Chapter 15a: Unfriendly Reunion
Lescatie
Spring of 1427 ME
Adrian peaked around the corner. Seeing that it was safe, he advanced down the hallway, gripping his sword tightly. Leaning down, he tried to listen for any sound his opponent would make. He heard light tapping noises coming the hallway to his left. Hiding around the corner, he waited for his enemy to walk past so he could make an ambush. Listening closer, he could swear he heard two sets of footsteps.
Suddenly, a shadow appeared from behind him. Adrian whipped around only to get a knife directly into his leg, then into his back. Immediately, lethargy spread throughout his entire body. With herculean effort, he pulled the knife out of his body and swung his sword in a messy arc to try and catch whoever caught him off guard. The figure knocked him back onto his ass with a sweeping kick, planting another knife into his stomach.
"Score up one for Sinclair." The dark elf chuckled.
"Son of a bitch…" Adrian wheezed out, staring up at Sinclair.
"Better luck next time."
Basking in her own glory, Sinclair failed to realize that her battle wasn't over. Immediately, she caught a flurry of realm silver bullets from Saralyn's new shotgun, aptly named "Boomstick". Sinclair cursed and stumbled backwards, falling against the wall. Saralyn walked past Sinclair and leaned down next to Adrian.
"Are you feeling okay? She didn't hit you too hard, did she?" Saralyn asked teasingly, with a bit of real concern on her face.
"I'm alright…"
"Good. I'll win this little sparring match for you, okay?" Saralyn gave Adrian a quick kiss and went on her way.
Saralyn strutted down the corridors of the maze-like arena, searching for her final targets. Jordan and Naira would be together somewhere, thankfully being prohibited from flying. As for Ava, she had zero idea where she would be.
The clicking of nails on stone came from the right. Turning towards the source of the noise, she advanced forward, putting away her shotgun and drawing one of her revolvers. Checking her corners, she entered the room. Immediately, something felt off.
Saralyn fired a shot off into one of the tall bushes. She heard a yelp, followed by Jordan's body falling out from behind the plant.
"Score up one for S-" Saralyn didn't get to finish her sentence. Immediately, something knocked her onto her stomach from above. The world went dark as two large wings blocked out her vision. Saralyn blind fired in front of her, clipping one of Naira's wings, but that didn't stop the wyvern from tackling her to the ground. Naira raised her good wing and prepared to finish Saralyn off. The dhampir dropped her gun and caught the wing with both of her hands. The two of them wrestled on the ground, both of them trying to tire the other out.
Naira hit her head on a stone bench, momentarily stunning her. Saralyn knee'd the wyvern in the stomach, following up with a shot by her other revolver. The wyvern's eyes twitched slightly, before sighing and flopping onto the ground.
"I w-" A kunai whizzed past Saralyn's head, knocking off her hat, and embedded itself in a fountain. Saralyn whirled around, looking for Ava. She was nowhere to be seen.
Rustling came from her right. Looking at the ground, Saralyn saw matted grass in the shape of footprints leading to a stone bench. Out of the corner of her eyes, Saralyn saw a bit of wall that looked off. She immediately knew who it was. Saralyn looked around, pretending to be clueless. She began to pretend to leave, before whipping around with her shotgun in hand, blasting the suspicious looking wall. Ava faceplanted on the grass, groaning.
"Like I said… I win."
"Congratulations!" Meryl's voice came from the observatory above them. The roof was made of glass, allowing for easy viewing of the arena below.
"Come back to the entrance." Meryl ordered. Saralyn put her guns away, picked up her hat, and began retracing her steps back to the maze's entrance.
Reaching the entrance, she opened the doors and flopped down on one of the couches outside of the arena. A few minutes passed, and five succubi carrying Adrian, Sinclair, Jordan, Naira, and Ava entered the lounge, laying them each down on one of the couches. Slowly, the five of them came to.
