Overlord Divinity.

Overlord:Divinity
Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/23340424.
Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/F
Fandom: Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Relationships: OFC/OFC/OFC, OFC/Draudillon Oriculus, Arche Eeb Rile
Furt/OFC/OFC
Characters: Ainz Ooal Gown | Momonga, Arche Eeb Rile Furt, Keno Fasris Invern |
Evileye, Original Female Character(s), Lupusregina Beta, Draudillon
Oriculus, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Threats of Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced
Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced
Torture, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kitsune, demi-humans, Alternate
Universe - Canon Divergence, Suicidal Thoughts, Polyamory,
Polyamory Negotiations, Found Family, Adoption, Mother-Daughter
Relationship, First Kiss, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Depression, Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder - PTSD, Childhood Trauma, Trauma Recovery, Friends
With Benefits, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Age Difference, Country
Construction, sapphic love, gay af, past sexual slavery, Tags May
Change, Threesome - F/F/F, Gender Dysphoria, Eventual Relationships,
Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, Relationships tagged when shown, Slave
Trade, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced
Underage Sex, Underage Sex, Psychological Trauma, trans female main
character, OCs galore, OC-centric, Cunnilingus, Canon Divergence, Tag
Context is Important
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2020-03-27 Updated: 2023-12-13 Words: 360,009 Chapters:
37/?
Overlord:Divinity
by TherapyKitten
Summary
Akemi used to be an executive in the guild Natura, and while her plan to claim victory for her
comrades before the end of the game was a success, fate was far from done with her. Dumped
in the New World, Akemi will begin to build a life for herself with new family and new
friends who will give her all she ever wanted and so much more. While the New World might
seem like heaven to her at first, it hides many dark secrets that will force her to confront
several of it's crueler facets.
Major TWs, read tags. This is a slow burn romance that is more focused on polyamorous
relationships. There is also some bending or changing of Overlord and it's game rules.
Floof Incoming
Chapter Summary
A denizen of Yggdrasil wakes to find herself in a world altogether different, and better,
than her old one, giving her hope for a better life that she would never have gotten
before.
Chapter Notes
A/N I have slightly revamped this story, I hope it will read much easier now, I want to
give it more love than I did the first time around.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
??/??/2138
“You want to actually use our world item?” Numerous dumbfounded faces sat around a large
table in an open air courtyard, all dressed in a variety of fanciful armors, outfits, and were
made of a generous amount of races. All were staring at one of their members and her
carefree waving tails, like she hadn’t just suggested a decision that literally could reshape
Yggdrasil depending on which World Item was used.
“I said I want to use it, yes. Hilda the game is ending anyway... It would be a shame to just let
it waste away without ever being used since we got it, and we can get back at Providence for
getting so arrogant with World Saviour. We may as well take them out if we can. I want to
use Longinus on their leader while he is being this stupid.”
“That... is true, not much to save it for. Not like Providence is saving them anyway, but there
is still a month left till the server shutdown, do you wanna miss out on all the end game
events? I know you know what will happen if you use that.” The guild leader looked
depressed at the thought of the cheerful nine tails vanishing before them all first, it would
make the depleted guild feel even emptier for the rest of the time they were there.
“I’m aware, but I won’t be able to make it to the server shutdown anyway. I have too much
going on, so may as well stomp on Providence’s pride while I can. Did you hear their leader
has gotten so wild with that overpowered club that he keeps bringing his guild item into raids
and wars? If he wants to play King with that crown and club then I say we knock him off his
throne. I do this and we can be the number one guild by the end of the game and prove once
and for all that Natura was the top of Yggdrasil!” They could all sense her excitement as
those tails nearly vibrated behind her.
“Akemi… if you want to do this, lay out your plan since I know you have one if you are
suggesting this. Before I agree you have to promise to take care of yourself in real life. You
still have our contact info right?” The leader told her dear friend carefully. She knew Akemi
was in a difficult situation outside the game, but the girl was always threadbare on the details.
During the offline meet-up a few years back she had noticed how worryingly thin Akemi
was, how frail she looked. Hilda knew a few other secrets that Akemi had confided in her
with, and she truly felt for the girl’s situation, even if there was nothing any of them could
really do about it.
“Y-yeah, if I can I will, but I don’t want you to worry okay? Its just a game after all. Take
care of my Lilies?” The foxy player asked. The other players at the table sighed at that.
“You know they are NPC’s right? you’re such a dork Akemi. If we find a new game maybe
you can remake them there, there are plenty besides this old game, this time maybe they
might actually talk back and appreciate the clothes you put them in like a mother hen. Alright
lets hear the plan Akemi.” Their leader Hilda stated, standing up to clap her hands to get
everyone’s attention.
6/23 Lower Wind Month
“Fuck me...my head...” A pain filled grumble resounded through a small clearing among a
mass of thin trees. Buried half way in overgrown grass, smothered by the forest floor ferns
and bushes, was a small and fluffy figure.
“I was... where was I? Why is it so cold?” Akemi sat up and looked around the area as her
head slowly emptied of static, letting her barely able to make out details with the few rays of
light that reached the forest floor, If it was not for her perfect night vision due to racial traits.
Akemi sat in the grass as she regained her senses with her pair of large twitching ears half
buried in her fluffed up and messy black hair, listening for the barest hint of noise that
seemed to not exist near her. Around her were nine black tails with white tips whipping
around her that were betraying the panic inside of herself.
“Am I dreaming? Dead? I don’t remember dying just yet. I’m too old for this...” She
grumbled as she stood up, stretching out the kinks in her joints.
Looking down she spotted in the grass a familiar sight, a friend that had seen her through
many battles, that she spent nearly every data crystal she could get her hands on. “This is Ex
Oblivion.. So this is Yggdrasil still right?” She asked herself as she picked up a long poled
weapon from the grass, a naginata with a shaft black enough to absorb the tiny rays of light
that made it through the forest and to the ground. The curved blade of the weapon was similar
to the shaft, though the light hitting it made it look like oil on water, the light dispersing into
hazy colors. The whole thing was accented with highlights of a gold that seemed to look
almost violet in the light. It looked more fit for a museum than the bloody battles she had
used it in… if the game had blood anyway. “Did I have to make the name so cringe? Too late
now… Damn you fifteen year old me…” Akemi thought as she regretted that choice years
later for the umpteenth time.
She checked on her storage, and was confused as no inventory box popped up. With a bit of
thinking she somehow knew what was in her storage with perfect recall, and seemed to have
no problem accessing it as she reached into that other dimensional storage just like the game
without problems. She knew normally she lost things in her inventory with even a visual
interface so often it was scary, so it was different to know all that it contained. “Wow, I keep
a lot of junk. Maybe... Hilda knows what the hell is going on? [Message]...No?” Those
twitchy, ebony ears folded down as her message failed to connect, the tendrils of the spell
grasping at nothing.
Akemi proceeded to try every contact she could think of as her friend’s or guild list, yet there
was nothing and no one. “Why Am I here anyway? This avatar was supposed to be wiped
from the servers along with Bachus.” Her memories trickled back in as she remembered her
suicidal assassination attempt using Longinus, which should have led to both players being
mutually destroyed forever. As she finally recalled her last memories she snorted in
amusement. “Glad I got one over on him one more time, I bet him and Providence are
raging! The salt must flow~”
“Now... where is my map...” Akemi grumbled as she began to flick through the air... and
looked frustrated. “Where is my Map? Where the hell is my Menu? Fuck me...” She glared at
nothing as she began to stomp in a random direction, stopping at the tree line when it became
too dense to walk through. “[Widen Magic: Dominate Nature].” The fox woman spoke as she
held her hand out- with the trees bending and growing rapidly, forming a pathway through
the area. “So that still works at least... so this has to be Yggdrasil, but why does everything
smell so fresh here? The smell of trees, leaves...When was the last time I got to even smell
that?” She pondered as she remembered seeing trees when she was younger, before her life
went even further downhill than it started. After that her trips into the bio-domes were short
lived and she had become used to the toxic yellow and red skies outside of those oasis’s full
of the scum of the earth, trees soon becoming nothing more than a memory to dwell on.
The game couldn’t replicate those smells, or any smells at all. The newer generations of VR
games had started to be able to, even if the corporations put seemingly non-sensible
restrictions on it. The feeling of a fresh breeze on her face, the feeling of wood beneath the
boots of her armored leggings. It was far too much for an older game like Yggdrasil “Maybe
it is a dream after all.” She mumbled as she took a few more deep breathes just to enjoy the
sensations she shouldn’t feel. “I want to not wake up then if that is the case...” Her own
reality brought her low, the state of her real life, or what was left of it. This was… too much
for her to hope for. The fear of it all being pulled away suddenly filled her before she took a
few careful breathes, letting herself relish the feeling of fresh air that was not from a oxygen
tube in her nose. Her musing was interrupted as she breathed in and coughed on something
soft that had hit her face. She glared at the offending tail that she had nearly inhaled. “So I
guess these are moving parts now? They aren’t following the same wiggle patterns as they
used to. Fluffy.” Even nearly getting choked by tail floof felt like a blessing. Previously her
tails were mostly decorations of her character, only able to move in specific ways, such as for
attacking. Their idle animations followed a set pattern that just repeated, yet she felt more
connected to them. A few waves of them was enough for her to figure out that she could
control them as easily as her arms.
For the next test she tensed muscles she didn’t know she had in her lower back, right before
one of those tails whipped out at top speed, and smashed through one of the massive trees
that surrounded her. The feeling of bark under her fur told her that she could completely feel
these decorations like they were actual limbs now!
She opened her eyes and smiled bright like the sun. “Okay! Enough talking to myself! The
game or a dream couldn’t be this real! Time to explore!” She told herself as she stepped onto
the path the forest had made after her magic had been used. “It is like I’m one with the
forest… I can feel each tree, even the one-” Her thoughts were interrupted by the tree she had
crushed falling on her head. To her surprise, the tree just broke further when it collided with
her, her Ow being an automatic response to being hit by something. “That… didn’t hurt at
all. What else is different?” She thought as excitement filled her tattered heart. With a small
flash of light her battle robes were swapped with a far more comfortable outfit that consisted
of simple black pants and a green long sleeve shirt that hung down almost like a dress
instead, and that was decorated with golden patterns to accent it.
With a mixture of excitement, and nervousness she took her first step before breaking into a
full run, disappearing into the forest that soon became quiet once again.
It felt so liberating the feeling of being able to just run, to not be tired from a simple walk
across the room! The fresh air filling her lungs as the wide open plains spread out before her
as she emerged from the forest just cemented her feelings of elation, the desire to test herself
nipping at her heels. Knowing this couldn’t be her dream or a game her hopes went further
up, and just hoped she was right. She thought on the previous world, and how she had no
desire what so ever to go back to that capitalist hell, that broken planet.
“So nice...” She sighed happily, before looking down the road she had landed on, her step
barely kicking up dust as she landed. It was but a simple dirt road, well packed from so many
wagons, horses, and feet that have passed over it. After collecting herself for a moment,
Akemi began to slowly wander down the road without a destination in mind.
It didn’t take long for Akemi to get bored of just walking, and she began to test out just how
fast she could run! What she didn’t account for was just over a small hill was a covered
wagon just cresting. She found her avatar’s reflexes just as impressive as she was able to stop
just inches away from the corner of the wagon after nearly ramming it full speed, leaping
over the top to land behind it. Her own shock seemed second to the squeak that came up from
the drivers seat of the wagon.
One nervous woman, maybe in her twenties, sat by an older man who Akemi assumed was
her husband. She could sense two more smaller presences that soon poked their head out of
the covered wagon to gape at her.
Both sides seemed frozen, examining each other. “..Yo?” Akemi quietly called out, giving a
tiny wave, an ear twitching along with it. Perhaps it was the mass of tails behind her waving
without her will but even with her well groomed and cute appearance it seemed to just make
the humans more frightened, and spring them to motion. The man seemed to bolt off the
wagon to pull out a shabby spear from inside the hidden part of the vehicle, while the woman
darted back into the covered area to protect her children as they were pulled back inside and
out of her view.
The Kitsune didn’t look very upset as a spear was jabbed at her, and didn’t even move as it
stopped centimeters from her chest. It was almost just a rock on a stick with how dull she
could see the tip of the spear being. She made note of the fact she could even see the grain of
the metal in such detail that it surprised her. “I suppose even my eyes are better, so cool~”
“Um.. Please stop that, it is pretty rude...” She looked more emotionally hurt than anything
else. “Can you understand me?” Akemi would ask as she tried to stay as non threatening as
possible, though she knew these peasants couldn’t be a threat.
“M-monster! Did the patrols miss one?! Get out of these lands demi-human!” The man
shouted as he kept thrusting the spear at her, the tip pressing against her chest and not even
pressing the skin, just poking at a thin and shining membrane that seemed to extend over her
skin. Akemi grabbed it by the end, throughly tired of that game. “Seems low level damage
nullification works also, I didn’t fancy dying here already after all.”
“[Break Lesser Item]” She intoned quietly. As her magic washed over the spear, the shaft to
the head broke into thousands of bits and pieces. “Not a monster, I'm a Kitsune. In fact, I’d
argue you are the monster in this case, stabbing at someone you just met? How uncivilized...”
She just shook her head in her annoyance. “Now, could you just tell me the way to a city or
something? Oh and do you have anything to eat? I’ll pay for it.” She switched back to her
carefree mood as she pulled out a gold coin from Yggdrasil.
Those humans didn’t seem to have much of a clue how to respond to that. “So… you aren’t
going to kill us? B-but... you’re a demi human...” These peasants seemed utterly confused,
especially as they seemed to think her evil on the basis of her race. “Gold? I’ve never even
seen that kind of coin...” The husband cautiously took a look at the coin. Just what was the
state of this land?
While the humans sated some curiosity over the coin, Akemi looked over them and wondered
just how different this place was from Yggdrasil. Casting a silent [Sense Statistics] on the
husband, she brought up his information in her mind. “Only level 6? Is that average? Is this
a low level area?” She thought for a moment before noticing the villagers waiting, holding
out a small bag of fruits and jerky. “Its all we can really can part with right now. We’re only
half a day away from E-Rantel, just keep going down the road and you’ll get there.” The man
said and nodded at her with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Oh thank you, sorry to stop you, I guess I'll be going. Please don’t send like guards after
me...” Akemi said like that would be just troublesome, and not actually a threat. “I should
really not underestimate people, it will get me killed one day I bet... Oh sorry! Didn’t mean to
ramble. Have safe travels!” Akemi was glad to meet someone even if they were rather rude at
first, but she supposed they were just scared.
“Thank you! Be careful of the city guards though, Demi-humans are usually not welcome in
towns without a master...” The woman told Akemi as her husband and her climbed back into
the wagon. Akemi would grin and wave them off, making a few faces at the children peeking
out from the back that sent them giggling, it warmed her heart and sent a familiar longing
into that was impossible to do anything about in her previous life.
With the villagers soothed and moving on their way Akemi sat on a log off the road, and
began to nibble at the jerky. “..Eh... could be better, least it is food... I wanna sleep in a bed
tonight. Would creation spells work?” The fox whined to herself before heading off, she
wanted to get to town before dark. “Masters? Did slavery exist in this world? Oh no… One
of those worlds. I could have done without that particular Isekai trope.” The thought threw a
bucket of water on her mood as she really really hoped that was not the case. The next thing
that threw off her mood was remembering the hoard of food in her inventory that she hoped
would now be more than skill grinding ingredients, that she had forgotten until after she
bought more.
“Oh well, what is one gold piece out of a few million.
It was a few hours of very light jogging later that the sun began to dip down into the tree line,
and the smell of civilization hit Akemi’s sensitive nose “ Ah that is bad, is hygiene not a
thing? Now, disguises… maybe I can...Ah- [Illusionary Cloak].” She cast quietly as the light
around her warped, hiding her vulpine bits from view, now making her look like an above
average looking young woman. Pulling out a hooded cloak and throwing that on over her
casual clothes, Akemi headed to the town gate.
“Halt, reason for entering Miss..?” The plain faced town guard looked Akemi over as she
shifted in place, acting like she was getting chilly in the dusk air..
“Akemi. I’m traveling for religious reasons.” She stated calmly, her smile looking both a bit
embarrassed and tired, the lie coming easily to her lips.
“Well then, I would advise you to not travel alone in these parts, we’ve been having a bandit
problem lately. Just be careful, don’t want a pretty lady like you getting in trouble.” The
guard stated as he wrote on a primitive clipboard. “You can enter, welcome to E-Rantel.” He
said with a smile, which she returned, thanking her luck that the trope of a guard shaking her
down wasn’t in play.
She looked around that area more and saw the state of the city walls, and noticed these people
were at least skilled in masonry, so their technology couldn’t be too far behind what she
thought. “Thank you sir~ Do you have any Inn recommendations?” She asked as she stepped
closer to get a better look under the guard’s helmet.
Surprisingly the guard got a bit flustered with her getting closer, taking a step back.
“Nightingale Inn Ma’am...Please... I’m on the job...” The guard said in almost a whine. Did
he think she was flirting? Oh well... she let him keep his misunderstanding as she nodded at
him and pushed down the urge to tease him for some reason.
As she wandered into the dusk lit town she pondered “Maybe I'm thinking like a Kitsune
now? I mean they are tricksters. I should be more careful I guess and keep this spell on.” She
thought as she wandered down the street, keeping an eye out on the signs- “I can’t read this...
No Japanese? I thought all Isekai start with a universal translator skill…” With a whine she
peered around for someone who looked like they knew where to go.
Peering into the dusk on the street Akemi jolted as her night vision inadvertently activated,
getting her a few strange looks at the jumpy looking young woman. Wandering through the
streets while peering into the displays in shop windows, she caught a look at a worn out
wooden sign with what looked like a bird on it. “Nightingale? Worth a shot.” She thought as
she pushed open the door, wincing at the change in temperature. “Hello? Is this- Yeah it is
sorry...” She and nervously poked inside of the obvious Inn. The smell of stew cooking, and
the roaring fireplace seemed to set her at ease as she got into line at the counter
“Need a room miss?” Akemi was asked as she stepped up to the counter. The Innkeeper was
a heavy set woman that wouldn’t look out of place in a Viking setting if you gave her an axe,
but did not look unfriendly.
“Yes but-” Without her Vulpine features, Akemi looked even smaller as she seemed to curl
into herself. Her tails and ears usually added a few inches to her measly five foot height, but
she couldn’t complain too much seeing as she made her avatar herself.
“Look... If you don’t have money for a room, I can’t really help you. I have a business to run
to keep this place going.” The Innkeeper folded her arms and narrowed her eyes at Akemi.
Squirming under that look and knowing if she didn’t hurry she was a few moments away
from being kicked out, Akemi would pull out a few Yggdrasil coins nervously from where
she had left some in those pant pockets. “I have money but- I... I don’t know if it can be
converted here...I’m from really far away...” She said nervously, swallowing as she starred up
at the woman. Would she swallow that bullshit? If nothing else she knew she could make a
home out in the woods, but she wanted a bed after such a long day.
By the woman’s narrowing eyes she didn’t quite believe it “Well... pretty sure you’re
lying...But this feels like actual gold. If it is you can stay for a week or two on it, but if I get it
checked out and it wasn’t I would have to send the law after you miss...” Her tone brokered
no nonsense as she seemed to stare right through Akemi.
Akemi breathed a sigh of relief as the woman pulled a key off the rack behind her “Dinner
will be ready shortly, room is upstairs, first door on the left. Gave you the room farthest from
the adventurers. What is your name Missy? You new around here?” The Innkeeper eventually
smiled at Akemi, which she nervously returned.
“Thank you Ma’am...My names Akemi. You are..? Just from very far away, just here to learn
about these lands for my people.” With a head tilt Akemi questioned up at the giant of a
woman.
“Malina, used to be an Adventurer back in the day, made it to gold plate even.” Malina stated
proudly as she moved down the counter to some mugs after making sure no one else was
coming to check in. “Sounds like you came a long way, may as well pull up a chair if you
want.” She said as she brought two large mugs of something that smelled sweet to an empty
table.
Not expecting so much hospitality Akemi was a little overwhelmed as she sat down in her
chair before sniffing at the mug that was passed to her. She took a sip and found it to be sweet
with a good hint of sourness, but in a refreshing way. Akemi took a hefty few gulps and
mentally compared it to the taste of triple filtered water and nutrient paste in a tube,
compared to those anything would be good. “Pwaah! That is pretty good! Thanks Ma’am!
So... On the topic of being new here, Is there...you know, anything I should be aware of? I
noticed the guards were a bit tense at the gate..” She noted as she started to hear a commotion
outside, though it sounded pretty distant. She had yet to be able to judge distances with her
enhanced hearing, so for all she knew it was going on across town
Malina seemed to note the sound also “Oh, just a round up. The King declared slavery illegal
a year ago. Some say it isn’t applicable for non-humans, so it has become a controversy, not
that the King has stepped in to clarify. Private merchants have been doing slave buy-ups of
demi-humans, I suppose they figured they may as well sell them in other countries where it is
legal like the Empire just in case they are forced to free them.”
A spike of rage followed Akemi’s confusion as everything registered, her face taking a snarl
“What a... barbaric practice. Slavery is an abomination.” Akemi hissed a bit before she took a
few gulps to calm herself down, the red fading from her vision. “Sorry just... where I’m from
slavery being illegal is a basic thing for any civilized country...” She took a deep sigh and let
the drink settle. “Not that that stopped companies basically doing the exact same thing, just
with a different name… Who am I kidding, slavery was the norm there… It is still wrong
though.” Once she was sure she had calmed down a touch did she dare open her mouth again
“So... you mentioned adventurers? Is that an official thing?” The fox asked as she peered
over her mug.
“Oh yes, it is a rather popular occupation, especially if you have a talent. Too unstable to be a
good source of income long term though, assuming you live long enough to spend your
earnings, but they are necessary and a point of pride for countries to have their own home
grown heroes.” Malina said with a nod. “Thinking about becoming one? You don’t look the
combat type really.” She noted.
“Oh you would be surprised I’m sure, but yeah I might check it out, could be fun, and I do
need to earn some local gold.” Akemi said and set her finished mug down, before shakily
getting to her feet. “Oh...so that is what getting buzzed feels like? I’m going to go sleep some
Ma’am, thank you for the room and the drink.” The fox girl said and got her balance back,
giggling at the feeling filling her as the alcohol hit her inexperienced body, though she felt
like that would fade in minutes. “If this is anything like any other Isekai stories my poison
immunity won’t let me get very drunk… Bummer.”
“Have a good night dear, lock your door okay? Maybe I gave her something too strong?” It
was a slow night anyway for her Inn.
Laying in the cozy Inn bed and dispelling her illusions, she hugged her tails close to finally
enjoy the fluff that the game always taunted her with, while not giving her any sensation of
fur. As she enjoyed that Akemi pondered on her day. “Will I just soon wake up? Or is this
really my life now? Would it be... bad to just enjoy this? Treat it like another game? Another
life?” Eventually the Kitsune succumbed to slumber, her head filled with dreams of past raids
with her friends. Everything was a bit overwhelming, and the shock stilled hadn’t worn off
the poor girl. "Surely it will be better than back there, back in that body..."
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Revamped and cleaned as of 8/3/2022. I hope you all enjoy this story and what
ever other shenanigans Akemi gets up to!
Did another clean up on 4/28/2023 as I noticed a lot of issues and more TLC being
needed. My writing style does get better over time, as I left most of my older writing
intact. Chapter 8 is where I had stopped for 2 years, and I’ve written a lot more since
then. I hope you all stick around, because this is a long journey I want to take you on.
Disappointment
Chapter Summary
Akemi discovers more about the new world she finds herself in, as well as where she
stands inside of it.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! Enjoy!
T/W: Sexism, gore.
As the morning rays poured through the dirty and uneven glass windows, Akemi was
wrapped up into her bed, letting her groggy mind wake up from the light that now hit her
face. “Mmmm...weird dream. Gotta get up and try to eat… At least it feels like I have some
energy today. I guess I should be lively for my last day…” Akemi’s ears and tails twitched,
making Akemi wiggle around in surprise “What the hell?! Wait... That dream...So soft~”
Akemi was still half asleep as she hugged her fluffy tails with a content smile on her face.
“That’s right, I’m alive...” She smiled as warmth entered her body from the sunlight and the
excitement inside of herself. “Never thought I’d ever be happy about that…” It was surreal
for her to say the least. With that Akemi hopped out of bed “I can walk…” Something so
simple filled her with unreasonable amounts of joy the likes of which she hadn’t felt in years,
likely before she had to use the chair to get around at any decent speed or stability. The happy
tears the grew in her eyes stopped as her stomach growled. “I am hungry though... That is
also new.”
Akemi threw on some simple junk equipment she had gotten grinding elf rangers. She had a
tight pair of cloth pants with leather on the knees and thighs. For her top she had just a loose
and soft red silk short sleeve shirt and nearly ran out her door before nearly forgetting
something! “Almost made a big mistake. [Illusionary Cloak]” She once again hid her fox
features before heading out.
Malina was the first to spot her as she took the stairs two at a time humming a simple tune.
“Someone is in a good mood this morning. Sleep well?” The kindly woman asked as she
brought out another bowl for the morning porridge that simmered on the stove behind the
counter, a duel use kitchen and reception area.
“Morning Malina! Yes, I haven’t had a comfortable sleep in a while, I’m all rested up and
ready for the day. Does breakfast cost extra? I’m famished.” Akemi leaned on the counter.
The Innkeeper chuckled as she slid a bowl of breakfast to Akemi “Its free with staying here.
Enjoy.” She nodded to Akemi before filling up another bowl for another guest.
Plopping down into a chair at an empty table and began to eat. It was just a simple breakfast,
yet it had to be the tastiest breakfast she had had in years, and one of the few that didn’t come
in a tube or packet of jelly, so sadly not a high bar to beat. “Everything tastes so much better
now, especially now that I can actually hold food down.” As she ate Akemi looked around the
Inn, checking out her fellow guests. They didn’t look like much, but most of the people she
saw in the city didn’t.
She was still riding on a cloud mentally now that she was fully awake. “I’m still here~ I’m
still alive! I wonder if anyone else made it to this side, no one answered the message so I
guess probably not…” She thought as she finished off her bowl. No time like the present to
try and find people. “[Widen Magic: Mass Sense Statistics.]” She spoke under her breath,
closing her eyes. Her magic quietly pulsed out through the city, startling a few of the
magically attuned, and feeling a sharp pain through her head from information overload.
“Ow...This is much harder then the game. The average level Is really low... this is a major
city right..? Judging by the levels I doubt anyone here can even use fourth tier magic.” She
pondered as she sorted through the contents of her scan, obviously not phased by what she
found, except for a few unfamiliar classes and skills. She found herself in the position of
being top tier by a long shot! Using a higher powered search spelled crossed her mind, but
she figured that there were not many who could resist her magic here. “There were two blank
spots in the search also, who are they?”
Akemi’s mind whirled with the possibilities, were they players? Or just powerful mages? She
could truly live here in this new world, but a purpose was what she needed. Akemi
remembered something Malina had said, that slavery was an issue in the kingdom, especially
Demi-human slavery. Things like slavery seemed to make her blood boil, her emotions
feeling incredibly potent. “Maybe it is a Kitsune thing. Kitsune were known as very
emotionally intense creatures after all.” Everything was just so new to her...these feelings
that radiated inside of her soul.
For the time being Akemi decided that as a gamer she had a duty, or even a responsibility to
fulfill, becoming an Adventurer!
Around noon time Akemi finally found the Adventurer’s guild through the complicated mess
of planning that was E-Rantel. The smell of the place made her nose turn up and die, It was
filled with so many unwashed muscular bodies, with just a few women who didn’t smell
much better. It seemed women were still rather domestic orientated by society here,
something that Akemi wasn’t surprised by, but she also was not happy with it. “Note to self,
make spell to block sense of smell…”
Akemi ignored the looks she received from some of the thugs leering at her. “I’d like to
become an adventurer. How does that work?” She asked the man at the front desk, getting a
few chuckles from some of the guild members nearby.
“Fuck off kid, don’t waste my time.” The imposing man at the desk grunted and started to go
back to his drink and what ever paperwork he was trying to look like he was doing.
“This place isn’t for little princesses! But I can show you to my tower!” A particularly drunk
patron shouted at Akemi to the uproar of the other male patrons. Akemi took note of the
people in the building, especially the ones showing blood lust and regular lust. So this was
what it meant to be a woman in a primitive society. “Disgusting savages…” She mumbled
under her breath, her gaze turning from friendly enough, to ice cold.
The Kitsune glared back over her shoulder at the first drunk. He was wearing some shoddy
mix of ill fitting iron armor, with an Iron adventurer’s plate as well, and he was easily over a
foot taller then her tiny five foot self. Her glare must have not been very effective due to this.
“Did my illusions turn off my intimidation passive skill checks?”
Akemi seemed more annoyed then anything at that point as she glared at the receptionist. “So
you refuse to give me any plate?” Her foot was tapping as she folded her arms. “I’m pretty
sure I could take everyone in this room, with or without magic.” How she wished she could
break his face, but she figured that would ruin any chance to get into the guild.
“Oh really bitch? Well, tell you what. If you kick his ass over there then. I'll even bump you
straight to Iron! If you get your own ass kicked, I’ll bump your ass straight out of here.” The
man at the counter laughed down at the tiny girl, his mind already made up it seemed. “Why
couldn’t I have gotten the stereotypical kind older sister-like Guild Clerk?”
Akemi just shrugged “Fine by me, I wanted to fight him anyway.” She turned towards the
scraggly adventurer, wrinkling her nose a bit. “Fuck you smell... So, how injured are you
willing to get?” She asked as she stared up at the ass hat swaggering over towards her.
The other patrons seemed to be forming a circle for them to fight in, some of them taking
bets on the side, though no one seemed to be betting on her. “I’ll bet 5 gold coins on myself.”
She said towards the crowd without breaking her staring contest with the iron plate.
The man behind the counter laughed as he leaned forward to watch “Begin when you want to,
lets see some blood!”
“Oh you’re a pretty little thing, but you got a shitty mouth don’t you? I’ll try not to cut your
face too much. My name is Nolan. What's your’s beauti-”
“You talk way too much. I don’t care about your name or your life story. Right now all I want
to hear is you in pain, which I promise will happen here shortly.” The fox woman growled
out as she pulled Ex Oblivion from her bottomless bag, getting some gasps at her grasping it
straight from the air. “Probably overkill for you, but what ever. Wait.. is something like
surprising to you all? Shit, how weak are people here?” She muttered mostly to herself as she
rested the weapon against her shoulder. It was far too fancy compared to everyone else’s
equipment, especially with the magic nearly pouring off it.
Nolan seemed a bit put off now, the fear pouring off him as a potent smell, taking a slow step
back. “Fuck he stinks. I think that smell is Cortisol, I know I read about it somewhere, that
stress hormone.” She thought as she wrinkled her nose at it. The fact she could smell
something like that must mean her sense of smell is now just as potent as her sight, even
though smell wasn’t a thing in the game. That particular sense has been more of a curse so far
for her...
The man at the front desk who previously told Akemi to fuck off looked concerned. Nolan’s
sword shook in his hands, while Akemi had a feral smile on her face as she pointed the tip of
her blade forward.
“I think I there has been a misunderstanding, I’ll get you a-” Before he could finish, Nolan
was across the room, his chest plate dented in and cracked, and likely a few ribs also were
damaged from that. None of them even saw her move! For how loud the crowd was before
they began, they were all quiet silent now.
Off in the corner a man and a woman watched closely, but not adding to the events happening
there. They froze as she pulled out her weapon. “Narabel…” He warned as the girl had
started to get up.
“Done already after just a love tap?” She complained and looked just disappointed. “Hmm?
Say something, where was that fight you had?” Akemi asked as she finished putting her
weapon away in her inventory after having struck Nolan with the butt end of it. She groaned
as Nolan just puked on the ground once the shock wore off, a couple pained whimpers
coming from him. “Well, there is the sounds of pain, all my promises have been kept. Pay up
everyone! I heard each and every bet so don’t think about trying to skimp, you wouldn’t want
to end up like that sad bastard right?” It seemed everyone bet against her, except the one
woman who was in there and actually participated. With a grin they both split the earnings,
earning some grumbling from the now poorer men.
“Names Akemi, I’ll see you around.” She gave the woman a fist bump, earning a confused
look from the taller woman.
“That might shut them all up for a while. I’m Alexia, I work at the Steel Eagle smithy in the
center of the city. Feel free to stop by if you need any work done, I’d love to take a better
look at that beauty you were using.” She mentioned, giving Akemi a wink as she left. Akemi
tried to get rid of the flush that appeared on her cheeks at that wink. “Yup… Blacksmith
women are great, praise be those arms.”
With her mood now perked back up, Akemi went back to the front desk, leaning forward on
it to make the asshole behind it lean back as he looked more or less cowed. “So, about that
Iron plate you promised me~” Akemi’s smug grin still seemed to piss him off, but he couldn’t
deny she seemed damn strong. He might not like it, but he honored the bet and placed a iron
plate on a necklace on the counter in front of him, grumbling quietly.
Walking around like a fox who got the hen, Akemi looked at the quest board. It took a
moment until she ran into a problem. She groaned as she went back to the front desk after
just a minute away from it. The reception looked worried as she strutted back.
“I need a quest...” Akemi felt her cheeks heating up as she looked down a bit. The man just
looked confused.
“You were at the board, all our quests are right there.” Akemi just cursed under her breath,
mumbling something. “Cat got your tongue? Feel a little in over your head?” That arrogance
was starting to leak back into his voice as he leaned closer to hear.
“I can’t read... not what ever language is there at least.” Akemi admitted with some difficulty.
“Just what quests are there that an these Iron plates can take? What rank does it go up to
anyway?”
“The little rich girl can’t read?” He snorted before stiffening as Akemi glared at him. “I
mean... There are a few standing quests that anyone can do. Goblins and ogres are always up
for killing, they breed like rats and are an absolute menace. Just bring the ears and you’ll get
paid two copper per goblin, and 2 silver per ogre. They’re easy to find in the forest. It goes
from Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Mithril, Orichalcum, and Adamantite…” The man told her,
as he tried to get her to leave as soon as possible.
“That wasn’t so hard, now was it? I’ll be back later.” The guy kept pissing Akemi off and was
just asking for a beating. “Now now Akemi… No beating up random locals, or employees.
Except that one guy, fuck that guy. I hope not every fight in this world will be that pathetic…”
The city was much more active during the day, so many crowds of people pushing and
shoving through the crowded streets. Unfortunately for Akemi, so many people’s scents
mixed together was torture on her nose as she had to start holding her breath for it to stop
burning. “This is going to take some getting used to…”
After walking for a good twenty minutes out the way she came, she spotted the large gate.
Walking out of the city gates, she judged by the sun that she had a good five or six hours
before it got dark. “I’m heading off!” She told the younger looking guard manning the gate,
waving to him as she showed off her new Iron plate.
“Be careful Miss! Please come back before dark!” The young man said as he watched her trot
off. “Wonder what her name is...Maybe I'll ask her.” He said aloud, feeling a sense of worry
for the girl.
“Might want to be careful getting close to adventurers Olan, most don’t live long.” An older
guard muttered, slapping Olan’s shoulder.
“You’re probably right... She is pretty though, and she seems to have skipped copper plate, so
maybe she’ll make it big Hafnir.”
A snort was his only reply. Hafnir just hoped Olan didn’t get his heart broken, kid still had
some child-like innocence, the world not having hurt him much yet.
“This is just sad, but... well… what did I expect from goblins.” Akemi muttered dismissively
as she let the goblin’s makeshift blades hit her, letting the blades crumble in their hands as
they hit her nullification. Akemi found blocking those goblin shivs and axes was all too easy,
feeling little force behind them.
When Akemi went into the forest, it didn’t take long for a swarm of about thirty goblins to
emerge “Maybe they are just attracted to the smell of women alone? Their funeral.”
Not even bothering to block some of those blades, She was about to start her slaughter. Right
as she cleaved a goblin in two from the waist with a [Wind Blade] spell she heard a war cry
come from her right. Bursting through the bushes, a group of adventurers came to her
‘rescue’
“Miss are you-?!” The leader of the group, judging by his vanguard position, was a bear of a
man who looked to be in his upper 20s, or older. Following soon after were two younger
adventurers, a young woman and man who looked a bit winded. They all looked in shock at
the scene of the goblins trying to run from Akemi after she cleanly sliced a goblin in two with
magic.
“Huh? Did you need some goblins also?” She asked, not at all bothered when a brave goblin
ran up to her and to the other’s horror, stabbed a crude blade into her when she looked away,
or at least is what should have happened. Akemi felt a small poke to her side and peered
down at the shaking goblin that seemed to realize it was in way over it’s head, looking
between Akemi and his cracked dagger.
Another swing of her hand that was nearly too fast to see, and another goblin exploded in a
shower of gore as his head was removed by a wind blade. “Are... you alright? You just got
stabbed...” The older man asked. No blood was coming out of Akemi or anything, and none
of the gore seemed to have landed on her somehow.
“Yeah I’m fine, he was way too weak to really hurt me, by a lot… How can those dinky little
blades cut anything? So did you need any? I wanna kill the rest and get back before
nightfall.” She asked while tapping her foot a bit. Looking back at the goblins she saw that
they had stopped running and looked prepared to go for another charge.
After a few moments of stunned silence the young woman spoke up. “No... We just heard
fighting, and saw you were alone and surrounded, and that a few were stabbing you... at least
we thought that.” Akemi could hear the sense of shock in the girl’s voice.
Akemi nodded and turned back to the group of goblins that were trying to retreat, though
strangely vines seemed to be grasping at them, tripping them over and holding them in place.
“I’m bored with them, I’m not sure what I expected, something more than this at least.
[Extended Triplet Magic: Chain Lighting].” From her finger, three leaping bolts extended to
the nearest goblin, and jumped between all of them in the area in the blink of an eye. Her
sense of adventure was rapidly fading as her disappointment grew.
Very quickly the area reeked of roast goblin meat, their twitching corpses smoking and
charred. Akemi pulled a simple knife from her pocket and carefully began to retrieve an ear
from each goblin. “So~ What brings all of you out here? I’m Akemi, I’m new to adventuring,
at least new here.” She offered, giving a grin behind her at the trio.
“I’m Elliot Rosewall, a paladin and the leader of our party.” His eyes seemed to start to look
down at Akemi after noticing her Iron plate, but was also looking at the decimated goblins
cut and fried by whatever magic she had used. He likely knew a spell that effective wouldn’t
be an Iron plate’s, leaving to several questions at a minimum unanswered.
“I’m Anastasia, our mage. That was a great spell!” The tiny blond mage was looking up at
Akemi with admiration, being just slightly shorter than her. Akemi could just imagine a dog
tail on the girl wagging back and forth. “Adorable.” she thought as she gave her a bit of an
extra smile. “Absolutely cute…”.
“And I’m Romeo, just a city guard usually, this is just a side thing.” He explained, looking a
bit nervous at Akemi, she looked a lot like a lady that was reported to have come through the
gates the night before . He didn’t know how she was already an Iron plate, it took him over a
year to move from Copper!
Akemi nodded as she put those ears in a small bag. “Nice to meet you three, wasn’t expecting
to see anyone out here. I’m done out here for today, what about you?” She asked as she
stretched out a bit while observing them.
They didn’t even notice when a small wave of energy passed over them from Akemi casting a
silent [Sense Statistics] “Even an active silver plate is weak? Only level thirteen?” Too say
the humans in the area were weak was a sad understatement in her eyes.
“We’re investigating a surge in monsters in the forest, there has been some raids by more
intelligent monsters, a couple caravans were even overrun.” Elliot stated as he looked around
more, as if just now remembering why they were there.
Part of what he said struck Akemi as strange. “Weren’t there slave caravans going around
also?” She thought before shaking her head. “Want any help? I got through my own task
faster than I thought I would.” That got the other’s attention.
Elliot looked a bit surprised, but seemed to try and hide it. “What can you do? You can
clearly handle yourself quite well.” He said and looked at the still steaming goblins like he
was trying to puzzle it out in his head.
“Honestly I diversify I lot, though you seem to already have magic, close quarters combat,
and healing covered if you’re a paladin. My main skills are healing magic and attack magic.”
Akemi said gestured to the results of said combat magic.
“True. How about we’ll get in touch if we need some back up? Where are you staying in
town?” He asked as Akemi looked at Ana a bit more.
“That sounds just fine to me, I’ll likely be getting my feet wet in the adventuring business,
I’m not sure about doing it long term though. You can find me at the Nightingale Inn. If I’m
not in I bet Malina would take a message for you.” Akemi took a few deep breathes to
hopefully dispel the heat she could feel in her cheeks. “I’ll let you all go, please take care.”
With one last look at Ana she gave her a shy smile as she walked past the girl. “Maybe you
and me could get some lunch sometime? I could show you a few more spells.” Akemi offered
and didn’t wait for an answer, her face back to being flushed and likely was noticed. “Brain
why?! Goddamn she is cute though… I hope I get to see her again.” She just knew her head
would be filled with that puppy-like brown haired girl and her emerald eyes.
From behind her she heard the group. “How is it always you Ana? What is your secret?”
Romeo asked with a disappointed sigh.
“I wish I knew… but I am not complaining.”
Akemi nearly choked as she heard that and hurried off. She had the itch to get rid of her
illusions. Even if it wasn’t the case, it felt like she had her tails stuffed into some bag…
“Here are thirty goblin ears for you, quest complete~” Akemi chirped as she put the bag of
ears on the guild counter, looking all too happy.
The stern guild worker looked over each ear, looking for something to criticize and was
getting frustrated finding each one being the same sided ear. If they weren’t he could say she
just cut both ears off a goblin. “Guess it is fine. Alright, here’s your pay.” He shrugged and
set a small coin bag on the counter.
Akemi looked down at the money in the bag and furrowed her brow. Counting out the money
she referred back to what the man had said at the start. “This is incorrect, this is only half the
pay of what you said earlier today, or what I’ve seen you pay others.”
“Taxes.” The worker replied, looking smug. This same worker that was a bane in her side
when she was getting her plate in the first place, the one she thought she cowed before.
“Yeah bullshit. Give me the rest of what I’m owed, Now.” Akemi straightened up, looking
him in the eye and trying to keep her temper under control as her vision was stared to go a bit
red, enough that she was worried it would break her own illusions.
“Ha, fuck off girlie, just be happy I let you in here at all.” The asshole laughed at her, his
voice echoing a bit in the now quiet guild hall. A few other guild members were laughing
right along with him.
The rage coming off Akemi was nearly choking her. If she was thinking more clearly she
probably would have handled herself differently, but the laughing of that man, as well as
some of the crowd got under her skin. “You really don’t learn do you? Did you not see what I
did to the last guy? [Mass Hold Species].” And then, movement stopped in the entire hall,
entirely, for everyone.
What Akemi did not know was that now a small section of the city was frozen in place,
barely able to move their eyes. “Listen here you sexist pig, if you make me come over there I
will make you ‘girlie’ personally, take your limbs, and keep- Haaa... deep breathes...” Akemi
finally started to clear the red from her vision with some deep breathes before she went too
far. Soon she noticed everyone was frozen like statues, and she remembered the spell cast in
anger. “Shit...”
All at once everyone felt what may as well be a mass of chains get removed from them. “I
wonder how many cocky assholes I’d have to break before I’d get taken seriously. Now, my
pay. This quest was a waste of time anyway and too easy…” She demanded at the now
horrified worker. It made her nose curl up as she smelled a lot of ammonia now, on top of all
the Cortisol in the room.
She didn’t know what effects her thoughtless magic would have for the future.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! Enjoy!
T/W: Sexism, gore.

Chance or Fate
Chapter Summary
Akemi meets someone who will change her life, and give her a path to follow in this
new world. Her whole world will shift on it's axis.
Trigger warnings apply to this chapter.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thanks everyone for all the favorites and follows
T/W: Child Abuse, Non-descriptive implied rape, much more violence and gore than
previous chapters. It is a heavy tone shift and not for the faint of heart. I've hinted at the
dark side of things and now the other shoe drops.
“While I apologize for our employee’s horrid behavior, and you can be assured that he will
Not be working here any longer, using spells in city limits like you did can be considered an
assaulting every person your spell touched. Though I am... wonderfully curious about that
spell. We have been getting complaints for the past hour about something paralyzing this
section of the city.” The guild master peered over his cup of tea at Akemi, who sat fidgeting
nervously.
“Yeah... I’m sorry about that, he just pissed me off... Also did it really do that? Shit.” Under
her illusions, her ears folded down as she realized just how much she messed up.
After staring at her as if trying to figure her out, he just shook his head. “Luckily any court
would be hard pressed to connect this event to you, or to believe that one caster could
accomplish such a feat. That spell was [Hold Person] from the third tier, correct? How did
you use it on such a large scale?” Ainzach was far too curious for her liking.
Akemi groaned and leaned back into the chair “Well, I guess I wasn’t being quiet, I wasn’t
really intending to be. No, what I used was normally the 4th tier spell [Hold Species], it is
similar to [Hold Person], but can be used on most creatures as opposed to just humanoids. I
used meta magic to turn it into [Mass Hold Species], making it a sixth tier spell. I must have
overcharged the spell in my…lets be fair, justified anger.” Akemi muttered the last bit as she
just looked a bit embarrassed.
The guild master coughed on his tea a bit as he looked at her suspiciously. “I would normally
throw you out and call you insane, maybe on narcotics... But a few streets worth? Even
veteran soldiers were completely stopped in place. Hold Species is already a fourth tier spell,
which only a small handful in the world can use.” He sighed as if he was completely tired.
“First the adventurer Momon and Nabe, and now you. Something is happening in these lands,
three highly powerful ‘rookies’ appearing from distant lands. My question now is this; are
you Human?” He asked, leaning forward with a stern look. She mentally took a note of those
names. Momon sounded incredibly familiar, almost like someone she knew… “I swear if he
is here I’m going to be annoyed, why couldn’t Hilda have been brought over instead?”
The moment of truth had arrived. It was shocking that there were also two other adventurers
who claimed to be from far away, and were powerful for the human kingdoms. Akemi took
note of the guild master’s body language, which showed him ready to react at any moment,
his adventurer experience not just for show, though from the information she got on him from
her spells he was no threat to her. “I guess that is a fair question. I’m not human.” She
shrugged and stood up before her illusions dropped with a blur of the air. Those large and
fuzzy fox ears added another few inches to her short height as a mass of nine fluffy tails were
wiggling in the air behind her.
Akemi tensed as she wondered what the Guild master’s opinion of Demi-humans were, but
she supposed she soon would learn. She had imagined this scenario many times, she knew
relations between humans and demi-humans was not a good one, especially in the Re-estize
kingdom at the moment.
“Why am I not surprised... Well, are you hostile to humanity?” He asked simply as he set his
teacup down. It was a fair question, one she was honestly thinking about.
“Not really no, otherwise would I be trying my hand at being an adventurer? I haven’t been
here long enough to care too much. There is a few things that greatly concern me though...
Such as the demi-human abuse and slavery I’ve heard of. Honestly for the sake of this
Kingdom, I hope I never discover the worst of this slavery, if there are children involved I
will have no choice but to act, I’m sure you can understand right?” She asked just as much as
she warned, her slitted eyes narrowed at the suddenly nervous guild master, the tables
completely turned. Him acting so nervous started to ring some alarm bells for her.
The guild master was sweating bullets at that remark, as he likely knew just how deep that
problem was. “Of course the adventurer's guild does not condone any form of slavery.” What
he was saying was just fancy legalize in her mind, an easy non-answer to give to avoid the
responsibility he had. “This piece of shit…” She thought and nearly growled.
That red rage was starting to overtake her vision again. “But you don’t stop it? Or say…
punish adventurers that participate in it? I’ll say the kingdom is really walking a fine line...
I’m done with that topic for today, before I say things I’ll regret... Mind giving me a brief
human history at least? I honestly know nothing of the kingdoms in these lands... I wasn’t
lying when I said I was from very far away.” She was trying to calm herself, she was really
trying but he was making that difficult. As she sat down she feared it was only a matter of
time before she saw something that would set her off, and she wouldn’t be able to hold
herself back from interfering.
“That I can do...For now we can safely move you up to Gold rank... Though further would
have to go the normal way, unless you gain some large deeds. Is that acceptable?” After a nod
a map was laid out. “So, here we have the Kingdom and the Empire...”
Once story time was over she was left to stew on things for a moment, sipping the tea the
guild master made for them. He was obviously a bit shady to her, and she knew he might just
go tell someone everything about her, she gave him a lot of dangerous information after all.
Looking out the window she saw that the sun was setting on her second day in that world…
and already she had lost so much joy in the newness of the world, and even the newness of
her body.
“Miss Akemi, would I have your word that you won’t take any actions against the
Kingdom?” He asked as he looked just as stressed as her. She did suppose she was an
extinction level threat for them probably… He was still subtly trying to press some button
under his desk, for what she didn’t know, but she had already set up an isolation barrier in the
room so he wouldn’t do exactly what he was doing.
“If the Kingdom is not involved in the slave trade, including demi-humans, then I have no
reason to take action. I’m a peaceful person at heart, maybe a little mischievous sometimes,
but believe it or not I’ve never even killed anyone, not where I came from, or here. I’m not
some world ending threat, well… not unless someone makes me one, but everyone with
power has the potential to misuse that power. I’m just a woman who has certain principles
that won’t bend on even an inch, that being slavery of any form, and especially the harming
of any children. If someone is doing something evil in my sight, then of course I feel I have a
duty to get in the way, helping someone in need is just common sense.” Akemi said and set
her cup down, circling the rim with a finger as she thought about all she learned that day.
“So I take it you wouldn’t sign a self geass scroll promising that you are not a threat to the
kingdom and would take no action against it?” The guild master asked with grim resignation.
He didn’t like it when Akemi started giggling like he told her a joke.
“Of course I wouldn’t, what kind of idiot do you take me for? Countries are not some
monolith that only do good. If countries start to commit evil acts, it is up to those with the
power to act to do so. I’ve seen what happens when that doesn’t happen, when people let
their governments do what they want. They take away a right here, another one there… It
isn’t so bad… there will always be another election, and in the meantime we just have to
suffer and die and hope for change, until they stop even going through the pitiful process of
making the average people pretend they have a voice. No, sometimes the only way change
can happen is by individuals with power and influence giving a damn, and if that includes
violence or being a threat to what ever country is committing evil then so be it. I’ve seen
what happens if no one stops a country from failing it’s people and I had no power then, but I
do now, so if I have to break a country in half to end the buying and selling of children I will
do just that.” Akemi said, going off on a rant that seemed straight from her heart.
“There were no more countries... Just corporations literally buying the remains of
governments and wearing them like festive hats instead of just bribing the politicians. people
always thought things would change, or a new person would change the system from within,
right up until everyone was a slave in some way to a massive corporation…
“I’ll be honest, is knowing about me going to be a problem for you? You’ve been pressing
that button pretty often under your desk.” Akemi said, smirking as the Guild Master’s eyes
opened wide. “I kinda had a feeling you might do something like that, so currently we are in
a barrier, no signals in or out.” Akemi said as she waited for the Guild Master to find his
tongue again.
“The Adventurer’s guild won’t stand idly by if someone is a threat to humanity.” He said
while trying to look intimidating, deflating as Akemi laughed a tiny bit, though she soon
looked angry again.
“But you’ll idle if children are being bought, sold, worked to death, or raped? Or is that only
if they aren’t human? I thought you were more reasonable than this…” She said as she slowly
stood up.
When the Guild Master stood up and reached behind him with surprising speed for an older
man to grab a sword on the wall, it wasn’t even amusing to Akemi, just annoying. She
watched as he froze inches before striking her. “Silent casting is a pretty common feat to take.
You aren’t strong enough to overcome [Hold Person] cast by someone of a higher level, so
you may as well stop trying and listen.” Akemi said and sat back down and rubbed her
temples. “Listen, it is best I get rid of these memories of me… they’ll just be more trouble
then their worth for you. I doubt I’ll be able to be an adventurer for very long, it isn’t the time
for me to be playing around I guess…” Akemi said as she stood up and placed a glowing
hand on the Guild Master’s forehead, making the man ever so slightly shake, the most he
could manage under spell. “Fun fact for you, this is a tenth tier spell, bet you didn’t even
know that existed did you? [Control Amnesia]” She said as she closed her eyes, casting the
tendrils of her magic deep into the man’s head.
While it was a complicated and delicate spell, the memories she needed to mess with were
just less than two hours old. “I want that gold rank in my back pocket I suppose… better
make sure he remembers giving me that due to being a powerful spell caster… Lets say.. He
knows I can cast tier 5 and has to keep it secret. Good enough.” She thought as her magic
retracted back. It had taken over ten minutes to modify memories that were not very old, and
it had taken a large portion of her mana to do so. “Not a very economic spell, no wonder it
wasn’t very popular…”
She carefully sat the unconscious and bound man down in his chair and sat down in her own
after reapplying her illusions to herself, as well as putting his sword back on the wall. With a
snap of her fingers the bindings on the man were released. “[Invigorate]” She cast towards
the Guild Master, making him jump in his chair as he woke up like he got a shot of coffee
directly into his veins. “You alright sir? You suddenly got quiet and seemed to pass out…
You getting enough sleep?” Akemi asked, able to feign worry well enough that the muddled
man didn’t seem to suspect a thing.
“Ah… My apologies, it appears too many late nights at my desk are taking their toll.” He
mumbled as he shakily stood up before heading to a cabinet. “We tend to keep the plates in
different places for security, it doesn’t matter too much if a thief makes off with some Iron or
Copper Plates, but I’d be in a lot of trouble if they took anything Gold or above. Speaking
of…” He said and grabbed a small chain inside, one of several Gold plates hanging inside.
He pressed it into her palm and looked pretty heavy on his feet. “If you’ll excuse me for
tonight, I believe I need to get some rest… Best of luck to you Akemi.” He said as he
shepherded her out of his office. She let him follow his own script and took her plate, she had
plenty to think about herself.
Neither the voices of either scorn or excitement about the gold plate hanging around her neck
could shake the chill she felt that evening as all the information she learned pumped through
her head while she left the Adventurer’s guild. Her enjoyment of a new world had been
tainted by the bitter realities of it.
Her mind was occupied as she returned to her room, barely giving Malina an automatic reply
before heading upstairs.
“I cannot believe the state of this world! Not nearly as bad as earth sure, but... Slavery?
Really?! I...don’t think I’ll be able to go the adventurer route, not if they are participating in
such a thing… I can’t just walk away from the situation either though. I wonder If I’ll have to
kill anyone...” Akemi was not sure if she could stomach the killing she knew she would
probably have to do. Laying on her bed at the Inn her mind was consumed by such thoughts.
Just the thought of children having to suffer through some of the shit she had heard about and
could imagine was enough to make her want to cry. “Are my emotions just becoming more
Kitsune-like? I hate this! I can’t just hope I don’t see anything, I have to do something, there
has to be a reason I was brought here right? [Kitsune Summon: Kudagitsune].” On her
command, a small swarm of ethereal foxes began floating through the air above her bed.
“Remain invisible and investigate the city, look for slave dealers and abuse. If you see any
slave children you will report to me immediately.” She hoped that they would find nothing,
that this world wasn’t that horrible.
Feeling years older, with her dreams of being a top tier adventurer already smoldering at her
feet, her die was cast.
Ainz sat in his upper class Inn room deeper in the city with Nabe “This is concerning. That
was certainly that woman’s weapon, there was no mistaking it. While she didn’t look
anything like her she is a master illusionist.” Ainz pondered on what he saw in the Guild
earlier in the day. If it was who he thought it was she was not being careful like he was.
“Then Lord Ainz what shall we do? They do not seem to be being as frugal with their stats,
perhaps they want to be found?” Nabe asked as she sat in front of him patiently for
instructions.
“That is a possibility, that person was never very restrained. I have different concerns about
them, them being here might interfere with our plans, even if she doesn’t mean to. I do not
know them to be malicious, so negotiations are possible. Perhaps even…” Ainz began to
contemplate what it might mean for another player to have arrived on the play board.
“Should we have them eliminated? We of the Pleiades Battle Maids are always ready for your
orders!” Nabe suggested all too eagerly. She was taken aback by the humorless laugh Ainz let
out.
“No, I do not wish to make an enemy of another player, not just yet. They were also a top
player of Yggdrasil, you would not win I’m afraid. Just their weapon makes them a major
fighting force. As far as strategy goes, they are similar to myself, if weaker in that respect. It
was her plan that led to Nazarick being forced out of the hidden mines after all. Keeping an
eye on her would be wise, Send CZ2128 Delta, they will hopefully be able to remain
undetected.” Ainz said as he kept a skeletal hand to his chin, pondering on the situation.
“But my Lord, if they are at max level and an illusionist, wouldn’t CZ’s stealth skills possibly
be insufficient?” The black haired Doppleganger, showing a surprising amount of worry,
likely due to CZ being in the line of fire.
“The floor guardians have their tasks already, so I cannot send them on this mission. CZ will
be the best option. She’ll almost certainly be discovered, but I know that this player would
not harm them, it would be outside of their nature, of that I’m confident. For now we shall
continue with our plan.”
Just past Midnight Akemi awoke to one of her fox spirits frantically pinging her their
location. While intangible and invisible to those without the right skills, they lacked the
intelligence of upper tier summons, and were only good for scouting with specific
instructions.
“Already? Greater Teleportation!” After equipping her full combat outfit with Quick
Swap]she teleported directly out of her room. It was pitch black outside for the most part,
besides a torch that was carried away from her. Even in this darkness, Akemi’s night vision
saw the scene clearly, and it caused something in her to snap. That moment would be seared
into her mind forever, no matter how long she lived she knew she would never be able to get
it out of her head, or escape the rage that the very memory brought, as well as the sadness.
If her dream of a peaceful life in a new and better world wasn’t already burning, it was now
in ashes. The world had given her a small break from the hell of one world, and shown her a
glimpse into this world’s darkness.
Two men had the smallest slip of a girl pinned on the ground, and she was coated with old
and new blood, her hair nearly black with it. One of them carried an axe, and the other....
Judging by the sack thrown off to the side they may have been disposing of her. Rational
thought was already out of the window as soon as she saw what all had been done to the girl
even at a glance, what was still being done to her. The last vestiges of naivety were harshly
stripped by the scene her mind didn’t want to accept. Inaction was not an option, neither was
distancing herself.
They couldn’t even get a word out it happened so quickly. All the man hovering over the girl
with an axe could see was a flash of gold and black before his head was swiftly removed
from his body. In the same breath the arm of the man violating the girl fell off as well and he
was kicked aside into the wall. The girl was covered in wounds and blood, though now not
only her own blood. The quick look into the girl’s eyes showed them staring blankly into
moonless night, not dead, but seemed to be wishing she was as the last traces of life
stubbornly stay within her.
“You...sick bastards!” She growled at the remaining thug as another limb went flying. She
couldn’t even hear his screams as she finished dismembering him, lastly cutting his crotch,
leaving him to bleed for a few moments. “[Stabilize Wounds], [Silence], [Invigorate], [Wave
of Pain]!” Akemi shouted as she kept the man from dying for the very moment, he didn’t
deserve to get off so easily! He was trapped with his own screams bound like this child’s
were, not allowed the blessing of unconscious, while she forced every pain receptor in his
body to begin firing in mass.
It only took a moment for her to inflict that punishment on the man, and her attention moved
to the girl still laying like a corpse on the cold stained stone brick ground, the fire burning
inside of her body being quenched as suddenly as it came. It took not even a moment for her
heart to shatter into even smaller shards as she looked over the small girl further. Her mind
had trouble even comprehending, let alone on figuring out what to do.
The girl had small feline ears, one of which was all but missing, and the other had several
notches cut out. Bruises lined her entire body, especially her tiny hips. Her limbs were at
awkward angles and misshapen, while so many of her teeth were missing. Akemi nearly
gagged as she checked and could see just a stub where her tongue should be. She couldn’t
have been older than 10 in her eyes, and didn’t look long for the world. Those ruby red eyes
were tiredly staring up at Akemi, seeming to beg for an end to the misery they were
undoubtedly feeling, until they rolled back into her head and she fell into blessed
unconscious, being spared further pain in sleep. She hadn’t even been screaming she had
been so nearly dead.
“[Supreme Heal]! Stay with me dear, stay with me…” As the healing magic made short work
of even the worst of the physical wounds, Akemi knew she would have to worry about
mental wounds the most. It was beyond her to treat that, but that was for later. Pulling out a
thick gray cloak from her inventory, she wrapped her bundle up and looked at the two men
still there. One was dead on the ground, and the other was still wordlessly screaming with no
limbs.
Her rage reignited as she burned the images of her first kills into her mind. She wouldn’t feel
a thing for killing the men themselves, but she will feel the weight of the path her life had
begun to take, the end of the dream she had when she first woke up in the forest believing
everything would be wonderful. She was there for a reason, and it started with this child that
deserved the world. “[Hell Flame].” She muttered as she tossed a dark ember onto the silently
screaming man and forced herself to watch as that spell burned him into ashes in just
moments.
Once her business with those monsters was over she began to dash back to the Inn, keeping
the child well hidden from the cold and the wind whipping around Akemi as she dashed at a
speed past the perception of the weak guards around the city, under a minor illusion she cast
almost without thinking.
Barely slowing down in time she arrived back at the Nightingale Inn. Barreling through the
door she saw Malina still behind the desk working on something. “Malina! I need your help!”
Akemi shouted as she looked at Malina with such heartbreak in her eyes that it startled the
old adventurer woman more than the extra features she had.
“Welcome back Akemi, I could have sworn you were- Oh dear!” Malina looked over in
shock at the bloody bundle in Akemi’s arms under that cloak, as well as both the armor
Akemi was wearing, as well as Akemi herself. The blood both her and her bundle were
covered in began to drip onto the entry way as Akemi didn’t even give a thought to her
current state.
“Do you have a bathing area? I’ve healed her all wounds, but before she awakens I need to
get the blood off her...” Malina looked a bit put off as she looked over. It took a moment for
Akemi to realize she had never replaced her illusions when she left her room.
“Yeah it is me... Please Malina, I need your help!” Akemi growled as a few sobs threatened
to take hold of her, holding the feline closer to her chest.
“Y-yeah, sorry, guess I should have figured out you were a demi-human from the talks
earlier... It doesn’t matter to me, come on.” Malina said as she got out of her shock relatively
quickly, ushering Akemi back into the door behind the counter.
