*-Lotus-*

I got out of bed and got dressed. I was still getting used to the whole split consciousness thing, but I was enjoying mornings like this more and more. When one body was asleep I only had one body to focus on, so it was really peaceful. Just one set of eyes, well three sets technically, but that's beside point. Once I had my clothes on I went downstairs.

I sat down at the table, and ate from the plate Lilia had already set down for me. She was used to me waking up this early, and had food ready knowing I'd be hungry. The food was usually a small plate left over from last night's dinner since she physically couldn't cook breakfast inbetween the time she wakes up and when I wake up.

"Thank you, Lilia."

"Of course Young Master."

Before, Lilia would push off my thanks and simply say that she was just doing her job, but recently she has started to accept it.

Something else about Lilia is that she always let me sit in silence. Paul would often stir up conversation even though he was just talking to himself, mom would talk to me and pout until I talked back, and Rudy would often bug me about stories from my past lives or questions about magic. At least with Rudy I liked teaching him magic.

It took about another hour until my other body woke up. Seeing Roxy's sleeping face always brought me joy. I focused back on my Buena body, and finished my food just as Lilia placed another plate in front of me. Another thing I liked about her, she was always willing to give me as much food as I wanted. She said it was simply because it was because of her job, but I could always spot a smile on her face as she cooked. She liked cooking. Maybe I should make a cook book of Earth recipes for her?

Nah. She doesn't even have the equipment to cook those recipes. Maybe I could make her that equipment? That could work. I think.

"Yawn. Oh. Good morning Lotus."

Rudeus walked up and sat in front of me. I had sensed him coming down the stairs earlier.

"Good morning Rudy."

Rudy talked as he ate his breakfast.

"I think I'm gonna take the biology encyclopedia mom gave me and check out the plants in the village. Wanna join me?"

"Hmmm. Sure, why not."

"Okay. I'm gonna leave after my sword training."

I gave Rudy a thumbs up as I finished my second plate. Lilia put down a third plate and I happily dug in.

"Are you sure that sin you have is Lust and not Gluttony?"

I swallowed my mouthful with a loud gulp.

I gave Rudy another thumbs up.

Rudeus finished his plate, thanked Lilia, and went outside to start his morning exercise routine. Paul joined him soon after he woke up. He decided to eat after some morning training. Mom seemed to be sleeping in longer this morning, but to be fair she and Paul kept up their activities longer than normal last night.

I finished my plate and thanked Lilia. I went upstairs, grabbed my staff, and went outside. Rudy and Paul were mid spar as I sat beside the wall. They seemed to be doing actual spars now that they had actual practice swords. Paul didn't seem to know what restraint is. He really leaned into his attacks on Rudy during their spar. They sparred until noon. Rudy collapsed on the ground as he breathed heavily. I used some silent healing magic to help with the bruises that were already forming on him.

Once he felt better he sat up and looked to Paul.

"Father, would it be alright if Lotus and I went into the village to play?"

"Play? Yeah, I suppose you haven't had that much free time with all your studies and training. Just make sure you don't stir up trouble."

"I won't stir up any trouble... have I given you reason to think I would?"

The look on Paul's face said he probably had, but then he glanced at me. He sighed.

"You see Rudy. Back in my day I was a bit of a brat. I spent all my free time causing problems and chasing skirts."

Not gonna lie. I was pretty shocked to hear Paul call himself a brat. He was admitting that he grew better with his childish action. I wondered if he could grow more.

"I'll do my best father."

Rudy went inside to grab his book and I followed him. He grabbed his book and I grabbed mine. I needed to find some time to try and summon some spirits, so this proved as a nice study time. I grabbed some paper from Paul's study and placed it in the void. As I walked downstairs I started creating copies of the paper out of trees I shoved in there last night.

As it turned out with my void domain and demon I could create copies of pretty much any simple object so long as I had the materials. I could copy simple things like paper, but if I tried to copy something with intricate carvings or complex circuits then I'd fail.

The last couple things I learned were all also related to my demon, so I'll just explain those when they came up. It was basically a magic swiss army knife. For now the last thing was that with my demon I could use my blood as a substitute for magic ink when drawing summoning circles.

"Okay. I've got my book, and my wand. You ready?"

I nodded and followed Rudy out of the house. Lilia handed me a basket of food as we left. We went around the paths around the village looking at plants and seeing what they were. We were starting on a path that took us towards a guard tower. As we walked along the path we started hearing voices shouting at someone. They sounded like kids.

"Don't have your monster friend any more huh? Stupid demon!"

"Yeah! Nothing without your guard dog!"

Rudy froze. I didn't have my fear domain, but I didn't need it to see the fear on his face. I looked further ahead and saw the kids from before throwing mud balls at a small elf girl with green hair. What was her name? Sylphiette?

I quietly approached the boys throwing the mud balls, grabbed the back of his head, and slammed his face into the ground. He fell and held his face as he turned to me. As he turned around I flared my demon as red and black fire flared on my shoulders. Eyes appeared in it and stared at the kids.

"Who?! Aaa. Uuuuh. AAAAAAAAH!"

The kid turned, widened his eyes, and ran away pissing himself crying. What a drama queen. The other kids quickly followed suit when they saw me.

Once she realized that the bullies were gone Sylphiette slowly uncurled off the basket she was huddled over. She looked around before quickly turning to me.

"O-oh. It's you."