The five of them walked out of the Peacekeeper's training arena and out onto the streets of Lescatie. The past four months had been blissfully peaceful and uneventful for Adrian, Saralyn, and the rest of the Peacekeepers. Following the time after the corruption of Monoghon, the Peacekeepers had been praised for the rescue of Monoghon. For the first month or so, Adrian and Saralyn couldn't walk down the streets without someone saluting to them and thanking them for their services to Lescatie. Personally, he found it enjoyable at first but it quickly became annoying, prompting him to wear a concealing cloak whenever he went outside of the Peacekeeper's base. Ava hated it even more, and opted to stay inside and ask Adrian and Saralyn to buy food for her.
Meryl and Sinclair had fully embraced the adoration of Lescatie's citizens. Meryl had been lambasted by mamono that had joined the Peacekeepers and left after getting a husband, stating that she was "too harsh" for a mamono military general. But now, she was getting praised left and right for her leadership efforts, and Sinclair was alongside her, soaking in all of the praise as well.
Naira was still rather shaken by her accidental loss of control back in Monoghon. Unlike the rest of the Peacekeepers, she was criticized for losing control of herself, and Jordan was criticized for not keeping control of her. Meryl had taken the opportunity to defend them publicly in a speech about her experiences, not wanting to abandon her subordinates.
"You did what you had to do." Meryl had reassured Naira and Jordan. "Anyone else would have resorted to extreme measures to protect their allies and their husband."
The seven of them reached the Peacekeepers base and relaxed for a bit, before an announcement from Meryl called them to their meeting room. The six mamono and their husbands all filed into the room, taking a seat and looking at a picture of a map. Adrian recognized it as a map of Aperia's territory.
Adrian had been informed that there were several accusations that Aperia had been behind Azurith's assassination attempt. Druella herself even went to Aperia and confronted Ophelia. The two of them had had a massive argument, and ultimately nothing of value was achieved. Druella had come back to Lescatie in a bad mood, and every person in her vicinity had felt it.
"So, I'm guessing vacation is over?" Sinclair asked, propping her feet up on the table, much to Meryl's dismay.
"Yeah. I hope you didn't miss doing nothing, because this mission is coming from Druella herself." Meryl explained. She walked around the table and violently pushed Sinclair's feet off the table, the dark elf yelping in surprise. Meryl kept talking as if nothing had happened.
"Druella came to me in a rather sour mood the other day. She cares for her childhood friend as much as she cares for her husband, and she wants to see Aperia converted to a mamono realm. The problem is, we can't exactly invade Aperia." Meryl informed the group. "Too much security."
Adrian knew that Meryl was right. Aperia was one of the most secure cities in the continent. He heard rumors of devices that slowed or outright stopped the flow of mamono mana to flocks of valkyries and angels watching the skies, to even hiring other mamono to detect potential threats using anthropomorphosis to disguise themselves. It had been regarded as one of the most stubborn "enemies'' of Lescatie, despite not explicitly committing any wrongdoings towards the mamono realm. Many monsters had grown upset over Aperia's repeated hostility towards the Order, pressuring Lescatie to do something, not to mention their anger towards them allegedly trying to assassinate Azurith.
"How the hell are we going to get into Aperia? That city's infamous for being insanely high security." Adrian asked.
"You won't be going into the city. At least not like with Monoghon. You're going to be going to a spot outside of the city. A slightly smaller city by the name of Aerokon." Meryl pointed to an icon of a town circled in red on the map of Aperia's territory. "The one silver lining to all of this is that areas under Aperia's control are friendly towards monsters… At least not extremists. Like us."
The name bothered Adrian for some reason. Just thinking about it made him feel irritated for some reason. He scratched his head trying to think of why this was happening. It was just a city, a place that he had probably never been to.
"How are they going to tell a non-extremist monster from an extremist monster?" Saralyn questioned, tilting her head in confusion.
"A number of ways. Immigration documents, mamono spies inside of Lescatie, stuff like that. From what we can tell, mamono children native to Aperia and its territories seem to be educated with the notion that extremists are evil. How nice of them." Meryl said sarcastically, with a hint of annoyance in her voice.
