drop items there gave quite a lot of money. And we had a rule, Slayers keepers, and I slew quite a lot of monsters."

"Hold up, did you just say 71st Floor?! The Loki familia claimed they went to a floor that no one ever entered before when they went down to the 59th!"

"And you believe that? When the 58th floor was the deepest ever reached, then how do you think I got up to level seven, Maxim to eight, and the Empress to nine?"

"Hah...true."

"Also I told you before what the deepest floor was that we reached."

"Hm...why didn´t I hear this?" Alise looked confused.

Lyra smirked. "Because you were too fascinated by Lion´s outfit that day."

"Ah, right! Her emerald dress!"

Alfia groaned, she really couldn´t deal with Alise...

Astrea regained her composure. "And you are willing to use some of this money for us? Why not Bell´s familia?"

"I don´t want to spoil my son too much, it could ruin him and make him rely too much on his equipment. You here have the experience. Also, what good would it do for Bell if all that money just lays around, while the threat of the dragon and other problems for him rises?"

Alfia´s expression changed into a dangerous one. "I have to make you all stronger, by force if I have to. And if that means shoving most of my money down your throats until you choke on it, so be it."

Astrea shook her head and giggled slightly. "Why does it sound like a threat even when you are willing to do something nice for us?"

Alfia frowned. "I don´t do that for you, Goddess of Justice! I do it for Bell and Bell alone. And I don´t do it for free."

"And what do you want in exchange for your help? Your freedom?"

"An oath of all of you, that you never go after Bell. Or ask him to help you become mothers."

"Eh?"

"You heard me."

Alise put her arm around Ryu and pulled the surprised, slightly squeaking elf closer to her. "I will never let anyone else lay hands on Ryu´s body! It´s mine alone!"

"Alise! Not in front of others!"

Lyra shook her head. "Oh please, Lion. We know that you two have se-"

"Lyra!"

Ryu´s furious glare and her angry shout managed to silence Lyra before she could end her sentence. Whenever someone tried to talk about her relationship with Alise, Ryu got angry. Everything that happened between her and Alise was private.

Alfia remained at the door. "I don´t care who is with whom here, but Bell is off limits. It´s hard enough for me to deal with the other two."

Astrea chuckled. "So you have already accepted Lefiya and Haruhime?"

"No, they have six trials ahead of them, and I will only allow them to fail one."

The goddess looked around her followers. "I think it is safe to say that no one of them will go after Bell."

Lyra nodded. "Too young for me, and probably too big."

Kaguya shrugged her shoulders. "Not my taste."

Most of the others knew that Kaguya had a good...and sad...reason why she never would go after a man.

Laurier raised her hand. "While someone like him is actually my type, he already has someone. As an elf, I can´t get interested in him."

Filvis looked quite agitated. "He dares to put his hands on my adorable, lovely, cute, innocent, and pure sister! Do you think I would get interested in someone like him?!"

Aura hid halfway behind Filvis. "I don´t even know him..."

Iska grinned. "I have a boyfriend, so count me out."

Neze shrugged her shoulders. "I already have my eyes on someone."

This statement left a few of the others shocked. One by one, the Astrea familia members promised Alfia that they would never go after Bell.

Ryu returned Alfia´s glare, she was quite agitated due to Lyra´s teasing and what Alfia had implied. As if she as an elf would ask Bell to make love to her so that she could become pregnant!

"Mr. Bell is in a relationship, so am I with Alise. Alise is my partner and the one I love. Don´t even dare to imply Alise or I would ever do something like that! And this has nothing to do with Bell, never would we do this with anyone!"

Alise nodded. "Jup, I agree with Ryu. She is my one and only, no one else will ever touch me, or her."

"Good. We will go to the gnome vault tomorrow morning."

Alfia didn´t ask for permission, they had to go with her. She also didn´t care about any hurt feelings.

Then she left the room and went to Lefiya, Bell and Haruhime. Alfia was pleased that they didn´t do more than hold hands.

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Alise still looked like she was in thoughts. "Lady Astrea?"

"Yes?"

"I already thought about one or two things, in case we do recruit more people."

"I´m all ears."

"Do you remember when we told you about the time when we ran into the Loki familia fighting against a large horde of monsters on the 49th floor?"

"I do."

"We noticed something there while we waited a bit away to not disturb them. They use larger formations than we do, due to their high numbers, but I noticed something else. Most of their elves were centered around their vice captain, it was like a special magic squad, but with archers and swordsmen protecting them."

"And your idea is to form something similar?"

"Yes. We could then officially make Ryu the elven captain, and not just call her that as a joke. To form a small special squad, while we increase the ranks of our familia further. Ryu has a unique skill, she can use our magic. Lefi can use the magic of other elves, and except for Laurier, all our elves have magic. Even such nasty one as Viana´s."

"Oy..." The dark elf looked displeased.

Alise looked at her. "Tell me that monsters don´t groan and scream in pain when they get hit by your magic...and that some even start to melt."

"We...can´t..."

"See?"

Viana just nodded. "We still like our magic..."

Kaguya grinned nasty. "It´s quite the sight, that´s for sure."

Astrea looked at Ryu. "What do you think about an elven squad? You are the oldest elf of the familia, you have the most experience. And all of the others respect you."

"But me as a leader? I don´t know."

Kaguya rolled her eyes when she heard Ryu doubting herself. "Then let us make things easier. Filvis, would you accept Lion as your squad leader?"

Filvis nodded. "I respect her and would follow her orders."

Kaguya´s eyes wandered to Laurier.

"I too respect Ms. Ryu, I would have no problem."

Suddenly a voice came from outside of the living room, Lefiya´s.

"I also would be happy to have Ms. Ryu as my squad leader!"

A few of the others chuckled.

Alise grinned. "Never underestimate an elf´s ears."

Aura sat a bit up. "I only heard good things about Ms. Ryu from Filvis, even when I..just recently joined...I could accept that."

Astrea smiled. "See, Ryu? All of them look up to you and could accept you. So, what do you say?"

Ryu was in thoughts for a few moments, then she nodded. "I will accept this role, and will do my best."

"You will also need a number two, since you´re not a complete mage, you will most likely move forward a few times or jump in to protect the others."

Ryu looked at Filvis, the black-haired elf had the most experience from the others. "Then I pick you, Filvis."

It wasn´t a question.

Again, Lefiya´s voice came from the other room. "Congratulations, Filvis! And Ms. Ryu!"

This meant a lot for Filvis, not only that her familia didn´t have a problem with her hair color, now she even would get a small leading role. Depending on the number of new members they would get in the future, it would mean giving orders to quite a few people.

Alise stopped with a satisfied smile. "While it breaks my heart to not be in the same squad as Ryu all the time, I still think it is a nice idea. But then I will sometimes have to come to your squad to activate my skill, or you come to the front line."

Ryu suddenly got deep red, all the way up to her ears, she couldn´t say something just nod.

All of the others, except for Astrea, looked a bit confused. Only the goddess, Alise, and Ryu knew how exactly Alise´s new skill "Burning Love" worked. It enhanced the effect of her other skill, by quite a large amount of status points, for that she had to get a sign of affection from Ryu.

Like...a kiss.

So far they had done that in secret in the dungeon, but to have Alise running towards her during a fight to steal a kiss...how lewd...

Lyra sat up again. "So, captain, you want us to visit the Education District when it arrives at Melen soon, right?"

"It would be the best way to get new people, especially those that can use magic. We could ask Lefi for advice where to look."

Astrea nodded. "A good idea, I will ask Ganesha to guard our home, we will all go together."

Kaguya lazily raised her right hand. "Before that, we have to decide how to call our elven squad."

Neze´s ears twitched one time. "Can´t we just call it that? Elven Squad?"

"That´s boooring, Neze."

Lyra grinned. "I agree."

"Then, Squad Lion?"

"Nah, pass."

"Magic Squadron?"

"Lame!"

A few ideas came, but not one was well liked. At some names, the elves got a bit upset.

Suddenly, Alise grinned wide.

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"Since we have currently five elves, how about "Lion´s Fine, Funny, Fabulous Fairy Force?"

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Ryu looked pretty embarrassed of that name.

Kaguya shook her head. "Too long."

Astrea smiled gently. "Then why not make it shorter? Like...Fairy Force?"

Ryu looked shocked at her goddess. "Lady Astrea?!"

"Ehehe, I think it is quite an elegant and cute name."

Maryuu giggled. "I´m all in for Fairy Force."

Neze laughed. "Me too."

More and more hands went up, the elves were against the name at first. But since Lady Astrea said it was elegant and cute...

Alise raised her fist. "Cheers to the Fairy Force!"

By chance, the title would later slip out in the presence of the Loki familia. For some reason, the elves of the Loki familia would look pretty embarrassed, especially Riveria. And even later, Loki would go to Astrea and accuse her of plagiarism.

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While the Astrea familia discussed their problems, Ganesha and his high executives did something similar. They had to get stronger too.

When late afternoon came, Bell and Haruhime went home, and Lefiya accompanied them since she and Haruhime still had to prepare themself for the next day.

And at home, they witnessed a similar scene to the Stardust Garden. Since they had to get stronger too, Miach told Bell and Haruhime they had decided to visit Melen too and look for people from the Education District.

"Bell, as the Vice-Captain of the familia, and the dungeon captain, have you thought about what you might need in the party?"

He nodded. "I talked about it with Lily, since she is our strategist. What we could need would be more frontline fighters, maybe even a tank, I heard dwarves are the best for that kind of work. But what we really would need would be one or two mages. So far we don´t know what exactly Ms. Talvi´s magic does, but having one or two people with wide area attack magic would be an incredible help."

Lefiya nodded to agree with their analysis, she was allowed to be at the meeting too, Miach said she was like an honorary member of the familia. And her presence put Bell and Haruhime more at ease.

"Lady Astrea also told me it wouldn´t be a problem when I accompany you on a few Expeditions, when we don´t have our own set up."

Miach smiled gently. "That is really kind of her and you, Lefiya. One or two times it will surely happen, but we need to build up our own strength. With your magical strength, you all could easily go down further than you could without Lefiya."