“How is she so bloody? What happened to her? Oh goddess don’t tell me she was...” Malina
took note of where all the blood was, as well as the looks flashing across Akemi’s expressive
face. The older woman quickly filled the washing basin she had with warm water.
“I used my best single target healing spell and used diagnostic spells to ensure I missed
nothing. I’m more worried about her...mental wounds when she wakes up. I-i never...I’ve
never seen someone that brutalized...just- Fuck! She’s so young! What is wrong with
people?!” She growled to herself to keep herself together as she carefully held the girl in the
water of the small wooden tub as they started to wash her clean. Akemi knew she was also
covered in blood, but that was the last of her worries at the time.
“It will be alright Dear, but you need to relax.” Malina said and couldn’t help but give Akemi
a small hug as the Kitsune was actually crying in shock and hyperventilating as she did the
best she could to help. Any worry about Akemi being a blood thirsty monster for being a
demi-human was quickly quashed by the display she witnessed. “Take some deep breathes,
you’ve done well.”
Akemi sniffled a bit and tried to calm down. She scrubbed off the blood from the slip of a girl
as gently as she could. Akemi estimated she might even be younger than 10, at least by her
size, but that might be from malnourishment and abuse. Sadly healing magic could not feed
the girl to the correct weight, but at least her scars and ears were fixed.
Once the girl was taken out of the now opaque water and rinsed her off, Akemi used magic to
dry her, and wrapped her in a new cloak from her storage to keep her warm, throwing the old
one into her inventory. “She weighs nothing, how can p-people be this messed up and
cruel…?” Akemi was almost on the verge of crying again as Malina guided her out of her
own personal bathroom and upstairs towards Akemi’s room.
“I don’t know dear, I don’t know. Why don’t you lay her down in your room and then meet
me back downstairs. I think you could use a drink.” Malina sighed as she felt a headache
coming on, it was going to be a long night for them both.
Akemi would gingerly lay the small demi-human child down in bed and tucked her in with
the cloak also. “It will be okay little one… I promise you’ll be safe now...” Akemi vowed to
the sleeping girl as she watched her breathing, still incredibly worried about her. Looking
over her some more she noticed her hair was an even lighter pink, nearly white once all the
grim was washed away, matching her pale skin.
“I can’t let these things happen...” Akemi found her fire again, there was no doubt of what
she had to do. The truth of the world was right in front of her and it was far worse than she
had suspected.
After setting up some defensive spells on the child Akemi would mentally beat herself up as
she remembered more of her magic and cleaned herself off with a cantrip along with her
armor. She swapped her armor with a more casual robe before she slipped back downstairs.
She still did not bother to put on her illusions, and nearly collapsed down in a chair. It was a
good thing it was very late at night, and the other guests were asleep or it might have become
trouble for Malina.
Without a word Malina came by and poured them both a thick looking drink. “So, I bet you
can hear really well with those~” Malina teased as she took a gulp of her drink.
Akemi winced as she drank her own, figuring out it was some sort of cream mixed with
harsher alcohol than the mead she had the day before. “Yup...unfortunately I also can smell
really well. For the record I never told any lies to you. I’m not from these lands. Guess It
didn’t take me long to....just.... Fuck this kingdom... Fuck any place that allows this... This is
just so messed up.” Akemi complained as a few tears slipped out while she drank, her throat
choking up once again.
Malina looked a bit surprised how shook up Akemi was, the tails behind her further driving
home how chaotic her heart must be as they flailed all over, thankfully none of them near
anything important. “I can drink to that. Can.. you tell me what all injuries she had? Did you
heal her or something?”
With another long swig Akemi folded her ears “Yeah, I could tell with that diagnostic spell, I
almost wish I hadn’t... Her pelvis was shattered, and both legs were cracked in several places.
There were extreme restraining marks on her arms with those twisted in the wrong direction
as well. A crack in her skull… there was nearly no part of her that wasn’t bruised. When I
heal someone I can tell more or less what was wrong… Just…” Akemi choked up once
again, grinding the heel of her hands into her eyes to get rid of her tears, and seemed to need
to take a few deep breathes before she could continue. “One of her ears was missing, and the
other one was cut up. She had blood coming out of her mouth so I think she had some
internal bleeding, as well as bleeding from… I found them in the act and I just… I healed it
all but...I can’t heal her mind, this poor child! I could take those memories of all the abuse
she must have suffered, but… I’m not sure if there would be anything left by that point, it
would just cause worse mental damage with that many gaps in her memory. I have no idea
how long she was kept by them and I won’t ask that of her, I can’t make her relive any of it.”
Akemi looked sick with fear for the girl, and as she remember what she herself did when she
found her and those men, her first reaction and the actions she took in the face of that
brutality. Her face scrunched up right as she turned to the side to puke.
“Don’t worry about that dear, I’ll clean it. You’re going to have to stay strong for that girl.”
Malina tried to comfort Akemi as she moved quickly to the back room to get a rag.
“I-I saw her.. and two men… and I just couldn’t think, I killed them both. I’ve never killed
someone before. T-the first one I did quickly, I just wanted to save her… but the second
one… what came over me? Can I call it justice? I wanted to make him hurt at least near the
amount he hurt her. I was just..” Akemi mumbled as she rested her head on her arms, unable
to vocalize what she did further as she just tried to process it. Her actions finally caught up to
her with her fading adrenaline.
“I see...Well I’m betting they are from the kingdom’s underworld, please be careful taking
her outside. I’m sorry you had to kill, but from what you’ve told me, you did the right thing...
Even I’ve had to kill a few bandits as an adventurer. It is a good sign though, killing someone
is something you shouldn’t get used to, lots of people forget that. From what I can tell… you
are not violent or evil, you had tough choices to make tonight, and only you can decide if
they were the right ones. I don’t blame you for going into a blood frenzy, any person worth a
damn would be enraged at what you saw.” Malina sighed as she stood up to start cleaning a
bit. “Why don’t you head on to bed Akemi you need it, make sure the girl doesn’t wake up
alone.” Malina gave a gentle ruffle between those fox ears, looking warmly at the Kitsune
who stared back at her in gratitude.
“Yeah... You’re right, I need to try and get some sleep for all this. Thanks for all the help
Malina, and not caring that I’m a demi-human.” The older woman felt rather warm and
motherly to Akemi. After getting another soft hug from the taller woman that she eagerly
returned. Akemi drank down the rest of what was in her mug and headed upstairs.
“Goodnight.”
Once in her room her feet took her straight to the simple toilet, where she proceeded to cough
up anything she had consumed in the past few hours. The cream and liquor drink burned as it
came up, bringing up far too many shitty memories of having to be in that same position
worshiping the porcelain god for almost all her previous life.
Her mind was on fire as she sat in the bathroom, choking back sobs from the intense night.
“This wasn’t supposed to be how my adventure went...” Akemi wiped her eyes with her
sleeve and crept back into her bedroom as quietly as possible.
The girl was still fast asleep, but was panting like she was being chased. “Nightmares? I’m
not surprised, poor child...” She sat on the side of the bed and observed the tiny feline
sweating, her face scrunched up as sobs didn’t sound far away. Her heart ached to be able to
take that pain away, to take those memories away. For all her power in spells and equipment,
she felt so utterly powerless to help just one child…
Akemi tried to very gently pet the girl’s hair, but it seemed to have an opposite reaction as the
sobs started in earnest. “I’m sorry, Lets see, you deserve some good sleep so [Deep
Slumber].” That sobbing and crying soon stopped as the girl’s sleep became peaceful again.
“Sweet child, I’ll... Oh...” She held back further sobs as she hugged her knees to herself as
she sat against the bed on the floor, letting the girl have it all to herself.
Eventually even she fell into a fitful sleep as her exhaustion took over.
Akemi’s ears twitched as she was awoken by feeling eyes on herself. Lifting her head up she
sleepily looked around the room. Looking over at the bed behind her the covers were
missing, as was the girl. Akemi jolted up as she looked further around.
Finally she spotted a shaking ball of bedding in the corner of the room on the other side of
the bed. Calming her heart rate Akemi carefully made her way over, and knelt down a far as
she could in that small room. She spotted dull carmine eyes staring out at her.
“Hello little one, how are you feeling? A dumb question I know…Is there anything I can get
for you?” Akemi asked nervously, looking unsure of what to even say. The girl just looked at
her silently, wincing as Akemi had scooted closer, an action she quickly reversed on.
“I know you’re probably scared right now, and you can stay there if you want, but you’re safe
here. You are in a place called the Nightingale Inn.” Akemi tried to soothe the feline as she
just sat down around eight feet away, and moved no closer.
“Would.. you like me to move farther away dear? I’m only here to help you.” Holding her
empty hands out she broke the eye contact to not intimidate the girl. Akemi felt her ears fold
down on their own volition, which might have caught the girl’s attention.
“T-t-those h-humans..” the girl mumbled as she tried to make the words she needed. “A-are
they g-gone?” That tiny broken voice imprinted itself in Akemi’s head, a permanent fixture in
her thoughts.
“Yes, they won’t be hurting you, or anyone ever again. I promise you that. I’m Akemi, I’m a
demi-human just like you. You’re safe now, I won’t let anyone get anywhere near you if you
don’t want them near you.”
“You.. killed them...” The girl made a few whining noises as she looked away, her shaking
then calmed down just slightly. “I-I'm Hannyuu, thank you...” She mumbled though those
covers, it sounded quite rough though, like she wasn’t used to talking. It was then that she
remembered the girl’s tongue had been removed for who knows how long… it was a wonder
she was even able to talk again.
“Nice to meet you sweetie. How are you feeling?” Akemi looked over the girl as she resisted
the urge to get closer to check her for any wounds she missed. She knew her spells worked,
but pixels never bled in front of her, Yggdrasil was pretty censored in that way. Last night
was just another example that she wasn’t in any game she knew of, that she had to toss that
gamer mentality out entirely.
The girl was about to speak but then moved around a bit, her hands moving out of the
bedding to feel her ears, specially the ear that had been almost completely removed. “A
Goddess?” Hannyuu asked in wonder as she felt over older scars and wounds, and looked
more marveled by the second as they were just gone, like they never were there. “You fixed
my t-tongue?”
“I’m a magic caster, I used healing magic. I’m glad it helped your older wounds, I wasn’t
sure if it would. If I missed anything at all, please tell me right away.” She said and held out a
hand. “Would you let me do a scan with my magic to be sure everything is working alright
and I didn’t miss anything?” She knew her magic should be perfectly effective, but that was
when it was a game, she didn’t know what else might have changed for her.
Hannyuu froze up for a moment as she looked into Akemi’s eyes for any deception. Very
slowly the feline would stumble over to the seated Akemi and sit with her, keeping that cloak
wrapped tight around her, and left the covers behind.
Akemi was glad the girl was warming up a bit to her. Oh so gently Akemi looked over for
any obvious missed wounds, and breathed a sigh of relief at finding nothing. “[Diagnose
All].” She muttered and examined the results in her head. She noticed the girl was starting to
tear up a bit while she clutched the clean cloak Akemi had given her before bed. “Shh, it’s
alright, you are free now, I’ll... I’ll protect you...” The Kitsune was starting to choke up a bit
as Hannyuu moved over to hug against her. Akemi was surprised, expecting her to not want
anyone to touch her ever again, she wouldn’t blame the girl. Akemi very carefully scooped
up the tiny feline girl, and pet over the girl’s ears, holding her close as she cried right along
with her. “Its okay... Its okay... Its okay...” She muttered over and over again as they vented
those feelings. Both of them crying and holding the other.
One felt relief from their long nightmare, from being pulled from hell and into a bright warm
dawn. It was like there was an aura around the woman that promised safety from the world,
with the strength to ensure that.
The other felt thankful. She was thankful that she could rescue this child, not nearly soon
enough, it would never be soon enough for her liking, but it was a chance for them both. She
was thankful that she had the chance to protect this girl from any further harm, to give her the
future she deserved from the start.
After a good half hour of just holding the girl until both their crying stopped, they both didn’t
seem to move much.
There was a warmth inside of Akemi that felt nice, a relief from so much worry, that this girl
named Hannyuu was alive, that she had a chance to help her. another pit was letting itself
known though as both of their stomachs growled, echoing in the quiet room.
“This Inn here, the lady who runs it is really nice, she helped me take care of you when I
brought you here. We could go downstairs and get some food, and I can be there the entire
time with you, as I bet she would like to see you also. She is a human though, so if you don’t
want to go, I won’t make you, and I’ll bring food up here.” Akemi explained as she gently
scratched those feline ears since Hannyuu seemed to appreciate it..
Hannyuu was quiet for a few minutes as she thought about it. “I don’t... ha-have clothes... can
we just.. eat in here for today?” After a moment the girl clenched up as if remembering
something “T-that is okay r-right?”
It took Akemi a moment to recognize the motion, and didn’t move, letting Hannyuu initiate
the hug when Akemi nodded and smiled at her. “Shhh... of course it is. No one will hit you
ever again, I won’t let them.” She pet her hair to soothe the girl as she felt a few trembles
rock her body.
“I.. I don’t want you to go...W-what if someone comes in to..” She couldn’t finish her
sentence before Akemi hugged her further, her frail body shaking as the fear began to visibly
consume her.
Akemi stood up to carefully set Hannyuu down on the bed again. Reaching into her storage,
Akemi pulled out a set of child sized slacks and a slightly larger blouse, as well as some
under garments. She held out her hand for the cloak “I’ll do something to help. Put these on
and I’ll do something for your cloak. If they are a bit big we can adjust them.” Akemi cast a
small warming cantrip in the room so the girl wouldn’t get cold as she changed. Hannyuu
slowly stood up and handed over the cloak. “I’m glad I still had some clothes I was working
on for the Lillies… it seems they are close enough to the same size.”
The girl watched whatever Akemi would do as she dressed. “[Greater Enchant Item: Pseudo
invisibility], [Greater Enchant Item: Infinity Wall]” Once the velvety black cloak stopped
glowing, and Akemi had confidence the enchantments would hold, she held it back out to
Hannyuu “No one will come in here but if it helps, this cloak will keep you from being
noticed by anyone you don’t want noticing you, you’ll be invisible. If you wrap yourself in it
I have enchanted it to repel most normal weapons and damage. It as sturdy as any fortress
wall.” She explained as Hannyuu held that cloak, slowly hugging it to her chest before
throwing it on over those clothes.
“Okay. T-that lady.. she c-could come in.. if you say she is okay...” She said and wrapped that
cloak tighter around herself, a shield against the world.
“And don’t worry I’ll be back soon. I could just hide you in my tails and no one will notice
you either~” She teased as that mass of tails wiggled a bit before vanishing from sight as
Akemi covered them in illusion magic.
That got a few tiny giggles from the girl as Akemi left the room. After once again placing a
plethora of enchantments on the door to keep others out, Akemi headed downstairs.
Downstairs the smell of Malina’s breakfast filled the Inn, making Akemi happy about her
heightened sense of smell for once. At the bar Malina was serving up bowls of a thick stew to
the few patrons up that morning.
“Morning Malina.” Akemi greeted with a yawn as she took a seat at the bar.
Malina looked a little surprised at seeing Akemi with her illusions again but shrugged,
remembering that it would cause a lot of trouble for both of them if she didn’t. “Morning
dear, get any rest? How about...?” The Kitsune nodded with a tired smile.
Leaning in closer Akemi rested her cheek on her palm. “Yeah, she is up, and hungry
apparently. Think I can get some food to go upstairs?”
“Of course, make sure she eats slowly though, if we’re not sure when she last ate was. I’m
not surprised she wanted to stay up there,” Malina looked nearly as upset as Akemi felt.
“Yeah, I’m just glad she is talking, I really don’t know how... to comfort a child or anything,
I’m in the dark here and I’m… scared of messing up, but at least she seems to be warming up
to me. She said you can see her if you want, I told her you wanted to.” Akemi grinned a bit
once she took a bite of stew from the two bowls Malina just put down.
“Yes I would, if that is okay. You don’t? It seemed like you might have had children before or
the like.” Malina looked genuinely shocked at that.
Akemi tilted her head a bit before blushing bright red “Hmm? No no no! No I mean... I want
to, and she certainly is pressing that button in my heart, but I’m still only nineteen myself!”
Akemi insisted, thinking on what Malina had said a bit more “Would I want a child? Well…
That was one of my dreams in that past life, to be a mom… If that is what Hannyuu needs I’ll
do it.” She thought as the warmth from that feeling lit a protective fire inside of herself.
Malina raised an eyebrow and smiled “Oh? Well you seem to be doing well so far. Now let
me go see the girl.”
Akemi nodded and grabbed the bowls while they both left the front lobby kitchen area. “Just
be careful not to approach her too quickly, its better to stay at a distance till she approaches
you, she is still really jumpy, not that I blame the poor dear.” Akemi bit her lip as they
approached.
Upstairs Hannyuu had moved down between the bed and the wall with her cloak, feeling a bit
lonely already, but surprisingly safe “No one can see me here...” She mumbled before her
ears twitched at the door opening. She held her breath.
Akemi noticed the girl right away, but didn’t say anything, so the girl wouldn’t get doubts
about the cloak’s power. “Hannyuu? You hungry?” She asked as Malina followed her into the
room while the bowls got set down.
That cloak slowly lowered, allowing herself to be seen. “Y-yes ma’am...” The feline looked
nervous, not able to meet Malina’s eyes, locking up completely. “W-what do I... have to do
for I-it?” The girl had started shaking a bit for a moment, her ears folding as she seemed to be
falling back into her memories, looking past them at something only she could see. Akemi
could hear her heart rate skyrocket in moments and it terrified her. She wasn’t surprised that
food would be something that would bring up horrid memories, it was likely used as a
weapon against her.
It took a moment for both of them to guess that sentence, but it horrified them. “No no no,
you never have to do anything like that ever again, never again...You aren’t in that place
anymore, you are here with me Hannyuu, you are safe.” Akemi crouched and moved over to
Hannyuu slowly and waited with some distance between them, and hugged her securely
when Hannyuu closed that distance. Soon she felt Hannyuu relax and hug back. Akemi
rubbed her back for a few minutes as the girl sniffled into her shirt. Oh how Akemi wished
she could prevent those monsters from ever wronging that precious child. She wished she
could have dealt with them further, she wanted to tear apart the city to search for the ones
responsible!
“O-okay, sorry.” She mumbled as she looked over at that stew again, it smelled divine to her
starving stomach. Just about any food would have, she had lost track of how long it was since
she ate anything resembling actual food.
“There is nothing to apologize for dear... Here, come eat.” She stood back up and stepped
back to the desk in the corner of the room. She pulled out a chair and guided Hannyuu over,
who kept turned the chair back towards the center of the room, as if to see any threats
coming, her eyes darting around like someone would pop out of no where. Akemi’s instincts
were crying out to help this poor child, that she needed justice, and to protect her from the
world.
Malina set the bowls of stew down and passed one over to Hannyuu. It took a few moments
of looking around nervously, as if someone was going to take her food, before she started to
eat. Akemi chuckled under her breath. Once the first few bites were eaten, she began to eat
faster, her ears standing straight up now.
“Easy there Hannyuu, you don’t want to eat too fast, or you might hurt your stomach.”
Akemi pet the girl’s ears to try and get her to relax, which seemed to work a little bit as her
eating slowed down. Once the girl was actually tasting her food she made a few sounds of
contentment. “I believe that is a good review on the food Malina.” She grinned and sat down
on the floor next to Hannyuu’s chair as she started to slowly eat her own food.
“Well that is a relief, would be a shame if my skills rusted here, otherwise I might go broke.”
The Innkeeper just enjoyed the silence of her food being appreciated and sat on the bed. She
smiled fondly as Akemi pulled a handkerchief from thin air and began to clean up the feline’s
face with a motherly smile.
Malina knew they both needed to heal, and hoped this bond between them that she could see
form would grow stronger, they both deserved it.
Chapter End Notes
A/N This was honestly the hardest chapter to write so far, as I tried to handle the issues
inside as respectfully as I could, being the serious topics they are, honestly was heart
breaking to write.
Please review if you liked it! Stay safe everyone.
8/4/22 Just revisited this chapter and revamped a LOT, and it was still just as hard to
write as before, if not harder…
11/7/22 Did more clean up and hopefully it is a bit more readable.

Trauma Response and a Mother's affection
Chapter Summary
Akemi and her new charge head out into the town, and run into the nature of demi-
human discrimination.
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes
“Miss Akemi?” Hannyuu called out towards Akemi as she sat up in the Inn bed, the creak of
it making both Akemi and her own ear twitch. Akemi turned around to smile at the girl from
her seat at the desk that was kept in the room.
“Yes dear? You rest well?” Akemi asked as she set down a book she had been reading. She
stayed seated as Hannyuu got up to cautiously approach, and was still understandably jumpy
about sudden movements, even after a few days with each other.
“I think, I didn’t even notice I fell asleep… How long?” Hannyuu asked as she peeked at
Akemi’s book curiously. “You can read?”
“Well… I can read the books I have, they are in a different language than the one used here,
so besides what I have I guess I can’t.” Akemi admitted as she held up the thick tome in her
hand before slipping it into her inventory. “I’m so glad I kept all those copies from the Guild
Library.” She thought as she remembered copying and reading each book someone put
within that Library. “You feel asleep a few hours ago after eating, which we expected might
happen, you have to be behind on a lot of sleep, so if you are tired you can sleep all you need.
Sleep well?” She asked and rested her chin on her palm to smile at the girl.
“Sort of… No nightmares, was pretty-” Her sleepy musing was interrupted by the big yawn
that snuck up on her, her ears folding back with it. “Mmm… Did you do something last night
so I slept good?”
Akemi covered her mouth and giggled, right before the yawn spread to her. “Glad you had a
good nap. I noticed you were having some nightmares, so I used some magic to let you sleep
without them, was that alright?” Akemi asked curiously, her tails flicking around almost in
time with Hannyuu’s one.
“Y-yes please, I wanna sleep without r-remembering…” Hannyuu mumbled and surprised
Akemi by hugging her again. “What were you reading?” She asked.
Noticing the girl changing the subject Akemi ruffled her hair. “Oh it was more of a medical
text, so I can help a bit better. If you wanted to though, we could read one more interesting
together. Would you like that?” Akemi asked as she rummaged around her inventory for the
book she was looking for. “I am so glad that all my digital books are now physical copies~”
She thought and pulled out one colorful book.
“It has drawings?” Hannyuu asked as she peered at the book in Akemi’s hand.
Akemi got up to make her way over and flop on the bed. “Mostly, its called Manga. I can’t
really teach you the language of… here, but I can teach you a bit of the language where I
come from.” Akemi said and placed the book half in Hannyuu’s lap when she followed over.
“This one is one of my favorites. Its about a girl named Takina, and a girl named Chisato.”
Akemi felt her heart slowly breaking as she heard the most adorable of sounds coming from
Hannyuu. She had noticed that half way through the first volume of the manga she was
reading that the girl had fallen asleep cuddled up against her. She felt the tiny vibrations of
the purr coming from the girl’s throat in her sleep. Akemi just relaxed and gently pet those
feline ears, just basking in the sweet moment. “Only a few days, and I can’t imagine her not
being here…” She thought as she put a bookmark in her manga, and exchanged it with the
thicker book she was reading earlier.
Obviously she couldn’t move with a cat on her, that was the law no matter the world. She
flipped back to her previous page. “Hilda why couldn’t the guild stock more psychology
books? Lets see… Child Psychology, maybe something in here can help?” It was nice and
quiet in the Inn room besides the sounds of pages flipping and sleep purring, and Akemi
thanked the world she had nothing pressing that day anyway. As far as she was concerned she
had found a new priority and purpose in the world.
“[Message]. Hey Malina? Could I ask you something?” Akemi heard through the message a
yelp, as well as one that carried from downstairs as well.
“This again? Please warn me about doing this… mind talk before you do it?… I know there
isn’t really a way to do that. What is it?” Malina asked in her most annoyed tone after being
scared shitless for the third time in a few days.
“Know any good restaurants or calm places I could take Hannyuu? I think time outside might
help us. Or even a way I could put together a picnic so I could take her out for a walk in the
forest.” Akemi asked as she watched Hannyuu draw at the desk. It had been amusing to see
the girl get amazed at all the different colored markers there were. They were something
Akemi had kept in her inventory ironically for planning using different colors. Paper was
simple enough for her to conjure with magic, and if it made the kid happy Akemi saw no
reason not to.
“If you have some money I can make you a picnic basket, take the kid out for a nice day, she
could use the fresh air.” Malina replied, though Akemi could tell she was distracted.
“Thanks, I would appreciate it. I don’t know if that gold will be accepted as currency, but it’s
weight and purity could probably fetch a good price. I have some money from adventuring, a
tiny bit at least. How much it be? Thank you for all your help lately, I’m out of my element in
trying to help her, so any nice things that can be done for her are appreciated.”
“Oh a couple copper will do. It might take a while for me to sell that coin, but frankly if it is
as pure as a regular gold coin you’ll have more then payed for a little special treatment. It
helps I’m pretty fond of you two, please keep trying your best with her, I can tell she trusts
you a lot, she is a good kid. Swing by in an hour or so and it will be ready.”
“You have no idea how grateful I am to you Malina… I’ll do my best with her, girl has my
heart already and won’t give it back. I’ll head down around lunch then, thanks.” Akemi
smiled as she ended the message. Looking back at the desk she saw Hannyuu had frozen a
bit. In but a moment Akemi had made her way over there and saw Hannyuu gripping one of
the pens tight enough it had bent.
“Hannyuu? You alright?” Akemi gently asked. A glance at what she was drawing told her a
lot of what she needed to know. The red marker in Hannyuu’s grasp had been used to fill out
a large portion of the page surrounding a vague shape of two men on the ground, with a
roughly drawn figure that Akemi felt was likely herself above them. She only guessed as
such due to the nine black squiggles behind the figure. “Do… I scare you? I’m sorry that you
had to… see me kill those men.” Akemi said and resisted the urge to pet her head as had
become common.
It took a moment for Hannyuu’s breathing to even out as she next ripped that page into
pieces. “No… You make me feel s-safe. W-when I’m with you I know they can’t touch me a-
again. I’m scared that… I’m happy they are dead. Hey… how come you haven’t asked about
a-anything about what happened before you found me?” Hannyuu was clearly nervous as her
tail flicked back and forth with nervous energy.
Akemi silently conjured a duplicate wooden chair and sat down next to the girl. “Because I
have no idea all you went through besides it was clearly bad… I’m not going to make you
relive any of that to sate curiosity. If you want to tell me I’ll of course listen and try to help. I
never want you to think that I’m anything but on your side. If there is anything I could do that
helps please tell me, I’ll do my best.” Akemi said and accepted the hug the girl gave, nearly
climbing Akemi in the process.
“T-thank you… Maybe one day I can talk… about it all, but I just c-can’t right now… Please
don’t get rid of me…” Akemi felt her heart break at that pleading, and hugged her tighter.
“Never, I would never get rid of you. I’m here for as long as you want me to be. If there is
anywhere else or someone else you want me to take you too I do have teleportation magic
and can get you there.” Akemi said and felt the girl shake in her arms. She wrapped all her
tails around the both of them, burying them in that comfortable fluff.
“No… I can’t even remember anyone… Please just let me stay here…” Hannyuu mumbled
against the Kitsune, muffed against her shirt as Akemi felt the girl slowly get control of her
breathing. Akemi felt her heart get snatched more every day with the girl. There didn’t seem
to be any social services in at least that kingdom, and if Hannyuu didn’t have anyone for
Akemi to take her to… There was not a chance in the world that she would take her to an
orphanage or something, especially not in this demi-human hating Kingdom.
“Is this what maybe having a daughter is like?” She thought and carefully scooped the feline
up to move over and gently fall on the bed, it was more comfortable than a wooden chair and
all. Hannyuu didn’t seem to mind as she seemed happy to cuddle. “Surprising how much she
wants to cuddle, I thought she would want to not be near anyone at all… I wouldn’t blame
her.” Akemi said and felt warm that the girl thought of her as someone safe enough to bypass
that fear.
Akemi smiled as she felt that familiar rumbling emerge from the small girl. It at least
surprised Hannyuu herself as she jumped up a bit and felt her throat. “W-what was that?”
“Pretty sure that is called purring, as far as I know it happens with cats, and it seems cat folk.
I guess this is the first time you’ve done it while awake, you tend to do it plenty when you
fall asleep. Don’t fall asleep yet though, we’re going somewhere for lunch.” Akemi said and
smiled at the girl, gently rubbing both of those feline ears between her thumb and fore
fingers, which she noticed made the girl purr more.
“W-we’re leaving?” Hannyuu asked, and clearly was upset by the idea as the purring ceased
as soon as her head lifted up. Those carmine eyes bore into Akemi’s skull as she questioned
her.
“Just for lunch. We won’t even have to see other people, just a picnic in the forest, it will be
nice and quiet, and we could both use the fresh air.” Akemi said and ruffled her hair. It
seemed to soothe Hannyuu enough that she flopped back on her with a slight pout, but
nodded her acceptance all the same.
With a yelp Hannyuu stumbled forward once her feet were on solid ground again. “That was
teleporting?!” Hannyuu asked with slight distress before she looked around, her attention
taken by the forest surrounding them.
“Yup, though I guess that spell is a bit rougher on the body than just using Gate, but this is
much more cost effective. This is… where I first arrived in these lands. It is a bit complicated
but this place is special to me.” Akemi said and observed the green forest around them.
Hannyuu seemed to take a moment to close her eyes and really take in the fresh forest air,
and the light breeze that passed through all the trees. “Mm, it is really nice. What is with the
trees over there though?” Hannyuu asked as she pointed at the path in the forest that was
made by trees bending out of the way.
“Oh that was me, I needed a path to get out. Thinking about it, this place right now isn’t very
good for a picnic, but I can fix that. Want to see some magic?” Akemi asked with a grin, her
tails fluffing out behind her. At the eager nod from Hannyuu Akemi cracked her knuckles
with a grin before looking around the area. It was just as exciting for Akemi as she realized
she had yet to truly test her magic in that world, and the extra freedom it might have. Sure
spells worked, but none of what she used was very creative, now she had a chance to see if
she could control magic better. “[Maximize Widen Magic: Dominate Nature].” Akemi spread
her arms and closed her eyes as her magic emitted in a pulse that even Hannyuu felt.
The forest could only be described as coming alive around them, the sound of cracking and
moving trees filling the previous quiet. The land seemed to swallow up a large portion of the
forest there, burying that wood under the dirt and leaving a large open field between the trees.
Like waves lapping at the shore, grass spread across that dirt in an instant, soon blossoming
into an array of flowers all over.
Akemi watched it all and let her imagination go crazy, finding that changing the landscape,
plants, and flowers was as easy as thinking about it. Once there was a nice open field of
flowers for them to relax in, the sun was free to shine down on them, warming them up.
Akemi laid out a large blanket and pulled out the basket she had brought with her from her
inventory. “Like it?”
“Yeah… That was really pretty! What kind of magic was that? That wasn’t like what you did
for me!” Hannyuu’s tail was waving excitedly as she smiled up at Akemi.
It was utterly precious, the pure joy that was on Hannyuu’s face at witnessing her magic, it
made everything worth it to Akemi. “As long as she can still smile…” Akemi thought as she
stretched out. “What I used to heal you was Divine based magic, it is good for healing and
fighting against demons and evil things. This was Druid based magic, which is good for
nature and plants, I could summon a forest in a barren desert if I needed to. Now~ Malina
packed us a nice lunch, lets eat~”
7/3 Upper Fire Month
A few days later Akemi and Hannyuu both jumped as a gentle knocking was heard at their
door. Hannyuu had hurried behind Akemi from where they sat, and soon followed her as
Akemi moved to the door after passing an illusion over herself to pass for human. “Oh, it is
them, it is alright dear, she's a friend.” Akemi told Hannyuu and opened the door.
“Ah, A-Akemi, it is nice to see you again. How have things been?” Ana asked as she stood in
the doorway with a nervous look on her face. “It had been a few days since anyone saw you
so… I was a bit worried, I heard you had some trouble with the Guild?” Anatashia asked.
“Please, co- Is that alright? She is friendly, it is okay I promise.” Akemi told Hannyuu who
still stubbornly hid behind Akemi’s back and clung to her shirt. When she got a nod against
her Akemi looked back at Anatashia. “Sorry about that. Please, come in.”
It was then as Ana passed Akemi and went into her room did she spot a fuzzy cat tail peeking
out from behind Akemi. “Is that your- Oh. Well hello there little one.” Ana said as she
spotted Hannyuu peek at her from her hiding spot.
“Yes, this is Hannyuu, she has been staying with me. The Guild was… not super happy at me
losing my temper at that sexist man at the counter.” Akemi said and sat down at the table,
something she quite recently brought in as a single desk was not cutting it. Hannyuu took the
spot that was her lap, seeming unwilling to part from Akemi much, not near strangers. She
didn’t calm down much until Akemi gently pet her ears.
“It is a pleasure to meet you Hannyuu~” Anatashia smiled at Hannyuu and seemed to be
internally collapsing at how cute Hannyuu was rather than the fact she was a Demi-human.
From what Akemi could tell that hadn’t even phased her. “Is that why that horrid man is
gone? Every time I would go into the guild without Elliot or Romeo he would have some
terrible comment… It has been a blessing with him gone. So where did you bury him?”
Anatashia asked with a snicker, clearly joking.
“If only… I used some harmless magic in some justifiable anger and… the Guild Master
didn’t take kindly to it, though I did get a decent promotion since it was a high level spell
apparently. Is sixth tier actually that rare here? That is kinda sad… Anyway, he told me he
fired that jerk, and I’m so glad he did. As for why I haven’t been in… I’ve been a bit busy
with something far more important. Have you been doing okay Anatashia?” Akemi said and
smiled down at Hannyuu lovingly, hugging her back to her chest since the girl was in such a
cuddly mood.
“Awww… I won’t pry, but I’m glad you’re okay. I’ve been alright for the most part, we still
have no leads on what ever it is that Elliot is looking for besides a few nearly destroyed
caravans. Right now we’re just on standby as Elliot is off meeting with family for something.
Please, you can just call me Ana, not even my parents called me by my full name… well
unless I did something wrong.” Ana joked and seemed to be looking between Akemi and
Hannyuu curiously.
“E-excuse me… how come you keep looking at my ears? S-sorry if you don’t like… people
like me…” Hannyuu mumbled out and looked away, her ears wilting.
Ana was quick to shake her head. “Oh no, I just thought they were cute! Please, don’t
apologize for being yourself. I have nothing against Demi-humans, my parents didn’t raise a
bigot. W-wait! Did you say Sixth tier? Please don’t joke like that… or I might end up
believing you…” Ana said as she just latched onto Akemi’s words properly. “That is…
beyond human magic… I’ve only heard of someone in the Empire being able to use the sixth
tier. Does that mean…?”
“I mean… I’m not human either, but please don’t mind that. I’m glad your parents raised you
right, I’ve seen so much… hate to us since I arrived. The hate is one thing… that combined
with slavery…” Akemi said and looked at Hannyuu for a moment, petting her hair to calm
her back down.
It took Ana a few moments of looking at Hannyuu before seeming to catch Akemi’s meaning.
“Yeah… It sickens me that people can act like that. I don’t blame you for hiding that fact, I
won’t tell a soul.” Ana said and looked down at the table and taking some deeper breathes.
“So… is that offer for lunch still on the table? If you can use higher tier magic I would love
to hear about it~” Ana asked and winked at Akemi, though it was more adorable than
anything.
“Is she… flirting with me? Eh? Eh?!” While surprising, it wasn’t unwelcome to Akemi, she
did offer after all. From what Akemi could tell Ana appeared a year or two younger than her,
and it made her wonder if lunch would even be appropriate then. “This seems more like
medieval times, bet the life expectancy is lower to match. Most Mangas seemed to need
someone to be considered an adult in their world to be an adventurer, so I suppose this much
is fine then.” With a light sigh Akemi shrugged. “I wish I could, but I might need to put that
on hold for now. We could have that lunch in here if you want? I think going to a restaurant
would be a high bar for right now.”
Ana frowned and nodded, but she seemed to understand what the complication was. “I
suppose next time I’ll bring some lunch next time then~ I don’t mind that at all. Is that alright
with you Hannyuu?” Ana asked.
Hannyuu looked around for a moment, as if she was surprised a question was directed to her
about any of that. “O-oh, that is okay, I don’t mind, you seem nice.” Akemi had to blink at
that also. Hannyuu gave her approval? That was a pretty good point to Ana’s character in her
eyes…
“If you keep it a secret I have a better idea, we can still do that today.” Akemi said and
reached into her inventory before pulling out a few containers and a metal cylinders. “I have
food right here and some tea.” Akemi said and opened up the metal containers to reveal some
pre-made sandwiches and other foods she had shoved into her inventory. Unscrewing the lid
of the thermos Akemi pulled out a few cups to go along with it.
“W-what? This is another one of those things I’m just never going to be able to understand is
it? Like high tier magic?” Ana asked with a shake of her head, but she didn’t turn down any
of the food.
“Eh, I’m fully of mysteries like that~ So… how did you end up in a party with someone as…
stern looking as Elliot? He seems like a stick in the mud. How did you end up an
adventurer?” Akemi asked and laid out a plate of food for Hannyuu first, letting her move to
a chair of her own.
“He is kind of a pompous jerk yeah, but he did help me out when I first started. He is a
decent leader but just not very likable. I mean, I was just from a farming village on the other
side of the Kingdom, but I found that life really… unsatisfying. I had magical talent and was
given a small grant from the Kingdom to get me to learn more, seems that the Kingdom never
has enough mages. An adventurer had stopped in the village for a job and they taught me
some of what I know about magic, and I’ve been building off it since, it was then that I
decided I wanted to be an adventurer.” Ana said and took a few deep breathes while taking
some bites of food.
“My parents were… not super happy about it, but they didn’t stop me, so when I turned
fifteen and could become an adventurer I moved here with a caravan. Its been about a year,
but I’ve gotten to Iron plate, so I’m getting there.”
“Impressive, more than I did at fifteen but… that is a long and complicated story…” Akemi
said and looked away, now second guessing what she could say. “If you keep it a secret I can
tell you some about magic like you wanted.” The sparkling look in Ana’s eyes told her what
the answer was.
“I mean yes I do, but I’d also love to hear more about you.” Akemi felt her heart skip a bit at
the adorable smile Ana gave her. She couldn’t just leave her hanging after giving her own
story…
“Your parents sound a lot nicer than mine. Mine were certainly bigots. They didn’t really take
kindly to me… preferring women, among other things, so they aren’t my parents anymore.”
Akemi said and looked away, it was clear there were several parts of her story she had left
out.
“They don’t deserve you then. I’m still not… entirely sure if my own would accept that I’m
kind of the same. Glad I didn’t misunderstand you then in the forest… I was worried I’d feel
like a fool.” The Rosy blush on the girl’s cheeks was quite adorable.
“They sound like they might be alright with it, I mean, they clearly cherish you. That is how
parents should act…” Akemi said and shook her head. “It was a bit of a spur of the moment
offer, wasn’t sure if I’d get to meet you again. So how is this Kingdom on all of that? My
country, may it burn to the ground, was absolutely horrid on just about everything, especially
if you are considered abnormal.”
“They are… it isn’t illegal and it won’t get you run out of town.” Ana said and sounded
rather unsure of herself.
“I see… well, to women~” Akemi raised her cup of tea with a giggle, her gaze soft on Ana.
“To women.” With a clink of their cups they chuckled to themselves as Hannyuu watched
with a strangely fond smile, it was a comfortable chaos in the room that day.
7/19 Upper Fire Month
It had been around three weeks of bonding and enjoying the city, just simple activities, ones
that let Akemi check on Hannyuu’s mental state the most. Akemi was still quite worried
about the girl, especially when she caught the girl fiddling with a dinner knife with a strange
look on her face one night. She was glad she had put that knife down with a shake of her
head and seemed to try and fill her mind with conversation with Akemi instead.
Ana had visited a few more times, enough that Hannyuu had gotten used to her presence. She
was also clearly sad when Ana told them that she would be going on a longer quest Elliot was
dragging her on, that she’d come visit when she came back. The feline seemed to have gotten
as comfortable with the company as Akemi had.
"Hannyuu dear, I'm going to need to go out for a while. I can keep this room protected with
magic, and you have your cl-"
"Please don't go! I-I'll go with you! Just p-please..." Akemi gently pet Hannyuu's head as she
knelt down to soothe the panicking cat..
"Shhh...it is alright child. If you want to come with me that is fine, if you are sure you can
handle it. Be sure to stay near me, and keep your cloak on please." Akemi helped clip that
enchanted black cloak over the demi-human child again. She let Hannyuu hold onto her hand
as they walked down the stairs from their room. "One moment dear. [Seal Area: Minor]."
"A-amazing.." Hannyuu muttered, her tail wiggling under that cloak. It amused Akemi just
how much simple magic interested the kitten.
Akemi nodded "Yup, so no one can enter our room, privacy is important. Maybe sometime I
can teach you some magic. Actually... teaching you to defend yourself could be useful.
Would you like that?" Akemi asked and thought about it further. “Can I even teach my
magic? Does it work differently in this world?”
"I'm.. will I be able to.. keep those men away?" Akemi carefully knelt down to offer a hug to
Hannyuu, letting her initiate the contact to not stoke her fears further, though it helped that
Akemi seemed to be firmly set as someone safe in the girl’s mind.
"No one will touch you, ever, unless you want them to. Point me to anyone who ever did
something to you and I will take care of them. I will keep you safe, but even still I may not
always be able to be around at every moment. Teaching you to defend yourself would be
best, even if it is just magic to hide I might be able to teach you that." Akemi felt Hannyuu
nod against her and take a few shuddering breaths. Akemi felt herself let out a few tears, but
she knew she had to be strong for this child, and just held the girl a bit closer. “No one will
ever hurt you again, I’ll kill anyone who tries.” She thought before she winced. As much as
the thought of killing someone still hurt her, she knew she would do it without question if It
would help Hannyuu.
Once they both felt more comfortable they got up from the stairs and headed down, stopping
at the bar for some food. "Hey Malina, hope you’re having a good morning." Akemi asked as
she helped Hannyuu up onto a bar stool. "Dear, if you want someone to notice you, just focus
on letting them, the magic does the rest." Hannyuu nodded as Akemi had leaned in.
"Good girl." Akemi gave a small peck to the top of the feline's head and faced Malina again.
"Good morning Malina, think we could get two bowls?" Akemi asked, resting her chin on her
palm.
"Morning to you as well, and good morning to you Hannyuu, hope you are feeling better this
morning." Malina offered happily, before sliding two large bowls of breakfast stew to them.
"Thanks. Know any clothing stores nearby? It would be a good trip for the kitten and me."
The fox woman asked, taking a few bites of her breakfast. Hannyuu seemed to follow suit
after a moment, taking nervous peeks at both of them, looking behind her every so often.
"Velka's Fine Fabrics a couple streets down should do you fine. Just keep her ears and stuff
covered, she really does not like demi-humans, more so than usual around here." Malina
looked around to see if anyone caught their conversation.
"Thanks friend, we’ll be careful. We’ll see you later." Hannyuu pushed her bowl forward not
long after eating, looking nervous suddenly. Akemi saw most of the food was uneaten. "I'll let
it slide for right now, but you're eating all your dinner, okay?" Akemi pet Hannyuu's nodding
head over the cloak and helped the girl off the stool. As much as Akemi wished she could use
her illusions on Hannyuu, the first time she tried Hannyuu didn’t take kindly to the feeling,
and she had no wish to send the girl into a panic attack from the feeling of confinement.
"Have fun you two, don't get into too much trouble." Malina took their bowls and tended to
other customers.
“I make no promises~” Akemi didn’t know why Malina expected anything else, but just got
an exasperated shake of the head from the Inn keeper.
"Now if you keep the cloak on no one should notice you, but if you are scared feel free to tell
me, I will protect you. Also, if you see anyone who has hurt you, please tell me." Akemi
asked quietly though the threat might have gone over Hannyuu's head.
Hannyuu clung close to Akemi's side and clutched the kitsune's hand tightly. "O-okay m-
Akemi, I trust you." The tiny girl seemed to bite her tongue mid sentence. "It almost sounded
like she said..." Akemi thought, letting the warm feeling seep through her and led them
onward.
“Before we hit that clothing store, I want to check something a bit further in town.” Akemi
said as she led them further to the center of E-Rantel. It took a bit of walking before they got
where they needed to go. Looking down Akemi made note that Hannyuu seemed tired from
that walk. “I better let her get a break before much else, or carry her.” Neither of which she
minded. It was easy to see why so many stores had unique signs to represent them, Akemi
doubted the literacy rate in the Kingdom was that high, so a way of letting people find a
particular store was needed.
“So this is the Steel Eagle. I want to check something out, and I promised the lady who runs
this place a chance to look at my weapon.” Akemi wasn’t quite sure about letting her actually
touch it, but there was no harm in looking she supposed. Hannyuu just nodded and held
Akemi’s hand tighter. A bell above the door rang out as they entered, which hurt both of their
ears.
“Welcome to the Steel Eagle! How can I- Oh it’s you! Its been a while, you kind of
disappeared from the guild after getting gold plate. It was a pretty hot topic for a while.”
Alexia said once she saw Akemi.
“I had some other things to do and I’m a bit annoyed with the Guild still, putting it mildly… I
thought I’d stop in and take a look around. You had said you wanted to see my weapon again
right?” Akemi asked with a grin. She looked down and sat Hannyuu hiding behind her while
also looking around at all the weapons.
“Yes please! I only got a glimpse but I could feel it from across the room. That is a magical
item right?” Alexia asked, nearly bouncing on the spot. Her eyes lit up further as Akemi
pulled Ex Oblivion from her inventory. “Where did it come from? Is that a Talent?”
“Talent? No it is just… a sort of dimensional bag, I can store lots of things in it. You can look
but please don’t touch it, It is enchanted against theft but I don’t know how it reacts to people
except me touching it. It is a magical item, my best work ever, I’m a bit of a crafter myself.”
Akemi said and let Alexia examine it to her heart’s content.
None of them noticed Hannyuu let go of Akemi and wander into the shop further. They were
alerted to her actions as they heard the clung of metal hitting the ground. Akemi and Alexia
looked straight at Hannyuu and the greatsword she was trying to heft up to no avail.
“Ah sweetie disruptive actions like big noises can disturb the cloak’s enchantment, isn’t that a
bit big? You’re going to fall you know?” Akemi asked and got ready to dash over to stop the
sword from falling on Hannyuu, with it being nearly as tall as her. To her surprise Hannyuu
lifted it an inch or two by leaning back, and yet not falling. It was a strange contortion of her
body, but Hannyuu didn’t even seem to be aware of how she was moving to keep her balance.
“Huh, something to look into one day. Are you interested in bigger swords like that? You are
going to need a lot more muscle for that.” Akemi said and gently took that greatsword before
Hannyuu accidentally hurt herself, placing it back on the rack.
“A demi-human? Is she with you?” Alexia asked with a tiny bit of suspicion, or what
sounded like suspicion to Hannyuu, who darted behind Akemi and vanished from sight quite
literally. Akemi could still feel her hands grasping her shirt behind her, and knew she was
under that illusion, but to Alexia’s eyes she just vanished.
“Yes she is. Is that a problem? She is a bit shy, hence why I lent her one of my items to hide.”
Akemi said and narrowed her gaze at Alexia with her eyes returning to slitted pupils. This
seemed to shock Alexia who seemed to realize something.
“Oh that might be why you are pretty strong for your size. So you’re a demi-human also…
Well you walked out of the Guild master’s office just fine and even got given gold plate, so
there is no problem.” Alexia said and cracked a smile before she tried to see Hannyuu behind
Akemi, who surprisingly came back into view. “Sorry for scaring you, you were just
checking it out weren’t you? That one might be a bit big for you like Akemi said. You can
look around, just be careful with things, they aren’t toys and are quite sharp.” Alexia said and
turned back to Akemi, and especially towards that weapon. “So Akemi~ You said you made
this beauty? What is it made of?” She asked excitedly.
Akemi looked back at Hannyuu and patted her head over that cloak, showing her it was safe
in there. Seeing her relax and go back to looking at the weapons, Akemi lowered the blade of
her naginata a bit to eye level. “Alright, I made this a few years back.”
Leaving the smithy and shop they stayed to the side of the street until Akemi spotted what
she guessed was a clothes shop by the sign on their way back through the city. "I wish I could
read...Stay close to me and we'll see about getting you some changes of clothes. I'll handle
the shopkeeper, probably best to keep the illusion on for now." Hannyuu gave a small noise
of acknowledgment as they went to the store. Akemi took a few deep breathes before she
opened the door.
The bell rang above them as they stepped in, the tiny feline cringing at the sound. "Excuse
me, can you tell me if this shop has children's clothes? Maybe this tall?" Akemi gestured with
her hand over Hannyuu, knowing that the employee couldn't see her as she walked over. The
woman had an apathetic look on her face and just pointed to a corner of the store.
Glaring a bit while the woman's back was turned as she went back to the counter, Akemi led
Hannyuu over to the children's corner and made sure that they couldn't be seen from their
spot by the shop owner. "She seems a tad lazy, so she’ll hopefully just stay there, we should
be mostly safe for you to take off the cloak so you can try some of these on. If they don't fit
right I can tailor them for you, so don't be afraid to pick what you like Hun." She coaxed
while petting Hannyuu's ears over, giving a momentary scratch that Hannyuu seemed to
enjoy by the way she leaned into it. “If I had the materials I’d just make all your clothes
myself, but… these will have to do for now.” Akemi said with a half hearted sigh. While she
knew she had some clothes she had made for her Lilys back in Yggdrasil, those were more
for battle, and she wasn’t sure if level requirements were a thing in this world.
With a nod Hannyuu took off her cloak and handed it to the Kitsune as she tried to look for
clothes she liked. Akemi noticed that she grabbed long pants and long sleeve shirts, nothing
what she would have called cute, but they were practical. "This looks comfortable." Hannyuu
noted, picking out a few more "Is this.. okay? I'm allowed to just... choose?" When Akemi
nodded the girl smiled, it wasn't a giant smile, but it was a rare thing for her, something that
Akemi learned to cherish in the time since they found each other.
Hannyuu held up the small pile, looking embarrassed for even grabbing the clothes and not
being… expected to offer anything in return. "I like these ones." The kitten let her tail twitch
back and forth as she felt more content. Akemi was surprised that she had also included a few
shorts and even a long skirt.
"Those will be cute on you! It won't take me long to get them fitted for yo-" Before Akemi
could continue she was interrupted by the outraged cry of the rude owner as she walked past
their row of clothes.
"Where did that filthy demi-human come from?! Get her out of her-" This time the lady was
cut off by a deadly glare from Akemi, who appeared in her face before she could register. The
fact that Akemi crossed a good ten feet before she even noticed was her first sign that Akemi
was not normal either.
"What did you just say? The fuck did you say about my daughter bitch?" Akemi nearly
yelled, her voice ice cold. Her stare was pierced into the woman's eyes, her own eyes slipping
from her illusions, turning back to glaring slitted fox eyes. Her anger was pounding through
her veins, enough so that she didn't realize what she had called the feline hiding behind her in
her defense.
"Another d-demi-human? Just get out you filthy animals!" She tried to yell but it came out
more as a squeak. She was shaking a bit as she backed away from them and began to look
around.
"Yeah, what about it? We'll leave once you sell us these clothes and apologize, It is the least
you could do for treating us so rudely." Hannyuu would put that cloak back on and shake
behind Akemi, vanishing from the shop keeper’s view. The Kitsune would place a hand on
the head of the girl that had so quickly become a large part of her life, attempting to calm
them both down.
"I'll.. I'll tell the guards! They'll get rid of you!" Once the woman turned around to dash away,
Akemi was back in front of her with a hand around her throat. The fear in the woman's eyes
calmed Akemi down some, but not enough to make her regret what she did next.
"Stupid... [Charm Human]." She cast on the girl who seemed to become doe eyed and docile
instantly. Once the girl's mind was under Akemi's spell, she was released.
"Yes... I'll wrap them for you, Sorry for my rudeness Ma'am." The woman lazily said, smiling
at her new ‘friend’ as she took the clothes Hannyuu dropped, and brought them behind the
counter to bag them. She presented them with the bag and bowed her head. “Here you are,
they are on the house. Have a wonderful day.” At that Akemi took that bag and placed it into
her inventory for later. She took Hannyuu’s hand and quickly left that shop.
"Sometimes Hannyuu, stupidity is unavoidable, but magic is always there to fix the problem.
I’m finding the Kingdom’s society more irredeemable by the day…" Akemi said as they
walked further away from the shop. “Sorry you had to deal with that…”
Hannyuu looked deep in thought and held onto Akemi's sleeve while the Kitsune kept an arm
around her. She had just witnessed her 'mother' bend that rude woman's mind to her will, and
accept clothes for ‘free’ under the influence of that magic. “Isn’t stealing wrong?”
"Normally, yes. I'm sorry that I'm probably not setting the best example for you. If she would
have been polite and not threatened us It would have been a normal shopping trip…" As
Akemi reassured Hannyuu, her class skill Pseudo-Omniscience let her know about a pair of
eyes on the pair that felt hostile. She looked down at Hannyuu and was able to see the
enchantment on that cloak was inactive, the girl must have been too distracted to turn it back
on when they left.
“[Time Stop]” She thought in a silent cast. The world froze around her and color drained,
even Hannyuu ceasing her movement with the rest of the crowd. She took note of how she
was positioned with Hannyuu and slipped away for a moment, and walked over to an alley a
dozen or so meters behind them where they passed before.
Her eyes turned to furious slits as she saw a man in dirty clothes and a hood glaring at them,
at Hannyuu specifically. Looking him over further she saw a knife held in his left hand under
his cloak. “I’m going to need to deal with this…” She thought and bit her lip, remembering
Malina’s warning about men from the underworld potentially being after Hannyuu.
Moving back over to Hannyuu she returned to the position she had before to avoid it looking
like a blur from the movement. Releasing the spell the world once again had movement and
color. “I can’t tell Hannyuu, no point stressing her out more. [Mass Kitsune Summon:
Kudagitsune].” Akemi summoned another swarm of the spiritual pipe fox summons in even
greater amounts to do her bidding. “Follow that man, do not let him out of your sight, one of
you split off and follow each person they talk to, I want to get as many of these scum bags
connected to this in one swoop. Inform me of anything you find.” Akemi told them, trying to
be as specific as possible as she released her summons, and felt a plan come into place as she
tried to reign in her raging emotions before she blew her plan up before it even began.
“Lets get settled in for the night, I know we’re both tired after that.” Akemi said, smiling
down at Hannyuu as a sense protectiveness, of love even, chased away most of her darker
feelings. “No one will get away with what they did dear, I’m going to make sure of that.”
Akemi thought. After eating a quick meal from Malina, they retreated upstairs. Once they
were in the Inn room Akemi flopped on the bed, while Hannyuu did the same as went over to
snuggle up to Akemi, still shaking slightly.
"Everything will be okay from now on Hannyuu...I'm not going to let this kingdom keep
doing this to our kind. I'm not going to let anyone harm you.” She told her, hugging her back
as she hoped to get the girl to stop shivering in fear at the world. She gave a gentle smile
down towards the teary eyed Kitten. “Want to know a secret?" That strangely threatening
sentence somehow filled the small child with ease. The lengths Akemi would go to
accomplish this even Akemi didn't know.
“What is it?” She asked, curiosity distracting her from the fear she felt earlier in the day, her
eyes lighting up at the tone of mystery Akemi kept in her voice. Akemi smiled and lifted up a
tiny section of that cloak Hannyuu wore.
“This cloak is made from the fur of something called an Ebony Kirin, it was something I had
to fight once back in my… home land. It was incredibly strong, covering leagues in black
lighting, striking down everything in sight. Me and my friends fought against this giant beast
for hours, till we were exhausted, but we won after I landed the final blow, and one of our
rewards was the fur of that beast, and I made this cloak from that. It is far stronger than most
metals around, yet it is light as a feather. You have something as mighty as that creature
protecting you, keeping you warm, and I’m even stronger than it. I also will do everything in
my power if it means keeping you safe.” Akemi said as she ever so gently reassured
Hannyuu, smiling back when she got a sleepy smile from the Kitten. “Rest now, you are safe
here. I’ll make sure you have no nightmares.” She told her and pressed an affectionate kiss to
her forehead, watching as Hannyuu curled up a bit more against her and closed her eyes in
exhaustion.
Akemi kept gently petting that soft pink hair, both to keep Hannyuu calm and happy, and
herself, this girl she was quickly becoming her top priority in the world. She didn’t quite
know if it was right to call her her daughter, not when Hannyuu had never mentioned a
mother, or even a father. While she did hope she might find her real parents, a part of her…
just hoped to be able to shelter her forever, confident in her ability to keep her happy and
healthy, and most importantly safe from those who mean her harm.
“Hey Akemi? Could… I ask you something?” Hannyuu asked as she sat up, her whole body
betraying her nervousness. It was her carmine eyes that struck Akemi though, as they seemed
to light up with unexpressed emotions that Akemi didn’t dare put a name to.
“What is it dear?” Akemi asked as she sat up also. “I won’t get upset if you just ask me
things.”
“I-I know just… Back at that store you said something I was curious about. You… called me
your daughter… d-did you mean that?” Hannyuu asked with folded ears, and a hint of hope
lacing her tone.
Akemi’s eyes widened as she remember that was exactly what she did, her mind already
thinking about why she said it. “I did… That is what it has felt like. I’ve… never actually had
kids before, but I feel like this is… what being a mom would feel like. When you’re happy,
I’m happy. When you’re proud about something, I feel proud. Seeing you grow these past
few weeks has given me more joy than honestly the rest of my life.” Akemi said and wiped
her own eyes. “Is that something you want? I’d love to be able to call you… my daughter.”
Akemi admitted out loud what she had been thinking for a while.
She wasn’t surprised as Hannyuu nearly tackled her back into bed and purred up a storm. “I-I
want that… I can… call you Mama?” Hannyuu was clearly nervous as she asked, as if she
expected the offer to be taken back any moment.
“You can, I’d be happy to be your mom.” Akemi said and wrapped her arms and tails around
both of them as they quietly cried in joy and relief. It represented a shift in their relationship
they both hoped would last forever. No longer did their feelings and that growing love have
to be left unsaid.
8/3 Middle Fire Month
Akemi sat at the Inn room's desk, writing down some ideas as those fluffy tails swayed. It had
been two weeks since Akemi officially adopted Hannyuu, and Akemi's spies had done their
job in all the ways she wanted. She wanted to root out every last person who dared to hurt her
daughter, and her people.
"There are... two slave caravans run by those men, moving about 20 kilometers from the city,
they seem to be slowed down by attacks from raiders the past few days. They were demi-
humans, so maybe they were freeing their loved ones?" Akemi kept writing her information
down as she appeared to communicate with the air, but was really speaking to her distant fox
spirits that were spying around.
“I got a good chunk of their network tagged, all that is left is to… deal with them. They are
absolute scum, I will not need to feel bad about… killing them.” She thought as she almost
hated that soft, cowardly part of herself. The law had plenty of chances to deal with these
people, but seemed just as bad in some ways, accepting the bribes in return for the eye of
justice being blinded.
"Lets see… The most urgent issue that new caravan right outside the city with those knights,
so I'll have to deal with them also. I should hit all three caravans and try to make allies with
those demi-humans. Where to house them all... Ah! I guess that could work! I could work
some magic to make some basic housing and grow food. It should all work for temporary
shelter, and I could cast some illusions over it." laying on her stomach on the bed, Hannyuu
watched Akemi talk to herself and scribble down her ramblings, her own eyes drooping as
she tried to figure out what her new mom was doing. That thought still filled her tiny heart
with warm joy, enough to make her wiggle on the bed.
"You're going to free more people like me?" Akemi heard Hannyuu ask as those pink ears
twitched under that cloak. Ever since she was given that cloak she was rarely seen without it.
Those two had continued to bond, and that cloak was Akemi’s first gift to Hannyuu, and so
she treasured it.
"Yup. I can't let the humans get away with this, I wouldn't be able to live with myself
otherwise." it was funny to Akemi how quickly she was separating herself from being
'human'. In just a few weeks or so Akemi felt just wrong if she tried thinking of herself as
human, especially seeing how they were in this world. Hannyuu could sense that something
was wrong as Akemi stopped writing.
The Kitsune peered behind her as she felt thin arms wrap around her middle. "Sorry dear, I'm
just a bit worried is all. Why don't you get some sleep?" Akemi asked as she turned around to
scoop Hannyuu up, holding her close, both of them relaxing at the familiarity. “She is still so
tiny and light, I really need to insist she eat more then she does…” She thought as she laid
her back in the bed, and pulled those blankets up over her, tucking the girl in.
"Okay, can... you stay with me until I fall asleep? And.. do that thing so I don't have bad
dreams?" Akemi felt her heart continuously breaking these days. Most of it was anguish over
what has befallen Hannyuu, and over the maternal feelings that Hannyuu was giving her, how
she wished to protect this child at all costs. That anguish extended to the entire situation that
Demi-humans seemed to be in in the human countries. “I can’t change the past, but I can try
and keep others from getting hurt…”
"Of course dear. Hmm… Maybe I could enchant something that can let you cast it, a ring
would probably do. Of course I’ll be sure to tuck you in regardless." After tucking her inside
under those blankets she laid that cloak over her like another blanket. "If I can get my hands
on some good materials, I could make you even better clothes. I'd feel better if you wore
something that I enchanted." Akemi started to make a mental list of enchantments that would
keep her new most precious person safe. "Sorry I got distracted for a moment. I'll make sure
you have a good sleep kitten, love you." Akemi planted a kiss on the feline's forehead,
provoking a content smile from the girl as her tiny hand was held.
"Good night M-mama, love you too…" Hannyuu looked so tired and out of it that she didn’t
seem to catch the stupidly happy smile on Akemi’s face. Regardless it still struck Akemi right
in the heart, her breath catching for a moment as her throat felt like it was choking up.
"Goodnight, baby girl, sweet dreams."
Akemi laid down next to her until Hannyuu had drifted off to sleep, her heart still recovering
and feeling that happiness seep through her body, making tears spring to her eyes as she let
her maternal feelings take hold. Akemi cast a Deep Slumber spell to last for eight hours and
got back up, letting her Divine-level battle robes swap places with her casual clothes. Tonight
would be the night to put her plan into action. "[Protection from Arrows], [Anti-life cocoon],
[Infinity Wall], [Greater Illusion], [Greater Invisibility], [Multi-barrier], [Spacial Lock]."