Adrian looked at the area around Aerokon. Some mountains and a snaking river going past the small city were the only things of note, along with the states of Arcani and Ichoriya; major cities that were originally under the Order's control.
"Once we get into the city, where are we supposed to go?"
"Right. One useful thing came out of Druella's not-so-friendly conversation with Ophelia, and that there's a dark angel that's trying to spread the teachings of the Fallen God to Aperia undercover. She can help you get into the city, so all you have to do is make it to this church, right here." Meryl pointed to a symbol of a winged torch near the center of the city. Adrian had noticed that cities in Aperia's territory used a winged torch as opposed to the crosses used to mark churches of the Chief God.
They must really not want to associate with the Order. Makes me wonder, what sparked all this bad blood between Ophelia and the Chief God?
"I will be going with you this time." Meryl stood up, grabbing her sheath with her realm-silver sword in it. Before leaving the room, she turned towards the group. "Oh, and before we head out, one more thing. No weapons from Lescatie once we get to the city, Aerokon's going to know we're extremists if they see those. We leave in an hour." The dullahan said, shutting the door behind her.
Adrian looked at the Ballista. The symbol of the mamono realm Lescatie was engraved right on the hilt for everyone to see. Saralyn looked at her two guns, the black and red icon shining brightly on the hilt. Both of them looked at each other, shaking their heads.
Ava walked to Meryl's office, her footsteps completely silenced, something that kunoichis learned at a young age. It would help them in their mission to find a husband. Speaking of husbands… Ava sorely missed hers.
When a mamono's husband dies, they would have one of two options. Either remain chaste for the rest of their lives or use necromancy to bring their husbands back to life. Ava didn't have the luxury of using necromancy to bring her husband back to life. She had prayed to Hel every single day after he had died, hoping that she could do something, anything to bring him back. The only thing she could do now was wait for a speedy reincarnation.
She knocked on the door to Meryl's office. She heard some footsteps, and then Meryl opened the door.
"Can I help you, Ava?"
"Yes. It's… about my performance." The kunoichi spoke, her voice slightly raspy because of how little she talked.
Meryl beckoned for her to come inside, closing the door behind her. Meryl waved her hand over the door, causing it to glow for a second.
"Nobody can hear us now. Now, what's wrong with your performance? You've been doing quite well when you were sparring with the others. Twelve wins, the most victories out of every member of the Peacekeepers."
"It's about my husband." The kunoichi looked down at the ground, as if she was embarrassed.
Meryl put a hand on Ava's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Listen… What happened that day was completely out of your control. You can't dwell on the past forever."
"It always comes up at the most inopportune moments! The garden that Saralyn defeated me in, it reminded me of the garden that we spent our final moments together in…"
"Ava. Don't think about what you could've done to save him. Instead…" The dullahan smiled slightly. "Just think about all the fun times you'll have when he reincarnates. Think about all the new positions you could fuck him in, all the ways you could tease him, anything that you didn't do with him when he was alive. Hel doesn't leave any mamono or human as a widow, at least not forever."
Ava found herself smiling.
"Thank you, Meryl. That does make me feel better."
The Peacekeepers sat outside of their base, waiting for the last member to join them. They sat staring at the sky, taking deep breaths. Meryl had not given them many orders in her briefing apart from meeting up with the dark angel. Cassiel, was her name. An originally high-ranking angel of Aperia, having gone rogue due to her disliking of the separatist country's ideals and values.
The door opened, revealing Ava in her typical kunoichi outfit. Despite her mask, Adrian could've sworn she was smiling. Something he had never seen from her.
"Where the hell were you? We could've been on the move thirty minutes ago." Naira asked, anxious.
"Just finishing some stuff up."
Before she could elaborate, Meryl came outside, her typical armor with the icon of Lescatie missing, replaced with standard nondescript realm-silver armor that could be found in any mamono friendly realm.
