Romancing the Last Dryad (Rewrite)

by Great Pikmin Fan

Part of the "Zenith Nymph" series, and a complete remake of the old one with the story changed quite a bit to try to flow better. As with before, it's about Vince the Terrarian, Sonata the Nymph that wants to create the Zenith, and eventually Last Dryad Tania. Loosely follows the game's progression, with a lot of original content. Big harem of Nymph-types.

3. Fire, Lightning, Water (Has Recap)

Romancing the Last Dryad

Chapter 3: Fire, Lightning, Water

Beginning AN:

Alright, as promissed, this is what I consider the "true" beginning of the story. Chapters 1 and 2 were a two-part prologue.

I was actually thinking of splitting the beginning, or at least Chapter 2.

Er, I don't want to quite say that this chapter was "rushed," but... well, Valentine's Day was approaching when I was almost done with this chapter, so I figured "Eh, what the hell," and got this wrapped up for a Valentine's Day special. This means that I'm delaying a "cleanup" of earlier chapters and such for just a little bit longer, sorry. (More recent edit: Hopefully it should finally be done by August.) I have been looking over Chapters 1 and to a lesser extent 2 pretty often and I have notcied a lot of fuckups. I have a lot of notes to self on things to clear up. I'd like to clean this up, hopefully by Chapter 4 at the latest there will be some tweaks. In particular, I have to figure out Sonata's timeline, because I already noticed an inconsistency in the chapters that are out, about how long Sonata knew Nxyza's "Lindsey" disguise. I did, however, do a quick skim over the middle-ish part of the chapter for some last-minute changes.

Also I'm sorry to say but the recap was copied and pasted from the old version of the story as part of this "Valentine's Day rush," of course I tweaked it to fit with the changes so it doesn't have any actual errors, but to me at least even though this is a rewrite anyway, it just feels lazy to me to just do that since almost nothing else here is copied from the old version.

This ain't the only thing I planned to have out today! I also want Chapter 8 of the new Hecksing Ultimate Chronicles, as well as... sigh... a surprise port of the old Housestuck Hurrcain Crconikals, yeah, wow, this really is gonna be the best thing I get out today. Well, I wanted to have the best out first... I guess. But really I didn't like the thought of this being "between" the HUC updates. Um, whatever, just enjoy.

---

(Introduction Arc Recap - the beginning of every new "arc" will have one! Feel free to skip to the next line break if you think you're good.)

Our tale begins with Vincent "Vince" Tarius and Trent Palms, a pair of lifelong friends who set forth to the Nature Islands to begin a new life on their own, to one island known as the Shores of Sparkling in particular. Vince, as an Adventurer, and Trent, his trusty Guide. While Vince was out exploring to get a head start on defending himself, he lost track of time, and was forced to take shelter in a cave from the night. There, he met Sonata Osfortis, a Nymph/Oread with ambition that wanted to team up with him. After saving the Stylist Iris, the three of them surfaced and set out to begin a new life together, in Vince's newly-created town.

The following day, word of Vince's newly-established town caught on, and two more tenants had moved in, the Merchant Edwin and the Nurse Madeline. Sonata took Vince and Iris to the depths to attempt to help Sonata woo over "Lindsey," another Oread Sonata had known. Or so she thought. Unfortunately, "Lindsey" turned out to be Nyxza, the vile Nymph crimelord who had the entire underground of the world cowering in fear at the thought of an invasion by her. Nyxza threatened to take Vince and Iris to be eaten. The three fought back against Nyxza's team of door-managing Oreads, twelve of them sent after the trio, and returned to the surface with the grim knowledge that Nyxza was closer to Sonata than she thought. Vince and Sonata spent the rest of the day casually going around on the surface, and eventually deepening their bond, with Vince also pondering his affection for Iris.

Sonata's two main goals are to have a harem based around her Nymph culture, and to make the weapon of legends, the Zenith. She began the latter with a Copper Shortsword that was broken by one of Nyxza's minions and replaced as a gift from Vince. For the former, we left off with her outlining the plans for what she will make with her vision for a massive city to gather any Nymphs who would want to move in. And now...

---

Seeing Vince stare at the sheet Sonata had elaborately and carefully drew up brought a large smile to her. He looked soooooo stumped. And he was very much impressed by her artwork, which she noticed right away.

"Uh. That is a lot." Vince said.

"That's why we'll be doing this in baby steps at first!" Sonata replied. "Just... making the barebones structures and everything!"

"...And you want me to build these... well... this entire city?"

"No, not all of it, I'll chip in of course! And I promise I'll get whatever help I can! Maybe I could even talk all the people you've gathered to help, heh heh!"

"Uh, that's not very likely, especially with Trent, but if you want to try you... can? Usually, 'Head Adventurers' like me are also the ones doing all the building."

"Huh? That doesn't sound right. Shit, construction should be the last job for whoever goes out in the field."

Vince shrugged. "We're all expected to provide something in a community like mine. I mean, digging around, getting tools, that's just me for myself mostly. Almost nobody in the town has any use for tools, except to sell them."

"So you're selling them."

"I mean the stuff I don't sell. Which right now is everything I'll find, because it's useful. Later on though, maybe... I'm thinking my cave-diving will just be a some-times job."

"You know almost all Nymphs live underground, right? And almost all the few that don't are massive assholes? You wanna befriend Nymphs, you gotta go there."

"The Nymph Harem thing was just a fantasy of mine!" Vince said that fairly defensively, to Sonata's amusement. "I... never really thought about going through with it, except maybe trying to meet one or two to test the waters, and... well, you're one! I'm putting that in the back of my head right now."

Sonata shuffled over to her companion and made herself look smug. "Well, I'm not. That's my big focus now. Harem. Zenith. I ping back and forth, and yesterday I was all in to that Copper Shortsword that you replaced after that Key Holder broke it, so today, it's Harem Time."

"Well, if you're on it... I guess I could help speed things up. I mean, getting Nymph companions - however you plan to pull that off-"

"Just watch and learn."

"-Should be more interesting than me jumping in the dark again and seeing if I may find something even slightly useful."

"Right. So, I'm gonna start handling the ads right now. That part you don't worry about, I got allure. Watch and observe:"

---

Sonata stood before a cave entrance. The original cave entrance that Vince had gone in, though she didn't actually know of that at the time. She had already prepared several rolled up scrolls of paper. Way before she met Vince, actually. Years before.

Speaking of him, a curious Vince was tagging along, which got some chuckles out of the Oread. It came off like he was trying to almost hide from her or... something, as he stumbled about awkwardly while trying to close the rather large gap between the two of them.

Sonata whistled. A few bats began to fly out from the dark entrance - startling Vince.

"Gah!"

"Ha ha, don't worry - for once. Yeah bats are fucking annoying but I can tame some of them. I'm pretty sure there's way more, these are just the ones that happened to be caught by my whistling. It's really only about... one in twenty that I can rope up like that."

Sonata took the papers and began handing them over to the bats, which obediently gripped them in their claws. She was giving specific whistles throughout - tunes to command them. They grabbed most of them, and Sonata dismissed the remaining bats to fly off back in to the caves. Just one paper remained. Because she already had a plan with that - show her handiwork to Vince.

The papers were ads, of course. Beautifully-crafted ones. They read:

Homes available! Oread host! Surface Forest. Nice, neutral land. Comfy air. pH okay. Grand opening 10th of March, 2023.

Currently just starting out but I have BIG plans! I can't put them there, both for false advertizing and to not get hopes up because let's be honest, I probably won't get all or any of my dream things done!

All races welcome - as long as you don't wholeheartedly worship Evil Biomes, Cthulhu, or Traditional Wood Elf Culture with all the trees and bullshit - but this is intended to be a Nymph-centric spot. Nymphs of any biome though.

We don't have a phone number, because we don't have a phone yet. But please see the center of Sun Island, then just kinda go north of there. You'll know when you see it. Trust me.

Hey, you're probably desperate for a home I mean.

"Sooooo... this one gets on the tree right here. An ad right by the opening. The rest of them, the bats will just pick up and throw randomly."

"...And Nymphs will get to them?" Vince asked.

"You'd be surprised. Most will probably just be set on stone somewhere, which is why I made so many. I don't have too much room."

"You don't have any room at all. And you promissed that this would be ready in two days!"

"Hey, you built those homes in one. And I'm pretty sure I'm an even faster builder than you. Again, though, I'll get to that. And if you want, you can help me speed things up."

---

First thing was first: Finding a good location. According to Sonata, just making it a part of the 'regular town' Vince had set up would cause a few problems later on, especially what with the whole mega metropolis plans Sonata had set up. She figured that the Humans wouldn't want a lava moat, and while Tordak seemed happy at the idea, Sonata was right in that the Humans didn't want it. They went north, until they could find what Sonata would consider a decent spot.

...Pretty far north, actually. About a fifty minute walk from the Forest town. Not counting the time Vince spent backtracking to let Trent and Iris (he didn't care so much about any others) know that they may likely spend the whole night and maybe a few days over there.

They got to building. And, as it turned out, Vince was surprisingly fast at that. Sonata actually took a moment to watch on in admiration. Turned out when he was going with her motive - or, one of them at least - he could really work fast. She wasn't expecting him to outperform her, but he did-

"Uh, Sonata, are you going to help?" Vince asked her.

