December 20th, 1541 ME
Order-Controlled City of Floria
Young Elise Maxwell
December 20th was looking to be another completely ordinary day. My parents had prepared dinner for me and my younger brother. The two of us would often spend the entire day playing outside our fairly large house. Our family was relatively rich thanks to our father, Allen Maxwell, being the owner of a large mercenary company who worked around the world, sending armed forces to whoever would pay them. Our mother had originally been his assistant a couple years ago, and the two of them had gotten closer and closer over time. Eventually, they started dating, and about two years after that they got married. Sometime after that I was born, and then two years later Eryn was born.
Being the owner of a successful mercenary company had its benefits. He had given me a custom toy sword and Eryn a custom toy halberd for our ninth and seventh birthdays. One of us would roleplay as a monster and one of us would roleplay as a hero, and we would pretend to fight each other. Our mother disapproved at first, worried that we would hurt each other, but she slowly got used to it, even occasionally taking time out of her day to watch us and cheer us on.
Except today was different. We were waving our fake weapons around at each other, enjoying ourselves. But suddenly Eryn collapsed to the ground, coughing. I immediately dropped the persona of a hero and went to his side.
"Eryn? Are you alright?" I asked him, concerned.
"I'm okay. Just tired…" Eryn responded, getting to his feet without my help and brushing some dirt off his clothes. "I must've tripped on something. Can we go inside?"
"Of course, Eryn." We had only been playing for a couple hours at that point but I was willing to stop if he was tired. Besides, I didn't enjoy playing on my own anyways. Using my imagination just didn't cut it.
As if on cue, our mother, Ariana Maxwell called from inside the house. "Elise! Eryn! We finished dinner, come inside!"
"Right on time." I began heading to the front door. I had reached the porch when I realized that Eryn wasn't following me. I turned around, confused.
"Come on, Eryn. Food's going to get cold if you don't…" I trailed off. Eryn had fallen again. I went back to help him, when I noticed specks of blood around him. "Eryn?!" I shouted, my voice filled with concern.
"Elise…" He replied weakly. I doubled my pace, reaching him in seconds and kneeling down next to him. "What's wrong?!" I asked him, panicked. He didn't respond.
I dashed back inside and began yelling for my mother for help. "Mom! I think Eryn is sick! We were playing and then he just started coughing up blood!" Mom ran out of the kitchen and followed me outside to where Eryn was lying. His breathing was shallow, and it looked like he had coughed up more blood.
"Elise. Get a healer!" I nodded, running off to the streets.
The healers and mages identified the sickness a few days later. "Noble's disease," they called it. My father had thrown an eye watering amount of money towards the healers and said one thing.
"Cure it. I don't care what you have to do, just cure the disease. I want my son to have a happy life."
That night, I listened to my parents from across the hall, sounding hopeless and depressed. My father, usually a well composed and calm person, broke down in tears, my mother soon following. When they had calmed down, they began discussing what they were going to do. I didn't hear everything, but I did hear them discuss a "Final Resort".
A long time later, a few weeks before my father passed away, he pulled me to the side to talk to me about something.
"Ariana and I talked about something the day we heard that Eryn had Noble's disease. During that conversation, we discussed something that would cure Eryn forever." Allen had reminsced.
"What?! You knew a way to cure Eryn and you never thought to use it?!" I shouted at him.
"That's the thing. You're a hero of the Chief God. What I'm asking you to do goes against everything you've been taught by the Order. It goes against the Chief God's will." Allen took a deep breath. "One of the most valuable lessons I learned was to never give up, but always have a final resort. If you can't cure Eryn by conventional means, take him to the nearest mamono realm and let one of the monsters incubize him. It should completely cure him."
That was the last time I ever talked to him. A few weeks later, our house burnt down from a candle fire that had gotten out of control.
The teachings of the Order clashed against the final wishes of my parents. I had never felt more conflicted in my entire life.
March 15th, 1566 ME
Order-Controlled City of Floria
Elise Maxwell
Nightmares about the first appearance of the disease that would make my brother bedridden were the last thing I needed right now. Me and Kenton had spent much more time planning than usual, and I guess both of us had lost sense of time because when we left the barracks it was completely dark out. I offered to buy Kenton drinks but he declined, saying he had somewhere else to be. Too tired to question, I went back home.