"You guys seem excited."
"Yeah. Absolutely radiating with excitement for infiltrating yet another high-security country."
Meryl nodded her head. "Glad to see you're so excited. Anyways, let's get a carriage and get going. Aerokon's pretty far away from here."
"Are we there yet?" Naira and Jordan asked simultaneously, both of them being incredibly irritated at the prospect of being forced to ride in a slow carriage as opposed to flying to their destination. Three weeks of this they had already endured, and two more before they would reach their destination.
"No! You asked that yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and the day before that-" Adrian shook his head while talking out of the window.
"Meryl!" Naira yelled towards the front of the carriage, interrupting Adrian. "Why couldn't you just pull some strings and get Lescatie to set up a teleporter station right next to Aerokon?! We could've saved so much time!"
"It's not as simple as that. Aperia's territories are way more serious about extremists coming near their territory than the Order, and that's saying something. We have to act like normal travelers." The dullahan explained, looking back for a second.
"I don't see how that explains why we can't fly."
"Does it look like the rest of us have wings?" Saralyn stared at the two of them incredulously. The wyvern and her rider grunted in frustration, and stopped talking. Suddenly, the carriage stopped moving.
"What's the holdup?" Sinclair asked.
"Someone's blocking the path." Meryl grunted.
"Not again…" Adrian poked his head out of the carriage. Expecting a large group of thieves, he was surprised to see a single person standing in their way. A man wearing a cloak and a bird mask. On his torso was a blue-white chestplate with a cross emblematic of the Order over the man's heart.
"What the hell is an Order soldier doing this close to Aperian territory? And why is he alone?" Adrian asked.
"Don't know. Let's try and resolve this without any violence." Meryl ordered. She dismounted the horse driving the carriage and slowly approached the masked man, stopping a dozen or so feet in front of him.
"I don't know what an Order soldier is doing this close to enemy territory, but you should probably go. Aerokon isn't exactly very friendly towards your kind. We don't have to fight." Meryl attempted to reason with the Order soldier.
"You're one to speak about being in enemy territory. Aerokon is not friendly towards your kind, either." The bird-masked man spoke for the first time, his voice muffled.
"What do you mean? Aperian territories allow mamono to immigrate to their cities."
"They don't accept people of your ideals and values. They're too… extreme, to say the least." The man retorted, putting extra emphasis on the word extreme. His hands began reaching down for his sword.
"Who do you think you are, huh?" Meryl asked, mirroring the man's actions and preparing for battle, despite her wishes for a non-lethal conclusion. The others in the carriage also readied themselves.
The man tore off his bird mask and threw it to the side. "Adrian and Saralyn. Come out, now. I know you're in there."
Ava, Jordan and Naira all looked at Saralyn and Adrian in shock. Sinclair's eyes narrowed as he recognized the man's face.
"It's that hero from Monoghon that we saw in the prison. How did he find us?" Sinclair whispered, drawing her knives. Every one of them knew that they wouldn't be getting out of this without a fight.
"Come out. Now." The hero spoke in a stern tone. Adrian and Saralyn both jumped out of the carriage, weapons drawn. Meryl turned to object but kept her mouth shut.
"I told you we would see each other again."
"You. What's the name of the person who tracked us for four months?" Saralyn pointed her guns at the hero.
"Kovalt Marshall. And let's just say that I have a score to settle with all of you." Kovalt sneered.
"Is this about your home country? Your precious Order got what it deserved! You were attacking innocent mamono villages simply because they were in your territory. Lescatie responded accordingly. You have nobody to blame but yourselves." Sinclair yelled from inside the carriage.
"Do you know why we began attacking? Why we took one of your precious extremists hostage?"
"Because you hate us, right?" Saralyn snapped back.
"Correct, but why do you think the majority of the Order hates you? Because your kind doesn't understand restraint. Your precious Mamono Lord couldn't fully fix your kind, so you make it our problem instead. You kidnap men who just want to live their lives in peace. You corrupt our women to propagate your species. You wonder why we hate you, that's the reason." Kovalt glared.