Whups, apparently Sonata was too busy staring at the wooden walls being set up and Vince quickly scratching up tables that she slacked off a bit. Eh, he'll forgive her the moment he sees her ass again. She figured she had him around her finger like that. Or, her ass. She figured out that that was his weakness pretty quick - experience, after all.

Anyway. To recap, Sonata's dream home for herself and Nymphs of all kind was a massive metropolis. Stores of all sorts, towering to the sky, and all surrounded by a moat of lava with a dragon.

The reality: Four box shacks. Granted, Sonata had to guide Vince on exact specifications of what to put to make it more appealing to Nymphs rather than a general audience. Mostly some relics, and she crafted the majority of them.

Obviously, the absolute key thing that marked a difference between a general home and a 'Nymph Home' was a Biome Planting Spot. A place of "neutral ground" that is designated for a Nymph guest, that they could use their own magic on to convert it to a small patch of their home biome. Really it just boiled down to refining dirt a bit with Nymph magic, Vince wanted an explanation and that was the best she could come up with.

While by no means required, but still recommended, there was a code to signify that the neighborhood was specifically made to accomidate Nymphs instead of a more general (which usually leaned Human) population, not for the guests themselves but for those looking for it: A lantern. A specific one. The ingredients were all the way from the Underworld, but thankfully for both parties, Sonata had long prepared for that. Some specialized ash grass grounded and infused with magic enhancement... Blinkroot and Fireblossom melded together... and she had a nice, burning purple flame that was neither hot nor cold but still could hurt a person, all inside of a container that kept it safe. It was the brightest light of the quartet of shacks, so that at night, it acted as a purple beacon to let nature-people know: 'Hey. This home's for you.'

No, wait, update, it was three box shacks. The roof of one of them collapsed.

"Fuck!" Sonata said. "Oh well, I didn't promise an exact home number. I guess I'll just have to say 'Sorry, we're full' one more time than I would otherwise."

"So how long do you think it'll take before our first guest arrives?" Vince asked.

Sonata shrugged. "News travels fast even though Nymph societies are spaced out pretty far apart from each other and this specific island's sorta above a dead zone of them. And outcast Nymphs tend to be desperate to find some place to live that's not by their shitty home places or out in the middle of nowhere. We'll probably have one by tonight."

"Tonight?!"

"...I'm confused by your confusion. Is it the 'night' part? Because yeah, all Nymphs are nocturnal. Even Dryads were naturally, they just trained themselves to be awake in the day to fit with... uh, you know. You guys."

"No, I mean how soon it would be. I thought it would take a week."

"Nah we want cool homes and we're fast about it. Remember, I wanted to go to your house when we first met. I uh... kinda blackmailed you even, a little, and for that I'm sorry. So, we wait then?"

"Yeah... I have to say though, I'm a little nervous. This is moving a bit fast..."

Sonata chuckled. "Oh, this is a snail's pace for me."

"You've done this before?"

"No, making homes for other Nymphs to live in, but what I have done are zany schemes. This is considerably less zany."

---

And so, they waited. Through the rest of the day, Vince kept exploring and doing more towns things. Building, as well. He also dipped a tiny bit in to the caves and struck some iron, enough to make a few tools. Edwin helped sell Vince an anvil so that he could create things with metal, and he and Sonata teamed up to made a nice furnace. The furnace and the anvil, two tools that Sonata had used to make her initial Shortsword. 'Most importantly,' at least as far as Vince cared, were proper bath tubs. Soon each house in the central Forest home had one, and there was a larger bathing area that was planned to (eventually) be turned in to a public sauna.

For Iris. Platonically, that was.

Sonata suggested napping, to be awake to greet the nocturnal guests. And, well-

-That was the last thing Vince remembered before shooting awake at the sound of a knock on the door. Not even the door of his original home - the one of the 'Nymph homes' Sonata designed. He 'spent the day' sleeping with her.

Still a bit half-asleep, he was nervous - scared almost, even - especially when he looked outside at the small opening acting as a pseudo-window (glass-making would come a bit later), realizing it was indeed night. And not just 'barely sunset' like he pictured. But pitch-black outside.

He got up, but froze on his way to the door - just for Sonata to excitedly walk over past him and answer it for him, something he was absolutely not ready for. After having slept in her Human look (apparently Nymphs can do that?), she was also shifted to her true form. Vince rushed to the door, but he made absolutely sure that he kept Sonata between him and whatever Being of the Night lurked beyond that door, standing out in the darkness.

Standing there was another Nymph, and for the first time, she was not an Oread. She was a vibrant red all over, from her skin to her hair to her irises, and a slight bit of heat radiated from her. She wore more than Sonata, but that wasn't saying much, as she only had a few bands of some bright red feiry vine Vince was unfamiliar with wrapped around her wrists and ankles, and one worn as a necklace. To her side, illuminated by the purple lantern thing that Sonata really lectured Vince about, was a bag. Bright red, but otherwise plain, it looked like it could fit a lot, but it also didn't look like much of that space it had was being used. The woman herself was maybe a tiny bit shorter than Sonata (not saying very much) and a little bit skinnier (saying a bit more, Sonata wasn't a rail but she was close, moreso in her true form).

"Hey!" Sonata said, giving the person an excited greeting. "Please tell me you're here for the ad, and you're not trying to invade us or anything!"

The red woman chuckled while Vince realized he was nude. Should he... get dressed? He shrank back a bit, especially after Sonata's 'invade' comment. "No worries, I'm here for the ad! I'm Igniss! I come straight from the Magma Lakes below and south of here- though you could... probably guess heh heh!" She was a bit of a fast talker.

"Uh, I'd like to not profile."

"So wow!" She walked in, throwing her bag down to the corner. "Oh- sorry about that if that was a bit rough."

"Don't worry, I've done way more wreckless and in places I've been way less interested in staying."

"Alright, good, it's still one of the habits I want to break. So anyway, what I said 'wow' about, this house is pretty nice!"

"Heh, really?" Sonata said with a chuckle. "I personally think it's kinda ass. Jungle, there were originally four of these, but one just collapsed. But whatever. Vince and I will be working on fixing that up."

It was as if Vince was invisible until Sonata said his name, because it took until then that Igniss actually gave Vince a glance. Vince - being nude and all and still not quite used to strangers seeing him (well, with Sonata and Iris, he got to know them for a few hours at least before sleeping/bathing with them respectively) - tensed up and backed a little. Something that furthered given that Igniss responded to him with a grin.

"Ah, a Human, and I take it you're Vince?" She asked.

"Uhhhhh... yes?" Vince half-squeaked in response.

"Hm. You're uncomfortable. Are you new here or did you have a run-in with someone terrible recently? Uh, no offense. But it's usually one of those things."

"Both, actually."

"Oh. Sorry, and I really mean that. Yeah, Nature Island life isn't very good. That's why I'm here! I am trying to find a place where I can better my life and do so with less, well, terribleness of the Islands. And don't worry. I don't have some hatred for Humanity rarragh or anything like that. Those cartoons are offensively bad depictions of... well, okay, there are some Nymphs that are like that. Maybe more than some. Bullheaded assholes in power. A lot of people from my old home town in the Magma Lakes. But lots of really nice citizens too who don't like that stuff! Most of us want to get away, to... well..."

Sonata put a hand on her shoulder, and they both met eyes and smiled. "I understand 'ya, some times the city just sucks. And it also sucks that not everybody can move out. Hopefully loads of people would still get over! I want a lot of roommates!"

"I... don't." Igniss said. "Sorry. Look, maybe a team of... six would be good for me? Counting myself?"

"Woah, only wanting to live with five or less people? What are you, a Human? Uh, no offense, Vince."

"No I mean, I'll live in a community if I have to. It's just, I like visiting others... I'm not that big of a living with them kind of person. Especially if they like picking fights, I try not to fight if I don't need to, I've had more than enough of those in my life. Mostly ones I've needed to do."

"I promise I won't try to pick fights with you!" Vince said. "To be honest, the thought of picking fights with someone here scares the shit out of me."

Both he and Igniss then looked over at Sonata, who just smiled cheerfully back at them.

"No promisses here." She said with a smug tone.

"Er, right. So, I can help out by giving some fire-related charms and immunities."

"I can't speak for Sonata, but I don't think I'll be needing that... I'm going to try to steer clear from anything... burn-y." Vince said.

"Vince, lava moat, didn't you see the diagram?" Said Sonata. "She could help keep us protected from that once it's out there, and I... would kinda like it if you came with me to gather the magma down below in the first place. You know, turn it in to lava."

A bit of silence.

"...It's a geology joke." Igniss said to Vince. "That magma and lava mean the same-"

"I- uh... got it." Vince said. "I was just thinking about being around lava- magma- whatever, and it was..."

"...Yeah, you have every right to be afraid of the Magma Lakes. And- would it make you more comfortable if I did this?"

As Vince had seen Sonata doing, Igniss shifted. Her skin turned to a Human tan and the mild heat given from her body faded. Her hair was left unalatered, still having the mid back-length pattern that somewhat resembled inverted flames towards the end. Unlike Sonata, her irises remained a bright red, and a (metaphorical) spark could still be sensed behind them. Also unlike Sonata, the sharpness of her teeth and claws didn't really go down. Or if they did, it wasn't noticeable. She gave Vince a warm grin.