Once Akemi cast her multitude of spells around Hannyuu, she cast similar spells on the room
itself. Mentally she located the caravan farthest from the city. "Now she'll be safe while I take
care of business. Mama will be back later, I love you…" Akemi took a few deep breathes as
she accepted things, such as now having a daughter that she would do anything to protect. It
was time to bust some slavers.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Things get real next chapter! This chapter was revised and updated 8/4/22, I added
a few more things and tried to make everything more clear. I hope you all enjoy Akemi
and Hannyuu’s bonding, Akemi’s unexpected journey into motherhood is a large part of
the story and partly inspired by my own wants that I can’t have. Such is life…
11/11/2022: I did some more clean up and updating, added a lot more content to this
chapter as I felt it was rather bare bones and didn’t do their character development
justice. I made Hannyuu a bit more childlike like she should be, writing children is
hard...
The Weight of Hope
Chapter Summary
Akemi puts her plan into action and meets people who will change her life, and help
show her her destiny. Yet it is a heavy burden to bare... The weight of hope.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you everyone for the reviews, follows, and favorites! They give me Life!
Standing high on a tree branch with an invisibility spell cloaking her Akemi stared down at
the caravan that was camped for the night. There were multiple fires going as the guards
around laughed around them. Some of them were drinking, some were eating right in front of
the large cages on the back of their wagons, taunting the starved and miserable demi-humans
within.
Akemi growled quietly as she took stock of the entire situation. “Ten cages, seems to be
about 20 people packed into each cage. I can’t take long.” Her passive Tremor sense and
Arbor Sense told her that there were more presences approaching the caravan from deeper in
the forest. Taking a few sniffs of the air she gained more information. “Some smell like
Hannyuu, others just don’t smell human, so I'm guessing more demi-humans. This works
perfectly, I’ll need to act first to get their trust though..” Akemi hopped down among all
those caravan guards while her invisibility held firm.
She walked near the fire where she could be seen and dropped her spell. It didn’t take long
for them notice her. Their heads whipped around as it seemed they sensed her before looking
at her. It was hard not to notice her with the light of the fires reflecting off her armored robes.
“A demi-human?! We’re under attack!” One of the guards shouted loudly. Akemi let them all
surrounded her, not feeling much threat from them. She waited until she felt some of the
Demi-humans in the trees arrive and watch. Those in the cages also seemed to be paying rapt
attention, with some not believing what they were seeing. She heard one of them whisper
about her nine tails.
“[Mass Paralysis]. Why don’t you all take a seat right there.” She watched those guards
collapse on the ground, their muscles locking up and spasming. After making sure all the
guards were incapacitated Akemi waved to the tree line. “They’ll all be down for a good
hour, so I’d like to talk to your leader.” The leaves rustled as she called to the figures within.
With her ears she was able to pick up some quiet voices, mostly them discussing her and if
she was at all trustworthy, an ally, or some sort of enemy.
It took about a minute before a figure jump down from above. In the darkness Akemi first
saw ears and a tail with the figure’s silhouette, and moved away from the pile of guards over
towards the cages. “My name is Akemi. She gave a small bow to this woman as she walked
into the light of the fires. Akemi was pretty nervous, which might have showed on her
twitching tails, this was her first interaction with an adult demi-human after all. Once she got
a better look at the woman. From her brilliant crimson hair that was as wild as her eyes, to
her leather armored outfit that only covered some of her, leaving her midriff bare. The
woman’s gaze shifted between Akemi herself and all the guards she had so easily taken care
of with just a singular spell, the entire situation seeming to be under Akemi’s control.
Inside her mind Akemi was naturally doing the most reasonable thing for the moment and
internally panicking. “Oh shit shes hot… Focus Akemi! This is serious time! B-but she has
abs…” She thought, banishing the blush from her cheeks as best she could, praying it
couldn’t be seen in the firelight. She couldn’t help it… She was a woman with desires.
“I’m Kyouko. Can I assume you are here to free these captives as well? You clearly aren’t on
these human’s side. ” The woman was tense, watching Akemi worriedly. Akemi tilted her
head a bit “Did I scare them that bad?” Akemi’s ears folded slightly as she hoped that this
wouldn’t go badly.
“Yes I’m here to free them. I’m new to this… land, and I cannot stand that This-” She
gestured to the cages of slaves. “-Is allowed. So yes, I’m here to end this disgusting practice
of slavery and discrimination against my people that I’ve seen. I am a friend to your cause if
that is your goal, which I believe is the case from what I’ve seen through my sources. Sorry if
I might have startled you.” Kyouko seemed to study her a bit more as Akemi did the same.
Her figure was more toned then Akemi’s own, and she was clearly more intimidating due to
her height by over a foot, so at the insinuation that she was afraid Kyouko’s golden eyes took
on an annoyed glint as she stared into Akemi’s own crystal blue. “We thank you for helping
with this, we’ll take it from here.” Kyouko looked over her shoulders and nodded. More
demi-humans hopped down into the clearing, rushing over to the cages. Akemi watched as
they started to try pick locking the cages.
She figured it wouldn’t be that easy to gain their trust, despite being a demi-human herself.
Seeing them struggling with the lock Akemi thought for a moment. She pulled out an
obsidian colored tanto blade with her free hand and walked over to the crowd. She expected
them to shut her out from getting close, but most were still looking at her with a mixture of
fear and awe. “Allow me a try?” Kyouko was getting frustrated with the locks and took a few
steps back. “If you can then sure.”
With permission gained, Akemi’s tanto seemed to flash for a moment, the cut barely visible
even to the demi-humans sharper eyes. The dark blade sliced through the thick lock like it
was just water, letting those heavy halves of the lock clunk on the ground. “Here, with this
you could probably do it also.” She sheathed the blade and lightly tossed it to Kyouko.
The woman blinked as she caught the blade. Kyouko nodded and went to another cage to try
it as the other demi-humans began to help empty the cage of captives. As expected that lock
was cut through as easily as through paper when she tried it out, leading to her inspecting the
edge with rapture in her eyes.
“Thank you so much...” “A goddess?” Each person was chatting excitedly with each other,
but each seemed to thank Akemi personally. The Kitsune felt her face heat up further as she
saw another Kitsune woman in the crowd gave her a wink before returning to the others.
Akemi had to take some distance as her heart worked out a few things, like the pressure she
felt now. “I’ve shown them that I can help, I just have to keep it up. Two more groups to go.”
Her thoughts were interrupted as she felt a poke on her shoulder from behind.
Behind her Kyouko held out the blade she had given her “Thank you for this, sorry if I’m a
bit...” Akemi shook her head and pushed the blade back towards the wolf woman.
“Its not a problem, you keep that blade, use it to protect the ones you love. Its understandable
for you to be apprehensive about me, I did admit I’m not even originally from here. I
honestly want to stop this horrid abuse of demi-humans. If you all work with me, I can
promise you weapons as good as that, and so much more. I’m going to change things, in this
Kingdom and beyond, until all of our people are free. Will you help me?” Akemi asked with
a kind smile.
Kyouko’s ears folded a bit as she gave a nod. “You seem to know what you’re doing with
this... Do you have a plan?” The wolf woman asked, relaxing just a bit, but still appearing to
be all business.
“Indeed I do. There are two more caravans I plan to hit tonight, one of which is located about
ten kilometers from here. The other one is still back near E-Rantel and hasn’t left yet. How
many warriors do you have?” Akemi asked as she peeked behind Kyouko to see the guards
being piled together away from the group with some being strung upside down from the
trees.
“Only about fifteen, but some will need to stay behind with our freed brothers and sisters.”
Kyouko looked a bit apprehensive at dealing with two more caravans.
“Leave ten of them here to guard, I need you all to stay around here, I’ll be coming back for
you all. I know a place that will be safe for all of us, I plan to take any who want to come
with me. Five of you will work fine. We’ll have to hurry so bring the fastest.” Kyouko
nodded and went trotting back to her group. As they discussed the plan Akemi started to pull
more swords out of storage. Each was unique in blade and hilt, and even enchantments. “So
glad I forgot to clean out my inventory before the battle, I can at least arm them with some
experiments I did, better than what they have now.” She thought as she tried to remember just
when she made them.
Walking towards the group with an arm full of sheathed blades, Akemi looked a bit weighed
down, even if it realistically weighed almost nothing to her. She caught a few strange looks
from the fighters as she set them all down at her feet, gathering the people around. “I will
only be taking five of you, plus Kyouko, but you all need decent weapons to defend and fight
with. Sorry but those things look kind of dull and rusty, no offense.” Some of them looked a
bit grumpy as they held their blades.
“Luckily, I’ve brought presents for all of you. Pick any blade you like, each will serve you
well. Just remember that it will be Your blade, you don’t have to return them, if you’re going
to help me then it is my job to give you the tools to do it, and luckily for you I am one of the
best ‘tool’ makers around.” With that Akemi let them sort through the blades, their sounds of
awe rather pleasing to her ears.
She turned to face the crowd of former slaves who were resting by the fires and recovering,
as well as those keeping watch over those paralyzed guards. “I know you’ve all been under a
lot of stress, and that is certainly an understatement. I wish to help all of you get somewhere
safe when I return.” As she mentioned that she would return, a smaller Kitsune girl with just
a single tail gave a small whine “Y-you’re leaving?” Akemi leaned forward to ruffle the girl’s
hair and ears. “I’ll be back later tonight, don’t worry little one. I have other caravans I need to
free tonight.” She softly cupped the girl’s cheek, smiling brightly at the child “I promise that
all of this, the nightmare you were living in is over. I will End this disgusting practice of
theirs even if I have to tear it out by the roots.” Those words stunned the girl, as well as the
warm aura Akemi was giving off.
It was slow change, but soon that dull expression on her face changed into a mixture of
despair and relief. The tiny Kitsune girl latched onto the front of Akemi’s robes as tears
began to fall. As the girl cried, letting out what was likely all the built up sadness and
frustration over her slavery, torture, and other abuses, Akemi just crouched down and held
her close, rubbing her back. Akemi noticed a lot of warm smiles being directed at her,
especially by the likely mothers of the group, making Akemi look away while her cheeks
flushed.
Once the girl was slowing her crying, Akemi gently pulled her off herself. “I’ll be back, that
is a promise, I’m going to go get the bad guys for you dear~” Through her sniffles, the girl
giggled. “I’m Lirina, please come back big sister. Can you please find my Mama?” Akemi
could only smile and nod as she let one of the woman in the group hold Lirina instead. Once
again the young nine-tails felt her heart clench.
“Anyone here injured? I smell at least small amounts of blood from a lot of you. You know…
this will be faster, let me just… [Mass Cure Medium Wounds].” The light washed over all of
them, setting them chattering again.
Akemi waved to all of them as she stood up, heading back to the fighters. All of them were
looking at her funny, making her blush again. “L-lets just go… which five of you are coming
with me?”
Five of the group held up their hands, their blades either at their sides, or strapped on the
backs. “Those not coming be sure to guard them all well, also be sure to deal with those
guards before the spell wears off. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what to do with them, I’m
sure lots of you want some justice from them. If anyone has been abused by any of them,
then they have every right to kill their attacker. It won’t wear off for about forty-five more
minutes.” Akemi offered as she looked the group over, while the others went back to the
freed slaves.
Once those not coming on the mission left Akemi took stock of them all. “Names starting
from the right.” Akemi stood facing her new ‘troops’ with Kyouko standing next to her.
“Ethin.” “Van.” “Kriss”, “Taffy.” The last name made Akemi stifle a small laugh before
putting on her serious face again. “Sorry, Its just Taffy is candy where I come from. Please
continue.” She gave Taffy a small wink to hope he won’t think she was making fun of him.
“I’m Aetris.” The last one introduced himself as Akemi took some deep breathes. “Nice to
meet you all, I’m going to be running fast and I need you all to try and keep up, we can’t
spare any time getting there. So I’ll be casting some magic.”
“[Maximize Magic: Mass Haste], [Maximize magic: Mass Invigorate]. Follow me.” Akemi
said as she turn around and began jumping through the forest a slow enough speed they could
follow her. “I know I need to get them to fully trust me, but the longer it takes to get there, the
worse it will be for the slaves.” After getting over the shock of the spell filling their bodies
they all took off after the Kitsune, their now enhanced speed taking some getting used to.
With all of the buffs Akemi placed on them It took less than ten minutes to cross such a large
distance on foot, and Akemi knew she could have gotten there monumentally faster without
the followers, but they had just as much, if not more at stake in this fight then her, it was
important that she let them fight for that.
“Nearly there, there are about twenty of these bastards, so focus on taking them down hard
and fast before they can react.. There are some captives outside the cage being… abused. No
mercy for them I want them dead, but let any victims have that chance first...” Akemi shut
out the visions from her spying spirits, her fury just piling on from watching.
In a burst of speed Akemi dashed into the clearing, taking an arm off two guards with her
tails as they lay on top of a slave each, while kicking them into other guards standing around.
Once those two were taken care of Akemi stood guard over the two slaves who were still in a
state of numb shock. “Fucking bastards!” Pointing her nine tails at the guards she built up
some energy [Widen magic: Mass Arcane Bolt]!” The air in front of Akemi was saturated in
white arrows that took off into the crowding guards, impacting them with blunt type damage,
hitting limbs and cracking them, or just knocking them out with one in the chest or head.
Surprisingly none of them died instantly from her barrage, something Akemi was barely able
to do in her rage. Before Akemi had to deal with more of the guards rushing at her, her squad
dashed behind them and began to cut them down with ease. Their new blades shattering what
ever the guards carried. Both sides seemed surprised at the difference in weapon quality!
Akemi kept track of the situation, and barely missed a guard in hiding that looked a bit more
geared than the rest, casting a spell. She heard him mutter Message and knew she was too
late. [Maximized Widen Magic: Chain Lightning]!” Akemi tried to stop what ever message
he was trying to send but it had been several seconds and she knew that Message was near
instant. Even when the guard was turned to ash from the intensity of her spell, she knew time
was now of the essence. The guards were quickly suppressed as their weapons were all but
useless against their five opponents, soon to be completely at the demi-human’s mercy.
“Bastards! You fucking animals!” Shouted the last guard as he was pressed into a corner,
wildly swinging his broken sword. “You all should be ki-” His last words were cut short as
one of the wolf men, Kriss if she remembered right, removed the guard’s head. That plop of
the head hitting the ground seemed to signal them to move to the cages. There were even
more cages than the first one, all in all she could sense a good several hundred people within
them.
“Alright you five, I need you to guard this group. [Widen Magic: Mass Heal Medium
Wounds]!” Akemi didn’t know what injuries the group might have, but it should heal all the
now freed slaves of any wounds, as well as small ones her fighters gained.
“They were able to cast a Message spell before I could spot him, that was my mistake for
thinking there was no mages among them, for that I apologize. I will need to get to the next
caravan as quick as I can so I’ll need you five to stay here and protect everyone here. You can
do what you want with the guards, just let any prisoners who want to get first crack at them.
It is would take too long to run with everyone.”
Akemi seemed a little tired as she caught her breath. She placed a hand one one of the rings
on her left hand. “[Tear of Elysian] activate.” She muttered as her body took on a blue glow
while one of the three tears drop shapes on the ring faded from blue to black. “Using a
surprising amount of mp tonight… Stay here and I’ll be back soon enough. There is… wow, I
hadn’t counted exactly before, but at least fifty knights in their shiny armor are at the next
stop for me, I guess they had a plan after all. What are those caravan guards do- FUCK!”
Akemi looked panicked, which made everyone else panic.
“[Gate]. Go through that portal and you’ll be in a clearing, I’ll need you there to receive the
injured and… dead, I’ll be opening another one once everyone is through so you can help me
at the next stop. Go!” Akemi didn’t know if it was the snarl on her face, or her tails flailing
around and whipping the air up with so much force, but she must have been rather
intimidating to the group as they all looked away from her and rushed into the portal, pulling
along any unconscious slaves.
“What did you see?” Kriss asked as he stood near the portal.
“They’re just… killing them all! I gotta go NOW, protect them all!” Kriss was a bit shaken
up as he followed the group through the portal. “Please help them...” He whispered to the
empty night.
Akemi stopped for a moment and remembered the mass of unconscious guards in that camp
just thrown into a pile that hadn’t been dealt with yet. “I can’t just let them go either. [Widen
Magic: Vermilion Nova].” She spoke, watching as a large pillar of flames erupted from the
ground and consumed that camp and all the enemies within, the empty cages, tents, and
wagons. In a few moments only ashes were left and any fires extinguished with a few
cantrips. “[Greater Teleportation]!”
With a brief flash of blue light, Akemi appeared among the guards. Before anyone could
register that fact, limbs were already flying. Her tails were streaking through the air,
smoothly finding their marks with each pass. There was hardly any time to scream as Akemi
killed most of the guards in a gory mess faster than they could so much scream. Her last
strike was against a guard with an axe, standing above a chopping block with a shaking demi-
human woman with bound wrists and ankles stuck there. The man’s head went flying away,
clattering among the dropped weapons as all the bodies around hit the ground, with Akemi
kicking the headsman’s body away so it wouldn’t land on the poor woman on the block.
Akemi finally was able to take a moment to look around, and nearly puked, not at the death
she herself dealt out, but at the piles of demi-human bodies stacked around like garbage
waiting for the collector, like their lives meant absolutely nothing, it was just genocide... In a
few minutes the guards had killed a few hundred like a machine. It struck her then that this
was planned.
She covered her mouth and looked away from all the death. “Its okay.. I can fix this… It isn’t
anything like Yggdrasil but… I can do it.” She muttered to herself as she shook from disgust,
sorrow, and rage like none she had ever felt. She tasted metal, not realizing she was biting her
lip open to restrain the burning feeling in her veins that told her to rip and tear through the
kingdom, to take righteous vengeance for this. It didn’t take long for the Knights a small
distance away to notice that cacophony of noise being made by so many men dropping dead
in the fire light.
While the knights looked at her, Akemi was looking back, her eyes a pair of cold blue slits,
glaring death at those that opposed her. She didn’t even notice the magic coming off of
herself in waves from the rage inside of her. “[Gate]!” As all those knights stood away from
her a swirling blue portal appeared behind her that widened. The five she had taken along
appeared soon after. Soon they saw the other side of the portal. “Lady Ak-” They all were
struck just as speechless as she was.
“Free the survivors and carry the dead back through while I deal with them. Try and stabilize
the wounded till I join you, I can heal them at that place. Leave none of ours behind, alive or
dead.” Akemi must have looked like quite a sight, so covered in blood as she was, her teeth
and fangs clenched as she walked towards those knights, those flailing tails behind her
carrying a deceptive amount of power as they occasionally smacked the ground behind her as
hard as any war hammer. The tense standoff continued as she walked towards them, no one
daring to stop the men behind her from retrieving her people, though it would be slow work.
Muttering a quick cantrip, the blood on her vanished, leaving her looking clean again, but just
as horrifically furious. The magic only continued to radiate from herself, making the more
magically attuned knights shake like wet dogs, if they weren’t already from the feeling of
hopelessness they got from the thought of fighting her. Every piece of equipment she wore
looked to be of the highest quality they had ever seen.
“I should kill you right here and now!” Akemi’s eyes also noticed two figures hanging near
the back of the crowd. The older paladin adventurer she met before looking just as angry as
she was for some reason, and tiny Ana who looked ashamed of herself, as well as being
utterly terrified as she stared past Akemi and at the bodies that were barely visible.
“[Morning Sun].” Akemi muttered as she sent an orb of light high into the sky. The clearing
was soon illuminated in gory detail, making Ana turn around to puke as she finally got to see
what those noises by the tree line were that she didn’t want to make out with the fire light.
More of the knights chattered as Akemi’s features became clear as well.
One of the knights stepped forward, his great sword bared against his shoulder. “So Its just
another filthy Demi-human terrorist. We got word someone massacred the ones guarding the
other wagons. The Kingdom had a feeling that they would be attacked tonight when they set
off, and so we were brought in to deal with animals like you if you dared show up. You might
have gotten away with your crimes earlier, but you just threw your one advantage in the
cover of darkness away. By my authority granted by the Kingdom of Re-Estize, I sentence
you to death, so justice may be served in the King’s name. Surround her!” The knight was
one in black trimmed armor with some sort of emblem on his chest shouted.
As those fifty knights surrounded her, Akemi looked just as angry as before. She raised her
foot, just to slam her heel into the ground, letting them all feel the earth tremble right as
masses of vines and trees sprung up around them in a large radius, trapping them all with
Akemi. Such wide area silent magic seemed to shock more than a few of them. “You are
actually going to talk about crimes and justice? It seems this is all this kingdom is good for,
raping and murdering innocent people or turning a blind eye to those that do, rotten to the
core. If you are defending what the kingdom is doing to us demi-humans, you just prove
yourself evil barbarians. Attack me at the same time or one by one, it won’t matter to me, but
know if you attack me I cannot guarantee you’ll live. I won’t even use magic for this, you
aren’t worthy of that.” Akemi nearly snarled as her fingers twitched, aching to tear through
them all. Akemi clenched her fist and had started to reach into her inventory before pulling
back. “You aren’t worthy of being cut by my blade, my tails are more than enough for this.”
“We’ll string your body up for the crows! Men, she is just one Demi-human bitch! Kill her!”
Akemi grinned sadistically as those knights began to crowd around her, the ones with shields
in front, and the ones with spears stood behind them to poke out at her. Akemi felt like they
were all moving in slow motion as she danced around their attacks. When she got close
enough to their shields, they tried to use those to smash her to the ground, only to be
surprised as a singular tail extended from behind her and made a ring around her to press
against all of their shields faster than they could blink. In just a moment that same tail
whipped around to send the ring of men flying and rolling away.
Their formation was shattered as the gap in power started to get clearer. Tails lashed out to
tear off limbs and crush bones from from knights around her. They didn’t know where she
was for several moments as she just appeared near her next victim. Those that were running
towards the edge of her ‘arena’ she picked off with her tails that extended far past their
original length, sweeping their feet out from beneath them, often just severing them just as
sharp as any blade. She didn’t even need to look around her to find her target as those tails
homed in seemingly on their own accord.
Akemi was once again drenched in crimson as she turned that arena she made into a blood
bath. She was entirely too fast for even that Captain to keep track of, who only could watch
as his troops were decimated.
Soon the last soldier that was left standing besides their captain was left a bloody mess on the
ground. Akemi walked closer to that captain who was surprisingly standing firm and holding
his ground despite the fear in his eyes. Instinctively he knew he was outmatched, but was
being restrained by his pride.
Clicking his tongue he looked towards the adventurers “Brother! Come help me deal with
this wretch!” It took a moment, but Elliot made to rush over to join that knight, his attempt at
pulling Ana with him didn’t work as she dug in her heels. When he let go of her to look at her
Ana did not follow, and in fact separated herself from them as much as possible, still looking
sick to her stomach.
“I knew this request was off from the start! You said we were just helping your brother with a
mission, not committing genocide! I knew it sounded suspicious! This is your fault Elliot!
You never listen to anyone except yourself! I quit your team!” Ana soon looked less scared
and more angry at her ‘friend’ as the weight of all that was happening began to fall into place.
“Fine then filthy animal lover, you can die as a traitor!” This threat from her party leader
seemed to make Ana more scared then the prospect of fighting Akemi, her face quickly going
pale, her own self torn between fear, survival, and disgust. To her shock Elliot had raised up
his mace and had stepped forward to smash her skull in. She closed her eyes in fear and
anticipation. Someone she had trusted for months now was in a singular moment was
prepared to kill her just like that.
“You two have more important things to worry about than her, like me giving you the stump
treatment like your knights. Those hands commit evil and surely have been stained with
enough innocent blood, so I should remove them anyway.” Akemi had appeared in the path
of that mace and held it in her hand. Looking behind her she half smiled at Ana. “Are you
alright?” She asked before turning back to Elliot, lightly pushing him back.
“A-Akemi? Is that you?” Ana quietly asked as her eyes darted over Akemi, picking out hints
everywhere. There were not many people there with long black hair with blue eyes within E-
rantel.
“Why am I not surprised it is you?! I had a bad feeling about you from the very start Akemi.
Why can’t you Animals just accept your rightful place? You live in these lands by the mercy
of humanity, we should have hunted you all down from the start!” Elliot shouted as he held
his mace and shield at the ready. “[Minor Fortitude], [Lion’s Heart], [Harden Armor]!” The
paladin cast his spells on him and the knight.
“I am Captain Devon Rosewall of the fifty seventh division of his Majesty’s army. You fight
well for a Demi-human.” That captain stated while glaring at Akemi. They both seemed to
just be waiting for a signal to attack.
“Done buffing? Well I can’t say it was nice to meet you Devon, or you Elliot, but you
certainly earned this… well it isn’t much of a fight so far.” Akemi gave a mocking smile as
her tails hovered behind her while pointing at the two of them like nine scorpion stingers,
ready to rip them apart just like the others.
This just served to infuriate the two humans further as they rushed in together. Elliot raised
his mace to slam on Akemi’s face, only for it to be parried off course with a sharp fist that
only tapped against his wrist. As Elliot was sent off balance and struggling to hold his mace
from the hard impact on his now throbbing and likely broken wrist, Akemi took the moment
to stab a tail forward, impaling Elliot in the gut as she kept track of Devon moving behind
her. The look of shock in Elliot’s eyes almost pleased Akemi if she was more blood thirsty.
“[L-lesser smite]!” As one last gasp of resistance, Elliot let a flash of holy light fall and bash
against Akemi. His expression sunk as he didn’t see the pain on her face he thought she
would feel.
As Devon’s great sword swung down towards her neck he seemed to believe he had her, until
she had grasped the blade between her finger tips without looking. With her grasping the
blade itself it was like it was frozen in place no matter how Devon pushed or pulled, they
hadn’t even seen her react to the strike before she caught it on bare skin. “Fools, you should
be able to recognize someone out of your league. I throw your words back at you, know your
place! [Break lesser item]!” With a horrid crunching sound, that blade shattered into
thousands of metal shards no bigger then a piece of pencil lead.
Before he could be surprised, Akemi removed that tail from Elliot’s gut, and cut off both
arms with strikes far too fast for them to see, right before kicking him away and turning
around, swiping a tail downwards. Soon Devon was brought low as his legs disappeared
below the kneecap like many other knights. Both of them were left in the dirt writhing in pain
like the other knights.
Akemi stared down at them and for a moment forgot that they were even living beings with
how little some of them moved now. Some even had died from what she could sense. “[Mass
Stabilize Wounds], [Mass Widen Magic: Curse Wounds]” A green light washed over the
crowd of dismembered knights, including Elliot and Devon, and then a red one. Most of the
whimpering was reduced as their blood stopped flowing out, only barely keeping them alive,
though they didn’t know what the 2nd spell even did.
“Now that I’m sure I have all your attention, as well as your limbs, I’ll tell you why I’m
letting most of you live. I don’t like to kill, I don’t want to kill, I’m strong enough not to have
to.” Akemi explained as she looked around her. Just as she said not one of the knights were
dead yet, even if some wished they were. “Unlike you all I’m not blood thirsty and I hope
you will redeem yourselves, as much as I doubt scum like you lot will.” Looking down at
Devon and Elliot she shook her head. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a paladin Elliot, through
your anger and irrational hatred you failed to notice that your spell wouldn’t work on me, and
in fact healed me, not that I needed it. You of all people should have been able to feel that
something was off as a Divine magic caster, not that you deserve that title.” flipping Devon
over with her foot she stared down into his fearful eyes. “In fact…Never use Divine magic
again.” She told him as her voice reverberated throughout the area, those near them sensing
that she did more than just tell him that, not that she seemed inclined to tell any of them what
she did.
“And You, I want you to bring this message to your kingdom. Release all demi-humans from
servitude at once, and punish the slavers for their crimes. I will be finding the ones who
wronged each one of my people and I will take justice myself if you don’t. I will NOT let my
people suffer any longer, either accept these demands and release my people, or I will raze
this kingdom until they get the justice they deserve. I’ll collect your answer from the King
himself within the next few days, so be sure to tell him all this.” Devon just nodded in terror
as he tried to not hyperventilate.
All those knights soon feel the air knocked out of their lungs as gravity seemed to increase,
their eyes being pushed away from even looking at Akemi as light shone from her like a
beacon. The aura she put off made the weaker of those knights pass out. Elliot didn’t know
whether to laugh or cry as that unmistakable light seared his soul, even as he soon only could
look away from the majestic light and air she put off. “Is this… did a Goddess descend to…
the mortal plane?” He mumbled to himself before passing out under the strain being so near
her put him under.
Moving away from those two she arrived in front of Ana at the edge of the wooded circle,
who had been trying to find a way out. Turning around she whimpered as Akemi stood before
her. “So… this is what you are?” Akemi lowered her tails as she saw Ana glance nervously at
them, and at the blood coating her yet again. Akemi was pleased to see that Ana could even
look up at her with her Celestial Aura skill still active, it meant all she had gotten to know
about her was how she really was, she was an honest soul. “This one has a good heart.” She
thought as she let her passive skill turn off, it was useful for getting her point across.
“Yup, hope you are not too surprised.” With a few deep breathes and another cleaning spell,
Akemi tried to calm down from the bloodshed, as well as her desire for further fighting. “You
were the only one here who didn’t agree with what was going on, I’m glad we got to spend
that time together, I knew you were a good person. Are you alright? He wasn’t able to hurt
you right? Are… you going to be safe here?”
Anastasia looked a bit soothed by that before she looked over at Devon who was trying to
prop himself up with Elliot’s shield, glaring over at the both of them. “Maybe… Captain
Devon is one of the most infamous military captains in the Re-Estize Kingdom, his hatred for
Demi-humans and their supporters is well know, It is likely why they are here. If he is alive
then… I’ll probably be killed before I could even get halfway to the nearest border. If you’re
leaving them alive then… You may as well just kill me here, it would be a lot less painful
than what they’ll do to me.” The girl slumped to her knees as she felt her world crumbling in
all this, going with Elliot was the worst mistake of her life. A dry laugh followed the tears
that began to leak out.
Akemi just looked worried as she crouched down before the girl, offering her a kind smile
and a hand. “A third option is available. Come with me, I have nothing against humans in
general, just some of the more… immoral ones who cause misery for others. All races are
capable of evil, and all are capable of good. The fact you could stand and look me in the eye
under the full force of my Celestial Aura, tells me that you are someone I’d be happy to be
around, that your heart is good and in the right place. The fact Hannyuu trusts you enough to
pet her head also says a lot about who you are.” Akemi knew she was being a bit loose with
the power of her passive skill, but it did have a much harsher effect on those with a low
karma score, so to not be very affected the girl had to have high positive Karma, as well as
not being heavy with what Akemi thought of as ‘Sins’, such is the domain of one of the more
rare classes in Yggdrasil that only a few from different races possess.
Ana looked deep in contemplation. “If I go I’d be betraying everyone I know, the country
would never stop hunting me, other countries wouldn’t welcome me either if I was branded
as a traitor... M-my family near the border… If they find out I’m related to them…” Ana’s
tears started back up as she nearly reached for Akemi’s hands before letting her hand fall
back down.
As the girl trailed off Akemi reached into her inventory and pulled out a tiny clear bottle.
“If… you truly do not wish to come with me, then.. I won’t kill you, but I’ll leave you with
this.” Akemi grasped Ana’s hand and placed the bottle in Ana’s palm with a disheartened and
sad expression on her face. “If you drink this it will quickly and gently grant you a painless
death. I… do not want you to die, but that is a choice for you to make…” Akemi felt a sour
taste in her mouth as she wished the girl would just take her hand! It reminded her too much
of being given her own form of that very option she was giving Ana before being reborn.
Anastasia gulped as she stared at the bottle before shaking her head. “I’ll.. hold onto it, but
I’ll go with you to try and… make a proper decision, if you’ll have me. You know I never
held anything against Demi-humans, I couldn’t even see those guards killing them, or even
that area as they kept us in the back. Elliot didn’t even tell me nearly anything about this
quest…” Akemi nodded and stood up, holding her hand out for the younger woman once
again. Ana still looked like she was in shock as she grasped that hand.
Akemi’s face broke into a sad smile as she kept hold of Ana’s hand before she looked around.
Looking back over at the band of crippled knights she saw them squirming around as Devon
tried to regain control of the situation, checking on his men. “Two. Days. After that time I
will appear before your king when I deem the time right for your answer. This is not a
request, your king Will release my people, or I will unleash divine judgment on this Kingdom
of Sin. [Greater Teleportation].” After having said her piece her and Ana vanished in a small
burst of light while her arena began to wither and fade away, as well as the artificial light
high above, leaving them all in the darkness of the night.
Akemi quickly pushed Ana behind her as they appeared at the first camp. “It is time to move
out everyone. The others are already at the campsite we will be staying and are waiting for
us.” Akemi smiled over at Lirina while still holding Ana’s hand, her mind feeling just a bit
lighter at that adorable smile of the tiny Kitsune girl when she saw Akemi. “[Gate].” That
swirling gateway appeared before them all. Ana went through the portal at Akemi’s urging.
Akemi looked around the forest for anything out of the ordinary before leaving, and only
found those guards killed to the last man, with some of them strung up still with gaping holes
cut into them. “Guess they got their vengeance...” It was worth repeating that Akemi did not
like bloodshed, but she knew of it’s necessity on occasion.
Walking through the portal and letting it close behind her, Akemi noticed all the demi-
humans near the dead. Heads were matched with bodies and laid out in a organized fashion
so any family could be identified, nearly three hundred of them. The sounds of sobbing was
deafening as families found themselves split.
“Is this all of the deceased?” Akemi asked Kyouko as her ears slumped, finally she felt her
own exhaustion, mentally more than physically. “I am… not prepared for all of this.”
The wolf woman nodded, looking rather troubled. “Yeah, this is all of them. Do you have any
shovels? We’re going to need to dig graves soon before rot sets in, or otherwise cremate
them.” The poor woman sounded lost as she looked around the camp, at all the grief stricken
former slaves, their lives stolen away for years, or even their whole life.
Akemi herself looked like she was struggling with a decision herself. “Not needed.” Akemi
noted as she walked towards the dead. “Everyone, I know this is a night of tragedy, but I need
everyone to get clear of our deceased.” Most of them complied as they stepped away from
their loved ones with unsteady feet. Others had to be moved a bit forcefully, screaming their
rage and sadness into the chilly night. One of voices she recognized was the pained cries of
Lirina, who sobbed over the beheaded corpse of a green haired Kitsune, the sound adding to
the agony in the air. Once all were clear she stepped forward. She could feel their curiosity
and trust, as well as tentative hope from them all.
Taking a few deep breathes she looked over each dead demi-human lined up, and felt her
eyes watering, especially with each child she passed over, her mind not able to help itself
from adding Hannyuu among them in her mind. “Everyone stand back and do not interfere.”
Ana herself stepped away from Akemi, curious about what would happen, even as she herself
was saddened by all the dead. She thankfully had no one paying attention to her to see she
was a human in this situation of so many lives snuffed out by humanity, which would make
her a prime target for blame by association.
As the tears in Akemi’s eyes began to drip down her face, a dome of magic glyphs appeared
around the Kitsune to light up the night. Her brow furrowed in concentration while magic
power rolled off of her in visible waves, making those magically attuned back away from it’s
intensity. “I cannot guarantee I will succeed, but… This is one of the strongest spells I
possess.” After a minute of strained silence Akemi opened her eyes and spread out her arms,
the dome around her expanding as well as her magic was let loose [Super Tier Magic: Grand
Miracle]!” Like a light from the heavens, a pillar of radiance fell from the sky, encompassing
the dead and turning the night into the brightest dawn.
The light was warm and inviting, as if the first light one sees when they enter the world to
welcome them to life, holy and healing.
As the magic was being absorbed by the dead, the wounds on them began to heal, limbs and
heads reattaching, their bodies soon lacking their previous lifeless complexion. Through all
of this a few of the bodies seemed to burst into blue flame, leaving just ash in it’s wake. That
light pillar narrowed until it vanished, leaving the smell of burnt air and what would feel like
an electric charge. They all held their breathes as the dead began to slowly open their eyes, as
if waking from a long sleep.
Families began to rush down to reunite with their formerly dead loved ones, that sorrow that
filled the air being replaced by bright hope and joy. Aside from a small section who stared at
the ash piles left where the bodies were, the evening breeze in the meadow they were in
starting to set them adrift.
Akemi watched as Lirina was released to nearly fly over towards who Akemi assumed was
her mother. “Good, I’m so glad they’ll be alright…” While she would have certainly
adopted Lirina also, it was better that she was reunited with her mother.
Ana stood back as she had to just take in the scene, not noticing the tears streaming down her
face. Akemi nodded to her and went to the group that was in mourning. “Isan…Why… Why
did my dear Isan not c-come back like the others?! This isn’t fair!” One of the women cried
being held up by some of the others.
With an empathetic look Akemi met all of their eyes as she grasped the woman’s hand with
as much gentleness as she could. “I’m sorry for your loss... Resurrection magic is not
absolute I’m afraid, there are… multiple ways it can fail.” Seeing them all still not being
satisfied with her answer she nodded “It can fail by the target not having enough life force
remaining, or by their spirit declining the chance to rejoin this realm. Some were at peace and
did not wish to return, some just wished to be free and not return to haunting memories, I
remember this as I touched each of their souls.” Akemi had almost said experience points,
but this world seemed too different from a game to use it’s terminology, it was far too… real,
it needed real emotions and empathy to deal with. “They didn’t lose a raid, or territory, or
guild battle, they lost family and friends…” She quietly reflected on where her life had ended
up.
Akemi stepped closer and let them all pile closer in a large embrace. “They would be happy
I’m sure… If you continue on in their memory, it will get better. I will do my best to make it
so.” Akemi felt those words in her soul, feeling the emotions of these people that had
suffered so much, and for so long seep into her. “Did I also gain empathetic abilities from
being a Kitsune? A class trait?” She couldn’t find it in herself to regret it if she did have that
ability.
Akemi released the group and walked back over to Ana who had her back pressed to a tree
and was getting stared down by Kyouko, her hand on the weapon Akemi gave her. “No
disrespect Lady Akemi, but may I ask what a human is doing here?” Ana just looked
distressed and guilty. Akemi gently pat the girl’s hair and put her other hand on Kyouko’s
shoulder.
Looking around she saw several people glaring at Ana with murder in their eyes “Before you
judge her for the actions of other humans, she stood up for us all against at least fifty knights
and her own party member who would have killed her if I hadn’t stepped in. She stood up for
what was moral and good rather than her own safety. If I left her they would have killed her,
and that is something I will not allow to happen to an innocent soul, I can also vouch for her
as well. I do not judge humans and demi-humans differently, please remember that. There are
both human and demi-human slaves as well, and both deserve protection and love. Our group
will not be just demi-humans, it is something that everyone will need to accept if they wish to
stay.” Akemi told them all with finality in her voice, if they didn’t want Ana there, who was
innocent to their plight, they were welcome to leave.
Kyouko nodded as she walked away a small distance and slid down to sit against a tree, deep
in thought. She seemed out of it for the night, something Akemi could understand, it was far
too rough of a night.
“Please don’t take it personally Ana, I think she has had a lot of trouble also. I’m glad you’re
okay, I mean that truly…” Akemi said and accepted the hug from Ana as the girl nearly
collapsed against her in silent tears. Her own party leader had tried to kill her on the spot,
someone who she had trusted for months…
A few hours later Akemi finally finished setting her multiple overlapping spells nearly as
wide as she could make them to give them as much shelter as possible. With more spell work
she had made several plants and trees sprout around them, growing multiple bushes and trees
heavy with fruit a small distance away from the group. Standing back up Akemi pulled out
blanket after blanket, axes, pickaxes, more swords, as well as a mass of generic clothing she
had created with magic the day before. She set all of this down for everyone on a large tarp
she had some volunteers help her lay out.
Walking back to the tired looking group she clapped her hands a few times. “Everyone please
listen.” As soon as she saw every eye on herself she gestured to the large pile of stuff she had
left out in a semi organized manner, and towards the grove of trees and bushes around them.
“I need to return to my own loved one for the night. I will be moving here with you
tomorrow, and we shall turn this land into a home for now. This will be temporary until we
find a more permanent area we might move to, but it will serve us well for now. There is
food, clothes, and tools for all who need them, as well as weapons for those who feel they
need them. This land will not be found by any wanderers or anyone else from outside due to
barriers I have set up, so feel safe for this night. Get some rest please, the real work begins
tomorrow.” Akemi gave a small bow as she felt her own tiredness grow with each movement.
Once the group was distracted by the goodies she had left behind, Akemi cast Greater
teleportation and fled back to E-Rantel far past midnight.
“I’m home...” Akemi looked around the Inn room and saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Hannyuu still was sleeping peacefully, covered in the metric ton of barrier spells Akemi cast
before leaving, tucked into bed comfortably in a peaceful and dreamless sleep. Akemi
couldn’t help but smile at the child who stole her heart, and refused to give it back. “Mama is
back...” Akemi quickly changed from her armored battle robes, divine level pieces of gear
that were by far overkill for the level of resistance that day. She put on more comfortable
shorts and a tank top from her storage in their place while giving herself one last pass over
with cleaning magic.
Akemi sighed in relief as she slipped into bed next to Hannyuu after dispelling all the spells
around her daughter, her body finally getting some rest. “See you in the morning my lovely
kitten.” Akemi whispered as she gave one of Hannyuu’s ears a careful pet before she tucked
herself into bed next to the girl. “Hopefully tomorrow is better.” Akemi hoped she wouldn’t
have nightmares, but she knew she had seen things that would stick in her mind for the rest of
her life.
Chapter End Notes
A/N Thank you everyone for taking the time to read! This was edited and revised on
8/4/22, and I hope it is more readable and of higher quality than before.
Further edited 11/17. Holy fuck I had left a lot of errors…

Breaking Ground
Chapter Summary
Ground is finally broken on a new project, and Akemi discovers a potential obstacle to
her goals.
Chapter Notes
A/N Thanks everyone for the reviews, favorites, and follows, they really keep me going!
The sun was slowly filling the room with a soft warmth, seeping through the curtains that
were hung up. With a rub of her eyes, a tiny feline demi-human sat up and stretched.
Hannyuu looked to her right and smiled. It was strange for Akemi to be asleep longer then
her. The girl didn’t wanna get up just yet, and laid her head back down to snuggle up to the
Kitsune. “Mama...” It was nice, she felt more peace then she had since… She didn’t know
when, she lost track of years down in those dungeons and cells, only seeing the outside of
those bars when she was dragged into other rooms.
As her thoughts brushed those nightmarish years she felt her body shiver and huddle closer to
Akemi. Tears pricked her eyes as memories flooded in no matter how hard Hannyuu tried to
keep them out.
Just as Hannyuu felt a few sobs start to rise up, as if responding to those tears and whimpers,
Akemi reached out unconsciously and hugged Hannyuu closer to herself, those fluffy tails
wrapping around both of them. Those memories slowed as the feeling of safety that the feline
associated with Akemi covered her in a protective warmth. Hannyuu felt herself dozing back
to sleep as she held those feelings inside of her heart.
A few hours later, with the sun higher in the sky, Akemi slowly stirred. When she opened up
her eyes Akemi smiled down at Hannyuu who was still dozing. Snuggled in against Akemi,
with Akemi’s tails wrapped around her like an extra blanket, it struck Akemi hard in the
heart. “Guess I got my dream after all… I can be a mother...” These thoughts had been in
Akemi’s heads for the past few weeks, and they never failed at putting her in a happy mood.
Leaving a kiss on the top of Hannyuu’s head she rose carefully, tucking the girl back into the
blankets.
Setting on her desk chair Akemi thought about her situation some. As she remembered the
night before she felt like she would be sick. “That is what I have to fight against, I can’t just
back down anymore. I killed those people, I cut them into pieces... I nearly slaughtered the
knights also, am I turning into a monster?” Akemi looked back and Hannyuu and shook her
head “No… its all to protect her, to protect the others who keep suffering. I can’t be weak...”
She mumbled as she wandered over to the window, peering out the curtains at the street
below while trying to resist the nausea she felt.
Unsurprisingly there were more guards and troops marching around, she figured they would
be in an uproar. Sadly she had doubts about the kingdom releasing the demi-human slaves.
She knew there were some human slaves as well, but the laws were already being fixed on
that front thanks to this ‘golden princess’ the people talk about, soon there wouldn’t be any
human slaves besides the illegal underworld markets that she had her spirits investigating,
where the scum of this world reside.
There was a cute mewling yawn from the other side of the room, putting a smile on Akemi’s
face. “Good morning dear, sleep well?” She asked and set out some clothes for Hannyuu to
wear, as well as a change of clothes for herself, wouldn’t do to fight the government in her
pajamas after all.
“Mm, thanks for always using your magic to help with that m-mother..” Hannyuu looked so
unsure of herself at saying it that she avoided looking at Akemi directly.
“Well.. It is a mother’s job to look after their daughter.” Akemi grinned at Hannyuu and got
dressed “We got a lot to take care of today, so we’re going to get some breakfast. Some big
changes are probably going to be happening so...I found a place for us to live more
permanently for a while, its outside the city.” Akemi sat down on the bed and laid back.
“We are? I guess that is fine. Um… a-are we in trouble? Did something happen?” Hannyuu
asked, her ears folding as she looked at Akemi worriedly.
“Oh, I suppose you could say that...I rescued some people last night, people like us that the
Kingdom were using as slaves...I had to fight off lots of the kingdom’s knights, so they’re
pretty angry at me.” At her explanation Hannyuu just looked horribly worried.
“Did you get hurt?! P-please don’t get hurt...If you disappeared I- I couldn’t…” Hannyuu
became quickly emotional, zipping over to land on Akemi’s stomach as she laid down.
Hugging the young girl to herself Akemi sighed.
“No, they weren’t even able to touch me, I was pretty surprised how weak they all were. You
don’t need to worry about me! Your mom is tough as nails!” Hannyuu nodded and took a few
sobbing breathes.
“Please just… I don’t want anything to happen to y-you, the thought of it just...” Hugging
Hannyuu tightly Akemi sighed. If only she could show her daughter just how strong she is
she might be less worried. “How about this? Once we’re settled in our new home I’ll show
you one of many fun spells I can do? You’ll see you have nothing to worry about.” Akemi
tilted Hannyuu’s head and kissed her forehead, locking eyes so she understood.
“Okay mama...Can we get some food please?” She asked as she stood back up, holding her
stomach a bit as it rumbled. Akemi nodded and followed after her, but noticed something.
“You aren’t putting on the hood?” She asked and tried to smooth Hannyuu’s hair down a bit
before they left the room.
“I… want to try not using it, if people are mean I’ll put it back on… But I know you wouldn’t
let anyone like that get close, so if I’m near you I don’t think I’ll need to use it...I’m trying
to… be brave, like you are...” Akemi blushed a little and gave an adoring smile at Hannyuu.
“You can’t be as brave as me dear, you’re already so much braver, you’re the bravest girl I
know, and I’m so proud of you.” Akemi spoke and opened the door “Lets get some food in us
before we go.” Akemi put her own illusions.
Downstairs it was a pretty active as people talked about the panic in the night, gossiping
about what cause it to be day for an entire hour. One thought it was the Empire doing a
surprise attack, another thought it was the Slane theocracy. There even was something
thinking it was just something in the drinking water making people hallucinate.
“Even in this world people come up with conspiracy theories… Hey Malina, how are you?”
Akemi asked as she yawned.
Hannyuu popped herself up on a bar stool and gave a tiny smile to the wonderfully kind
innkeeper. “M-morning Malina.”
Malina brought both of them some bread, and meaty stew “Don’t tell anyone, but I gave you
two some extra meat.” She whispered conspiratorially. Underneath that outward casualness,
Akemi detected a hint of anxiety.
They ate in silent companionship for a while. Akemi was pleased that her daughter’s appetite
was approaching something normal for her age group, and she had even put on some weight.
Occasionally the two Demi-humans would pick up something someone said about Hannyuu’s
ears and tail poking out of her outfit. Neither expected to go unnoticed, especially with
Hannyuu’s light pink hair that stood out like a beacon in the lobby with her hood down.
For every two negative mutterings, there were at least one that either didn’t mind, or thought
she was adorable. “My daughter is the cutest after all~” Akemi thought as she made note of
who was saying nasty things.
Her musing was interrupted as she heard heavy boots marching outside the Inn, she tensed up
as three knights walked into the Inn. After scanning the room they looked locked on Hannyuu
for a moment. At first Akemi thought she might have to fight right there and then, but relaxed
as they left Hannyuu and herself alone.
Akemi placed her hand on Hannyuu’s shoulder “[Twin Pseudo Invisibility].” She muttered,
letting both of them fade from sight.
One of the knights started to pin posters up on the wall near the entrance. “There is a high
level warrant for the kill or capture of a multi tailed fox demi-human. She was described as
appearing in her late teens with black hair and blue eyes. This has also been posted as an
emergency quest in the adventurers guild, all gold or higher adventurers are asked to
participate in this. Do your King proud. Carry on.” The knights looked around for a moment,
but they didn’t seem to notice that two of the patrons disappeared in the middle of the lobby.
Once they were gone, Akemi relaxed the invisibility so Malina could see, who was now
staring at Akemi with a deadpan look. “What did you do...You know what… I don’t even
want to know, but please do not bring your trouble here.” Malina sighed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. On an unrelated note, we’re leaving today, moving
on to a more permanent home. As much as we love this place, we can’t stay here forever.”
Akemi smiled at Malina and stood up. Malina walked around the counter to the both of them.
Akemi leaned forward to hug Malina, smiling as she was hugged back. “Thank you for all
your help...You were.. the first friendly face I’ve seen in a long long time.” Akemi sniffled a
little as she tried to remember when was the last time someone was kind to her without
ulterior motives, even back in her old world.
“Its nothing big, its what any decent person should do. Both of you stay safe alright? you two
need each other more than you know, I can tell, in these weeks I’ve seen you both bond and it
is beautiful. Hannyuu, keep going, you’re going to grow up in a beautiful woman, and get
even stronger then you are now.” Malina seemed a bit emotional even as she tried to hold it
back.
The mask broke as Hannyuu hugged Malina tightly “Thank you...I’ll see you again sometime
okay? I promise that… I won’t give up, not anymore.” Both the woman hugged Hannyuu
tightly as they all got a bit emotional at that point.
“Alright, We’re going to go pack real quick, we won’t be coming out of the front door, just so
you know. I’ll try and keep in touch, you’ll know its me when you hear it. If any of them ask
about me, you can tell them whatever they want, I don’t want you to get caught in any lies for
me, If they want to come find me when I leave well… they will anyway I guess. Take this
also, if you use it it will transport you near me. It also can teleport you automatically based
on certain events. I made this especially for you. To use it just think about escaping as you
focus on it.” Malina nodded seriously as she took the simple wooden ring from Akemi and
put it on.
“I will, you two take care of yourself, I hope I see you again soon. I suppose there isn’t a low
chance of needing to flee perhaps… But I’d do it all again. You just do what you need to do.”
Malina said and waved the two off before returning to her work.
Akemi felt herself choke up a bit more and left up the stairs, keeping a hold of Hannyuu’s
hand.
Once they were back inside Akemi deactivated her spell and started to quickly stuff things
that were still out into her inventory. “Can you think of anything we might have forgotten
dear?” Akemi asked as Hannyuu hung back by the window.
“Nope, you put everything away already. I see some people in armor coming here...Is that
those knights?” Akemi groaned as she looked out the window. There were indeed a large
group of knights gathering outside the Inn. One of them pointed up into the window at her,
which triggered the planned assault they must have had. “Elliot must have remembered
where I said I’d be, Dumb Akemi… Oh well, I already knew being an adventurer was right
out as an option.” She mumbled to herself.
Akemi could hear the clatter downstairs and pulled Hannyuu close. She shrugged and took
off her illusions. At the sound of boots storming up the stairs and doors being bashed down
Akemi held Hannyuu close while she prepared her spell.
“[Greater Teleportation].” Akemi cast just as their door was kicked down into splinters. The
most they caught was maybe a glimpse of fading light before they disappeared into the ether,
far too late to try and stop them.
In a blue flash the two materialized in a sunny clearing in the forest. The sound disappeared
at their entrance, before the people in the settlement swarmed her area.
“Lady Akemi! Welcome back!” Shouted a tall demi-human that Akemi couldn’t quite
identify, besides being two heads taller then herself. “Who is this cutie?” another one asked.
At that point their attention turned to Hannyuu who moved behind Akemi while clinging to
her.
“Easy everyone, calm down please!” Once the cacophony of the crowd died down Akemi
moved Hannyuu in front of her, keeping an arm around her. “This is my daughter Hannyuu,
please treat her well. So… today is a good day to get some houses set up. Someone give me
an update on whats gone on today?” Akemi gave those cat ears a little scratch as she checked
around.
As if on cue Kyouko arrived into the area. “Lady Akemi, welcome back. So far we gathered
food and set up a place for the injured and those who were… revived to rest, as well as a
place for the children to stay occupied. We gathered enough wood for a few days, and set up
a patrol around the area.” Kyouko was all business that day it seemed. Akemi noticed that the
woman seemed to have become more sad looking overnight despite the near festive
atmosphere that permeated the camp.
“Alright everyone, I want you all to split how you wish so I can do this right. Families,
groups, or singles find an empty spot where I’ll be growing a home for you, I’ll adjust them
as you need. This is going to take most of the day so please everyone be patient. You have an
hour to get ready.” Akemi clapped her hands as she gave out her instructions. “Kyouko, come
with me please? Where is Ana by the way? I don’t see her around.” Akemi felt a bit worried.
“Hannyuu dear, would you like to join the kids over there? You might make some friends,
and they probably could use one also... I’ll be around if you need me alright? We’re safe
here.” Hannyuu looked nervous but nodded. Giving Akemi a tight hug that Akemi returned
before she ran off towards the other children away from the main group.
Kyouko sighed and followed Akemi into the shade as she spotted Ana sitting under a tree
away from the main group looking despondent. She looked out of it as she stared at
something in her hands. The Kitsune soon realized it was the bottle she had given her the
night prior. Akemi sat to the side of Ana, while Kyouko sat on the other side of the Kitsune,
both of them startling the human who stuffed her vial into her pockets.
“Lady Akemi! S-sorry for not coming over and saying Hi when you got here...” Akemi shook
her head as she patted the girl’s knee.
“Its fine Ana, relax. So… I want to know how you both are doing. Both of you look like
you’re having a rough time today. Maybe I can help? Also when did you both start calling me
Lady Akemi? Just call me Akemi like before.” Akemi kept a hand on both of their knees,
giving a squeeze to let them know she was there.
Ana seemed to think for a moment before giving a shuddering sigh. “Still just.. Getting over
what happened last night. I never expected I would become a traitor like that. I wasn’t the
most patriotic person, my village was pretty disconnected from the main parts of the
Kingdom, but I didn’t hate it either. If the King’s actions are taking the country down a path
like that then… Its for the best I separate from it. I hardly thought about how big of a
problem slavery was there, it was kept pretty quiet from most common folk, as only the rich
could afford a slave. Threatening to enslave someone was a pretty common threat. Now that
I’ve seen it I wouldn’t be able to go along with that kind of society or status quo. I don’t
regret last night but... It feels like my life and all I worked for is over now, that I may as
well… may as-” Akemi could tell Ana was choking up by that point as she couldn’t force the
words that she guessed Ana would say.
“It will be alright. Maybe the life you knew is over, but you’re still alive and here. Its a pretty
big change for you, but I’ll make sure the people here give you a chance, I seem to have some
sway around here after all.” Akemi elbowed the girl a bit before wrapping that arm around
her shoulder “Things will look up for you, you’ll see.”
Ana nodded and relaxed before leaning against Akemi, she felt so small, both physically and
in the world. Ana was at least grateful she seemed to have found a good friend, an amazing
friend. “Thank you Akemi...”
Akemi’s attention moved to her left to check on Kyouko. “How about you Kyouko? You
hanging on alright? I’m a bit worried… I know I haven’t known any of you very long, but
you can come to me for help if you need, even if you need to borrow one of these giant ears
to complain.” Akemi said, giving that knee another squeeze.
Kyouko looked a bit dead behind her eyes, clutching in on herself. “So… we rescued all the
caravans. Just… I couldn’t find my...” That dead look on the beautiful wolf woman’s face
morphed into grief as she grasped the roots around her, crunching them in her grip. “My
daughter...my wonderful Lorelei...I don’t know even where to look anymore!” She started to
clutch at her head as she began to break down.
Akemi felt ice fill her gut at this problem. Now that she herself was a mother she felt fear at
the problem Kyouko was facing. “I...I can’t imagine how that truly feels...But I’m sure we
can find her.” Akemi refused to think of that as wishful thinking. Even in the chance that her
daughter had already passed, it should be possible to revive her if she had enough of… her,
and it hadn’t been too long since death. At the very least Kyouko deserved to get closure.
“Its been five years! I can’t even find a single trace of her! What kind of mother am I?”
Akemi wrapped her other arm around the woman and hugged her close, it seemed that was all
she could do at the moment. Kyouko seemed to melt into her embrace and sob against her,
and soon Akemi joined her in crying while she held the two women close, Akemi ordered her
fox spirits to more actively investigate those underground markets, starting with the group
who she suspect had Hannyuu. It would take a while for them to get to the capital to follow a
trail, but it was her best bet.
“I promise you… I will find her, you’ve been fighting for this long, but you need rest for
today, I can tell you barely sleep. I don’t blame you for that...” Akemi just hugged them
tighter as she wondered if she was getting in over her head with making so many promises.
“Thank you… but I don’t think I can sleep, not right now, I need to stay busy…”
The first house Akemi grew was a challenge, it was the most detailed piece of druid magic
she had cast before, and it was a stretch of the definition of [Dominate Nature] as a spell. She
had made fancy sculptures before as was allowed in the game, but not a fancy house. She had
asked the family who was to live there for the details they wanted before she started and did
her best to create it. It was interesting to bend the spell around into something far more
flexible than she was used to.
When she was done she was already mentally tired of it, but she had the hang out it. She had
a method to her madness, growing a large tree first, and then forming the inside of the tree to
her own needs, forming something she thought was a work of art, it worked in harmony with
the still thriving tree wonderfully.
“There we go… Number nine. I’ll be back later to give you some basics, but for now I need
to take a lunch break.” Akemi grinned at the couple she had made a smaller house for.
“Thank you so much Lady Akemi!” For some reason the inhabitants had taken to kowtowing
or folding their hands before her like some weird worship. “Guess they are just all really
grateful, well a little too grateful maybe… Whatever makes them happy.”
Akemi started to head to where the food was set up and saw Hannyuu sitting with a few other
girls that looked her age. She looked nervous but Akemi could see a hint of a smile on her
girl’s lips as they chatted while eating together. That smile bloomed on her face though when
she saw Akemi, waving over towards her mother, which was eagerly returned.
Sitting away from the kids and grabbing some fruit Akemi watched the growing settlement
with an ecstatic feeling in her chest. “This might actually work out, it is rough, but it’s a start.
I need to think of somewhere more permanent though… I don’t like being so near the
Kingdom.” She thought as she nibbled her food. She soon caught sight of Kyouko and Ana
working together to clear more space for housing, destroying brush and digging up tree
stumps, or in Ana’s case using what magic she had to destroy the stumps. Kyouko seemed to
be instructing Ana more, and it was quite nice to see them get along with each other.
Her eyes couldn’t help but wander a bit as she marveled again at how much better her body
was compared to her previous life, how much sharper her senses were, it filled her with hope.
Her Kitsune eyes were amazing, she could every detail of a tree from yards away, or see the
individual insects from just as far. She could even see muscles rippling in effort and
individual sweat drops sliding down smooth skin, soaking the thin fabric of Kyouko and
Ana’s- “What the fuck stop stop! Why brain!?” She internally screamed, shaking her head as
if to get rid of the blush she found brightening her face so suddenly. A few of the men and
women around her were looking at her with knowing amusement on their faces.
“Oh my~ Lady Akemi seems to have seen something she likes.” an older woman commented
with a light hearted chuckle. Akemi’s ears folded down while her tails cocooned her a bit.
This just set a few of them laughing more. Once people got over seeing their cute leader
blushing like a school girl they seemed to disperse after grabbing some food themselves “Its
just hot today is all!”
“Annoying... Damn hormones, damn them for being cute...” She added that last bit half
consciously, but she knew it wasn’t the time to even think about things like that. She found
herself attracted to them for very different reasons, Ana for being utterly adorable and fun,
and Kyouko was rather… serious in a good way. Kyouko being very fit was certainly very
nice in her eyes. “Lady abs are wonderful…”
It was a long day after all. After another six hours she had finally gotten the houses grown, as
well as furnished with the needed amount of beds in each. She had to use up her ring’s two
remaining charges to refill her mana so she could keep casting Create Greater Item so many
times for the beds and some other furniture. Eventually she remembered something
important. “I never made those two homes, they kept being away when I was asking
around…” She grumbled in her head as she gave up. “I got a few extra rooms in mine…”
She went back out into the night, leaving the comfort of her own home that she had just
finished decking out and stocking with items to go find the two ladies that wouldn’t leave her
mind that day.
She found them both still doing busy work, organizing the tools and the other supplies in a
storehouse she had also made, barely chatting between each other, but not being hostile
either. “It is dinner time you two, you’ve been working just as long as me.” Akemi told them
as she tapped her foot.
“But Lady Akemi there is still so-” “But Akemi I need to earn my pla-” Akemi interrupted
the both of them by grabbing a hand each, and wrapping a tail around their waists for good
measure.
Akemi dragged both Ana and Kyouko away from doing more busy work now that it was
getting late and they both seemed as exhausted as herself. “Alright you two, you never
showed up when I called so I couldn’t make you a house, and even I’m absolutely tired, so
you get to stay in mine for now. If you want I can make some more homes for you both in the
morning. ” Akemi heard them snicker behind her as she kept their hands in her own. As she
entered her home she found Hannyuu setting out some plates of food from what Akemi had
said they would be having. It was nice for her to see her daughter helping out without being
asked, but she froze up as she saw that Hannyuu had set out four plates…
“Thank you for getting dinner ready dear, but... how did you already know I was bringing
them here?” Akemi was sweating a bit as she let go of the two women’s hands.