I yawned and closed my eye again hoping to catch a few more hours of sleep before I had to wake up again. No luck. A slight breeze of cool air blew through my open window, giving me an idea. It's nice outside… Maybe a short walk would fix things? I got up out of bed and put on some comfy clothes and was about to leave when I remembered something my personal trainer had said when I had first begun hero training.
Late night hours are when criminals are most active, as well as monsters. You are recommended to stay inside during those times. If you absolutely have to be outside late at night, you should carry something to defend yourself with.
Staying inside wasn't going to help me fall asleep, but I did have something to defend myself with. I grabbed my sword, modeled after the toy sword I had gotten twenty-five years ago now, with all of the impractical parts removed. Several symbols on the blade and the handle glowed softly as a representation of all the high quality enchantments it had been given over the years. I took some precautions by putting on my lightweight armor as well. Finally, I threw on a cloak and my eye covering then left my room.
The hallways were dark and quiet. If I had to guess it was about two hours after midnight, so everyone was fast asleep. The moon served as the only illumination to the manor, bathing everything in pale light. I was used to hearing people talking and maids going about their jobs, so the near silence was actually rather eerie.
I reached the exit and left the manor, going on one of the large open roads to avoid any sort of conflict with anyone outside at the time. I was prepared to defend myself, but that didn't mean I was going to purposefully get into a fight. Plus, explaining why my clothes were covered in blood wasn't something I wanted to deal with.
Fortunately there was barely anyone outside. Not caring about where I was going, I got into a rhythm, slowly relaxing myself. As I passed by an alleyway, something got my attention. Scratched onto the walls with a sharp object, were what looked to be words. I squinted my eyes in the darkness to try and make out what they were saying.
We win or we go down trying. No surrendering. No compromising.
Next to it was a crude drawing of a balled up fist with the cross of the Order drawn on it. I had seen this symbol before. Several months ago a rumor came out that King Emyr was planning on making a surrender deal to the Mamono Lord's forces because he was "tired of fighting". The very next day a swarm of angry citizens paraded through the streets, demanding that they keep on fighting. Several knights had gotten trampled to death in the riot.
The rumor had also spawned another group of people who supported him, daringly stating their tolerance towards mamono. Although friendly at first they had become gradually more impatient, demanding that he do something.
The two sides had clashed on more than one occasion. It had gotten so extreme that me, Kenton and Nikolas had been called in to help quell the riots. Whatever happened to stating your grievances peacefully? I thought to myself.
Me, Nikolas and Suvina hadn't shared our thoughts. Hell, I didn't even believe in the rumor. I didn't think King Emyr was the type of person to surrender. However, Kenton made it very clear that he supported the ones who were upset with the surrender deal.
Not a surprise. You were never the type of person to back down from a fight.
I tore my mind away from the message. I thought of getting a drink, but all the bars and taverns were closed down at this hour, so I decided to just keep walking until I got tired. Slowly, I fell into a rhythm. My eye began to slowly droop…
I was rudely awakened from my sleep when something hit me in the head. My eye snapped open, getting a sight of a tree. I looked around. I was in the middle of the forest, at a fork in the path. My face turned red with embarrassment.
I must've been sleepwalking. I fucking sleepwalked out of the city and into a tree. Thank the Chief God that there is nobody around to see that happen. Or any monsters. The guards must've opened the gate for me and didn't realize I was sleepwalking. I felt for my sword, and fortunately it was still there. I had no idea what I would tell Kenton or Nikolas if I had lost my sword while sleepwalking. I shook my head. Well, time to go back.
I turned around when I heard a twig snapping. I looked below me; I hadn't stepped on a stick. I kept my hands on my sword and swerved around, keeping my eye peeled. I hoped it was just a wild animal but this late at night there was a very real chance of me running into a monster.