"Better?" She asked.

"Oh, um, you don't need to shapeshift for me. I uh... actually prefer true forms of Nymphs."

"He's one of those people who likes us raw." Sonata said, giving her new roommate a devilish grin. "So, you're gonna live here now? And you've got fire stuff?"

"Yeah, charms." Igniss said, shifting back to her true form.

"Ooh, charms. I thought about getting in to that stuff, but then I thought... wasn't for me. I'm more of a swordfighter. I can do a li'l bit of magic though. Especially because I'll need to go to the Underworld for some stuff."

"You should do that now, it's the perfect timing. Things have really settled down here compared to four decades ago. There aren't a ton of soldiers leaving the Capitals."

"Yeah, yeah, the magma's cooled. I still can't get in a capital and I know that."

"Hey, I can't get in either. I don't know about you, but I've lived next door to them most of my life." She put on a much more sour expression. "And I want that last part to change."

The three of them heard a lightning strike. Vince jumped, while Igniss rolled her eyes.

"Huh, interesting." Was Sonata's reaction. "There's not supposed to be a thundersto-"

More knocks. That set much quicker and louder than Igniss's series.

"Alright! Wow! Two for three! That's two more than I expected for tonight, I thought at best I'd have to shoot out more ads and try again!" Cheered Sonata as she lept over to the door.

"Then why did you send them in the first place?" Asked Vince.

"Because I'm an optimist, of course." She paused and struck a pose, playing as if she was some fancy speaker or something. A fake curtsy, when she had no dress. "And see? It paid off! I'm getting some real friends now!"

She opened the door. And, at first, it seemed like nothing was there.

Igniss and Vince were simply confused. Sonata, on the other hand, looked pissed.

"DON'T TOY WITH ME!" She shouted. "I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS! IF YOU'RE JUST SOME KID PLAYING DING DONG DITCH, I SWEAR TO PAN I'LL FUCKING-"

Then another lightning(?) flash happened, with the accompanying thunder. When it cleared, there was indeed another Nymph standing there. And definitely not a kid.

Her color scheme was yellow all over, a good indicator to Vince that she was neither the same type as Sonata nor Igniss. Her hair was far longer and far messier, poking out in zig-zagging spots all around. She was taller and slimmer than the Fire Nymph and Oread, and was decorated in thinner, dryer deep yellow vines (in the same locations, arms, legs, and neck) that gave off occasional bright sparks. The yellow woman laughed as she held up a finger, a few little lightning cackles dancing on it.

"Ka-POW!" She cheered, leaping in. "AW YEAH, THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET FUN WITH ME AROUND HERE!"

"Uh, you're a little late for that." Said Sonata. "I'm the fun around here. And I gotta say, I'm not that impressed with the little emotional rollercoaster you gave making me think someone was just pulling a prank."

"Oh, good to see you're not stuffy and stuck-up like so many of the other homes I tried out! I got kicked out so fast for being 'too loud,' 'too disruptive,' 'too dangerously unpredictable.' Can you believe that?"

"Haha, you do not have to worry about that here!" Sonata cheered. "We're all pretty badass if I say so myself! Well I dunno about the latest roommate but she knows charms so that implies some degree of badassery there."

"Great! So, where's the bed? I'm tired! I had to hike all the way from the largest Voltlands on this island to get here! And boy, that place was not near here at all! Especially because I went around the Jungle."

"Oh yeah. For the obvious reason, I presume?" Igniss said.

"Yep!"

"I don't own this home or anything - yet I think - but there's a bed right there."

"So uh, name?" Sonata asked the Yellow Nymph.

"Fulgra!" Replied the one from the 'Voltlands.' Vince... knew a tiny bit of that biome. "Happy to- lemme just get my stuff over."

She ran out back to the fields, and when she came back in, she tossed a much larger bag of stuff over to the corner. The same corner where Igniss's stuff was, landing right on top of her bag.

Something shattered.

"H-hey!" Vince shouted.

"Oh, relax, that was probably just a wine glass." Igniss said.

"Huh. Well, I guess if you're okay with it-"

"That being said if it isn't, I'll handle things." Igniss added, throwing a glare Fulgra's way. Fulgra just laughed back.

"I'm so sorry, that was an accident I swear." Fulgra said, although she was still laughing to herself.

"Right," Said Sonata, "I'm Sonata. That's Vince. That's Igniss."

"So. Which one of you is the 'Head Adventurer?'" Igniss asked.

"That would be me. I... think." Said Vince. "But the Guide is Trent, you should talk to him about housing and the rules around here."

"No, I mean, if you're going on trips and exploring and stuff. Because I want to join you."

"Oh! I was actually planning on staying up here in the nice, cozy center of the island for a while."

All three of the Nymphs were staring at him. Damn. Peer pressure. In all fairness, Vince never thought it would play out... like that. He thought a town full of Humans would try pressuring him in to something. Just three Nymphs though... damn, had a big effect on him.

"...You mean that wasn't the whole point of you coming here?" Asked Sonata. "No offense. I mean, why were you even in that cave on your first night if you're not an explorer?"

"Well. I mean. I just... baby steps, you know? I want to... take breaks on that. Until I become strong enough and confident that I can go out to cave expeditions."

The trio kept staring at him.

"I mean, come on! Sonata! You know our last cave dive ended with us nearly getting killed by Nyxza!"

"Wait, you encountered Nyxza?!" Asked Igniss. Finally, he at least managed to break the silence pressuring him, and even Sonata had her attention drawn to the Red Nymph. Although Fulgra was still staring at him. "The Nyxza?! Burner of ten thousand villages? The all-mightly consumer of caverns? The one who aims to take over all Underworld cities and is making good progress on that? Who brings the Thousand Biomes and the Hell Oread civilizations all together under fear of her? The legendary unstoppable immortal Diamond Lord?!"

"Yep that's the one." Sonata said. "We had a nasty run-in with her yesterday. She's just as much of a shit as the stories would have you believe."

"And you survived?" Fulgra asked, practically having sparkles in her eyes. "Okay obviously you did, but that's AWESOME!"

"That is not awesome!" Said Igniss. "Nyxza is EXTREMELY dangerous! She's the number one wanted criminal in the Nymph world for a good reason! Above even the Pan-curse Moon Lord!"

"...I meant the fact that they stood up to her."

"Them standing up to her means that they're on her list! Which means any associates at all are also persons of her interest! This is very likely to include me if so much as a Key Holder of hers sees us together!"

"Hey." Sonata said. "If it helps, I was already on her list long ago. Nyxza and I go back, actually. She killed my biggest love in life."

Igniss gasped. "You should have said that in the ad at least! Pan, what were you thinking?!"

"Ah, you're right, I should have said it in the ad! That would have been bitchin'! And, for once, it wouldn't be lying! ...I mean, actually, I wouldn't put something fake on an ad anyway. I may lie a lot, but false advertizing is where I draw the line. That shit's just pure evil."

"No, I mean it! Nyxza has comitted acts of bloodshed and conquest for centuries. Her collaboration with the Lunatic Cult to weaken the Dryad's forces lead to this current Age of the Undead, where Zombies roam about to this day thanks to the unbalance of-"

Ding dong!

Everyone looked to the door in confusion.

"You installed a doorbell?" Vince asked.

"I was about to ask you that." Sonata replied.

...

All of them rushed up to open the door. Except Vince, who hurried to get dressed by that point.

It was a third new Nymph standing before them all, of yet another type. She was blue all over. Another taller-leaning Nymph, and slimmer at that, her foot-length hair was more neatly organized. For her 'on-the-nose elemental-shaped tips,' the end of her hair spread out just slightly, like the splash of a waterfall. Her 'uniform' matched that of the other two roommates - Vince (incorrectly, but that's for later) guessed that all Nymph Variants had vines in those locations as their 'casual outfit' - with color-coded vines around her arms, legs, and neck. In her case, they looked moist and waved a bit, although thankfully they were not dribbling with actual water. At least, not at the moment.

"Hello." She said with a very... direct and to the point tone. "I'm here for the ad. I hope this can be better than the last place I lived at, although the bar is pretty low. I noticed that you didn't have a doorbell (already a few points off) so I used my imperfect understanding of Sound Sound-type biome magic to make an artificial one." Just getting this out of the way since the explanation won't come up until later: 'Sound Sound' is not a typo.

"...I'd like a name at least." Sonata said.

"Aquafla." The answer came firm and fast. "I've hopped around from place to place. My original home town, and my favorite living place so far, was burned down by Nyxza during a raid seventy years ago. From there, I had an uneasy time moving from location to location. Trying to stay near water so that I could have an advantage. My last place was... especially bad neighbor-wise but great water-wise. Then the ad dropped. I did a cross-reference and... it seems like moving here would be my best option. Even if it's a downgrade in water quality."

"Well, so far it already is the best option for me!" Cheered Fulgra. "We're having a lot of fun, and I've only been here a few minutes!"

"Oh, really?" Aquafla already seemed to lighten up, if just a little. She took out her own bag of belongings and gently set it by the door. "Tell me, do you have any activities in mind? I promise, I won't be a bore. I want to study and maybe move to an Underworld City as an engineer, but I won't disturb you as I do until then."

"We were just talking about how Nyxza was an awful leader!" Those words made Igniss tense in fear.