The elf looked down a bit sad. "But I can´t convert into your familia...I can´t leave all my friends and my sister."

"I would never ask this of you. And I´m sure you would be even stronger with Bell and Haruhime around."

At least Haruhime would be, due to her skill.

Lena raised her hand. "Lord Miach, I think we should also look for men to join the familia, we have surprisingly many women here!"

She was right, Bell and Luan were the only male members. While Welf was a party member, he still belonged to Hephaistos.

"So that the party is more balanced!"

In secret, Lena had other reasons, all these poor women here needed someone at their side!

They talked for a few minutes more, but then Miach said they would wait with going further into this topic after Lefiya and Haruhime were done with their trials. Since all of the others wanted to help.

The Takemikazuchi familia helped too.

But not everyone could help. At the morning of the next day, Welf, Cassandra, Daphne, Lily, and Luan would leave Orario to go to the forest that Bell talked about, to look for the special wood and metal. Lena wanted to go with them at first, but they said she should stay and help Haruhime and Lefiya. Also, six people weren´t needed for something like that. Bell wrote down notes for them, about everything he read that could be important.

When evening came, and the women of the two familias sat together for a "war council", Lena jumped up to her feet.

"So, everyone, gonna go! Bete has night patrol and I will go with him!"

Haruhime looked a bit worried. "Are you sure? I heard it gets a bit dangerous in Orario at night these days."

"Ah, don´t worry. I´m with my hubby! Also, the Astrea familia, Ganesha familia and Loki familia are all to a large part in the city. There are only a few things more romantic than beating up bad guys together!"

Her eyes sparkled.

"Will you be back at night?"

"Probably not!"

"O-Oh."

"Hehe, don´t get flustered. We aren´t there yet, but I want to sleep with my hubby holding me in his arms!"

Mikoto and Chigusa blushed by these words, they had kissed Ouka, but sleeping together like this was too soon for them. Haruhime nodded slightly, she could understand that wish, Lefiya too, but she didn´t show it.

"Oh and don´t worry, even after our morning training, I will be there to cheer for you when you face Alfia!"

They had seen how Lena looked like this morning, after her first training with Bete. Very beaten up, with bruises all over, but gleaming so happy, the sun looked dim compared to her.

And Miach confirmed, just from this one training session, Lena´s status already went up by a good amount. Not as crazy as if she had a rare skill that would give her insane amounts of Excelia, but a little more than one would expect. She said it was due to her love, and Bete being the one beating her.

The others even saw that her bite mark looked a bit fresher again, so maybe Bete had bitten her again? Held her again tightly in his arms? Nahza told them this was quite normal for beast people, Haruhime had experienced this with Lefiya and Bell too.

So Lena waved them goodbye and ran away, her feet carried her swiftly to the Twilight Mansion, where Bete waited for her.

A few other members of the familia also waited outside, until Finn would give the order to move out.

"Lena Tally, soon to be Loga reporting for duty!"

Bete sighed when she stopped in front of him, grinning happily. "I could´ve picked you up, Orario isn´t that safe currently."

"Hah, I´m level three! And if someone attacked me, I could´ve shown even more that I´m strong!"

A few of the others chuckled, Bete glared at them for a moment, so they looked away quickly. Lena looked at him with an amorous expression, obviously waiting for something. When she felt Bete´s hands on her shoulders, her body shivered in anticipation and her eyes glew.

Bete didn´t kiss her gently, it was a bit rough, straightforward like a wolf should be! Lena loved it! She was okay with taking her time with Bete, since he was also a virgin, she would make his first time an experience that he would never forget! But just in case he decided to pull her into a side alley this night...she wouldn´t complain!

"Hehe, I love the way you kiss me. By the way, Lady Loki gave me permission to sleep here tonight."

"What?!"

Bete looked over his shoulder to the Mansion, he could see Loki leaning out of her window, showing him a thumbs up!

They wouldn´t be the only couple of the familia this night, Anakitty and Raul also went together, but since these two would encounter no bad guys this night, they had enough time to kiss, cuddle a bit and snuggle up to each other when they took a break. Other beast people of the familia would notice that Raul´s scent was on Aki when they returned and viece versa.

.

.

When morning came, Bete woke up in his bed, with a sleeping Amazon snuggled up to his body. And they weren´t naked! Lena normally always slept naked and also said she didn´t know one Amazon who slept with clothes. Lena was quite pent up, for not having sex in almost half a year now, she even had stopped loving her skilled fingers, so that her first time with Bete would be really special! So to show him how much she loved him, Lena still wore her panties, and she was insanely happy when she saw Bete´s reaction to her taking off her other clothes, especially when he saw her bare breasts! She really was a beauty in his eyes.

And she had another reason why she still wore her panties. When they would have their first time, Lena wanted Bete to take them off for her! Maybe even by using his teeth!

In her usual clothes, she hid most of her skin now, Lena openly told him the only male eyes allowed on her nude body were his. But he was allowed to look all he wanted! At any time he wanted! She would even turn in a way that her vest and back made it impossible for others to see her front, then lift up her battle brassiere so that Bete could see her naked breasts if he desired so! And to pump up his spirit!

Bete understood more and more Finn´s troubles with Tione, and Tione was shy compared to Lena!

He looked at Lena´s calm expression, her arms were tightly wrapped around him. While her soft, warm body felt very nice, it was her mere presence that had the biggest effect on Bete.

For the first time in years, Bete didn´t have any nightmares in his sleep, it was the best sleep as long as he could remember. She purred slightly in her sleep when he gently carressed her bare back with his left hand. His tail came from the right side and the tip rested on Lena´s knee. Having his scent on her body was her ultimate joy.

"I really love you...Lena..."

Her face tilted a bit upward to him, when he kissed her in her sleep, Lena got some very nice dreams.

"Please...never leave my side..."

She smiled in her sleep and snuggled up more to him, Bete decided to sleep a bit more. Lena had to be at home around noon for something important, so there was still a lot of time for their morning training.

The feelings he had for Ais in the past couldn´t be compared to Lena. For Ais it was probably more that he felt a bit safer, since she was strong. But Lena...if he had to name it, he would say...she healed him.

.

.

The early morning in Orario would get shaken by a message quickly spreading all over Orario.

Shakti Varma had finally leveled up to six. She held back for a long time, to raise her status as much as possible, even reaching over eight hundred in three stats.

She had talked for a long time with Ganesha about this matter, in the end both came to the conclusion that it would be the best. The whole familia would more than double their training.

And they would make good use of Alfia´s teachings, that they would get from the Astrea familia.

.

.

Many people were still shaken by the shockwaves and the earthquake that had hit Orario due to Alfia unleashing her magic power.

But not everyone knew that this would happen.

So, a pretty normal guy called the "High Novice", would get all the credit for literally shaking the whole world of his beloved cat girl, when they shared the bed for the first time.

Anakitty never thought sex would feel THAT amazing.

This cat meowed quite often at that time.

.

.

"I´m baaaaack!~~~~"

Lena jogged happily waving through the front door, she was thoroughly beaten up again.

"Haaaaah~~~ Bete really knows how to handle a woman! His punches and kicks are so...manly! Wolfy! Haaaah~~~"

Nahza shoved Lena in the direction of the bathroom. "Hay Hay, keep your delusions and desires in check, you all-time-horny Amazon..."

"I´m not horny all time, Captain! I´m thirsty! And happy!"

"Yes, yes, go now. The Astrea familia will be here soon..."

"What?! I have to hurry!"

Nahza didn´t know that the bathroom was currently occupied by someone. A minute later, Bell´s shriek echoed through the house. Lena didn´t have a problem since she was still wearing her clothes.

But in the home of the Astrea familia, Alfia suddenly looked in Bell´s direction, she felt that he was in danger in some way!

The group that went to the forest was already gone at this point, their trip would get interesting. Nahza had worked a lot the last days to make potions for them, just in case. Lily had worked with Luan on the logistics, they also took the two bigger water crystals with them. Cassandra especially was happy about the chance to shower during their trip.

Daphne had looked a bit confused and flustered this morning. When she went to wake Cassandra up, Cassandra told her about a dream she had. About Daphne and her getting enveloped by darkness...and they looked so happy about it! That Daphne had even started to sigh and pant when that happened! Cassandra couldn´t explain what she saw in her dream, but it didn´t feel like a bad one! Daphne told her to keep her perverted dreams in check.

"It wasn´t perverted, Daphne!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure..."

"Please believe me!"

"Why would I ever make these noises?! Pervert!"

When this travel group left Orario, Ursu came out after a while, halfway drifting over Welf´s shoulder. She made a strange noise and waved to Cassandra, who smiled and waved back. Even Welf didn´t know how and when these two became friends. But he felt it through their connection, Ursu liked Cassandra. And she liked him...very much.

.

.
When the Astrea familia arrived, it didn´t look like they were escorting their prisoner. Alfia moved naturally and looked more like a queen coming home.

The first thing she did after entering the house, was to go to Bell´s room and look around.

"Clean and tidy, good. I see no women clothes in here, so you still sleep separated and didn´t move in one room together."

"No we didn´t."

For now Bell, Lefiya and Haruhime slept separated of each other, until the trial would end, they had promised that to each other.

Alfia nodded. "I´m glad."

"Mom?"

She pulled Bell into a hug. "I´m glad that your grandfather didn´t have a much bigger influence on you."

Alfia sighed. "I´m not ready yet to become a grandmother...I´m too young for that..."

"M-Mom?!"

"Shhh...it´s alright."

"Mom...your familia is watching..."

"So? Let them watch and have their own thoughts."

All that mattered for her was Bell, and to be reunited with him. After all, she didn´t see him since yesterday. Following a wave from Astrea, her familia left Alfia alone for now, out of curiosity, they looked a bit around in the house, but not in the part of Takemikazuchi´s familia.

Except for one of them, who was allowed there.

Kaguya was very pleased when she saw a certain young woman.

"Oh my."

Mikoto bowed slightly. "Good morning, Elder Sister Kaguya."

"Good morning, little sister."

Chigusa leaned slightly to Mikoto. "Are you two really related?"

"Honestly...I don´t know."