"That's out of our control! We need your men to live, or our kind will slowly die! And besides, you're basing our entire kind on a couple wild, uncivilized monsters." Meryl retorted.
"And those wild, uncivilized monsters corrupted my wife and daughter. They did nothing to deserve the fate they got!" Kovalt roared back.
"What does this have to do with us?" Meryl asked.
"It was my fault that the city fell to Lescatie's extremists. I left my post, giving you the opportunity to free Azurith and get rid of the Order's leverage over you. I'm here to correct my mistakes. And if that means killing you, then so be it." Kovalt drew his sword.
The Peacekeepers drew their weapons, and prepared for battle.
Chapter 15b: Collaboration
Aperia
Cassiel awakened from her afternoon nap. Celestial beings like her did not need to sleep, but it was something that was growing on her. Besides trying to spread the teachings of the Fallen God to Aperia and managing her underground ring of acolytes, she wasn't doing much. In an attempt to further cover up her operations, she had actually tried cooking after lying about it to Ophaniel and Nuriel.
Cassiel looked out the window of her personal quarters, watching for Ophaniel and Nuriel. The two valkyrie twins were definitely watching her. They either hadn't caught onto her illegal activities yet, or they had already found out and were just waiting for the right moment to strike. Cassiel knew her former teammates liked that strategy of baiting their targets into thinking they were safe, and then striking when they were most vulnerable. It kept her on edge.
The disgraced angel had caught sight of something rather strange in the sky the other day. Ophelia, flying towards her castle. From Cassiel's limited view, the seraph looked irritated, more irritated than usual.
Strangely enough, it made Cassiel feel rather sad. When working for her under Raniel, Ophelia never seemed to smile. She always conducted her duties with a completely neutral expression. Cassiel suspected it had something to do with not having anyone close to her. The old king and queen of Aperia had been assassinated by the Order, their prince had vanished without a trace, and her human friend had been killed by the Order. While Ophelia would constantly say that the Order needed to be destroyed and remade, Cassiel suspected there was a more personal aspect to it.
Later that week during one of Ophaniel and Nuriel's visits, the Valkyrie twins had informed her that Ophelia had a very heated argument with Druella concerning one of Raniel's targets. The highly-trained assassin had finally slipped up, and Druella had come knocking at Aperia's door questioning their involvement.
Cassiel withdrew from the window and sat on her couch. She had bought a bottle of wine earlier in the week, only to find out that it was much, much harder for celestial beings like her to get drunk than humans. She contemplated having a drink, before deciding against it.
A voice echoed in her head as she stared at the wall. Was the Fallen God attempting to contact her again?
"Fallen God?" The angel whispered, paranoid of someone hearing her.
"No. But I can still help you." The voice was not that of the Fallen God's. It had the same sultry yet reassuring tone however.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Druella. I had the 'pleasure' of meeting your leader a few days ago. She's rather… rude, to say the least. What happened to angels being creatures of infinite love for humans? Either way, I assume you know who I am?"
"Yes, I do." Cassiel was ecstatic. For the first time in a long while, she felt actual hope. The lilim known for taking over cities was just the person she needed in her journey to spread the Fallen God's teachings.
"Good. I felt your desires. You wish to put an end to Aperia's violent ways, is that right?"
"Yes!" Cassiel threw all caution to the wind for a second, yelling out randomly. If Ophaniel or Nuriel were watching her right now, they would be very confused.
"Our goals align, then. Aperia has been one of the most stubborn nations I've seen in a long time. Even more so than Venshir. They try to separate themselves from the Order and denounce all the Chief God's teachings. At least they allow most mamono in their cities."
"What do you have in mind?" Cassiel finally remembered to switch to telepathic communication to seem less suspicious.