"Uhhhh... maybe let's not go there." Said Sonata. "Vince and I lately had a run-in with her. It wasn't pretty."

"And who is Vince?" Asked Aquafla.

Sonata pointed over to the Human, dressed by that point, who sheepishly waved at her.

"Oh. Wow. You are tolerant. Very tolerant. Pan, my skin is getting uncomfortable just from looking at all those clothes. No offense Vince!"

Vince looked down. A short-sleeve T-shirt and some... not particularly heavy jeans. And shoes and socks, of course.

"Um... none... taken..."

"You seem uncomfortable. Would us assuming Human forms help?"

"Oh, no." Said Fulgra. "I should have done that too."

And they both ended up shifting around the same time, Fulgra faster though. Again, as with Igniss, their changes weren't that much more drastic than a skin color change. Fulgra, a mid tan, and Aquafla, a darker tan. The former's static-y sense died down, as did the slight feeling of humidity that radiated around the latter. Fulgra struck a showman-like pose when the shift was completed, although Aquafla did nothing of the sort.

"He's a raw man." Sonata said, getting them both to immediately shift back.

"I'd rather you don't put it like tha-" Vince began.

"So I must ask," Aquafla immediately directed her attention back to Sonata, "what are your plans going forward with these housing arrangements? I mean... are these it? I see the... ruins next to these homes here, I'm assuming you made a fourth house originally..."

"Ha ha, oh wow, you have no idea what plans I have in mind. Lemme show you - it'll have to be outside. Because it won't fit in here. Trust me, I tried."

Sonata rushed outside, and an excited Aquafla followed after her. A more curious Fulgra and Igniss followed, and even though Vince was pretty sure he knew what Sonata was going to do, he went after them as well.

Yep, he knew what she would do: Unroll that gigantic behemoth. Although out in the night, Vince couldn't see it so well. None of the Nymphs on the other hand seemed to have a problem with seeing it.

"Wow." Igniss said flatly. "You are, erm... one ambitious person."

Aquafla stared at the gigantic paper silently, finger to her chin the entire time.

"...AWESOME!" Cheered Fulgra. "Can't wait for the porn theater! I know I'll be wanting front row seats for that!"

"Y-you actually think she's going to build all of that?!" Igniss asked.

"Heh heh, honestly, it is a stretch. I'm not an idiot, lots of people mistake me for one, I know that whole thing is a little unrealistic. I just wanted to let her know what I wanted, so if Sonata was taking suggestions, she'd go by resident request first, so to speak."

Vince couldn't see Sonata's face - not only was it dark, but she was faced away from him. He tried to approach her, wanting to gauge her reaction to... well, Fulgra's reaction, but she turned away from him. It seemed like she was turning away from everyone, based on her similar abrupt shift when Igniss approached her.

"Well, I think you could do this. Eventually." Said Aquafla. "I mean, we are long-lived. And by 'we,' I mean I can help. I would be honored to make a place like this. I've always dreamed of building a city to help others, and... well, this could be the start I need."

"Are you two serious?" Asked Igniss.

Sonata turned back. Vince felt a slight chill through him, but the trio of new Nymph friends he and Sonata apparently just made didn't seem to feel the same way. She had what looked like a smug smirk on her face.

"Hey, you may doubt me. And Fulgra, to a lesser extent. I know I might just look like some madwoman making promisses she can't deliver on, but this town's gonna be my life goal now. This morning, those three shacks weren't there. I already made a step in that direction. And, step by step, I plan to keep going. Hey, if I can convince myself that my melting pot metropolis for Nymphs and Non-Nymphs of all kind can be made, maybe I can make myself to make it real. Eventually."

"Well..." Said Aquafla. "If nothing else, I do admire a big dreamer."

"I'm a big dreamer myself, hee hee hee." Said Fulgra. "Like, 'getting a big breakout movie produced.' Not so much building a city, though. Ooh, Sonata, I can be your entertainment."

Igniss looked around between the four. Sonata was smirking at her especially, although in her disguise, Fulgra and Aquafla both looked like they had vauge faith in her. Vince, on the other hand, looked like he had no idea what the fuck he was doing, or what side to pick.

Finally, the Fire Nymph just shrugged. "You know, I really can't find anywhere better to live. So I won't complain. Unless your thoughts of a mega-city lead to some dangerous delusions. Then I will complain. Believe me."

"Right." Sonata said. "Anyway, we can discuss this back inside, I don't want any Demon Eyes to swoop down on us and ruin the moment. I... think there should be enough of us that they wouldn't bother a gathering this big, but I don't wanna risk it."

Vince especially went back to the homes, already wanting to gun there the moment Sonata said the word 'Demon.'

---

Once back at their apparent new homes - again, all in one of the three houses, specifically getting comfortable in a circle around the bed, Vince tried to strike up a conversation with at least one of his new roommates.

"So... Fulgra, was it? What's life-"

"Hey so what do you want to do?" Fulgra asked, looking directly at the Oread and turned away from the Human that started the question. "Er, landlord... Sonata, you're the landlord, right?"

"I guess I'm kinda like the one who makes stuff for the Nymphs, while Vince makes stuff for the Non-Nymph townies? They're our neighbors, not too far from here in the Forest. I don't really want to call myself a 'landlord' though. These homes are for me just as much as they are for you, you need to build towns if you wanna settle somewhere in the Nature Islands, after all."

"To the south? I passed them on the way there." Igniss said. "The woman in the white uniform gave me a funny look, and she said 'Oh gods, more of them' to herself, but the others reacted just fine. If nothing else they seem to... tollerate our nudity, which is good."

Sonata sighed. "Yeah, sounds like you met Madeline. She's kind of a bitch. I don't like her."

"The NERVE!" Aquafla said. "She judged you without getting to know you first! I... well, I want to say something bad about that, but that would be hypocritical since I don't know much about that person."

"I already told you she's a bitch, I mean that's kinda a lot."

"I mean from my own account. Or from a reliable source."

"You're... like, what, seventy? Eighty?"

"One hundred. A hundred and a half, to be technical."

Fulgra replied with "About the same," while Igniss nodded.

"I'm exactly five times your age." Sonata. "Except maybe the 'half' bit, regardless of how literal that was. I just turned five hundred. Huh, I guess I'm five times the age of all three of you? Fuck, I feel old. Anyway, I've been around all sorts of Nature Islands over my centuries of life. I would think that would make me a reliable source."

"I'll see to that." Aquafla said. "Anyway, I just want a place to settle."

"Well, that might not be here." Said Fulgra. "I'm not gonna do much 'settling' around here, and that reminds me, 'landlord' Sonata, what do you wanna do for fun around here?"

"Uh, I'd like to get ready to slay some monsters, personally." Was Sonata's answer. "Go to the caves, get some gear, eventually find the swords to make the fabled Zenith... I've just been aimlessly wandering about getting to towns and looting off of fallen Adventurers for eons. I think it's time that I get off my ass and actually start getting stronger. And maybe, late down the line, if it's possible, I'll take out Nyxza. But that's, like, five years from now. ...Tops?"

"I know I'm not the head authority of this home system," said Vince, "but I'm personally going to stick to the surface, probably. Just fish and farm and plant some apple trees and such. I think I'm done with cave exploring. I'll just stick to chopping down trees and building homes."

All four Nymphs stared at him.

"BOOOOORIIIING!" Fulgra said.

"Hey, he's been through a lot!" Said Sonata. "He's from the Human Capital, it's not exactly a utopia!"

"And he comes here, a big, open space where you're not bound by where your job makes you go, and his first course of action is to willingly lock himself in the same spot for the foreseeable future? Vance, I'm sorry, but I don't understand you."

"It's Vince."

"Your name will be easier to remember if you do some more cool stuff."

"I er... don't want to say I agree with Fulgra here..." Aquafla said. Oh it looked like Fulgra was already on to talking to Igniss about something, but Aquafla continued: "But I do think that going out may be a good course of action. You can find material to better strengthen yourself. Life Crystals, for one, assuming you're not maxed out on them. Just some constructive criticism."

"I mean... you're all experienced with the caves, so..." Vince began.

"Are you expecting handouts? Sorry, but that's not how I do things. At the very least, I would charge you. Along with my services in aquatic charms."

"Uh. Right."

"Go to the caves." Fulgra said. "It builds character. Oh and I also charm, uh yeah electric-related, you shouldn't be surprised."

"I mean. Spelunking was part of my training. But I had two bad encounters in the caves back-to-back, so-"

"Well I'm going to a Nymph town somewhere soon, maybe tomorrow, if you want you can follow close by me, and then maybe I can join you in some spelunking if I like you enough."

"I don't know. That latter expedition was also to a Nymph town-"

"It's a porn store, and a pretty popular one. I've been there and around the town several times. Even invited an Adventurer like you once."

"Okay wait what happened to them?"

"Oh, she's dead, but that was from taunting the Jungle. And that happened twenty years ago. It's no biggie. Anyway, that's tomorrow... maybe. Today, I just wanna relax now that I'm settled in to my new home."

"Yeah, me-"

She went back to talking with the others.

"Um. Me too." Vince said. Nobody turned to him, not even Sonata; although she just seemed especially distracted by all her new and fun roommates.