With an utterly peaceful smile Hannyuu looked over the three of them. “Oh, I just saw the
other two bedrooms you made in here mama, so… I just thought you would be, since you
three seemed to get along today.” Ana looked confused, while Kyouko just looked amused.
“Yes Lady Akemi, why did you seem to plan for us all to live here?” The wolf woman asked
with a smug look on her face. It was at that moment that Akemi saw a look that was far more
Kitsune than anything appear on Hannyuu’s face, it promised mischief and shenanigans…
“Well… you two hadn’t set up with any of the other groups, and you’ve been busy all day
like me. I’m just looking out for you two. You’re both also good company, I probably have
talked to you two the most out of everyone… except Hannyuu.” Akemi folded her ears and
looked away, pouting as she sat down at their freshly grown dinner table that was a part of the
home itself. “I’m a grown Kitsune dammit! Stop being weird about it! I blame not getting
proper teenage years for this…” She thought with absolutely no idea about a lot she was
feeling just then. “Thanks for plating dinner for us Hannyuu. Did you make any friends
today?” Her cheeks were finally cooling down as conversation started to fill the room, her
daughter describing some of the other kids she seemed to get on well with, it was enough to
put a smile on all three of their faces, though Kyouko’s looked incredibly sad, but that was
unfortunately understandable.
Akemi reached over to squeeze Kyouko’s hand “It will be okay, trust me.” Kyouko looked
conflicted, but took some deep breathes to calm back down.
“This is pretty good!” “Thanks you two.” Kyouko and Ana said as they dug in to dinner. The
food was all stuff Akemi had brought from the city and stored in her inventory for later, but it
was still piping hot and fresh. She had taken it out not long ago, and had yet to plate it before
she left.
Akemi felt strange and wonderful warm inside as they all ate, the food even tasted even better
than normal for some reason. She soon noticed that the others were looking at her strangely,
making her peek around. “W-what? Did I do something?”
The two woman on either side of her looked at each other and nodded. In unison they reached
over and wiped the tears away that were falling down Akemi’s face.
“O-oh...I-I don’t know… why am I crying?” Akemi rubbed her eyes with the heel of her
palms as her emotions seemed to run wild. Hannyuu went around the table and hugged
around Akemi along with the two women next to her.
It took a few minutes to realize that it was a sense of family and companionship that lit her up
inside. “When was the… the last time I really shared a dinner with a full table of family and
friends? Did I ever?” She pondered. It was a quiet dinner after that, as they all thought about
how Akemi seemed to need their help, just as they received it from her. Even their seemingly
all powerful leader wasn’t perfect.
Kyouko sat in front of the crackling fireplace on the couch Akemi had made appear with
magic, staring into those flames with a mind heavy with thoughts. Ana sat next to her where
Akemi had left her, leading to the awkward air as she thought of what to say.
“H-hey… Is there anything I can do for you? Get you something?” Ana asked worriedly as
she saw how deflated Kyouko had become.
“I… don’t know. I should eventually sleep if I can, so should you.” Kyouko said and leaned
back into the couch. With a tired smirk she reached over to put a hand on top of Ana’s head
and roughly ruffle her hair, snickering at the quiet complaints of the girl as her head was
moved back and forth.
“Glad to see you two are getting along.” Akemi said as she stepped down the stairs. “If you
want, I do have some drinks I can pull out. I used a sleeping spell to make sure Hannyuu
stays asleep, so we don’t need to be that quiet.” Akemi said and joined them on the couch,
slumping over between them. Soon her own head was being treated roughly by both women
as they ruffled her head. “Oiiii…”
“I wouldn’t turn down a drink before bed. What about you Ana, can you even drink?”
Kyouko teased, seeming to enjoy the pout the lone human gave.
“Of course I can! Such a bully I swear… Akemi is barely any taller than me and I’m nearly
seventeen.” Ana said and shook her head. “How old even are you Akemi?”
That question made Kyouko laugh under her breath. “Ana, Kitsunes get tails based on age,
and Lady Akemi has nine of them, so she is at least over nine hundred. I know a four tails,
though she is a lot taller than you Lady Akemi.”
The quiet that followed made them both look at Akemi curiously. “I’m a bit different than
most Kitsune. I’m actually nineteen, so you’re just a little off the mark Kyouko. Also I
thought I said to just call me Akemi?” Akemi pouted as she pulled out an unlabeled bottle
and some glasses. “Back in my… previous lands, I wouldn’t be old enough to drink, they
have it set far higher than here.”
As she poured them each a glass of red liquid the other two were stuck staring at her in mild
shock. “Nineteen? Wow I was way off then, I just thought you looked miraculously young for
your age… Well, Kitsunes don’t really age ugly.” Kyouko said and took a deep drink from
her glass. “So I guess I am the oldest, turned twenty five a few months back, lost track of
time honestly.” She didn’t seem to even be tasting the wine Akemi had poured.
“I think… this place will turn out okay.” Akemi said and took a sip of her own, staring into
the fire as the three of them started to lean on each other in the pleasant silence, it was rather
cozy.
The settlement was quiet as the moon filtered through all the fresh leaves that now filled the
clearing. A chill breeze rushed over the lone figure standing among the tree houses as her
piecing blue eyes stared into the darkness of the forest.
Akemi’s spirits on watch had spotted activity outside the antipathy barrier she had set up. It
was doing it’s job in driving away human spies, but those spies were dropping dead by
another force just outside her observation range.
In a flash of golden light her armor adorned her petite form, her Ex Oblivion in her hand. She
had felt the presence for a while now, but never so close. It was time to find out who had
been snooping on her. The admittedly basic illusions should be perfect against those below a
certain level, and hence should almost be perfect against denizens in this new world from
what she had seen, which left her with so many other ideas.
With a crack of the air Akemi was off, bouncing between trees like a lightning bolt, catching
up to that presence who didn’t seem to sense her yet. As she reached the end of her illusory
wall the presence began to move away from her
It was far faster then anything she had encountered in the world so far, and felt stronger as
well, even if it didn’t approach her own strength as far as she could tell. “Level forties, fifty at
most.”
She was still devouring the distance between them, leaving a short amount between them in
moments. “[Prismatic Barrier]!” At her command a large pyramid shaped barrier quickly
boxed in a large area around her and her target.
As her target stopped running Akemi as well stopped. Walking carefully into the clearing
where she knew the person or creature was on the other side of.
“Please come out now, as long as you do not mean me or mine any harm then I shall not do
any harm to you.” In the moonlight she spotted the small figure enter the clearing with her.
She didn’t know what to think at first when she saw her.
It was a girl in a maid’s outfit, with an assault rifle? She had on an eye patch and seemed to
almost move like a robot in ways. “An NPC? Greetings there, may I ask who it is that has
been trying to spy on me?” Only players would dress their servants in such obvious clothing,
with out of this world items like guns. On the bright side Akemi found her pretty adorable.
The girl looked upset, as much as their nearly expressionless face could reveal as she
surveyed the area around slowly, as if there would be a hole in the barrier. “The Supreme
Beings have designated this one as CZ2128 Delta.” CZ spoke in a calm, cold, and
emotionless voice.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Revised on 8/4/22. I hope it is better than it was before, I’m trying to make
everything line up better before continuing the story more, I left far too many plot holes.
Added more and did more cleanup 4/30/2023

Frenemies abound
Chapter Summary
Akemi comes face to face with an old frenemy and confronts wisps of her past.
Chapter Notes
“I feel like I've seen your gear before... Why don’t we just have a nice chat over here-” As
Akemi cast a silent create item spell to make a table and chairs, it all erupted into splinters
immediately, as well as several sparks coming off a small film around Akemi’s body.
Once those bullets coming from this strange maid stopped Akemi stepped forward.
“[Maximized Sense Statistics]. Level Forty-Six, ten levels in Gunner, three in sniper, three in
assassin, three in stalker, and twenty two other levels. From that I can tell that while you are
stronger than most everyone in this world, but you still fall short of being able to touch me
through high tier physical and magical nullification.” Even if this girl didn’t seem to change
her expression much, by her posture Akemi didn’t think she liked her stats being read like
that. Her spell was still working on the rest of her information, most of it heavily shielded
against scrying spells.
“None of those job classes I’ve seen in any of this world’s residents yet, so I’m assuming you
and your master aren’t of this world either. Judging by the guns, they are from where I was
from in fact.” CZ looked stuck on what to do, as if she didn’t think she might get caught in
any trap. She had put a hand to her ear and seemed to be talking quietly over Message.
“You are requested to release this barrier. If you harm this unit you will incur the wrath of
Lord Ainz Ooal Gown and the whole of Nazarick.” A bolt of recognition struck Akemi just
then. “They’re here? That could be bad...” Akemi thought as she stared at CZ as her spell
finished. Just as she suspected, her information listed her as an NPC of the guild Ainz Ooal
Gown.
“I believe I’ve gotten what information I need. Please do not spy on me further.” She told the
NPC, before vanishing from the girl’s sight, only to place a hand on her shoulder after
crossing the distance faster than even the NPC could tell, as was expected from the difference
in their stats and levels. “You can tell Momonga that I’ll be in touch.” She carefully spoke
before snapping her fingers, that large scale barrier shattering like glass. Like that CZ bolted
out of the clearing like a rabbit. “Well she was adorable.” She muttered to herself, suddenly
reminded of her own NPCs she didn’t get to take with her. “That is so not fair! Dammit I
wanna know how my Lilys would have acted if they came to life now…”
Akemi was given a lot to think about on her walk back. Her thoughts were interrupted pretty
quickly by some more spies watching her, though these were far weaker, level twenty at
most. In a non-surprising twist, one of those men dashed out silently behind her in an attempt
to assassinate her.
The Kitsune let that knife impact her shoulder, and heard it crack, the knife, not her shoulder.
Once she turned around that Assassin was holding his shattered arm in pain, whimpering
even.
Picking up that knife Akemi examined it. “Guessing this is one of the kingdom’s best
assassination weapons? With you probably being their best assassin?” All she got was a glare
from the masked man. “My passive skills prevent low level weapons and attacks from
hurting me, and even reflect the damage partially. I suggest your kingdom work on releasing
those slaves instead of trying to kill me and mine. Remember, I gave you two days till I come
get your King’s answer, and that time is already ticking.” Keeping that broken dagger she
waved for that men to run. “Remember! Less than two days!” Of course she got no response
as the men fled. “A busy night...”
Wandering back to her camp she tried to think on what all had happened in the past hour. It
could be dealt with in the morning...
Sleep would not return to Akemi once she had returned and curled up under the blankets with
Hannyuu. After hearing that Ainz Ooal Gown was in the new world it was hard to Not think
of bad things that might happen. They were a guild that once struck fear into player’s hearts,
or at least dread. “I doubt they ever forgave me for blocking off that entire realm to them...”
Maybe the new world will have tempered them, made them realize that this isn’t a game
anymore, that their actions have more consequences than just losing some Exp.
After climbing out of bed and tucking Hannyuu in some more Akemi left her tree house and
decided to go for a little run and deal with this before it became a problem.
Going for a run in her new body was always fun for her, just being able to run and enjoy
nature was amazing! One thing that bugged her was that she couldn’t feel much of any wind
even when she went as fast as she could.
Once she felt she was far enough, Akemi hopped to the top of the tallest tree she could find,
and just enjoyed the sunrise for a moment, psyching herself up for what had to be done.
“You’re just having to deal with one of the most frustrating guilds in all of Yggdrasil, I
thought they all quit?”
“[Message].” Unlike all the other times she had used the Message spell, it was not
immediately ending, proving to her that he was there even if he didn’t answer. She felt the
connection get established and nearly jumped off that tree.
“Hey there Momonga, small world isn’t it?” Akemi tried to keep her tone as light as she
could to hide her nervousness.
“Indeed. Of all the others I thought I’d find in this world, I find you instead. Thank you for
not injuring my servant.” Momonga sounded pretty confused for a moment, something she
wasn’t used to hearing from him.
“Of course, she caused no harm, and I don’t like needless violence. She is pretty cute
honestly, who ever made her has good taste. Is something the matter?” Akemi asked as she
made herself relax.
“Yes, my comrades and I worked quite hard on them all, I’m quite fond of all of Nazarick’s
NPCs. I know you well enough to know you have a hard time hurting anything you consider
cute. I wish I still had that video your Guild took of you nearly dying and refusing to attack
the Headhunting White Rabbit raid boss, I know the Internet had a laugh.” Momonga told her
with a very light chuckle.
“Hey! It wasn’t my fault the shitty Devs decided to make a boss in the form of an adorable
bunny! I swear they totally did that as a personal attack on me! How would I have been able
to look my little Kizuna in the face if I hurt it?” Akemi complained over their mental link.
“So why are you confused to be hearing from me especially? Your reaction seemed a bit off.”
Momonga was quiet for a moment, likely choosing his words carefully “I was confused by it
because by all accounts you are dead. If this is where you ended up I hope you are enjoying
it.” He said in a strangely kind voice.
“I was? Sounds about right I guess. Sorry for the sudden call Momonga, I know it is pretty
early and all, hope I didn’t wake you up. How did you find me anyway?” If Momonga was
surprised by her nonchalance of being dead he didn’t verbalize it. “Despite some…
undesirable elements here, it is loads better than my previous life, so pretty nice.”
“No it is quite alright. I don’t sleep. While this is a surprise, It is not necessarily unwelcome,
I had wondered if I was the only one from Yggdrasil here or not. I was all but certain it was
you, after that stunt in the guild in E-Rantel, anyone who knew about Natura would know
what your weapon looks like. Surely you didn’t call just to say hello though?” He didn’t
sound annoyed at least.
“It would be a better conversation to be had face to face I believe. What do you say?” The
Kitsune asked as she lightly swung her legs on the branch she was sitting on.
“Very well, Any particular time or place? As poor manners as it is, I would rather not invite a
former enemy into the tomb.” He was certainly holding a bit of a grudge on her as far as
Akemi could tell.
“You got to bring your guild base here?! That isn’t fair at all... Maybe Mid-day? Unless you
have something else going on. Most times are fine by me, though I do have an appointment
two days from now or less, it is flexible though. If my presence is a worry, than how about a
neutral area? Are the Katze Plains fine? It is near me and I don’t know too much about the
landscape yet, never been there. If it makes you feel better, feel free to bring some guild
members or NPCs.”
There was an uncomfortable amount of silence from the line “Noon it is.” He sounded really
nervous by the end of call, even if he tried to force himself to stay to character.
Feeling the call disconnect Akemi let out a groan, holding her head like it hurt. “He totally
hates me doesn’t he?! I need to get ready...Ugh... [Greater Teleportation].” She nearly got
stabbed with something the second she popped into existence in her own home. A fork was
inches away from her eyeball, only being stopped by her damage nullification, being held by
Kyouko standing a foot away where she was eating breakfast. Ana, the poor soul, had some
of her breakfast on her head from where Kyouko bolted up and knocked the table. The call
must have taken longer than she thought…
“S-sorry? Let me fix this up...”
After a short clean up, including Ana changing clothes to some simple trousers and a green
blouse, Akemi sat down for breakfast with them. “So where were you this morning Akemi?”
Ana asked carefully, she seemed unsure just how much leeway she had with their leader.
Akemi looked a bit embarrassed to be called out like she was “Um...I felt like going for a run
since I couldn’t really… sleep.” Akemi internally debated about lying to them, It was way
above their level to deal with and such, but... “I found out an... acquittance is in these lands
now, and I’m going to meet them later.” Akemi’s tails whipped around, matching her heart’s
anxiety.
“Are they an enemy, or a friend? I don’t think you should go alone.” Kyouko said as she set
her spoon down to fully look at the Kitsune woman.
“Mama...” Hannyuu’s ears folded down as her own worries started to act up. Akemi ruffled
up her hair a little and grinned “I’ll be fine. They used to be an enemy? I'm sure we both
would rather not be enemies, and there is little reason for us to still be such. They are overall
a rational and calm person, I believe it would be best I go alone...He is probably about as
strong as myself-”
“Are you saying we are weak Akemi?” Kyouko sounded affronted, lightly glaring at the
Kitsune that seemed to break the power scales she had known about her whole life.
She was quick to shake her head, trying to placate her quickly. “No no no! I just.. don’t want
you three to get hurt. You’ve both.. seen what I can do, and honestly... that wasn’t anywhere
close to all I can do... What I did to those knights and guards was just bullying almost,
playing with them. Besides Ainz, I haven’t sensed anyone getting close to my level. Please
don’t be offended, its not an insult on you, just that the world I’m from seems to have a
higher base amount of power then here...I mean-”
It took her a few moments to notice the strange stares they were shooting her, distrustful
looks with the exception of Hannyuu who looked more confused then anything.
“Lady Akemi, Is Ainz this person you might end up fighting? You’re from another... world?”
Akemi seemed to curl in on herself, her tails folding down just like her ears, especially at the
chill and impersonal tone that Kyouko had taken as she emphasized the title imposed on her.
She hadn’t meant to mention anything about her previous life if she could help it.
“I… think that is a good question also Akemi, what is going on? Please?” Ana chimed in, her
food forgotten as she leaned in towards Akemi with a complicated look on her face. Akemi
just looked even more distressed, tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes.
A loud noise caught their attention from an unexpected direction. Hannyuu had stood up and
slammed her small hands on the table, glaring at those two woman currently interrogating her
mother. “Leave her alone! Mama didn’t do anything to you two! She helped you both and this
is how you’re treating her!?” The tiny feline’s tail was sticking straight up and completely
fluffed up, while her teeth were bared, nearly hissing at them.
Akemi looked at her daughter with some relief. “Its... fine Hannyuu. So I haven’t told you
two everything. So what? I’ve still only known you two for less than a month! If you want
my entire life story you have to at least take me out to dinner a few times at least.” Akemi
tried to center herself by joking, to feel strong again as the sting of possible betrayal tried to
worm it’s way into her heart.
After Hannyuu’s outburst, Ana and Kyouko looked ashamed as they seemed to realize how
unfair they were being. “I’ll tell you three more later okay? I trust you both plenty, and it
goes without saying I trust you Hannyuu. I guess I could give an example you might be able
to understand with tier magic.“ Akemi said as she tried to once again relax.
Ana looked very curious at that, her interest going up at the mention of magic. “Yes, though I
can’t do much in the second tier yet, the topic is very interesting.” Ana looked a bit
embarrassed at that admission.
“We all start somewhere, no worries. So from what I’ve gathered only very few people can
use even the sixth tier?” Akemi asked as if it should be common to use that magic in the new
world.
“Y-yes..somewhere like only five people... Are you able to? Is that how you are so strong?”
Ana asked, though she had a feeling that wasn’t even close to the case, not by the sigh she
gave.
“I can use up to the tenth, as well as Super Tier magic, which is like an eleventh tier.” The
woman sipped her tea as she let the two other woman recover their composure. Hannyuu
didn’t seem to care, but she didn’t seem to know much about magic. That would be enjoyable
to teach, Akemi felt.
“So that spell you used to.. revive people is-” Kyouko started but Akemi just nodded with a
sigh, finishing off her food and standing up “Yeah that was Super Tier magic. I kinda don’t
wanna talk about it much right now.. There is a lot I’d have to unpack, like how I got here,
and just.. please trust me on this.” She asked with some tears in her eyes. The other seemed to
finally pick up on the fact that Akemi was being honest, and was getting quite upset from this
talk.
Ana and Kyouko looked at each other and nodded, they got up and hugged the small Kitsune
woman “I’m sorry” “I’m sorry.” They both chimed, holding Akemi as she cried a tiny bit.
Hannyuu came around the front of the group and hugged Akemi as well.
This seemed to set Akemi off more, trying to hug all three of them as she fell into their
embrace as they sat in their chairs. “T-this world is... so much better... I hated my old life!”
Was all she could choke out with so much pain left in her voice. They all could sense there
was a lot more to her story then they all assumed. Looking around at the others, each of them
made a silent agreement to protect their leader in what ways they could.
Akemi finally picked out a soft looking white and gold kimono from her storage, and let Ana
do her hair in beautiful braids for her. Kyouko was giving her strange looks all the while
during this “You aren’t going to wear your armor? Why do you make me worry about you?”
The wolf woman grumbled, her ears folding down.
“I’m going to a meeting, not a fight... probably. I can swap to my armor and weapon in an
instant, so I’ll be fine, even if I couldn’t use my weapons I still have my magic and my
unique skills to fall back on. You both worry too much.” Akemi tried to soothe them, mostly
unsuccessfully. “But thanks for worrying about me... You two take care of Hannyuu while
I’m gone?” That was a big step of trust for her, and they knew it. They could tell that girl was
her life, to be trusted to keep her safe said a lot about their standing with her. Ana knew
especially how anxious Hannyuu could get from what she had seen, but the small girl wasn’t
raising too much fuss about the two women living in the same house of her, so that was a
good sign.
“Y-yeah..” “We’ll protect her with our lives.” Strangely they were both blushing for this,
somehow this strong woman seemed to have an even stronger power over them that they
didn’t understand.
At the same time Akemi was blushing as she thought about the gravity of what she was
asking... leading to her brain filling with images of yesterday, making her tails curl around
herself. “Dumb brain… Whatever, no time to try and unpack that right now…” She thought
and sighed.
“I should probably get going... Hannyuu?” The tiny feline girl had poked her head into
Akemi’s room, looking scared out of her mind, her tail hanging low and her ears folded. It
was the sad eyes that hit Akemi the hardest though.
“Mama.. are you sure you have to go there?” Her ears drooped down as she went over to hug
her mother, which Akemi of course returned with just as much energy.
“I do... It is better to just get this out of the way. On the bright side, if I play my cards right
we could get a powerful ally for our cause. I know despite Ainz’s… calcium exterior, he can
be an honorable person.” Seeing as that wasn’t helping alleviate her daughter’s worries,
Akemi extracted a small mirror from her storage. “[Maximized Magic: Enchant Greater
Viewing], [Maximized Magic: Enchant Divination Binding].” Handing the mirror to her
daughter she ruffled her hair. “This will let you see me. You all can view the meeting with
this. You may see some strange looking or.. evil looking people, but it will be fine.” Akemi
hoped that the enchantment she placed on the mirror would stay, as it was likely that anti-
surveillance magic would be used. She keyed it directly to herself so it should resist most
dispel attempts, and any backlash would trigger on her location and not the mirror.
“Okay Mama... Don’t get hurt, you are not allowed to get hurt! C-come home...” Hannyuu
sniffled as the four of them found themselves in another pile.
“I will dear, don’t worry, just make sure to listen to Ana and Kyouko, they’re in charge. We
all seem to end up in group hugs a lot today... You two just trying to feel me up?” The
irresistible urge to tease the two woman sprung up from nowhere, even as the hug filled her
with warmth.
“Oh shut up... Don’t ruin the moment, just come back to us La- Akemi.” Kyouko got out,
taking care to make sure her hands were in appropriate places.
“Did you want me to? Come back to us and maybe I’ll think about it.” Ana teased back,
sniffling a little.
“Alright, before I lose my courage... I’m off! [Greater Teleportation]!” And like that she
vanish out of their grip.
The three fell against each other, but didn’t separate right away, the two adults making sure to
comfort Hannyuu as she started to shake. While Hannyuu didn’t distrust these two, she was
still not very comfortable without her new mother nearby, but she felt she had to eventually
get past that. The two woman that her mom seemed at least a little smitten with gave good
hugs, she could get used to them. “Mom trusts them, so I’ll try and trust them also.”
Arriving in the Katze plains, all she saw was a desolate plain that felt soaked in the blood of
the dead, it gave Akemi the creeps and was full of negative energy. “Maybe I should just...
[Widen Magic: Purification].” A golden shimmer seemed to flow through the air in massive
waves, spreading out in all directions on the Katze Plains. The dread in the air, as well as the
mist that the plains were famous for seemed to evaporate in the sun, at least for the
immediate future in that spot.
“That is better... [Mass Create Greater Item].” Shimmering into existence, a marble gazebo
appeared with a mahogany table and chairs to fill in the interior. Satisfied with her work
Akemi climbed the two steps inside and took a seat to wait. Taking out a jug of wine she had
gotten from an event quest she completed her preparations.
Not a few minutes later did she feel the tiny ripple of space as a gate opened about twenty
feet away. Stepping out of the shade she met ‘eyes’ with Ainz Ooal Gown. “Greetings Ainz. I
hope this world has been treating you well.” She offered cautiously, with as much confidence
as she could muster as she eyed the two woman he had brought with him, both in full battle
armor. She really hoped he was just being cautious...She didn’t want to be made a liar
towards her daughter. “If they make a move first, get back and try to run. If I can’t run… then
I guess big fox mode engage.” She thought to herself, dreading the next few minutes.
Ainz didn’t seem to have any problem, but the two woman just glared at her, and she could
almost hear growling coming from them. Perhaps they didn’t like the term of address? She
wasn’t about to call him Lord Ainz after all.
“I suppose the last time we met was at the Yggdrasil Convention two years ago, Greetings to
you as well Koich-” He stopped as she help up her hand, looking mildly surprised for a
skeleton.
“I’m sorry, but please do not use that name, it is one I never want to hear again. Akemi is the
name I always was most at home with. We may not be in the game, but even outside the
game that is the name I had always truly gone by.” She gave a small bow, but this didn’t seem
to appease those two women.
“It is fine, my apologizes for making you uncomfortable. You are looking well, far better than
when I last saw you.” He offered, though Akemi was having trouble getting a read on him
without facial movements. “Damn cheater.” She grumbled in her thoughts.
“Would you like to join me... I apologize, I forgot that your avatar was a skeleton for a
moment since it has been a long time since I’ve seen you, so I suppose the drinks will have to
wait. Regardless please join me in the shade. Who are these lovely ladies with you?” She
asked with a more natural smile. Underneath all that armor the two woman were quite
beautiful.
Ainz nodded to the two of them as they gave a slight bow to her. “I am Albedo, head of the
floor guardians of Nazarick.” It was obvious they were both here to guard their master,
Akemi supposed coming without her own gear on was for the best, as they slowly relaxed by
their facial expressions.
“I am Shalltear Bloodfallen, Guardian of the first, second, and third floors of Nazarick.” This
woman seemed at least somewhat more at ease than Albedo. That name was one she
remembered “Damn, so she is the one that gave more than a thousand players trouble in that
raid, so glad Natura didn’t participate in it…” She thought with relief.
“Albedo, Shalltear, you may change into something more comfortable, this isn’t a fight as I
said before.” Akemi could tell those two must be really stubborn about protecting him from
anything potentially threatening, he even seemed exasperated with the situation.
Akemi let those three enter the gazebo first, letting her frown for a moment at having been
reminded of that name she hated, she hoped her girls at home didn’t hear it, she didn’t want
to answer questions about it.
The two magic casters sat down and settled in for what they hoped would be productive talks.
“So.. you said you thought I was dead?” She asked but not seeming all that concerned about
it.
“Yes, there was no thinking though, your body was found after all still hooked into the game.
It was a surprisingly large scandal for the game, as it looked like using Longinus was what
killed you. There was rumors about shutting down the game if it wasn’t being shut down in
the first place.” Akemi’s eyes widened at that.
“I see... Well it wasn’t Yggdrasil’s fault, not that they would care if it killed a player or two,
who would stop them? The government? You saw how I looked at the convention two years
before, I was already dying by then, had been for years. At the end I looked even worse than
back then. I wasn’t going to make it to the end of the game... honestly it was better for it to
happen right then... being stuck bedridden and suffering would have been... I didn’t have to
do it myself, as was the plan that day. No matter what happened I wasn’t living past that day
and I wasn’t sad about that.” Akemi folded her ears as she tried to pull herself out of that
mental black hole.
“You did look pretty ill, I suppose that is not surprising, I apologize if bringing that up has
caused you distress.” Ainz folded his hands as he watched her. “So is this world more
agreeable for you?” He asked, seeming rather invested. He watched as Akemi’s face lit up
like it was Christmas, or at least what ever corporate mess it was in their world…
“Oh yes! I’ve been rather ecstatic about it all, besides certain... elements of this world. I’m
going to correct those wrongs as much as I can. This world has already given me things I
could only dream of in my past life... friends, family, a child… A chance to just… Live.”
Akemi seemed to glow as she smiled. “Did my guild end up in first? I had hoped my plan
worked, but I never got to see if it did.”
“If your goal was to destroy Providence for your guild, then yes. You can imagine how.. upset
they were, it was rather amusing in a way. Your guild from what I heard was still rather
broken up about hearing of your demise near the end though, but they partied plenty in your
name.” Akemi could tell Ainz was trying to spare her feelings in his phrasing.
“I can imagine just how pissed Providence was~ Forget letting the salt flow, I dug up a new
salt mine! I wish I could have seen it. They shouldn’t have brought out their guild item, they
were just asking for that to backfire.” Akemi’s face fell, as did her ears as he mentioned her
Guild. “I… didn’t mean to worry my guild... but I was going to die sooner rather then later. I
had hoped I could reassure everyone I was fine after I logged out for the last time, and then...
wrap things up to hopefully keep them from finding out about me. At least I didn’t have a
long and grueling death. As long as they all can move on without me to the next game I’m
content with that ending.” Akemi looked over her shoulder to give a reassuring smile where
she knew the mirror would be looking from.
“Is that same family you mentioned the ones watching with surveillance?” Ainz asked with a
warning tone, starting to show it was time for business.
“Yes, they were rather worried about me going here alone with a former enemy. At least I
hope it is former, right? I hope we can leave the past in the past, a fresh start for both of us in
this beautiful new world. Can you believe there are real trees? I hadn’t seen those since I was
just a child!” Akemi was still rather excited on that front, her tails waving back and forth.
“I see, that is acceptable I suppose. My own followers were not quite pleased with it either,
but I know if anything else that you are honorable in matters like this, you wouldn’t be
known as the goddess of light otherwise. Anything is better then that hellhole, on that I can
agree.” Ainz looked between his NPCs and actually chuckled.
Akemi quickly looked over her shoulder in a panic “P-please don’t use that nickname! Its
embarrassing! And people might end up actually believing it!” Akemi’s tails picked up pace
as her embarrassment rose.
“You have rather unique classes; classes and races seem to be rather real here… You seem to
have stronger emotions then last I saw you, either in game or in person, which may be
because of your new race. Undead have very little emotions, which has been somewhat of a
blessing so far, not that I can feel regret as much any more.” Ainz motioned for Albedo and
Shalltear to sit with them, who seemed reluctant to not be on guard against Akemi.
“If you so much as raise a spoon at our lord...” She couldn’t tell which of them spoke it, but it
may have been both of them. Akemi resisted rolling her eyes as she sipped from her cup.
“No reason to worry, I find it rather enjoyable to talk to you all. At least you understand
where I come from on certain issues Ainz. You got to bring your Guild?” Akemi asked and
gave Shalltear a wink.
Shalltear at least seemed to relax somewhat eventually, at least looking less like she was
ready to implode. After a moment the wink was returned, which seemed to amuse Akemi for
the moment.
Ainz cleared his throat as he noticed that silent exchange. “I was transported along with the
Great Tomb of Nazarick, and our NPCs are... well you can see that now. On that note, please
stop trying to seduce my subordinate.” Ainz seemed amused, especially seeing Akemi getting
flustered from that scolding.
“I..I. wasn’t...Whatever... I’m so jealous... I wish I could brought my Lillies, that would have
been nice, they were so cute... Well I got even prettier girls around me now so I suppose it
doesn’t matter. Speaking of that... You are aware I assume of the incident I caused the other
night?” It was time for her to address the elephant in the room.
“You’re mass crippling of knights and bringing the wrath of the kingdom towards you? Yes I
heard of it. I ask you do not make too much of a mess of the Kingdom, We have our own
intentions there.”
“They were weak, though it seems just about everyone in this world is far weaker then us. It
is... rather hard to not let that get to my head, but I have my own cause to champion. I have
no intentions for the Kingdom beyond freeing demi-humans and bettering their condition,
after that I intend to find a more permanent home for my people where we can live in peace,
so I hope you will not mind us in your sphere of influence for the time being. It would be a
good idea to make sure our plans do not step on each other’s toes. I have no desires to fight
you after all.” Akemi asked and finished her cup, feeling suddenly dry mouthed. She wasn’t
about to admit it, but she knew she couldn’t win against his entire guild. With his two
bodyguards near him she doubted she would be able to take on just the three of them, not
when she knew those floor guardians of Nazarick were purposefully at the level of minor
Raid level bosses. If it was just her against Ainz she didn’t have many doubts that she would
win based on both their skill sets, but being out numbered and his weaknesses covered by his
NPCs… the chance of victory would be far too small to bet on, nor did she want to fight him
at all. He was her last link so some people she missed, and she’d be damned before she
burned that bridge.
“I suppose that shouldn’t be a problem. I am not an ally of the Kingdom, but they may yet
have their uses. As long as you do not destroy their power balance, or the royal family then
all should be fine. Be careful what waves you make in the Adventurer’s guild as well.” The
air lightened as they seemed to come to an agreement.
“That is fine, I have no intentions of wanton slaughter, I dislike killing in general. I will be…
dropping in on the king in probably tomorrow to go make a point, I won’t kill anyone, or
harm the royal family. Feel free to watch with scrying, it should be amusing. I intend to
humiliate them to a degree though, after all the suffering they caused my people it is the least
they deserve…” Akemi took a deep breath as a bit of red entered her vision for a moment.
She perked back up soon after. “I have no intention of getting involved with the Adventurer’s
guild further honestly, they
“I am also looking for demi-human slaves that need to be freed, and in particular I am
looking for a child that is more than likely to be a slave; a red haired wolf girl, pre-teens or
early teens. I have many useful services I can offer in exchange for information leading to
her, very preferably alive. She has a mother that desperately deserves to be reunited with
her.” Akemi looked almost pleading when she talked about the missing child. If she could get
information on Kyouko’s daughter she would consider this meeting a victory.
“I apologize, I have not heard of the child you are looking for, but we are in the process of
infiltrating the Kingdom’s underworld, I may be able to find information for you. You have a
skill that could find what you need right? What would you offer in exchange?” Ainz asked,
already seeming to look for a benefit from a deal.
“I can make one masterwork weapon of the divine level, enchanted as you may wish as long
as you have the materials since obviously I didn’t get to take my guild and everything with
me…. I have unique skills and spells that may also be useful once I have a proper base of
operations set up. A finger in the right direction would suffice, I could scry our her location if
I know the area she might be in. I would use my skills to locate her... except for not having a
sufficient workshop for my spells, sadly I don’t see that being solved in the near future.”
Akemi felt exhausted already and it wasn’t even two in the afternoon. She had always let the
other officers in the guild talk business for her.
“I suppose that is more than fair for one slave girl. If I find a clue on her shall I send you a
Message?” Akemi breathed a sigh of relief at that, she really didn’t have much to offer that he
might want except for her crafting skills, she was lucky she had a reputation in the game for
her Master Artificer class skills and her enchanting services.
“Please. Feel free to contact me if you need a listening ear as well, okay? You have always
been quite pleasant to talk to and all.” Akemi said and put the rest of the wine in her storage.
She heard the Marble table crack a bit and looked to see Albedo and Shalltear glaring at her
hard. Akemi knew what was going on instantly and it was quite amusing “Oh sounds like you
are having plenty of fun in this world also.”
Ainz seemed like he would sigh if he had lungs, and even let off a green glow for just a
moment. He looked up and snorted. “There is no need for that you two, it is well known back
in Yggdrasil that the Goddess of Light only had eyes for the fairer sex.” He mentioned,
laughing internally as he got to see Akemi turn a vibrant red and just shrug indifferently, not
at all denying it though. At the very least Albedo and Shalltear weren’t glaring at her.
“My lord? What does that mean?” Albedo asked, just getting a stare from the other three
around. Akemi wanted to scream and looked pretty close to it, but Shalltear saved her from
that explanation.
“Well, when two ladies like each other very much-” Shalltear had started but stopped as
Akemi flailed her arms at her, nearly screeching. It seemed Akemi wasn’t the only one who
could tease…
“It means that there is no chance I’ll ever be after your lord’s heart, you can be assured of
that.” Akemi told Albedo and pouted at Ainz. “I said don’t call me that please… People will
take it seriously… If classes are real here, does that mean that..?” Akemi’s ears folded as she
seemed to finally get what he had meant earlier.
“It is more true now than ever, so I don’t think I’ll stop, my apologies. Yes, it means your
[Divine Being] class is more or less correct, congratulations on your apotheosis.” Ainz
replied sarcastically. He was getting comedy gold as it turned into Akemi’s turn to smash the
table, this time with her head.
“Well… It has been truthfully fun I suppose, but I need to be going, I probably have a lot of
explaining to do back at home.” Akemi slipped into a soft smile at the thought of her new
family.
“You already care that much about them don’t you? I suppose you would be the doting
mother type. It has been a productive meeting, and I have some business to attend to. It has
been a pleasure seeing you again, take care.” Ainz seemed pleased by the meeting Akemi
felt, and she supposed she was as well.
“[Greater Teleportation].” She had a daughter and two women to appease, even if she did not
yet know what those two were to her.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Revised on 8/4/22. Hope you all enjoyed it! There is room in Overlord Canon for
so many new classes, spells, and other such things and I really love just making things
like classes for that universe, Akemi’s character sheet is quite colorful. Not even sure
how many of the skills and classes will even be relevant ever.
Longinus vs World Savior
Chapter Summary
Akemi keeps her promise to her girls, and they learn the truth of how she came to their
world.
Chapter Notes
A huge exhale left Akemi as she finished teleporting into her home, the release of tension
making her fall forward and feel a bit faint. Her fall was stopped by two pairs of arms, and
one against her chest. “I never... want to do that again.” Akemi grumbled as she collapsed
with her three closest people.
“Then don’t! That Thing was so creepy...” Ana grumbled, dusting off the Kitsune woman,
before hugging her close.
“Agreed...Thank you though.. for asking about my daughter...” Kyouko said and looked into
Akemi’s eyes to properly convey that.
Akemi flushed at both those women being so.. close to her. She hugged Hannyuu tightly as
the kitten had wrapped around her right away. “Its alright you three… He really isn’t so bad,
Its over with. Now.. Lets go get comfortable...” She said with folded ears.
Ana and Kyouko nodded but looked confused. Hannyuu was too distracted keeping her
mother close. “I told you I would tell you more about me when I got back right?” Akemi
offered with a sad smile. “If I’m going to keep you two so close to me, I’d rather you just
know the full story…”
Beep Beep Beep Beep
The Neutral alarm app began to ring inside of the head of a tiny figure in bed, occasionally
being matched by the beep of a monitor next to their bed. It took a few minutes for them to
stir even as the sound was directly transmitted into their brain.
“Come on.. get up, Its the day...” She whimpered to herself and pried off the blankets. It took
a few more minutes for her to fully sit up on the side of the bed, and another to pull herself
into the electric wheelchair next to her bed without collapsing. She carefully moved her
health monitor onto their chair and wheeled herself through her apartment to the bathroom.
After getting her morning routine out of the way she dared peer into the dirty mirror and
could only sigh “Last login... last day..” She mumbled quietly as she saw just how tired she
looked. Dark circles rimmed the entirety of her hazy blue eyes, and her entire androgynous
body looked skeletal with the bones jutting out of her skin, even her hair was wispy like she
was already a corpse.
She wheeled into her tiny kitchen area by the living room and pondered “Could I even
stomach it..? Water it is..” she grasped a filtered water bottle and greedily gulped, feeling a
bit refreshed. The Iv drip was one thing, but it didn’t help her dry throat. She stared up at the
tubes of nutrient paste she just left on the counter for ease of access, the last of the food she
currently had, or really could stomach eating. “There isn’t much point, would just make me
nauseous anyway...” she mumbled and placed the tube back with a sigh, there was no
avoiding things...
She grasped the box on the counter and unpacked it. Inside the medical packaging was a
simple large bracelet, nothing fancy about the design besides a large button in the center of it
on the outside, almost like a watch without the time piece. She began to read the papers that
came with the box, though they had already read them a few times days prior
~Koichi-kun, I’m sorry but the board of health has decided that the most we can be allowed
to do for you is give you a humane exit as stipulated in Humax Co sponsored bill 1179. Even
with current treatment methods you were on, the most it might give you is a year or two, and
the pain would only increase. If you change your mind about gene therapy and can secure
financing please leave a message, I wish I could do more. When you feel you are ready, place
the device on your wrist tightly and hold down the button for 10 seconds. A no needle
pressure injector will deliver a chemical compound to induce a deep sleep for several
minutes, after which it will it deliver a drug that will finish things. I’m sorry that there is no
more we can do for you, but the board decided there was no future profit in your current
treatment. My hands are tied. -Dr Motonishi~
It was such a cold decision, but not surprising... Though she wished the doctor hadn’t
continued to use that name “My name isn’t Koichi...I told him to call me Akemi...” Honestly,
one of her biggest regrets was that her few family members who might remember her would
only remember her with that name, a boy’s name. All except her big brother who refused to
answer her calls. “I wish I could have talked to you again one last time Aniki, maybe this
would be less scary.” She doubted he knew what would be happening that day, but if he
didn’t want to talk to her one last time…
She sighed and set that box down, that would be for later, after her business was concluded.
“I can at least go out with a bang!” She told herself with as much enthusiasm as her tired
body could muster.
It wasn’t unexpected, she knew her treatments were a stop-gap measure for incurable
genetics and had accepted the end of her tale. While there was gene-therapy, it was far
beyond her monetary means by herself. “I guess I could have accepted Aniki’s offer to pay
but… No I’ve been enough of a burden on him, it isn’t like this world is worth staying in.”
“Lets get to it, the battle is in an hour...” She muttered and wheeled herself towards a large
chair in the center of her living space, connected to her computer by an array of wires.
It took a few minutes for her to climb up into the seat, already she felt like she could sleep a
day or two more just from that exertion. She strapped her body into the chair tightly, aligning
the neural port on her neck with the protruding adapter from the padded chair.
Slipping her arms into wide ports in the armrests, she let her visual field flood with
information directly into her brain from the implant. It was all normal. Her vitals showed up
and seemed to barely be within acceptable means to allow a full immersion game like
Yggdrasil.
It had taken a few emails and a letter from her doctor to get customer support to grant her
special exception to normal vital requirements to play, she guessed they might have taken
pity on her...She was thankful though, being able to play let her escape her wretched body for
a while, and her concentrated IV drip let her not have to log out for water and food like most
who would get booted for those values being too low.
She mentally navigated the menu before taking a look at her own body in the self image
viewer, cringing at how skeletal she looked, it didn’t feel like her body any more if it ever
did. Her virtual avatar felt far better, even with the lack of certain senses...Some more modern
DMMO-RPG had basic sense of smell input, but something about Yggdrasil still drew her in
for the years she played. It was too late to find a different game by then anyway.
With a few deep breathes, Akemi braced herself. Selecting the icon to dive into the game she
closed her eyes, feeling her senses leave her crippled body. The lack of pain that was normal
for her was a wonderful thing in itself, the absence perking up her mood considerably, she
loved technology for that...
When she got over the vertigo of her senses being muffled and shoved into her avatar she
opened her eyes. Looking over her slender female form she smiled, this is how she truly
should be... taking her first pain free steps she checked her inventory.
Her inventory was well stocked with items for the upcoming battle/war that was approaching.
She equipped her battle outfit and confirmed all her stats, reminding herself of the strategy
she thought up.
Akemi felt strong, ready for the challenge in front of her that day, her last day. She opened
the door of her private room in the guild hall and activated her guild bracelet.
De mundo, omnes nos venire, ut mundus nos omnes reditus was engraved on the band,
making Akemi trace over those simple words, contemplating them before teleporting. “From
the world we come, to the world we return...Suppose that will be true of me soon enough.”
She spoke with a bitter smile before teleporting.
With a small flash of blue flames, Akemi stepped into the armory. “Who is ready for the
party? Its time to make Prominence cry!” She said with a grin, looking around the room at
her guild mates. The core members of the guild, the leadership all stood around her decked
out in their Sunday best. She supposed not everyone was be able to fit in that one
room...They were one of the most populated guilds at over 500 registered players after all, it
wouldn’t be possible to be the second most powerful guild otherwise. Like most guilds
though, that registered number was the kicker, so many people had already quit the game…
In truth only about 150 to 200 players were still active in their guild.
“Damn right! Arrogant pricks!” Shouted one of the thirty or so in the room, soon gaining a
chorus of affirmations. Morale seemed good to her, she would need to answer their hope.
She looked to her best friend, a Paladin and her guild master. “Hilda, are you ready?” Akemi
asked as Hilda stared at her with worry creasing her forehead. Despite being in heavy white
and gold armor, she looked rather fragile as she held her folded arms close, not seeming to
feel the cheer and excitement in the air.
“You.. sure this is the best plan?” Hilda asked as they began to walk deeper into that hall
lined with all manner of equipment. “Once you do this you know what happens... we don’t
need to be number one. You sure you are okay?” Her friend asked the small Kitsune woman
as they reached a blank wall.
“Yeah, I’m alright…I need to do this, I’ll be too.. busy to make it to the game’s end like I
said. Let me do this…” Akemi put a hand on her taller friend’s shoulder.
With a sigh Hilda placed a hand on that empty wall “Includere haec peccata in terra, sepelire
lumen eorum oculis.” She spoke, her golden guild master only guild bracelet glowing as that
wall seemed to turn to a wall of leaves floating away, swirling about the newly opened dark
hallway in the wall.
They both started walking down the light-less corridor until a thick and hollow pillar in the
center of a larger room erupted in flames. The flames swirled upwards to light up the
cylindrical room, filled with floating platforms and hollows in the walls, almost like a large
library. Instead of books in these shelves, an item was stored instead, either of high monetary
value, or emotional value to the guild.
They both knew that what they sought wasn’t in those shelves, and walked closer to that
flaming pillar. With zero concern Hilda reached into the flame, grasping something inside
before pulling back.
In her hand was a spear. Gold serpents swirled up the thick shaft of wood from the world tree,
according to the lore at least. Those decorative snakes seemed to combine into one at the end,
with a golden blade jutting from it’s mouth. With a smaller blade at the other end, it was a
double sided weapon in both form and power.
“Longinus…” Akemi muttered, she swore she could feel the power of that lance as Hilda
handed it to her, even if the game didn’t include any kind of spiritual sense. It had higher data
level than her own Naginata by a fair bit for sure, as expected from one of the Twenty. It
disappeared as she placed it within her inventory. “It won’t go to waste. I’ll bury this in
Bachus and get us into first place.” Akemi said as she felt the weight of the undertaking. She
wouldn’t let this mission fail.
“I know you can do it, we’ll keep everyone else busy so you can focus. With it Bachus at
least can’t use World Savior on you... Nice rhyme by the way.” Hilda noted as they began to
head back, the room returning to darkness.
“Getting that out of his hands will be another challenge I suppose... But I got plans for that.”
She noted, feeling fired up.
“I’m sure you do, I didn’t make you the strategist for this for nothing.” Her friend hip
checked her as they walked, almost making Akemi fall over. They would both miss that kind
of banter.
The forest around them was quiet, even as a battle raged on the other side of the tree line.
Most of Akemi’s guild hid within, concealed within illusions to await the signal of the
commander of that operation.
Akemi watched from the sky above the forest with Fly, observing as Prominence cut through
the fifth most powerful guild of Yggdrasil like butter. While they had nearly as many
members as both Natura and Prominence, they lacked the quality of players that the number
one and two guilds had, though there were several qualities that went into the official
rankings that were posted.
Once the battle line had moved further away, it revealed Prominence’s force’s flank, she
snapped her fingers, the sound echoing through the forest to selectively be heard by her guild.
Once the forces below her began their charge and neared the line of long range archers and
mages that Prominence had focused on other targets, Akemi let her illusions drop, letting the
mass of fresh troops tear into those long range fighters. She was thankful for the fact that the
impending closing of the game was making guilds like Prominence lazy in their strength,
their arrogance also showing itself in this battle.
Pulling out Ex Oblivion she began to search for Bachus among those battling below. At the
front line was a warrior in all black platemail, a large one handed club in his hand and a
crown of gold on his helmet-less head.
“Arrogance indeed…” To bring one’s guild item out of the guild is either the height of
arrogance, or plain stupidity. Akemi leaned towards both of those options. She observed the
power of that ordinary looking club. It was turning fully armored, max level players into
pixel mush… If the game showed that violence at all. Instead of blood, all that happened was
a slight feeling of impact before the players that were hit disappeared, some gold and an item
dropping in their place, ignored by the battle intoxicated warriors around them all.
She checked her surroundings to confirm her plan before holding a hand to the mass of
players around Bachus far below. [Maximize Magic: Nuclear Blast]!” She shouted, preferring
voice controls to the digital console most players used, having to remember their spells by
name being too difficult for many.
The entire battlefield was treated to an earsplitting roar at one of the strongest AOE spells
that was not Super-Tier was unleashed. Akemi thanked the fact that friendly fire was not a
thing except self damage from the spell, which was negligible compared to her defenses.
The players that were lower leveled were either destroyed by the blast on the scale of a
miniature nuclear explosion, or sent flying. The negative status effects wouldn’t last long for
the higher leveled players, and might only scratch a tenth of their hp for their top tier players,
or her.
Akemi flew downwards into the dust cloud below where she could sense Bachus still.
“[Maximize Extended Magic: Prismatic Barrier]!” She shouted once she was just in range.
The blast did what she wanted it to, isolate her target with the knock back, while her barrier
trapped both of them together.
She wasted no time in casting a silent [Greater Invisibility] and [Greater Illusion Clone] to
rush in close. Bachus had turned around once her clone came out of the ash and dust close to
him. His club strike seemed to hit as the clone disappeared… just as a defeated player would.
A feral grin was on his face as he seemed to kill his barely seen assassin.
That look of battle lust would change to surprise as his HP took another hit, a slice cutting
into his back and bypassing a large portion of his defense. Akemi gave him no space as she
pressured him with another stab, which he blocked with his club. Impacting that world item
was like hitting a brick wall, but she continued her strikes, dancing through the movements of
her Naginata.
“Akemi! You Fox *****!” He shouted even as he forgot about the profanity filter, and moved
forward into the gaps in her attacks, swinging his club down towards her head, confidant that
it had stored enough strength from his kills to one shot even one of his worst enemies from
past conflicts.
Akemi’s face turned to fear as that strike came down at her, right until it impacted her
shoulder.. and did nothing. His mind ran through possibilities of why she didn’t seem to get
hit. “Your damn Illusions!” He assumed as he swung towards the side. Distracting illusions
were a tactic she had often used against him in the past.
He got a strike down his chest after leaving himself open, as the Akemi he had assumed was
an illusionary clone cut him deeply.
As the Curse status effect appeared on his bar he began to realize what was happening, his
mind locking onto the only logical conclusion.
As a universal rule of the world, the only things that could block or negate a World Item, was
another World Item. He rightly assumed then that Akemi must have one in her possession to
be unaffected by the club, one of the Twenty possibly if it entirely negated his blow.
Akemi didn’t seem to want to give him room to think “Stay back!” he shouted as he leapt
back from another swipe of that blade he had the displeasure of being introduced to several
times in the past. He kept having to back up and block with his now defunct weapon.
He took inventory as his battle rage began to simmer down and turn into a chill in his bones.
His forces were under attack from Natura at the worst possible moment, his war on a whim
biting him in the ass. He just wanted to have fun at the end of the game! He couldn’t use
World Savior to fight Akemi, so he was at her mercy with the flurry of blows keeping him
pressed back. His use of items was blocked by the Curse debuff that strike to the chest
inflicted on him, likely a spell his nemesis cast on her weapon for that very moment.
World Savior was still at the end of the day a short club that he didn’t have weapon
proficiency in, and so he had a hard time blocking Akemi’s blows, and was too heavy with
his armor to dodge them well. His greatest weapon had become an ungodly expensive
hindrance.
The most pressing issue was the fact he didn’t know what World Item she might have! Was it
an unknown one? There was too many factors he had no information on as his ill-conceived
plans seemed to fall.
If he swapped weapons World Savior would be destroyed, such was the weakness of any of
the Twenty most powerful World Items.
“I told you in our last fight that I’m going all out by the end of the game! Aren’t you having
FUN?! I’m having a blast!” Akemi shouted as she forced Bachus up against the wall of her
barrier, something he wasn’t paying attention to in his panic.
Akemi had narrowed her focus in their isolated battlefield as well, not noticing till that club
was smashed backwards into her barrier! While her person was immune to World Savior, her
magic construct was not.
The sound of shattering glass echoed, then replaced by pounding footsteps as the players that
surrounded the barrier rushed in towards Akemi to aid their guild master.
Her grin turned into a grim flat line as numbers began to interfere with her plan. Her focus
was drawn away from Bachus as his troops kept her busy in sheer numbers. She could defeat
them one on one.. but these numbers were something to fear for her. It was within her
calculations thankfully. The trick was in execution.
As she was tied up blocking two warrior’s blades with her pole arm, two more swung down
from behind, slicing into her shoulders, making her cry out in shock, even if there was no
actual pain. The next blade was from a fifth warrior, slicing sideways towards her head.
Bachus watched the shocked face of Akemi as that blade cut into her neck, her digital head
being removed, if this wasn’t a game it would have gone flying… And she vanished like any
other player, a critical hit like that almost always being extreme damage.
He knew she wouldn’t go down that easily...He looked around “Keep your eyes out! She is
still arou-” He told his men as one priest began to heal him.
“Too late! [Ex Oblivion: Spell Seal Release], [Fallen Down]!” He heard off to his side, and
then came her trump card, her Coup De Grace she had saved. It wasn’t the first time he had
seen the special ability of her weapon, interception and storing of Super Tier magic, a very
rare and powerful ability that normally wouldn’t exist except for that bugged weapon she
somehow made. Despite all this it was the first time she had used a direct attack Super Tier
spell that she hadn’t absorbed in the fight itself. She came prepared with it this time, she was
truly going all out.
The tip of her Naginata glowed before a pillar of blinding light erupted. No warning could be
given as that Super Tier spell expanded outwards, ripping through his forces in it’s brilliance.
Being a stored spell, it was essentially already cast, so it didn’t gain the bonuses of her maxed
positive karma, but it succeeded in causing damage to her foe with little warning. Her other
foes seemed to have perished in the blast, mostly being their weaker members since the best
wanted to be in the front lines. Bachus still stood she noted “[Life Essence]” She cast. He
was weak she knew, he wasn’t a mage and didn’t have [False Data: Life].
Bachus was in a bind, he was back in a 1 v 1 battle with an enemy his weapon couldn’t touch.
“Fuck you *****!” He shouted in frustration as he hadn’t felt boxed in this bad in a long
while, and never with the stakes this high. The teleport tablet in his hand failed him as he
thought it would, it was common sense to use [Dimensional lock] if you could after all, and
he knew it was in her capabilities with her race.
He had less than ten percent of his health remaining, and was getting warnings from the game
that his heart rate was getting too high and risked being ejected out of the game, a universally
hated safety measure.
Akemi rushed at him once again. He had been getting chip damage from her attacks
throughout the battle, not always being able to block her blow without getting nicked just by
virtue of his blocking weapon being so small! He was in danger of that last shred of health
being deleted.
Bachus was a front-line leader, and his strategist was his second in command, but they had
left the game already. If he was there he would probably kick his Guild master’s ass for what
he was about to do.
It was a snap decision to toss that club to the side before equipping a greatsword from his
storage. That club let out a shrill sound before shattering like shards of glass. Akemi grunted
as she was blocked by a functional weapon this time. Her attacks stopped slipping by the
larger weapon. They both leapt backwards after a few more blows. It wasn’t as uneven of a
fight by that point and Akemi knew it, in a match up in a melee fight with a pure warrior she
would lose nearly every time.
Akemi had a strange smile on her face, like she hid a secret, putting him further on edge. He
saw her muttering under her breath as they went back to clashing, his chosen weapon doing
far better in keeping her at bay, and even returning her damage.
For magic melee hybrid fighter, she had not used much magic in their fight, further
increasing his anxiety. He kept an eye on her hands to ensure she didn’t pull out any items.
He felt his nerves go off as they moved to clash again. His next strike seemed to hit her blade
early, before it should have, cluing him in to her illusion. “You really live up to your race,
nothing but smoke and mirrors!” he shouted as he swung in a direction opposite of where
Akemi was aiming, the sensation of impact making him feel a surge excitement and joy, there
were only so many illusion spells he had seen her use before, and he had fallen for that one
plenty in the past.
His sword was lodged part of the way into her side, and her weapon nearly fell from her
hands, the end resting in the dirt as she stared up at Bachus. She had narrowly avoided being
sliced in half at the waist by her weapon stopping it midway through. “Yeah… Nothing but
lies and falsehoods...Its funny you know? you’ll be the last person I speak to.” She must be at
the very last bit of hp in his estimate, she never had as much as most fighters due to her
spread out stats, a jerk of his sword would finish it.
“What do you mean?” It was a curious statement with worrying implications. It threw him off
his guard.
“Just what I said it means… win or lose this is my last battle. I suppose Its fine to at least tell
you… Humor a tired girl?” and Akemi did seem tired, even with the limited facial
expressions of the game he could tell by their voice.
“Speak your piece before I send you off.” Bachus said, his arrogance returning. “The game is
ending yeah, but there is still a few weeks, enough time for a rematch if you’re still salty.”
“I knew you weren’t such a bad guy, I enjoyed our fights, really I did. You pushed me more
than anyone else, took me a week to think of these strategies. This battle didn’t disappoint.”
She took a deep breath, at least in real life, her small digital chest barely moving. “I haven’t
told my guild, and I’m not going to… but I want to tell at least someone. I’m dying, I look
like a skeleton in real life honestly... After this battle I got a date with a nice long sleep. Sorry
we won’t be able to fight in the next VR game.”
“I’m.. sorry to hear...I didn’t mean.. what I was saying in the fight…” His persona of battle
raged warrior seemed to fade a bit. “It was fun while it lasted.” He nodded. His guard entirely
down, his grip loose, listening to her defeat speech sealed the sense of victory for him. It felt
like a hollow victory though after listening to his enemy…
His eyes widened as he felt something piece him “Did you just..?” The time perception
illusion she still had on didn’t give him a chance to notice something was off until it was too
late. Her movements caught up, showing her quickly pull a golden lance from her storage and
stab it into his chest.
“Sorry.. But you are coming with me... As the last person I’ll ever see I’ll have you guide me
over the river.” His console froze as he noticed the lance.
“Dammit..Right at the very end. ****!” He remembered the crown he had on, and connected
it to the item she had. “Longinus!? Really?! I take it back **** you!” He shouted
halfheartedly with a bark of laughter, he knew he was out played. He was torn between anger
at feeling impressed at her audacity.
“Yeah... Goodbye Bachus.” She smiled at him as both their characters began to crack, with
light shining from those cracks, their digital bodies crumbling to dust; Bachus from the stab
wound, and Akemi starting from the arm holding Longinus. Those remaining on the
battlefield had to stop to see that light shining from them.
In the distance Hilda watched with a bitter smile. They won, but at the cost of one of her
dearest friends... at least she had her actual phone number for after the battle.
That light faded, and so did those two, the shards of their body floating up in to the sky, the
data of their characters being entirely unmade. Every member of Prominence that was around
stopped and looked shocked
[Due to the destruction of their guild Item, Prominence has been forcibly disbanded!] The
system message rang in the now quiet battlefield. It would be spoken about in forums even
after the game’s ending, either in bitter rage, or sweet victory depending on the person.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Revised on 8/4/2022 mostly to correct just a few things, but otherwise not much
has changed. Thank you all for reading this far!
Something to fight for
Chapter Summary
Akemi grows ever closer to what feels like a family, and has to deal with the curse of
society: politics.
Chapter Notes
A/N: I am so sorry about the wait time on this chapter! It took a while to get back into
writing again, and frankly I had no idea where I wanted to take this story… I hadn’t
planned it out incredibly well, thankfully lots of that has been taken care of by going
through all previous chapters and changing a good bit and just improving it overall. If it
has been a while since this popped up in your box I recommend rereading the earlier
chapters.
I’ll try and update this story more regularly, but it likely won’t be super speed, I got a lot
of planning to do. Thank you all for your patience.
“So… You died over there? And came here?” Ana asked as she leaned against Akemi, with
Kyouko hugging her on the other side as Akemi looked close to crying with her ears folded
nearly flat.
“I mean… I was dying before it, but yeah. It wasn’t a world I regret leaving anyway, I had
almost no one there, and really no hope even if I wasn’t dying. It really was a rotten place.
Sure this world isn’t perfect, but I have the power to change things if I really want to, unlike
that one. Most importantly, I have people here to care about.” Akemi said, blushing a bit as
both women were huddled against her sides, and Hannyuu’s head occupied her lap. She idly
pet Hannyuu’s hair and ears while she tried to get over digging up all of the feelings about
her past. “I could put up with a lot, but the thing I hated most over there though… Was just
getting born into a body that always felt just plain wrong… Those damn gender swap mangas
have it completely wrong… it is horrible, it messed me up right from the start line. I had no
fix for that unless I came into a ton of money, and even then it wouldn’t be the same… I
wouldn’t have been able to have kids and be a mother. I’m just glad I can have that here, and
I have a body I enjoy being in. It is hard for me to believe it has only been a month since I
arrived, but… I’ve been able to recover what it feels like to want to live.” Akemi’s tails
flicked behind her as she smiled down into Hannyuu’s carmine eyes, the love that had grown
for the girl making her melt in affection.
Both of the women look confused on that. Kyouko tilted her head as she looked Akemi up
and down. “You were born a boy there?” The wolf woman asked. It must have been hard for
her to imagine compared to her current self.
Akemi could only sigh at that question. “No, I was born in the body of a boy, but I’ve always
been a girl, even if the body didn’t match. The soul is what really matters after all, so maybe
getting to be reborn in this body I made myself is my reward for enduring everything till the
end in my last life…” Akemi said, her ears folding as she looked at herself, as if looking for
traces of her old self.
“Mama is mama.” Hannyuu said, summing things up nicely as the feline girl quietly purred
from her comfortable lap pillow. Akemi smiled brightly and leaned down to plant a kiss on
her forehead, thanking the stars she found someone in this new world to love and protect, to
center herself with and keep her from getting ahead of herself. She knew she couldn’t go on
random wars without cause, it wasn’t just her life on the line… and her new family was far
more fragile than her, it wasn’t just her who would face any potential consequences from her
own actions..
“Anyway… we all need some relaxation time. I need to make some more defenses and
reinforce the barriers, I’m not completely confident there won’t be some way for infiltrators
to get in, though they would be foolish to challenge me in a forest.” Akemi said with a snort.