Kaguya smirked like a cat. "As I said, our eyecolors aren´t very common in the Far East, I know only of my clan to have them. So the chance is pretty high, little sister.~~~"

"Mmmh..." Mikoto didn´t know if that should make her happy or not.

"So, where is your boyfriend?"

Mikoto and Chigusa blushed.

"T-training outside..."

"Mh..."

"And you two are not with him?"

"We helped Haruhime and Ms. Lefiya as good as possible. To prepare them."

"Good, they will need all their strength."

At this moment, Takemikazuchi and Ouka came in from their morning training. Both had trained martial arts together, with free upper bodies. The sight of the god wasn´t a problem, but seeing Ouka like that...

"Mmmmh!"

"Hiii!"

Kaguya laughed loud in her mind when she saw the reaction of Mikoto and Chigusa. Mikoto blushed even more and looked hastily away. But Chigusa...it was as if her eyes were glued at Ouka´s upper body, they wandered over his trained muscles. And...she drooled a bit.

Ohohoho?~~~ Looks like the quiet one here is actually a little perverted?

It wasn´t really that, but Chigusa loved muscles. Ouka´s muscles. Ouka´s delicious, wonderful, from strength shivering, full, plump...muscles.

"Ah, good morning Kaguya, so you have already arrived."

Kaguya bowed in a perfectly polite way. "I wish you a good morning, Lord Takemikazuchi. I brought Far Eastern tea for you."

The god smiled. "That is very friendly and polite of you, Kaguya. You have my thanks."

To show Takemikazuchi respect was a twisted joy for Kaguya. Of course he was pretty handsome since he was a god, but it was something else that let her like him. Her clan, just like many others in the Far East, had looked down on some gods, who didn´t have much on earth, like Takemikazuchi.

So showing him respect and honor...made Kaguya a bad girl in the eyes of the nobles in the Far East! And Kaguya was a rotten, foul-mouthed, bad girl to the core! Of course she was also elegant and all that, but she felt much joy living out her bad girl side. As usual she wore her kimono open and halfway pulled down on the side, to reveal her metal arm. Her chest was covered by bandages, similar to what Mikoto did.

"I heard your katana got destroyed, really a shame."

"I agree, it was a good sword. Alfia will pay for that, I will get a new one, a stronger one."

"That is good, a strong warrior needs a sharp blade."

"I agree."

Kaguya handed Takemikazuchi the box with the expensive tea, then her eyes wandered to Ouka.

"Ara ara~~. If that isn´t some delicious eye candy so early in the morning."

"Eh?" Ouka looked confused.

"Running around half naked, sweating, panting, and all that in front of your girlfriends and a young, single, noble lady like me? You are quite shameless, aren´t you?"

She said all that, yet Kaguya let her eyes wander over Ouka´s body, wherever she desired to look at.

"E-Elder Sister, you can´t!"

Mikoto tried to shield Kaguya´s eyes with her hands, while not looking at Ouka.

"Eek! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! That hurts!"

Kaguya had caught Mikoto´s hands and now squeezed them and held them down.

"What a naughty, little sister. Doing something so disrespectful needs to be punished."

Kaguya let go of Mikoto after a few seconds.

"So, you big hunk of quivering muscles, do you enjoy standing like that in front of us? Go and take a shower."

Ouka was still a bit confused by Kaguya´s behaviour, but he left with Takemikazuchi. Kaguya followed Ouka with her eyes for a moment, with a naughty expression on her eyes.

Only the familia members who knew her for a long time would be able to see the pain in Kaguya´s eyes, hidden behind her behaviour. Someone like Ouka was absolutely her type, and with her personality she wouldn´t even have a problem to share Ouka with her little sister and Chigusa.

But Kaguya knew it could never be, the poison inside her body would kill him. So she would never get the chance to have a partner, male or female, or to experience what pregnancy and having a child felt like. One option would be to travel to the Far East to get the antidote from her clan, but she swore herself to never return.

So all she could do was look, and give herself to her fantasies while she used her special toy from the Pleasure Quarter, and the scented candles that let her drift into a daydream about this big guy moving on top of her, panting and grunting heavily, or she on top of him, riding him like a bull...

Hah...it will never be...

Then, Kaguya got serious.

"I hope you two helped to prepare them well, Alfia needs a serious beating."

She didn´t get an answer. Mikoto still blew air onto her hands, with a quite red head and Chigusa was caught in her daydream, drooling about muscles...

"Hah...you two will need a lot of help to get out of your shells. Leave it to your Elder Sister!"

Kaguya had decided, she would now adopt Chigusa too! Also, in her mind, two sisters sharing a guy was way hotter than two childhood friends!

And Takemikazuchi could tell that Chigusa and Mikoto had a relationship like sisters.

Kaguya just wished it could be three sisters sharing this muscled guy...

.

.

.

The Astrea familia could only gasp when they saw the truly enormous kitchen of the Miach familia.

"Oy, oy oy! Isn´t this kitchen almost half the size of our house?!"

"That´s ridiculous!"

"Why do you need so much space?!"

Miach chuckled. "Ask Apollo that, he build this Mansion before we took it."

"Lefi said the bath also is enormous!"

One by one, most eyes of the Astrea familia wandered to Miach, Astrea giggled.

"Miach, would it be possible for my girls to maybe use the bath later?"

He smiled gently. "Be my guests."

The young women cheered, the elves acted more reserved. While the bath of the Astrea familia wasn´t small, it was nothing compared to that of Miach and Takemikazuchi. They would especially enjoy the Far Eastern style bath, since it was something new for them, except for Kaguya.

And Kaguya would have a lot of fun messing with the elves of her familia, telling them all kinds of custom that they had to follow in a Far Eastern bath...

To make the situation even stranger, Mikoto would join in with her very unique bathing customs, which according to her were normal in the Far East. Since Haruhime was oblivious, she would accept it. The only one who could say that this was all wrong, was Chigusa. But she was still enjoying her daydream about Ouka´s delicious muscles...also she was too intimidated by Kaguya.

But now, it was time for the showdown.

On this day and the next one, Haruhime and Lefiya would cook. Today they had to follow Alfia´s demands and cook what she wanted to see. On the next day, they had to cook something on their own, something good enough to beat Alfia in a cooking battle.

Which meant, today would be the easy part. Or so did they think.

Alfia stood there in her blue and white dress, having her hair bound to a braid. Lefiya and Haruhime wore aprons over their normal clothes, a really nice sight for Bell!

"We will begin then."

She didn´t ask if they were ready, Alfia demanded it. Both nodded.

Everyone in the Mansion was watching the trial. The only member of the Astrea familia who remained at their home, was Viana. She took the guarding duty again. Lyra had joked that Viana almost turned into some kind of friendly troll, living in their familia´s basement, who protected their home.

The dark elf had shrugged her shoulders and went to work, she loved her laboratory in the basement.

Alfia cleared her throat. "For the rules. You will prepare a starter, main course and dessert. You also need to bake bread. You can help each other, but each of you prepares one dish from each course. Show me what you can do. If help comes from outside, you have immediately failed. And you have to pass six out of seven tests."

Both gulped slightly. One of the trials would be a mock battle with Alfia...this one was the most likely to fail.

"For everything you will have four hours, not more. For the starter, you have to use goat cheese. Also rocket salad and lamb's lettuce. The bread is meant to be ready with the starter."

Both nodded, all ingredients were already in the kitchen, Alfia would tell them for each step what to use. But not every ingredient, only a few things that had to be included, everything else was up to them. That both had to prepare a menu was actually a help. Haruhime´s strong sides were Far Eastern cooking and Amazon dishes. For Lefiya it was elvish cuisine, and a few other dishes.

I will judge each dish, keep in mind that they have to satisfy me...and Bell.

The audience mumbled with each other, Ryu especially looked pretty displeased.

"Why is she testing them like that? Lefiya and Haruhime aren´t Bell´s servants...they are his partners."

Astrea smiled gently. "Ryu, can you cook?"

"A bit."

"Alise, can you cook?"

"Jup! I´m especially good with roasting and grilling!"

Astrea looked to Bell. "Can you cook, Bell?"

"Yes, my Mom trained me thoroughly."

He said thoroughly, but the others guessed he meant...harsh.

"I think what Alfia tries to teach them, is that everyone should learn how to cook. And don´t think of her as Alfia currently, think of her as a mother. She wants to make sure that Bell finds good partners, and that they become good mothers for their children later. Don´t forget, Alfia does everything only for Bell, she is a mother through and through."

"Hm, I guess you are right."

Alfia looked from Haruhime to Lefiya and back. "When the cooking trial is over, I will check how you do housework. Only absolute perfection will be tolerated."

Astrea giggled and whispered to Ryu. "See? She makes sure both are fine, young adults."

Alise grinned. "To think this caring Mommy is the fearsome Silence, heh."

Alfia slowly turned her face to Alise, she even opend her eyes to glare at her. But Alfia´s stare didn´t work on Alise, so Astrea´s captain just grinned and waved happily.

Alfia then looked at Haruhime and Lefiya.

"Begin."

To prepare themself for cooking, Haruhime had bound up her hair into a ponytail, as well as her five tails, with Lefiya´s help. For Bell...this looked incredible! If he had to use a shameful word of his grandfather, it was...sexy!

.

.

Cooking with various ingredients, making salad and baking bread wasn´t that challenging, but Alfia had high standards.

In the end she said.

"You pass...barely. But you pass."

This first cooking trial was the easy of the two, but now came housework.

.

.

Even Alfia was left a bit speechless when she saw the skills of Haruhime and Lefiya. As an elf, Lefiya always kept things spotless, she was really good at cleaning.

But Haruhime...

Her skills were beyond even Alfia´s, in terms of pure speed. Bell, and all the others, couldn´t believe their eyes, Haruhime had attached small feather dusters to the tips of her tails, clenching the hair slightly to hold it. This was extremely complicated, and she had done it to train using her tails since having multiple of these was very confusing in the beginning.

Now Haruhime could use seven limbs at once to clean.

The room that they cleaned got so perfect, someone could eat from the ground!

Alfia grit her teeth, even with her extremely high standards, she could only acknowledge their skills.

"Alright...you pass this day."