"Go to Aerokon. Set up a safe place where you can meet up with some of my subordinates. From there, they'll work with you to help convert Aperia to a mamono realm. No longer will you have to suffer under Ophelia's rule."
"Thank you, Druella. I promise, I won't let you down."
"I'm glad to see you are so dedicated to your cause. By the way… have you found a husband yet?"
"Um… N-no?" Cassiel responded. At times, she forgot she was even a monster. She was too busy managing her acolytes and stressing over being spied on that the thought of finding someone she loved had somehow never crossed her mind.
"Do not worry, miss angel. I promise I'll help you find someone you love. Goodbye for now." Druella's voice vanished, leaving Cassiel all alone with her thoughts. The angel smiled at the new development.
Cassiel forced her senses to their limit to try and determine if she was alone. She wasn't being watched, at least she thought so. She walked over to a specific spot in her bedroom. Five candles sat on stands embedded on the walls. Lighting the first, third, and fourth candles, a magenta and black portal opened on her wall, leading to her underground ring's base in Pandemonium. She stepped through, the portal closing behind her a second later.
Her vision went blurry for a second. Refocusing her vision, she was standing in her house in Pandemonium. It was more like a cross between a hotel and a barracks for her followers, with tons of large rooms specifically for their couples to copulate in. That was the most important part of being an acolyte of the Fallen God after all.
"Everyone out! I have important news I wish to share with everyone!" Cassiel cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled. Slowly but surely, her small army of dark priests, angels and valkyries came out of their rooms, some of them half dressed and covered in fluids. Cassiel noticed that there were fewer of her followers since her last announcement.
Perhaps they were scared of Aperia, or they just wanted to leave with their husband and find a safer place to live. Or a combination of both…
It was irritating for Cassiel that monsters would just join her cause solely to get a husband and then leave, but she had no choice but to accept it. Forcing them to stay in an environment where they were at risk of being hunted down and possibly killed was an even worse alternative. The dark angel applauded her remaining follower's dedication to her cause.
"Hello, everyone. I have just received some very exciting news! Druella herself has contacted me, and is willing to collaborate with us on converting Aperia into a mamono realm!" Cassiel's followers all began to cheer loudly, throwing their hands in the air.
"We have been asked to go to Aerokon. She is planning on sending a group of her subordinates to help us in our quest to spread the Fallen God's love. No longer will we have to remain in the shadows in fear of Aperia's brutality, for we have Druella herself on our side!" Cassiel declared triumphantly. The acolytes all began cheering even louder, causing the house to shake. Cassiel raised her hands in the air, gesturing for her followers to quiet down.
"Some of you will stay here, and continue our proselytization of Aperia. The rest of you will accompany me on our way to Aerokon. It will be a difficult journey to Aerokon; Aperia has eyes everywhere in their territory. We will need to remain vigilant at all times. May the Fallen God guide us safely…" Cassiel finished her speech. Excited murmurs broke out amongst her followers. Eventually, a dark priest got too handsy with her husband. The two of them laid on the ground. Smirking, Cassiel turned around. She didn't need to see what happened next.
Ophaniel and Nuriel from across the street watched as Cassiel went through the portal in her room. The angel looked to both sides, and stepped through the portal. Seconds later, she came out, looking suspiciously cheery.
"A black and magenta portal. An extremely short visit, yet it seems like so much happened in those few seconds." Ophaniel remarked.
"Time dilation. Pandemonium. Our suspicions have been proven right, she must be disguised as a dark angel." Nuriel smirked.
"Looks like we finally caught the bastard in the act. I knew she was up to something the moment we visited her. She seemed too on edge. Nobody who's innocent acts the way she did."
"Do we strike now?"
"No… We report to Raniel. It's been a while since she was kicked off the team. She must either have a husband, or is gathering a following."
"Alright. Let's go." The twin valkyries exited the building they were observing Cassiel from, and flew off towards Raniel's personal quarters. The pair knocked on the elder Valkyrie's door. No answer.