"I'm going to bed." Vince said, again to no attention. He got undressed-

The fucking SECOND his last article of clothing was off (his pants, he was a shirt-first person, like the majority he presumed), all eight other eyes fell on him and the four Nymphs went silent.

"Oh of course..." Vince silently uttered to himself. "I should have figured it out..."

"Well, HELLO there cutie!" Fulgra said. "You just got a whole lot more attractive!"

"Uhhhh..." Sonata said. "Right, Vince thankfully at least sleeps naked, but um, let's not try to pressure him. That would be hypocritical. I assume everyone in this room hates it when people tell Nymphs to put something on."

"Rule #1." Said Igniss. Also confirming to Vince, though the texts he read highly supported it, that that was not just a Sonata thing. "Nymphs do not wear clothes. Period."

"Yeah is it 'pressuring' to say that we find you a lot sexier and are more willing to give you our attention if you're naked?" Fulgra asked. "Because that's how it is. Vince, the longer you're naked, the more interesting I'll find you. I don't hide anything. If I wasn't clear, when I said you got a whole lot more attractive, I mean because you took off those eyesore clothes."

"...Well then." Said Vince.

"Hey though, think of it the other way around!" Sonata said. "What if someone told us that they'd find us more attractive if we put on clothes? Let's not make any double standards here!"

Fulgra shrugged. "I mean, if someone says that they find me hotter with clothes on, I'll just ignore them, blow them off, and look for someone else. And Vince, you are absolutely free to blow me off and wear what you want, then go look for someone else if he wants-"

"No impressing you is fine and being naked isn't that bad of a tradeoff!" Vince said.

A pause.

"HAH!" Fulgra laughed, pointing at the Human. "Settler!"

"Fulgra I'm gonna have to suggest toning it down a notch on picking on Vince." Sonata said.

"Ah, sorry then." She was giving Sonata a mischevious grin the whole time she said that.

"Anyway, Vince and I are both... sort of maybe diurnal buddies right now, so we're sleeping now."

Another knock on the door. Everyone's attention was on that.

"Ooh!" Sonata said. "Another roommate? Shit, I don't think we have enough room... yeah, yeah, I know we would have had that house not collapsed. Uh, I'll go see anyway."

The group all reached the door at the same time and looked outside, although Vince was confused at the rather venemous reactions the four Nymphs had at whoever it was at the door.

From Vince's point of view, it was a quintet of yet more Variant Nymphs. All of them were of a deep green, just as bright as the three roommates Sonata had amassed. Noteably, Vince finally saw an exception to the standard Nymph Variant dress code among them: The one in the center, who also had a more middle aged-appearance, had a hooded brown cloak on that covered her shoulders and the upper part of her back. Yet the rest of her body was exposed. She, and the other four women with her, all had arm and leg decorations mostly in the form of wooden branches, the exact type of wood differing per Nymph. For the one with the cloak, she had a small handful of nearly pitch-black sharp wooden scraps, almost looking like blackened knives.

The other four themselves looked pretty similar to one-another, the key differences being body type, hairstyle, and wood. All of them stood in a 'V' formation with the elder-looking one in the middle, facing Sonata and company. Of the four mooks, one was quite a ways taller than everyone else with thinner, paler branches around her limbs and hair that really fanned out further the lower it went. The one to her left was heavier set, with thicker, red-tinted branches around her and significantly straighter and longer hair. To her left was the aformentioned cloaked one, and to the left of her, a Nymph of an average build with back-length hair who had extra-thick and long wooden branches around her, that looked to be growing by the second. She also had a necklace, made of a starburst-shaped fuchsia gemstone tied carefully in a vine. That one in particular shot the group glares, and Sonata's eyes darted between her and the central figure with the cloak. Finally, at the end of their left (and Sonata and company's right) was a shorter, much more toned Nymph with shoulder-length hair and vines around her limbs rather than wood.

Sonata growled at them all.

"...You know these people?" Asked Vince.

"Yeah we do!" Sonata said. "These are agents of the Deep Woods! That one in the middle? That's the Grand Elder Wood. She's an ass! I've seen a teeny bit of her top assistant, Arborea, too. She's also an ass, but not as big of one. She's the one to the right of her. I dunno the other three by name, though."

The glaring one acknowledged her being named just by moving her gaze slightly around the group. Once her eyes met Vince's, he flinched.

"Thank you for telling the Human about us so that we don't have to." The cloaked one, the Grand Elder Wood, said. "We noticed your buildings recently. Namely, that you don't have a permit."

"Don't need one." Aquafla said.

"No, you don't need one now. But changes are coming to Sun Island. Estate changes. The Forest will be claimed as part of the Deep Woods territory, an expansion we very much need if we want to keep this all under order - and we do - and we'll start charging you a pretty copper over that. In exchange, we'll defend you."

"Defend us from what?" Vince asked.

"Elven Colonists, for just one."

"No deal." Sonata quickly shot down. "I'd prefer killing those motherfuckers by my own hand, anyway."

"That wasn't a deal, it was a statement of fact. We're letting you prepare your payment in advance, before Neutral Forest territory becomes an extention of the Deep Woods."

She turned, and the four Deep Wood Nymphs all turned in synch shortly after.

Then the one with the average build and the gem necklace turned around.

"Wait a minute." She - Arborea apparently - said.

"Something else, Arborea?" Asked the Grand Elder Wood.

The Wood Nymph that paused suddenly turned around, extending a vine-like object from the wood around her wrist, which reached in to Sonata's hair. Sonata let out a yelp and tried to fend it off, swinging her claws at it, but barely so much as left micro-scratches on the wood. Soon, the 'wood vine' retracted, and with it was an odd object.

It looked like an eyeball, with all sorts of red tissue around it. Vince immediately felt at an unease, and the three Nymph roommates all gasped.

"An Occularcall." Arborea said. "From what little I know of you, I don't trust you to use this. We'll be taking that now, if you don't mind. For the good of the Deep Woods."

The Grand Elder Wood chuckled. "Good catch, Arborea. Even I didn't sense that. You earned yourself a raise."

"Thank you, Grand Elder Wood."

She and the other four Deep Wood Nymphs all simultaneously had four giant blocks of wood each errupt from the ground by their feet, incasing themselves in wooden prisms, which then burrowed themselves underground. When they disappeared, they didn't even so much as leave behind any holes in the grass.

"YEAH? WELL..." Sonata said. "ARBOREA! I ATTENDED ONE OF THOSE SPEECHES YOU AND YOUR WIFE MADE! OR SHOULD I SAY YOUR EX-WIFE! BECAUSE YOU WERE A BITCH TO HER AND STABBED HER IN THE BACK! YEAHHHHH!"

"They're gone." Said Aquafla.

"Yeah I know but I... well, I'll tell 'em that the next time I see them!"

"Oh, I'm sure they still heard you. Those jerks can hear from anywhere." Aquafla sighed. "I hate them. They stifle everything. They want everything to be a part of the Deep Woods. ...But there isn't much we can do about them at the moment. They're too powerful for me, at least."

"HARD agree." Said Fulgra. "I'd like to set fire to their headquarters or something, but for now, I'm tired. Getting all the way over here was exhausting."

While she and most of the others went back in to the small room, Sonata stayed by the door, squinting as though the quintet were still right in front of her.

"You can all uh, rest or whatever. I wanna think this through. Talk some stuff with Trent."

"Something you'll need Trent for?" Vince asked. "You sure?"

"Positive. If he's still awake, this isn't worth taking away someone's sleep over."

"I mean-"

Sonata practically became the wind itself as she lept off with blinding speed, leaving only the empty doorway.

Vince stood in place thinking about whether or not he wanted to go after her, but Aquafla decided for him by casually closing the door.

"Urgh, I can see Sonata's the type who forgets to close the door at night." She said. "Maybe she's let her metropolis dreams get in to her head, but at the way these homes are now, it's still not safe to just leave them open. Even with a party large enough to drive off most monsters."

Fulgra got right in front of Vince and smiled at him. "She's also kind of an idiot, we're strangers who just met and she's left us all to you, who she's known for... um... based on the look on your face, not very long..."

"Three days." Vince said.

"Ha! I was about to guess a week! No worries though, I'm friendly. So, what do you wanna do?"

"Sleep."

"If you wanna fuck, you can be honest."

"Oh." Vince lit up a little. "Then that."

Fulgra chuckled. "Alright! Now we can finally start having a bit of FUN! Aquafla? Igniss? You in too?"

"Yeah, sure." Igniss said, stretching her arms and approaching the bed. "I've never slept with a Human before, this should be interesting."

"I have." Said Aquafla. "And as for your request..."

She eyeballed the trio up and down a few times.

"Yeah you three look hot, let's go."

Well then. With Vince... since getting three new friends with benefits all of a sudden, he felt like he could finally take in the sights each of them had to offer.

Fulgra was, not that surprising even from what little he knew of her, the first to make her move on him. She got him and managed to slide him to the far end of the bed, making sure to leave space for Igniss and Aquafla.

"Hee hee, I know these were supposed to be one house for each of us..." She said. "But I don't mind sharing, if you're okay with a crowded bed..."

"Absolutely I'll do anything."

"...Don't make me shout 'settler' again. Especially because Sonata's not here right now!"

Vince sighed. "Do you want me to pleasure you or not?" He said with a slight chuckle.

"I take back everything I said!" Fulgra laughed.