"So that are three trials done?"

"No, today counts as one trial."

Haruhime´s tails curled around, Lefiya looked a bit upset. "That´s unfair."

"How? I make the rules."

""Unh...""

"So, I will now give you the rules for tomorrow."

Both nodded.

"Like today, you will make a full course, two again. You can work together. One main dish will use meat, the other fish. I will add a twist tomorrow, so be prepared. The full course has to beat what I will cook. The judges will be the three gods, and Bell. To make it harder at the end, one dessert have to be able to make Bell happy, the other good enough to satisfy...someone else."

Both knew who Alfia was talking about, but they didn´t say a word.

"The starter will include a salad. You are free to make what you want, you can even start preparations in the morning."

Then Alfia showed them an evil, superior smirk. "You are free to use your spcialities. Do your best to beat me..."

Alfia looked at the gods. "Your judging will be fair?"

All three nodded, even when they wanted Lefiya and Haruhime to succeed, they would be fair. It would make no point if they won by having favours, that would sully their win and let them feel bad.

She raised her eyebrow to Bell. "And you?"

"Y-Yes..."

He was torn, his Mom versus his girlfriends...

In the end, Alfia looked at both again. "Everything that happens during the cooking will be judged, not just the taste of the food."

Both nodded again.

The last sentence of Alfia would open possibilities. Haruhime and Lefiya intended to use this and even use "dirty tricks". After all, they fought against the Monster of Talent. For a reason that Bell couldn´t explain to them for now, he had asked both to never call Alfia that.

No matter how she gave herself, the word monster or Monster of Talent, hurt Alfia deep down. Not because of herself, but it reminded her every time from where her enormous strength came...and what it cost her beloved sister.

.

.

The rest of the day was at least a bit relaxing in the big bath, Alfia went to her old room, Bell went with her to spend a bit time with his Mom.

Meanwhile, Lefiya and Haruhime worked together with all three familias in a war council

They had to come up with ideas how to beat Alfia, to use everything they had to their advantage! And do more than just cooking! Iska had probably the most important idea, since in Alfia´s eyes, Bell´s opinion mattered the most.

So they had to influence Bell without influencing him directly.

Also, while they weren´t allowed to help them with cooking, Alfia never said the familias weren´t allowed to help them buy ingredients. Haruhime and Lefiya worked until late at night on their menues, in the morning, Astrea´s followers, except for Alfia, went into the city to buy various things. Many shops opened up earlier for them, since they had done so much for Orario.

Ryu went with Filvis to a special elven shop, while Kaguya took Chigusa to go to a Far Eastern shop. Mikoto, Lyra, and Haruhime went to a special bakery. The others went to different shops, like a butcher.

Lena went early to the Loki familia, to get a bit of her super special serpent meat, apologizing to Bete that she had to come a bit late for their training. Bete told her for that he would put her through the meat grinder. When Lena heard that, her hips shook for a second, and she ran off faster to her home than even Allen Fromel could. Amazonian love could be scary.

When the first purchases came in, it was only seven o´clock, Lefiya and Haruhime went to work. They had to prepare something before they actually started to cook, it was the sauce for the meat dish.

The Queen of all sauces.

The gods called it, Demi Glace.

For the sauce alone they needed.

.

.

5 kg beef bones

800 g beef leg slice

10 tbsp rapeseed oil

2 carrot

2 onion

4 stalks of celery

2 heads of garlic

10 sprigs of thyme

6 tbsp tomato paste

4 cloves

4 bay leaves

2 tbsp wheat flour

500 ml red wine

4 liters of veal stock

8 stalks flat-leaf parsley

2 pinches of salt

2 pinches of pepper

2 pinches of allspice, ground

.

.

The sauce would be Maryuu´s revenge at Alfia. She was like the big sister of everyone in the familia, was very gentle and nice. But Alfia had destroyed her pride and dignity, for that she had to pay! Astrea´s gift to them was a bottle of red wine, the most expensive red wine in all of Orario except for the divine wine.

There was nothing wrong with Astrea giving her child and Haruhime expensive wine. She wasn´t helping them at all, since she couldn´t know what they would use the wine for. That they needed wine for the sauce and later the meat dish was pure coincidence.

So Maryuu had explained to them how to make this sauce, and that it would take seven hours! They could use less ingredients, but since they were already making the sauce...why not make a bit more. They calculated a bit more time, since they also had to make the tomato paste.

While Bell wasn´t allow to help, he sat there and watched them work, his presence alone helped them.

The first thing they did was to fire up the oven, while they chopped the meat and bones. They put the bones and meat into a roaster, sprinkled them with the oil, and put it in the oven. Then they started to wash, peel and cut the vegetables. When Haruhime noticed how Lefiya started to sob, she giggled and took the onions from her. It was one of Haruhime´s hidden powers, she didn´t need to cry when cutting onions!

To thank her, not caring that the others saw it, gave Lefiya her a kiss on the cheek. For a splitsecond, did Haruhime´s tails move around...and formed a heart.

After the meat and bones were roasting for half an hour, they put the cut vegetables and garlic on top of it and put it back into the oven. Bell and Haruhime had to admit that Lefiya wearing oven gloves looked really cute. And Haruhime having a ponytail again was to die for!

Now they washed the thyme, pat dry and picked off the leaves. They added the tomato paste, which they made earlier, the leaves of three thyme sprigs, cloves and bay leaves and mixed it after another twenty minutes with everything in the roaster.

"You two look so beautiful while you work together."

""Mmmh! D-Don´t disturb us like that!""

"I´m sorry..."

Both smiled abashed over their shoulders to him, then they continued their work.

After another fifteen minutes, they took the roaster out of the oven, put a bit flour on it, then back into the oven for five minutes, after that, pouring red wine over it.

Now they had to pour everything into a pot and pour in the veal stock. Wash the parsley, shake it dry and add to the pot. Season with salt, pepper and allspice. Afterward it could simmer over low heat for 3 hours...

Astrea got curious and wanted to taste a bit, as did Maryuu. Since they were totally not helping at all, they just gave their opinion on the taste. If they would use this opinion to increase the taste a bit, it was up to them.

And now they could finally take a break.

There were a few other steps to make, but the majority for the sauce was done.

Only for the sauce!

Anything less than the Queen of all Sauces wouldn´t be enough to beat someone like Alfia!

Afterward, both sat down to relax a bit, now Bell was allowed to help them a bit, he did so by massaging their shoulders.

"Mh~~"

"Ah~~ That feels nice.~~" Lefiya sighed from joy.

Even Filvis couldn´t get mad when her little sister looked so happy. Yet she was a bit ashamed of the longing in Lefiya´s eyes, she probably had one of her small delusions, about kissing Bell and Haruhime.

Nahza noticed that Miach looked at her.

"You know, when I see them working like that, it makes me want to see you wearing an apron."

"And I will gladly do so, Miach.~~"

He leaned closer and whispered something in her ear, so soft that no one else heard it. Nahza got a bit red but smiled amorous.

"~~Whenever you want.~~"

Of course if he desired so, Nahza would also wear a naked apron for Miach. After she had her first time with him, Nahza got even more affectionate and almost craved to feel his love for her.

Talvi looked fascinated at the pot. "I never heard about such a sauce before, this is really interesting!"

As usual, some of Astrea´s followers looked interested in her, never had they heard about a beast person that had horns or antlers, and Talvi had both!

Astrea looked curious too. "Little Talvi, say which race do you belong to?"

"I don´t know, Grandpa Zeus said I´m unique, but some people called me a Chimera."

"Grandpa...Zeus?..."

"Oh, I´m sorry, I mean Lord Zeus. He said I shall say he is my Grandpa when we traveled together."

"He...didn´t do anything weird to you, right?"

"No. We only bathed together sometimes."

Astrea rolled her eyes and mumbled. "Zeus..."

Talvi smiled innocenly and oblivious. "He was really nice, we washed each others backs!"

Astrea decided to punish Zeus next time she saw him.

Then they saw how Nahza leaned slightly forward, Miach put the hand on the back of her head, pulled her further down to him and kissed her.

In front of everyone.

Nahza´s tail wagged heavily.

In their home, their love nest, Miach wouldn´t hold back in flirting with his beloved.

Lyra chuckled. "You know, when I see things like these, I feel almost sorry for Alfia."

All members of the Astrea familia looked at Lyra, including Astrea.

"Hey, I said almost. But you know, Bell was raised by the greatest womanizer in history, his god is a natural born lady killer, he has two girlfriends, no wonder Alfia is always exhausted, and worried Bell might build himself a harem."

Some of them chuckled or laughed, the elves looked embarrassed. Even Astrea couldn´t help but giggle.

Bell looked determined. "I would never try to build myself a harem, I love Lefiya and Haruhime to no end, they are my everything."

Lyra smirked. "Understandable, I was just perplexed that you fell for Lefiya and not for Lion. She was the one who saved you after all."

Bell nodded. "And I will never forget what Lady Lyon did for me."

"I told you Ms. Lyon or Ms. Ryu is enough, Mr. Cranel."

"I´m sorry, I was raised this way."

He continued. "While she indeed saved me from the minotaur, it was Lefiya who caught my eye at this moment, the most beautiful elf I ever saw and will ever see."

Lefiya blushed heavily but looked really happy.

Alise winked. "It´s good that you didn´t get a crush on Ryu, I won´t share her."

Lyra laughed. "But you two weren´t a couple back then. So what if Bell would´ve been faster with a proposal?"

Ryu shook her head, deciding not to get agitated now, she got that Lyra tried to tease her again. "I don´t know Mr. Cranel long enough for that. A five-year courtship is the least that is to be expected."

Alise grinned. "Hehe~~ Then I´m glad we know each other much longer."

They chatted a bit, until Talvi rememberred something.

"Lady Astrea?"

"Yes, Talvi?"

"I heard that there is a young, sacred, elven tree growing in your garden. Would it be possible for me to see it one day? I always wanted to see one!"

Her eyes sparkled, already excited, when her eyes sparkled like that, it looked as if tiny, green sparks were moving through her heterochromatic eyes.

The last time this happened, the gras and flowers around her suddenly grew. Miach guessed it had something to do with her magic.