Hannyuu tilted her head “Why is that? Because you’re strong? Ooh can you show me that
spell you promised?!” She asked as her ears flicked for a few moments, causing the women
there to smile.
“Well, I like to think I’m strong, but I’m an assassin’s worst nightmare in a forest. Even with
the ninth level spell [Perfect Unknowable] I can detect them. One of my classes I’ve maxed
out is [Druid], and I also get more bonuses to that and others with my [High Sage] and
[Bright Lord] classes. Normally that spell is almost perfect invisibility and blocking of any
other senses including magic. Care to take a guess how?” Akemi asked as she leaned back on
her hands, feeling amused as she heard Hannyuu make a quiet whining noise as the petting
stopped for a moment.
“Light?” Kyouko asked with a tilt of her head “Magic isn’t really something I know…
anything about.”
“Never heard of most of those jobs, or that spell, so I don’t know.” Ana said as she reached
over to gently pet Hannyuu in Akemi’s place, who accepted it quite happily, seeming to trust
the girl her mom trusted.
Akemi had to smile at that as she stared at her child in all but blood. “Any idea Hannyuu?”
Hannyuu’s ears folded as she seemed to make a big deal of concentrating. “Druid is… plants
right? Like how you grew these houses? Do you use the trees to do it?” Hannyuu asked with
a surprising bit of insight.
“Correct. While the spell does erase their presence, and any trace that something living is
around, it cannot change the fact that they exist, and thus take up space and have weight, it
might be a bit different if they were flying, but those two spells aren’t the best together. Even
with that spell on they are still standing on either the ground containing countless roots
covering the entire forest or on a tree itself, and from that I can sense that a person sized
amount of weight is. Of course with a high enough level in relevant classes you can
overpower that spell, which I can do anyway since one of my classes is [World Weaver], so it
is very hard to get any illusion type spells past my eyes thanks to that, and my race.” Akemi
explained, smiling and petting Hannyuu again as she just got a blink of confusion from the
cute kitten.
“It is why I made these tree houses instead of the easier approach of the tenth tier spell
[Create Fortress], it would have held just as many people, but it stands out a bit more and…
nature is more my style anyway, I love the sound of wind through the trees, the smell of the
forest that I’ve only gotten to experience here, and just a feeling of… belonging with the
forest. Alright… Follow me.” She said as she helped Hannyuu up, smiling at the cute whines
she made at the pampering being over.
When Hannyuu stayed laid down while looking like a lazy cat for once in her life, smiling up
at the ladies standing up. “But… petting… Eep!” She was soon startled as a mass of fluffy
tails extended her way, wrapped around her, and lifted her up to carry.
“Lets go, you can stay there if you want, I told you I could hide you with just my tails.”
Akemi said with a chuckle, watching Hannyuu look ecstatic at the comfortable fluff she got
to rest in, neatly hiding her from the world for a bit as they all walked out of their tree home,
and into the woods, of course after Akemi had to wave after everyone either bowing,
kowtowing, or praying at her. She could only smile sadly at the last two.
Once they were out of ear shot of the others she groaned “So… I consider you two close
enough, since you know my whole story, you know I’m not ancient like a nine tailed Kitsune
is supposed to be right? How do I tell people that I am not their goddess? I’m getting a little
worried about them back there…”
Ana could only snort and shake her head “Well, how else are they going to think after you
raised the dead in mass, saved them all against a battalion of knights, and provided them
food, clothing, and shelter?”
Kyouko just nodded “Well, if you want, I can promise not to treat you like that, well, I wasn’t
going to anyway.” The wolf woman said and wrapped an arm around Akemi and Ana,
something that Akemi noticed made the shortest of them besides Hannyuu blush a bit.
“I need to rethink how I operate with them… If I try and do everything for them it won’t turn
out well. I just… I like being able to now do things for people and help them, to just be
useful, rather than just a skeleton rotting away in the same tiny apartment for years with only
a singular family member caring if they were alive.” Akemi’s ears drooped a bit. Soon
enough Akemi stopped after they had walked for a good twenty minutes. “Alright, we’re at
the edge of the barrier, though I suppose you can’t see it like I can. I’ll be refreshing the
barriers and summoning a few… friends to help.” Akemi said with a smirk.
Hannyuu scooted away from where Akemi was she was let off those tails, hiding behind Ana
and Akemi once she could tell her mother was going to be doing her magic.
Ana was looking on in delight, nearly bouncing in excitement “So what magic are you
casting? What Tier?”
Akemi could only chuckle at the enthusiasm of the young mage, not that she was all that
much older… “Lets see… my [Veil of Antipathy] is 8th Tier magic, and wards anything with
a mind away, they don’t even notice turning around and walking away. Then there is
[Aurora], a 9th tier spell which sets a wide area invisibility spell, so anyone flying nearby
will just see forest. Alright… A few moments please.” Akemi took a few steps forward and
held a hand forward, touching the barrier only she could see.
“[Maximize Widen Magic: Aura of Antipathy], [Maximize Widen Magic: Aurora], [Widen
Magic: Wall of Glass]” Akemi said, looking to add the last one at the last moment. Soon they
all could see a shimmer in the air that spread over a massive area behind them, distorting the
air slightly if they looked, and getting more noticeable near the bottom of the barrier. “All
that last one does is let everyone see the barrier from the inside, so you all know where it is
safe to be.” Akemi took a few moments to catch her breath.
“Are you alright?” Ana asked as she trotted over to check on the suddenly tired looking
Kitsune.
“Yeah, just wide area spells, while they are one of my specialties, are really mana intensive,
even at max level with the best bonuses to Illusions you can get, also it is a lot on my brain.
Might want to get back for the last one, like far back.” Akemi said and pointed back towards
the camp as she straightened back up.
Once they cleared the area she waved at them. A large three dimensional glyph array
appeared around her as a dome, widening slowly as it pulsed with otherworldly magic,
almost seeming to pressure the surrounding area.
Ana could obviously feel it as she looked nauseous, quickly stumbling away a bit more as the
same level of magic she had used the other night began again, feeling just as majestic and
almighty as before “So this is Super Tier magic…” Ana mumbled as she hoped she got
enough distance.
Akemi mostly had time to think, the spell was automatic once she started so she was just
waiting for the cast time. “What do I even do now… I threw down the gauntlet at the
Kingdom but… I gave myself no choice now but to show up when I said I would or they’ll
think I’m all talk and might retaliate against the demi-humans… some upgrades for my girls
are in order.” Akemi thought as she waited for the timer. “This would be so much easier if I
had those cash shop items… fucking pay to win games…” Eventually that dome expanded by
a meter or so, signaling that the spell was ready.
“Alright… [Super Tier Magic: Pantheon]!” With that, a massive glyph appear above them
high in the sky, right before sending down four pillars of light all around her, the trees under
them being crushed flat.
As that light clear and the glyphs vanished, what was left were four beings that towered over
them all. They were revealed to be even taller as they stood up off the knee they had taken in
their landing, closer to twenty meters tall if Akemi had to give an estimate.
“Please command us, our Goddess.” They all heard the majestic beings speak as one, the
voices echoing in their minds as their spread all six of their wings each. They appeared
almost like giant knights, if the knights had two eyeball covered rings floating around their
torso like a strange piece of armor or modern art.
“Seraphim, hear my orders and obey. All that is within this dome is to be defended, if any
forces are able to break in you are to deal with them after first attempting to scare them off,
with shows of force if necessary.” Akemi said as if four giant angelic beings was normal for
her.
“As you command.” With that those giants set off two at a time in opposite directions,
seemingly to patrol the edge of the barrier.
As Akemi walked back to them she began to stretch and yawn a bit “Even if Super Tier spells
don’t use mana, they are still so tiring…” She smirked as she saw the three of them
completely flabbergasted at what just happened.
“Don’t worry about those four, they are summons and completely loyal to me. Normally the
super tier spell Pantheon summons six level eighty angel things, but thanks to a couple of
race perks I get four that are level ninety, so they can pretty much super murder anything the
Kingdom might try and throw our way, assuming they got past the barrier.” The shrug Akemi
gave them didn’t reassure them she felt.
Ana just groaned and took a few breathes “Well… at least You and them are on our side…”
Ana had muttered, and looked up as all three of them stared at her “What? Did I say
something strange?”
Kyouko and Akemi just had gentle smiles on their face as they both moved in to hug her on
either side “You said Our side, glad you’re integrating into the community.” Akemi said with
a cheerful giggle.
The wolf woman gently ruffled the shorter human girl’s hair “For a human brat you’re okay,
you’re one of us.” She said and finally fully approve of a human in the otherwise all demi-
human camp.
Even Hannyuu was nodding as she went to stand next to Akemi, claiming that spot while
they began their walk back to camp.
As they return they found others milling about, chattering in low voices. “Lady Akemi! What
was that bright light earlier? Are we under attack?” One of the older looking wolf men asked,
standing apart from the crowd around him, seeming to speak on behalf of them.
Akemi looked at him for a moment and looked over the crowd “There is… No one older than
what looks like forty… oh…” She thought as she realized why there were no old freed slaves.
She put on a gentle smile for them all, and unconsciously was bathing them in the aura of her
passive skills. “There is no need to be alarmed, I was refreshing the barriers. I noticed that
several of you were concerned about not knowing where the boundary was, so I’ve simply
made it visible. As for the pillar of light, I was summoning some guards. If you see four large
angels walking around the edge of the barrier, they are perfectly safe and are there to protect
you. I can assure you that not even the Kingdom’s strongest heroes could defeat even one of
them, so you can sleep soundly.” Akemi reassured them, slowly walking among them, trying
to show confidence she wasn’t sure she had knowing that a guild like Ainz Owl Gown was
around…
“I really hope Ainz actually thinks this world through and doesn’t get too out of hand…
Should I be making some counter measures just in case?” She thought as her tails flicked
around. It was a problem for her… He got to bring his guild and all it’s resources, including
his NPCs that were raid boss level in strength, while she just had herself as any real fighting
force and only some left overs in her inventory that she hadn’t emptied before dying.
She stopped as she felt a hand grasp the fine silk-like material of her robes and looked down.
Akemi reached down to gently pet the head of the small Kitsune girl she remembered freeing,
still so utterly tiny with a single tail. “This… is why I’ll fight.”
Looking up she met the eyes of a tired, but grateful looking Kitsune woman with four tails
who was holding the young girl’s hand. “I’m glad you two were reunited. I will protect you
all as best I can, that is something you all can believe in.” Akemi smiled at the mother before
her as tears began to fall from her eyes.
“Soon I will be going to the Royal Capitol, where I will be imposing my demands on their
King. This will not be a request, or a plea, he Will release our people, we WILL all be free
and as best I can I will extract justice for those harmed.” She saw several worried looks
around her at the idea of her going straight into what was now enemy territory.
“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. They can’t even touch me at their current strength from
what I’ve been able to scry, not even their head warrior they are so confident in would be able
to touch me. Now… Going by myself though might make them think I’m weak, so I’ll be
taking Kyouko over here with me. There is still time before then, so if anyone has any
questions, or requests please make them now.” Akemi said as she internally snorted at
predicting Kyouko judging by the slightly pouty face the wolf woman was making..
It was a typical series of requests by her people that day, grow some plants, blessing
someone’s recovery, or make a few more houses and buildings for them, but it still took up
several hours of her time.
Later in the afternoon Akemi finally finished with the last of the requests that day, her people
satisfied for now, and she had settled their needs. “I can only do so much… If I only I could
have been a therapist in the past I’d be able to help more… Text books really can’t substitute
for an education in psychology.” She thought with a sigh.
Returning to her own home, she slumped into one of the dining chairs for a momentary
break. “Hannyuu? You there?” She called out quietly, knowing that even a low voice would
carry enough they both could hear it anywhere in the house, and too loud would just hurt
their ears.
Hearing nothing in return, but smelling her around, and even sensing her with her passive
skills made her just slightly worried. Her mind whirled in possibilities from leaving her alone
“Were her memories affecting her more than I thought?” She thought and began to rush up
the stairs as quietly as possible. Her mind kept showing her the possibilities of why she
would be so quiet, yet her more rational mind not informing her that there was no smell of
blood or anything of the sort.
Her heart rate slowed down and a warm feeling filled her chest once she peeked in her room
that Hannyuu had wanted to share, while knowing full well that Akemi wasn’t going to deny
nearly anything that would comfort her…
Akemi smiled and leaned on the doorway just watching for a moment. Curled up on their bed
in a cozy looking sunbeam, Hannyuu was taking a nap with not a hint of unease on her face,
it truly set her heart at ease.
Hearing steps coming up the stairs to everyone’s rooms, Akemi sniffed the air, identifying
Kyouko before she even rounded the corner. Akemi didn’t mind as Kyouko arrived and had
right away wrapped an arm around her shoulder while looking in the room also. They both
shared a look before quietly leaving, letting Hannyuu have her nap.
Inside though, Akemi was still squeaking in delight. “My daughter is the cutest~ I’m so glad
she is able to just sleep…” She thought and smiled at Kyouko, though she could tell Kyouko
wasn’t paying as much attention as her.
Leading them both outside Akemi nervously wrapped an arm around the wolf woman’s waist
as they walked a bit into the woods, to one of the rest areas she had set up with several
natural benches. “Are you… Sure you need to go to the Kingdom Akemi?” Kyouko’s first
words were of worry as she stared into Akemi’s eyes, searching for an answer.
“Yes, I do. I can resolve at least some of these problems with diplomacy, even if I have to be
heavy handed about it. I also told them I would be there, so I can’t go back on my word at
this point, or anything I have to say going forward won’t have any weight to back it up.
Now…” Akemi said and let go of Kyouko.
Reaching into a dark void once again, Akemi began to pull out pieces of armor and weapons.
“I know you like that Tanto blade, but I need you to have something with a bit more reach,
and I’d like you to have armor as well. I might be all but invulnerable there, but you
aren’t…” She sighed and looked away “You are… Irreplaceable…” She mumbled that last bit
and blushed “To everyone!” She quickly added as she realized how it might sound.
Kyouko surprisingly had a small blush on her normally mature and stern face. She didn’t
quite know how to respond to that… “You think I need new equipment?” Kyouko asked
while she looked away.
“Yes, as nice as your current equipment is…” Akemi said as her gaze returned to her
confidante, and couldn’t help letting her eyes roam just a tiny bit over the leather pants and
jacket that seemed to hug Kyouko. Even the well worn state of the clothes seemed to make
them look just a bit better… She quickly cleared her throat and looked away. “I can only feel
confident in your safety if you’re wearing something that I’ve made personally. Back in my
world I was one of the best crafter and enchanter of weapons and armors around, enough that
my named carried weight when attached to gear.” Akemi mildly bragged as she pulled out
more pieces of leather armor from her inventory. “I didn’t get to take a whole lot with me, but
I have a lot of gear I had been practicing with, and old commissions for people who just…
disappeared, so I just have these pieces and no one to wear them.” Akemi’s ears folded as she
thought back to her guild members.
“She many people just… quit, or left without warning.” She thought and held up a full torso
white leather armor piece with several buckles of gold laced around the thing to make sure it
fit nearly skin tight. “Try this on?” Akemi asked, turning around when Kyouko took the
armor with a confused look on her face.
“Well this is… fancy, what kind of material is it made out of? Seems to be very good
quality… really supple…” Kyouko said while she poked and prodded it, liking what she felt.
“If I had my way I’d give you something much higher class, but level requirements are an
annoying thing… This was made more for fashion in mind, but the defensive power would be
top class in this world. It was made from a Frost Wyrm, and I’ve enchanted it to provide
more defense. One day I’d hope to get all my people in the best armor and weapons I can
make… Alas I need to source materials somehow that are as good or better than my
world’s… I didn’t get to take many…” Akemi was starting to regret dumping a lot of her
inventory into the guild storage before her character’s destruction.
“A Wyrm? Wait… like a dragon? This is dragon leather?!” Kyouko asked in a momentary
panic, though she had already put it on.
Turning around Akemi nodded “Similar, they are lesser than a dragon though, the lowest
quality dragon materials I could have used-” Akemi’s mouth hung open as she was stuck
staring at Kyouko in that armor. Her face was as flushed as red as Kyouko’s hair was. The
leather was slightly stretchy, and with adjustment from the buckles, they seemed to hug every
inch of Kyouko’s upper body, and torment Akemi as it showed nearly as much midriff as her
previous outfit. “Um uh… it… Um fits you pretty well.” Akemi said and looked away,
holding a hand over her face. “For fucks sake Akemi! Get a grip! B-but I want to touch those
abs…”” She told herself as she forced a serious look back on her face.
“Here are the pants that came with it, I have some boots here and gloves. I’d have liked you
to wear a helmet also, but that would limit your field of view with how you seem to fight. I
figured this will be flexible enough for you, and protect you from anything short of higher
tier magic and top class weapons. The enchantments on it should make you fast enough to
dodge an arrow or two, and it does come with protection from arrows built in.” Akemi said
and looked away again after giving Kyouko the gear.
“You alright there Akemi? You’re acting kind of strange… are you getting sick? You’re
pretty red.” Kyouko said while smirking behind her current leader’s back.
As Kyouko slid off her older pants, she figured that they were deep enough into the woods,
which made them both assume there would be plenty of privacy. “Ack!” They both heard the
sound of someone nearly choking on their own tongue.
Ana was frozen in place, her eyes locked on Kyouko, her eyes following the curve of her
back that led to a shapely rear and fluffy wolf tail. It was a bit much for her eyes and budding
feelings that she didn’t yet understand…
Kyouko finished putting on those slacks and smirked at the human girl, and at Akemi who
had waited to turn around. “I’m dressed now. Next time knock Ana, I’m not a free show.”
She teased.
“We’re in the middle of a forest! Where am I supposed to knock?!” Ana shouted and tried to
will the blush off her face, similar to Akemi not a minute before. “Whatever… What is with
the new clothes? They are pretty nice.” Ana asked once she recovered from the shock of the
surprise view.
“Lady Akemi was kind enough to provide me with new equipment to act as her escort to the
Kingdom.” Kyouko almost sounded like she was bragging, which Ana rolled her eyes at, and
Akemi ignored for now.
“Please leave out the ‘lady’… just Akemi is fine for you two, It feels too stiff and way too
impersonal… You alright Ana?” Akemi asked and walked over to the two of them. With a
mischievous grin on her face Akemi gently lifted Ana’s downcast eyes by a finger to the
chin, meeting her hazel eyes with her own slitted blue eyes. “Don’t worry, I have some
equipment for you as well that I can give you later.” Akemi said and was fairly amused by
the look on the younger mage’s face as she seemed to want to cover her face, but was
incapable of moving yet. “Utterly adorable…” She thought and looked between the two.
“Now… While your robes will have to wait for a moment, unless you wanted to strip in the
forest also, I can give you both the weapons I’ve picked out. Your normal staff is…
insufficient for magic dear, so I shall correct that, and when there is some free time I might be
able to train you some, no guarantees since I’ve never taught anyone.” Akemi told Ana,
ruffling her hair a bit. Looking up she saw Kyouko pouting ever so slightly now, her ears
twitching just a bit as she watched Akemi pet Ana.
“Honestly…” Akemi smiled and shook her head before she reached up over the height
difference to put her other hand on Kyouko’s head and pet the wolf woman “This feels
strangely satisfying…” Akemi thought before stopping. “Dorks… Alright, weapons. Going
to guess you prefer a staff Ana? I have a decent selection of weapons from before I got here,
but I wish I had access to my old things, none of these feel sufficient to give you. Sadly I
have to work with what I have…” Akemi sighed and moved to sit on the bench. “What type
of weapon are you feeling Kyouko?”
Once the other two seemed to get over the moment they joined Akemi on the opposite bench.
“Um… yes a staff is good, though my magic is still no where near good compared to most
mages that become adventurers…” Ana said as she held up a hand at a tree. “[Shockwave]”
as she cast, a ripple In the air that traveling at around the same speed as an arrow was sent out
from her palm.
The small crunching sound that came from the trunk of the tree sounded worse than it was as
the bark on the quarter meter wide impact mark crumbled off. “That is about the best I can do
so far… barring a few other ones.” Ana said and tried to ignore the heat in her body that had
nothing to do with the two women near her, and more at casting a spell near her limit.
“I’m alright with any sword, I trust your judgment.” Kyouko said as she went over to
examine that mark on the tree.
“It is a start Ana, and we all start somewhere. I’ll likely try and teach you and Hannyuu at the
same time, I want her to have a way to defend herself also after all. Lets see… What staffs do
I have in stock?” Akemi reached her hand deeper into her inventory, wiggling around as if
looking for something.
“Aha! Now this one might be a bit hard for you to master, but I have confidence in you. It is
only temporary anyway until I can make what I have in mind for you two, but that might be a
while. I’m unlikely to find Prismatic ores in this world anytime soon or ever… So I can only
do what I can.” Akemi said and pulled out a dark purple staff decorated with a vine motif
along the shaft. At the end of it there was a very small blue crystal that glowed with a
soothing light.
“Its only Orichalcum, and I’ve fitted a water elemental eye in it as a focus… but it will do I
guess, sorry about that Ana.” Akemi said and held out that staff. She could only tilt her head
at the dumbfounded looks on her companion’s faces. “Whats wrong? I know it is kind of a
low quality metal, but this is still probably the staff with the most compatibility with you I
own.” Akemi’s ears folded as Ana took the staff with reverence.
“L-low quality?! This is second to Adamantite! A staff like this is… far too good for
someone like me!” Ana looked panicked as she held that staff of unimaginable value in her
hands.
“I mean, it isn’t made out of Star Silver, which is what I’d rather make a staff out of, but I
don’t know if I can even get that in this world… So Orichalcum can’t be that rare right? You
two and Hannyuu are basically… my anchor here, If anything ever happened to you three.”
Akemi looked worried for a moment. “I know I haven’t known you two for very long, but
still, I feel like you understand me a bit, and also you know who I am behind the power.”
Kyouko was just shaking her head in disbelief “A set of armor of that or Adamantite would
be a damn national treasure! I shouldn’t even be surprised at this point…” Kyouko said and
laid her head back on the back of the bench.
Ana sat back up straight as if she remembered something. “Wait, if all three of us are here,
who is watching Hannyuu?” Ana asked, looking at Akemi in concern.
Akemi smiled to reassure her. “Oh she is fine, she is in the house and I’d know if anyone
even entered the house thanks to my passive skills. I also have an invisible summon watching
the house for anything that might get past that, or if she needs to be protected from… herself.
Its called [Guardian Angel], and I felt it would be pretty useful for keeping her safe.” That
last add-on had made Akemi’s ears fold over and sigh.
Ana was the one who reached over and put a hand over Akemi’s own. “She seems to be
doing alright from what I’ve seen. Has that been a worry for a while?” She asked as gently as
she could.
Akemi could only nod and wrap her tails around herself. “I’ve been worried about her hurting
herself since I found her… I’ve only ever seen her look like she was actually contemplating it
early on after she began to live with me. Please if… if you can just keep an eye on her if you
are near.” Akemi sighed and held her head. “It is almost… funny… just a bit over one month
was all it took for her to become the center of my world.” Akemi said with amusement and
an undercurrent of love.
“That is what being a mother does to you. You can’t help but constantly worry about them…
Are they eating alright? Are they making friends? Are they safe and happy? It… it can be
rough, but you also wouldn’t trade it for anything.” Kyouko quietly spoke, her voice
wavering for a moment as her eyes showed just how deep in her own memories she was lost
in.
It only took a moment for the other two to be hugging her on either side. Akemi held Kyouko
and felt the dependable wolf woman use her shoulder to rest on. Akemi pretended for her
friend’s pride that it was just raining. “We will find her, I promise you.” Akemi told her,
though she winced as she was lightly pushed away by Kyouko.
“You say that, but do you have any idea at all how to even do that?! I’ve looked for her for
years now! One moment in a crowd people and of looking away was all it took for her to get
snatched right off the street…” Kyouko wailed, long held feelings finally coming to the
surface.
Akemi didn’t say anything for a few minutes and just let Kyouko get it out of her system, she
could tell that she had been holding it all in for who knows how long, having to put on a
strong front for the ones she led. When those sobs finally started to die down Akemi wrapped
her tails around Kyouko and Ana, holding them all together tightly. “I promised you, and I
keep my promises… I do have some leads that I am actively tracking down with my
summons. We have more options than you think Kyouko, the chances will go up even further
if we can find a proper base of operations, which is also in the works once I can start
diplomatic negotiations with some people. Once I have a suitable place for my scrying spells
things will be smoother.” Kyouko finally seemed to calm down in Akemi’s arms, looking
absolutely defeated as her mind was filled with worst case scenarios.
“I see… So much of Lorelei in Hannyuu, though my Lorelei is older by now. I… I need to at

least know what happened to her…” Kyouko whimpered out..
Ana and Akemi could only hold the usually calm and confident as much as they could, each
of them supporting each other.
Eventually Akemi noticed sun shining above them “I’ll need to go soon… I still need to give
you your weapon Kyouko, come on.” Akemi said and rubbed her friend’s back for a moment
before pinning a very gentle kiss on her forehead. She almost didn’t notice herself doing it,
but it felt right to her in the moment.
Kyouko didn’t seem to mind as she stirred back to life. “…Yeah… Lets go shake down the
Kingdom, I certainly have some choice words for that sack of shit on the throne…” She
growled, standing back up and stretching “Sorry you had to see me like that, thank you…
Both of you.” She told them with a quiet sigh.
“Anytime, we’ll be here to catch you if you fall.” Akemi told her, giving the taller wolf
woman another hug.
“What Akemi said, if there is a way I can help just tell me.” Ana told her also, patting her
back.
Eventually they all separated again so Akemi could put the rest of her scattered things back
into her inventory. “Right! Now for your weapon… Would you like a longer sword? Because
I got a perfect one right here.” Akemi said as she pulled out a lengthy blade within a black
and gold sheath, which Akemi held out for Kyouko to take.
Kyouko took a deep breath and felt her pulse rocket up as she took that blade gingerly from
Akemi’s hands. “It is a Nodachi I had made for one of my friends in my guild, sadly they left
before it was done. They had yet to make it to the max level, so this was meant to carry them
there… It binds to you on equip, so once you draw that sword it is yours, no one else can use
it, though its not like I was going to take it away from you or anything.” Akemi smiled and
ran a finger along the sheath. “It requires no sharpening, and can carve through spells as
easily as armor, and most of all… it will grow with you. The more you use it the stronger it
will get over time.” Akemi said and stepped back.
“It is a little longer than I’ve ever used but it- Oh…” Kyouko’s ears folded as she began to
draw that sword out, listening to the near silent sound it made as the metal scrapped against
the ebony sheath.
She winced in pain as she felt the handle burn her hand for a moment before fading out,
immediately becoming more comfortable in her hands like the finest silk. As the blade was
revealed her breath caught in her chest, It seemed to pulse in time with Kyouko’s own
heartbeat against her hands, a blade as dark as an evening sky and with just as much depth.
“Is this…” Kyouko looked mesmerized by her new weapon, cradling it as if dropping it
would even scratch it.
“It is Adamantite yes, it was a bit more… common in my world, there were better metals. I
only have a few small samples of some others but… Not enough to make much of anything.”
Akemi’s tails swayed in amusement. “I heard that this Kingdom’s so called Head Warrior
uses something similar. This blade will be more than a match for whatever they have I would
hope, though I have no idea what that thing is made. Now if your skill is up to his level is
something only you could really know.”
Kyouko slipped the sheath into her belt loop and fully drew that blade, holding the lengthy
piece aloft. “Its very long indeed…” She muttered, still looking entirely speechless about
having a sword worth possibly a small nation. Walking up to a tree she made to swing but
hesitated at the last moment.
“Go ahead and test it, nothing you do will even dull, blunt, or chip that blade unless say you
are trying to hit a shield of Scarleitite or better, but somehow I doubt you’ll ever encounter
that, Or heaven forbid a world item…” Akemi muttered that last one and shook her head
when they looked about ask about it. “Another time.”
Kyouko took a few test swings in the air and looked shocked “Its so light!” With a casual test
swipe Kyouko felt only the slightest hint of resistance as she carved into the bark of a nearby
tree. Thankfully it was a small tree so the noise of the crash was lessened. “I’m ready Akemi,
lets go.” The wolf women took a few deep breathes and sheathed her new blade, letting
herself enjoy the satisfying click it made.
“Ana could you keep an eye on Hannyuu? There is food in the pantry if we aren’t home by
dinner.”
“I’d be happy to, I’ll keep her company as long as you two come back home safely.” Ana
said and shooed them off with a smile.
It was impossible to teleport somewhere that someone had yet to see in some way, shape, or
form, so the trick for any user of teleportation magic was to have abilities that could give
indirect sight. Akemi’s method of indirect sight was the hundreds of pipe fox summons
floating around the capital city, unseen by human eyes.
The guards at the castle were on high alert that day, as they were told someone may attempt
to infiltrate that day or night. “So do you think anyone is actually going to show? I heard they
took out an entire Battalion!” One skittish looking guard at the gate kept fidgeting and
looking around like any would be intruders would jump out at him.
“Quit your whining Jenkins, and stand properly at attention. you’re green but you are still
part of the Castle guard, have some pride.” Another guard told him quietly, standing on the
other side of the gate and standing ramrod straight. “If a tailed Demi-human does show up,
we have been told to not engage unless they try and get past. I’m sure it was just some recruit
spreading more rumors, kind of like you.” The older guard let out a quiet and amused chuckle
at his junior’s expense.
They both jumped however as a swirling blue void opened up in front of that gate and bathed
them all in an eerie light, second only to the sight of a woman with ebony hair and long
pointed fox ears atop her head. The armor plated robes that she wore seemed to radiate magic
to near visible levels, appearing as hazy air around her. As if portraying chaos itself, the nine
black and white tails behind her swayed around without seemingly any will on the Fox
woman’s part. When a tiny smile appeared on her face the two men couldn’t help but hold
their breath. “Excuse me you two, I have an appointment with your King, or rather, he has an
appointment with me. If you wish to prepare that is acceptable, I didn’t give an exact time for
my arrival after all.” Akemi said and turned to let Kyouko come out from the portal with her,
her own gaze flicking around for any threat to Akemi or herself.
Neither of the guards seemed able to speak for a moment, or even move, like a mouse caught
in the eyes of a fox. “Y-you need to leave, we were told not to let you in.” The older guard
was able to speak up after a moment. Soon he panicked as he saw his young partner reach for
his sword out of panic. He expected a fountain of gore, his junior ripped to pieces by this
Demi-human, so he was quite surprised as Akemi simply pressed a tail against the hilt of that
sword to stop him from making that mistake.
“I did not come for violence, but I will be speaking with your king, this is not a request.”
Akemi said as if teaching a pair of children. When neither of them budged she merely sighed
quietly “I suppose you are unlikely to disobey your orders, no matter how dangerous they
are… So I’ll make it easier on you so you cannot be blamed. Move aside, do not follow, do
not speak of us.” Was all she had to say.
It was like control was pulled from their bodies for a few moments, enough for them to
realize that they had moved out of the women’s path, just as they meant to Not do. They
couldn’t find it in themselves to call for back up by that point as the women walked on
through towards the castle. As soon as the idea of rushing them from behind to either stop
them or get back up hit their mind, they found it near impossible to think about even doing it.
“Lady Akemi? What was it you did to them?” Kyouko asked under her breath as they
approached the castle main entrance. “Do you even know where the king is?”
“Just one of my class skills, Divine Edict. I can tell you more about it later if you like.”
Akemi told Kyouko in a whisper, looking calm and confident, as if trying to appear as
majestic as her race was meant to be.
Kyouko frowned as she knew her friend was pushing herself, she could hear her little heart
beating away like a hummingbird. For however much a goddess made flesh Kyouko started
to suspect her of being, she acted too much like a scared mortal like the rest of them when not
forcing herself to put on these airs. “I know it is important we appear confident and
intimidating, but you push yourself too much Akemi… What am I going to do with this girl?”
Kyouko thought and could only sigh.
“I have my summons tailing the king, so I have a track on everyone of importance in our play
today.” Akemi looked around the castle as they entered uncontested, her feet following a
summon only she could see to lead her along.
Finally as they neared the audience chamber they could hear panicked yelling inside the room
echoing down the hall. Standing in front of the door though was a man that looked to be in
his early to mid thirties in a suit of full red armor that Akemi could recognize as high quality
for this world. “Oho~ I was wondering if there would be more guards shaking in their boots,
but you have a pretty confident look in your eye.” Akemi said as she continued walking
forward, heedless of the man’s hand on the hilt of his sword.
“You’ll find I’m not so easy to take down as a recruit at the front gate. You’ve certainly
caused a stir here, and you’ve established yourself as a threat to the Kingdom. You… do not
seem the blood thirsty beast the survivors of the battalion you crippled labeled you as. I am
Gazef Stronoff, our King’s Head Warrior, may I ask you name?” Akemi’s eyes widened a bit
at the introduction.
“Akemi. Forgive me if I do not give a last name, it has been a long time since I’ve had one.
You mean the guards out front? They are perfectly fine, but please do not blame them for
letting me pass, they didn’t have a choice in the matter. I’m sure you’ve been told a lot of
stories, I wonder if they even repeated my demands accurately… They should be grateful I
sparred them at all, I had hoped another chance at life would perhaps temper their evil souls,
but I suppose I was asking too much.” Akemi said with a heavy sigh.
Gazef looked surprisingly angry at her speech “Please do not insult the knights of this
Kingdom, they all serve honorably. The battalion leader had said that you wished to demand
material goods from the Kingdom, as well as our subjugation, something that will not be
allowed.” When his hand tightened on his sword at his side Akemi knew talks were starting
to break down.
“Lady Akemi… I fear that I cannot beat this man.” Kyouko said after moving in front of her,
with her own hand on her hand ready to draw as well.
“Will you both calm yourselves? Your information is in error Head Warrior. My three
demands were this: With the understanding that slavery for humans is abolished and in the
process of being solved, I demand the release of all demi human slaves as well, where I will
offer them shelter in the place of Kingdom if they wish to come with me. The prohibition of
discrimination of demi humans or abuse of them is my second demand, though the details of
that can be worked out and are flexible, my priority is on the first condition. My third
demand is a crack down on the underground slaver networks, and effort put in to reuniting
families separated by this vile trade. If the last one is too much, I can always do that myself, I
have mapped out their network extensively myself, and will soon have better means of
reuniting my people.” Akemi stepped back in front of Kyouko and put a hand on her
shoulder.
“I called that band of knights evil is because they enable evil, the wanton cruelty and
slaughter of my people, and dare to call trying to stop me from rescuing them ‘justice’.”
Akemi sighed as she heard the voices on the other side of the door get very quiet. “I
recommend telling the guards in that room that arrows will not work on me, or on my
confidante. She has her own grudges that deserve to be expressed.” Akemi smiled at Kyouko
and patted her back lightly.
Soon Kyouko let go of her sword and stood back up straight, letting Gazef relax as well once
no one was going to draw weapons. “Five years ago, human men of this kingdom stole my
life. They stole the center of my world, my daughter was snatched away without a trace, I
only know she was stolen into the slave trade from the small amount of information I could
get. I am just a mother trying to save my daughter, that is the only goal I care about. None of
us want to destroy the Kingdom, we know that the majority of people in this Kingdom are
honest folk who have nothing to do with our suffering, we just want our family back, to not
have to fear any human with a sword.” Kyouko appealed, holding herself together as hard as
she couldn’t, yet even she couldn’t stop the pain showing on her face and in her eyes.
Gazef looked to be struggling with himself, from what Akemi could see. “The pull between
his orders and loyalty, and his morality, such is the choice agents of states have to make…”.
They all were interrupted as the door behind him was opened. “Head Warrior, the King hence
forth orders you to escort these two… guests into the audience room.” A well armored guard
with a spear in his hands told Gazef, though they all could hear the unsaid order to keep the
King safe from them.
Akemi smiled and nodded “All according to plan so far, and not a drop of blood spilled.”
She gave Kyouko’s shoulder a small rub and urged her along.
Stepping into that audience chamber Akemi had to be impressed, it had good artistry, even
the walls were engraved and painted with gold leaf. All of it seemed to funnel attention to to
the other end of the room to the raised dais at the end of the chamber where a throne sat.
“Well he has the whole old king thing down, it is all a bit cliche though…” Akemi thought
and counted the seconds down.
Gazef stopped in front of them and held out a hand. “Your sword Miss, I cannot allow anyone
meeting the king to be armed. It is standard policy for guests, It will be returned to you when
you leave.” He told Kyouko, already looking exhausted from the day.
When Kyouko started to growl and get ready to scream at the man Akemi just gently took her
by the shoulder and leaned up to her ear as best she could, even if being on the tips of her
toes was far from regal “Please do not worry about it, it is part of my plan.” Akemi told her
and frowned as she saw several men started to look more amused at her than anything “Why
does she have to have so much size on me?” She thought and quietly sighed.
Kyouko didn’t look pleased, but she removed the sword from her belt and handed it over.
“You seem an honorable man, circumstances aside, so I doubt you would be a thief.” Kyouko
didn’t look happy to be unarmed and unable to protect her leader.
“Of course I wouldn’t.” Gazef held the blade gently, though it was easy to tell he was quietly
admiring it. Soon enough he turned to his king and took a knee, Kyouko’s weapon held under
his arm. “My King.”
To Akemi this king looked… Tired. “Forgive me if I do not stand, just as I do not expect you
to take a knee. I am King Ramposa the third, and I have received your… message from my
subjects, and had them clarified just now.” He told Akemi.
Kyouko took a few steps back behind Akemi, showing her deference to her. Akemi looked
curiously at the king, and at the cane poking out from behind his throne. “I am Akemi, a few
of my people insist on giving me titles and names, but I simply prefer my name. While I do
not claim to speak for all Demi-humans, far from it, I believe I can speak for all of us in our
wish to see the enslavement of our friends and family cease. Your castle has good acoustics, I
could hear things from far out in the hall, so I assume you heard our conversation with your
Head Warrior?” Akemi gestured at Gazef, who had gotten up to stand at his King’s side so as
to defend him if need be.
“You certainly took a rather bold approach in going about it, though… I can not entirely
blame you. One of my legions exceeded their authority in their dealings with the merchants
transporting slaves. My intentions were that the prohibition on slavery be clarified to extend
to all and eliminate the current vague loophole that one of my commanders exploited in his
vendetta. You have seen a rather dark side of my Kingdom, I will apologize for my legion’s
aid in the wanton killing of the unarmed and illegally transported demi-human slaves.”
Ramposa told Akemi, looking like he was reading from a script.
The few nobles standing in audience in the room were soon chattering behind Akemi, some
of them glaring at her with such menace that she almost wished she could leave… but she
had her own role to play in everything. “I am not cut out for being a politician… I should
grill Ainz for advice… This guy sure likes speaking out of both sides of his mouth though…”
She thought and cleared her throat. Turning her head to direct her own glare at those nobles
she smirked. “That is quite enough from the peanut gallery. [Mass Silence].” Akemi said and
nodded once her magic had caused the chattering and yelling to stop. Looking back over at
the front, the King and Gazef looked shocked, to say the least. “I do so hate us being
interrupted you see. I accept your apology on behalf of demi-human residents of these lands,
and hope this can lead to a suitable arrangement for both sides. Thankfully some of the
damage of the event was… minimized, barring a handful, most were successfully
resurrected.” Akemi said and looked around.
There were a lot of angry human faces, but they seemed to finally shut up so she released her
spell on them. “Now that we have that out of the way, I would like to move onto ways we can
solve this crisis and prevent more violence. I am by nature a peaceful person, I dislike
needless violence and killing, so I hope you can believe me when I say that if I wished to, I
could have solved this very quickly with hated violence, but I would much prefer
diplomacy.” Akemi told them all as only her swaying tails behind her betrayed her growing
impatience, though that had more to do with her lack of experience in politics than anything.
“You lying animal! You crippled my son and you expect to act like you want peac-” his rant
was cut off as he felt the air leave his lungs. Right in front of him, inches from his face, a pair
of furious slitted eyes stared into his own. The pressure coming off of that was nearly a
physical force as he fell to his knees.
Gazef tensed up and shared a look with the king, neither of them willing to admit that they
hadn’t even seen her move.
“I do want peace, if I didn’t then I have every means of leveling this entire country, and I
advise you not to test that. It would be more of a challenge to figure out a way to prove my
point without reducing a city to elementary particles. Instead of being upset about your son
losing a limb or two, you should be happy he is still alive.” Akemi said and released her gaze
from the man, letting him finally breath. She walked back to her previous spot across the
room she had seemed to teleport from. “King Ramposa, please take all I’ve said under
advisement.” She said and unconsciously looped a singular tail around Kyouko’s waist, as if
for comfort.
The King simply sighed, there wasn’t much he could do in the face of so much new
information. “Please forgive the outburst of one of mine, there will be much to be discussed. I
believe negotiations would be better served by a proper place and time, this way we can solve
this event as easily as possible. As I’ve said I have every intention of ending the slave trade
in any official capacity, so I ask you refrain from any extreme actions until we have a chance
to negotiate.” The King spoke with an air of confidence, obviously no stranger to tense
meetings such as that.
Holding out his hand to the side, he accepted the cane offered by his attendant, and forced
himself up with what seemed to be a great deal of pain, as much as he tried to mask it.
Akemi tilted her head and observed him for a moment “This is acceptable, I shall leave the
date and time to you. I ask for haste in this matter, as every day my people suffer under the
yoke, the further away peace will be. I will attempt to refrain on the condition that progress
begins on freeing as many of my people as possible, including checking any leaving
transports for them lest I have to repeat the other night to free them. If the situation calls for
it, and several of them I know of do, I will be raiding some criminal elements I know aren’t
part of your government. There should be no disturbance to normal civilians, and I doubt you
care about the lives of monsters that traffic children?” Akemi would asked as she resisted the
urge to tap her foot.
“Very well, we’ll send a messenger into the forest I presume? While I’d prefer if you’d let the
Kingdom deal with it’s own… infestation, I will not turn down aid, they have been a thorn in
our side for years. As long as civilians are not affected, I’ll overlook it. It has been an
interesting meeting Akemi, I hope to turn this into an opportunity for us both. Head Warrior,
would you see our guests out?” The King asked.
“I have an item that will be better for contacting me.” Akemi said and reached into her
inventory to the gasps of people around her “You humans get startled by the strangest
things… Here it is.” She said, forgetting that less than two months prior she was a human,
and pulled out simple engraved ring of bronze. “This is a Ring of Courier, it allows casting of
the spell [Message] three times a day, you or the user just need think of me to contact me, as I
can you.” Akemi said and let one of the aides to the King take it from her hands and not to
the king “They likely will check it for poison or something… waste of time.” She thought and
perked her ears back up. “Oh yes King Ramposa, there is one thing left, more of a personal
favor from me to you. [Supreme Heal].” She said and seemed to flick a tail in his general
direction.
The guards around him sprung into action with spears at the ready as the King glowed in a
green light. “Stand down. Hmm…” The King told his guards as he seemed to move his
weight around. “My thanks, I feel a decade younger already.” He said with just a hint of a
smile. He held his cane out to an aid, looking to not need it further. A thought look to strike
him as Akemi turned to leave. “If I may ask, what spell was that? Even our best mages could
not heal an old wound like that.” Akemi turned back to smile at the King with a strange
mischievousness about her
“Of course, it is no trouble at all. Supreme Heal is the highest single target healing spell I
know of and for simple wounds can fully cure a person of most physical ailments. It is of the
eighth tier.” That single sentence was enough to make so many of them freeze at the implied
level of difference between her and them.
Even the most magically illiterate knew about tier magic, it was necessary to take magic into
account for politics after all. It was common knowledge that even the sixth tier was barely
known, the realm of heroes of old, above human hands…
“Casual shows of power taste a lot better than force… and I did a good deed for an old guy,
so I’ll take it.” Akemi thought as she turned around to follow Gazef beside her and Kyouko
back down the hall.
Akemi was left in her thoughts for a few minutes before they neared the entrance. “Thank
you for your escort Head Warrior, most gracious of you.” She said half sarcastically.
He just grunted in acknowledgment and held out Kyouko’s sword to the wolf woman. “As
promised, your weapon. I have a question for my own interests… Do you know a magic
caster named Ainz Ooal Gown.” He asked of Akemi.
That got the Kitsune’s attention as she turned to look up and at the man. “You could say that I
know him pretty well. Why do you ask?” Akemi questioned, tilting her head at the man.
“I had thought that might be the case, you remind me a bit of him. He saved my life once, so
if you see him please give him my regards.” He told them with a pensive look.
“I suppose I can do that if I get in contact with him. Though me and him are not what I would
call… friends, for now we tolerate each other’s presence, we just have some history is all.”
Akemi said and turned to Kyouko. “Lets head back Kyouko, we did what we came to do.
Kyouko let Akemi wrap an arm around her waist, feeling a hint of a blush creep up “What is
wrong with me? This shorty I swear…” She thought with a sigh.
“[Greater Teleportation].”
Kyouko blinked as they appeared in a different looking forest, a dead looking one. “Um…
Lady Ake- Akemi…” Kyouko stopped with that once she got a cute pout from the fox
woman now that they were alone. “Where are we? This isn’t home.”
“Oh just acting on some information I gathered, as well as giving you a chance to break in
your new toy. This is a hide out of the criminal syndicate Eight Fingers, it seems to be one of
the points on their routes around and out of the country to traffic people. We’re going to
cause a little havoc and free some innocent people that I have currently being observed. Want
in?” Akemi asked with a grin.
It took half a second for Kyouko to break out of her surprise, right before she let a feral grin
spread on her face “That sounds absolutely satisfying right about now after all having to deal
with all of that.”
Akemi stretched herself out as they talked. “Exactly… I am not cut out for politics, if I ever
can get an ambassador that knows their way around words I’ll be happy. Alright… like I had
said earlier, I dislike killing and violence, but people like these are exceptions, the world is a
better place without them. Lets leave none of these slavers alive, well… There are a few I
will capture for some information, but besides that… lets run wild.”
Chapter End Notes
A/N Thank you all so much for your patience. It has been a year… sadly depression
kinda came back swinging, and it has taken a while to want to write much of anything.
I’ll be trying to update this one more, but it likely won’t be as consistent as it should be
still.
Updated on 11/18/22, minor edits.

Nuclear Mine and Family
Chapter Summary
Akemi sets off her crusade against the blight of slavery with a bang!
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you all for the follows and favorites, the kudos and subscribes, each one
means a ton to me and really makes me want to keep this story going, especially since I
have more plans now.
Akemi and Kyouko could smell the stink of eight fingers members before they even could
enter the small cave entrance that was easily missed above ground, it was a distinct odor of
long unwashed bodies, shit and piss, blood, and weapon oil. Both of them tried to tune that
smell out as they trekked inside. “I’ll leave the majority of the enemies to you alright? One
moment… [Mass Greater Sense Statistics].” Akemi cast, wincing at the trove of information
entering her brain.
There were thankfully not many approaching Kyouko’s level of fifteen, and those that did
Akemi had confidence that the difference in equipment would be more than enough. “You’re
good, just avoid blows to the head obviously and I doubt their weapons will be able to even
get through your new armor. I’m going to teleport inside to secure their captives to make sure
they won’t be hostages. Even if you just hold them off up here that is fine, I’ll secure our
objective and set my special ‘surprise’.” Akemi looked downright mischievous while saying
that, something that reminded Kyouko that this girl Was a Kitsune after all.
“Got it, I won’t a single one get past me, just make sure to get me out also before destroying
this place like I’m guessing you will.” Kyouko said with a smirk, unsheathing her sword she
checked the distance of the walls to each other.
“No, I was planning to just leave someone I l- I’m fond of behind while I blow this place up
beyond any recognizable hole.” Akemi’s sarcastic look barely reassured Kyouko even after
Akemi rolled her eyes. “Of course I’m not going to leave you here dummy, don’t worry about
it, it shouldn’t take too long. If you are worried about your sword length well… your sword
likely could cut through the walls also, so don’t worry about hitting them. Just in case…
[Dividing Edge].” She cast on Kyouko’s sword, causing a red glow on it. “Nothing but the
hardest armor or weapons is going to stop a swing from this now. It only lasts about thirty
minutes, so I’ll try and be quick.” Akemi said and turned around, letting a tail flick up and
graze Kyouko’s chin.
Kyouko took a few deep breathes at that brush with the tail, her brain having a minor reboot.
“Y-yeah… I’ll deal with them, killing bandits isn’t anything new for me so I’ll be careful.”
She told Akemi, giving her a wave as she proceeded down the tunnel, giving her sword a test
swipe against the rock. She had to stop and blinked at the near complete lack of resistance the
stone gave her. “Well… this is going to get bloody…” She muttered to herself.
Akemi smiled and watched her go, until she noticed herself staring a bit too much and turned
around “G- [Greater Teleportation].”
Kyouko had to take a moment to breath “What in the world does that woman do to me…
Focus time…” She muttered as her eyes narrowed while facing the door down the natural
stone hallway. As her foot steps echoed down the halls, a small eye slit opened at eye level on
the door “Who the hell ‘er you?!” She heard a slurring voice ask on the other side of the
metal reinforced wooden door.
“The big bad wolf~ I hear you pigs have been keeping people who don’t belong to you. Will
you make it easy and open the door?” She asked as she rested the Nodachi on her shoulder,
grinning absolutely ferally at the set of eyes in that slot. The only answer she got was that slot
closing in her face. “Oh well… This will be more fun anyway.” She muttered as she started to
raise her foot to kick, only to remember what she was holding “What am I doing? Lets test
this out…” She muttered and lifted her blade.
The men rushing on the other side of the door were all gathering together at the barricades
that had been set up for just such an occasion, not that they expected a single demi-human
wolf woman with a black blade at the door. They all could only watch as the door, door
frame, and even the wall were cut to pieces almost soundlessly. Sound only came back due to
the clattering of the debris where the entrance was.
They all stared into the dust, and waited for their foe to emerge. “[Showdown Declaration]!”
They heard a female voice call out, which was the last at least five of them heard as they
rushed forward into that dust with their blades raised, a war cry in their throats.
The other three in that entrance chamber could barely see a blade move as those first five
were turned into not but chunks of meat from the slashes passing through their bodies.
Through the bloody mist Kyouko finally charged forward, swinging down at a taller man in
tattered platemail. “You fucking Bit-” He roared, holding his greatsword up to block, right
before all thoughts stopped from the blade that passed through the cheap steel blade and
stolen armor he was wearing.
The sound of two blades whistling towards her from the side told Kyouko more than what her
eyes could in that moment [Instant Counter]!” With a roar Kyouko’s body shifted at high
speed, her blade suddenly swung out to the side instead of down towards the ground after
cutting their comrade in half. Shifting into a block didn’t save the one on her right as it
cleaved through one man, and then came around the left to block the other man blade to
blade. When the steel blade cleanly separated into two pieces the man was surprised, in shock
almost, until the black blade entered his forehead, and then slid sideways out of the side of
his head.
“What kind of sword did you give me Akemi?! I swear I need to marry that woman one
day…” She thought as she continued her hunt.
Thanks to her fox spirit summons, Akemi appeared right next to a cage filled with female
demi-humans of many varieties, most of them like her in being human looking besides racial
features such as claws, ears, tails, or light coats of fur. Her eyes narrowed as she spotted at
least a dozen children in the back of the group, being hidden as best as the group could do.
On the other end of the wider cave there was a second cage, that one filled with regular
humans, all female as well. It wasn’t hard for Akemi to imagine what the bandit members of
eight fingers planned to do with them all. The few guards inside of that room were gathered
around a table playing cards.
“[Mass Hold Species][Mass Silence].” She cast that the bandits, instantly freezing them in
place with a red glow. “Could I have everyone’s attention?” Akemi’s voice carried quite
easily as she walked into the center near the guards. It took a moment for all the prisoners to
look up from their stupor and likely depression induced disassociation, not that she could
blame them. “Me and my companion will be destroying this base of the eight fingers, but my
main objective is to free you all.” Akemi told them as three tails each extended over to the
bars of both large cages.
Both groups backed up to the wall, some of them crying out at those tails extending far more
than normal at high speed. “Good, you backed away so I don’t have to ask you to.” She told
them as one tail slipped through and wrapped around a section of bars, while the other two
tails swiped through the bars twice, somehow severing the metal nearly without a sound.
Once a rectangular section of the cage was loosened the third tail pulled it away and chucked
it carelessly against a wall. Akemi’s tails retracted and she watched the ends loosen back up,
losing the razor sharp edge it had made. “Tail skills were a great level up bonus~”
“Alright everyone, we’re all going to get out of here together, but first, does anyone have a
personal grudge against these four? Have they personally hurt any of you? I ask because I
believe the victim should have the first chance at striking back.” Akemi told them with a self
satisfied nod.
The Demi-humans all scrambled out and over towards her, while only some of the humans
came over, the rest stayed huddled in the cage like they were scared of Akemi herself.
With a shrug Akemi faced the group that actually came towards her. “Well, if any of you
want to get it out of your system, by all means beat them like they’ve beaten yo-” Akemi
didn’t even need to finish as one woman stepped past Akemi and began to punch a bandit
while screaming in fury. “They won’t move so feel free to go at it.” Akemi told them and
walked away from that group, listening to the sounds of rage and sorrow being bled out with
each punch or kick.
Akemi left them to their rightfully deserved vengeance. While she didn’t like violence in
itself, she knew it was foolish to believe violence itself was always wrong, or people
shouldn’t be able to extract their vengeance if it was deserved. Sometimes a problem just
need a punch in the face. “Violence isn’t the answer, it is a question, and sometimes the
answer is Yes.”
“Will you all stop panicking?” Akemi asked them as she stood at the opening she made in the
cage, just getting a bit annoyed the humans huddled in the corner. One braver woman seemed
to get some fight back in her and roared, rushing Akemi and trying to punch her. Akemi
gently grabbed the fist and just glared “I’m trying to save your lives asshole!” She scolded
them, rolling her eyes and letting the woman go who quickly backed away, falling on her
rear. “Let me guess, its because I’m a Demi-human?” Akemi asked with a sigh.
“Its obviously a trap! Why would a Demi-human monster come save us?! I’m not an idiot!
We know what you all do to humans you capture!” The woman on the floor screamed.
“Ah yes, because I would totally free you if I was trying to trap you… I’d say you Are an
idiot, actually.” Akemi could only sigh and shake her head. “I still need you all to come with
me, even if you want me to just leave you somewhere, this place is not going to exist when
I’m done, and unlike your kingdom I don’t kill innocents.” Rubbing her forehead Akemi just
looked a bit done. “Tell me something, Who was it that kidnapped you, dragged you here,
threw you In a cage, and planned to sell you into the sex trade to be raped for the rest of your
short life? It sure as hell wasn’t me!”
The woman all froze at that, that truth sticking in their minds for the moment. It didn’t take
much for them to imagine that kind of future, especially with it being told to them so often in
their time in that cage, some longer than others. “It… was… humans, these people here…”
one woman admitted, looking to finally see reason. Eventually the rest seemed to settle
down, just looking like they wanted to get out of their.
“Good, once we’re out of here I can take you where you want to go easily enough, for now
though if you want to get some licks in on these guys you ca- Oi don’t kill them yet! [Mass
Cure Medium Wounds]!” Akemi shouted over at the group as she saw several bandits getting
more still.
In a green glow, everyone in that cave was passed over with healing magic, curing any
wounds on them short of stab fatal wounds. “Oi oi oi don’t twist his head like that! Let other
people get a turn!” Akemi was a bit stunned by the energy all of them had as they punched,
kicked, slapped, or in one case tried to snap their neck if Akemi’s spell didn’t hold them in
place too much.
It took a few more minutes after the human women had also gotten their turn venting their
rage before everyone was tired out.
“I’ll be leaving them here alive for now, but don’t worry, they won’t be for long once we
leave. First though…[Widen Magic: Wave of Pain].” Akemi was feeling particularly
vindictive against the men once she saw the traumatized glaces from the children behind all
the women directed at the men. They all got to watch the men nearly vibrate in their skin as
they couldn’t move or scream. With a silent cast of Message, she could nearly hear Kyouko
snarling in the back of the call. “You ready for pick up? I got everyone ready to go.” Akemi
told her through the established mental connection.
They all could hear the cries and screams of men down the hall through the makeshift door.
“Just a moment, I’ll meet up with you.” She felt Kyouko tell her through Message. Akemi
chuckled as she heard that commotion getting closer. Door that door splinted from a man
being kicked through it, landing breathlessly in a pile on the ground.
After that, cover in streaks of blood like the crimson of her hair, Kyouko looked like a war
goddess herself As all the blood slid off her blade effortlessly. Akemi felt her face heat up as
she stared at the wolf woman with her mouth slacked open. Kyouko stared back curiously,
almost amused at the look on her leader’s face. “…ck she’s hot…” Akemi muttered quietly as
she turned away shyly, looking less like an all powerful goddess, and more like the flustered
nineteen year old she was inside.
“Heard that.” Kyouko teased, though she was blushing just a bit also. With one last swipe, the
bandit struggling on the floor was finished off by the strike to the neck. “This thing works so
damn well, thank you for this blade.” She told Akemi, making sure all the blood was off it
before sheathing it.
Akemi looked at a loss for words as she tried to recover her dignity, turning around to face
the women, several of which were smirking at the moment they witnessed between the two.
“Y-you saw nothing. Anyway! Lets all get out of here… [Gate].” Akemi told them as she cast
her spell, which caused a swirling blue void to open in the air that spread open further.
“We’re taking a pit stop to the surface so you all can see what I meant earlier. It is perfectly
safe.” Akemi told them and gestured to her portal.
The Demi-humans didn’t have much problem going through, while the human women
eventually went through starting with one more brave individual. “This is going to be
interesting~” Akemi chattered, finally leaving last after Kyouko, leaving her ‘present’
behind, along with the whimpering of the still spell bound bandits in their chairs that had
been released from silence. “W-wait!” they tried to plead, their eyes glued to something on
the floor, but Akemi ignored them and headed through the portal.
Up on the surface, they all were a bit away from the hole in the ground leading towards the
hide out. “Alright everyone! While it might look frightening, I promise you’re all safe with
me. [Prismatic Barrier].” Akemi told them as a pyramid shaped, near transparent yellow
barrier appeared around their group, causing the former captives to panic for a moment.
“Alright… It probably would be loud so… [Mass Muffle], that should do.” Akemi told them
as best she could with sound muffled around them. “Would do to blow anyone’s ear drums
out… Hang onto something! [Remote Trigger]!” At that last cast everyone there got to
experience what it would be like to an observer to what would be labeled a natural disaster.
Akemi watched the ground bulge for just a moment in an expanding area from that entrance,
right before all hell broke loose. Kyouko even screamed as the muffled roar of an explosion
beyond anything she realized possible exploded from the dirt. Chunks of the ground were
launched over them as the ground fell out from under her barrier, leaving them floating in a
barrier in mid air.
Even Akemi looked shocked at the after effects, having to momentarily strengthen her barrier
just a bit if she wanted to keep all debuffs away from the squishy innocent people. “W-well
that was bigger than a though… Glad it isn’t technically the same as an actually blast…” As
the cloud cleared, The dead forest around them for over a kilometer looked flattened, while
they floated above a crater.
Kyouko just stared at Akemi in shock “What… the FUCK was that?!” She yelled once the
sounds stopped being muffled.
Akemi looked away in embarrassment “L-language! There are children present!” Akemi said,
trying to deflect as she turned away from the near hysterical Wolf woman.
“Don’t change the topic! No really, what the hell was that Akemi?! Could you have warned
us?!” Kyouko looked like she didn’t know how to feel. She was a bit terrified of that level of
power, but also in shock from it all.
“I-it was the Ninth Tier spell… [Nuclear Mine]… It was kinda one of my favorites, and I
wanted to see how it would work here… Luckily the radiation effect is only a temporary
debuff, so this area will be safe. I made sure there was nothing around and that we all were
safe… S-sorry for the shock everyone! I’m reflecting on my actions…” Akemi told them all
with a slight embarrassed bow.
“Lets just… go… Sorry about that everyone, we’re leaving now, please forgive this idiot, she
means well.” Kyouko told them while applying a chop to Akemi’s head, and ruffled Akemi’s
hair as the shorter girl just looked away from the entire group of terrified civilians.
“A-alright everyone, I’ll be setting up some housing for you for now, we’ll get you all fed
before we figure out what to do with you.” Akemi told all the new members of her colony.
Finding an empty spot that was filled with nothing but trees near the store rooms Akemi
prepared what she wanted in her mind. “Alright… [Widen Magic: Dominate Nature]!” Like
before, Akemi began to absorb the trees already there into her spell, causing them to meld
together and grow rapidly, and slowly a large building formed, which resembled a warehouse
more than anything. Even though the outside was constructed, looking quite nice with it’s
timber frame appearance and wide windows minus glass, the inside was still being formed.
It took about 10 minutes before her spell ended and she took a few deep breathes “That
was… tiring… There are beds and everything in there, I tried to form pillows with some
plants, so hopefully that is soft enough.” Akemi told the new group, and turned to the group
of older residents that had gathered “Could you all make sure they get what they need like
food, blankets, and clothes?” Akemi asked them as she tried to regain some version of noble
bearing. She hoped the others wouldn’t talk about how she was acting…
She kept her tiredness inside until she could enter her home, which she walked straight to,
giving a few residents a wave. “I just want to go see my Daughter already…” She had
enough of dealing with everyone else’s problems that day.
“I’m home…” Akemi quietly called out, and only heard the steady breathing of two bodies
upstairs. Kyouko came in behind her, her ears twitching as she also heard it.
Listening for the sounds while on their second story floor with their bedrooms, she turned
towards Ana’s door. She smiled before she even opened the door, and saw Ana and Hannyuu
both sleeping. Ana had her arms wrapped around the small feline securely, hugging her to her
chest and resting her chin on her head. Hannyuu had taken two handfuls of Ana’s shirt while
she snuggled against the short woman, looking quite comfortable.
Kyouko and Akemi both stopped to enjoy the scene for a moment. Eventually Hannyuu’s
nose twitch for a moment, right before she seemed to sniff more eagerly. Her eyes opened up
and she looked around, spotting Akemi in the doorway. She had frozen for a moment and
looked about to cry.
Ana also woke up from the movement, and saw the other two with them. With a smile she put
a hand on Hannyuu’s back to give her an encouraging pat forward.