My heart stopped as I caught a faint glimpse of something purple. I squinted just to make sure I was seeing things. My eye widened. There was a dragon a few dozen yards away from the path, sleeping in the grass. My mind raced back to my conversation with Amias. She had said one of the leaders of the mamono invasion force was a Malef Dragon. And here they were, sleeping in the grass. Vulnerable. I began to cast two spells on myself. One to silence my footsteps and one to turn me invisible. I drew my sword and began creeping closer to the dragon.
"Ahhh… so quiet…" As I got closer I heard the dragon mumbling things to herself in her sleep. When I was only a few feet away from the beast, it suddenly rolled over, exposing its stomach. My heart skipped a beat; If I had the element of surprise I could eliminate one of the biggest threats to Floria. If she noticed me, I would have to fight her head on.
I looked her up and down, taking note of where her scales protected her body. Her stomach was the largest unprotected area on her entire body. I decided that was where I was going to be striking first. I lined my blade up directly with the soft, unprotected patch of skin.
Time to die.
I rammed the blade as hard as I could into the dragon's stomach. Its eyes shot open, the dragon's face an expression of shock, pain and fear. It let out a deafening roar, grabbed the blade, and tore it out of her stomach. It followed up with a scale-covered fist to my own stomach which deactivated my invisibility spell and launched me several yards away. I coughed and quickly got to my feet. The dragon was clutching its stomach gingerly, corruptive blood dripping onto the grass. If any of that got into any of my wounds, it would be over.
The dragon turned its red eyes towards me, growling in rage. "You're going to pay for that. Once you become a Dragonewt you're going to spend the rest of your pathetic life serving me. You're going to rue the day that you stabbed me while I was sleeping!" The dragon ranted. "And fuck you and your surrender deal! You just sealed Floria's fate, you foolish human!"
I said nothing in response, instead beckoning the Malef to get closer. Instead, it leapt high into the air and began flying. A gigantic wave of purple fire burst out of its mouth, scorching the area only several inches away from where I was standing. I leapt backwards and kept my eyes on the beast as I tried thinking of a plan.
She has to be close to death. I just need a few more good hits on her and she'll stay down for good.
The dragon charged down from her spot in the sky down at my position with her hind claws outstretched like a hawk, trying to grab me. I leapt to the side at the last second and plunged my sword down on her scaled back. Unfortunately, it bounced off, making an unsatisfying clanging noise. I barely managed to get my sword up in time to block the fist the Malef threw in retaliation, sending me backwards a few feet. My arms were vibrating, but I was otherwise fine.
"You're pretty good. Maybe I was too harsh on you. I think I'll make you my bodyguard instead…" The Malef was smiling now, which greatly worried me. It was possible that it was bluffing to intimidate me but I didn't put it past the beast to somehow keep fighting like it was in top condition after getting a sword rammed through her gut.
Enhancing myself with a speed spell I lunged forward once more, feigning an attack to its stomach. It didn't react in time to block my blade, allowing me to get a good hit off on her legs. She stumbled backwards, gritting her teeth. I began pushing my advantage, driving it back a few feet as it used its scaled arms to block my attacks.
The dragon let out another incredibly loud roar. Sensing her next move I lunged out of the way as another torrent of purple corruptive fire shot out of its mouth. I could actually feel the heat on my face. The battle had been mere inches away from being lost.
"Not used to fighting someone that's a challenge for your strength?"
The Malef looked at her stomach, touching the wound with her hand, then glared back at me. It flicked its hand out, sending droplets of corruptive blood soaring through the air at me. I quickly lunged out of the way, some of the blood harmlessly staining my shoes. I made a mental note to immediately wash them once I got home.
"You think you're so powerful and skilled." The Malef spoke between pants. "When the only reason you're winning right now is because you stabbed me in my sleep. Did you pass through hero training by fighting like a rogue?!"
"Don't be mad at me for taking an opportunity too good to pass up. Be mad at yourself for making yourself vulnerable." I gave the dragon a smug grin. If it was angry, it was bound to make a mistake.