Astrea smiled. "Miach and his familia are our friends, so of course you can come and visit."

"Waaaah!~~~ Thank you so much, Lady Astrea!"

The sparkles in her eyes colored Talvi´s eyes green for a second, and every flower they had in the room suddenly grew a bit taller and bloomed more.

This left more than one of them speechless.

"Talvi, what was that?!"

"Hm? Oh, that. I don´t really know, it happens sometimes when I get happy or excited."

She smiled brightly, it looked like the flowers did the same.

"Bell told me old stories about people called "Druids", apparently they were good with animals and plants. Animals were always nice to me, unlike most people."

Talvi still looked excited.

Lyra grinned. "Say, Talvi. What is your type? Someone like Bell? Or like the captain of the Takemikazuchi familia?"

"You mean what kind of men I like?"

Lyra shrugged her shoulders. "Or women."

"Hm...maybe someone as strong and nice like Grandp...Lord Zeus was?"

Most of them looked with an expression of horror at her.

"But not as old as him. Ehehe~~ I...always thought elves have something special."

Lyra grinned. "We have plenty of elves to offer in our familia."

Talvi shook her head, smiling. "I...like men."

"If it´s elven men you are looking for, Orario has plenty of them. And always remember, all elves that left their forests and came to Orario are a bit more flexible and free minded than forest elves. Some more than others."

"Ehehe~~ Thank you, Ms. Lyra."

"You´re welcome."

Astrea smiled gently to her follower. "That was really mature of you, Lyra."

"I am an adult after all. Hah...I want a man too..."

Kaguya grinned. "Lord Miach has a prum in his familia."

"Nope, that one has his eyes on my little sister, can´t steal her man away."

Talvi tilted her head curious. "Ms. Lily is your little sister?"

"Jup, I forcefully adopted her."

"Oh! That is possible?"

Astrea shook her head, smiling. "Normally not, but Lyra insisted on it."

Talvi giggled. "From what I heard, your familia really cares about our familia and the Takemikazuchi familia."

Astrea nodded. "It seems that way, I feel just like my daughters."

"Your daughters?!"

"Yes, they are all my daughters."

Lyra smiled wryly. "That lets what Lion and Alise have sound a bit weird..."

"Lyra, you know what I mean. Don´t tease Ryu all the time."

"I just show my love for our little one, and she knows that."

Ryu nodded, but looked still a tiny bit mad.

The chatting continued for a while, until...

.

.

"You two, get ready."

.

.

Alfia appeared in the door to the enormous kitchen.

"It is time."

Haruhime and Lefiya both got up, nodded and left the kitchen. They would change clothes for the cooking challenge, since it was part of the strategy.

Everything was set up in the kitchen, Alfia wore her blue dress.

They waited.

When Lefiya and Haruhime returned, Bell´s jaw dropped. He thought both looked very gorgeous the day before, but it was nothing compared to what they wore now!

Haruhime wore one of the Olympian style tunics that Zeus had gifted her! It was basically a single piece of white cloth, with golden borders. It had a decent amount of cleavage, similar to Astrea´s dress. But one thing got clear, if Haruhime would let the cloth on her shoulders slip down, her chest would get completely revealed, this kind of tunic didn´t allow a brassiere! The sides on the top part were open, giving Bell a view of her armpits and waist. And below the golden belt...below her hips...the long part down to her feet...was see through! He could see her bare legs under the cloth, but only below her hips, so everything important was covered.

It looked so...so...

Sexy...

And yet, since Haruhime wore it and her five tails curled behind her, adorable, cute, and somehow...innocent.

As if her very being didn´t allow to have lewd thoughts about her!

But when Haruhime leaned forward to pick a pot up, the hem of the skirt moved upwards again. Before anything important could become visible, her tails moved by instinct in the way and blocked everything.

And then when he saw Lefiya, Bell gulped. She also wore one of the Olympian tunics, but this one was different. The cloth looked like silk, also it hang only on Lefiya´s left shoulder. Yet this one had no cleavage at all, the cloth wasn´t see through, but it only went halfway down her thighs. And her legs...were in black net stockings!

Net Stockings!

Bell didn´t know where to look more!

Alfia made a face. "What is the meaning of this?!"

Haruhime smiled innocently. "We are allowed to wear what we want, right?"

Lefiya also smiled. "We thought it looks cute, and we wanted to show you too what Lord Zeus gifted us."

Alfia clicked her tongue. "That Zeus..."

Their outfits didn´t look slutty or something like that. But since Bell´s opinion on the food would matter the most, they would also use something that Alfia could never use.

Sex Appeal!

At the same time these outfits would disturb Alfia not only a little. And show her something, Lefiya and Haruhime were ready to do something even slightly shameful when it was about Bell. As someone from the Far East and an Elf, supressing their dignity when the situation made it necessary was a strong point for them in Alfia´s eyes.

Both also owned a very short, and very erotic lingerie version of it, but their hearts were not ready to wear these...since they also didn´t allow underwear. If they would make one wrong move in bed, important spots would get exposed. So these had to wait until their relationship would be at this point, and none of the three was in a hurry to get there.

Lefiya and Haruhime bowed slightly forward.

""We are ready to take your challenge...Mother.""

"Kuh! K-Know your place!"

It was the first time for the Astrea familia to see Alfia this disturbed. She glared at Bell, but he was too fascinated by his gorgeous girlfriends to notice it...

Neze snorted slightly. "Wow, eating much more meat really helped Lefi to develop."

Iska nodded. "And I have to say I´m quite proud of the combination of their clothes, it flatters their curves."

Laurier mumbled by herself. "Maybe I should eat more meat too..."

Aura looked flustered. "Th-This is no way for an elf to dress!"

Iska looked confused. "Why? She doesn´t show that much skin."

"The stockings! It´s shameless!"

"But they cover more than Lefi´s usual stockings."

"But the net stuff! Ugh..."

Alise laughed. "It looks like our new elf is the same as the others, seeing perverted stuff everywhere."

Aura´s face went red. "I´m not perverted, take that back!"

"I didn´t say you are perverted. Only that elves are quick to see something as lewd or filthy."

"Mh..."

Maryuu chuckled. "That Lefi filled out more because of the meat, Alise is that why you try to feed Lion so much meat?"

"Jup! And Ryu can´t even say she isn´t happy about this!"

That was the truth, in fact, Ryu was very happy, because recently she had to buy new underwear, with a bigger size for the brassiere. For the first time in years!"

Alise told her it didn´t matter for her, Ryu was beautiful the way she was. But Ryu was happy to look a bit more womanly.

Iska grinned. "But you elves are really unfair. Every other woman would fill out differently, but you only develop at you chest, buttocks and thighs."

Alise winked. "Can´t say I´m complai-Is Lefi chanting?!"

All of them now paid more attention, right when Lefiya came to the end of her chant.

.

.

"At the end of illusion, the spirit returns - forming an unbreakable bond...Einsel."

.

.
Lefiya started to glow, then when it disappeared, two Lefiyas stood there.

"Hah, now we can see how her outfit looks like if she had longer hair!"

The copy of Lefiya always had the long hair she had before, this one now bound said hair up to a ponytail.

"""We are ready to face you."""

Alfia exhaled stronger through her nose. "Even three people won´t make much of a difference."

"""We will see!"""

Since Alfia never set up a rule about magic, it wasn´t cheating.

"So, I told you there will be a twist."

Both nodded.

A mean smile appeared on Alfia´s lips.

"Let´s say the point comes where you have children...in the far future! And you want to make your fish dish...but suddenly your child says it wants to eat something with noodles. So you will make a fish dish with noodles."

Haruhime got a bit pale. "But there aren´t any noodles in the house."

"Not my problem. Do you think something so little would stop me from giving Bell what he wants to eat? It was exactly like that in the past."

"Don´t make me sound bad, Mom..."

"I would never, Bell. But a child is a child, so live with it...little fox."

Then Alfia looked at Lefiya. "And your twist...hm...you are not allowed to talk to Haruhime."

"Ungh...that´s unfair."

"I am aware."

Haruhime and Lefiya looked at each other for a moment, then they went to work. As did Alfia.

Alfia told them for each to make a starter, main course and dessert. But Lefiya and Haruhime would use every loophole possible to fight against Alfia! It was a bit hard for Lefiya, but she would use Lyra´s teachings in some ways.

So...since Alfia didn´t state a very important rule, they would use this against her!

The Astrea familia cursed Alfia with low mumbles for adding these unfair twists, but she didn´t care.

The short-haired Lefiya went to her work spot. "Me, I will start with the salad."

The long-haired Lefiya nodded. "Understood, Me, then I will work on the soup."

"If only we had someone who knows how to take care of the noodle problem."

"That would be nice."

Alfia growled. "I said no talking."

""You said no talking to Haruhime, I talk with my other half.""

Aura´s eyes nearly popped out when she saw the two Lefiyas. Some of the others were very surprised too.

"What is this magic?!"

Alise grinned. "That´s not actually Lefi´s magic, she can use magic spells of other elves, if she knows the chant and the effect. This spell belongs to Filvis."

"Hah..."

Aura looked perplexed at her savior, and Filvis nodded.

The short-haired Lefiya continued. "Once I´m done with the salad, I will do "that"."

"Understood."

Alfia noticed how Bell´s eyes were glued to his girlfriends, especially their thighs...and other body parts. She grit her teeth when she saw how Bell´s eyes wandered over Haruhime´s bare waist at the sides, up to her chest. And then...Lefiya´s behind.

He´s becoming just like Zeus!

"Bell! Eyes forward!"

"Ah, s-sorry!"

Zeus knew exactly what he did when he gifted Haruhime and Lefiya these clothes. Even when they weren´t extremely revealing, he knew his grandson!

Filvis glared at Bell. "Don´t you dare oggle my little sister like that! Have some shame! And you better not have lewd thoughts about her!"

Bell returned Filvis´ glare without any fear...he got glared at by Alfia before...Filvis was nothing against that.

"I swear to you, Lady Viridis, as an elf, as Lefiya´s older sister and as a woman. I don´t have any lewd thoughts about either of them, I just admire how beautiful both are. For me, their beauty is out of this world for me. I love them too much to oggle them just like that and disgrace them like that. If you want to call it that, both are my queens."