“MAMA!” Hannyuu cried out before she leapt out of that bed, the distance between them
cleared in only a few steps, and was scooped up by Akemi and wrapped in tails. The tears
staining Akemi’s shirt made her throat close for a moment, as she buried her own few tears in
that pink hair.
“Yes, Mama is back and safe, I’m right here. I’m sorry for worrying you.” Akemi told her
and just sunk to her knees as her mind flashed her and image of each face of the children she
had just rescued, the looks of despair and shock on their faces that made her wish she could
destroy those men once again.
After a bit more tears in their reunion, all of them moved to the living room downstairs, with
furniture courtesy of Create Greater Item. “Did you two do alright together? Sorry for leaving
you here so much Hannyuu… There is nothing pressing currently that I know of for a few
days, so I was thinking I could teach you and Ana more about magic? You said you could use
up to the second tier Ana?” Akemi asked as she held Hannyuu on her lap, hugging the child
that was overdue years worth of hugs.
“Yeah… I know it isn’t very impressive in comparison, but I was able to get to this point
without a talent or anything that I know of, so I’m not sure just how much stronger my magic
would get, maybe with the staff you gave me I could cast something stronger.” Ana told them
and looked a bit depressed on that. “I was never the strongest member of my party…”
Akemi shook her head “Mentally you are stronger than them, morally also, which is a good
trait to have. So what if you don’t have a talent? That just means you got where you are by
working hard. Probably worked a lot harder than me…” Akemi shrugged and looked down at
Hannyuu. “Say Ana, how did you start learning magic? It was a bit… different in my world,
so I might need your help in teaching Hannyuu.” Akemi admitted as she gently scratched her
daughter’s ears, smiling as she felt Hannyuu purr in delight which only made the love in
Akemi’s heart swell a bit more.
Ana nodded and looked to think about it a bit. “There was a book I had gotten to read when I
was younger that helped me… There are a lot of copies of it available since the Kingdom
wanted more mages to turn up, there aren’t a huge amount of us. If I'm remembering it
correctly it was called ‘Mysteries of the Arcana’, they had made a ton of copies and
distributed them about ten years ago.”
“Alright, first order of business then would be getting our hands on one of those books. Sorry
Hannyuu… It might be a little bit until I can teach you, though I’m not even sure I’d… be
able to, I’ve never taught magic how it is in this world. While the systems are the same, lots
of the learning portion was cut out.” Akemi’s ears folded and she looked away “Do… I really
deserve all this power?” Akemi had a lot to think about that night. “Alright… It is time for
bed, I’m kind of exhausted…” Seeing Hannyuu nodding off while she cuddled against her
made her smile despite all the stress of the day.
Looking up and seeing the conflicted look on Kyouko’s face made her heart sink. “I need to
find her daughter soon… They both deserve it…” She thought and picked Hannyuu up.
“Good night you two, sleep well okay? If you need anything feel free to grab me.” She had a
lot of work to do…
“Like I told you all… you are Not being kept here against your will, if you want me to take
you back to the Kingdom, just tell me the place. Likewise, if it isn’t safe for you to go back,
you are also welcome to just… stay. Instead of assuming what you are told about us demi
humans is true, stay here and learn for yourself?” Akemi told the barracks full of humans
who she had saved the day before.
“Alright… Those who want to go back no matter what, form a line here, those that want me
to just check on your loved ones first to see if it is safe before deciding, right here. Those that
want to stay, just relax, or go get something to eat. All the fruit trees are open and plentiful
and several members here like to cook for the rest, I don’t let my people go hungry.” Akemi
pointed at two spots in front of her and got ready.
The concept of free time for that day disappeared as about half of the humans there lined up
in front of her. “Well, I’ll be dropping those that want to just leave at E-Rantel, or the capitol.
[Gate], through here is E-Rantel, hope you stay safe.”
Akemi watched as several confused civilians approached the portal. Opening another portal,
the rest vanished from view. “Alright… glad lots of you have some sense, we’ll check on
your homes and loved ones if you want, just point me in the right direction.” Akemi cracked
her knuckles to get to work for the day.
Several hours and many castings of Gate later Akemi was finally finished dealing with her
guests. Most of the humans that were staying left the barracks, giving her a tiny bit of quiet
time. Bracing herself, Akemi walked outside, trying to keep a straight face at the more than a
few demi humans that were literally praying to her. “Please… stop it…” She thought with a
fake smile.
Her feet took her back to her house to finally clear her head. “Hannyuu?” A quick check of
the home revealed no one but herself standing within the tree home. Another pulse of her
skill let her locate Hannyuu near several other children within the settlement. Guessing that
they were playing Akemi finally felt like she could get some rest. Heading up to her room she
spread out on her bed lazily, and just enjoyed the sun hitting her through the window.
While she didn’t feel like sleeping that early, she did have something she could do. “Well, ah
I’m sure he isn’t that busy… [Message].” The slight phone style tone Akemi heard told her
that the message was going through, but she wondered if he even would pick up.
“Akemi… Is randomly calling me going to be a regular thing? I Am busier than it might

seem… What do you want?” Ainz asked with a resigned sigh, as much as a skeleton could
anyway.
“Can’t an old frenemy not catch up like old times?” Akemi asked as the urge to tease shot up.
The groan on the other end made it hard not to laugh.
“What is it you want Akemi? This better not be your attempt to restart the prank war… Last
time you caused twenty million gold in damage.” Ainz complained at her bitterly.
“Twenty million? Damn that was a good glitter bomb! Thanks for giving me the idea to
restart that, you can’t imagine the urge I get to prank people now, I blame being a Kitsune…”
Akemi stretched out on the bed and felt her mood perk back up a bit.
“Your your ‘glitter bomb’ was filled with level ninety five glue and a delayed [Nuclear Mine]
spell… you nearly started a guild war. Speaking of that, you blew up an eight fingers base
with that didn’t you? We Are trying to invade that organization you know?” Ainz told her,
sounding slightly pissed at remembering that memory.
“Good times… Good times… Didn’t you send a [Sharks Cyclone] in a bottle right back?
That one was pretty good, I’ll give you that. I had a feeling you were… I have a lot of their
people tagged already, if you want the information I can compile it for you. They had more
slaves that included children, patience wasn’t an option this time.” Akemi’s fist clenched as
she tried to not remember the hopeless faces of those poor people.
“Fair enough… If you could, please consult me before assaulting them? You know, you are
really starting to disrupt some of my plans…” Ainz said, trying to sound foreboding.
“I can try and do that I suppose. Once I can get most of the slaves out and settled I don’t
intend to stay in the area, I know you seem to have claimed this area as your own, and I
won’t contest that, first come first serve and all. On that note, I intend make a proposition to
the Dragon Kingdom about some of their problems so I might solve that housing problem
and get out of your… wait you don’t have hair anymore…” Akemi’s ears flicked as she tried
to think for a moment “I was also wondering if… you have some tips for appearing more…
regal? Like a leader? I am having a hard time staying in character by this point and you seem
to have it down… is it the undead trait?”
“I have no current plans with that area for now, I’ll try and avoid there if you plan to set up in
that area. My lack of hair aside… It is a bit more of a struggle to stay like this than it looks…
What exactly are you having trouble with?”
“Well, my race is a nine tails… In the lore they are supposed to be quite ancient and wise,
and you’ve met me, I’m honestly neither of those things… How am I supposed to pretend to
be over nine hundred years old when I barely reached nineteen with half the life experience
as a nineteen year old here?” Akemi whined in frustration, her tails covering her face.
“Only nineteen? I suppose you have your work cut out for you… Have you tried practicing in
the mirror? You never had to do any public speaking at work?”
With a sigh Akemi’s ears folded “I didn’t work, I couldn’t, not that it would be much better at
one of those places… Most days I was stuck in bed or worshiping the porcelain god. That
multi clan meet up was one of the last times I could stand walking without any assistance, I
had to force myself to go and I paid for it afterwords… How old were you? I’m guessing
around thirty?” She asked, trying to shake the images from her head of her painful past.
“Close enough to there, not that it matters much anymore. I'm sure you’ll do fine with your
people, just show confidence. So… How goes it with those ladies you mentioned who were
worried about you?” Ainz asked sounding way too amused.
“It… I know what I am doing there even less than being a leader… How in the hell do I
know if someone likes me? Let alone two people? Those two and Hannyuu are the only ones
who know more about me, including my past. Got any romance tips skeletor?”
“Please do not call me that… Sadly I don’t have much more, didn’t have a lot of time for
romance in the past. There was one time I tried to date but… She didn’t appreciate being
stood up on a date because I had surprise overtime at work… Hannyuu, is that your
daughter?”
Once again that urge sprung up on Akemi, hitting her brain faster than she could shut it down
“So… you’re of the wizard class in this world? Yeah, she is just about the cutest daughter in
the world, getting to come home and have her waiting there is so… fulfilling.” She teased
him, holding back her laughter as best she could.
“Glass houses Kitsune… Doubt you did any better. Having family is indeed nice, just having
someone around makes things more bearable.”
“I mean, I was terminally ill and basically a skeleton, which apparently unlike here, was not
considered very attractive, so I don’t think that was as good of a come back as you think it is.
Nice job with those two by the way, you player~ Shalltear is quite the beauty.” She really was
having way too much fun as she rolled on her stomach, her tails flicking around in time with
her mood.
“…Point. I… don’t even know what to do with those two… Alright though, onto more
serious topics… What is it you intend to do in this world? You’ve been quite vague, even
with your speech to the king.”
“I knew you were listening~ It is pretty simple actually. I’m going to rebuild my guild, I want
to make a place of peace in this chaotic world, a place I can call home. This forest is nice, but
it is temporary at best, it is too close to the Kingdom for comfort. The longer I stay in this
area the more likely our plans will overlap, and the last thing I want is conflict between us.
There is enough in this world that we both can have our own little section of paradise as long
as we are careful, just… I know you are undead now, but just please try and still keep some
of that humanity inside you…” Akemi carefully added.
“I’ll keep note of that area you move to and keep my own operations out of it… but if my
subordinates get it into their head about some master plan they may attempt something, just
message me if they do and I’ll try and pull them in line. You are right that acting is quite
hard, but also please do not presume to lecture me about humanity.” For an undead his tone
sounded almost annoyed or angry.
“I’m not… trying to lecture you, I just know we are on opposite ends of the karma spectrum
so we won’t see eye to eye, but karma in a game and here is different. There are real
consequences here, with living breathing people with lives of their own, just like your
comrades back on earth, we aren’t in a game anymore. I’m not accusing you of anything, but
please just think about from the perspective of if you were still the player Momonga just
blowing off steam after a long day of selling your soul to a company? Just please don’t do
something like commit genocide or something… is that reasonable?” Akemi asked tiredly.
The line was silent for a small bit which worried Akemi, a sigh was all that came through. “I
will… take it under advisement. On that note, be careful of the inhabitants of this world, they
are not all so weak, you often are too reckless in thinking you are strong. I take situations as
if I am the weaker party until proven otherwise, it will keep you alive longer. One last
thing… be aware of World Items.” With that last bit of cryptic advice that made Akemi’s
blood run cold the message dropped.
Turning back over she stared up at the ceiling. “World Items huh? Shit…” If there was one
thing that could fuck up everything it would be something like those. “I need that base…”
It was a tense night for Akemi, even as she tried to enjoy dinner with Hannyuu and her two
confidantes. As much as she would rather figure out just what those two meant to her, her
mind was preoccupied.
“Are you alright? Got something on your mind?” Ana asked as she took another serving of
beef for herself. “Normally you seem to be all over any meat dishes.”
Akemi looked down as the guilt welled up in her. “Just… I was talking with Ainz earlier and
I got a strange warning… and it has shown me that I need to hurry up with my next plan.
Sorry for being a downer at dinner.”
Kyouko put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her in confusion. “What plan? Could you
explain?”
“Ah, yeah I should… Like I’ve said before, this camp is temporary. We are currently in
Ainz’s sphere of influence, so I just want to get our people, find Lorelei, and get away
somewhere different. I have a place in mind as long as I can fashion a deal with a particular
queen then I can go through with the next big phase of my plan, actually growing our home.
It will be a rather… big undertaking, but it will give us all the room we could need to expand
and grow. I don’t want to just survive, I want our people to thrive in safety, so what I have
planned will let us do just that. I’ll need to do some traveling soon for it, but I’ll tell you what
I’m going to be doing… Operation Folia Aurea.”
After explaining things to her new family, her heart felt a bit lighter, enough that she could
sleep. Waking up in warm blankets and fluffy tails was a blessing in itself, but looking down
Akemi felt a since of peace that was hard to place. Hannyuu had cuddled up against her like
normal, leading to them both being wrapped in tails. it just felt so wonderfully… normal.
“Didn’t even need to cast Deep slumber for her… You’re truly brave child…” As long as it
kept the nightmares away from her daughter, she would do whatever she needed to. While
normally Hannyuu would be past the age of sleeping in her parent’s bed, it wasn’t exactly
uncommon in this world, and she didn’t seem to get much of a childhood so far… so if it
made her happy, Akemi was glad to share the room.
Her internal clock told her that it was getting near sunrise, and a slight amount of light had
started to peek into the forest. Taking a few deep breathes Akemi felt… at peace. “Waking up
to a beautiful early morning, clear non-toxic skies, greenery in all directions, a daughter to
love and raise, this… is the best.” Akemi thought as she hugged Hannyuu a tiny bit more. An
idea struck her as she thought of a nice thing she could do.
“Hey Hannyuu~ Time to wake up, I want to go show you something.” Akemi tried to nudge
her daughter awake, but only succeeded in making her cling tighter. “So cute…” Akemi
shrugged and carefully scooped the feline up into her arms, blanket and all. “Lets go for a
little walk, I want to show you something.” She only got a sleepy noise from her daughter
and chuckled under her breath.
Walking softly wasn’t even a challenge for her, but she also wasn’t in a rush, just holding
Hannyuu in a blanket and her tails, letting the girl finally be the child she is.
Akemi took a moment to appreciate the cool morning air as she stepped outside, no one in the
settlement up just yet, and the world was nice and still. “[Fly].” With that she was rising
effortlessly into the air. Finally Hannyuu stirred just a bit in her arms. “Morning sleepy.”
Akemi said as they rose higher and higher above the forest. Far above the ground Akemi
watched the horizon for a moment before looking down at her daughter “I want you to see
something dear.” Akemi told Hannyuu, not letting her burrow back against her just yet,
applying a few gentle pokes to her cheeks to further bug the feline.
It was adorable, the pouty glare she was given as the kitten was denied further sleep. “Whats
wrong mama? Where are- Eeek!” She yelped and clung tighter to Akemi. “Why are we in the
sky?!” She was certainly wide awake now!
“Oh it is fine, would I let you fall? Look.” She said, pointing forward just as the first rays of
the sun crept over the horizon. Hannyuu eventually stopped shaking and keeping her eyes
clenched shut, and peeked them open to look at what her mother was looking at.
“N-no you wouldn’t… but we’re really high up… Its really pretty…” She said, keeping her
head rested against Akemi’s chest while she looked out at the forest that was awakened
slowly by the morning light. “Beautiful…”
They both just observed the calm morning, wrapped in loving arms and a cool breeze.
Hannyuu looked down for a moment before hugging Akemi tighter “Mama… T-thank you…
for coming into my life, for saving me… I love you…” Hannyuu said in a choked up voice as
she just clung to her mother in all but blood.
In that moment, Akemi felt more fulfilled than any guild raid, guild war, boss drop, or
anything in her actual life had made her by far. “Thank you for being born Hannyuu, for not
giving up on life, my precious daughter…” Akemi whispered out, soon she found her own
words hard to get out, so she settled for kissing her between those adorable feline ears and
kept hold on her like her own life depended on it.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: I hope that end wasn’t too cheesy, but I really like their wholesome relationship.
That part of Akemi is a bit of my own wishes, since I’m in the same boat for being a
trans woman and unable to have children of my own, and I doubt I’ll ever have the
means to adopt sadly. Thank you all for the wonderful reception to this story, the level of
views I got from one chapter was astounding!
I’ll be updating this one as much as a can, but if you want to check out my other works,
by all means! I’m trying to keep them updated weekly, though they are not as well
received as this, so any eyes on those would be appreciated <3 Hope your weeks are
good.
BAAUL: Biblically Accurate Angels and Useless Lesbians
Chapter Summary
Akemi learns more about the world, nearly has a close encounter of the matrimonial
kind, and makes preparations for the next phase of her plans.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you all for the amazing reception to the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this
chapter. A lot more cuteness in this one.
“Hmm… Say Hannyuu?” Akemi’s face took on a look of mischief that had become more and
more common lately.
“Y-yeah?” Hannyuu asked, wiping her eyes after their emotional moment, looking quite
happy as she hugged Akemi.
“Want to learn how to fly? It is very fun.” Akemi asked and smiled down at her daughter with
the most Kitsune-like look on her face, full of mischief and teasing.
“Wha?! Don’t let me go please… I don’t want to fall…” Hannyuu yelped clinging to the
Kitsune tighter. Those feline ears folded down as a bit of fear gripped the poor cat.
“Oh it is perfectly safe, I’m not just going to drop you. Here, [Mass Fly]. just try it out a
little, I’ll still hold your hands.” Akemi urged her and gently grabbed those tiny hands,
unhooking them from around her neck to Hannyuu’s distressed little whines.
Those whimpers of fear started to die down as she didn’t feel the sensation of falling that part
of her expected when she was pried off of Akemi. Peeking open her eyes she saw the ground
beneath her… but felt light as a feather.
She was only connected to Akemi by their linked hands. “W-wow… This is… I’m flying?”
Hannyuu looked confused as she wiggled in the air, her tail flailed as if she didn’t know how
to keep balance anymore.
“Mhm, just focus on what direction you want to move and the magic will do the rest. There is
plenty of time for you to practice as Mass fly lasts an hour, so feel free to figure it out. If you
feel ready you can let go, I won’t let anything happen to you.” Akemi said and pressed her
forehead against Hannyuu’s for a moment before she applied a tiny kiss to it.
Hannyuu couldn’t help the happy smile that crept onto her face at the obvious motherly love.
“Alright…” She muttered as she let go of Akemi’s hands, whimpering as part of her waited
to fall. She blinked and floated there, looking more and more awed by the moment. With a bit
of concentration she floated left and right, forward and back, her eyes alight with childlike
joy.
Akemi smiled at the scene “I swear… it is a miracle she even can still smile like that,
everything that she has been through…” She thought as she flew around Hannyuu until the
girl started to get the hang of it and chase her.
Soon both of them darted around the sky in the morning sunlight, laughing away as they took
turns catching the other. “This is amazing mom! Do you think I could use this magic one
day?” Hannyuu asked as she took time to test out flying, taking to it like a duck to water.
“You will if I have anything to say about it, the regular Fly spell is a third tier spell, but I’d be
able to find some way to raise your magic potential and make that easier eventually is my
hope. For now though, would you want something so you could fly whenever you want?”
Akemi asked as she mentally cheered at her plan coming together.
Hannyuu gasped in happiness, looking far too excited for her own good. “Yes please! That
would be great!” The feline looked incredibly pleased, nearly vibrating in excitement.
“So I’m making something that can help you do that, expect a gift in the next few days for
that, I’ll have something for you, Ana, and Kyouko.” Akemi told her daughter, ruffling her
hair and feeling light headed in joy at seeing just the delight on Hannyuu’s face.
Hannyuu Looked up at her mother with a smile that seemed far too much like a mischievous
Kitsune. “You seem to really like those two~ You know… I wouldn’t mind another mom~”
Hannyuu teased, poking Akemi in the side.
The Kitsune blushed bright red and stuttered for a moment before booping that tiny feline
nose. “M-maybe eventually… I… I still need to think about… anything like that, too busy
lately anyway… You getting another m-mom isn’t… an unrealistic possibility…” Akemi
admitted before flying a bit higher to make Hannyuu chase her.
“Awww~ Mom is shy?” Hannyuu chirped, following after her mother with a grin.
“Who taught you to be this sassy?” Akemi asked and just got a funny look from her daughter.
“Right… Guess the Kitsune in me is rubbing off on you also… Just don’t try to prank me and
you’ll be fine…” Akemi noted.
“What about Kyouko and Ana?” Hannyuu asked as she floated around her mother now. She
purred as she felt a hand brush through her hair as she passed.
“Oh they’re fair game, go for the throat. We could totally come up with pranks together~”
Akemi suggested, her inner Kitsune getting riled up hard.
As she floated there and thought about the day ahead, her senses picked up something past
the barrier. The smile was wiped from her face as the weight on the forest floor told her about
several potential intruders, though they didn’t seem capable of getting past her barrier.
“Hannyuu, come here for a moment?” She asked, her tone now all business as she
commanded one of her pipe fox summons to investigate the disturbance.
“Yes mama?” Hannyuu asked as she zipped on over, all smiles as she had her arms behind
her back.
When she tilted her head at her Akemi felt like she would die of cute… “Focus Akemi
Focus!” she thought and shook her head. “I’m sensing some intruders probing the edge of the
barrier. They can’t seem to get in, but I’d like to check them out to be sure. I’d like you to
come with me, if you’re right by my side I can protect you far better than in the village.”
Akemi told her as she got a glimpse of the group through her summons “Seems to be
adventurers… They noticed my summon but didn’t attack so I’m pretty sure they are
peaceful. Five of them, all female.”
Hannyuu looked both nervous and excited at once, her tail betraying that feeling even more
“O-okay, if you think that is safer.” Hannyuu wasn’t nervous for herself, no, she knew Akemi
would protect her no matter the cost, but for Akemi’s safety… as silly as she knew it was to
be worried about her super mom.
“Mm, before that though… I’d have liked to get your other present done first, so some buffs
will do for now.” Akemi told her before holding her hands out. “[Infinity Wall], [Wall of
Protection from Arrows], [Greater Magic Ward], [Crystal Aegis], [Protection Energy
Negative]. That should do nicely… just stay behind me and you’ll be fine, their levels aren’t
near mine, but you’re still a bit squishy. Hopefully one day we can fix that.” Akemi teased
before she applied a poke to the feline’s nose.
“Okay, I’m right behind you!” Hannyuu declared before she took a quick lap around Akemi
and just looked joyful to be flying.
Akemi smiled and zoomed off in the direction of the adventurers.
“I swear it should be right over here, just what is even going on?” A figure in a shabby red
cloak and a mask complained to the people near her.
“Magic even you can’t detect? Losing your edge there shorty?” A large woman in red armor
asked.
“Shut up Gagaran, I’d like to see you do better you meat head… But this does seem beyond
me, which worries me. There is some sort of wide area illusion if I'm not mistaken, which
seems likely given we’re dealing with a Kitsune. I’ve met some before but I’ve just never
known of one this magically strong. Any ideas Lakyus?” Evileye said, looking around for
any source of magic, but it was like her senses were thrown off balance just by being near
something. She had noticed a small ethereal spirit near them that hovered just observing
them, but didn’t sense anything negative about it.
“If we can’t find it because of a spell that even you don’t know, I’d say that tells us a lot of
what we need to know. Lets just figure out what we can and get back to the Princess.” Lakyus
said as she looked around for any signs of threats. “Maybe Tia and Tina can find some
clues…”
“I’d say there is no need for you all to work yourselves too hard. I assume you were looking
for me?” Akemi asked, taking a strange pleasure in watching that entire team jump as she
dropped the illusionary bubble around her and Hannyuu, just appearing out of nowhere to
their eyes.
Gagaran and Lakyus both took a defensive position, while Evileye looked a bit shocked,
frozen in place as she stared at Akemi, more so at the nine white tipped black tails.
“Easy there, there is no need to panic, I’ve not come for a fight.” When she noticed all of
them, including the two hidden girls she had long since sensed turn their attention to
Hannyuu who was clutching onto Akemi’s robes from behind. “I do suggest your two ninjas
not even think about what ever it is they might be thinking of doing, as I will defend daughter
with deadly force.” Akemi’s smile looked just a bit more menacing when she mentioned that.
To their ears it was not a promise of death, but death certainty judging by the power Akemi
let slip into the air. “I am Akemi, I suppose you already knew that though if you are from the
Kingdom.” She gently pat Hannyuu’s shoulder and looked down at her in expectation.
“U-um… I’m Hannyuu, nice to meet yo… Ow…” Hannyuu stopped mid sentence with a tiny
whine, holding out her tongue after she seemed to bite it. Akemi could only pat her head and
look back at her guests. Of course they all found it adorable to various degrees, but it wasn’t
exactly the time for anyone to mention it.
“Just her? Not going to defend yourself?” Gagaran asked with a grin, slowly putting her war
pick back down. Evileye turned to look at her and shushed her, along with a hammer fist to
the stomach, not that it did anything through the armor.
“There isn’t much of a need for me to do that, I’m quite sturdy. Of course surely an
Adventurer group as distinguished as Blue Rose wouldn’t attack an innocent demi-human
child right? Though... if anyone even tried it I would violently end their lives without
hesitation.” Akemi said while her tails hovered around Hannyuu protectively, each one
primed to defend her from all angles. Taking a few deep breathes she cleared her throat.
“Now then… if you don’t mind me getting down to brass tacks, what is your business with
me?” Akemi asked as she reached back to ruffle Hannyuu’s hair.
“Stand down everyone, relax.” Lakyus said, taking a deep breath and calling Tia and Tina to
her side. “We are just here to start a dialog on behalf of Princess Renner, after your
appearance in the Capital she didn’t have a chance to make her greetings. Of course we
wouldn’t attack an innocent, we have nothing against Demi-humans, especially not children.”
Lakyus told her, looking down at Evileye to see how tense she was.
Akemi felt nothing but truth in her words and nodded. “Good, then you’re already better than
half the Kingdom’s knights… If you intentions are peaceful, then I see no reason for us to
stay out here in the forest. Would you like to talk over breakfast? My two… companions
should be up by now.” Akemi had to think for a moment what those two women were to
her… still she couldn’t find an answer.
Blue Rose seemed to communicate with each other silently, before Evileye nodded. “Alright,
do we have your word on our safety?” Evileye would ask as Lakyus seemed to let her make
that decision for them as their esoteric expert.
“Of course, as long as you are true about coming here in peace then you have nothing to
fear.” Akemi told them before snapping her fingers, a small amount of magic passing over
them, soon revealing that barrier to the group. “Now, I was just teaching my daughter how to
fly, and it is a good hike to the settlement, so would you like to experience flight? Flying is
pretty addicting.” Akemi offered with a clap of her hands.
That seemed to make the group a bit curious, just what was this Kitsune’s game? “Okay, It
would best to get started as soon as we can after all, just remember you promise.” Evileye
said with a sigh.
“Good, just stick near me inside the barrier. [Mass Fly].” Akemi cast upon the group,
blessing them with that which mankind has always dreamed of. “Hannyuu.” Akemi said and
pushed her daughter forward a tiny bit, as if to remind her. With a nod Hannyuu led the way
through their flight.
Even as Blue Rose followed behind Akemi the thought of attacking didn’t cross their
minds… or more of it would be a terrible idea. “I can’t even see any openings…” Lakyus
thought as that mass of tails behind Akemi acted as a perfect shield against them, at least
from what Evileye told them about Kitsunes and their capabilities.
They felt a chill pass over them as they slipped through that barrier “[Message]. Lakyus,
watch what you say, I can’t get a read on her power, but I don’t like our chances. I don’t think
she is an enemy though… hopefully.” Evileye told her leader in the only way she knew
wouldn’t be over heard.
Not soon after entering that barrier they all felt a sudden pressure crash down on them, as if
the sky had started to fall while their instincts told them to flee like rabbits.
“Intruders Identified.” They heard from above them as a massive angel that looked similar
to a knight shaped golem covered in eyes flew above them while staring into their soul with
all the eyes on their rings, having gotten into position before they could even notice.
“Stand down Seraph, these five are allowed inside provided they stay peaceful.” Akemi only
turned over mid flight to command her summon, waving it off back to it’s position.
“Yes my Goddess.” That angel bellowed before breaking off from their flight and heading
back towards the barrier at a speed faster than their own flying magic.
“Sorry about that, they are a bit over zealous.” Akemi said, not looking too worried about it
all.
Evileye looked fit to burst “S-sorry?! What in the- Do you have ANY idea what you brought
into this world!?” She shouted and looked strangely emotional for such a stoic person, even
her teammates stared at her oddly.
“Calm down shorty!” Gagaran told the mage, pulling her hood further over her face to mess
with her. “But what in the world was that thing? I got all sorts of chills…”
They all seemed to look at Akemi who almost looked a bit guilty. “Oh them? I know exactly
what they are, considering I summoned them. Its a Seraphim, about the second strongest
angel I can summon, they are perfectly under my control, no need to worry.” Akemi said
cheerfully. “Though… If you would permit a question from me also… does your team know
about your own circumstances Evileye?” She asked calmly.
The way the other group got quiet and stiff told Akemi plenty. “We do, I assume this isn’t a
problem for you?” Lakyus said, sparing a look at Evileye who had just gotten quiet.
“She is our Shorty, that is all that matters.” Gagaran stated.
Akemi could only nod and smile at them “Good. Never be ashamed of who or what you are.”
Akemi told them and spied the settlement coming up soon. “Lets land here, we’re close.”
Akemi mostly told Hannyuu and followed the feline to the ground, still she kept herself
between her daughter and Blue Rose.
Eventually they heard Evileye chuckle under her breath, an obvious rare occurrence judging
by the looks on her teammate’s face. “I get it now… You don’t need to put on this act you
know?”
The Kitsune stopped in her tracks, making Blue Rose worry for a moment as those tails acted
up. Looking over her shoulder she clearly was pouting at Evileye, her cheeks puffed up a bit
and her childlike face looked even more childish. “Do you enjoy throwing me off Grandma?”
Akemi complained.
“Gran- Am I supposed to take that from a nine tails? I know about Kitsunes, You’re over nine
hundred!” Evileye yelled right back, looking strangely riled up.
“Damn… Has anyone ever had the guts to call her that before? Ha! Not bad Fox.” Gagaran
looked far too amused at seeing a rare side to her companion.
Akemi froze up completely, even her tails had stopped moving. Hannyuu peeked from around
her mother to look up at her face. “Mama? Didn’t you say you were nineteen?” She asked oh
so innocently. Akemi couldn’t find it in her to be upset about that secret being spilled, and
thus could only chuckle a tiny bit under her breath. Her neck nearly creaked as she turned to
look at the feline.
“Dearheart… t-that was actually supposed to remain a secret… I suppose I should have said
so clearly.” Akemi looked defeated, looking back over at Blue Rose with a hint of
resignation.
After a few awkward moments Evileye nodded “Yeah… I could see that, someone nine
hundred years old would be a much better actor, probably with more tact. If you were you
probably would be too apathetic to care as much as you do for your cause. It happens when
you get too old, thankfully I’m not there yet." The rest of Blue Rose slowly started to chuckle
at the scene, It was a lot better than the tension in the air earlier for sure.
“Ugh… I swear you better not tell anyone that, I can and will use Control Amnesia… if it
worked on the Guild master pretty sure it would work on anyone. Now now don’t give me
that look, I only got rid of him finding out about me early on from his memories, it was
causing him too much stress and could have caused a lot of trouble.” Akemi responded to the
quick glares at her, their laughter gone. “Fine… I won’t… You all are too tense, you need
some food.” Akemi grumbled, ushering Hannyuu forward again.
The silence finally broke as they entered the settlement proper, and saw the people walking
around and taking care of their own morning. “Ah Lady Akemi! Hannyuu! Welcome back!”
She heard a cheerful little voice call out, before a tiny Kitsune rushed over to hug Hannyuu.
“Morning Lirina!” Hannyuu said and hugged her younger friend back, releasing her to let her
jump towards Akemi next.
“Good morning Lirina, aren’t you full of energy this morning.” Akemi told the little one
tailed Kitsune, returning the hug happily.
“Mhm! Mama is making breakfast still, so she told me to play for a little bit.” Lirina said
before peeking around Akemi “Are these your friends?” She asked with a curious ear twitch.
Akemi about died of cute at that… “I’m glad she still has her mother, but I'm sure I would
have adopted her also otherwise. She is just too precious~ I wonder if Hannyuu wants
siblings?” She thought and ruffled the young Kitsune’s hair.
“Well, I hope they will be, but right now they are my guests. Why don’t you go play for now,
and then once you and Hannyuu eat breakfast you two could play?” Akemi told her, ruffling
Hannyuu’s hair also for good measure.
“Okay! Lets play later, okay Hannyuu? Bye!” The excitable girl ran off into the morning.
Akemi could only fondly watch for a moment.
“This place is pretty lively, I expected something a bit more…” Gagaran couldn’t help but
start to say, though she had a smile on her face.
“Depressing? Full of despair? All these people have seen the darkness of the Kingdom, the
cruel side of it that stole their lives away. It would be understandable for it to be depressing
here, but they’re stronger than I thought… I’m… proud that they’ve put such trust in me, so
you understand when I say I refuse to let them down yes? I have to answer that much trust
with my determination.” Akemi asked as she turned back to smile tiredly at Blue Rose. “Lets
get some breakfast.”
It was hard to respond to all of that, but Lakyus could only nod “That is… understandable.
Breakfast does sound good, thank you.” All noble bearing soon returned to the well armed
woman.
“Where is the world did that woman go? I swear she leaves so much without even leaving a
note we should tie her ass up!” Kyouko complained as she sat at the dining table, both her
and Ana trying to figure out where Akemi had run off to for the morning.
“Well, Hannyuu is probably with her, maybe they wanted some bonding time?” Ana said and
continued cooking at a stove which was also courtesy of Akemi’s magic. “I have a strange
feeling she probably wouldn’t mind that as much as you think.” Ana also sarcastically
muttered.
That at least got Kyouko chuckling. “Oh? That makes for an interesting mental image, Or
was that just your interest? Should we be tying you up?” The wolf woman teased, enjoying
the blush that filled the younger human woman’s cheeks.
“S-shush you! Like you’re any better…” Ana grumpily said, flipping over slices of meat in
the cast iron pan Akemi had added to the home.
“Oh I didn’t claim to be, I know what I want and what I like, but do you? To be honest our
cute Goddess tied up would be… quite the pretty picture… Yeah I can see the appeal.”
Kyouko said with a chuckle that Ana could only sigh about.
“Perv… T-though not a horrible idea…” She muttered that last part, looking away from
Kyouko who could only smirk at the human girl.
“Oh? So you decide where you stand?” Kyouko asked as she got up to join Ana in that
kitchen. She had a strangely thoughtful look on her face for a normally serious wolf woman.
She ran a finger right down Ana’s spine and giggled at the way the girl jumped. “Hmmm…
Adorable…” Kyouko teased and got out of spatula smacking range.
“Y-you!” Ana kept trying to swing her spatula and Kyouko and kept missing by a mile,
before being held back by a hand to the forehead. “Get over here you!” Ana yelled, but didn’t
actually look that enraged, though her face was still flushed bright red.
“I’m ho- Hello? Whats going on in here?” Akemi asked as she poked her head in their front
door, smirking at the two of them.
They both quickly separated with near equal blushes on their face. “N-nothing… I was just
making breakfast. You and Hannyuu go for a walk?” Ana asked, not looking directly at that
woman Kyouko and her were joking about tying up a minute prior.
“You could say that, took her flying and we also ran into some people.” Akemi said and fully
entered, her tails still a bit around Hannyuu as unconscious protection. “Think you could
make a couple more servings? I have some more food in my inventory if it is needed. I…
don’t really have any cooking experience…” Akemi smirked at Ana as she near dropped that
spatula once their guests entered their home. “I’d like to introduce the Adamantite adventurer
group Blue Rose.” Akemi said and pulled out a chair for Hannyuu at the table, and pushed
her in.
“W-wait you brought Blue Rose here? The Blue Rose?! I-it is nice to see you again Ms
Evileye, I’m not sure if you remember me but…” Ana seemed to go full on fan girl mode
when she saw Evileye enter the room.
“Hmm? Yes, you were that excitable mage that wanted training. Though I’ve seen it a bit
more recently on some posters…” When Evileye said that Ana looked like she saw a ghost,
all excitement scared off.
“So… Elliot actually did go through with his threat… A-Akemi, could we check on my
parents today?” Ana asked nervously, before flinching from popping grease next to her.
“Of course Ana, just point me in the right direction and I can get a summon there by the end
of the day. Really tempted to go remove a limb or two more from that guy… He obviously
didn’t learn anything… No… No randomly attacking people like that… But I will defend
your parents if we have to, don’t worry about that. But I swear Elliot is going to at the very
least get such a… pranking!” Akemi said and sat down next to Hannyuu, while tugging
Kyouko on her other side.
Breakfast took a little longer to make, but eventually everyone had a plate in front of them
with more in the middle. “Alright, before we begin I’d like something clarified. It was the
princess that pushed for the end to the slave trade yes?” Akemi asked as she nibbled at her
food.
Lakyus nodded after wiping her mouth, still seeming a perfect lady even with her armor on,
though she thankfully had put the floating swords away. “Yes, Princess Renner finds slavery
abhorrent, and I share that opinion, as any civilized person should.”
“Agreed, that is why I’ve done all that I’ve done, to finish that goal as best I can.” Akemi
said and sipped some tea from the cup she filled from the teapot she had pulled from her
inventory, of course after she had told the others to have some. “Never thought I’d get to use
that Endless Tea Pot.” She smugly thought.
“Don’t you think you went a little crazy though? You crippled an entire group of knights
seemingly permanently, those limbs won’t come back no matter what magic has been tried.”
Lakyus said, looking a bit more tense.
“Of course they aren’t coming back, the spell Curse Wounds is supposed to ensure that, it
wouldn’t be much of a punishment if they could just have them back. Unless you can
overcome the power of a seventh level spell they will need to live with their conditions and
adapt, just like all my people have to bare the scars the Kingdom left on them.” Akemi set her
cup down, staring Lakyus down, as if daring her to counter her.
“I suppose… it isn’t what matters right now, they were scum I do have to admit so I’m not
entirely disapproving or anything. The main reason we have come to day is to ask and
determine a question. Are you a threat to the Kingdom? To Humanity?” Lakyus asked,
looking a bit tense even with Akemi not having moved yet.
“You dare?!” Kyouko shouted, having gotten up and grabbed her sheathed sword, hovering
her hand over the hilt threateningly. Ana as well on the side of Hannyuu had pulled out her
new staff while knowing her second tier magic would be no threat, but damn if she wasn’t
going to stand up for her… close friend to be insulted like that! Ana didn’t quite know what
Akemi was to her yet, but still! She was important damn it!
“Its alright you two, relax.” Akemi said, taking another sip of her tea, waving for her two
companions to sit back down till they reluctantly did. Once those two had taken a seat, they
still glared hard at Blue Rose, Akemi also noticed Hannyuu was glaring at them also, her tail
completely fluffed up like an angry cat. A few scratches on the ears left her pleased enough
that she stopped trying to intimidate an Adamantite adventuring party with her intimidate
score of negative twenty.
At the very least Hannyuu getting angry just seems to make Gagaran amused. “We aren’t
going to try anything tiny cat, we just need to make sure of a few things as adventurers of this
Kingdom. Personally I’m fond of demi-humans myself, I hate what I’ve seen them go
through, I’m just glad it isn’t as bad as the Theocracy here… We personally had to stop their
Sunlight Scripture from killing a Demi-human village before, we are nothing but allies to
Demi-humans that want peace.” Gagaran told them with a sigh.
That last quip makes Akemi pause for a moment as her mind roamed the possibilities.
“Coming back to that last bit later… I’ll say what I told the Guild master, as long as the
Kingdom gives me no reason to take action, then I won’t need to take action, but I will act in
defense of my people if the Kingdom doesn’t put in the work to solve the problem
themselves… Such as that syndicate problem they have. I know half the nobles are in bed
with them, so I’m sure that doesn’t help.” Akemi said with a shrug. “If I wanted to solve
everything through force or to destroy the Kingdom, wouldn’t I have done it already? I’m
more than capable of doing that, and that isn’t bragging, just stating a fact. Meteor Fall,
Fallen Down, Sword of Damocles, Trumpet of the Rapture, or several other spells that could
massive area devastation are within my power. I could go on listing out ways I’d be able to
do all that, but I’m sure you see my point. I’m not some sort of genocidal maniac…” Akemi
tapped the rim of her cup with a nail as she listed off her points.
They were all quiet for a moment, until Lakyus sighed “You aren’t wrong. The Princess
knows about them also, and has other plans in place, though if you have any information on
Eight Fingers it would certainly help us. If you are anywhere near as strong as those angels
felt… I guess you aren’t lying.” Lakyus admitted, before she looked over at Evileye for
confirmation, and felt her stomach sink at the nod she received.
Akemi nodded and looked over at Hannyuu “Why don’t you finish the last few bites of your
breakfast and go play? This will probably be boring for you. I’ll leave out some snacks for
you and your friends.” Akemi said while she ruffled her hair, smiling down at her daughter
lovingly.
“Okay mom, I did tell Lirina I would anyway.” Hannyuu said, quickly eating the last few bits
of her food before getting up. “Love you mom, I’ll be back later!” She called out as she
rushed out the door.
“Love you too! Be safe!” Akemi called back, smiling fondly as she ran off. She forced
herself to put away those happy feelings of motherhood for a moment and turned back to the
others. She couldn’t tell what expression Evileye was making, and the twins were unshakable
it seemed, but at least Gagaran and Lakyus were smiling at the scene. “Alright… Back to
business. I’ll give you what information I have about their locations and people I’ve
uncovered, if you’ll give me more information about the Slane Theocracy… What did you
mean about the situation being worse there?” Akemi asked, her fists tightening a bit.
“This is going to be a day…” Kyouko muttered and settled in for a long talk.
It took about two more hours for Akemi to go through what she had discovered, letting
Lakyus note everything down… partly to avoid the fact she was technically illiterate to the
words of that world… Something that might need to be fixed. After another hour of her
getting her information on the Theocracy she started to regret asking, as she was now
weighing the pros and cons of barging into that country and dismantling it… At the very least
they were her next target of observation as she intended to send some spy summons there as
soon as she had a moment.
“One thing at a time… I don’t yet have the luxury of dealing with another country, not when
I’m trying to pull myself out of the Kingdom. Mark my words I Will be having a discussion
with the Cardinals there like I did the King… But I have a feeling they won’t be as
reasonable, religious zealots rarely are sadly…” Akemi complained.
“Weren’t there people worshiping you on our way here?” Evileye just had to add and
sounded way too amused. That got her a glare from the Kitsune. Over the course of their time
there, Evileye had figured out several things about this woman. “I guess beneath all that
power is just a young girl… A young mom trying to build a life for her kid.” She thought,
pondering on all that meant, at the very least Evileye found her an agreeable person to know.
“What ever you do there isn’t our problem honestly, we aren’t fans of them. From our
conversation I doubt you’re going to do anything too crazy… You have kept your impact on
civilians minimal. If there is a problem do you mind if I Message you?” Evileye asked as she
stared at Akemi through her mask.
“Mm that is fine, not like there are many people who can call me. Could I see what is under
that mask though?” Akemi asked, a trance of childlike amusement on her face as she stared at
Evileye a bit.
“Of course… not. The mask stays on.” Evileye said with a touch of amusement.
Akemi… Akemi pouted, despite every reply she could have thought of, she couldn’t help but
scrunch up her face grumpily at the vampire. After a moment she stopped and sighed “That is
a shame… Bet there is a cute face under there… Do you all make her wear that to keep it for
yourselves?” Akemi teased the rest of Blue Rose.
While Akemi teased her guests, Kyouko and Ana looked at each other with mixed feelings,
not feeling jealously, but frustration…
“Denied, moving on. Was it you that caused that crater in the dead wood forest to the north?”
Evileye asked with just a hint of tension in her voice.
The smile on Akemi’s face only made them worry more. “I… wouldn’t worry about it, it was
a special circumstance.” Looking over at Kyouko she was still getting a bit of a glare “I said I
was sorry for scaring you… I’ve reflected on my actions!” Akemi pouted at her girls, who
had to look away as Akemi cute grumpy face was more effective on them than Evileye.
“That about finishes things up today yes? I have some things that need doing. If you wish to
you can feel free to take a look around, the Angels won’t bug you, and you can just pass
through the barrier, though it likely will reseal for you once you leave.” Akemi told Blue
Rose as she stood up to stretch out from the long discussion.
The adventurers got up also, taking it as their cue to leave either way. “Oh? Don’t feel like
you need to watch us anymore? That is awfully trusting of you.” Gagaran teased while she
followed her team out.
Akemi just giggled a bit at that. “Its… cute that you think I need to be next to you to keep an
eye on you~” That got them to stare at her for a moment, before shuffling out of the house a
bit quicker.
Following them out Akemi thought about something “It is a long way back to E-Rantel from
here, would you like a free teleport?” she offered.
The rest of Blue Rose turned to Evileye for her magical expertise. “I’m guessing you mean
Gate? If so then that would work, though could you point us to the capital?” Evileye asked.
“Indeed. You know about Gate? Impressive… I mean, I was told that the most people use in
this region is tier six and below. It is no problem at all, [Gate].” At her command a swirling
blue and white void opened in the air, spreading open for all of them.
“I’m not exactly normal after all, I’ve been around for a while so I know these things.”
Evileye answered, looking away and into the portal. If Akemi had more perception she might
have been able to pick up the evasiveness in the vampire’s tone. “Farewell.” She said, right
before vanishing into the portal.
“It’s been good meeting you all, take care of that cute daughter of your’s and don’t blow
more things up.” Gagaran said with a chuckle, following the party mage through the portal.
The twins simply bowed before leaving with their team, quiet until the end.
“Farewell Akemi, it has been a pleasure meeting you, I hope we can work together some
time.” Lakyus said, giving a small bow also before leaving.
Once that portal closed behind Blue Rose Akemi deflated, slouching down just a bit in
exhaustion, just to drag herself back into her home to collapse on the couch. Soon enough
Kyouko and Ana followed her in, and after looking at each other they went over to the couch.
Kyouko lifted up Akemi’s torso and sat down, letting Akemi use her lap as a pillow, while
Ana did the same with her legs.
With a tired smile Akemi relaxed with the two of them, entrusting her weight to her
companions. “I hate tense meetings like that… This has been a hectic morning and I’m ready
to sleep… But dammit there is still things to do today. I’ll tell you both more about my plan
for tomorrow later… do you mind if I at least take a nap here? You two are awfully
comfortable.” Akemi admitted with a shy blush.
A hand running over her hair was her answer. “That is fine, have a good nap. It isn’t a bad
idea.” Kyouko said, smiling down at the Kitsune.
“We’ll be here with you for now, I might need a nap also…” Ana said as she looked drowsy
after all of those tense talks.
It didn’t take long for the tension to drain from the three women, to let them drift off into
sleep. Later on Hannyuu would find them asleep and decide to do the only reasonable thing
in the situation, namely climb on Akemi and nap on her like the kitten she was. Even she was
allowed to act her age sometimes. Akemi didn’t mind it at all and hugged her close in her
sleep.
On the other side of that portal, Blue Rose paused at the entrance to the royal castle. “Okay…
What the hell was that Angel Evileye? Did you know something about it?” Lakyus asked
now that they were out of Akemi’s territory.
Evileye sighed in resignation. “I can only guess, but I can feel it was more powerful than
anything the Theocracy ever sent against us or I’ve seen. It was terrifying… I didn’t think I
could still feel fear.” She admitted and followed the group as they headed up towards the
castle.
“At least she seems like a good person, she was pretty pleasant to talk to.” Gagaran added.
“Yes, It went better than I thought, I learned a lot from it all. She just seems like… A woman
protecting her people and her daughter. For someone so powerful seeming, she was
surprisingly normal… I expected some weirdness.” Lakyus said before thinking more. “Well,
It seems like that there might be something going on with her and her companions, but that
just seems like more normal romance stuff to me.”
“Speaking of them… Did you notice their weapons? That staff was Orichalcum, and I’m
positive that sword that woman Kyouko had was Adamantite. Can she just outfit her people
with crazy equipment like that?” Gagaran complained, and sounded jealous to her teammate’s
ears.
“So we have a young woman with unimaginable power that can afford to outfit her people
with top weapons and armor, as well as cast up to the eleventh tier.” Evileye added with a
sigh. “This… feels like those Evil Gods all over again… at least she isn’t evil, even if she
feels much stronger than even them.” The exhaustion in the vampire’s voice must have scared
her teammates.
“Did you say the… eleventh tier? That is a thing? You’ve barely mentioned even a tenth
tier… Can you do something like that?” Lakyus asked with worry staining her voice.
“Hardly… For all my years and experience I can barely cast up to the sixth tier. I only know
about the tenth and eleventh tier due to reading that spell book all those years ago, that spell
Fallen down was the only eleventh tier spell listed in it… So I’m guessing all those other
ones she mentioned as the same. What ever happens we cannot piss her off.” Evileye sounded
genuinely frightened by the experience.
“It seems as long as someone doesn’t hurt her people, or heavens forbid her daughter… than
she has a level enough head to restrict herself, she also had the feel of a divine magic caster,
so that likely puts her far away from being evil.” Lakyus added.
“If I've read her right, someone hurting that cute little cat would be the only thing that would
push her to do something bad enough to be considered evil. At the very least she seemed to
be a good mother, especially for an adoption, there is no way those two are related by blood.”
Gagaran didn’t sound too worried about the situation.
“Felines don’t typically come out of Kitsunes. So she isn’t hostile at least, we learned that.
Evileye, Tina, Tia, if the worst happened and she ever Did become our enemy, what would
our chances be?” Lakyus asked as they paused in the hallway leading to the Princess’s room.
Tia and Tina looked at each other and shook their heads. “The warrior we could take on well
enough, she wasn’t too special besides that sword, weaker than all of us for sure.” Tina said.
“The small mage wouldn’t be anything either, that staff can only do so much, so we’d be able
to take her out if Akemi didn’t interfere.” Said Tia.
“Agreed, I wager Ana hasn’t improved that much since I met her a year ago and turned her
down to be a pupil, and she could only barely use the second tier, no matter how good a staff
she has, that won’t change. As for Akemi?” Evileye took a deep breath before shaking her
head. “Not a chance, I don’t think she would find us even a challenge. I’m quite sure we
wouldn’t even be able to do anything to that angel, I feel like that might be the work of an
eleventh tier spell also. If she can summon multiples of those? There would be nothing
stopping her from taking over the world by force if she was inclined to do so.” Evileye
admitted, taking off her mask to taking some deeper breathes, not that she Needed breathe
being undead, but it was calming regardless.
“Well… That is a grim picture… Now we know what we’re dealing with at least… don’t piss
off the fluff ball then. Well, lets go break the news to our Employer.” And so Blue Rose
finished their mission for the day, and gained a healthy respect for single mothers that day.
The smell of cooking tickled Akemi’s nose, and stirred her from the deep sleep she had found
herself in. “Mmm…” with a heavy yawn Akemi sat up to check what was going on.
“Oh, hey Akemi, dinner is almost done. I thought we would have to try and wake you up.
Sleep well?” Ana asked as she finished plating up what ever smelled amazing to Akemi’s
nose. “Kyouko was nice enough to hunt us some boar that had wandered close to the
settlement. Is there a way we could get a cellar to put the rest of the meat up safely? If we
can’t chill it I was going to salt and hang it. Really glad Dad insisted I learn how to prepare
meat… Even if it is gross.” Ana half complained, a fond smile on her face.
Akemi rested her chin on the back of the couch and smiled at Ana “Thanks for making dinner
Ana. I could make something like a cellar, or make a freezer to store things… though if this
place is temporary wouldn’t that be overdoing it? Oh well, I’ll figure out something, at least
until I can figure out how to get you three an inventory… somehow…” Akemi said while she
sleepily observed Ana as she set the table, and let her eyes trail over the girl that she was oh
so slightly taller than.
“Do you mean that thing you do where you pull things out of thin air? Now that would be
useful for everything. Alright, get your fluffy butt over here and eat, I’ll grab Hannyuu and
Kyouko.” Ana waved Akemi down before starting off.
“You know you like this fluffy butt, thanks.” Akemi said, brushing past Ana and letting her
tails run over her for a moment. The flush that filled Ana’s cheeks made Akemi wink at her
before she moved to sit. “Cute~”
As Ana rushed out of the room while looking like her face was on fire, Akemi screamed
internally “Ahhh! What are you doing Akemi! Why are you so useless!?” Akemi berated
herself, hitting her head on the table once she sat down. To distract herself she closed her
eyes to check in on her summon, which she had fly above a quaint village, peacefully quiet in
the evening light. Urging her pipe fox on she would check each home to find anyone that
looked like Ana, until it slipped through the walls of one smaller house that seemed to house
two living beings from what she could sense. Inside she saw an elderly man and woman,
looking to be winding down from a long day of farming if she had to guess from the dirt
covered hoe she had spotted, sipping tea and just talking.
With a relieved sigh she ordered her summon to patrol that village, so they could ping her at
the first sign of knights or other trouble, like hell she is letting the Kingdom mess with this
wonderful girl. Once that was out of the way she lifted her head and sniffed at the slices of
boar with vegetables fried in the left over fat in the pan.
As the rest of their little family filed in, Akemi would look over at Kyouko and Hannyuu “So
what were you two up to?” Akemi asked with a smile.
“Oh! I figured it might help if… I could get a bit stronger, so I asked Kyouko if she could
help be try and physically get stronger… if I have you and Ana helping me with Magic, I
could eventually help you.” Hannyuu said while she looked adorably bashful.
Kyouko was all smiles also “Sorry if that was stepping over the line a little… It was kind of
hard to say no to her when she really asks for something.”
Akemi nodded “Its the eyes… those darn Kitten eyes… But no you are fine, that is a good
idea you two, what did you start her with?” Akemi asked, and gleefully took a plate, nearly
moaning at the first mouthful “Damn you’re a good cook Ana…” Akemi complimented as
she just enjoyed her food, relishing the flavors she had never gotten to taste in her first life…
like the poor could ever eat meat there…
“Just some basic exercises for now, like push-ups and sit-ups. You have a good bit of muscle
to build up before we can do much little miss.” Kyouko said before addressing Hannyuu,
applying a poke in the side to make her squeak cutely. “And what will help with that is eating
more.” She said and lifted a couple more pieces of meat onto Hannyuu’s plate before her eyes
widened. As if remembering something, Kyouko looked guilty for a moment, looking back
over at Akemi like she thought Akemi would be angry at her.
Akemi just gently smiled at Kyouko. “Agreed, we can only do what we can for now, so try
and eat as much as you can fit. Thank you Kyouko I appreciate it.” Akemi said while she bit
her tongue to not say the first thing that had popped in her mind, but it was such a cute image
that it would be lodged in her brain for a long time.
“Oh right, I checked on your family with my summons Ana, they seem to be doing just fine,
no knights or anything there, and I have the place under watch now. If any knights show up
on the horizon I can teleport over there in an instant and either stop the attack, or just grab
your parents and bring them here.” Akemi informed her fellow mage while smiled at her over
the table, and just enjoyed the way Ana’s face lit up at the news. That relief seemed to make
the stress lines that had been steadily forming fade away off Ana’s face.
“Thank goodness… I was really worried about that… Alright, if they are safe then I don’t
have anything to worry about anymore in the Kingdom. The party is disbanded I suppose, but
that is fine since Elliot can go crawl around for all I care, and Romeo wasn’t in our party for
long. I barely knew him since he didn’t come along much due to being a guard also. So what
is next on the agenda fearless leader?” Ana asked teasingly as she did her part to clear the
large amount of food she cooked.
“Oh I don’t know about fearless, far from it. The next phase of the plan is a road trip. It is
time to start putting operation Folia Aurea into action, and for that preparations are needed.
I’ve thought about it a good bit and I figure this would be a good chance to work on both
Hannyuu and Ana’s magic as well. Kyouko, do you think I could ask you to watch the
settlement? It might be several days…” Akemi told the wolf woman as she placed her hand
over Kyouko’s.
Kyouko didn’t pout, her ears just felt like drooping a bit. “Y-yeah, I can do that.” She agreed,
a bit of displeasure in her voice.
Akemi smiled over at her and reached over to lift the taller woman’s chin a bit. She looked
into those amber eyes to properly convey her words. “Since you are so sad to part for so long,
I have a gift for you.” Akemi said and reached into her inventory, pulling out a pretty golden
ring. Once she did that the other three at the table stiffened up.
“A-am I getting another mom mama!?” Hannyuu asked as she even knew what a gold ring
meant. That was enough for Akemi to look down at the ring, back and Kyouko, and back at
the ring again.
Ana’s reaction was better to leave undescribed, as it shifted between a strange sense of
longing, heartbreak, and confusion.
“N-no! It isn’t that- I’m sorry, I just had a tiny bit of Astral Gold still, enough for some
trinkets and I wanted to make you something to contact us! N-not that you wouldn’t be a
great catch or that I’m not- but- Ahhhh!” Akemi whined and slammed her forehead into the
table, groaning into the wood.
The others could only stare at her in shock, the silence only broken by some quiet chuckling
that soon got louder. Kyouko had a smile on her face and was holding her sides. “Geez
Akemi! Don’t scare me like that… I was going to say that you were moving a bit fast weren’t
you? Going to have to take me on a few more dates that aren’t bandit killing if you want to
put a ring on it!” She seemed to joke, and leaned in closer to the suddenly shy Akemi who
was about as red as Kyouko’s hair.
“Fucking hell girl! You Damn useless lesbian why did Y-?! Fuuuuu-” Akemi thought while
she cleared her throat. “So this ring is like the one I gave that dumb king but way better. His
was just one with low quality metals that I whipped up in a couple minutes from a blank ring
I had, but I can put better enchantments on this one due to the much better quality metal. It
can cast Message up to thirty times a day, more than you’ll likely ever need in a single day.
You can also use it to cast Fly up to ten times a day, so feel free to practice with that.” Akemi
rushed through her explanation before handing that ring over.
When she looked over at Ana she could tell the girl was going through several emotions.
“Don’t worry, I’m working on one for both you and Hannyuu, just Kyouko might need to
contact us more since you’ll be on the trip with me… If you want to that is.” Akemi looked
away a bit as her tails betrayed her nervousness.
Ana perked up at that “Y-yes! Where are we going?” she asked, her own food forgotten for a
moment. Akemi could almost see a puppy tail on the girl as the smile returned to her face as
it should be. “Damn cute…” Akemi thought with an internal groan.
“Oh the first stop will be to the Empire, I want some guides to get where we are going since I
have no eyes there yet, my summons can be a bit slow you see.” Akemi said with a grin, her
eyes in the empire showing her the images she wanted.
“Guides? Are we going to hire some adventurer’s to take us there? Where is it?” Ana asked
with a tilt of her head.
A grin crossed Akemi’s face as she rested her cheek on her palm. “No, the adventurer’s guild
probably has a hit out for me… I have selected a party of ‘workers’ that I approve of. We’re
taking a little trip to the Dragon Kingdom~”
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Whew! I didn’t know if I would get this done in time… I hope you all enjoyed this
chapter even if it was low on action! Sometimes when they get talking I lose track of
how long the chapter is… I’ve decided to make this story my priority over the others
since you all seem to like it so much. It helps that with the new season of Overlord still
airing I have a lot of motivation for this universe!
So the one who a long time ago said that lesbians were overdone, all I have to say is eat
your heart out~ There are never enough lesbians in fiction, us Sapphic types are very
under represented and I shall do my part to fix that~
Arwintar
Chapter Summary
The first steps are taken on a new journey.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Good day everyone! Hope you all are enjoying this story and are ready for the start
of the next arc! While there will be a few darker moments, this is one of the nicer
chapters. I had intended there to be even more in this chapter, I only used 25% of the
chapter outline I had planned… but it was getting too long for one chapter, my brain
likes to add some things off the cuff that I end up going with, lots of the time it is some
silly romantic stuff. Hope you all enjoy the romantic bits in this chapter~
“[Message]. Good morning Malina~ I hope I didn’t wake you up. It is Akemi, just try and
think what you want to say to me back and I should be able to hear you.” Akemi mentally
said, sending out the spell towards a good friend.
“Akemi? Oh I’m so glad you’re okay, you had me worried… I heard you caused some trouble
in the Royal Capital?” Malina asked, sounding utterly surprised to hear from the Kitsune.
“Oh yeah I dropped in on the King and we hashed some things out, hopefully they got my
point, I didn’t even need to use any force so things went well. Speaking of all that, they
haven’t been bothering you right? I wanted to make sure you we’re safe.” Akemi sent, the
concern clear in her mental voice.
“It has been… calm at least. My Inn has been under watch by the Kingdom for a small bit,
but they are realizing that you just stayed here, and after your stunt in the capital they’ve
mostly left me alone. It is difficult to tell, but some of the people who were involved with
Hannyuu have been watching the place instead, really shady folk, it is a bit worrying… How
is that dear anyway?” Malina asked.
“She has been doing a lot better… that girl is much braver than we gave her credit for. I’m so
proud of her, She is finally eating normally and will even leave my side to go play with
friends in the settlement. I can tell she is still understandably nervous around men, but she
hasn’t had a panic attack in several days.” Akemi took a few deep breathes as she silently
hoped her daughter would be able to thrive.
“I’m so glad! That poor girl, I know you’ll keep being a good mother to her. So any plans?
Going to cause more mischief?” Malina asked with a snort.
“Oh just a little trip we’re going on tomorrow. It will be just Hannyuu, one of my…
companions, and me.” Akemi hesitated for a moment on her words and sighed. “Right now
I’m just taking a bath, I do need to try and get some sleep tonight, but… Yeah.”
Malina hummed into the spell curiously “Oh? Just a companion? I sense some hesitation
there… Want to talk about it? I’ll have you know I was quite popular when I was still an
active Gold Level Adventurer, I might have a few nuggets of wisdom for you.” Malina told
her, the amusement clear through the spell.
The mutters, sighs, and pitiful whines from the other end of the message told Malina what
she needed to know “I don’t know… I’ve never… exactly… liked anyone before, and then t-
two ladies come along and I can’t get them out of my head… I’ve only known them about a
week though but still.” Akemi lamented into Malina’s head.
Malina seemed to just chuckle a bit to herself at the dejected tone of her young friend. “Love
isn’t supposed to be complicated like that, just keep spending time with them, get to know
them more and things will eventually fall into place. Sorry to leave off Akemi, but I need to
get back to wo- and a patron just broke a table… it is going to be one of those nights. I’ll talk
to you later Akemi, hope you and Hannyuu stay safe. How do… end this thing?” Malina
questioned, sounding befuddled from searching for what ever mental switch turned off
Message.