I offered my hand, and she took it, but she limped forward and fell into me. There was a horrible snap sound.

"Ow!"

She started sniffling and tearing up. Rudy walked up and looked at her.

"Are you okay?"

She shook her head and pointed at her leg. There was a dark purple bruise around her knee.

"That doesn't look good. What should we do?"

Rudy still hold a scared look as he looked at me. I sighed and got on a knee.

"Come on Sylphiette. We'll take you to our mom. She can heal your leg."

She silently climbed on my back, and I could feel my shoulder getting wet from her tears. Her sobs only pissed me off more. I was regretting giving my other body my fear domain. Perhaps I had some other ways to scare the shit out of those brats.

I walked back towards the village with Rudy in tow. We got a few odd glances from the villagers, but no one offered any assistance. Once we got to mom's clinic Rudy opened the door and let me walk through first.

"I couldn't imagine my boys doing such a thing. Are you sure that's what happened?"

Mom was talking with a woman I had seen a few times. She often showed up in the morning to watch Paul train in the morning. The fat kid whose face I oh so kindly introduced to the dirt was here as well. Seems they came to get his face healed.

"My precious Somal would never lie to me!"

Sylphiette sobbed again drawing everyone's attention. Mom was confused, but quickly moved when she saw Sylphiette's leg.

"Oh you poor thing! Lotus, what happened?"

"Oh I'm sure the piggy could easily tell you, but the precious baby boy would surely never lie to his mommy."

Mom didn't seem to appreciate my sarcasm and insults, but she started healing Sylphiette's leg as I sat her in a chair.

"You! You're the smiling devil that hurt my son!"

"Ooooh. I didn't know lard could talk."

Rudy stifled a laugh at my joke, but the lady didn't seem to get it.

"Apologize to my son, now!"

"Calm down Jabba the Hut, you'll pop a vessel."

Rudy couldn't hold in his laughter this time, but quickly stopped once mom glared at us. It was pretty scary seeing her that mad, but I was currently too pissed to care.

"Hey! Stop spouting nonsense and-"

I quickly ran in front of the kid. With how fast I moved it probably looked like I teleported.

"So what'll you do if I don't tubby boy? Will you rally your pals, pelt me with mud balls, and kick me while I'm down? You seem pretty good at doing that."

He flinched back, and so did his mother.

"Lotus. What happened?"

Mom's voice was cold. I'd never heard her this mad, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't scare me. My neck snapped a full 180 degrees to look at her.

"Rudy and I were wandering around the village looking at plants with his new book, and we came across Sylphiette here being pelted with mud and kicked by a bunch of kids. I politely introduced him to the ground and then carried Sylphiette here once we saw how bad her leg was."

I grabbed my neck and pulled it the rest of the way around as I looked at the now utterly terrified kid. My sin's body manipulation was proving fairly useful.

"He'd best get out before I do it again."

The kid somehow looked more terrified before running past me and through the door. His mother quickly followed him spouting nonsense about making me pay.

I walked over and knelt by Sylphiette.

"Are you alright?"

She nodded. It seems that mom healed her good.

"Th-thank you."

"No problem. So why are those kids bullying you?"

Mom sighed and stood up. She walked over and fixed a chair the kid knocked down when he ran away.

"Th-they say I'm a demon b-because of my green hair."

Sylphiette nervously pointed to her hair.

"They bully you... because your hair is green?"

She nodded her head. Rudy and I couldn't use telepathy, but we both had the same thought.

That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!

Rudy sat down and held his hand out for a handshake.

"Well then. We'll be your friends to make sure they don't hurt you anymore!"

"H-huh?!"

I sat down and offered my hand with a nod.

"B-but the other kids won't play with you if you're my friend. Wouldn't that make you sad?"

Rudy and I both shook our heads.

"Nah. We wouldn't want to play with jerks like those."

"Yeah. Most of the kids in the village are terrified of me anyway."

"Maybe they wouldn't be if you didn't smile all the time."

"Nah, it's probably because I made them think I was a Superd who would haunt their dreams if they messed with Sylphiette again. Guess I gotta figure out how to do that now."

Sylphiette nervously took both our hands in a handshake. Mom came out from the back of the clinic and smiled at our little hand circle.

I stood up and offered my hand. This time when Sylphiette stood up she didn't stumble into me. Rudy stood up as well. Sylphiette looked around before panicking.

"Ah. My basket. Where'd the basket go?"

"Oh. I grabbed it on the way here."

Rudy handed Sylphiette a basket with bits of mud on it. I used a bit of water magic to create a small wisp of water that quickly ran through Sylphiette's hair and removed all the mud. She curiously patted her head.

"So what were you doing before we found you?"

Rudy peeked curiously at the girl's ears.

"I'm supposed to bring my dad lunch."

I propped my cane up on my shoulder and opened the door.

"Then let's go do that, shall we?"

Sylphiette nodded and clutched the basket as we went through the door.

We found Sylphiette's father at one of the guard stations.

"Thank you Luffy. And it's good to see you Lotus. Who might this be?"

I motioned to Rudy.

"I'm Lotus's brother, Rudeus Greyrat. Nice to meet you."

"Oh? It's a pleasure to meet you both then, but may I ask what you're doing with Luffy?"

Rudy stepped forward and did the talking.