Filvis looked after a moment to Astrea, who nodded. Bell spoke only the truth.

"Fine...I will believe you..."

Laurier´s eyes sparkled. "To admit his feelings about them so openly, how romantic!"

Ryu shook her head. "Something like this should only stay between them, it isn´t something for public."

Bell shook his head. "I´m sorry, Ms. Ryu. I know I probably shouldn´t talk about this openly, especially since Lefiya is an elf. But I want to make things clear, especially towards Ms. Filvis, since she is Lefiya´s older sister. And I want to make things clear to her familia, and her goddess."

He bowed slightly towards the familia and especially in Astrea´s and Filvis´ direction.

"I swear to you this oath, I will always hold Lefiya dear, love her, protect her, do my everything for her. I love her more than I can say with words. And it is the same with Haruhime, I know some of you despise the idea of more than one partner, but this is how we feel."

Astrea smiled like a happy mother. "So you intend to exchange the oath with Lefiya?"

"When they manage to get my Mom´s approval, of course."

Kaguya leaned to Lyra. "Did he just propose to Lefi in front of us?"

"Dunno, maybe."

Bell saw that Alfia looked a bit betrayed.

"Mom, I also can´t say with words how much I love you, how much you mean to me. You are my everything. But you have to understand that I love them too."

Now she looked a bit better, still determined to win...or at least not make it easy for them.

Alise looked curious at the clothes of Lefiya and Haruhime. "Lady Astrea, you´re an Olympian Goddess too, what do you think of their clothes?"

"They look fine and pretty normal, I have something similar in my closet."

"What?! Really?! We never saw you wearing something like that!"

The goddess smiled. "That´s because only Ganesha is supposed to see it. Or I use it when I sleep at hot nights. I think Ryu saw it in the past."

Ryu nodded. "During my "punishment", since some nights were indeed quite warm."

"Eeeeh?! Why did you never say something, Ryu?!"

"Why should I? These are Lady Astrea´s clothes."

Alise scratched her chin. "I would really love to see you in long olympian clothes, Lady Astrea."

More than one of the others nodded in agreement.

"Hehe, then I might get myself a long tunic."

"Should we wear something like that too? I mean, you are an Olympian Goddess."

"If you want to, but I won´t force you."

"Alright, it´s decided by my right as the Captain! We will all wear something like that together in the future!"

Filvis raised her hand. "I refuse."

"But why? Your little sister wears something like that, you two would look good as sister together like that."

"Mh..."

Lefiya smiled from the kitchen. "It would look good on you, Filvis."

"Hm...maybe."

Aura looked a bit taken aback. "When...when Filvis agrees to it..."

The poor elf still needed time to get her usual form back, currently she was a bit like an abandoned pet that Filvis rescued. The others would look amazed when Aura would return to her real self, then she was quite the elegant, upright elf.

And yet she would also get a bit curious, if the story about meat was true.

Laurier raised her hand. "I agree, I can imagine it looks really good and proper if we wear long tunics or togas."

Ryu shook her head. "I won´t wear something like that."

"Awww, c´mon, Ryu. I really really want to see you wear something like that."

"No."

"Ryuuuu..."

"No means no."

But Alise saw it, Ryu´s ears betrayed her. So maybe she would wear it when only Alise could see it.

Yes!

Alfia still looked very agitated.

To defuse the situation, Miach asked Lefiya and Haruhime what they intended to make.

Haruhime nodded. "I will focus on my Far Eastern and Amazonian cooking skills."

""And I on elvish cuisine.""

Alfia snorted. "I beat Far Eastern and Elvish cuisine before."

For a reason that Alfia didn´t understand, most elves of the familia looked at each other and smiled slightly. As did the others.

Astrea giggled.

"What are you laughing for, Goddess of Justice?"

"Oh nothing at all, Alfia. You will see it."

The Takemikazuchi familia cheered for Haruhime in a low voice.

Haruhime pulled the non existend sleeves of her tunic up, she always pulled up her sleeves when she was cooking, so she did it now even when she didn´t have sleeves.

She lit up the stove, put a pot with water on it, put a bit salt inside and closed the lid.

Then she worked on...potatoes.

"Didn´t you hear what I said? A noodle dish."

And then, for the first time, Haruhime showed Alfia a special smile in return, like a cat playing with a big mouse. Or...a pleased, cunning fox.

"I did hear you, Ms. Alfia."

Haruhime raised one of the potatoes. "You said noodle dish, even when there are no noodles in the house. You wanted to see how I react to that and well...if you wanted me to fail...you should´ve banned the potatoes..."

"What are you talking about?!"

Haruhime worked with great skill and speed, cooking the potatoes while the two Lefiyas worked on their dishes.

"Mikoto was so kind to teach me all kinds of dishes once I got out of the Pleasure Quarter, do you by chance know a region of the Far East known as Kutchan?"

"Of course I don´t."

"Then maybe the name...Gosetsu Udon?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"I will show you~~"

The fox bared her fangs at the dragonness.

Chigusa mumbled to Mikoto. "Is it just me or are Haruhime´s canines a bit longer than usual?"

Alfia made a second mistake, the sun was high up in the sky, shining through the window. Haruhime´s tails curled up behind her, almost glowing in the sunlight. She always felt better when her tails could absorb sunlight, it eased her mind and let her feel refreshed.

First Haruhime steamed the potatoes, then after that was done, she removed the skin. Then she skillfully whirled a potato masher in her right hand, while she held a bowl with the steamed potatoes in her left, turning them into fluffy, mashed potatoes.

The others looked fascinated how she added water, salt, flour, and kneaded it into a dough, not minding the heat, to show her skills, she didn´t only use flour, but also potato starch.

Even Alfia was speechless when she watched Haruhime turning potatoes into handmade noodles...

It looked like Haruhime found a way to overcome the twist that Alfia added, but now she still had to turn it into a satisfying noodle dish.

Then Haruhime prepared salt, pepper, potato starch, soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. The far eastern people noticed imediatelly that she would make Salmon Teriyaki on Udon noodles.

Meanwhile the short-haired Lefiya worked on a good, yet easy salad. With lettuce, tomatoes, corn, goat cheese, a bit onion, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Both knew that Bell liked fish, and salad. So at first they wanted to make tuna salad, but it wouldn´t go well before the fish main dish.

The long-haired Lefiya made a vegetable soup, with all kinds of vegetables that Bell used to eat as a child...

"I wonder how long Haruhime will still need..."

Both Lefiyas looked to Haruhime, whose tails rose and moved in a special rythm.

""Thank you!""

Again, they didn´t break the rules, since Lefiya just talked to herself and Haruhime moved her tails.

Alise chuckled. "Did Lefi just communicate with Haruhime´s tails?"

Even Ryu smiled slightly. "It looks like it."

Ryu noticed Alise´s smirk and how she glanced to her ears. Alise could in some ways communicate by looking at Ryu´s ears and how they moved, like that she could easily see her mood and other things.

And Alise could nearly die of cuteness when Ryu´s ears wriggled up and down.

When the first three dishes were done as far as necessary, both Lefiyas went to work on the meat dish, while Haruhime made something else.

Lefiya would make stuffed deer fillet with glazed carrots, marinated zuchini and potato gnocchi, she would also use the demi glace sauce with it.

One Lefiya handled the meat, the other worked on the vegetables.

Haruhime handled a few eggs carefully.

She started to boil water with vinegar and salt, then turned down the heat so that the water only boiled slightly. Haruhime cracked one egg at a time, placed it in a cup, carefully slid it into the vinegar water and poached them 3 to 4 minutes.

The others watched fascinated, due to the vinegar did the eggs mostly keep their form!

"Where did she learn something like that?!"

"This isn´t fromt he Far East, isn´t it?"

Kaguya tilted her head. "I heard there is a region where they made something like that, but I´m not sure."

Filvis smiled. "This is a technique from Wishe, our homeforest. Lefiya probably told her what to do."

"But for what reason? They already have two starters and two main dishes?"

"I can´t tell. I´m sure they have a plan."

When the eggs turned white and were ready as far as desired, Haruhime carefully removed them from the pot and rinsed them in prepared ice water, then she let them dry on kitchen roll.

Again one Lefiya looked at Haruhime, who just showed her a thumbs up, then she went to work on something else.

"Me, can you take care of it?"

"Understood, Me."

Both Lefiya split up, one handled the main dish, the other whatever the egg was used for.

They watched how the long-haired Lefiya put three bowls on the counter. One with flour, one with quirled eggs, one with a mix of breadcrumbs and nuts.

Filvis´ eyes lit up. "Ah, she is making Mother´s famous poached egg dessert!"

"Aren´t desserts supposed to be sweet?"

Filvis shook her head. "Not this one. Oh, how I would love to try it..."

The long-haired Lefiya smiled. "We made more on purpose."

Now Lefiya very carefully turned the poached eggs in the flour, added them to the egg and finally rolled them in the breadcrumbs and nuts mixture.

Afterward putting them in boiling oil.

What Haruhime made for a dessert was unknown to most, but she handled apples, flour, beans for some reason, butter and other things.

Kaguya heard how Chigusa and Mikoto mumbled with each other, she heard the name of what Haruhime made.

When Lefiya was done with her work far enough so that it would all cook for a while, she went on to make something different, while Haruhime worked swift with great skill.

They had four hours in total, but after two and a half hours, Haruhime started to work on what Lefiya had prepared, None of the others understood what she was making, since they already clearly made six dishes.

Except from everyone who came from the Far East.

Chigusa´s one visible eye lit up. "Haruhime knows how to make that?!"

"I am amazed!" Mikoto smiled wide.

Even Takemikazuchi looked happy. "Who knew she can do something like that?!"

Lena looked confused at first, then she smiled. "Ah, so she is making "that". Two of the girls from the Lotus were from the Far East and showed Haru-Haru how to make it. Haru-Haru always liked art and is quite good at it."

Haruhime smiled over her shoulder to the Takemikazuchi familia. "I make something for you too."

They all looked happy.

.

.

.