"She's been rather reclusive lately. That failure in Monoghon must have been pretty hard on her. I can't remember the last time she ever failed a mission." Nuriel remarked, shaking her head.
"Don't let her hear you say that."
Raniel opened the door, the valkyrie looking at the pair expectantly. She gestured for them to come inside.
"Your report on Cassiel?"
"We caught her exiting and entering a portal just a few minutes ago. Black and magenta, just like many portals to Pandemonium. Her visit only lasted a few seconds, characteristic of Pandemonium's time dilation. We believe she's disguised as a dark angel, and she either has a husband, or a following. Either way, we must take action quickly before she grows any stronger." Ophaniel gave her analysis to Raniel.
Raniel leaned back on the couch, shaking her head. Her expression was that of anger and sadness. Her normally bright halo seemed much more dim. After a couple seconds of silence, she gave her thoughts on the situation.
"I can't say I'm surprised, but I am definitely disappointed. The moment she started feeling sympathy for the Order of all people, I knew she was eventually going to go down this path. The Fallen God must've exploited her emotionally vulnerable state." Raniel stood up.
"Let this be a lesson to both of you. You cannot show any signs of weakness. Ophelia has had to exile almost a thousand angels ever since we were forced out of heaven. Don't make that a thousand and two."
"Right. Orders regarding Cassiel?"
"If she has a husband, we will capture them and exile them both. One of you will be sent with her to monitor her activities; hopefully she'll just forget this ever happened and just live the rest of her life with her husband. For her sake and mine; I don't want to kill her, she's been a friend of mine for a while. We've been through a lot together." Raniel sighed in disappointment.
"And if she has a following?"
"Death to them. All of them, including her." Raniel growled.
Nuriel shuddered slightly, while Ophaniel remained unfazed. "Right…"
"Keep in telepathic communication. I want an update every hour on her location, what she's doing and who she's talking to. We wait for the right moment to strike." Raniel pointed to the door.
"Go!"
Venshir
Four months ago
"We've finally arrived. The capital of the Order looks absolutely beautiful, Kovalt. Don't you agree?" Serrano pointed at the massive city.
"Yeah." Kovalt looked behind him, in the direction of the mamono realm. It was quite far behind them at that point, but somehow he knew that wouldn't deter Catalina from following him. He wanted to get into the city as soon as possible.
If there was any compliment he would give her, it was that she was dedicated to trying to get him to come back to her. Kovalt knew the truth, though. There was nothing left of Catalina. Just a werewolf that was pretending to be her.
So why can't I just kill her…? Why is it so difficult for me?! Kovalt mentally screamed.
"Hey. Cheer up. Don't think about her too much." Kovalt quickly turned to Serrano, shocked at his apparent mind-reading, briefly forgetting that he had told him about his encounter with Catalina. The hero wished that she would just give up. Dealing with her was already getting tiring.
"Since you're so anxious about her, let's go inside the city. We'll be safe there; a single werewolf can't break into the most secure city the Order has."
The two of them rode their horses into the city. Kovalt flashed his hero's badge at the guards at the gate, and Serrano showed off his priest's badge. Regrettably, the two of them were alone. The remaining survivors of Monoghon had been picked off by wild monsters. In a sick and ironic twist, there were more monsters outside of the mamono realm than inside, for whatever reason. The only people who had survived were both married.
"I've got something that I think you'll find rather useful from now on. Have you heard of Gray Incubi?"
"Sure have. One-way ticket to becoming a super soldier for the Order. It's a shame Monoghon didn't have many. We could've pushed the monsters back."
"Well… You're at the one place where they're made. About two years ago now, the finest minds of the Order got together and found a way to neutralize that horrible corruptive energy that monsters have. It's not easy, but the result is damn worth it." Serrano explained.
"Does the Chief God not have anything to say about this?"