Aquafla and Igniss were taking advantage of the little 'distraction' going on to get in on the action, of course taking up the available space Fulgra was kind enough to give them. Aquafla looked like she was deciding which of her three new friends she'd like to go for first as she shuffled over, but Igniss answered that for her by wrapping her arms around Fulgra's waist, massaging her stomach.

"Now now, the Human's from a different playing field than us, I'm pretty sure." Igniss told her. "Let's try to keep him comfortable."

The right hand of the Red Nymph quickly went up, cupping the underside of Fulgra's left breast and giving it a rub. Igniss scooted herself forward, and Fulgra replied by happily hopping her body backwards, sitting her huge ass comfortably against Igniss' groin. All the while, her left hand took a slower, more teasing approach, working its way across her stomach, teasingly brushing fingers across the top of her pelvic area, playing around a bit with her pubic hair... Fulgra gave a teeth-bearing frown and grinded her ass against Igniss's crotch, trying to tell her to hurry up and please her own area.

Igniss understood that, and decided to pick up the pace. Fulgra let out a sigh of relief as she finally felt some feiry fingers inside her. She got even more physical treats soon after, with Igniss kissing her neck and slowly going down, while her other hand continued to play with the underside of her bust. Soon, Igniss' higher hand and face both reached Fulgra's cleavage, and a devilish smirk appeared on her face as she blew right on the Volt Nymph's nipple.

Vince, not even noticing where his last sex friend went, was drinking the entire show with his eyes. He was in awe as he could see Fulgra's nipples stiffen from the breath, and when Igniss finally pinched one of the teets with her hand, Fulgra's moan just about gave him second-hand pleasure. Vince couldn't make out Igniss' work down below, most of the time her hand also covered up the sweet spot save for some fleeting glimpses when her fingers moved, but up top provided him more than enough of a show. Igniss placed a tongue on Fulgra's right breast, dragging it across, licking that nipple as her upper hand flicked the other. She then took the entire breast in her mouth-

Vince had never been so disappointed to see breasts in his life, but he suddenly found Aquafla taking him and adjusting him so that he was set in place on his back, her blue breasts taking up most of his sight as he was facing straight up. Gods, he didn't stare before or took much note of their bodies, so now that he was staring directly at their chests it felt like their breasts swelled up several sizes. As she was positioned over him, hands spread out on either side, she gave him a somewhat sheepish smile.

"Sorry I took so long, I was thinking of the best way to go about this." Aquafla said. "But I guess a straightforward approach can't go wrong, huh?"

"Ummmm..." Vince was at a complete loss of words. He looked downwards, to Aquafla's somewhat more toned stomach, to-

She got on him and immediately started a ride. A miniscule thought at the back of his head almost wanted to tease Fulgra for how she was completely taken by Igniss, but that faded to nothing as he realized he would be in no position to speak when he was so badly under the lake woman's spell. In spite of the breast-suckling, hand-on-crotch show Igniss and Fulgra were giving the other two, Aquafla still managed to sway his eyes to her more often. Taking in the sight of her smiling beautifully, seemingly proud of the way she was pleasing her new friend, her breathing quickening. But moreso, those tits bouncing with every motion, audibly smacking, glistening with a growing amount of sweat.

Eventually, Fulgra cried out. "Ahh... AHHHH! Oh- oh fuck, I-Igniss, I'm gonna cum!"

Vince could already feel his dam getting ready to burst inside Aquafla, and he knew the sounds of Fulgra's own peak would not help. He prepared his own warning:

"A-Aquafla-"

"I can tell." The Lake Nymph replied with a smirk.

He wanted to question how, but he was distracted by the most amazing scream of pleasure he had heard yet.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I'm cu- AAAAHHHHHH! AHHH! AH! AH! Oooohhh..." Again, Igniss' hand obscured the spiciest part of the action, but Vince could tell from both the screams and the sounds coming from her virtually-censored organ how her peak went, and the timing of her bursts. Juices leaked from between Igniss' fingers, staining the bed.

As Fulgra cooed and fell on her side with an exhausted, but satisfied sigh, Vince was already at his own breaking point. His hands, formerly idle, suddenly shot up to Aquafla's waist as his impending end got him to lean up.

"Fffff... errrr... AAAAHHHH!" Vince screamed, finally lightening the pressure that was built up for a good while. Aquafla was giving herself a proud chuckle as she watched her partner climax.

Her pride turned to surprise a while in. "Ooh! Vince, that's a lot!"

"I- ARGH!" He gave his last burst of that session. "I, uh, Sonata told me that. Before."

"How many Life Crystals did you consume?" That was probably the most emotion he had heard out of Aquafla yet.

"One."

"Holy Pan! And you're still-"

Yeah, he was still excited. Didn't die down. Well, he... erhm, 'shrank slightly,' but his 'excitement' didn't die off entirely. It happened to him on occasion. He knew in situations like that, the relief he felt would go away annoyingly soon, and he'd be bricked up all over again.

"Hee hee, did the sound of my orgasm push you to yours?" Fulgra asked with a wink.

"Y-yeah." Vince said, blushing a little. Aaaaand Igniss, with her freed hands, was staring at him. Apart from the Fire Nymph occasionally licking Fulgra's juices, all attention was on him. He had... fantasized about that, and during that moment right before he took off his clothes when they weren't really talking to him he thought it would never happen, but then it was and...

Well. The 'Nymph Harem' thing wasn't quite like how it played out in his fantasies.

"Well, I think the best course of action is to continue." Said Aquafla, getting a grin from Vince. "You have another round, I really want to hit my peak..."

"Excuse me!" Said Igniss. "I'd like some of that cream too! And you didn't help by hyping it up."

"Fair is fair, then." Aquafla said, getting off of Vince. "But I want someone to get me off. Fulgra?"

"I'm done." Fulgra replied. "I could help you, but... I'm not getting anything in return, and I do want you to owe me one. Especially since I owe Igniss one, I mean, wow."

"Hrm. Vince?"

"Not with my own cum in there, I draw the line at that." He said. He noticed Fulgra giving him an eyeroll, and chuckling when he shot her a look. It just made him double down: "I am not going to eat that out of you."

Aquafla thought it over yet again. "You know what? I'll take owing you one, Fulgra."

"Mwah hahahahaha you're gonna regret that, you know." Fulgra replied.

Aquafla chuckled. "Don't make me change my mind."

"Alright, fine, the 'owed one' will be something tiny, just sit on my Pan-cursed face already."

She did that. And that got Igniss and Vince to meet eye-to-eye.

"So." Igniss said.

"So." Vince said back at her. He winked, and that got a good laugh out of her. An affectionate one.

By that point, though, Aquafla was already sighing in relief, sitting on Fulgra and letting the Volt Nymph eagerly get to work on her. It was a sight that both got Igniss and Vince heated, and the former of that pair practically tackled the Human.

"Oof!" Vince said.

"Sorry! Was I too rough?" Igniss said. Genuine concern. Aquafla was moaning in pleasure, although Igniss' focus was completely on Vince.

"No, no, just caught me off guard a little."

"Again, I'm really sorry. I just want you to be comfortable."

Fulgra briefly stopped her work to chime in: "Same, but only for a while. Once you're broken in and one of us, and I convince Sonata to not shield you since - that might be a thing - you'll get heavier teasing!"

With a sigh, Aquafla pushed her hips on to Fulgra's face as a way of getting her to get back to her job.

"You don't have to keep apologizing." Vince said.

"Sor- I... ah! Is there a way I can make it up to you?"

"As a matter of fact, there is. You see, I don't mind being on the bottom and letting my partner do all the work, but Aquafla already took her turn being on top with me, and I wanna shuffle around a little."

Igniss giggled. "Oh, you..."

As they flipped around, Vince added: "Okay, it might just be because you're the one I'm touching right now, but I think you're my favorite. No offense."

Fulgra playfully punched him in the leg. It was harmless; from what little he knew of Volt Nymphs, he knew that if she was actually mad, he would have felt something. "This massive load you shot that I'm still cleaning up says you like Aquafla a lot."

He started on Igniss, who blew a hard breath in arousal. Below him, the Fire Nymph said between pants: "You think you can give me one of those 'massive loads?'"

"That's something we'll both find out." Vince, himself, said between breaths.

And relatively soon, at that. The stimulation was, again, a bit much more than what he was used to back at his old place. Aquafla's moans of delight, even though she was no longer his partner, rang in his ears just like Igniss's own rising pleasure.

"F-Fulgra..." Aquafla was unsurprisingly at her limit first, considering the job Vince did with her prior.

That was all she said before letting out a moan, much softer than Fulgra's or Vince's yells. Right around that time, Igniss and Vince were virtually done themselves.

"I'm close." Igniss said. "And I can tell you're... t-too... it's a Nymph thing..." she tried to play it cool and winked, but her body betrayed her, flushing an even brighter red and the open eye struggling to keep it as such as she neared her peak.

Both of them cried out soon after Aquafla unloaded herself on to Fulgra, bringing the night session to a mighty triple finish. Vince felt no dimishing pleasure compared to his first burst in the lake woman, and Igniss enjoyed too felt pleasure rippling through her body as she and her partner were in synch.

Vince just about collapsed when he was done, falling in the limited space between Igniss and the pair engaging in oral, rolling over to his side as he took deep breaths.