Alfia was faster than Haruhime and Lefiya, so she served her dishes first. Salad, Rabbit stew and a special carrot cake, which had a slight sweetness, just enough so that Bell might eat it.

Bell couldn´t help but feel delighted when he ate Alfia´s cooking.

The three gods on the other hand...

"Ugh!"

"Ack!"

"Kuuh...this almost lets me go straight back to heaven!"

The impact on Takemikazuchi, Astrea, and Miach was enormous.

Astrea flinched slightly back. "What is this what I taste here?!"

Miach groaned. "This is a mother´s love for her son, Astrea..."

"Her love for Bell is merciless!"

"So impactful..."

Takemikazuchi looked like he got hit. "Ugh...she could almost be a Goddess of Destruction when her dishes have so much power! I feel overwhelmed!"

Even whe it was just cooking, Alfia didn´t allow any resistance to her. She would beat even the gods into submission if she had to!

Bell smiled. "It tastes really good, Mom."

"Even the cake?"

"Yes."

"Heh." She showed Lefiya and Haruhime a smug grin.

The others mumbled among each other.

"Kuah...Alfia really takes this personally..."

"The demon queen..."

"Ugh...even from just the smell I get hungry..."

"I´m against it, but my body betrays me...I want to eat it..."

Alfia smirked superior to "her" familia. "You are free to try it at any time...little girls."

"""""""""Kuuuh!"""""""""

She had easily prepared enough for everyone to get a taste. The Astrea familia didn´t want to acknowledge her skills, but when they tried it, all of them went quiet. They could only look at Alfia. Even Kaguya had to agree that there was something special to this food.

Love.

Her never-ending, endless love for her son. What words couldn´t explain to the familia, did her food. She would do absolutely everything for Bell, Alfia would gladly accept her death if it meant he would be safe forever. That all the horrible things she had done in the past were for him.

For the first time, other members than Alise and Astrea truly understood what Alfia was.

First and foremost, a Mother. An Aunt. A grieving Sister.

And yet, merciless to everyone else. What was a gentle, loving taste for Bell, was almost violent for others. For a split-second they thought they were deep in the dungeon, hundreds of red eyes flashed to life around them. Then a giant horde of Al´Miraj attacked them with paws, teeth, and dungeon weapons. Shredding, tearing apart, and slashing the clothes of the Astrea familia members, including their holy goddess, leaving them bare to Alfia´s superiority.

"""""""""A horde of rabbits is devouring uuuuuus!""""""""

Then the mind image ended...leaving them exhausted.

But when they tried the special cake that Alfia made, the reaction was different. They saw themself sitting on a grass field, with small fields for vegetables next to them, a big wooden house, while a tall, old man played with a small, white-haired boy, with Alfia sitting on a chair and knitting a scarf for Bell.

The taste of her only real home after her sister passed away. And what made it to her home, was Bell.

Always Bell.

Even Kaguya got cleansed by that taste, her foul mouth purified...for at least one hour.

Alfia´s eyes wandered to Lefiya and Haruhime.

"The time is up, start serving the dishes."

Alfia sat down between Astrea and Bell, behaving like a queen. Astrea wondered if she got this behavior from Hera since Alfia acted a lot like the Queen of Olympus.

Is that why she has such a strong problem with Bell having two girlfriends?

Hera was a protector of marriage and loyalty after all. It would make a lot of sense if Alfia was similar, even when she didn´t like her former goddess. Gods tended to gather followers who were at least a bit similar to them. That was why Astrea´s followers had a strong sense of Justice, even Alfia...

And that was why Ganesha´s familia was...well...special.

.

.

.

The second Lefiya vanished, while Lefiya and Haruhime brought the first dish forward to the five judges.

"This is the first dish of our six-course menu."

Alfia frowned. "I said each of you shall prepare a starter, main dish, and a dessert."

Lefiya smiled. "But you didn´t state that we should each make a three-course menu."

Haruhime also smiled, but it was her challenging smile. "So we decided to make a six-course menu."

"Hm, alright. I will give you that, it won´t change anything. Start serving."

""Yes.""

The salad looked very simple, but there were a few herbs and spices in there.

Haruhime was the one who placed the salad in front of Bell. "Please have a taste...Master Bell."

It was what Haruhime had called him a few times at the beginning. She didn´t hide her feelings of love at all when she smiled at him. Lefiya put the salad in front of her goddess and Alfia. Then Haruhime put one in front of Miach and Takemikazuchi.

To Bell´s surprise, a few of the tomatoes weren´t cut, but whole. It was pretty small tomatoes.

He took one on his fork and bit on it.

.

Splash!

.

For Bell it felt like a wave of tomato juice splashed all over him, Alfia shivered too, and Astrea groaned slightly. Miach and Takemikazuchi reacted normally as if it didn´t have any effect on them.

Lefiya curtsied politely.

"Allow me to explain, this is a special salad, with herbs from Wishe."

Haruhime also bowed slightly. "And spices from the Far East."

Takemikazuchi smiled. "I knew it, it tastes familiar."

Miach chuckled. "And you used a few healing herbs as well, right Haruhime?"

"We did, Lord Miach."

"I can almost feel it warming me up and healing me from the insides, you two did a good job."

Takemikazuchi nodded. "Alfia´s salad was good, but this one here is wonderful."

Alfia made a face. "Mh, yes, it´s alright."

Astrea just giggled, while Bell had no words to describe it. The salad was refreshing and made me lust for more.

"Next course."

Both bowed slightly. "As you wish."

Next came the vegetable soup, and while it was amazing, for Bell it lost against the soups he was used from Alfia.

Alfia smiled superiorly. "For a first try on making soup, not bad, but you have much to learn."

Haruhime smiled friendly. "From you, Mother?"

"Stop calling me that, little fox!"

Lefiya joined Haruhime´s smile. "But Mother-in-law is too long to say every time."

Alfia almost growled, a sinister glare, yet both didn´t flinch back.

"You two are not there yet."

Haruhime and Lefiya grabbed each other's hands and jumped one time happy.

"She said "yet"."

"I heard it!"

"Stop jumping around and bring the next course."

"Hehe, sorry."

"We´re sorry, Mother."

Alfia decided not to react to that word anymore.

Next came...the fried eggs.

"What is this? You said this was a dessert."

"Weeell, in a normal course the dessert would come as the third course, but here we use it differently, something in between is quite normal in a six-course menu."

Alfia shook her head but tried the dish. Just like they said, it wasn´t a sweet dessert, but the nuts gave it a nice crunchy feeling and a faint sweetness. The combination of the nuts, bread crumbs and the egg was quite something.

Miach smiled. "The yolk is still soft, I didn´t know you could make eggs this way."

Takemikazuchi nodded. "Just like Kaguya said, in the Far East there is a region where they make these eggs, but I never got the chance to try them.

Bell smiled wide. "This is the best egg I ever ate!"

Alfia looked slightly betrayed.

Astrea put a hand on her cheek. "I feel like I´m melting!~~~"

There were a few drops of the demiglace sauce around the egg, when they picked some of the egg up with their forks and moved it through the sauce, it looked like a lightning bolt hit Miach and Takemikazuchi.

""So goooood!""

Bell almost jumped to his feet when he swallowed the combination. "Wooooaaaah!~~~~"

Alfia twitched one time when she tried that. "N-Not too bad..."

The others mumbled among each other.

"Alfia reacts to their cooking!"

"They can do it!"

"At least her body is honest!"

"Go Lefi, Go Lefi, Go Lefi, Go!"

Alfia slammed her hand on the table.

"Bring the next course!"

Next was the Teriyaki Salmon on Udon noodles. The noodles were almost white, thicker than those that Alfia made in the past. On top of them was the Teriyaki Salmon, which had a nice, dark color and the scent alone watered Bell´s mouth.

With this dish came chopsticks to eat it in the true way. The gods didn´t have any problems, Alfia of course too. Bell struggled a bit until Haruhime leaned towards him with an amorous smile. "Shall I give you a hand...Master Bell?~~"

"Y-Yes, please...I don´t know how to use them."

"Then I will show you how to hold them, let me guide you, I will be gentle.~~~"

Never before in Bell´s or Lefiya´s eyes did Haruhime look so erotic. And yet she just followed Aisha´s advice for such a situation, she wasn´t even fully aware that what she did was very flirty.

She closed her hand around Bell´s and guided him, slowly picking up a noodle, and bringing it closer to his mouth.

"Please be careful, it´s hot.~~~"

She softly blew onto the noodle, looking at Bell in a special way that Aisha also taught her.

If Haruhime knew what exactly this look was called, she would die from embarrassment...

Amazons called it the "F***-me-eyes".

Lena knew what Haruhime was doing, but she didn´t say anything. Her little Haru-Haru needed a push forward! Lefiya gulped slightly when she saw how Haruhime acted.

Alfia growled again. "Have some shame, fox!"

Haruhime blinked oblivious. "I´m just helping Bell with the chopsticks?"

After two tries, Bell got the hang out of it.

"Thank you, Haruhime..."

"Always, Bell~~~"

When Haruhime returned to Lefiya´s side, she looked like a cute cinnamon roll again, not a sign of the flirty, erotic behavior.

"Ehe, Aisha told me how to help Bell with something. Lena, did I do right?"

Lena showed her a thumbs-up, grinning. Haruhime beamed from happiness and her tails wagged quickly. Now she looked like her usual self again, rivaling a puppy with how adorable she was.

Lefiya looked a tiny bit uneasy. "Your...big sister?"

"Yes.~~"

"Aha.."

"Lefiya?"

"Nothing."

Lefiya thought by herself that this Haruhime was quite...something. Something nice.

Astrea slightly clapped her hands. "I've never eaten fish like this before, the taste is amazing!"

Bell smiled blissfully. "Ah, Salmon...so good. And these noodles...*slurp*"

As usual, Bell was a fast learner, so he managed to use the chopsticks well quite fast.

He tried not to, but Bell could only slurp them inside.

Haruhime giggled. "Don´t worry, Bell. Udon is supposed to get eaten like that."

Takemikazuchi also slurped them into his mouth, making more noise on purpose.