“Wait, you aren’t able to just stop it? So it might be only the one who cast it can end the
call… Oh I am so going to use that! Night Malina! You are always welcome here if you want
to move.” And with that Akemi let the ‘call’ drop. With a pleased sigh Akemi sank deeper
into the large bath she constructed. “Bet these tails weigh so much soaking wet… Tomorrow
is going to be a good day, I can feel it.” Akemi told herself, and just enjoyed the simple
pleasures of actually living.
“Alright you two, I got some traveling clothes for you. I have no cart or anything so we’re
going on foot once we teleport where we’re going to be starting, and we’ll be doing a lot of
walking.” Akemi said and began rummaging through her inventory.
Hannyuu and Ana just watched as she pulled out clothes after clothes and stacked them on
the table. “So I made a pair of Land Wyrm boots for both of you to keep you comfortable,
and of course enchanted them enough so we can walk all day and barely feel it!” Akemi
handed a pair of brown boots to her daughter and Ana.
“How… did you know my size? Or any of my sizes to have clothes for me? Or even the
clothes for Kyouko now that I think about it.” Ana asked as she thought about it some more.
Akemi cleared her throat and looked away “It comes from a passive skill included in one of
my classes, I can tell the sizes of a person by looking at them… it isn’t something I can help.
Okay! So those boots are enchanted with varies things like Haste, Greater Endurance, and
Minor Regeneration to prevent blisters. I have plenty of food and drink stored away, and I
can easily make us shelter so we can travel incredibly light. The rest of the clothes are just
some things that you might like, feel free to take your pick. If you want some also Kyouko
you are welcome to look.” Akemi offered and stepped back, hiding her blush from the group
with a tail.
The rest of the group looked at her strangely, and at least Kyouko could guess some of what
she was thinking. “Well… How are you going to tell the settlement about all this?” Kyouko
asked as she leaned on the door frame before heading over to join the other two in browsing
the selection..
Pulling out a sack of coins from her inventory, Akemi counted them out. “So… I can’t use
Yggdrasil gold for paying for things, but I did pick up some currency from all those bandits,
so we can get more supplies if need be… Oh! Could you gather everyone Kyouko? It is time
I tell everyone something and also figure out what they want.” Akemi said and put the rest of
the things away.
“Not a problem, nearly everyone is awake anyway.” She said and trotted out of the door,
though she still felt Akemi’s eyes follow her as she left.
Akemi forced herself to look away from Kyouko with a quiet sigh, though that same look
stayed on her face when she looked into Ana’s meadow green eyes that looked at her in
worry and confusion. “Why are these two affecting me so much…” Akemi thought with the
tiniest of whines before she looked away from Ana, and just hoped she wasn’t blushing. “Do
you two have everything you want to take? I can store it for you.”
Hannyuu shook her head and looked at her mother strangely, as if trying to puzzle out what
was off with her that day… Since they woke up she had been acting oddly shy. “You have
everything of mine already, but could I have my cloak though?” Hannyuu asked as she felt
strangely under dressed without it.
“Yup! Here you go dear.” Akemi said and pulled out the familiar ebony cloak before she
tossed it over her daughter’s head playfully. The cute giggle coming from under it calmed
Akemi’s nerves.
“I got everything that is mine in my backpack still from when you whisked me away.” Ana
smirked at Akemi at that, having taken a step or two closer, and admired the healthy flush
that had appeared on Akemi’s face once Ana got even closer. “I’m really looking forward to
this trip Akemi, it might be pretty memorable.” She nearly whispered to the slightly taller
Kitsune before heading back towards her room. Once again Akemi had to take a moment to
collect herself from the close encounter.
Taking a few deep breathes Akemi prepared her speech, she had more to do before she could
goof off on a trip.
“Good morning everyone, hope you all had a peaceful night. So, I can sense you all might be
wondering why I’ve gathered you all here this morning, and the reason is I both have a
question to put forth to you all, as well as news.” Akemi looked out over the hopeful faces,
some of them standing with their families, others standing with other singular survivors,
everyone of them though looked personally invested in what Akemi had to say.
“So… We all never discussed this before, and before our settlement progresses more it needs
to be decided as a group. Is there anyone here who would be better for leading us? I will
admit I am inexperienced in the task, and I do not want to presume that I some leadership
role over you all. If anyone else would be better please step forward.” Akemi offered, silently
hoping someone would take the heavy reins from her…
“We’re behind you Lady Akemi, you haven’t let us down yet.” The mother of Lirina told her
as she stood at the front of the pack while holding Lirina’s hand next to her. “I don’t think
there is anyone more qualified then you to lead us my Lady.”
“Thank you Emeril for your vote of confidence. Alright, if no one has any objections…”
Akemi looked around, giving several more seconds “Please someone come take this job!”
She thought and barely kept that feeling off her face. “If that is what you all desire than I
shall keep doing what I was doing, I hope I can lead well enough for all of you.” Akemi took
a few deep breathes, and spotted several more faces poking out of their homes, and a few
from upstairs windows.
“[Whispers on the Wind]. Testing testing… There, everyone should be able to hear me better
now. Now for the news I had mentioned for my plans. As I have said before this settlement is
meant to be temporary. The Kingdom is too hostile to Demi-humans for us to peaceful co-
exist so close to them, and too many of us have negative emotions and memories of this
region… I will be going on a diplomatic mission to the Dragon Kingdom to put forth a deal
to their Queen. If this deal succeeds and the next phase of my plan is able to go through, we
will have our space to live, space to grow further. In previous lands I was with a Guild called
Natura, what we used to do isn’t quite relevant now, but I wish to carry on my comrade’s
spirits. I am seeking to create our home, free from strife and influence from other countries.
Our numbers are small for now, but in time we will grow, and so I seek to form the country of
Natura! A homeland for us all forever!” Akemi declared as she let her voice be carried by her
spell to every person in the settlement.
The cheering was near deafening for Akemi, but thankfully didn’t last too long as many other
demi-humans regretted joining in on the rancorous cheering. “Yes! We do not need to rely on
the generosity of other countries, we can provide for ourselves and we shall become a beacon
of hope that every nation can look to and feel peace with, that is my dream. Now… For this
trip I may be gone for an extended period of time, I will be taking my daughter and Ana here
as my personal attendant. While I am gone I am appointing Kyouko to speak in my stead.
She has my full trust and during this time her words are as mine. Many of you already have
had the pleasure of working with her, so this won’t be too big of a change. In an emergency
she is able to get in contact with me, though this barrier shall still be quite impregnable to any
forces that may appear, and the guardians I summoned more than fit for any challenge. So all
of you relax, recover, and remember to live and heal. Our golden age will soon begin.”
Akemi resisted the urge to clear her throat as her all was put into her pretentious speech, and
just hoped she could fulfill half those promises for these injured souls.
With that as her cue Akemi turned to give Kyouko next to her a tight hug. “You take care
alright? You can message me if you need to, I won’t mind.” Akemi told her, her mind just
trying to remember the warm arms that were hugging her back for those nights on the road
ahead. “Maybe Malina is right… it isn’t supposed to be that complicated. I want them near
me and I’ll figure out what that means in time.” She thought and closed her eyes.
It was a several moments kind of hug, the kind that sent her heart into overdrive, but gave her
the security and warmth she needed. That hug also seemed to be send a few whispers through
the crowd that Akemi started to pick up on. Reluctantly she let go of Kyouko and turned
away from her and held out a hand to cast Gate.
Before the spell could leave her lips, she felt Kyouko’s arms wrap back around her from
behind to hug her tight, as well as she felt the taller woman plant a kiss on the top of her head
between her ears. “You take care also, you stay just as invincible as you seem to be and don’t
get hurt. Watch out for Hannyuu and Ana, and I’ll watch out for our people here. I believe in
you.” With that Kyouko gently pushed her forward, smiling at Akemi with a blush of her
own. They both pretended they didn’t hear the tiny cheers in the crowd at the second hug. It
was hard to not notice the pull the two seemed to have towards the other at that time even to
the most dense eye as Akemi had to force herself to turn away from Kyouko and not stare at
her lips and do what her heart was trying to tell her to do.
“G-G-[Gate]…” Akemi barely squeaked out, thoroughly flushed and was barely able to
stumble through her portal.
Kyouko smiled as she watched her leave “Take care Hannyuu, Ana, make sure she takes care
of herself.” Kyouko said, and accepted a hug from both of those two also. In a streak of
mischievousness she blew on Ana’s ears as they hugged, and enjoyed the surprised squeak
from the much shorter girl “Adorable. Alright you two, off you go, take care of our fluffy
dork.” She said and urged those two into the Gate.
“Bye Kyouko! We’ll be back!” Hannyuu said and rushed over to Lirina in the crowd for a
moment to hug the young Kitsune goodbye. It was then that she noticed a shy face peeking
out from behind Emeril and Lirina. A pair of beautiful pair of green and hazel speckled eyes
that immediately drew her attention and left her breathless for just a second stood out to her.
Hearing her name behind her Hannyuu just smiled at that girl and noted her fluffy white hair
and sheep horns so she could find her later before she waved goodbye. “I hope I can get your
name when I get back! Bye Miss Emeril! Bye Lirina!” Hannyuu said and rushed into the
portal, not wanting to be left behind.
Ana had stopped for a moment and tried to will her blush away for just a moment “You t-take
care also Kyouko, you can message me too if you want.” She stuttered out and hurried
through the portal. Once all three of them were through that gate shut, separating her from
those three precious people by who knows how many hundreds of kilometers.
Once the group was gone Kyouko took a few deep breathes and looked upon the crowd to
note several amused faces, which made Kyouko think about her actions in the past minute,
which caused her blush to flare up again. Folding her arms behind her back she tried to put
her serious face back on that she had worn for so long. “Sorry for the delay everyone. Well
lots of you are used to me when we were a smaller group, but I don’t intend to stray from the
direction Lady Akemi has steered us, lets all trust that her mission will be a success. I don’t
have any fancy magic, but Ak- Lady Akemi left me a few magical tools so we can at least do
some healing if there is an accident, but lets make sure there are no accidents. Have a nice
day everyone.” She told them and started to walk away from the front of that group.
The others took that as their signal to go about their day. The new temporary leader sat
herself on a patio chair Akemi had created outside their home and caught her breath.
“Don’t worry, I think they like you back. You holding up okay?” Emeril asked as she came
over to join Kyouko in relaxing on another chair next to Kyouko.
“Rinna! Lets go play!” Lirina nearly shouted as her tail waved in the air while she dragged
the sheep girl that had been hovering behind Emeril along.
“A-alright.” The sheep girl named Rinna meekly agreed and followed along obediently. It
wasn’t like a child would have any way or reason to harm her, so she felt no reason to be so
nervous.
Kyouko and Emeril watched those two kids wander off to play and smiled at the scene. “Is
she yours also? Glad you three are doing well. Are you all handling it alright though?”
Kyouko asked worriedly, not liking the shadow that fell over her friend’s eyes.
“Lirina was thankfully spared the worst of things, though I believe Rinna wasn’t. She hasn’t
opened up much since I took her in. As far as I can tell her parents are likely gone… so the
least I can do is give her a home… She came in with the last group Lady Akemi took in, so
she has been staying with since a few days ago. She is a delightful child, if understandably
shy.” Emeril quietly told Kyouko, being mindful of little fox ears that might hear her.
“I’m sorry for your troubles, if there is anything I can do feel free to ask, even if it is a quiet
night I could watch them for you. Now, how are You doing though?” The wolf woman
offered and leaned back in her chair.
“That is sweet of you, but I don’t think they would go for it, right now isn’t a good time for
me to separate from them much. I… still get some nightmares of that night… those m-men. It
is hard to believe I was dead… I nearly left Lirina behind… I’m so grateful to Lady Akemi.
Getting off those grim topics… You didn’t deny what I said about Lady Akemi~ And it
seems you have your eye on Ana as well? I never thought you would go for a human, you sly
wolf you.” Emeril asked with a grin as she shifted the topic to something nicer.
“I forgot how much of a gossip you are… If I say anything it will get shared among all the
moms won’t it? Bah… I’m pretty… fond of Akemi… but I guess that was obvious, and
strangely enough, the shorty human is growing on me also… She is a hard, dedicated worker
who immediately went into helping our cause, I’d trust her with my back at the very least. It
helps she is… pretty adorable.” She admitted with an exhausted sigh. “Are all Kitsune like
this?”
“Bet you’d trust both of them with your front too~ I know how you are. Well, I’m rooting for
you three, though Lady Akemi seems to be strangely innocent on all this, it really is quite
charming to watch. Alright, I’m going to go make sure those two aren’t getting into too much
trouble. I’m here any time you need me friend, you know that right?” Emeril told Kyouko as
she looked into her eyes with concern, not looking too appeased by the half smile she got
knowing all that was likely in Kyouko’s head.
“I’ll be fine, better make sure your little ones aren’t getting into any pranks. The same goes
for you, coming to me for help, and the not pranking people.” Kyouko said and pondered
seeing if she had anything to drink stored away.
With one last mischievous smile Emeril got up to wander off after the children she was lucky
enough to mother on. Once her friend and fellow mom was gone did Kyouko let her smile
drop. “Lorelei… where are you Dearheart? Please just… be alive. If I at least knew you
weren’t… I could follow you…” Her thoughts started to spiral as she turned away from all the
children playing in the settlement, unable to stop thinking of her own missing daughter,
unable to stop her heart from breaking into even more jagged and chipped edges as she got
up to retreat into the home that smelled of her three dear ones.
By the time Hannyuu and Ana made their way through the gate, Akemi had disguised herself
in some simple black robes that looked travel worn, yet well made while her tails and fox
ears had also vanished from sight. “Welcome to the capital of the Baharuth Empire, Arwintar.
Pretty from afar, but sadly I bet it is ugly once we get there… human cities often are like that,
full of darkness if you look closely.” Akemi sighed at the end of her sentence. “So much for a
nice fantasy life… you’re already jaded again Akemi… you have a nice life now, don’t waste
it being depressed.” She told herself and forced a smile for her daughter and dear friend.
“Now Hannyuu, I recommend putting your cloak on fully and just acting naturally, though
I’m going to be hiding your ears and tail so we don’t attract attention, feel free to go invisible
if you feel like you need to. If anyone asks we are travelers and you are both my apprentices.
Judging by my observers, we still have several hours till we need to actually be at a specific
place, so I recommend we just enjoy the city, maybe we can get that basic magic book?”
Akemi looked excited enough that they could imagine those tails waving around.
“You didn’t go out much before did you? Sounds like a fun time.” Ana teased, and winced as
she felt a sharp and small impact in her arm. Looking at Hannyuu the feline was looking
away innocently.
“Of course I didn’t, I already told you some of how terrible that place was… There was none
of this. There was no where to go out to.” Akemi said and gestured widely to the forest
around the road they were on.
“Trees? Wait… just how bad was that place?” Ana was almost afraid to ask, but the question
was out of her mouth before she could help it, and the regret poured in as she saw the fire in
Akemi’s eyes dull just a bit, as it usually did when she was thinking about the past.
“No trees, no green, just a world being choked by it’s own mistakes… It was… even worse
than what I’ve seen here. Humanity was just as cruel, if not crueler, and you couldn’t even go
outside your home without risking being poisoned to death just by the air, or the rain that can
burn your skin. Just… I don’t want to talk about that place anymore.” Akemi said and
smacked her own face to break out of that depressing mood. “Lets just go have some fun
alright? We can think of things to bring back for Kyouko also.”
“Okay, sorry for bring it up, it was just hard to imagine. I’m extremely glad you are here with
us all now though, their loss.” Ana said and walked forward to hook her arm around Akemi’s
and start to pull her along.
After a moment of squeaking from the sudden tug Akemi let herself get dragged by Ana
“Come along Hannyuu, stick close to me please.” Akemi looked back to smile at her
daughter, letting the girl take her other hand, both of them squeezing for comfort. “I really
need to get you all more enchanted items… It makes me nervous that you’re all so…
squishy… I’d like you to be immune to anything below Adamantite and sixth tier spells at the
very minimum…” That got her a few strange looks.
“Akemi… I don’t think nearly anyone in the world can get to that point. Isn’t that asking a
lot?” Ana asked in amusement. “Honestly my potential is pretty low without a talent anyway
so the early second tier is likely the best I’ll be able to do, so there isn’t too much worth in
adding that much investment for my protection like that.” Ana said, once again she regretted
her words a moment too late as Akemi took her arm back from her.
“Not worth it? If you haven’t noticed already Ana, You and Kyouko are pretty damn
important to me. Besides Hannyuu you both know me the best, you’ve heard my past and
accepted me despite that, and are… dear to me. I don’t keep you two around for your magical
or martial talents, not that you two aren’t good at those, but please don’t reduce yourself to
those two things.” Akemi scolded Ana, ruffling hers hair playfully.
“O-okay… Sorry, it just kind of slipped out. I’d love any gifts you’d make for me. Now…
Shall we actually enter the city? I’m hoping they have that beginners magic book for
Hannyuu, I want to get her started also.” Ana said as she looked forward on the road at
Arwintar.
Hannyuu sighed in exasperation as she watched her mother and Ana “If I ever like someone I
really hope I’m not this dense and slow about it…” She thought in frustration. As she thought
about that topic her mind did drift back to those really pretty eyes she saw not too long ago…
“Please state your names and your business.” One guard asked the trio, addressing Akemi at
the front.
“My name is Akemi, I’m a traveling magic researcher, and these are my two apprentices.”
Akemi gestured to the two shorter girls behind her, both of them wearing a similar traveling
outfit as Akemi. “Its a bit of a gamble to not use an alias, but I doubt information about me
reached here so soon, expect maybe through the guilds.” She thought and observed both
guards there.
“I’m Ana, a pleasure.” Ana said and gave a tiny curtsy.
“I’m Hannyuu, n-nice to meet you.” Hannyuu was at least able to say quietly, bowing her
head partly avoid eye contact. “Come on Hannyuu… Don’t start shaking right now, you are
fine, Mom and Ana are here and will protect you…” She told herself as she took a few deep
breathes to clear her nerves enough to step back behind Akemi.
The two gate guards seemed to think for a moment. “Do you have any identification that you
could provide?” He asked.
Akemi’s pleasant smile didn’t break as she shook her head “My apologizes, we’re normally
keep in isolation in our research, but I’ve heard of a great mage in the Empire that I’d like to
meet before these old bones give way.” Akemi sounded completely serious as she rubbed a
shoulder like it was aching, which made the guards a bit confused.
“Old bones? Ma’am surely you can’t be past twenty? Thirty at the most?” The first guard
asked, and sounded a bit more amused by her words than anything.
“If it is for magical reasons, the Imperial Court Wizard is widely known as the strongest
mage of humanity, a legend who has touched the sixth tier.” The second guard spouted, and if
Akemi had to guess was smiling under his helmet.
“Oh you’re both too kind~ I try my best to take care of myself. It sounds like you really
respect him, maybe I’ll be lucky enough to have the chance to meet him. May we be allowed
entrance please? It really has been a long journey, and we would very much like to seek
lodgings for the night.” Akemi politely asked.
The two guards looked at each other for a moment before nodding. “Before that, would we be
able to see a demonstration to prove your background?” They asked, though they didn’t
sound confrontational about it
Akemi looked back at Ana and Hannyuu before she nodded. “That isn’t a problem, [Fly].”
Akemi carefully floated a few feet above the ground before she returned back to the ground.
“My elder apprentice here is capable of the second tier, and I’m still in the process of training
my youngest apprentice in the basics.” Akemi noted. The guards at least looked appeased by
her display of third tier magic. “Even I can be discrete sometimes~”
“Welcome to Arwintar Ma’am.”
“Mom… It really really smells here…” Hannyuu quietly complained as she held onto
Akemi’s hand so they wouldn’t be separated by the large crowds around them.
“I’m sorry dear, you’ll get used to it after a while, probably most… cities smell like this. This
many people close together makes a stink. You doing alright Ana?” Akemi asked as she
observed her surroundings.
“Me? I’m fine, it smells a little bit, but I don’t think I can smell it as strongly as you. You
know where we’re going?” Ana asked, and looked a bit doubtful due to the huge amount of
people around them.
“Hmm? Oh yes, I investigated this place already, and have over two hundred smaller
summons observing the city. I’ve plotted our route and found some fun things to do. You two
hungry? Are you feeling alright Hannyuu? Not too rough on you?” Akemi asked and
squeezed the feline’s hair.
Hannyuu took a few deep breathes and squeezed back “Y-yeah… as long as you both stay
with me I t-think I can handle it.” She spoke out while her eyes darted around her
surroundings. “I am kind of hungry though, could we get something to eat please?” Those
carmine eyes looked up at Akemi and nearly melted the poor Kitsune on the spot.
“So cute… Those damn kitten eyes…” She thought before she nodded “Of course dear, are
you hungry also Ana?” Akemi asked and looked towards her companion.
Ana seemed to zone out for just a moment as her hand twitched in time with her gaze shifting
down lower between her and Akemi. “Just… reach for the hand… you can do it Ana…” Ana
eventually noticed the question and looked at the other two. “Hmm? Oh yeah, that sounds
like a good idea.” As she said that she kept herself from meeting Akemi’s eyes. Her eyes did
drift over to catch Hannyuu’s own, who gave her a strangely pitying look. She was forced to
give up trying to hold that hand as Akemi used it to point forward at a sit in stall.
With a sigh Ana followed along. “Sounds good to me, what do they have?” She asked with a
resigned sigh.
“From what I saw it was meat skewers and some soups you can dip the meats in, a bit heavy
for missing breakfast, but it sounds lovely… I have been finding myself preferring meat
heavy foods…” Akemi chalked it up to another Kitsune trait.
Twenty minutes later Akemi felt she was in heaven. If her tails were visible it was likely they
would be wiggling to show her delight. “Mmm~ I am glad we came here. Make sure to eat
plenty you two, it will be a long rest of the day.” Akemi told them as she pulled delicious
morsels off her skewer one at a time, and dipped them in the variety of sauces and soups in
front of them in tiny bowls, and nearly melting just as she felt the fats melt on her tongue.
The chef behind the counter was chuckling a bit to himself as he worked his station, sizzling
up more food for them and the other patrons. “Glad you like it Missy!” His mood did look
boosted by someone who clearly took such joy in his cooking.
Hannyuu felt a bit vulnerable in that stall, even with the curtain behind them, someone could
easily come up behind them… She caught Akemi’s eye and tried to reassure herself “Mom
would never let anything happen to me, she did say she had eyes everywhere…” Once
Hannyuu thought about it and took a few deep breathes she was able to relax a bit more.
Once she finally paid attention to what she was eating she finally tasted the rabbit.
When the girl’s eyes finally seemed to widen in delight, the others there seemed to take note
of it and smile. Akemi gently pat her daughter’s head with a clean hand and chuckled.
“Alright, after lunch it is the book store, lets see what we can find.” After getting some nods
from the others they focused on enjoying their lunch and paying for it before they headed
back out again
Back in the crowds they all endured the pressure from so many people crowded around them.
Mercifully the smell seemed to get slightly better the further into the city center they went. “I
guess sanitation only really exists in these more rich areas…” Akemi said in a near scathing
tone. “I guess it is back to the Have’s and Have Nots… When I make Natura I’m really going
to need to nip that in the bud…” She muttered to herself, though Hannyuu felt the grip on her
hand strength just a bit.
“Here we are. Hey Ana… What does the sign say? I know it is the book store I was looking
for thanks to the signs, but my summons can’t read either…” The whining tone in which she
said this made Ana smile and feel a surge of affection inside.
“Bodin’s Books. Looks open, just ask me about any book and I can help you get an idea
about it.” Ana said and held open the door for Akemi and Hannyuu, while the little bell on
the door chimed out a welcome to them.
“Thank you Ana, I really do need to get you to teach me sometime…” Akemi said and kept a
hand on Hannyuu’s shoulder as they entered. The smell of musty pages and dried ink hit her
nose hard and yet… it wasn’t a bad smell. “Is this what books smell like? Can’t get that from
a virtual book…” She thought and wondered about what all the books she kept in her
inventory smelled like… did this world add smells to them?
“Welcome to Bodin’s books, how can I he-” The voice was cut off as the welcoming look
turned into a mix of frustrated, exhausted, and disappointment. “If you’re here to just browse
then just leave, this isn’t for window shopping, and keep your brat from touching anything.”
The man nearly snarled.
When Hannyuu retreated behind Akemi, Akemi felt a rush of red rage inside of her. She soon
noticed his eyes were on their worn travel clothes “So assuming we’re poor or something?”
She sighed in annoyance.
“I’m a magical researcher traveling from afar. We’re here to purchase a book called
‘Mysterious of the Arcana’. I recently took on a new apprentice and I intend to use the book
to help her along.” Akemi said and faced the man at the counter who she assumed was Bodin.
Ana took that moment to begin to browse the shop, to locate their book if at all possible.
“No, we don’t carry something that basic! We are the best book store in all of Arwintar,
we’ve been visited by the nobility for over two hundred years, including the Imperial Wizard
himself! This isn’t a place for commoners to come into as they please, leave magic for your
betters.” The man ranted as his nails dug into the counter.
“Here it is.” Ana said and brought back a thin book from one of the many shelves. Akemi
grabbed that book and looked at the man, just silently staring.
“…Fine, twelve gold or get out.” The man growled through gritted teeth, his eyes latched
onto the book in Akemi’s hands, like her holding the thing was enough to dirty it.
“Hmm… [Discern Truth], how much did you say it was again? I’m afraid my hearing is
going at my age…” Akemi said as she let out a tiny white light from her empty hand as she
held the book in the other. The shopkeeper looked concerned for just a moment as he looked
at that light, and a flicker of understanding shown in his eyes for just a moment.
“I said it was twelve gold you deaf- Tsk… Fine… four-” Both times he tried to talk, that tiny
light turned a blood red.
“A really handy spell of the fourth tier, I’m sure it would be useful for interrogations if it
wasn’t so difficult to cast for almost everyone. From the look on your face you’re likely read
about it, so just give me the normal price for the book so I can pay, and then you won’t see
me again. Honestly… I hope this isn’t how every shop in the Empire is… it really reflects
poorly.” Akemi scolded with a disappointed shake of her head as she placed the book in her
hand on the counter.
With a resigned sigh the man just settled for glaring at her, though that lost some of it’s bite
as he seemed to realize that she was obviously a skilled magic caster, which conflicted with
their looks, and hence how he would treat them. “One gold fifty silver. It was mass printed
but most of those copies have been ruined over time, lesser folk don’t know how to take care
of a book. The remaining copies still have decent value after so long in as good of condition
as this one.” Bodin complained, but still accepted the group of coins Akemi placed in his
hand.
She wordlessly took her book and slipped it into the void of her inventory, getting his
attention once again with that act. “Lets go girls.” She told the two girls to usher them out the
door. Once it was just Akemi standing in the doorway she looked back over at him with a
pitying look. “There is no such thing as lesser people, we all were given life in this world the
same, and to that same world we share is where we will all rest within at our ends, as equals.
Farewell.”
Akemi didn’t quite know what she was going for, or where her little speech came from, but
she felt she couldn’t just leave the man’s words unchallenged. For now though she knew it
was time to continue with their day.
“This is where we will be staying for the night, as well as the people we will be meeting.”
Akemi informed them as they all stopped in front of a tall stone building. It seemed to go past
being just an inn, and was at least twice the size of the buildings around them on that street.
“The… Ana what is the name of it?” Akemi leaned over to quietly ask Ana.
“It says the Laughing Oxen Inn. This is where we are going?” Ana asked skeptically.
“Yup, the workers we need are on their way here, and the rooms look nice enough.” Akemi
told them as she opened up the door for the other two. As Ana passed her Akemi felt a jolt of
Kitsune mischief flow through her, and so she blew on one of those ears.
After she made a cute little squeak, Ana brushed a lock of chestnut hair behind her ear and
pouted at Akemi.
“Sorry sorry… I can’t resist.” Akemi teased as she followed her inside. Neither of them saw
Hannyuu shake her head in exasperation.
They let Akemi lead the way as she took them to the bar counter that function as a main desk.
“Excuse me Sir, I’d like to rent a room for a night if that is acceptable.”
The man behind the counter set the cup he was polishing down and looked over at Akemi and
her group. “That’s fine, it will be forty silver for a single, which is what we have right now on
hand. There are some big arena fights coming up so we were nearly booked full, you got
pretty lucky miss.” The man noted and accepted the coins Akemi counted out and handed her
a key with a tag on it.
“Thank you Sir, maybe I’ll take a look at the arena at some point…” Akemi noted and turned
back to her girls. “Shall we go get settled in?” She asked them.
“Sure, I could put my feet up for a while, been on them for a few hours I guess.” Ana said
with a shrug.
“I’d like some quiet time for a while…” Hannyuu admitted with shaky sigh. She leaned into
Akemi when she felt an arm wrap around her.
“Thank you for being so patient with me you two. I know for a fact your feet don’t hurt Ana,
that is what those boots are for. I know walking through crowds for hours is at least mentally
tiring though, so I agree with getting some rest.” Akemi told them as she guided them up the
stairs.
Passing through the long hallways in search of their room that matched their tag, Akemi and
Ana noticed as Hannyuu winced every so often. “M-mom…” She muttered oh so quietly and
fearfully.
“I’m sorry dear, I’ll make sure to sound proof the room.” Akemi said and guided them just a
bit quicker, and thanked the world that she had located the room.
Once the door behind them was firmly shut and locked Akemi held up a hand “[Maximize
Magic: Greater Observation Blockade], [Sonic Barrier: Alteration Other]. There we go… No
one can see us in here with either magic, or our words, and we won’t hear a peep from the
walls or door unless it is a knock.” Akemi said and pulled Hannyuu into a careful hug. “I’m
sorry dear, it is okay, you are safe here with me and Ana, I’m not going anywhere…” Akemi
quietly told her daughter while she dismissed the illusions over both of them so she could
wrap Hannyuu in the fluff of her tails also.
Ana looked worried, but didn’t want to interfere any, still unsure of where she stood with
Hannyuu. “Is… there anything I can do? W-what happened?” She asked worriedly.
“You likely couldn’t hear it since the sound proofing is decent enough for human ears, but for
those with anything better than that… there were quite a few couples… going at it. I’m sorry
if it brought up any memories Dearheart, you’re safe…” Akemi pet over Hannyuu’s ears.
Soon enough Ana felt the tingling sensation of Message in her head. “Sorry, those sorts of
sounds in this kind of place can be enough to remind Hannyuu of the past. I’m… I have yet to
get many details of it myself, I don’t want to ask and dredge up more bad memories for her,
and I’m almost… too scared to ask. For now it is enough to know she was heavily abused in
the recent past. I still get nightmares of how I found her on occasion.” Akemi told Ana
mentally, and just held her shaking daughter as long as she needed to till those quiet tears
could stop.
The lone human could only nod worriedly before taking a seat on the only bed in that room.
It took a moment for That to click “I guess… we’re sharing a bed.” She couldn’t help the
warmth in her cheeks at the thought.
“S-sorry Mom, I just was having trouble n-not thinking about things…” Hannyuu said and
trembled a bit. They had moved from kneeling on the floor to relaxing on the bed, letting her
cuddle up against her mother to drive out her past from her head.
“There is nothing to apologize for Dearheart, you’ve done nothing that hasn’t been entirely
reasonable, maybe expected… You can always come to be if this happens. If you need to talk
about any of it, or just need a pair of arms to be held in I’m right there.” Akemi said and
rested her chin on Hannyuu’s head.
Hannyuu took a few more calming breathes before she moved her head away from Akemi
and her comfortable embrace. “M-maybe one day. I don’t think I could handle that right
now… or maybe ever. I’ve tried to just not think about any of it and… just enjoy this new
life, like you are. Eventually I’ll… need to face it, but not today…” She said and seemed to
calm down more with each gentle pet over her ears, though a flicker of fear was still in her
eyes.
“If there is anything I can do, you can always tell me, just remember that. Are you going to
be alright with meeting the people I’ll be trying to make a deal with? From what I’ve
investigated they are decent people, but if you would rather stay up here then that is perfectly
alright.” Akemi said and stared down into Hannyuu’s crimson eyes that were still slightly
swollen from tears.
“N-no… I can get down there. I don’t want to hide away again… I’ll come with you, I can at
least do that.” Hannyuu decided, and reluctantly extracted herself from her mother’s arms.
Sitting up she looked over her mother and met Ana’s eyes as she laid as far on the other side
of the bed as she could and seemed to try to not listen to their conversation. “Sorry I couldn’t
give you two the room to yourself though.” Hannyuu teased, a sense of delight running
through her at seeing both her mother and Ana turn as red as her own eyes. “You two make it
too easy… Been holding back on these all da- Eep!”
The feline jumped up a few feet when Akemi poked her in her side “I have nine extra
appendages and I know your tickle spots Missy… I must be rubbing off on you too much…
Or you have some Kitsune in you. Alright… Our targets will be here in likely about twenty
minutes or less, so we need to head downstairs.” Akemi sat up and rubbed her red cheeks
while she very carefully avoided Ana’s gaze. Before she got up she leaned closer to Hannyuu
to whisper to her “Just wait until you get a crush, I’ll make sure to return the favor~” Akemi
teased and ruffled her hair.
Ana was too red and flustered to figure out what Akemi had whispered, and just followed her
leader out the door once the illusions were reapplied.
“One cider please if you have it. Ana?” Akemi asked as she told the Inn-keeper her order. It
was a bit early for dinner, especially after their big lunch, but a tiny bit of social drinking
seemed the norm there, and she knew her own nerves could use it…
“I guess a cider also.” Ana shrugged, not looking entirely convinced on the idea.
It took only a few moments before two large mugs of frothy amber liquid were placed in
front of them, along with a smaller mug of similar looking liquid which was placed front of
Hannyuu. “Some juice for the little one if she wants it, Enjoy.” The man said with a kind
smile before he returned to other things.
“Thank you~” Akemi thanked the man as he walked away before turning to their drinks.
Akemi quietly whispered a few incantations under her breath, as she looked at all three mugs.
“They’re all safe, low alcohol content, and the juice is just perfectly safe apple juice.” Akemi
told them as she took a few sips. “I’m not sure if it is even possible for me to get drunk, but if
I could I’d do it with this stuff.” Akemi said and turned to watch the door.
Right on queue, a group of four walked into the Inn. “Oi! Hey Falla, could we get three ales
and a cider?” A taller blond man entered and immediately made his presence known in the
loudest way possible as he addressed the Inn-keeper.
“You’re paying Hekkeran, we all know you’ll drink the most.” A purple haired half elf
woman told the loud man, and elbowed him playfully in the side as the group drifted to a
table in the corner.
“No fighting Imina, Hekkeran, we did enough of that today. Good work with the timely spells
today Arche.” An even taller mountain of a man said while still in his armor and pristine
white garments. “From what I’ve seen I believe he is a cleric, a good one.” Akemi thought as
she listened in.
“I’m not getting involved you two, lets just relax and get our pay for the job.” A small blond
girl told them as she claimed a seat near the cleric. She more on guard than the others, and
seemed to have more on her mind as well.
Over at the bar area Akemi smiled “And there are our guides…”
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! Welcome to the Dragon Kingdom arc of the story!
I’m trying to get updates out about once a week for now, though once the current
overlord season ends that may slow down a bit. Enjoy overlord Tuesday!
Negotiations
Chapter Summary
Our group's negotiations with their guides proceeds, and Arche learns why asking to see
someone's power level can hurt.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Greetings everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
After listening in to her targets for a while Akemi opened her eyes. Draining the rest of her
mug she looked over at Ana and Hannyuu. “Mind watching Hannyuu for a tiny bit Ana? I’m
going to go introduce myself.” She said and patted her daughter’s head when she got a
nervous look. “I’m not leaving the room, just a few meters away, you know my tails can
reach here faster than you can blink dear.” Akemi told her.
She looked over and saw the Inn Keeper, who Foresight had called Falla, loading up a tray
with drinks. “Falla was it? I’ll pay for their drinks.” She told the man, and slide over some
more coins. With a nod the man went to go bring the drinks over. After listening to the cheers
for a tiny bit after Falla told the group she was paying, she looked over her shoulder to smile
at them. When she caught their leader’s eye and got a curious look in return she decided it
was the time to stand up and saunter her way over.
“Excuse my intrusion, do I have the pleasure of speaking to Foresight?” Akemi asked with
her most flattering smile.
The group looked at each other for a moment before the one Akemi knew as Hekkeran
smiled at her. “That’s us, though if you know about us… May I ask the name of such a lovely
lady as yourself?” He asked with a flirtatious smirk that was soon wiped from his face from
the sound of a boot hitting his ankle came from under the table, along with a bit of a pained
whine.
“My name is Akemi, and yes, sadly I do come mostly about business. May I sit with you
four?” Akemi asked, only pulling out one of the chairs when she got a nod from them all. She
was confused though as the purple haired half elf stared at her with barely hidden suspicion.
“Alright… you said you have business, got a job for us?” Hekkeran asked as she sipped from
his ale. “Where are my manners? I’m Hekkeran, leader of Foresight. These lovely ladies are
Imina, our impressive archer, and Arche our magic casting expert and resident badass. This
big lug is Roberdyck, our Cleric, as well as the one who keeps us out of too much trouble.”
He gestured to each other member in turn.
Akemi couldn’t help but smile at bit more at Arche, her gaze lingering just a bit longer on her
than the others. “Well… She is cuter in person.” Akemi thought as she nodded. “A relatively
easy job, but likely longer term. I am a traveling magical researcher, and I’m seeking a guide
to the Dragon Kingdom for two apprentices and myself.” Akemi told them as she gestured to
the two smaller girls at the bar that kept looking at them.
Foresight all looked confused about it “Just as guides? Why don’t you just take a boat there?”
Hekkeran asked, and started to look suspicious. Akemi had a feeling the man would be
smarter than just accepting, not that she had any bad intentions, though she knew they didn’t
know that.
“As strange as it sounds, we’re just looking for guides. We’re trying to experience and
discover new things, and a boat wouldn’t help with that. It is the journey, not the destination,
right? We’ve never been to the Dragon Kingdom, and honestly the trip there is a bit of a…
calling it sightseeing is a bit underselling it, but we do wish to experience the landscape on
our way there, broaden our horizons.” Akemi admitted as looked over at the Inn keeper to ask
him for another cider, and got a nod.
“Okay… you realize we aren’t a sightseeing tour right? Are you looking down on us?”
Hekkeran asked and started to look a bit annoyed. “You’d be looking at likely over a month
of travel time and most of that would be walking, walking, and more walking unless you
have a cart. Even with a cart that would only get you as far as the mountains… To get there
by land you have the choice of either over the mountains and the snowy passes there, as well
as risking an encounter with the Wyvern rider tribes there, or through a labyrinth of
underground tunnels crawling with all sorts of things. There is a reason almost all traffic there
is by boat.” Hekkeran explained and took a couple gulps of his ale.
Soon Falla left another Cider for Akemi in front of her, which she slowly sipped seemed as
she listened.
“We’re quite in demand for our abilities, and are the equivalent of a Mithril ranked party in
the adventurer’s guild. Speaking of that, why didn’t you just go to them for something like
this? Most of the work for Workers isn’t… things like this.” Imina took a shot at explaining
to her.
“I am aware of your skills, and I’ve done my research, such as your skill with a bow Imina,
you two magic users of the third tier, and Hekkeran’s skills with the blade. You’re indeed a
very well known party in many circles, it isn’t every day also that one of the Imperial
Wizard’s thirty steps down to become a worker except for a few reasons.” Akemi said and
took a few sips more to steady herself.
“If it is coin, It will not be an issue I believe. I’ll be providing all provisions and shelter
needed as well. The reason I don’t go to the adventurer’s guild is… I don’t agree with a lot of
their policies, and I suppose the fact… they might have a hit out for me, I don’t know for sure
and I’m not going to check… I did a small amount of time with them and stopped at Gold
rank, technically I still am.” Akemi said and reached into her inventory, drawing a few
looked from the group with them caring more about that than the gold plate she pulled out.
“If you would prefer to be paid in valuables that can also be provided. Name your price for a
month of your time.” Akemi said and tried to gauge how they all were feeling.
“We’ll have to discuss this together, but you’re looking at paying for a month and a half, as
we still would need to take a boat back. We’re not sure about being gone from Arwintar for
that long also. Give us some time and we’ll get back to you.” Hekkeran told her, letting her
pick up the dismissal in his words.
“Very well, we’ll be down here for a while, but you can also find us in room forty four on the
third floor.” Akemi told them and left their table, but her instincts wouldn’t let her leave
without giving Arche a wink before doing so, it happening almost without conscious thought.
“Damn you brain…” For not the first time she cursed her Kitsune side… or it might be the
side that just likes girls… she was unsure.
She didn’t know if she did a good job selling her job or not, but the fact they didn’t just plain
reject her on the spot gave her some hope. She took her seat back next to Hannyuu, keeping
her between herself and Ana. She ruffled her daughter’s hair a bit more. “Sorry about that
you two, I’m just waiting on them to give an answer, and from what I can hear they at least
are seriously discussing a price…” Akemi told them and just focused on her drink for now,
and listened in with her invisible ears.
When she heard Arche mention that she was suspicious as someone who said they were a
magical researcher, and yet is incapable of magic, Akemi was confused. Eventually she
remembered the information on Arche’s talent to read magic levels. “Sorry cutie… probably
better you can’t see it.” She thought and looked at one of her rings, an obsidian black band
that seemed to absorb light.
Her eyebrows raised as she heard them talking very low about what they would do with the
money, how Arche seemed to have some debts to pay off for her parents. “Was… she in
danger?” Her heart went out to the girl who couldn’t have been more than one or two years
younger than her, and already she seemed burnt out from what she could tell. If all she had
was going to help her little sisters than that was something she could respect. “Why don’t you
just take them? Run away somewhere if your parents are so irresponsible?” She thought in
her head as she wished she could just tell Arche that herself, but she knew it was likely
already suspicious she knew so much about them.
They seemed to be discussing prices they reasonably might be able to ask for in comparison
to how long they would be gone, if they could earn more money like that and stay near home.
Akemi knew she would really need to make it worth their while to get them out the door…
Once it started to get dark Akemi urged everyone up the stairs and back to their room.
Hannyuu proceeded forward with her invisible ears covered until they got into their room.
“Well… I guess we wait, they’ve noticed out absence and are still talking. I’ll stay up and use
my summons to look around the city or work on some items if you all want to go to bed for
now. You look exhausted Hannyuu dear… I know it has been a long day and all. Why don’t
you go take a bath and head to bed?” Akemi asked and smiled lovingly at her.
Hannyuu indeed did seem like she was drifting off slowly. “M-maybe… Can you undo the
illusions?” She asked quietly as she stood up on shaky legs. With a wave of Akemi’s finger
those feline ears and her tail came back into view. Reaching into her inventory Akemi also
pulled out a set of pajamas and other bits of clean clothes for her.
“Something to sleep in, you can still use your cloak if you want.” Akemi offered and nodded
as the clothes were taken. “Don’t stay in the bath too long while you’re sleepy alright?” Once
Hannyuu mumbled her agreement and made her way into the bathroom Akemi turned to look
at Ana “What about you? Want a change of clothes? These travel clothes are high quality and
I only made them look bad, but fresh clothes feel nice.”
Ana seemed to think on it for a moment and nod “Okay, I’ll try and stay up with you though,
I’d like to meet them also.” After handing Ana some clothes also, Akemi slipped on another
ring and laid on one of the couches in their room, her eyes closed for a moment.
“Alright… What is going on in the city for tonight…” She mumbled out and settled in for
waiting.
It had been at least an hour since Akemi, Ana, and Hannyuu went upstairs, and Foresight still
discussed the finer details downstairs. “If I’m judging her right, at this price we can wipe out
your parent’s debt completely, you can take your sisters, and have enough to start over
somewhere else like the Dragon Kingdom.” Hekkeran told Arche and looked annoyed by that
point.
“I can’t just selfishly take it all for myself, that isn’t fair to you three! What about you
Roberdyck? I know you need money also.” Arche countered as she went to sip at her cider
before clicking her tongue as she remember it was empty. Hekkeran’s insistence on them
keeping clear heads kept her from ordering another.
The large cleric looked at her with gentle eyes “While I do, I can do without. The orphanage
can get by for a few months with what I’ve gathered already , enough time to complete this
job and get back for something else.” Roberdyck said, and rested his chin on his palm while
he looked over at the windows. “It is already dark… If we’re going to accept we should tell
her soon. My vote is on accepting, I sense she was being honest with us.”
The rest of them seemed to think about it some more. “Fine… I’ll agree if we ask for twenty
percent above the first price, if we have to we can bargain our way down to the original
price… If she accepts the inflated offer than she would likely agree to fifty percent upfront.
We can get your sisters out of danger, the debt clear, and all of us will get a good payday. All
in favor?” Hekkeran told them and held up his hand.
“I’m still not sure if I trust her, but her apprentices don’t look like much, so unless she tries to
lead us into an ambush I doubt one short woman with no magic could beat the four of us, If
she could there would be no point in luring us specifically so far out. I’ll give it a shot, could
be fun.” Imina conceded.
Roberdyck simply raised his hand, looking pleased at the compromise. It took a bit longer for
Arche to raise her hand “Twist my arm why don’t you… Fine, hopefully I can get them
somewhere safe, we can check out the Dragon Kingdom for a bit while we are there.” Arche
told them.
“Then it is agreed, lets go give out offer, I’d like to meet the other two as well, better to know
who we are working with. She said Room forty four…”
Akemi had given up laying on the couch so she could work over the table between the two
couches, while Ana sat on the other. Hannyuu had laid down on the shared bed and was deep
in dreamland for the moment, her low purring breathes that could be heard made Akemi
smile. “They’re on the way up, mind letting them in please?” Akemi quietly asked as she had
a tiny glob of metal floating within a golden bubble that she seemed to be channeling some
sort of spell into. With a hum of satisfaction, Akemi carefully molded that molten Astral
Gold into a ring shape, and let the magic bubble around the molten metal to tighten down
over it, holding the ring into shape. It only took a few seconds for the heat to vanish from the
metal and reveal an array of etchings along the band.
Putting that ring away she looked up right in time to catch a knock. Ana was startled by it
despite expecting it. Hannyuu on the bed hid under the covers at the noise. Once Ana opened
up the door and let the four workers in did Ana return to the couch. “Please, have a seat.”
Akemi said and reached into her inventory to pull out a tea pot, cups, and of all things a
platter of finger foods. “Have you reached a decision?” Akemi asked curiously.
The four person team looked at each other before Hekkeran nodded. As he was about to talk,
Imina looked around concerned. “Where is the third girl?” She asked suspiciously.
Akemi took another glance at the bed and giggled at Hannyuu who had poked her face out
from the blankets, her carmine eyes showing her worry and nervousness.
“Sorry, it was late so I had sent her to bed. She is young so go easy on her.” Akemi tried to
sooth the nervous elf while also smiling at Hannyuu till she calmed down a bit and burrowed
under the covers. She knew her daughter wouldn’t fall back asleep till they were gone, but it
might be better she listen anyway.
Foresight relaxed a bit as they spotted Hannyuu on the bed finally. Imina even cracked a
smile. “That is fine, kids need their sleep. Four platinum is what we want, on top of the free
provisions and shelter you offered. That kingdom has been at war for years, and at this time
of the year the mountains are snowed over, so our routes are limited, that ups the danger of
the job.” Hekkeran told Akemi as he leaned back into the couch.
Akemi pretended to be surprised as she blinked and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Well… I
guess I am stealing you away from other jobs for over a month. I want some concessions of
my own.” Akemi told them as she mentally counted out the wealth she brought. “I collected
a total of twenty seven platinum from all those bandits treasure rooms and off their persons…
I have some gems they should like.” She thought, and kept eye contact until Hekkeran
nodded.
“I’m alright with the price, but I’d like you to help my youngest with magical basics. It has
been a long long while since these old bones taught anyone the fundamentals directly. My
second apprentice here can use up to the second tier, though I suppose the famous Arche of
Foresight would already know that much.” Akemi shrugged as she pulled out a leather bag
from her inventory and dropped it on the table. “If you would prefer something easier to carry
or useful, maybe some weapon or armor upgrades? I keep a lot of strange things in here.”
Akemi offered as she poured herself and the others some tea.
Arche looked mystified as she stared at Akemi. “A little bit of teaching isn’t a problem, but
can you teach me how to store things like that? Something like that… I could stop being a
worker and just be a merchant.” Akemi thought for sure she would ask about Akemi’s own
magic level but maybe she was saving that. “She probably shouldn’t put that much stock in
her talent, it isn’t perfect after all…”
“Sorry… Honestly if could teach people how to do that I would, but It could probably be
considered something akin to a talent like your eyes.” Akemi mentioned as she sipped her tea
to relax.
It was hard to tell if they believed her, but they were more than happy to look in the bag and
count out four platinum. The fact she Had platinum coins spoke volumes to them, along with
the other things she seemed to have.
After a bit of thought Hekkeran nodded. “Alright, we accept.” When he held out a hand to
shake he seemed surprised by Akemi’s grip strength.
“Pleasure doing business with you, I think we’ll all get along splendidly. How does noon
tomorrow sound for setting out?” Akemi asked as she tried to keep her voice down for
Hannyuu’s sake.
After a couple of looks from the team Hekkeran nodded “Yeah, that will work, it will give us
time to set things in order for while we’re gone.” He said and stood up now that the deal was
complete. He put the bag back on the table after counting out twelve “Half the payment as
promised.”
“Yup, I know you’re good for it. Have a good night you four.” She said as she followed them
and closed the door behind them once they left, right before she leaned against the door and
exhaled. “Stressful… They’re much more serious than I thought they would be… but they
are sharp I’ll give them that.” Akemi said and pulled a ring off her finger, and seemed to
immediately slump down a bit more. “I forgot about the backlash…” Akemi grumbled as she
stumbled her way over to the bed.
“Akemi! Are you alright?” Ana asked as she quickly went over to support the Kitsune.
Hannyuu had even poked her head out with a worried whine.
“Yup… just fine. The ring of sustenance keeps me from needing to eat, drink, or sleep, but
there is a sleep backlash if I take it off. I only had it only for a little while because I was
feeling sleepy, but all that sleepiness caught up with me in an instant. At least those are the
effects now… in the past well, sleep wasn’t really needed either way… But if I use this thing
for a long time it will be bad for me.” Akemi admitted and put the ring in her inventory.
Standing up a bit straighter she raised her arms into the air which blurred her form for a
moment. When the light distortion cleared her clothes had been swapped into a pair of fluffy
pajamas and all illusions on her dispelled, bringing her fluffy tails back. “Quick swap magic
is useful, totally worth the spot on my spell list.” Akemi said and climbed into bed next to
Hannyuu, hugging the snuggly Kitten affectionately, and leaving enough space on the bed for
Ana to still get in.
Akemi didn’t think of that and looked over at Ana, who seemed both embarrassed and not as
amused. “I’ll get changed first…” It was quiet once Ana retreated to the bathroom with the
pair of pajamas she was given.
Soon Akemi and Hannyuu were snuggled up with tails wrapped around them, both
comfortable as can be. Ana hesitated at getting in the bed as she saw that happy scene. “Do
you w-want me to take the couch maybe?” She asked and soon found it a stupid question as a
tail gently tugged her by the midsection onto the bed as her answer.
“Nope, There seems to be enough room. I’ll try and keep my tails to myself but they have a
mind of their own, especially when I’m asleep.” Akemi warned as she felt herself getting
sleepier. Once she felt Ana slip fully into bed and relax a small distance away on the bed did
Akemi extend a tail to turn down the dial on the magic crystal controlling the continual light
spell on the glass bulb above. “Good night Hannyuu, love you. Goodnight Ana l-l- Mm…
Night…” Akemi tried her best, but just couldn’t push past those few extra letters she found
and with a sigh she gave it up for the night.
“Night, y-you too.” Ana stuttered out as her brain tried to process. She had a feeling about
what Akemi had tried to say but… the feeling of getting her hopes up, she knew it would
crush her if she was wrong. If she was wrong it would also make sharing a bed awkward, so a
neutral answer it was.
The light was already a good way through the window that morning, and Akemi’s internal
clock told her it was nearly nine in the morning. She knew she needed to get up but… She
was warm and cozy. Hannyuu was doing her usual thing of cuddling against her front and
purring quietly in her sleep like the adorable nugget she was, and Akemi’s tails were wrapped
around them both.
What was different that morning was the pair of arms forming a gentle loop around her waist,
as well as another warm body pressed snugly against her from behind. All things considered
it was quite warm and comfortable, but the fact she could tell it was Ana just from the sound
of her whistling breathes near her ears made her flush bright red for the morning. “Why… Is
she she so damn cute…” Akemi thought, a tiny whine coming from her throat as she felt like
she was in both heaven and hell. She noticed her tails had already ensnared Ana as well,
really tying them there until everyone woke up.
“Why is she so soft? This is torture… Why can I not just tell those two? Ugh…” She thought
in grief. Her mind felt torn between two people she finally had to admit she at least felt some
sort of way about.
Time passed by quicker as she lamented her situation, and also celebrated how comfortable it
was right there. Eventually she felt Hannyuu stirring in her arms, and soon was looking into
sleepy carmine eyes. “Morning dear, sleep well?” Akemi asked and brushed a few locks of
pink, near white hair out of her daughter’s face.
With a sleepy nod Hannyuu stretched out a bit, but didn’t seem to eager to get up. “Comfy…
Warm…” She mumbled and buried her face against Akemi once again. Akemi gave it a fifty
fifty chance of the girl falling back asleep or getting up after another few minutes of
cuddling. With a quiet chuckle Akemi gently scratched Hannyuu’s back, and soon felt that
familiar purring. “Such a cuddle bug. We have a big day today dear, we’re going to see a lot
of interesting sights, I’m quite excited to see those mountains.” Akemi said and just relaxed
for the moment.
What ever Hannyuu tried to say was muffled from where she was, and Akemi wasn’t even
sure if would be understandable, her daughter really was not a morning person sometimes.
With all the reluctance in the world Hannyuu pulled away from the warmth and safety of her
mother and rubbed her eyes. “Morning Mama…” She grumbled and sat up.
Looking back over at her mother she smirked just a bit as she saw how Ana was literally
spooning her in her sleep. “You look pretty comfortable also.” She teased, and watched her
mother’s face flush.
“Oi… Just remember I will return every bit of that if you get a crush…” Akemi complained
and pondered how to get out of that position.
Hannyuu just smirked a bit more as she stretched out for the morning. “But mom, that would
need you to be able to see if someone has a crush though~” Hannyuu sassed, grinning as her
mother glared at her, though without any venom in it.
“Just where is all this sass coming from? I k-know I have one… Those two are going to be
the death of me… Even I’m not dense enough to not realize all this.” Akemi quietly
complained. “Mind helping me wake her up? We do need to get ready and all.” Akemi asked
and didn’t seem to dare to try and pull Ana off forcefully.
“You sure? You look pretty comfortable. No? Alright…” Hannyuu said as she got another
pout from her mother. “Hey Ana? Time to get up.” Hannyuu said and leaned over Akemi to
push on Ana’s shoulder, it was at that point she noticed the red flush on Ana’s face. When
Ana peeked open an eye Hannyuu couldn’t help but teasingly grin at Ana, but shook her head
in exasperation.
She let Ana fake waking up so she could untangle herself from Akemi without giving herself
away. If Akemi had been paying more attention she might have been able to tell Ana was
awake from her pounding heart.
“Morning…” Ana said and tried to avoid letting Akemi see her blushing face, which was
easy enough as Akemi was avoiding look at her also for the same reason.
Hannyuu stood there for a moment to absorb the scene, and continued her internal screaming.
After a quick breakfast in their room, along with a quick cleaning of the room they were
leaving, they headed downstairs to wait for Foresight. Thankfully the Inn was still quiet for
the morning with no one moaning through the walls this time, to Akemi and Hannyuu’s
relief.
“No Cider Akemi…” Ana warned as she steered Akemi to a larger table in the corner. They
let Hannyuu stay in the corner seat so she could be flanked by Akemi and Ana for safety.
“Shush you, I’m not a day drinker or something, I’m barely a drinker at all.” Akemi said and
gently poked Ana’s nose.
Ana wiggled her nose and rolled her eyes. “So think they will show up? Or did they just run
off with the money?” Ana asked and sounded suspicious of their soon to be guides.
“Don’t worry so much Ana, I’ve done careful background checks on all four of them, so I can
vouch for their trustworthiness. There is also the fact that I’ve been keeping them under
watch with my summons since they left, and so I know they are on their way here now, in
three… two… one.” Right on cue the Inn door opened to let in Foresight. Ana could only
stare at Akemi in exasperation, as if unsure what to do with the woman.
“Welcome you four, you get all your business taken care of?” Akemi asked as she pat
Hannyuu’s hand when she shook just slightly as the four joined them at the table. Even with
illusions hiding both of their non-human bits, Akemi just knew her daughter’s ears would
likely be flat against her head. “I suppose that might be something to work on for her.”
“Yup, we’re all set with what we need. You said you wanted actually leave at noon yes?”
Hekkeran asked and set a large pack down next to him. Akemi noticed they all had a decent
backpack with them, obviously well prepared for the trip ahead. “Also, we didn’t agree on a
route. So like I said yesterday, we can take the mountain pass route, and risk an encounter
with the Wyvern rider tribes, or figure our way through the labyrinth of underground tunnels.
Both are equally dangerous, but at least on the mountain you can get a good view, even if it is
freezing cold. You wanted to not take a boat so those are our options without crossing the
border into the Minotaur tribe lands, and we refuse to do that.” He told Akemi and leaned
back in his chair.
“Mountain pass, it sounds far better than dark caves. I hear the vistas from the mountain tops
are beautiful, and there is always flying magic if need be.” Akemi noted and met Arche’s
eyes when she got a skeptical look.
“Sounds like a plan then. Our business is settled here for the next month, so we can leave at
any time. Just stick close to us on the road, the closer we get to the border the more likely it is
bandits might attack.” Hekkeran said and looked between the three of them.
“We can leave here soon, first let me properly introduce you to these lovely ladies.” Akemi
said and nodded at the other two, urging them to speak.
Ana looked nervous, but was able to meet their eyes well enough. “Hello, I’m Anastashia
Bilon, but just call me Ana please.” She asked and kept stealing glances at Akemi.
Hannyuu couldn’t meet their eyes well and kept stalling each time she opened her mouth.
Every time she went to talk she glanced at Hekkeran and Roberdyck, and Akemi understood
very quickly.
“Sorry about this dear, she is quite shy. She is Hannyuu, my newest apprentice, and also my
daughter.” Akemi said and gently patted Hannyuu’s hair.
Thankfully it didn’t seem to matter to Foresight, and they seemed more amused by the cute
faces the girl was making. “It isn’t a problem. Don’t you worry about a thing Hannyuu, we’ll
make sure nothing happens to you all on this trip.” Hekkeran said, and seemed to take a
protective attitude, it was hard not to with her.
“Well… no time like the present, shall we head out? We can still likely make some good
distance today.” Akemi said and forced herself up off the seat.
“Agreed. Let us make haste before it gets dark.” Roberdyck said and tucked his chair in.
Akemi went over to place her key on the counter near the Inn keeper. “The room was nice
and very clean, I’ll be sure to recommend this place if anyone asks.” Akemi said and went
back to Hannyuu when she got a nod.
“You take care now.” Falla said and went back to cooking something on one of the stoves
behind the counter.
“From here on we’re in your hands.” Akemi said and took Hannyuu’s hand before they all
waded out into the afternoon crowd.
It took the better part of an hour to just get outside of the city gates, mostly due to the thick
crowds clogging the main road in all directions. Once they had finally made it outside and
onto the paved roads leading away from the capital Akemi finally let out the breath she had
been holding. “Alright, now that we are out of the smelly city… Could you two talk with me
for a moment? You all can walk ahead a bit, we’ll still be in sight.” Akemi said as she pointed
out Hekkeran and Roberdyck, surprising the two of them.
Foresight looked confused when she asked that, but it seemed obvious enough that she just
wanted a word with the two of them.
“That’s fine, go ahead and go on ahead guys.” Hekkeran said to his two teammates.
Hannyuu looked worried for a moment, whimpering just a bit, and yet to say a single word,
though she seemed just a bit more relaxed when the two male members of foresight hung
back with Akemi as Ana led her forward with Imina and Arche.
Akemi watched them go for a moment, and waited till she was out of Hannyuu’s hearing
range before turning to the two males. “I just wanted to give you two some specific advice in
interacting with Hannyuu. Before I adopted her she went through far more than a child, or
anyone, should have, and still has a hard time being around men. Don’t take it personally if
she doesn’t talk much, or to you specifically. Try not to approach her unless she approaches
you first, or ask her about the past please.” Akemi asked as quietly as she could, looking
every bit the worried mother she was.
Both Hekkeran and Roberdyck could read between the lines, and the both looked equally as
disgusted by the answer they came to, just as Akemi expected them to be. “Understood, if
there is anything else we can do feel free to speak up.” Hekkeran said quite seriously.
“Agreed, just let us know.” Roberdyck said, shaking his head as he couldn’t quite believe
what he heard, even though he had heard tales just like Hannyuu’s dozens of times, it never
was any less painful to hear about.
Akemi simply nodded and fast walked to catch up with the rest of them, taking Hannyuu’s
hand when she rushed back over to her side. “Is everything a-alright mama?” She quietly
asked, while her gaze still occasionally flicked over towards the male members of Foresight
that also caught up.
“Yup, just had to clarify a few things for the trip. Are your’s and Ana’s boots working
alright? Any pain?” She asked and smiled at them both.
Ana blushed just a bit as she looked back. “They fit perfectly, too perfectly, I’m hardly
noticing that they are there.” She admitted as she flexed them a bit, the deep brown leather
having just enough give to be comfortably flexible.
Arche had been staring at Akemi for more than a few minutes, and it was starting to concern
Akemi. “So… Akemi, why did you seem to dead set on us being your guides? Why us?”
Arche asked as she walked next to her.
“Why? Well, when looking for someone to guide us across mostly lawless wilderness I
wanted to be very careful with who I chose. In my background checks Combat talent was a
secondary criteria, I can deal with most threats that might come out way, but the knowledge
of the landscape and routes are of great importance as well. If I had to choose the biggest
reason for picking you four it would be your moral fortitude despite how dirty some worker
jobs can be, at least that is the reputation of workers.” That seemed to surprise the group
enough that they nearly stopped walking.