Serrano's tone became sadder. "Sadly, I don't think the Chief God would care even if it broke her rules. You see… She's been growing desperate. It's not something us priests know for certain, but we wouldn't be surprised if it was true. Lescatie's fall was a showcase of how dangerous monsters could be when they're actually serious about their cause. The second strongest city the Order has, gone in a single night. Unless we start doing something different, I'm afraid we're living on borrowed time."
"That's rather disturbing to think about." It was an upsetting reality the Order lived in.
"Let's find a place to stay for tonight." Serrano pointed to a small hotel on the street they were traveling through. "Tomorrow, you're going to get an enhancement to your hero abilities. Those monsters aren't going to stand a chance against you."
"Sounds fine."
The two of them entered the very luxurious looking hotel. Venshir prided itself on an educated populace and a very low population of homeless people, something that Lescatie lacked. The two of them met with the receptionist to pay for their rooms.
"Goodnight, Kovalt." Serrano waved as he entered his own room.
"See you next morning." Kovalt responded. He flopped down on the bed, exhausted at the journey and everything that had occurred over the past few weeks. Unfortunately, sleep did not come easily for the hero, even if he was in a safe place.
Monoghon
Catalina arrived at her house, equal parts exhausted and disappointed. Her long, long journey to try and change Kovalt's mind about monsters had failed completely. On the bright side, her home had gotten so much better since she had last lived there. The new mamono realm environments made her feel at ease.
She was excited to see Kari again. If she couldn't get Kovalt to come home, at least she would be able to take care of Kari. She felt a pang of guilt about her accidental monsterization. Catalina had been careless when she had been embracing her daughter, accidentally scratching her with one of her claws. She felt a pang of guilt at being the one to fulfill her husband's worst fear.
That guilt all but vanished when she saw Kari playing with other monster children, with her caretaker, now a kikimora watching over them. There was even a human boy with them, with a young werecat clinging to his arm. Catalina's instincts told her that the boy hadn't been touched ever since the invasion.
Kovalt, you were wrong. Monsters do have restraint. What has the Order told you?
"Kari! I'm home!" The young werewolf turned towards her, running towards her mother and hugging her legs.
"Mommy! Welcome back! Did you get daddy back? He just ran away and I haven't seen him…" Kari's tone shifted from excited to saddened in a moment.
"No. Your father is refusing to cooperate with me. I promise I'll get him back, but it will be a while, okay?" Catalina tried to reassure her daughter.
"Awww… I miss him." That was surprising. Kari was able to tolerate her father leaving for extended periods of time.
"Hey Catalina! Where's your husband?" An irritating sounding voice came from behind her. Turning around, Catalina saw a familiar face. The one that had monsterized her five years ago now, a werewolf by the name of Helena.
"What the hell do you want?"
"Hey. Is that any way to greet your older sister?" Catalina hated when Helena called her a sister. Catalina had quickly learned that was how monsters who corrupted someone talk to the person they monsterized, and it irritated her to no end. Despite her repeated attempts to get her to stop, she refused to do so.
"My husband is far away from here, and he hates me, all because of what you did five years ago. I accept that this body is better than my human body but we were happy together as humans. We didn't need this." Catalina growled.
"You haven't gotten your husband back? Just push him down while he's distracted and-" Helena responded, confused.
"Your methods are unacceptable for my current predicament. If I do that, all I'll be doing is proving his point about monsters not having restraint."
"Not having restraint is the fun part about being a monst-"
"You don't understand, do you?! This is why the Order constantly tries to get rid of us! They view us as uninhibited, uncontrollable abominations with no rules or borders. If I were to just rape him like you suggest I do, all I would be doing is fueling their hate for us!"
"Who the fuck cares about what the Order thinks of you!? Just do what your instincts tell you to do?" Helena yelled back.
"No. I won't. The only time you'll see him with me is when he agrees to come home on his own will."
Helena sighed. "Such a waste, to have the body of a werewolf and the soul of a unicorn. I'm only trying to help you." The elder werewolf turned away and ran off.
Catalina growled at her "older sister". She called for Kari to come inside, closing the doors of their house behind them.