Kaguya grinned when the elves looked a bit disgusted. "It´s custom in the Far East to eat like that. This way you show the depth of your pleasure from eating good food."

Alfia on the other hand made no noise when she ate the fish and the noodles. Making loud noises would be more disgusting for her than for the elves.

Mikoto almost glared a hole into Haruhime´s head from the side.

"Ehehe~~ Feel free to try something, Mikoto."

Mikoto made a face like a happy puppy, so the Takemikazuchi familia moved to eat the rest of the Teriyaki Salmon with Udon Noodles. And the deep-fried eggs.

.

.

.

Astrea smiled blissfully, for her children it looked a bit like the goddess was slightly drunk, she even swayed slightly back and forth. "Ehehehe~~~ I can´t wait for the next course, everything is really good. And each course increases the desire for the next one.~~~"

"Lady Astrea never reacted to our food like that..."

"I know..."

"Hey, Lefi and Haruhime use techniques they got from us and the others. So it´s basically our combined food!"

"*Gasp* You´re right!"

.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

.

The sound of Lefiya´s and Haruhime´s sandals hitting the floor, while they worked forward with the plates, was like that of an executioner.

Lefiya showed a truly pride-filled elven smile for the first time.

"Allow me to show you real elvish cuisine."

The moment the plates were put in front of them, the five judges blinked...and found themself sitting deep in a forest, hearing birds chirping and a few shy animals jumping back between the trees.

With the vegetables on the side, each of the judges had a roll of stuffed deer, with the demi-glace sauce dribbled over it and at the sides.

"Please enjoy, the taste of Wishe Forest. And if I as the chef may make a suggestion, please start with the meat from this side."

Astrea was the first to try her child´s dish.

Her whole body started to shiver.

"Ah!~~ I can see them! I can see the elves dancing around me!~~"

Lefiya smiled. "Wishe is surrounded by the sea from three sides, with a river moving in the south. Various herbs and spices grow in the forest, as well as vegetables, mushrooms, and other things. If you eat it from this side onwards, you will taste a tour through our home forest."

She smiled at Filvis, who also got a piece of this meat.

Then Lefiya handed Haruhime a small plate. "Please try it too, Haruhime. I want to give you a taste of my home before you see it in the future."

The fox returned her loving smile. "Gladly."

Bell looked like he was lost in a dream. He could see the beauty of Lefiya´s forest, with her dancing between the trees, chasing a golden fox with five tails. The fairy waved to him and led him on a tour through the forest, just like she said.

When Haruhime tried it, she exhaled in bliss, then sighed comfortably. "Hah~~~ It´s really good.~~~"

Bell, Takemikazuchi, and Miach at the last pieces at the same time, there was something special in there.

.

"""WOOOOAAAAH!"""

.

Suddenly, all three struck a pose together. For a moment it looked like they were barely wearing any clothes. Bell knelt with his right knee on the ground, the right hand placed on his thigh, while his left hand was on the ground. Miach had turned around, his left arm curled up so that his hand nearly touched his shoulder, while the right was placed on his right hip.

Takemikazuchi crouched on both feet, his arms crossed.

All three looked extremely muscular.

This moment shocked Alfia, extremely excited Nahza, and left Takemikazuchi´s followers speechless.

Then all three returned to normal and wondered why they struck a pose together. When Nahza looked at Miach, she bit her lower lip, she looked somewhat hungry...or thirsty.

Lefiya truly had dangerous cooking skills.

Alfia didn´t say much. "So this is what an elven forest tastes like."

"Yes. This is the taste of Wishe. It was a bit hard to bring all the flavors together, the sauce was the solution for what."

Haruhime whimpered slightly when she looked at Lefiya, it was obvious that she wanted to ask her countless things about Wishe right now. And maybe kiss her, and Bell...and watch how they kissed each other.

They waited for a few minutes after they finished the fifth course.

"Now, bring the dessert."

Haruhime bowed slightly and went to the kitchen, Lefiya helped her to carry it.

"This is a far eastern dessert, called Dorayaki. If you want to compare it to something, maybe it would be pancakes with a filling. It is meant to be eaten with your hands, but you can use knife and fork. Please enjoy it."

Alfia looked at the thing in her hands, no words came from her.

"Ms. Alfia?"

She looked up, and Haruhime stood in front of her. "I also would like to give you this."

It was a closed box, when Haruhime opened it slightly, Alfia saw what was inside. Sweets. Far Eastern sweets, made with great skill.

"What is the meaning of this, fox?"

Haruhime leaned closer and mumbled so softly that only Lefiya, who stood next to her, could understand her.

"I made an extra Dorayaki. They are meant as...an offering."

Alfia looked at first at her, then at Bell, then at Haruhime again.

"You..."

Haruhime gulped. "You said it also should be good enough to satisfy someone else. Please don´t be mad at Bell, I wanted to make a good offering to her too."

Alfia said nothing, but after she took the first bite, she put down her Dorayaki.

She got up to her feet and took the plate with the extra Dorayaki and the box with the sweets.

"You pass..."

Her hair covered her eyes, and she turned around and left the room.

.

.

"Eh?"

"What was that?"

"Is Alfia mad?"

"Did they win?!"

"They won!"

Astrea turned to her familia. "Girls...not now. Please be quiet."

"Lady Astrea?"

The goddess nodded to Haruhime and Lefiya. "It was a nice thing of you to do. You passed this challenge. Let us give Alfia a bit of time for herself. Yet...Bell maybe you should go to her."

"Yes."

.

.

Bell knew where Alfia was, in her old room, Bell had put his mother´s picture into this room since Alfia would stay for two days.

He heard that she sobbed...Alfia was crying.

Bell closed the door and locked it, then he slowly walked to the bed.

"Mom?..."

He saw tears falling from Alfia´s hair, down to the picture of Meteria. This picture was the most precious possession that Bell had, together with Silence. He cleaned the picture every day. And even when Meteria was his mother, Alfia would always be his Mom.

Bell sat down next to her, gently putting an arm around her.

"*Hic* What am I doing here?..."

"Mom?"

"*Hic*" Eating something like that...Meteria would´ve loved to eat something so good. *Hic* She would´ve welcomed them with open arms..."

"Mom, I..."

She pointed at the plate. "And this "Dorayaki"..these sweets...Meteria would´ve been ready to fight me to get her hands on it..."

Bell knew that his mother had been quite possessive about food. She even dared to take the desserts that the Empress had marked as hers, and she not only made Hera kneel and whimper one time but also stared the Empress down two times.

"Mom, you´re doing so well. I bet she is proud of you."

"Thank you, Sweety...*Hic*.."

There wasn´t much to say for Bell, what Lefiya and Haruhime had done tore deep into Alfia´s heart. He kept her company until she fell asleep from crying so much and long.

That night, Alfia dreamed.

Dreamed of visiting her sister, who sat in her bed and smiled happily when she saw her big sister.

"Alfia!"

"Hello, Meteria. I brought you something today."

"Oh, what is it?"

"Far Eastern sweets and a dessert."

"Really?! I can´t wait to try it."

Alfia put down the plate with the Dorayaki and the sweets on her sister´s bed. Meteria looked happy when she tried it.

"Mmmmhhh~~~~ This tastes amazing! I never had something like this before!"

A happy, nostalgic pain filled Alfia´s heart while she watched her sister eating the Dorayaki whole. Afterward looking at the sweets, Meteria´s eyes shone.

"Oooh! How beautiful!"

"I´m glad that you like it."

"Hehe~~ Alfia?"

"Yes?"

Meteria smiled. "You shouldn´t be so hard on Lefiya and Haruhime. They are both good girls and Bell loves them."

"I just want to be sure..."

"I´m glad that Bell is so important to you, but please also think about me."

"There isn´t a day where I don´t think about you, Meteria."

Not even Bell knew it, but the pain of losing Meteria never vanished from Alfia´s heart. For her, it was still a fresh pain, no matter how much time went by.

"Meteria...I miss you so much..."

"Oh...don´t cry, Alfia...please don´t cry..."

"*Hic* *Hic* How can I not?..."

"Come here, big sister."

Alfia leaned closer and Meteria put her hands around her head, pulling her gently into a hug.

"You are doing good, Alfia. Good."

"It´s not about doing good...I just want you back, Meteria...it hurts so much..."

"I know, trust me I know. I see how much you´re crying. That you´re hiding it from Bell and everyone else."

"Of course, I hide it from him. A parent shouldn´t make the child worried."

Meteria gently patted her back.

"Alfia?"

"Mh?"

"You know...I want to see some cute grandchildren."

"Bell is still almost a child himself."

"I got pregnant at his a-"

"Lalala, I can´t hear you!"

Meteria giggled, Alfia would only act like this around her.

"Alfia, it´s alright to test them, but both are good girls and they love Bell, just like he loves them. So give them a chance, hm?"

"I didn´t make the trials in a way that they can only fail."

"I mean to get in your heart. Both will be the mothers of Bell´s children. Don´t you want to see some cute white-haired half-elves or little foxes with white hair?"

"Mh..."

Meteria gave Alfia a gentle kiss on her right cheek. "Sleep now, Alfia."

"Meteria...I..."

When Alfia fell asleep, with her head on Meteria´s lap, just like when she was still alive, Meteria smiled. The door eventually opened and a tall, manly figure came in.

"I thank you for this second chance to talk to her, Lord Hades."

The god of the dead shook his head. "You were Hera´s favorite, it´s the least I can do. Also, Morpheus did most of the work to connect you two."

"Still...thank you for letting me watch."

"Not for that. Tell me when you´re ready to move on."

"I will. I...just want to watch a bit longer, over my baby...and my big sister."

.

.

.

When Alfia woke up in the morning, the Dorayaki and the sweets were gone. Her room was still locked from the inside.

A single ray of sunlight fell onto the picture of Meteria, she looked...happy?

"Meteria?..."

Was something like that possible? Zeus was very vague in the past with his answer to such a question.

She touched her right cheek, and Alfia could feel where Meteria had kissed her.

Was it... just a dream?

.

.

..

.

.

Author`s Note: The next chapter of the story will show what Cassandra, Daphne, Welf, Ursu, Lily, and Luan see on their trip.