"Hey, Fulgra," Igniss said, "you wanna take this-"

"Fuck you." Fulgra said with a flurry of laughs. "Vince's cum was tasty, but I'm not going to do that again."

"I think I really pushed myself." Vince said. "That was... a lot. I jumped from bedding one Nymph to bedding three. I mean, I've slept with up to two people at the... Continent, but..."

"Oh, for a newbie to Nymph culture you're pretty good. At least that's what I got from Aquafla and Igniss' reactions." Fulgra said. She gently popped him on the shoulder. "Next time, though. You. And me. I'm gonna blow your mind more than either of these two. I promise."

"Heh heh, not sure how I'll measure that..."

"You'll feel the difference."

"You know, that's not an empty threat." Aquafla said. "Her work on me was fantastic. I'm sure she'll pull something off with you."

"Tomorrow, though." Vince said. "You may be nocturnal, but I'm exhausted. I spent all day building this with Sonata and I," as if on cue, he yawned, "really need to rest. I'm not sure what our sleeping arrangements are, but there's only three houses here now and-"

"We'll figure something out, you can have that bed." Igniss said. "I'll go wash up."

"I can help with my knowledge of watery arts..." Aquafla said with a flirtatious hint in her tone, walking out in to the night with Igniss. Placing a hand on the feiry woman's big, round, red ass.

"I'll stay here and cuddle the Cutie!" Fulgra said, slipping under the sheets with him and wrapping her arms around the Human with a large grin. As she got up to him-

"Ooh! Ready for round three?" Fulgra continued, a smirk growing on her face as she tapped Vince's chin.

"Uh, no." Vince said. "My guy has a mind of his own, my brain's telling me that I might just pass out at this point."

"That's fine. So um, I'm not sure if I'll go to bed or whatever, since I'm tired from my long walk over here. I can stay here and be a nice, soft 'pillow' for you if you want some help getting to sleep. I may or may not fall asleep on you, fair warning."

"I'm willing to take that risk."

---

"Oh, thank Pan you're awake Trent." Sonata said as she approached his home, in the middle of the small ring of shacks Vince had built on his first day. Again, thanks to clearing room for potential additions (lava moat lava moat lava moat), it was a long walk to get from the 'Nymph Town' to the... 'Non-Nymph Town?' "I have some questions."

"Is this about the Deep Woods? I thought you would know more about the Nymphs there than me."

That caught her off guard. "The fuck? How did you know we ran in to them? Do you have some kind of weird Guide-magic or something?"

"I... do but that's not it. They left a note in my town."

He showed her a bright green paper with the following written on it:

Dear Humans (and one Dwarf, and whatever that Trent guy is).

A group of Nymphs have set up a "Melting Pot" Forest town north of your settlement, and it appears that you know of them. We of the Deep Woods have taken notice of both that and your Human culture-inspired town, and will be keeping you under watch. The territory that both towns are in are planned to be assimilated under Deep Woods watch, after a century of unofficial rules leading to the Forest being a lawless land anyone can claim. Granted, this is because most Nymphs don't like being around Forests. Us included. But we see this as free territory to work from, and would like to use it as extra resources for benefitting Nymphking. NOT as a place to expand in to. We are NOT an expansionist empire like those fucking Wood Elves.

- Arborea.

"Grr!" Sonata shouted. "Alright, here's what I know about the Deep Woods. There's only one on this island, and it's due north of here, about a day's length of a walk. It's pretty huge. One of the biomes with the biggest surface here, along with the Snow, Desert, and Foglands. Grand Elder Wood's the top boss, but she's got some minions. But Arborea's the only one I know by name. They host contests, I could participate in them and win and whoever wins gets to have some favors done. Granted, this is probably rigged against the non-Deep Woods people so it won't mean too much in the long run, buuuut if I can humiliate the Grand Elder Wood, then the small group of people on this island outside that biome that support those fuckers would turn against her, and even a lot of the Deep Woods would turn on her, because that's just how Nymph society bloodlust works. Encourage assholes who love to draw blood on the first person who shows tears. I don't really like it myself, but if I can use it to my advantage, then Pan-curse it, I will."

"It... sounds like you already understand everything I know!" Trent said. "But from what I've seen, and how your fight with the Key Holders went, I don't think you're strong enough to take them on."

"'Course not." Sonata waved a hand dismissively, with her other hand on her chin in heavy thought. "Alright, I guess this is where you come in. Stronger, how do I get?"

"Well, my main domain is the Forest."

"That's good, because I'm not a Forest person. Don't plan to spend too much time there aside from your and Vince's towns."

"I've recently heard from travellers that there's a sword somewhere on this island, one of the Zenith ingredients. It's just called an Enchanted Sword, but it's in a shrine burried somewhere around the 'neutral' Forest land."

"Ooh!" Sonata perked. "That sounds like a good start! Yeah, I've heard about those, I've seen what I think are shrines, but every time I go to one, the sword's gone. Someone else took it. And one time, a mine cart track went right through it. I'm sure there's a funny story behind that one."

"Magic-hunters over at the Order still say they found faint traces of one down here, mixed in with ambient neutral magic. So, checking the Underground should be your best bet. The dirt layer."

"Alright! And I can use that to cleave stronger monsters, and get material from them! Thanks! I could kiss you, Trent! ...Could I-"

"Um, no, sorry." Oh Pan she wouldn't be surprised if he shot down the offer, but she wasn't expecting him to be so... direct about it. "I uh... no."

"Ah, well, I'm off to go back to Vince! Hopefully my roommates didn't try to eat him the moment I turned my back on them... I mean, I didn't say that there's a Human in my place, so if they came here then they weren't looking for one in the first- ah, whatever. I... trust them. I mean... the last person I trusted was uh, 'Linds-'"

Sonata's pupils shrank to practically nothing.

She took off running.

Or, she slowly stuck her head out from behind a wall with a smug smile on her face.

"Say, Trent." Sonata said. "Real quick. Did you and Vince ever...?"

"Oh, no. Look, I'm really married to my job. Although Vince did ask me out once. And... I let him down- not the same way, a little less uh... quick. But still."

"Ohohoho, Vince saw you as more than a friend, why didn't I see that coming? I guess that's because he comes off as the sort of person who just has a Nymph fetish and doesn't care about... uh... whatever you are."

"Human."

"Bullshit you don't smell like any Human I know. You reek of sulfur."

"I get that from time to time. I'm Human, just cursed."

Sonata glared at him for a bit.

"...You know what, I'll buy it. Anyway, gonna report back to Vince and my new friends."

---

Sonata had slowed herself down a bit as she realized that if any of them (or, Pan forbid, all of them) turned on Vince, there was a good chance it was already too late. Still, her internal stone vine blood-pumping tangle felt heavy, and all sorts of scenarios went in her head at once. She shifted to her true form in frustration, getting her claws ready. A Zombie attack. Demon Eyes getting in through the holes. Hrm... no, no... also, keep the fuck calm, Sonata. Don't go batshit on anybody. Getting closer though, she shifted back to her Human look and tried to keep a steady smile. Finally, when she reached the homes, she didn't quite slam the door open, but it was still a sudden yank. Alright, open with a joke...?

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE, STOP FUCKING, I'VE GOT- oh wow it looks like you've actually fucked that was meant to be a joke."

She then laughed, and was immediately joined by Fulgra giving a hearty laugh of herself. Igniss joined in too, and then, after a few seconds of holding it back, Aquafla.

Vince on the other hand just turned beet red.

As for positions, Vince and Fulgra were cuddled by the bed, with Igniss looking like she wasn't sure if she wanted to join them or not before Sonata's entrance. Aquafla was off in a corner, looking to be crafting something. There was even a workbench that, as Sonata would find out later, was her creation and not Vince's.

"Ah! Sonata, wha- you could have given us a warning!"

"Oh, really? Sorry, I thought because the door was unlocked and because we fucked before that you would be okay with this. And I assumed because the other three are all Nymphs born and raised in the Islands that this wouldn't be a big problem?"

Fulgra cheered "NOPE!" while Igniss gave an affirmative nod. Aquafla was a bit more focused on her work, but she too nodded in agreement, far faster.

"I- still... that's really blunt, you know?" Vince continued to say. Wasn't really a protest. "And you barged on me, naked and cuddling."

"I honestly don't see the problem unless you're actively fucking. Vince, sorta like I told Iris, if you're gonna live here and especially if you wanna get along with us, you'll need to lower your sense of modesty a bit. We're really open about sex stuff. It's not like those weird-ass books and cartoons you have where we're this ocean of 'sexy virgins.' But, yeah, I can kinda see how sudden that was, sorry."

"Er-"

"I was also concerned because I left you alone with three strangers, and that's a pretty stupid thing to do here in general. Nothing bad happened, right?"

"NOPE!" Fulgra cheered.

"NOT YOU!" Sonata said with a finger point and a tone harsh enough to make all four of the other people flinch. "I- shit, sorry. A lot's in my head. I mean, uh, I'd rather hear the tale in Vince's words."

"It was wonderful!" He said. "I feel like we lucked out with these three roommates! I'm glad we didn't do the thing where we get a lot of terrible people that we have to sort through, three for three our first guests are great."

Igniss affectionately stroked Vince's hair. "I'm happy you think that, but fair warning, people who have lived with me in the past do think I can be... annoying. And wordy."