"Well... we were walking around the village looking at the different flora when we came across Sylphiette having mud thrown at her. Lotus scared the bullies off and we brought her to our mom so that her bruises could be healed. Then we offered to bring her to you to deliver your lunch, and now we're here. We wanted to see if we could play together."

A pained look crossed Laws's face as he patted Sylphie's head.

"Ah. I see. Thank you very much you two. Just don't go near the forest. There was a monster sighted nearby, so you'll need to be careful."

"Yes sir. We're Sylphie's friends now so we'll keep her safe."

Laws smiled and thanked us both again. We then walked back towards the village and settled on a cliff with a large tree overseeing the village.

"So... now what?"

Rudy looked at me and Sylphie. I settled by the tree and pulled my book out of my bag. I took out a small sheet of paper and a small batch of void mixed with my blood. Sylphie and Rudy talked about what friends were supposed to do, and eventually settled on playing tag.

"Hey Lotus, wanna join?"

I glanced back up. I had been a bit lazy recently, so I suppose a little stretching couldn't hurt. I nodded my head and put my stuff back in my bag. I stood up and walked over to the two.

"Hmmm. So who's gonna be it first?"

Rudy looked quizzically at the ground.

"I could go first if you wanted me to."

Rudy looked at me for a second as if he were questioning my intentions before nodding.

"Okay, but no magic."

"Sure. I'll give you both a 30 second head start. Good luck."

Sylphiette and Rudy both started running down the hill. Rudy kept glancing back at me. He seemed to realize something was off. His instincts were better than I thought.

As soon as I counted to thirty in my head I booked it down the hill. In ten seconds I had already gotten to where the pair was when I started running. I could see that Sylphie was running along just fine, but Rudy seemed to already be running out of breath.

All it took was one faltered step for me to put my hand on his shoulder.

"Out of breath already? Where's all that young energy?"

"Oh shut up. Huff huff. I thought that those restraints were supposed to make you weak."

"They do, but you forget that I'm no longer just a demon by race."

Rudy complained as we went back to the hill. Sylphiette was watching us both as she tapped her fingers together.

"So um... whose turn is it now?"

"I've got an idea. You and I can be it and we can both catch Lotus. If we work together I'm sure we can get him."

Rudeus and Sylphiette nodded together. I shrugged and started running down the hill once they both started counting. Well when Rudeus started counting. Sylphiette knew 1-5 but then started tripping up on herself. Maybe I could teach her something?

I've basically memorized Roxy's lessons and if I ever need help I can always ask her.

I heard Rudeus shout ten and looked behind me. Both of them had started running down the hill. It wasn't noticeable at first, but they were slowly splitting off. Rudeus was going to the left and Sylphiette was going to the right.

I quickly ran behind a building and hid my presence. Rudy thought he could beat me by getting a teammate. How adorable. Let the tormenting begin!

So for the next hour or so I danced circles around the two of them. It was quite fun. They almost had me near the end when they circled around a large area of the village to try and get me from both sides. The width that they ran was just outside my ability to sense them.

I had almost ran into a cart I hadn't seen and had Sylphie been there it likely would've worked.

Wait.

"Where'd Sylphie go?"

Rudy looked around confused. Did she get lost? I wasn't sensing her anywhere... she definitely wasn't near us.

Black and red fire sprouted from my back and pulled me into the air. Once I was pretty far up in the sky my demon spread out. Eyes drawn in the fire looked down and acted as my eyes and ears over the whole village. I couldn't see her anywhere, but my focus landed on a group of kids coming back to the village. They were leaving the forest.

I focused in on them and their words were brought up to me.

"See? Once they're alone demons are weak. The other demon won't be able to get them now."

"But the other one isn't just any demon. He's a superd! What if he finds out what we did?"

"He won't. Besides, what's that girl demon gonna do? Tell him? The monster will eat her before that happens."

I slammed into the ground in front of them. Let's see...

We've got piggy, his underlings, and some kids who look to be two to three years older than them.

As soon as the fat shit saw me he started trembling in fear.

"O-o-oh hi m-m-mister superd. We're being g-good kids. See?"

He shakily tried to show me his friends, but his underlings already ran away. It was just him and the older kids. I walked up and smiled as wide as I could as I grabbed him by his neck and pulled him off the ground.

"Where's Sylphiette?"

"W-what? I-I don't know who that is!"

"Hey put him down!"

One of the other kids grabbed my arm. I flared my demon and he screamed as black and red fire slowly destroyed his arm.

"The girl with the green hair. Where is she?"

I slowly increased the pressure I had on his neck.

"W-w-we brought her in the forest! W-we t-thought the monsters would eat her!"

The kid fell heavy on the ground.

"You'd better pray she's okay. If she's hurt then you'll wish I'd killed you."

I immediately ran into the forest, and combined my beast domain with my demon. My shadow went ahead of me and three wolves were created from red fire. They were significantly larger than the assault dogs I had before and each had at least six eyes. They ran ahead of me in different directions.

It took me a while, but I eventually sensed that one of my wolf found her. I jumped over the tree line and flew to where it was. The other wolves followed me.

I shot through the branches and landed. There were about three assault dogs lying around. Laying beside my wolf was a horribly mangled kid. If I couldn't see her beating heart I thought she'd be dead.

"P-please. Make it stop. It hurts."

I could hardly hear her. I ran over and immediately used healing magic. I sent one of my wolves to go get mom as fast as possible.