The dragon refused to respond, lunging forward again. I didn't risk blocking the hit, jumping to the side instead. It turned around, aimed itself at me and charged. Once again, I leapt to the side to avoid the attack. It charged. I dodged. The repitition made my legs begin to ache. It was crucial that I finished the battle soon. Uttering a prayer to the Chief God, I began planning an all out attack on the dragon to finish her off.
As the dragon reoriented herself to charge yet again, I stayed still, aligning my sword with their stomach. They charged towards me, faster than ever, expecting me to dodge. Their eyes widened as they saw the blade pointed towards their weak point getting closer. I then threw the blade as hard as I could towards my target and ducked down.
Everything went quiet. I looked up, seeing the dragon collapsed on the ground. My heart was racing. My skin was covered in sweat. I was bruised and bleeding in a couple areas. But I couldn't care less. I had won. I was one step closer to eliminating the threat to Floria. I could practically feel the Chief God beaming down at me. I got up from the ground, and began approaching the incapacitated beast. I tore my sword out and raised it above my head.
"In the name of the Chief God, You will never threaten me or my city ever again." I brought my sword down on its neck.
Something blocked it.
"Wh-" I looked up to see a hooded figure blocking my blade with his own sword. The darkness mostly shrouded his face, but I could've sworn it looked like someone I knew.
Nikolas? What the hell is he-
The mystery man slammed in the face with his fist, causing me to drop my sword and fall to the ground. I tried to retrieve my weapon but the man kicked it away from my reach. Out of the corner of my eye I saw what looked to be a succubus with white wings and black horns.
"I'm sorry, Elise." The man said as he raised his blade above his head like an executioner. "I promise this won't hurt." I desperately tried to protect myself by covering my face with my hand.
This isn't fair. I was so close to beating the dragonI was going to save Floria! This isn't fair. This isn't fair. Thisisn'tfairthisisn'tfairthisisn'tfair-
The blade came down on my head, and everything went dark.
March 16th, 1566 ME
Nikolas Mason
?
The documents on the various heroes of Floria I had taken from the Order's public archives often exaggerated some of the positive info on them to make them seem more perfect than they actually were. While this was obviously intended to make them look better for the public it also artificially raised the public's expectations for them. The document of my now former captain, Elise Maxwell, depicted her as very short tempered, yet caring and protective of her friends. The "very short tempered" was one of the exaggerated parts. Yet as I was kneeling next to an unconscious Elise and Amaya was desperately trying to heal Delilah as her blood pooled around her body, the exaggerated part didn't seem so far-fetched anymore. Elise had walked into the forest in the middle of the night, came across Delilah, and immediately tried to kill her in her sleep and almost succeeded.
Before that, me and Amaya had been having sex for hours. It felt absolutely amazing. It marked the beginning of our eternal relationship, and the end of my grievances with the Order. Afterwards, the two of us went back into the cavern and had the best sleep of our lives. At least, until I heard Delilah outside roaring at something. I forced Amaya to wake up and the two of us had gone to investigate what our fellow conqueror had been up to.
"Stay with me, Delilah! Stay with me!" Amaya yelled at Delilah as she worked her healing magic the best she could. Elise's sword had many enchantments like one that made it lighter, one that allowed it to turn invisible, and one that automatically repaired it. But one of the enchantments was anti-regeneration. It almost completely nullified any natural healing abilities a mamono had, and also made healing them significantly harder. As I watched Amaya struggle to heal the Malef Dragon, I didn't have the heart to tell her that I was the one who paid a combat mage to give Elise's sword that effect.
"...Not fair…It's not…fair…" I heard Elise murmur. Her eye flickered open for a second.
Amaya turned towards Elise. "Restrain her before she wakes up. And give me her sword. I'm going to turn it into realm-silver so she never hurts anyone ever again." She ordered me.
"Restrain her with what? I didn't expect to encounter Elise out here." I asked as I tossed Elise's sword towards Amaya. I could tell she was grumpy when I woke her up, and I couldn't blame her.
Amaya paused, creating a small miniature portal and pulling a length of what looked like rope made of Arachne silk out of it. She tossed me the rope and went back to healing Delilah. "Rope made of Ushi-Oni string. Stronger than regular Arachne silk. I saved it for situations like these." Amaya explained. She retrieved Elise's sword, staring at it judgementally before tossing it in the small portal as well and going back to healing Delilah.