"Are you okay, Sonata?" Aquafla asked. "I'm not just going to ignore that outburst. Though 'a lot's in your head' does sound very personal, if there's anything you want to talk about... we probably should now..."

"I got scared for a moment that you might attack Vince and he'd be defenseless. I mean, from what I knew of him, the guy... no offense Vince, but you suck raw asscocks at combat. You couldn't even scratch me when you thought I was an enemy."

"Hm... none taken? I do want to get stronger though."

"Uh, right," Sonata continued, "speaking of getting stronger, I know what we can use to beat Arborea. There's this sword deep underground-"

"Alright... anyway, so, Trent told me about a tool called the Enchanted Sword. There's this shrine somewhere in the Neutral Forests. Tomorrow, I'm gonna hunt for it."

"That's... great?" Said Vince. "I think tomorrow I'll just fix up the town."

"Oh, this again, you've gotta also spend some time beefing yourself up and getting some supplies. I mean, the Zombies are pretty restless, and I can only use so much of my necromancy to counteract with the magic that animated them for so long. I'll suggest that you go down in the caves, you know, find stuff all the Nymphs around here stashed and get Life Crystals."

"...Okay."

"Uh, right, you four can keep fucking or whatever you're doing. I'm a bit tired and I wanna prepare for this. And expanding the Naked Empire, of course. I'll just sleep in the house above so that you don't keep me awake with your wild moaning and yelling and I won't be bothering you with my lack of getting involved in anything sexually."

"Actually we just finish-" Vince began.

Sonata already left, making sure to close the door behind her. Fulgra appeared to not care about that much at all, just reaching over to spoon Vince. Aquafla on the other hand kept a brow raised in curiosity over that whole thing.

Igniss sat on the bed and looked at Vince, giving a flirtatious smile. "Hey, I want to apologize on Sonata's behalf. I can tell the rest of us are all from a culture where when it comes to casual sex, we also squeeze in casual conversations left and right, while you're not from that sort of thing."

"I mean, I'm not a prude..." Vince replied.

"You're still uncomfortable, and Sonata doesn't seem to have a clue of what happened. It might have felt like privacy was breached."

"We had sex before, so... I mean... yeah... it kinda was weird."

Igniss stroked his face and chuckled a little. "I'll talk things out with her." And she sat up slightly, looking at the electric and aquatic roommates. In a louder tone, she added: "And the same goes for Fulgra on a few things, it seems."

"Well, thanks." Vince said, giving Fulgra and affectionate leg-rub. Based on her soft moan, she appreciated it. "I think I can get used to this. I certainly wouldn't trade this for anything else."

"Hmm hmm! I like the way you think!"

"To be clear, I do too." Aquafla said. "And I like this home. I think I can safely call Sonata a good person."

That... last part made Vince feel a tad uncertain.

But any doubts on Sonata faded as he felt Fulgra lean harder in to him, breathing deeply. For someone nocturnal, she already seemed to have fallen asleep.

Vince joined her soon after.

---

Sonata entered the room with a smile on her face. Okay, Vince was safe. Her roommates seemed okay. Fulgra was kind of an ass, but whatever, they can discuss that tomorrow. Her charms seemed plenty useful as it was.

'(At least) one of each' was not her intended endgoal, but it was a fun fantasy of hers. She had honestly expected that, had the ads been picked up by anyone at all, Sonata would have had an Oread majority come over to her place. They by far made up the majority of the current Nymph population, after all. Jungle, even when the Dryads were alive, the Oreads outnumbered them, albeit barely and the Dryads did dip over a bit.

Still though. She met someone from a Volcanic Lake, someone from a... well, water Lake, and someone from a Voltland. All in one day. Across her 500 years of living, that was nothing special, but she thought if she was finally going to start settling down and consider permanent companions, that was an impressive start when it came to people who would stick around. Ideally, she'd bring the whole world together, uniting all the Natural Biomes, though if she couldn't convince the old farts up there who became the leaders of those spots to stop bickering and band together, she felt fine having a melting pot to shelter outcasts. Outcasts like herself. Arguably, outcasts like Vince.

Well, when it came to the Natural Biomes and counting herself, it was four down, nine hundred and ninety-seven to go.

Er.

Sonata looked around to make sure nobody was watching. She brought her senses to their fullest. Trying to feel nature itself, in an aura all around herself. While Nymphs could hypothetically extend that to the whole world, Sonata was still nowhere near that level, but she did get a decent 'look' at the neighborhood. Just four noteworthy lifeforms in the house below her, none having left that home. No spies. Unless those Deep Wood fucks had- no... best to not think about it.

She reached deep within the labyrinth that was her hair storage, and took out an extra-special item. A single flower. A glorious pink, despite being over a hundred years old, it was still as fresh as ever. Such was the beauty of the magic of Overlife. And some other things. Sonata flushed a little as she played around with the soft beauty in between her middle and index fingers.

Okay, fuck it. Correction. Four down, nine hundred and ninety-eight to go.

---

Cave Bats.

They are small, hard to see, and swiftly flap about in unpredictable ways. They often carry diseases, such as rabies.

Vince's Comment: "AAARRRRGHH! SO annoying! Thank the gods repellant for those things exist. If they didn't, I can't even imagine what spelunking would be like..."

Sonata's Comment: "The homing pigeons of the caverns! If you're a Nymph with adequate Bat-communication, that is. I learned that just to teach them to carry my stuff, and I've named every single one 'Bat Shit.' Anyway, these are annoying, so I'll provide cooking notes for what to do with the 99.999% of them you don't train to be your carriers: Be sure to boil them thoroughly in order to make sure any diseases are taken care of, because trust me, even us Nymphs can get infected with all that shit. Best served with peppers IMO.

---

Closing AN:

I didn't intend this to be so long. I've been trying to write shorter chapters, after all. And I thought for sure with the "simpler premise" of just meeting three Variants that this would end up being shorter than Chapters 1 or 2.

Okay, this is where the colossal changes from the old version come in. This chapter started out with similar story beats of building the Nymph Homes as the old version, but originally, Vince ventured out with Iris and Madeline to make homes in other biomes (starting with Ocean) while Sonata stayed by and got her Red/Yellow/Blue Trio.

This might sound inoffensive on paper, but what I hated about that old arc is that it felt like I absolutely CRAMMED at least two, hell maybe upwards of four, arcs' worth of content together in just the span of five gigantic chapters. The RYB Trio barely got any screentime outside of the old Chapter 4, and two B-plots happened at once with Vince's group and Sonata's group that each included introducing eight more Nymph Variants until they awkwardly met up together, but that wasn't the end of the arc, there was a chapter that was both a lengthy flashback of a character that was barely introduced and that doubled as a training montage of sorts and also covered all the "gathering earlygame" stuff until the "big showdown" of the arc happened and... yeah.

Sorry to say if anyone read the old version that's currently still on FFN, but this story may feel stagnant with that old "Snow and Sand Arc" (and the "Deep Woods Arc"), as we won't have every story beat that the old version did in those two arcs cleared for quite a while. The first thing I want to do is give the RYB Trio their own arc without introducing too many Variant characters, or at least not suddenly adding them in to the group without really fleshing them out like I basically did before. (And no, I don't consider the five Deep Wood Nymphs the same thing as the two gangs of eight, for one thing... semi-spoiler but this should be predictable, only two of them will end up being super important, and only one out of them will be a "mainstay.") This will also cover Vince getting stronger than just his super earlygame stuff, so starting next chapter he will actually get a lot more gear than the random crap he found in chests. I... am honestly still not sure how I want to handle "earlygame progression" here. I mean, yeah, I'm still sorta "cramming two arcs' worth together" by having both the RYB Trio stuff and Vince getting early equipment, but at least I don't think it'll be as bad as the old version. (As for introducing the Deep Woods much earlier and giving them three new flunkies, more minor spoilers, that's not all going to be resolved this arc. You'll see. The "formula" I'll have should be made apparent by Chapter 5 or 6 at the latest, depending on how long I want this arc to be.) I want to get that out of the way since I honestly think the very beginning (pre-hook, pre-Magic Mirror) is boring/a bit tense in not dying gameplay-wise and would be boring to write, but I also want to get Variant stuff in as soon as possible, so the last thing I'd want is for the arc after the whole beginning to have Vince getting metals and Life Crystals first and then finally getting to the first Variants. I already feel like it's a bit too slow but "necessary" to wait until Chapter 3 to start introducing them. Chapter 1, meet the Oread, and establish some things about Vince. Chapter 2, though this is much less vital I'll admit, I'd like to show off the main villain early.

I didn't mean for the sex scene to be this much longer and more... "intense?" than the last one. I started writing it while especially in the mood and then I think I went overkill with it. I was actually intending for these longer sex scenes to be at the end of a given arc, I got carried away. But I don't really think anyone would be complaining about it, the sort that would probably have already dropped the story knowing that there's sex at all.

Oh, as I get closer to this Biome Artists spiritual "successor" thing (almost certainly, I'll be working on both stories at the same time. No fucking clue which one would end first, probably Biome Artists to be completely honest, or at least "Part I"), random thing I want to drop: All Nymph Variants may have white sclera. This might seem random and "Yeah, I just assumed"-ish, but I'm saying this because this will not apply to their successors, whose sclera may just be colored in based on their overall scheme.