Sylphie's wounds didn't heal, but her breathing was slowly getting steady. All I could do was keep her stable and stop things from getting worse until mom got here.

Just to keep her stable I needed to pour copious amounts of mana into the healing spell. My magic was weaker since I had my limiters activated. For now I could keep her from getting worse until mom got here.

I looked Sylphie up and down to assess the damages.

Her legs were covered in small scratches and there was one large gash on the back of her leg. Those probably came from her running away from these things. Their claws are too big for scratches these small. The big one was probably them stopping her from running.

Chunks of her arms were missing. Bite marks were clear on them as well. She was being eaten alive when my wolf found her.

Her chest was torn open, and shockingly her rib cage was still intact.

"P-please... can't... see."

"It's okay. I'm here Sylphie. I'm gonna help. I promise. You'll be better than ever by the time I'm done."

"L-Lotus?"

It took more courage than I'd like to admit to look at her face. A large scratch ran across her face. She must have tried to resist the wolves and they did that to try and kill her.

"Yeah. Yeah it's me. It's gonna be fine. I swear it on my soul."

I could feel a tightness in my chest. Was it wise to swear the safety of a dying girl on my soul? Absolutely not, but I do my best to not be wise sometimes. Sometimes you just need to use brute force. Like when someone who looks almost exactly like another person you really cared for is dying in front of you and you refuse to let them die to atone for your past actions.

Fuck I really need to talk about this to someone. Not the time!

I tried using my Time Eyes and new watch to reverse what happened with time magic, but it only reversed the gashes on her chest. She still had scratches on her stomach, arms, and face.

Maybe I could use my sin to heal her?

A small book popped on the ground. It started writing in itself.

Oh come on I'm busy! I can't read! Can't you just talk in my head or something?

The book disappeared.

'Answer: it is possible to heal wounds with the sin of lust, however, this method is unable to fully heal the girl. At most it will partially close up the wounds. Biological mass will be required.'

I started using my sin and as much healing magic I could muster. I used the flesh if the dead assault dogs to turn into human flesh and slowly fix her wounds. I could faintly hear screaming as a wolf barreled through the forest and slid to a halt with my mom in its mouth.

"L-Lotus?"

My mom was dropped on the ground. She immediately put herself between the wolf and me.

"Mom not the time! I need help!"

"But-"

"The wolf is mine! Please!"

Mom turned around confused and gasped. She processed the situation with the speed of an S-ranked healing adventurer.

"We won't be able to move her like this."

Mom knelt down and started reciting the incantation for an intermediate healing spell multiple times. The wounds didn't fully heal. They closed much more than what I could do, but they were manageable now at least. Her eyes...

"Come on. If your wolf can get us to the clinic as fast as it got here then we can save her."

With mom's help I gently got Sylphie onto my wolf and we started racing through the forest. It wasn't until Mom put her hand on my shoulder that I realized I wasn't breathing.

"It'll be okay Lotus. She'll be fine."

I didn't say anything as we raced and slid through town. We stopped at the clinic and Mom carefully carried Sylphie inside.

*-Third Person-*

Rudeus wandered around the village. He knew that his brother must have found Sylphie and from the looks of things he did found her. He had jumped up into the sky and flew into the forest. The way he had magic like that but refused to share it was so unfair.

Rudeus wandered along, but after nothing happened for a while he was about to head home. Then a blur zoomed past him and stopped in front his mother's clinic. Rudeus saw Zenith gently carry Sylphie into the clinic. He ran up when Lotus got off the six eyed wolf.

"Hey! What happened? Where'd y'all go?"

Rudeus froze when he saw Lotus's face. His smile was spread across his face, but unlike normal this smile looked forced. As if holding it was painful. Lotus had tears running down his smiling cheeks.

"... Lotus?"

"It's fine. It'll be fine."

Lotus walked into the clinic. He sounded more like he was talking to himself than he was talking to Rudeus. Rudeus turned to look at the wolf that had brought them into town, but the wolf had disappeared. Rudeus walked inside. No one was in the main area, but Rudeus could hear crying towards the back.

He went back there and found Lotus, Zenith, and Sylphiette in the room. Zenith was bandaging wounds all over Sylphie's arms and chest. Sylphiette also had bandages over her eyes that had large red spots on them. Lotus was standing beside Zenith doing everything she asked like fetching certain herbs, or getting more bandages. His moved were jagged and robotic. It was weird.

"Um... what happened?"

Lotus stayed quiet as he handed Zenith a new roll of bandages. It was Zenith who answered him.

"She was attacked by something in the forest. Lotus is... quiet, like normal, so I don't know what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was assault dogs. I haven't gotten your brother to talk so I don't know why she was even in there in the first place. You weren't playing in the forest were you?"

Zenith's eyes looked dangerous.

"N-no ma'am! We were playing tag and Sylphie and I split up to try and get Lotus from both ends. We weren't even supposed to get near the edge of the village."

"Sigh. Either way I've done all I can for today. I'm at my limit for mana and neither of you are proficient enough in healing magic to heal her wounds. And her eyes... those would need a Saint level healing spell. I don't know the incantation for that."

"What... happened to her eyes?"

"They... were scratched real bad by the assault dogs."

"Um... if I may speak?"

Rudeus and Zenith looked towards Lotus. A large man made of red and black flame towered over Lotus. The man had eyes all over himself and his clothes. Zenith grabbed Rudeus's arm and pulled him behind her.

"Who and or what are you?"