I wrapped the Ushi-Oni string around Elise, hearing a couple uncomfortable groans as I did. Her eye flickered open for a moment, and the two of us made eye contact for a second. A quiet yet surprised gasp came from Elise before she lapsed back into unconsciousness. I finished restraining my former captain before joining Amaya in trying to heal Elise.
"I'm afraid there's not much you can do to help. Damn the Chief God and her blasted powers…" Amaya complained as her hands hovered over Delilah's wound. "The enchantment seems specifically made to harm Mamono. Awful. Just awful. At least once the sword is done converting to realm silver it won't hurt anything ever again."
"I'd like to know what Elise was doing in the middle of the forest this late at night in the first place. What kind of person just goes outside the safety of the walls during Mamono hunting hours?" I asked to change the subject.
"No idea. I can never figure out some things these heroes do sometimes. Hell, the entire Order does random shit all the time that I never quite understand. It's not like she knew Delilah was going to be sleeping outside, did she?"
"I'll ask her when she wakes up."
"...Are you absolutely sure I can't monsterize her? If Floria freaks out over their best hero being monsterized I have a perfectly good justification for why I did it." Amaya asked hopefully. "Plus I've always wanted to monsterize a hero. The most stubborn ones are the most fun to convert."
"Floria freaking out is what I'm worried about. The city is incredibly divided on its opinions of Mamono, and Elise being monsterized could make some people go into last resort mode, if you know what I mean." I rationalized. I knew Kenton was incredibly anti-Mamono, and if he saw his captain as a monster he would go absolutely crazy. "Besides, you and Delilah agreed to split the responsibilities of running the city. You don't want Floria in an even more chaotic state than it already is."
Amaya huffed in annoyance. "Fine. Whatever." She stood up and observed Delilah. "There. It's done. I wasn't able to completely heal her but I've managed to stabilize her for now. Maybe if we can find a Unicorn within our ranks we can completely bypass this awful anti-regenerative effect Elise's sword gave her."
"Maybe you should learn how to use stronger healing magic." I blurted out without thinking.
"Well, to do that, I'd need more energy to practice better healing magic. And you know exactly where I would get that energy from." Amaya gave me a sultry smile. I shook my head.
"I'm sorry. I don't know where that came from." I apologized. Amaya's smile grew even wider.
"You don't need to apologize, husband. You're always welcome to give me advice when you see fit. Part of marriage is working together to help us overcome our flaws." Amaya whispered in my ear. "Although I somehow believe you wouldn't be opposed to contributing some spirit energy for my self improvement."
"Nope." I answered truthfully.
"Good, good. For now let's just get Delilah and Elise back to the cavern. I'd like to speak with Elise myself." It was then I realized that Elise didn't fully know that I betrayed the Order. Part of me was dreading speaking with her but I knew it would have to happen eventually. I hoisted Elise onto my shoulder and began the trek back to our cavern.
A few minutes later, we passed through the fake entrance to the cavern to our perch overlooking the cavern. It had finally mostly quieted down, with only a few dark angels and priests still going at it with their husbands. Of course the Fallen God worshippers would be the ones trying to pull an all-nighter. Amaya scanned the crowd, looking for a Unicorn, and ironically only came across a few Bicorns that had decided that polygamy was overrated. Funnily enough, I recalled seeing a few Unicorns earlier this week.
"I should've hired the pharmacomacy sabbath." The lilim groaned. "Damn it. Damn it all."
"She's stable, you've bought us plenty of time." I reassured my wife.
"I… I know Nik, but I feel like it's my fault that she got hurt. I should've just told her to shut up and deal with the noise. We've spent the last few months amassing an army together, yet I failed to watch out for her." Amaya lamented.
"Amaya, don't be so hard on yourself…"
The lilim sniffled. "I'll try. I'm so lucky to have you."
Our moment of mutual comfort was cut short as Elise began murmuring again, sounding like she was waking up for real. "She's waking up." I warned Amaya. The lilim drew her attention away from Delilah and began glaring at Elise, her tender expression replaced with one of anger.