Zenith had gone into adventurer mode. She didn't have a weapon on her and she would probably pass out after a single beginner level fire spell, so she treated the situation with caution.

"I'm a demon. Mister Lotus named me Kirai!"

"What does that mean? What do you have to do with my son."

Kirai grunted and hunched over he looked back up with a pained expression.

"S-sorry. It's hard to hold back mister Lotus's anger."

Zenith started checking over Sylphiette to make sure all her wounds were disinfected and bandaged.

"Could I just get an explanation please? I need to know what is was that attacked her because if it wasn't assault dogs it could have been something else, and if that something else had poison I'll need to be ready to cast detoxification magic, or make a remedy based on how strong the poison is."

"It was assault dogs. The mean looking wolves. They were eating the girl before Mister Lotus killed them. He did everything he could to help. He really did I promise! But... it wasn't enough to save her. Just like last time..."

"What last time?"

Kirai shook his head.

"He says only Miss Roxy can know. He may talk when he's ready though. Just like last time he's sad and scared, but the strongest feeling is anger. He's so angry."

Kirai clenched his teeth as his body started shaking. Red and black mist rose in small wisps around him.

"So angry. Angry at the boys who pulled her into the forest. Angry at the parents who can't control their brats. Angry angry angry..."

Kirai talked like a child about to throw a temper tantrum.

Kirai disappeared into Lotus's shadow and Lotus flinched. He sighed and looked like he was decompressing as his shoulders relaxed. He brought a hand up and tapped a tear on his cheek. His smile looked like a grimace as he looked at the moisture on his finger.

"Of course... because why not. Will she be okay?"

He stared at the tear slowly falling down his finger while he asked Zenith. He was staring at it like it was some kind of curse.

"Well... tomorrow I'll be able to heal the wounds that haven't scarred over, but I won't be able to heal her eyes... she'll be blind for the rest of her life unless her parents bring her to Millishion and hire a healer of the Saint rank, but... I don't think they have the money or influence to do that."

Rudeus was confused and worried for his new friend.

"Influence? Why would they need influence?"

Zenith looked sad as she spoke.

"Well... the Millis faith preaches that demons of all kinds are evil. They also see anything that's not human as impure. Some even believe that all demons should be killed. With Sylphiette's green hair and her being part elf... it's not likely that they would heal her, even if her parents had the money."

For a few seconds the only sounds that could be heard were Sylphie's light breaths as she slept. Then there was a faint chuckle. Then the chuckle grew into some mildly loud laughter.

"Lotus? What's so funny?"

Zenith almost sounded angry.

"People are fucking horrible. It doesn't matter where or why. Nothing but overgrown shit stains left and right."

Zenith looked furious and was about to say something.

"Oh don't bother. In what world should kids drag another kid to her death just because she has green hair? And for that kid to be denied healing just because of her hair and race. Or how about the magic that could save hundreds upon thousands of lives getting locked behind a paywall that few people could ever afford? They preach about a merciful god but hold their magic for the wealthy out of greed. It's sick, and we both know there isn't a damn thing you can say to say I'm wrong."

Part way through his talk Lotus's neck got covered in markings and his eyes turned red. The voice he was using was no longer his, but was Kirai's.

"That's what he wants to say. Mister Lotus's rage is too much. He put me in control while he calms down."

Kirai moved Lotus's body and marveled at his hands as he spoke. Zenith was down right furious and tried saying something, but her words failed her. Every line of thinking she went through all came to the same conclusion. Lotus was right.

"May I take mister Lotus's body back home? He believes that he needs sleep."

This was a lie crafted by Lotus being told by Kirai.

"Yes. There's nothing more I can do for now. Rudeus can you go fetch your father? He should be home by now. I'll stay here and keep an eye on Sylphiette while Paul informs her parents about the situation."

Lotus walks outside.

"Um... Mister Lotus?"

'What?'

"Is it a good idea to lie to your mother like that?"

'First off, I'm talking in your head. Don't talk out loud. People will think I'm crazier than I already am. Second off, I really needed to get out of there. Just seeing the state she's in...'

'It reminds you of Arthur?'

'... Stay out of my memories Kirai.'

'Sorry. So do you want me to go put this body to sleep? It'll let you enjoy Miss Roxy's hug more.'

'I don't care what you do. Go smell the flowers or whatever. I'm just gonna... calm down.'

'Okay. Fuck her good sir!'

'...'

'Oh. He already left.'

Kirai, in Lotus's body, continued to run around like a kid playing with a new toy. He had a smile filled with childlike wonder as he skipped around the village smelling flowers and marveling at animals.

*About two hours later*

Kirai was beaming as he happily approached the house Lotus lived in. Once he got inside he saw Lilia cooking as Paul and Rudeus sat at the table. They both looked grim.

"Hm? What's up with you guys?"

Rudeus and Paul both looked at him. Paul spoke first.

"What do you mean what happened? You're the one who brought Sylphiette to the clinic. And what's up with your voice? You're talking with those marks on your neck. Doesn't that mean you can't talk?"

"Oh that's because-"

'I'll take things back from here.'

"Oh. Okay."

The smile on its face lost the wonder it had before and was replaced by a slightly strained and forced one.

Lotus held up a finger to signal that he needed a minute. Lotus pulled his staff put of the void and sat at the table.

"Sorry 'bout that. Wait a minute."

Lotus reached into his pocket and pulled out a flower.

"What?"

He starts pulling flower after flower out of his pockets. He makes quite a sizable pile on the table.

"Kirai I swear to the gods if you stuff my pockets with flowers again you're losing body privileges."

'Y-yes sir!'

Lotus sighed.

"So while Sylphiette was unconscious and blind in the clinic you've been out picking flowers?"

Paul almost looked furious.

"Technically speaking no. I was thinking-"

"Don't start with this crap!"

Paul slams his hands on the table.

"You've got these crazy magic spells we've never heard of before, and instead you're out 'thinking' instead of helping her. Where were you when her parents found out? Where were you when they held their daughter making empty promises that everything would be fine? Where were you when-"

A huge hand made of red flame slammed Paul against the wall. Lotus's staff made horrid static sounds as his anger rose.

"I'm thinking of how to help! How to fix what happened! To do more than just hold her body together while I wait on mom! To do more than just tell the parents what happened! So sooorry for using my head instead of my dick when I try to think, but unless you can come up with something better then shut your damn mouth and let me think!"

"Excuse me?! Let go of me!"

'Mister Lotus... I might have an idea...'

Lotus's eyes quickly flinched.

'What?'

'W-well... it's just... you have six eyes and she only needs two, and you'll be able to heal your body better than her's if you can get some flesh, so...'

'That's right! I can give her my eyes!'

'Wait wait wait!!! This is a really bad idea! I'm just saying to have it in case nothing else works! Not only are your eyes innately magical, but there's a piece of me inside them that I can't remove! We don't know what could happen if you give her your eyes!'

'Sigh. Fine. But if things look like they're going south I'm giving her my eyes. I swore on my soul that it'd be fine, so I'll make sure it's fine.'

'That was a really bad idea. You shouldn't have sworn on your soul like that.'

'I know. Not really my best idea, but now I have no other choice but to help. Otherwise it's just POP. No more Lotus.'

'That's scary.'

'Trust me. I'm well aware.'

Lotus sighed and sat up.

"I've got an idea, but it's being kept as a last resort."

The hand holding Paul against the wall released him and dissipated.

"I'm gonna go lay down. I expended far too much mana and physical energy today."

"Shall I leave a plate outside your door Young Master Lotus?"

"Yes. Thank you Lilia."

Lilia bowed and continued cooking.

"It's my pleasure."

Lotus went up to his room and laid down. He put his hands on his forehead as he processed everything. At least he could look forward to Lilia's cooking. That always had a way of cheering him up.

He sat there thinking of any other way he could heal Sylphie's eyes other than replacing them with his own. Even if he released his restraints he didn't know the incantation for the necessary healing spell to regrow her eyes.

What little life magic he knew wouldn't be enough to buff up his healing magic either. Lotus makes a small black and red fire bird body for Kirai to inhabit and go check on Sylphiette.

Kirai comes back and tells Lotus what he saw.

Sylphie was crying and hugging her mother.

'... Fuck.'

Lotus stands up.

'Sir please. There's gotta be another way. M-maybe we could capture someone from Millis and force them to heal her? This isn't something you should spontaneously do.'

'No. We'd need someone who knows the saint ranked incantation. Who knows what kind of consequences we'd have to deal with for attacking the Millis church.'

'I know. Its just... I'm scared. What if something goes wrong?'

'Then I'll fix it. I always do.'

'Well...'

Kirai sifts through Lotus's memories. Lotus has actually solved almost all his problems. All except for saving the godkin, but Kirai can see how much losing his first real friends hurt. He's worried that Lotus may erase their contract if he brings them up.

'Okay.'

Lotus hops out the window with his staff in hand and started walking towards the clinic.

'Its already this late? How long was I brainstorming?'

Lotus walked into the clinic. It was oddly quiet. He went up to the door and was about to knock on it when Laws opened the door. He spoke before Lotus could open his mouth.

"Are you here to apoligize, or to help her? I'm not in the mood to hear your words."

"I'm here to help. I will give her two of my eyes."

Laws was taken aback by Lotus's casual talk of giving her his eyes.

"What do you mean give her your eyes? You can't just make yourself blind. Look, I appreciate the fact your trying help Lotus, but your parents wouldn't let you do this."

"I've got plenty."

Lotus opened his other 4 eyes.

"Besides, I can regrow mine. She can't."

Laws studied Lotus's face.

"Alright. Thank you."

"Save your thanks for when Sylphie can see again."

Laws nodded and let Lotus into the room. Sylphie's mother was petting her head as she slept.

"He's here to help Sylphie see again. Our daughter won't have to be blind Rose."

Lotus walked over to the bed. Sylphie was sleeping. The area around her eyes were red and puffy. Lotus slowly removes the bandages. He held his hand above his face and used space magic to pull his void eyes out. The pain would have made anyone else scream in pain, but he had felt worse.

"Phew. Now for the easy part."

Lotus pulled Sylphie's eyelids open and put the eyes in place. Then he used his sin to connect the eyes to her body. His forehead had a slight glisten because of the sweat beading on his face.

"There. She'll be able to see once she wakes up"

Laws and Rose sighed in relief as htgey held Sylphie.

"Thank you so much. I'm glad Sylphie has a friend like you."

"A good friend would've made sure she didnt get hurt in the first place."

Before Laws or Rose could speak up, Lotus melted into the shadows. He tripped out from under a table and fell at the feet of a certain diner owner.