"...Where am I?" My former captain muttered in confusion. Suddenly she became more aware of her situation, struggling against the restraints with all her might. "Where am I?!" Her eye widened in fear as she looked at Amaya. A Lilim on their own were scary enough for the Order but an angry Lilim would be absolutely horrifying.
"You're in our base of operations. And don't even think about escaping, because you can't. Even if you somehow manage to get out of this cave and lose me I will hunt you down and monsterize you." Amaya growled. I spotted some of the more empathetic Mamono watching us from behind their husbands with fearful curiosity.
"Amaya…" I started to say, feeling bad for Elise. She looked even more terrified now. The lilim cut me off before I could tell her to calm down.
"I don't know what you were doing in the forest that late at night, but I just want to make one thing clear. You nearly killed my best friend." Amaya continued. "And now, because of your weapon, she's been unable to make a complete recovery. You have no idea how it felt desperately trying to stabilize her, unsure if she was going to make it or not."
She paused. "The only reason I haven't given you the most violent monsterization this world has seen, is because my husband says it will make things harder later down the line. You're lucky I love and trust him so much."
Elise's attention turned towards me, a mixture of sadness, disappointment and anger on her face. "Nikolas? Why? Why would you betray us?"
"Elise. You need to understand. Floria is divided. Our city is being torn apart by a simple rumor that our king is surrendering. What me and Elise are doing will save thousands of lives. If Floria allows Mamono through its walls, we can start making things more peaceful. Even if you were to somehow hold us off that would just aggravate one side even more. You can't control that kind of rage."
"What? By converting everyone by force?" Elise spat at me. Amaya balled her fists up, just barely holding back from punching Elise.
"No, Elise. We're going to give everyone a choice. And that includes you, and every anti-mamono citizen that might be willing to resolve things peacefully. As for the ones that aren't? Well, there's no shortage of hellhounds and manticores that are looking for a husband." I explained the surrender deal the best I could to Elise and awaited her response. She stayed silent, just looking at me and processing what I just said. I began feeling hopeful.
"You know Kenton isn't going to let this slide."
Ah, Kenton. He's going to hate having Mamono in Floria even more than Elise. Hel save that poor Ratatoskr he found a few days ago.
"He's just one person. He might rival you in skill but he's just one person. We can easily track him down and capture him if he causes any trouble. If he tries to unite the anti-mamono citizens, we'll shut that down too."
Elise didn't respond for a while, staring at the ground for a minute or two. "...My brother needs me. It's been hours. He must be waking up by now. He's going to wonder where I am. I need to see him and let him know I'm alright."
"I can't trust you to walk around freely after what you did. Nikolas will tell Amias to take care of him while you're in our custody. I might even give Amias our gift. She would make a great kikimora." Amaya clarified.
"Oh, and Nikolas told me about Eryn's disease, Elise. Let me repeat my husband's words; Lescatie had the Order's best mages and healers working on Francisca's disease, but her being monsterized is what cured her. I have no doubts that incubization will do the same. It's easier and faster than what you've been doing, that's for sure." Amaya told Elise to her face. "What do you think about it, Elise? Does it sound good?"
"No. He shares the same opinions as I do on monsters. He doesn't want to turn into a mindless incubus, and even if he did I wouldn't let him." Elise mumbled.
"Mindless incubus?" I asked, feeling insulted. "Elise, for how much time you've spent fighting against monsters have you never picked up on the fact that their husbands look and act no different from regular, uncorrupted humans? Look at me, for fucks' sake! I'm the same person I was ten years ago as I am today."
Elise looked me up and down. "You're not an incubus yet, I can tell. Your eyes are blue; Amaya's eyes are red. You haven't gotten addicted to your slaver's energy."
Amaya sighed in frustration, but then suddenly her eyes lit up. "I've got an idea. How about the two of us have sex in front of her. Show her what she's missing out on. Show her what she's denying her brother. We can show this prude how good it is to be a mamono."
"You just want to have sex again don't you-"
"Yes. I do."
I sighed. "...Very well."