"Hm? What have we here? Its rude to intrude on a lady while she's eating you know."

Lotus gripped his head as he stood up.

"Ugh. I didn't realize how much I relied on my eyes to stick that landing. Hey Auntie. Its me, Lotus."

Rosie looked at Lotus in surprise.

"Oh? You look so different I didn't recognize ya."

"Oh yeah. You never got to see my human body did you? I'd like to chat for a bit, but can I ask for a favor first?"

"Of course darlin~. Does it have something to do with you getting all sweaty and pale?"

"Huh?"

Lotus held his hand up. The skin along his arm was incredibly pale and his hand was shaking like crazy.

"N-no. Thats a different thing. I need meat."

"Oh then I've got you covered. You just sit tight and I'll have it out in a jiffy. How would you like it cooked?"

"I'll need it raw please."

"Oh? Alright then. I won't judge."

Rosie brings Lotus a plate with a slab of meat on it. Lotus pickes up the slab of meat and he feels a burning in his chest as the meat turns into purple orbs of light. The orbs slowly fell into his empty eye sockets and popped. His eyes had regrown and shimmered like black crystal before returning to their usual gray pigment.

Lotus ahifted his staff on his shoulder and rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Thank you... geez I'm sweating really bad."

"You are. You're pretty pale you know. You sure you ain't sick?"

"I'm... I should be fine."

Rosie squinted her eyes as she stared Lotus down.

"Hun I've been alive way longer than you think I have. I know a dyin' man when I see one. What's happenin?"

"It's fine Auntie. I promise."

Rosie's facial expression showed that she didn't believe him, but in the end she decided to trust him. If he wasn't going to tell her what was wrong she wasn't going to force him to tell her. So long as he didn't actually die.

"Alright, but if things go south then you come here immediately. Understood?"

Rosie's tone was much more stern than usual.

"Understood."

"Good. Good night now. Sleep well."

"I will. And thank you."

Lotus shadow traveled back to his room. He fell onto his bed and clutched his chest.

*-Lotus-*

I clutched my chest and opened my mouth to scream. So long as I wasn't pouring mana into my staff though I'd remain quiet. I'd just be opening my mouth in silent pain. I looked under my shirt and saw that nearly my whole chest was covered in purple and black tendrils. My small sin book fell onto my bed in front of me.

Warning! Sin is nearly out of charge! If sin's energy levels fall below zero the soul of the user will be used to fuel its containment!

Shit. Why didn't I send this with the body with Roxy? Why was this even happening all of a sudden?

Answer. It has been a long period of time without lustful activity. Due to use of the sin after a long dry spell more sin energy was used than what would usually be drained.

Frickin perfect.

I looked up when I heard a knock at my door. Lilia peaked her head in the room.

"Young Master? I brought you a plate."

Every muscle in my body strained against itself. My senses were flooded when I looked at Lilia. My eyes locked on her curves, I could faintly hear her breathing, and I could smell her as she placed the plate on my bed side table.

"Young Master? Are you okay?"

There was a light purple shimmer around my small sin book and Lust for Dummies appeared beside it. Lilia glanced at both of them. She read over the content on the pages. Her eyes widened with each word she read. She shouldn't be able to see those. Did something change?

I could feel my breathing becoming more and more labored by the second. Lilia got a conflicted look on her face as she set the books aside.

"Young Master?"

I tried opening my mouth to answer, but I was out of words. I tried pulling my staff to me, but I couldn't focus in the gravity magic needed to pull it to me.

"Do you need my help to... recharge your sin?"

I could hardly manage a nod.

"Then allow me to take care of you Young Master."

I couldn't hold myself back. For the rest of that night I ravaged Lilia like a beast.

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt like I was in heaven. When I opened my eyes I realized my head was laying between Lilia's breasts. She was sleeping peacefully with her arms wrapped around me. I could feel that my sin had been sated.

Lilia opend her eyes and looked at me.

"How are you feeling Young Master?"

"I'm much better now... Thank you, for helping me."

"It is a maid's duty to serve her master in whatever way they can."

I grimaced as she once again referred to a maid's duty.

"What if... What if I didn't want it to just be a master and servent? What we did, sex, it shouldn't just be a transactional thing. It's supposed to be done with the person you promise yourself too. I'm not a kid Lilia. Im older than you think."

Lilia looked at me. It was different than how she usually examined me. It was as if she were staring into my very soul.

"I may not fully understand the 'timelines' you explained a few years ago, but I remember you said something about a past life."

"Yeah. Tell me Lilia."

I sat up and moved to sit on the bed.

"If I were to offer you a relationship. One closer than a maid and her master, would you take it? There's a fairly high chance I'll need... help... again, but I don't want it to just be a job. I want to get close to you. To learn more about you. As cheesy as it may sound, I want to make you mine. Just like Roxy and Death."

Lilia stared at me as she thought through everything I said.

"You clearly have experience Young Master. I'll accept your offer. I hope to better understand you, Master Lotus."

"'Master Lotus'. I like the sound of that. Just make sure the others don't hear you say it. I don't want them asking questions."

Lilia smiled as she put on her glasses and started getting dressed.

"Yes sir."

I quickly used some water magic to clean up the bed and give us a quick wash. Just enough to get rid of the smell. I noticed a purple ring around the bed and dismissed it. At least I put up a ring of silence in my frenzy.

I got changed and stretched.

"Oh, and Lilia?"

"Yes Master?"

"Don't think we have to do this just to recharge my sin. If you ever have desires you can bring them to me and I'll fulfill them."

Likia smiled and bowed as she approached the door.

"Thank you Master Lotus. Is there anything I may help you with this morning?"

"Nah. I've got things covered."

"Very well. I'll start breakfast."

Lilia left the room and went downstairs. Sheesh we really made a mess. I tosted the completely soaked sheets into the void. From the smell I could tell that it definitely wasn't water. Lilia's fluids had soaked through the sheets and soaked the straw mattress so I threw that in the void to. I had Fanta, my mini ghost leviathan, go around stealthily and sneak a bunch of straw and cotton into the void. Not enough to make people realize its missing, but barely enough to remake the matress and sheets.

As I was making those I realized I needed to fix a certain appendage of mine. It was way bigger than it should have been and at it's current size it'd be way to noticeable in my pants.

Once I had everything set back up I went downstairs and was about to sit at the table when I felt something bombard my mind with information.

I saw memories of someone who wasn't me waking up in a bed. It looked like the one in mom's clinic.

"I'll be back in a second. I'm going to go check on Sylphie real quick."

Lilia said farewell to me as I grabbed my staff and went to the clinic. The weird sudden memories didn't stop. I saw Laws and Rose hugging whoever it was that woke up. Was it Sylphie?

Those memories felt like it was just happening, but more started popping into my head. I saw my hand being burned by a fire poker and kids throwing mud at me. I saw boys dragging me into the woods and throwing me at a pair of assault dogs. Yeah, this was definitely Sylphie. Thoughts poked my mind to.

'What's happening?'

'I can see again!'

'The pain is gone!'

'Everything looks prettier.'

'Who are they?'

It sounded like Sylphie.

'I knew it! I knew it was a bad idea!'

'Kirai? What's going on?'

'There's still a part of me inside those eyes. The girl has been connected to our contract. Your minds are connected!'

'Like me and my other body?'

'Not necessarily. Unlike your other body you aren't connected to each other's senses, it's just your consciousness and minds.'

'Once I check on Sylphie we'll figure out what all this is gonna do. Other than being mildly confusing there don't seem to be any other side effects.'

I walked into the clinic and was met by Laws.

"Oh Lotus. I was just about to come find you. Sylphie woke up and can see just fine, but she's saying things that aren't making any sense. She's keeps saying something is sad, but she won't tell us what it is."

"Bring me to her."

Laws nodded and led me into Sylphie's room. Sylphie was already looking at the door before it was opened. From the memories entering my head I knew she was watching it as soon as I arrived in the clinic.

"Heya Sylphie... how ya feeling?"

"Good? I guess. I keep hearing and seeing things. And I'm seeing myself. It's really weird."

I pulled up a chair and sat by the bed.

"It's a little hard to explain... actually... hang on. This might be easier than I thought."

I closed my eyes and focused. I thought about how our minds were connected and tried pushing those thoughts towards our connection.

I could feel a faint sense of acceptance and Sylphie shivered.

"That feels weird, but... I understand. I think."

"Huh. That's pretty handy actually."

Laws leaned forward and looked inbetween me and Sylphie.

"So what's going on? What just happened?"

I explained the whole situation through my staff to Rose and Laws. I used my staff since I figured it'd take a lot of explaining to actually get them to understand. To put things simply, he wasn't real happy about it, but his displeasure was overshadowed when I revealed that in time I could slowly heal Sylphie's scars. There'd still be small scars, but they'd be far less noticable than they are now.

So thats exactly what I did. For the next couple of days I used my sin to reduce Sylphie's scars until I couldn't make them smaller. Now they looked more like knife wounds than giant wolf claws tearing through skin wounds.

Plus with Lilia's 'help' every other night I didn't have to worry about my sin running out of energy.

Roxy had already known that I liked Lilia, so she wasn't to shocked to hear that I had claimed her. She did give me a fairly long lecture when she learned I had almost died from my sin though.

Now that Sylphie's wounds were completely healed and we had gotten kind of used to sharing a conscience she was able to go back to her home. Rudy and I would play with her daily for a while, but that had to be moved to every other day when Sylphie started doing chores again.

I made sure to help her though. Even if her parents didn't realize it. If I was close enough to her house I could cast spells through my mini leviathans. I'm pretty sure the only reason Sylphie didn't freak out when she first saw them was because she had been stealing peeks into my memories.

To stop her from seeing... certain adult activities, I came up with a method to stop her from seeing into my head. All I had to do was set up a mental wall of useless thoughts. If she was stubborn enough she could push through the wall with enough effort, but Sylphie was nice enough to know when she shouldn't pry into something. At least when there was actually something there to tell her not to.

It took some getting used to, but we slowly made it work. All I had to do now was get payback on a certain piggy.

I'm not dead! I'm just a college student now, so I guess I'm almost there.

It has been... 3 months on the dot. Holy crap.

But I finally finished the chapter. We're here!

God I'm tired. New chapter happens when it happens. First bits of the next chapter is some slice of life with Lotus teaching Rudy and Sylphie old world magic, then there's a small excerpt from Lotus and Roxy's travels, and then a time skip to a plot point that causes a pretty large step away from canon. Let's just say Paul gets his just desserts. I've been waiting for this moment for a looong time.

See you guys then!