“You chose us for that? Kind of a low bar right?” Hekkeran asked with a skeptical look, and
looked just as skeptical about her claim of her own combat prowess.
“You would be surprised… I’ve not been in these lands for very long, but the nature of the
majority of people doesn’t really change. People put on a show of being kind and virtuous so
much that it just becomes another mask… It makes finding truly good people difficult, but
those are the kind of people I want around me and mine. It really is that simple, though I
know my methods seem strange. Take this example… What do you four think about the
recent gains by demi-humans down in the Re-Estize Kingdom?” Akemi asked and kept
walking.
The others relaxed a bit once she started putting forth her reasons. “It sounds like a good
thing to me, I hate the way they get treated. Usually the ones people see here are in the arena
fighting for their lives. Slavery is wrong no matter what way you put it. The leader of it all
sounds pretty good, I heard he went right up to the King and made him back down without
spilling any blood, as much as the Kingdom has been trying to hide that story.” Hekkeran
said and shook his head at the subject.
Arche nodded at that “Agreed, I hope something similar can be done about the slavery here in
the empire, considering debt slavery is still acceptable politically… I’m also curious about
that same Demi-human leader, though I heard they were a woman. The story went that she
was able to face an entire battalion of knights on her own, and instead of killing any of them
she spared their lives. I also heard she had some interesting magic. There were a lot of
medicine merchants that came through recently with that story, nothing they tried could heal
any of their wounds.” She said and turned back to the road.
Imina scoffed a bit, and spit off to the side “The empire can burn for all I care, slavery is
horrid. I’m a half elf, and even that is hard to deal with for people there… but what can
you…” She sounded a bit depressed by the subject once the fire in her quickly burnt out.
“Slavery is an abomination that should be cleansed from any decent country. I’ve met plenty
of Demi-humans, and the vast majority wanted nothing more than to live in peace, yet people
lump them in with the Beastmen tribes past the Dragon Kingdom who want war.” Roberdyck
seemed the most vocal about it, which tracked with Akemi’s opinion about the man.
It was pretty silent walking for some time as the trio followed their guides without issue,
though Imina seemed to look back to make sure they were keeping up alright every so often.
Arche stopped for just a moment to look at Akemi “Why would you ask about that
specifically? It is a pretty recent event that shouldn’t have spread very far outside of certain
circles after all.” Arche looked suspiciously at Akemi, who merely stopped also to smile at
the girl.
“Oh because it is a good example of why I choose you, I was pretty sure of how you would
respond to that scenario, and tells me that you have no ill intentions with Demi-humans.”
Akemi said with a nod before continuing to walk. She seemed to be enjoying leading them
down these conversations like she had like a leash.
“Oh? What about you? If you picked those questions I’m assuming you don’t have a problem
with them?” Arche asked and walked next to Akemi.
Akemi nodded “It would be pretty bad of me to, since Hannyuu and Me are Demi-humans
ourselves. I wanted to make sure anyone I hire wasn’t the murderous type after all.” Akemi
said and squeezed her daughter’s hand.
Arche didn’t look too surprised. “I called it.” She told her party with a small chuckle. “Well,
it doesn’t matter really like you might guess. I don’t blame you for being cautious, looking
out for your priority makes sense.” She said and looked over at Hannyuu on the other side of
Akemi, who just clung a bit tighter to her mother.
“Wait… You’re a Demi-human? You both look completely human, I can’t tell any
difference.” Imina asked and seemed to examine Akemi a bit closer.
Their employer seemed unable to not giggle at their curious expressions. “Oh I’m glad my
illusions are up to the task of fooling a Mithril equivalent team.” Akemi waved her hand and
let the magic around both her and Hannyuu fade into mist.
The others seemed to back up a few steps once she did so, not out of fear, but to avoid the
many tails that appeared from thin air. Arche on the other hand looked both confused and a
bit panicked. “Something wrong?” Akemi asked her with a tilt of her head as she gently
applied a scratch to Hannyuu’s ears to calm her down.
“Are you… the magic caster that did all that in the Kingdom?” She asked and seemed to
examine Akemi closer. “Can’t be… I’m not detecting any magic at all from you at all… But
you were using Illusions? Was it an item?” Arche looked more curious than anything at her
preconceived notions being thrown off.
“Got it in one. That was me, It was… an emotionally charged night… But I met Ana here
that night, so that was one good thing about it.” Akemi said and gestured to Ana who
immediately began to blush. “As for your magic sense, I can assure you I am more than
capable of magic, I just tend to keep my power disguised.” Akemi said and held up her hand
to show the black ring on her finger. “Ring of Obfuscation, a pretty common item where I’m
from, information is power after all.” Akemi said and smiled at the group.
“That explains some things. Since the beginning, as a divine magic user myself, I recognized
the feeling of divine energy coming from you pretty quickly. Are you are a divine magic
caster?” Roberdyck asked, looking a bit more excited.
“Divine magic is one of the main skills I have to use. So I may have lied a tiny bit on the
purpose of the trip…” When she got a few cautious looks she waved her hand at them “Oh
relax, just on the nature of my trip. I’m not going there just for sight seeing, and I’m not a
magical researcher as you might have guessed, I’m on my way there as a diplomatic trip.”
Akemi said and thankfully Foresight seemed to calm down at that.
Arche’s eyes were glued to the ebony and white tails attached to Akemi. “Hekkeran, your
mage is starring at my rear.” Akemi said in a teasing voice, and got to see Arche flush red and
turn away. “That was an adorable reaction, this will be a fun trip.” Akemi thought and
chuckled under her breath.
“Oi Arche, stop checking out the client, we have a job to do.” Hekkeran teased, and dodged
the staff being swung at his head.
When she got that out of her system Arche turned back to Akemi. “I know information is
power, but to properly protect you three I’d like to know what you can do. Could I get a
glimpse without that ring?” Arche asked with heavy curiosity in her eyes.
Akemi winced a bit and fiddled with her ring. “I’m not sure… that is a good idea, I am quite
strong though. What Tier do you think I can use?” Akemi asked and reached over to poke
Ana’s cheek so she didn’t feel left out, and let a smirk form when she felt Ana batting her
finger away with a playful grumble.
Foresight’s mage looked deep in thought for a small bit before opening her mouth again. “I
get a similar feeling to you as I did to my teacher. I’m guessing seventh tier? My teacher can
reach into the sixth tier. That seems to be a limit for humans, but you aren’t human, and from
what he taught me about Demi-human races of note is that Kitsunes are noted for their magic,
illusions especially.” Arche predicted, her mind looking stuck on the topic.
“Um… Not quite… It likely is better if you don’t know but…” Akemi fiddled with the ring
on her hand and looked to be thinking about it. “Your talent won’t hurt you right? I really
don’t want you getting hurt or anything… or thinking of me that different.” Akemi squeezed
Hannyuu’s hand in her worry.
“It is important I know at least some of what you can do, right? I doubt my teacher would
forgive me if I didn’t find out if someone can use the seventh tier or not. I’ll try to not think
of you any different if it helps, you’ve been kind so far. It shouldn’t hurt or anything, but I’ll
try to not react much.” Arche said and stopped walking for a moment, bringing the party to a
stop.
Akemi whined just a little bit, her tails showing her frustration a bit more as they very lightly
whipped a few of them. “Fine… If only because you agreed to teach these two some magic,
I’ll grant this… If your talent is anything like I think it is, then you should brace yourself.”
Akemi said and pulled off that black ring.
Less than a second later Arche had fallen to her knees and was holding her mouth like she
was going to puke. Roberdyck was having a similar reaction, though not as strongly, just
taking a few steps back.
Akemi was quick to put the ring back on to spare those two further discomfort, though she
didn’t look happy. “I had a feeling that might happen… I hope that answered some
questions.” Akemi said and pulled out a thermos from her inventory. “Its ginger tea. Just
unscrew the top and use it as a cup, it will help you feel a bit better.” Akemi said and stepped
back after handing the item over.
Hekkeran and Imina looked absolutely confused and worried in equal measure. “What did
you do to them?” He demanded to know as his hand hovered near one of his daggers.
After taking a few gulps of tea and catching her breath Arche appeared a bit better.
“Hekkeran stop it!” She nearly shouted at him as she stood up. “I asked her to show me and
she did, it was just… a lot more than I was expecting… I don’t even know how high it went
looking directly at you… Normally I can tell what tier someone can use by the amount of
magical power they have… but I just can’t figure it out.” Arche looked puzzled, frustrated,
and a bit excited by what she saw.
Akemi smiled gently at her and took back the thermos. “Um… Seventh tier was a bit low… I
mean, any harmful spells below seventh I’m immune to after all. Tier magic goes up to the
tenth tier, as well as super tier magic, though I’ve seen it referenced to as eleventh tier. I can
use up to that eleventh tier. If it makes you feel any better, being a divine caster most of my
spells are positive, like healing and revival, or druid magic.” Akemi started to walk forward
again, which forced everyone else to once again start off.
Roberdyck still looked plenty curious “So what was that divine energy I felt? Do you belong
to a particular temple? What about which Deity you derive your spells from?” He asked in a
rush of questions. It was strange for such a calm man to get so excited, or so his team thought
so as they looked at him strangely.
“I don’t have a temple, or a Deity. I really don’t want to answer questions on that though…
Lets just make some progress before nightfall. I’ll show you some magic when we stop for
the night. Akemi said and seemed to end the conversation there to the disappointment of the
two other mages.
“Mama…” Hannyuu could still see the conflicted look on Akemi’s face as she walked next to
her.
It was several hours of semi quiet marching, with Hekkeran occasionally pointing out the
path they would be taking, though Akemi hadn’t said much since she revealed herself.
“You feeling tired yet Hannyuu? We can stop soon If you need some rest.” Arche said and
looked at her leader. “What do you think Hekkeran?”
Hannyuu shook her head “I’m fine, Mama said my boots are enchanted so I hardly feel a
thing in them, though I am a bit tired I guess…” she said. She looked far more relaxed than
earlier, and seemed to have started to open up to at least Arche and Imina once Arche brought
up the topic of magic, which drew in Ana as well, the magic lessons already having begun as
she taught them on the move.
Hekkeran looked at the horizon and the path ahead. “We made some good progress today and
the sun is going to be setting soon, so lets find a good cluster of rocks to make camp.” He
said and appeared to be searching the mostly flat landscape, the plains only being broken by
small crags in the landscape.
Akemi perked up at that. “I guess this would be a good a time as any to show you all how
we’ll be camping. I have something far better than a simple camp in store. Okay Arche, I’m
going to give you a demonstration of a tenth tier spell alright?” Akemi said and smiled at
how quickly Arche perked up at that.
“Yes please! I’d love to see it. There is something related to camping in the tenth tier?” Arche
asked with confusion in her blue eyes.
“Sort of, I wouldn’t call it camping though. Better I just show you.” She said and wandered
off their dirt path and up a shallow hill nearby. “[Create Fortress]!” She cast, and let the
magic circle in front of her widen and set the dimensions of the tower that soon sprung up
straight from the ground.
Akemi couldn’t help but laugh at bit at everyone’s faces, even Ana and Hannyuu’s despite
them knowing more about her abilities than anyone there. With one last chuckle Akemi
ascended the steps up to the large door of that stone spire and revealed to them the interior.
“It is a bit too fancy for my liking, and I haven’t customized the spell any but it will work for
our purposes. Stone isn’t usually to my taste… I’m a nature person myself.” Walking inside
she made note of the layout and anything she might want to change “Hmm… More wood for
sure, I wonder if I can make the tower look like a big tree…” She thought and waited for
everyone to file into the tower.
“Is this spatially enlarged? I’ve heard a few theories on that kind of magic but… This is much
larger than the outside…” Arche said as her eyes danced around the room in wonderment, her
voice somehow not echoing off the dark stone walls going straight up.
“Yup, feel free to take any bedroom, they’re all fully furnished, though you may as well take
one on the ground floor for ease of access, unless you like climbing stairs. You should be able
to reach the roof if you might want to look out at the stars or get some air.” Akemi said and
walked over to a few of the couches near the center of the room by the stairs, and obvious
relaxation area with rugs and a bookcase, and flopped down on it tiredly. “It is officially time
to relax… Enjoy yourself, make some food in the kitchen that is… in one of these rooms, and
get plenty of rest. I filled the food storage with a few things I selected from my personal
storage.” Akemi said and stretched out.
“Today was way too long…” She thought and welcomed Hannyuu coming over to relax also
with her.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you all enjoyed it! This is more for Ao3,
Sorry but I’ve had to turn off guest reviews for now, as some trolls were taking
advantage of the privilege. By all means though people, please log in and comment, I
love discussing things with my readers.
I can see this story continuing for a long while, and have several weeks worth of outline
already planned, so I’ll be continuing with a once a week schedule.
Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit slow, but I'm going places with it I promise :P the next
few chapters are going to be... bittersweet is a good word to describe it.
Useless Fluffy Lesbians
Chapter Summary
The party discovers Akemi's seething hatred for bandits, or Bandits: 404 People not
found.
The part also discovers one of the 1000 uses of her tails
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you all so much for the kind reviews! It really meant a lot to me, seriously.
It has become very hard to not spoil things when replying to reviews though, I have a lot
of plans I think you all might like. Enjoy a chonky chapter, though it is more dialogue
heavy.
“So… Arche, can you tell us what the actual fuck is going on with all this? Because I’ve
stopped being able to understand that has happened today…” Hekkeran asked Arche once the
doors closed behind them in an isolated room in the tower.
“I could understand hiding her identity and hiding some details about the job, but it was a bit
more than I thought it was! I expected an ambush and yet somehow this day has been more
strange!” Imina tried to yell as quietly as she could, but it was hard to with all the blood that
had been rushing through her head.
“I have to agree… When she took that ring off the amount of divine energy I felt was far
more than It should have been for a simple divine magic caster. Just what is she?” Roberdyck
asked while rubbing his temples. “Don’t get me wrong, she has been quite nice to be around,
and I can tell she is a good person, it has just been… Stressful being near someone that
powerful.”
Arche had to lay back on the bed and sigh and a small whine at the back of her throat. “I
already know that, I’m the one who saw how powerful she is. As for what she is, I know that
Kitsune are Demi-humans that can range wildly in power, with those with nine tailed ones
being near mythical and sometimes worshiped as deities according to Teacher. If the way the
legends work is to be believed would make her at least nine hundred years old. Despite her
power being scary as all hell, She seems fine as long as none of us make her an enemy.
Honestly she has been nothing but kind so I’m not going to make a big deal about a few
smaller lies. I’ve learned a lot today I didn’t know… To think there was someone walking
this world that can use the tenth tier teacher always ranted on about! This is insane… I had to
have been in shock for most of today… we actually met someone like that?” Arche said and
looked to try and relax after such a shock, leaving the two couches to the other three
members of Foresight. “How about a vote? It was a bit more than we thought it would be
but… I want to see it through, it has been interesting so far.” Arche voted.
“I mean… I know I was criticizing her, but I’m more venting is all, but sure we can vote. So
far the job has been good, and she does seem like a good and honest person. She is extremely
protective of those two, but that isn’t a bad thing. My vote is on staying.” Hekkeran
shrugged, content to let the matter drop.
“True… I vote to stay also, I’m mostly just complaining. What did she talk to you two about
anyway? When she took you two aside out of the city, what did she want?” Imina asked as
she rested her arms over the back of the couch and spread out.
Roberdyck looked conflicted. “Well, It seems that she adopted her daughter relatively
recently, and… implied that her treatment had been exceptionally cruel before that. She
didn’t directly say it, but the fact she took Hekkeran and myself to talk specifically, as well as
Hannyuu’s fear of both of us speaks to something far too disturbing for me to want to speak
aloud.” Roberdyck sounded especially angry at the situation. “I of course vote to stay, the
amount of divine energy makes me suspect other origins of her power that are different than
how I channel my spells, and I’d like to find out. The fact she does seem to have good
aligned divine energy speaks to her character I believe, as well as her actions thus far.”
Roberdyck said as he started to take off the heavier parts of his armor.
Everyone else was silent for a few minutes as they all absorbed that disturbing information,
and felt a sliver of protectiveness for the adorable feline girl grow inside of their hearts.
“Then it is agreed, we stay here. If this is the kind of lodgings we’ll get for this trip, I can live
with that. Hopefully we can finish ahead of schedule. A month and a half is so damn long…
those useless parents have that much time to do something to my sisters without me checking
in on them… Maybe taking them to the Dragon Kingdom is for the best…” Arche closed her
eyes and relaxed for a moment once that was taken care of. Her ears soon picked up
something barely outside of hearing range.
“All is quiet in the settlement, most everyone has gone to bed and there is more than enough
food. Honestly It was too easy today…” Kyouko complained through an orb placed on the
table between four couches in the central tower room.
“Well what did you end up doing?” Ana asked curiously as she relaxed once she had fully
changed into more comfortable clothes for the night, as all three of them had, and was more
than ready to sleep.
“I had the time so I mostly trained, I feel like I can reach a new level in my sword skills with
this monster of a weapon you gave me Akemi, this thing is incredible…” Kyouko said in
awe, excitement unlike her also had leaked into her voice. “Maybe at this rate I can learn the
four fold slash of light, adding that to my abilities would make me a lot more effective,
especially with this sword.”
“Four fold slash of light? What in the world is that? A spell? I thought you were a warrior
class… Oh yes, have you figured out a name for the sword?” Akemi asked and blinked at the
strange look she got from Ana, like she missed something obvious.
“You’ve never heard of it? It is a pretty famous Martial Art, I don’t know any spells. For this
sword... Desolation, a fair name for it.” Kyouko answered.
“Martial… Arts? That wasn’t a thing back in Yggdrasil, so this is something entirely new to
me. I agree, that is a pretty cool name for it. Names on good gear is a must in my opinion…
Took me a week to name Ex Oblivion, but it gives a weapon a legacy rather than just being
some sword someone had.” Akemi sounded suddenly quite excited as her nerd button was
pushed.
“Martial arts are… they’ve been called warriors magic before, using them we can temporarily
exceed our limits in combat. They’re mentally taxing, and take a while to learn, but they can
really turn the tide of a battle in the right situation. Wait… So all the fighting with your
weapon I’ve seen you use, you’ve really not used any Martial arts?” Kyouko questioned in
shock.
“Nope, a simple swing will do in most cases. I’m faster than most either way, and no normal
shields are going to be able to block Ex Oblivion, not in this world. I’ve since figured out that
using such a high powered weapon is really not necessary, so I’ve just started using my tails
abilities for melee combat.” Akemi noted as one of those tails reached over to tickle Ana’s
nose, causing the small mage to flail a bit.
“Huh… I’ve heard of Kitsune using their tails to restrain others, but I’ve never seen one
impale someone like you can before. How do you keep them so clean and fluffy after that
anyway?” Ana asked this time, and pushed that tail away once she remembered that fact.
“It is part of one of my racial classes of Kyuubi, the stats of all of my tails are as high as they
can reasonably go. I can harden them to block, sharpen them into points as a slashing or
piecing weapon, and extend them quite far and fast. They’re really convenient in this world
honestly. I can clean myself with magic to get rid of blood, but I do enjoy regular baths as
you might have guessed.” Akemi said and wiggled her tails around, all nine of them soon
extended to touch each wall of that tower after she rolled over onto her stomach, which
coincidentally gave Ana a view of the curve of her lower back and where her tails attached
after they pushed the pajama shirt Akemi wore up a bit, the bottoms just a bit down.
“You mean you hogging the bathroom for three hours?” Kyouko half complained as she
remembered that particular issue. “I mean, I like my tail nice and neat also, but I still am out
within twenty minutes.” Her tone soon changed to teasing.
“You know you both love these tails. Do you know how hard it is to clean and dry nine tails
that like to wiggle around against my will? I’d say three hours is me going fast! Though I
guess… only putting in one bathroom is my mistake. Now though, you doing alright
Kyouko? Emeril not driving you nuts?” Akemi asked in a playful tone, though it was easy to
sense the underwritten concern.
“Not yet, but at this rate she might… How about you three? How is your trip going?”
Kyouko asked, her voice muffled and slightly distorted.
“It is hard to tell, but is she feeling alright?” Akemi thought as she tried to filter through the
static in the wolf woman’s voice. “Going well here, we made some distance and I think I
even made some friends.”
“We’re doing okay here, though you didn’t answer if You are okay Kyouko. So are you
actually doing alright?” Ana asked and sounded a bit worried.
“I’m… doing alright except… its just… It is pathetic…” Kyouko complained through the
orb, sounding a mix of frustrated and embarrassment.
Akemi and Ana both raised an eyebrow at that. “Worries aren’t pathetic, be nice to yourself
Kyouko. Now what is wrong?” Akemi gently asked, looking a bit worried by then.
Hannyuu sat a bit away from Ana on the couch they had claimed as she listened in and began
to nod off. It was a bit surprising to Ana when Hannyuu choose her couch over Akemi’s, but
it was a promising sign of trust. Ana held Hannyuu up before she could fall over, and then pat
her lap invitingly. “Come here little dork.” Ana told her and smiled as the girl took the invite
to use her lap as a pillow. A look of nervousness similar to Kyouko the other day came over
her as she looked back at Akemi as if to worry she was overstepping her bounds, but only
saw a happy smile, as well as a strange gleam in Akemi’s eye.
“Its… its silly…” Kyouko tried to mumble, sounding not at all the intimidating six foot tall
muscular wolf woman that she was. When just silence met her she groaned over the voice
item. “I just… kind of miss you three is all. I’ve never been in this house alone, so I was a
bit… used to your company…” She finally admitted. If the item had a video option, both
parties would get to witness the other two blush.
Hannyuu had to quietly chuckle, a smug smirk on her lips as she saw the looks on Akemi and
Ana’s face. “They are all so obvious…”
“I miss you too.” Ana and Akemi said at the same time, and both froze up at that
coincidence, their blush just getting worse. It got strangely silent after that, at least verbally,
Hannyuu could still hear their pounding hearts strongly.
Akemi looked conflicted as she kept opening her mouth like a fish. “A-anyways…
Goodnight Kyouko, L-L-L sleep well…” Akemi choked out with her ears folded.
“Y-yeah, sleep well Kyouko, message us if you need to alright? You’re stronger than me b-
but… I still can get worried about you…” Ana complained barely loud enough for the orb to
pick it up.
“S-same to you two… I L-L-L ahhh… Goodnight you two, you as well Hannyuu, take care
of yourselves alright? I’ll be missing you.” They heard Kyouko stutter out.
With a wave of her hand Akemi shut off the message orb and covered her face with that hand,
while she whined a bit under her breath. “Why are you three like this…” Hannyuu mumbled
as she relaxed on Ana’s comfortable lap, sleep creeping back into her mind. She pointedly
ignored the pout she got from her mother, or the hair ruffle from Ana as the mage groaned.
The crack of a door opening made them all jump soon enough, and drew their gazes over
towards one of the room doors, where they saw Foresight peeking through. From the guilty
look on their face Akemi correctly guessed some things. “How much did you hear?” Akemi
asked with a pouting glare.
They at least had the decency to look embarrassed at being caught. “Um… A tiny bit, we had
just meant to come out of the room, but we didn’t want to interrupt. We’ll just be going
now…” Hekkeran said and scampered off to the room he had left his things in.
“Oh it is far past time for my nightly prayers, rest well you three.” Roberdyck said and
walked off at a surprising speed for such a tall man that was also carrying heavy armor in his
arms.
Arche hung back with Imina, and the look on Imina’s face told them all she wasn’t leaving
just yet. “So… Whats this going on between you two and who ever was talking? Who was
that by the way?” She asked curiously, her eyes locked in on both Akemi and Ana’s crimson
faces as if she could smell the drama from them.
“Speaking of that, were you using message for that? I kind of guessed a second tier spell is
easy enough for you to cast often, but how could we hear it also?” Arche asked.
“So you did hear… It is a Message Orb, a simple magical item I have that just acts as a relay
for Message to be heard verbally, this way multiple people can participate in a conversation.
T-that was our… friend Kyouko, back at our settlement, she is guarding it for us otherwise I
would have taken her also.” Akemi tried to calm herself, but couldn’t meet either of their
eyes.
“T-there isn’t anything going on!” Both Akemi and Ana once again said at the same time,
which caused Hannyuu to shake in laughter, enough to accidentally roll off of Ana’s lap.
“So they say but… I’m pretty sure you all tried to say that you-” Hannyuu started to say
before her voice cut off. Her lips were moving but no sound was coming out. Akemi looked
guilty as she had a finger pointed out at her daughter, almost seeming to be surprised also at
the snap spell casting.
“I… See. You all have fun with your completely platonic friendship, I’m going to head to
bed, sleep well.” Imina said with an amused snort before walking off to an empty room.
Arche could tell what she saw and while it was amusing, the pout on Hannyuu’s face was
even more so. She had stood back up with a fluffed up cat tail and had begun to pout at her
mom, while she pushed through all the tails that kept blocking her off.
“Y-yeah… goodnight. Night Ana s-sleep well.” Akemi said without looking at Ana and soon
had Hannyuu lifted in the air with her tails, cocooning her in fluff, the pout still on the
feline’s face. She was carried off with Akemi but not before mouthing “Fight On!” to Ana as
she squirmed in her bindings.
“It isn’t running… I’m just making a tactical retreat!” She thought as she willed the blush off
her face. Closing the door behind her she took a few deep breathes. Once her brain began to
work again she looked up at Hannyuu being held up by fluffy appendages. The glare from her
daughter was more cute than anything, but she still felt a bit guilty. “S-sorry for casting
Silence on you… Was kind of an impulse in the moment…” Akemi said and set the feline
back on her feet.
“Really mom I swear…” Hannyuu grumbled as she sat on the bed to brush the fur on her tail
back down. “I don’t know much about romance and stuff… but you three are so obvious it
hurts to watch…” Hannyuu complained as she watched her mother throw herself face first
onto the bed to bury her head in her pillow. She magnanimously pretended to not hear the
muffled screaming coming from her Mother, and from the sound of Ana doing the same in
the room next door..
“It isn’t that easy dear! This is… scary for me… new and scary… I’ve never actually felt like
I was in L-L… Why can’t I say it?” Akemi whined pitifully.
Hannyuu felt a bit bad for her mother, it was easy to tell that it was actually hurting her
mother to some degree. “Eventually you three need to admit it. Mama… Sorry I’m getting
really nosy about this… I just hate seeing you hurting like this… especially if the solution is
obvious to anyone.” Hannyuu said and laid down to hug her mother as she stayed laid on her
stomach.
“Y-you’re right… I know you’re right… It is just… difficult to say. I already know that I L-
L…” Akemi tried yet again her ears folded tight against her head. “I… love them… or at
least make me feel some sort of way that I never have before…” Akemi mumbled before she
turned to hug Hannyuu for a moment. “I know you’re just trying to help, thank you. Bed time
Missy, Night Dearheart, I love you.” Akemi said and settled in to sleep.
“Mm, night Mama, love you too.” The feline said and gave out a tiny yawn, as if she just
remembered how she nearly clonked out twenty minutes prior, how exhausted she already
was.
When she emerged from her room in the morning, Akemi discovered she was the first one
awake. “Well… Not much else to do I guess…” She muttered and after sitting herself down
on a couch she pulled out a thermos from her inventory, as well as a mug. “Gods I’m glad I
got those junk items back then… Come here sweet nectar of the gods.” Akemi poured a black
liquid from that thermos, and just let the steam hit her face after pouring. Already she felt life
returning to her.
After a couple sips Akemi pulled out a tiny lump of a violet tinged gold, and an already
finished ring.
Soon enough the familiar lights and sounds of her magic soothed her senses, just as the coffee
woke up her tired brain. “Can’t wait till I have a workshop again…” She thought as she
finalized the magic and engravings on her second ring in nearly as many days.
It took at least ten more minutes of quiet casting till she had two rings to match the one she
had given Kyouko. “Looks like I still got it. How early is it?” She thought out loud and put
the rings back in her inventory, just to pull a football sized chunk of silvery white refined
metal out from there. “Is this project worth a good chunk of the rest of my Star Silver? Damn
right it is.” Akemi hyped herself up and sipped her coffee. Once she had a bit more energy
she began her spell weaving once again. As her mind sunk back into the familiar routine of
item crafting, she had room to think again.
“Am I moving too fast with them? I really need to just tell them eventually… I don’t know
about Kyouko, but would Ana make me choose? Do I need to make a choice between them?”
Her thoughts raced down that line as both women’s faces kept appearing in her mind. “Get it
together Akemi…”
After a while of refining the metal further, tendrils of liquid metal began to be drawn off the
molten lump. Inside of the golden orb shaped magical construct she was controlling, those
tendrils intertwined one by one, forming the tiniest rings possible. Slowly a silk-like tapestry
of chain mail formed, far too thin to look of much use.
“Good morning, you’re already up?” When Akemi looked over she saw Hekkeran exit his
room as he spoke up. It took a moment for his greeting to reach her tired brain but she
nodded. “Mostly, woke up annoyingly early, so I just figured I’d get some work done. Sleep
well?” Akemi asked and slowly finished up her thin sheet of tiny chains. Closing her magical
apparatus in the air around both the rest of the lump of metal, as well as the chain mail, both
cooled down enough to not make even a hiss as they touched the wooden table.
Akemi put the rest of the metal away and lifted up her piece of work to examine it, her eyes
trailing over every edge and crease the rings made.
“Chain mail? I suppose even you could use some armor, a sword to the gut can take out
anyone.” Hekkeran noted as he sat down across from her and looked just out of it as Akemi
did.
With a wave of her hand Akemi summoned another simple mug. She poured more of her
coffee into that mug and pushed it towards the man. “Its a drink from my home land, it is
good for waking up. Its bitter but you get used to it.” She noted and took a few more gulps of
her own, her eyes never leaving her project. “I already have a set of armor, it just usually isn’t
needed. Like sixth tier magic and below I’m quite sturdy to most melee damage by anyone
under a certain strength threshold and with a weapon that is strong enough to hurt me. I’m
making Hannyuu a new cloak, her own one is still good and quite strong, but I want her to
have something that will last forever, that can protect her much better.” Akemi said and ran
her hand over the metal to check for any rough spots.
“Remind me not to get in a fight with you then… What kind of metal is that even? Silver? A
soft choice for armor don’t you think?” Hekkeran asked as he tried to sip at his drink. Akemi
got to watch as he had to get used to the bitterness.
“It is Star Silver, It along with Astral Gold are in a group of metals called Celestial metals,
this sits above Adamantite as a reference. It is the best metal I know for the array of
enchantments and properties I want to form.” Akemi said as she spread out that work of art
on the table, her attention near fully on her craft.
Looking from the outside, Hekkeran could see just how dedicated she was to her item
creation. “That is… a lot of defensive power for a non-combatant.” He had to mutter, and
nearly regretted it as she set her work down to look at him.
“If it is for Hannyuu, no amount of effort or protection is too much. While I can revive
people, I never want to be in the situation where I would need to revive loved ones…” Akemi
took a few deep breathes as she drank more coffee to calm her nerves.
“For someone so powerful… you’re surprisingly normal, it is a bit refreshing. You seem to
have enough power to bring the world to it’s knees, but you seem to care most about being a
mother.” Hekkeran pointed out in a strangely amazed fashion.
Akemi tilted her head and looked at him like an idiot. “Of course I’m a mother above all else.
I don’t care about world domination or the like, I just want to do good things because they
make me feel good, and I want to be a mother because my child being happy and enjoying
life makes me feel fulfilled, more than I thought it would. If she can still smile, then there is
still worth in even a broken and imperfect world.” Akemi sighed and put her work in
progress in her inventory. “I just hope I can be a good mother for her… Time will tell.”
“If it is worth anything, you are a good mother from what I’ve seen.” He told her and leaned
back into that surprisingly comfortable summoned couch.
Akemi cracked a smile finally as she finished off her mug. “Thank you, that means a lot, I
try.”
It was a nice moment for all of two minutes before Hekkeran got a thought into his head that
he might have been better off not having. “So… You, Ana, and that other lady eh? Aren’t you
a player~” He fearlessly teased.
Akemi’s ears twitched for a moment before she slowly turned to him. For a moment he
thought he saw his own death in those blue eyes. “Hekkeran… Shut up before I cast Paralysis
on you, hang you up, and let everyone get a chance to do what they like to your nosy ass
while I provide all manners of items for them to do it with.” Akemi told him bluntly, her face
the picture of seriousness before she finally cracked. “I’m kidding, you should have seen
your face!”
Her laughing continued for at least a few more moments before she could talk. “But seriously
though, I get enough about those two from Hannyuu… I really don’t need anyone else dog-
piling on me for it… She gets away with it because she is my daughter and is cute as a
button, you on the other hand are not either of those.” Akemi said and poured herself more
coffee. “This is way too entertaining…” She thought idly.
Soon after that comment she heard a door open. “Mama… you didn’t wake me up…” She
heard a sleepy voice mumble. It was easy to tell her daughter was still half awake as she
nearly stumbled a few times over to her.
“Sorry dear, I wanted to make sure you got enough sleep for the day, we did walk a lot, and I
woke up quite early.” She told Hannyuu and smiled as the girl got on the couch with her and
laid her head on Akemi’s lap like she owned it. With a quiet chuckle and a few gentle
scratches, Hannyuu was back off to dreamland for a while. “Adorable…” Akemi mumbled
before looking over at Hekkeran with a look like ‘what can you do?’, it was deemed quiet
hours for the moment.
“Good morning Akemi, I see you… three are already up?” Arche asked after she walked out,
her eyes having moved between Akemi and Hekkeran, and then down to Hannyuu.
“Not quite yet for her, it will be fine if we talk low. Want some coffee?” Akemi asked as she
summoned yet another mug, this one for Arche. As she thought ahead she went and
summoned a couple more for those that might soon wake up.
“Coffee? I’ll try some, though I haven’t heard of it before…” Arche said and took a seat
across from Akemi. Her first sip of the drink certainly was memorable.
Akemi couldn’t hold in her tiny giggles as her body shook from trying to hold them back.
“The look on your face… Oh it is funny seeing people drink it for the first time… Here.”
Akemi said and pulled out a small pitcher of another liquid and placed it near Arche’s cup
she had set down. “It is sweet cream, that should make it taste better.” Akemi said and poured
herself a bit more coffee for herself while being careful not to move Hannyuu too much.
Arche eyed the bitter black liquid for a moment before pouring a generous amount of the
milk colored liquid in. With suspicion she sipped at it once again and nearly jumped. “Its
sweet now, that is pretty nice… But wait… If all of us have these large cups that I’ve seen
you pour a few times, how does that one tube have so much of this coffee?” Arche asked as
the mage in her sensed something interesting.
“Oh like you guessed it is a magical item, it contains effectively unlimited amounts of coffee,
though only so much can be poured out a day, but it is more than nearly anyone would drink
or share. I was something of a collector of items like these, and have collected a lot of
different drinks over the years. That sweet cream jug is another item like that, but has a
smaller amount per day. That and the coffee container were a gift set from someone
important…” Akemi said before she got strangely quiet.
“Big brother, I hope you’re family and you are doing alright and staying safe in that hellish
world… I’ll do my best here.” She thought and sighed before sipping at her coffee, her mind
not stuck on the last time she got to talk to him.
“Mm… morning Mama…” Hannyuu said as she woke back up, complete with a long cat
stretch down to her tail. “Whats that? It smells good.” She sniffed at that coffee and tilted her
head.
Akemi poured a smaller cup of coffee with plenty of cream and set it aside near her own.
“You can try some, though it isn’t good for your growth.” Akemi ruffled the sleepy cat’s hair
and watched the satisfied look on Hannyuu’s face once she took a sip of her sweet coffee.
It was a quiet morning until the rest of the crew woke up and joined them in the main hall.
Hannyuu wasted no time in pulling Ana over before she could sit down elsewhere, so she
would sit next to herself, which left her in between Ana and Akemi.
Akemi shook her head in amusement at the scene. She knew exactly what her daughter was
trying to do, and part of her approved, and the other parts were screaming in some sort of
panicked eldritch tongue when she met Ana’s gaze.
“M-morning Akemi, sleep well?” Ana asked as she sat on that couch as stiff as a board. As
expected Foresight kept looking between the two of them.
Hannyuu could only sigh and shake her head. “I swear…” She muttered and sipped her own
coffee.
“Mhmm, hope you slept well also… There is some coffee there, but you already know what
it is….” Akemi said and took a few deep breathes. “Alright everyone, after breakfast we can
get going again, we have a long way to go to the Dragon Kingdom still. Hekkeran, how will
our route look today?” Akemi asked as she finished a second cup of life giving coffee.
“Huh? Oh mostly low lands and hills, it will be pretty easy hiking today, though bandits also
like to prowl these areas since merchants pass through, so we’ll have to be aware of that.”
Hekkeran looked nervous for a moment before he looked at Akemi and relaxed. “Lets just
push on through.”
“Did you really have to destroy the tower?” Imina asked as she hung back with Akemi, Ana,
and Hannyuu to bring up the rear of their formation.
Akemi snickered as she remembered everyone’s faces after she cast a spell to crumble the
architecturally amazing work of magic into dust. “I did, I can always summon another one
after all. Think of the amount of panic and confusion that would come about if the Empire
found a mysterious tower that they can’t get into or break… it would be amusing to watch
though, but I’d rather not give Archaeologists more work.” Akemi grinned at Imina and
peered over at Arche as she kept shooting glances back at her. “If you have something to ask,
come and ask it Arche.” Honestly Akemi found the young woman looking so shy pretty
adorable.
“Talking so casually about a spell that a country would fight for a single spell scroll of… But
I was wondering if you could explain eleventh tier magic… You had mentioned it yesterday
and I have no idea what that would entail, I can’t even imagine it in my head. Teacher never
told me about something that powerful.” Arche said and hung back near Ana so they could
all walk and talk.
“You mean Super Tier magic? I suppose I could tell you, but don’t expect a demonstration
please, even I know that is too dangerous to use on a whim like that.” Akemi warned the
younger mage and thought for a moment. “Lets see… Super Tier spells are less spells and
more skills. Using them doesn’t use MP- I mean Mana in normal circumstances, and have a
long cool down time, and even I can only cast three Super Tier spells in a day with an hour
break in between them. If you are asking about how strong they are… They range from mass
instant death, to just mass destruction, or other abilities. I can use Creation to fully
manipulate and generate landscape as I see fit for kilometers around, while I could use Fallen
Down to cause wide area destruction that likes this world might not have scene before.”
Akemi looked over at Arche and the other members of Foresight as they stared at her in
amazement, and fear… The last one of those hit Akemi in her heart just a bit.
“Not all of them are bad, I have one that summons strong angels, and one that is a mass
revival spell, something I’ve actually used and these two saw.” Akemi said and ruffled
Hannyuu’s and Ana’s hair to their obvious annoyance.
When Arche turned to look at her instead, Ana looked shy. “Well… It was certainly bright
and flashy… But so many people were brought back it was… incredible, It was like a
goddess-” Ana’s gaze snapped over to Akemi who had frozen a bit to wait for the end of her
sentence. “It was like a miracle from the gods.” Ana said and hoped that would be enough to
throw people off.
“Well… I kind of hope we won’t ever need to see that one then. I won’t ask you about what
ever incident that was, any time a lot of people need to be revived I doubt it is a good
memory. Sorry for prying.” Arche said to Akemi and seemed to stifle her questions a bit
more.
“You are fine, though it isn’t much of a good memory… that night was chaotic and cruel.
Knowing about these spells is a good idea though, just in case you witness someone using
something similar. A good rule of thumb is that if someone summons a dome of glyphs
around themselves, that you run away from that person as far and as fast as you can… except
me, or I’ll feel sad.” Akemi added that last bit with a cheeky smile.
The chuckles she got from them cheered her up a bit, as did the swirling wind around them
on those grassy hills, bringing with it the scent of forests, and mountains. When the wind
shifted she unfortunately caught another scent scent. “Great…[Kitsune Summon:
Kudagitsune], Go scout ahead.” Akemi told her pipe fox summon, and sent it slithering ahead
of them through the air. After a few minutes of tense waiting Akemi opened her eyes.
“Bandits… ahead. Fifteen of them it looks like, they are all weak except for their leader.”
“Weak to you? Or us? Should we find another route? We know where they are so we could
just bypass them.” Hekkeran said as they paused their march.
“Weak to you I believe, but I don’t know what you can do yet. If we find another route it will
take a bit longer to get there, and they might just attack someone else. This is a good chance
for Foresight to show what they can do.” Akemi said with a shrug, though her words didn’t
seem to appease Hekkeran.
“We would just be putting ourselves in harm way despite being able to avoid it, we’ve lived
this long by choosing our fights carefully and being smart. We both know you could probably
kill them from here, so what are you trying to get at?” Hekkeran started to sound angry by
that point.
Akemi sighed and folded her arms. “While yes I could hit them with many spells from this
distance, it would likely also destroy a chunk of the countryside, your don’t use a Ballista to
hunt a bird after all… It is important to know what you all can do, I could even offer
improvements if need be, and I can heal any of all wounds you might get or even cast revival
magic, but I doubt you will need me to.” Akemi said and turned to look at her companion.
“Ana, this is a good chance for you to gain some combat experience. Have you ever fought a
person?” Akemi asked Ana with as much tact as she could, but didn’t like the wince on the
young woman’s face.
“N-no, I wasn’t that deep into being an adventurer, you really don’t start to get bandit culling
jobs until late iron or early silver, and I was barely into being an Iron plate.” Ana said and
clutched her staff tightly. “I’ve never had to fight another person… not with the intent to
kill.”
Arche looked impressed “Only an Iron plate but you could already use second tier spells?
That is pretty impressive. If you stick with me I can help you learn how to fight people as a
mage.” Arche said and put a hand on Ana’s shoulder comfortingly.
Akemi smiled at that “That is a great idea, I’ll help out by holding some of them off to make
it more manageable. I’m not saying you have to kill Ana, there are plenty of spells that can be
used to non-lethally deal with someone, though they are bandits that likely have killed or
worse. Killing is… distasteful for sure, I hate it. it is something I don’t want to get used to,
and I don’t think Anyone should get used to it.” Akemi told Ana, though the girl still looked
unsure.
The Kitsune smiled and pulled Ana in for a hug, which made the poor girl squeak adorably,
and Akemi to self destruct with an impressive blush. “I want to know you can defend
yourself and not lock up… I will always rather have a dead bandit than a dead you, I believe
I’ve already told you that you’re… precious to me, so I want you to have the best chance at
survival.” Akemi said and released Ana… eventually, for nearly a minute though she held the
shorter woman against herself while they both blushed.
“Should… we be here for this?” Imina asked Hekkeran under her breath. All he could do was
shrug at it.
“Alright, we’ll engage the bandits, please keep some of them off of us Akemi. Arche stay
near Ana and help her out, see if we can work her into the rotation.” Hekkeran said as he
resumed their march.
“Ana, just follow my lead alright? What is an attack spell you can cast with confidence?”
Arche asked as she walked alongside Ana.
“Um… Shockwave is one I’m decent with, I could probably hit a bandit’s legs with it
reliably.” Ana admitted as she ran her fingers over the etchings on her staff.
“Good, go ahead and do that, we can support you if you miss, so don’t worry about that, just
focus on being able to fire with as little hesitation as possible alright?” Arche asked and
ruffled Ana’s hair with a smile.
“O-okay… Thank you Arche, you don’t need to mess up my hair though, I’m not a kid, I’m
nearly seventeen, I’m just short.” Ana half complained. This seemed to startle Arche a bit
“Oh, sorry about that, I didn’t mean to treat you like a kid. Guess that makes you likely a few
months younger than me, but you’re still younger so there.” Arche teased and gave Ana one
last ruffle before turning to the front.
The rest of the group could only chuckle at it, and it did a good deal in reducing Ana’s
nerves. “So she’s only seventeen? Yet she can already cast third tier magic… I need to train
harder.” She thought with a resigned sigh, a lofty goal set for herself.
It was quiet from that point on as they approached the ambush point, and all of them grew
tense at the sound of every rustling piece of long grass, at each pebble rolling down a hill.
It even started with a couple pebbles coming from above them.

That ambush point was something that had served Devan well over the years, a nice natural
choke point between two hills, both of which had larger rocks resting at the top, the perfect
place to hide for any would-be bandit. It wasn’t the first time they had fought adventurers,
and a well timed ambush was usually enough to knock out team coordination and allow their
numbers to overwhelm them. By the time the first person fell it would usually enough to
destroy party morale.
From what Devan saw as he observed the party below, he figured it would be no different
than any other raid. Even the addition of two Demi-humans wouldn’t be enough to sway a
battle with enough numerical superiority.
That is what common sense would dictate in any case… but the reality was a lot different
than anything Devan had seen before. Just as his advance party was sent down the hill
opposite of their own, eight men in all, he watched half of them get shot down from a
distance.
Three of them now sported an arrow in an eye, two more by some sort of magic bolt that
pieced them just the same as an arrow to the chest, which put them down right away. The
sixth downed hadn’t seemed to get hit by anything, but he obviously was when they all heard
the crunch that came from his legs. Surprisingly the man was not screaming, despite his legs
being bent in several unnatural angles. Devan concluded the man had passed out as he rolled
the rest of the way down the hill on broken legs. The two remaining of that group charged
forward, and engaged the two Melee fighters up close where hopefully more magical damage
could be avoided due to the risk of friendly fire.
On the hill that he was on Devan had the rest of his men charge now that they all were
distracted… he hoped he would get a good haul from the day to make up for losing six men
so far… he hoped they all could break these adventurer’s line soon enough to make a
difference. While most of the men went for the Adventurer’s, Devan made a B-line straight
for the older Demi-human woman and what looked to be her child.
As he rushed them he began to think of the things he could do to such a fine looking woman.
He wasn’t into kids, and certainly didn’t allow those that were into his ranks, he had
standards after all… he could at least sell the runt to a mine somewhere, they always needed
more demi-human labor. It was better than killing children, that never sat right with him
despite the profession he was in.
“What… is this? Why am I moving so slow?” He thought as he seemed to stop mid stride.
While he saw everyone else stop also, he could still think normally. He could feel his body at
least, but not being able to move was very distressing.
“[Illusionary Stasis], he can just relax there for a while. Just stay hugging me dear, and
pretend nothing is happening.” Akemi said and pet Hannyuu’s hair before covering those
feline ears to block out the sound, while the girl herself buried her face against Akemi to
avoid the sights since the first men rushed down the hill.
The look she got from Arche made her think the girl had questions, but she just wished she
would pay attention to the battle a bit more. Akemi sent a tail out to block a strike from one
sneakier bandit that had rushed in low through the grass and lunged at Arche. “They really
need a rogue or something.” Akemi thought as she threw that bandit back against the hill
when he tried to cut her tail with regular steel blade. The impact of his head on the hillside
seemed to do the trick of knocking him out as he crumpled to the bottom of the hill.
Akemi’s eyes locked onto Ana, who didn’t look to be having a very good time. She was
obviously frightened senseless after her first spell destroyed a man’s legs, and likely killed
the man if Akemi had to bet on it.
“[Lions Heart].” Akemi cast at Ana, and watched the golden glow get absorbed by the girl,
and heard the girl’s growing panicked heartbeat slow.
With the bandit’s formation broken and so many dead, it wasn’t long until only Foresight,
Akemi, Ana, and Hannyuu were left standing. The bandit frozen in place still standing didn’t
count, and just got Arche’s attention. “So what is up with this guy? Is he… still moving?”
Arche asked as she got closer.
Akemi patted Hannyuu’s head and gave it a gentle kiss to let her know it was all over. With a
whimper the feline separated herself from her mother and tried to not look at the bodies near
them. “I-I’m fine now… Sorry mama.”
“Don’t you worry dear, there is nothing to apologize for, just as long as you are okay.” Akemi
said to her daughter and met Ana’s eyes, wordlessly telling her something. The message must
have been caught as the mage went over near Hannyuu to comfort her also.
With her daughter having been appeased for now Akemi turned back to Arche. “Oh
Illusionary Stasis is a fun spell I have access to from the illusionary spell classes. It a tier nine
spell that slows down time for the target only. There is another spell called Temporal Stasis
that is actual time slowing, but this just makes a target Think they are frozen in time. In
reality they are moving and perceiving time one thousand times slower. To his eyes, us
getting to him will feel like hours or days. He can feel everything that happens though, but it
will be extended so… If used wrong it is a cruel spell, and torture isn’t something I want to
do.” Akemi said with a shrug before leaning on the frozen man.
“That is… a pretty terrifying spell. Well, everyone else is dead, so what should we do with
him?” Hekkeran asked as he wiped the blood off his daggers.
“Wait, but I aimed for the legs, shouldn’t he still be alive?” Ana asked as Akemi heard the
girl’s heart pick up in pace.
“I’m sorry, likely the crushed femurs did too much damage, but as he didn’t scream I’m
thinking it was quick.” Akemi said and put a hand on Ana’s shoulder, and even Hannyuu
hugged her.
“N-no it is fine… I guess I should have tested how powerful this staff was before using it…
I’m not all that… upset about it, It isn’t like that person wasn’t anything but a bandit. I just…
you’re right, killing isn’t going to be something I’m ever used to…” Ana mumbled and
leaned on Akemi.
“If I have my way you won’t have to, Its why I want to establish Natura, so people that want
to just live in peace can do just that…” Akemi said before she released Ana, though the
longing in her touch wasn’t missed on anyone there as her fingers trailed over the girl’s
shoulders for but a moment.
Ana looked like she wanted to do nothing more than to curl back up into Akemi’s arms, it
was a desire that had gotten stronger day by day, yet they both knew there wasn’t time for
that there in the middle of the wilderness. “Dammit Ana get it together…” Ana thought with
a deep sigh.
“Well… I think we left this guy over here still for too long, so I’m going to go ahead and deal
with him.” Akemi said with a sigh as she reluctantly returned to that bandit.
With a snap of her fingers, the invisible hold on the bandit faded, and he fell face first on the
ground. “Ah AH AH!” He immediately began to scream as his muscles spasmed. “Where am
I?! What in the world is going on?!”
Akemi ignored the man’s crying on the ground as she mentally calculated out how long the
man probably experienced. “Lets see… you were in that spell for about ten minute, how did
it feel experiencing ten minutes over the course of a week? I’m sure you had a lot of time to
think about things. I’ll only ask you these questions one time, and I expect an honest answer.”
Akemi stared down at the man as he crawled in the dirt to look up at her.
“Y-yes! Just please I can’t go through that again!” The man nearly sobbed, the will to fight
long since gone over the week of silence and dread as they killed his men and approached
him in slow motion, eventually he even counted the blood droplets that sprayed in the air just
to stay sane.
“If you cooperate I’ll be merciful. Are you the leader of these bandits? Is this everyone?”
Akemi demanded as she hovered over him, and looked every bit the cold ruler she knows she
needed to be.
“J-just the sub leader… I took a quarter of the men l-like I usually do… we rotate spots and
men, others will be replacing us t-tomorrow…” He croaked out and withered under her glare
further.
“Now… Do you deal in slaves? Are you affiliated with eight fingers? Where is your main
base?” She slowly knelt down and stared deeper into his own eyes. Her normally electric blue
eyes looked far more icy than normal, more deadly, and each word from her lips carried the
potential of punishment, of a thousand different ways she could make that week of solitude
look like heaven or so his tired brain assured him.
“I-I-I I’ve never touched slaves, we don’t go for slaves I swear! Not on purpose! I-I’ve only
grabbed the k-kids in raids BUT!” He shouted as he saw those eyes promise his death after
those words left his lips. “We did nothing to them! It was either we t-take em or we’d have to
kill them also! N-no witnesses… I know I’m shit but I don’t kill kids I swear… W-where are
they? I-I can’t just…” At that moment he near pissed himself as a sense of force hit his back,
almost like gravity had massively increased and pressed him deeper into the dirt.
Akemi watched the man sweat for a few moments under the pressure of her Celestial Aura.
“Well, you had your chance to tell me… Where is your base?” She demanded as those
words tore into the man’s mind and soul, and forced his lips to move before he could even
think of resisting.
The man’s demeanor calmed as her Divine Edict took control.“Ten kilometers east of here, in
a cave hidden behind a waterfall… It is connected to a small creek. We aren’t connected to
eight fingers.” The man calmly told her as his face went slack as the answer was dragged
from him..
“Very good, I suppose I’ll be merciful about this… Hekkeran, what is the usual punishment
for Bandits? Ana make sure Hannyuu is not looking alright?” She asked as what he said
about kids possibly being there fired her up. Ana nodded and let Hannyuu hug her tightly, the
girl being held securely against her chest while Ana covered her ears like Akemi was doing
earlier.
“In almost every case it is death, no guards give a shit if you kill them, especially since it
sounds like this fucker helped kill tons of people that might have passed through here.”
Hekkeran said as he glared down at the man also.
“I guessed as much, that makes this quite simple then. I don’t like killing but… I’ll let his
karmic value decide his fate, it is a good enough metric for me of good and evil most times if
circumstances are clear, and I don’t think anyone can say there is a grey area in this situation.
[Inquisitional Judgment].” As she cast her spell she held a hand over the groveling man. A
small glowing blue droplet formed from her palm and fell from her hand, which seemed to
sink into the man’s back after a moment.
Without a word that man writhed for just a moment before blue flames burst from his every
pore, consuming him in a quick blaze in but a few seconds, which left just a smoldering pile
of black ash.
“Judgment has found him wanting, and punishment has been dealt.” Akemi said and stood
back up a groan. She sighed as she found the others had been looking at her strangely. It took
her a moment to remember to turn off her passive skill and look sheepishly at them. “Right…
Sorry about that.”
Ana at least didn’t look concerned as she had seen it in action before. The others on the other
hand…
“You’re eyes were glowing until just now, and that feeling… That wasn’t just divine magic
being channeled. When you asked him the last question it was different, I felt divine magic I
hadn’t ever felt before with each word. Akemi… Can I ask you one question please?”
Roberdyck asked with such awe in his voice it scared them all. For all their time together
Foresight knew the man as someone that was a calm rock for them, yet the fervor in his voice
was so out of the ordinary that it shocked them.
“I’m going to regret it but… sure.” Akemi had a feeling what it was, and pondered on what to
say ahead of time.
“Are you a Goddess? I didn’t feel you channeling divine power from a deity, and I’ve been
with my faith and learning divine magic from them for over ten years, so I know what it feels
like in an instant. It felt as if you were generating the energy instead… That could only make
you a Goddess, though… how would you be walking the mortal plane?” Roberdyck asked as
he looked ready to have a crisis of faith by that point.
“Calm down please… I knew you would make this a bigger deal than it is… if you want to
be technical about it, then Divine Being is one of my racial classes, so… technically that
would make me one I… guess, but I really do not want to be called that. I ask you not make
such a big deal about it, just treat me like you have been please. As for how I’m walking the
mortal plane well… where else do you expect me to walk? Who ever said divine beings
couldn’t?” Akemi asked with a shrug as she wordlessly used magic to gather up the bodies of
the dead bandits into a pile away from them. With a quick look over at Hannyuu she saw the
girl peek over at her.
She walked over to Hannyuu and Ana and hugged them both on impulse. “Sorry about all
this you two… let me clean up and we can continue along. Snap out of it Roberdyck, you
can’t be having you break down right now, at least save it for the night.” She told him and
reached over to gently tap the man’s face as he seemed in shock.
It was enough to snap him out of his stupor, and after a moment he seemed to bow his head
and begin to pray. “Noooo… That better not be at me! I get enough of that at home! I wanted
a break from all of that since it is impossible to tell them all to stop doing it! Bah! [Hell-
flame].” She took her aggression out on the pile of bodies a few yards away by letting out a
small black flame towards it. After a few moments of drifting, the entire pile was engulfed
and consumed by a pillar of black flames, and a few moments after that the area was clean
again, barring the scorched grass.
“Lets all just… Lets get going… I’m exhausted and it isn’t even night time…” Hekkeran
complained and began walking so as to urge the others along. The day had already taken
several strange twists now that they knew they were escorting a Goddess.
After a few quick and silent cleaning spells, all of them were clean of any blood or grime and
ready to proceed. With Hannyuu at one side of Akemi, and Ana at the other, they continued
on their journey.
It was awkwardly silent for a good hour in that unchanging green landscape, but at the very
least none of them were hurt.
Holding Hannyuu’s hand was comforting to Akemi, it reassured her that her daughter was
safe and sound and within reach of her defenses. After a squeeze from her daughter to get her
attention Akemi looked down at the girl. The smirk on the feline’s lips and the way her eyes
kept darting to Ana at Akemi’s side made Akemi want to childishly whine, she was way too
obvious with her intentions… but the tiny squeeze on her hand gave her just enough courage
to reach out with her other hand and take Ana’s slim one into her own.
It took but a few shocked moments for Ana to clasp her hand back, and for their fingers to
casually intertwine, It was enough to make Akemi light in the head and her heart to pound.
Neither of them could handle meeting the other’s eyes, yet it was far too comfortable to let
go, and far too warm.
Hannyuu looked at the two of them nervously holding hands and blushing bright red, and
snickered to herself for a moment. “Yup, this is much better~” She muttered to herself as she
wondered if there was a way she could further push her mother in the right direction with the
two current women in her life. “Mama Ana, and Mama Kyouko…” She thought and in her
heart she liked it, it felt like… home.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Sorry for the uncensored hand holding y’all! I know I know they should wait till
marriage for that lewd shit, so expect baby Kitsunes on the horizon. Well… maybe one
day there will be actual lewd stuff, if I get that far, which I hope to do! Just don't be too
hopeful on the lewd stuff, it isn't something I tend to write being Ace myself. Going to
try and keep my publish times on Fridays from now on since I didn’t think far enough
ahead to realize that everyone will update Monday+ Tuesday and that trying to
capitalize on the new episode didn’t help me in the least lol.
I swear some of the romance parts are me venting at being unable to confess to a certain
lady… All of Hannyuu’s pushing could be directed at my own situation just the same as
Akemi’s lol… My boyfriend’s long time girlfriend and me hit it off like crazy when I
started dating him, and now me and her also flirt like crazy. It is dumb… we both seem
to know how we both feel by this point, but are too damn shy! It is frustrating but still
she is hecking great. I hope you all enjoyed the romance in this chapter~ There is more
planned for the special 100k word chapter!
Nothing bad without some good
Chapter Summary
A tragic occurrence lets the group learn more about their leader, while feelings finally
begin to bloom among them.
Let Hannyuu say Fuck
Chapter Notes
A/N: Welcome everyone to the Chapter 15, 100k word chapter~ This is a special one
and I hope you enjoy it.
TWs for this chapter specifically: Discussions of Suicide and the aftermath of such.
The further they got away from the center of the empire, the colder the air became, and yet
equally, the clearer the night sky grew. After nearly two weeks of practice, Akemi had gotten
decent at controlling the size and shape of her tower as she made it, and eventually could
make something more… modest with the spell, while adding more modern features inside,
and leaving a more slender observation tower to view the stars in peace inside of the cozy
gazebo and seats that were included. She had dubbed this modified version of the spell as
Create Greater Manor, as it was certainly a step up in accommodations from the Create
Manor spell of the seventh tier.
Up on that observation platform of a roof, Akemi relaxed in a comfortable reclined chair so

she could observe the stars without straining her neck. Right next to her, Hannyuu watched
also, though she seemed more content to just rest her again against Akemi and doze off. It
was… an otherworldly peace up on that tower, and they reviled in it for the moment.
No words were spoken, and they both felt nothing needed to be said, it was far too
comfortable to ruin the moment with idle conversation. Akemi let her eyes roam the clear
night sky, tracing patterns between the unfamiliar star clusters that shown so brightly. To her
credit all stars were quite mysterious to her, so to be able to see the sky like this… It was a
privilege not even the richest on earth could experience. With their atmosphere and
environment in her old world so utterly destroyed, not even humanity’s tallest tower could
reach above the layer of smog and dust.
Akemi felt like a child again, her heart full of wonder at how small she was in such a vast
universe. The scale boggled her mind as she watched, for she knew with all of her power,
there were always things out of her reach, and the scale of these stars was one such thing. She
could end up level one hundred and twenty and still not compare to the majesty of the view
she saw, for she would always be just one small piece in the grand cosmic scale, one tiny
speck on a larger speck of dust suspended in the void.
Reaching over to her side, Akemi took her drink to sip, and just appreciated the mead Malina
had gifted her with that she had stored away, her eyes never leaving the tapestry above. Her
hand moved to idly pet Hannyuu as she felt the girl nod off further. She sighed as she felt the
moment about to be disturbed as she heard several foot steps approach the top of the tower.
When Foresight and Ana appeared Akemi was quick to put a finger to her lips to quiet them,
which let them notice how Hannyuu had fully fallen asleep, so content there in the cold
mountain air, with Akemi’s tails to keep her warm. Judging by the way she clung to those
fluffy appendages, they felt she likely wasn’t cold at all, and looked more content than them.
“Let me go put her in bed, I’ll be right back.” Akemi said as she carefully stood up, and lifted
Hannyuu effortlessly. In moments like that It was easy enough to see that Hannyuu had
finally started to grow again, that and Akemi was quite short herself at just five feet tall, so in
comparison Hannyuu’s four feet and five inches looked just a hair bigger than it should. Yet
Hannyuu still looked far too tiny for her age, not that they had an exact age due to Hannyuu
being unable to remember just how many years she was kept a slave, but Akemi estimated
her at eleven or twelve.
Foresight looked accepting of that and took some other seats around that roof to relax with
each other, but Ana joined Akemi as they headed back into the manor.
With quiet and measured steps they both took Hannyuu down to Akemi and Hannyuu’s room,
and gently tucked the tiny cat in under the thick and weighted blankets. “This is how she
should have been treated her whole life… What she deserves.” Akemi thought and sadly
smiled at Ana, who smiled back. Akemi gave her daughter a small kiss on the forehead for
the night, which made the feline smile in her sleep and snuggle deeper into the blankets. Ana
then surprised Akemi as she leaned over to do the same as Akemi. Hannyuu seemed to just
look happier, smiling in her sleep as if recognizing that they both were there for her. “-
amas…” They heard her mutter under her breath, and felt their hearts stop for just a moment.
Akemi took Ana’s hand and gave it a squeeze, as if she could show happy she was with just
that. The squeeze she got back led to fingers intertwining once again as they left the
bedroom, leaving Hannyuu to a peaceful slumber.
Once they were at the bottom of the stairs Akemi had stopped for a moment to relax, and let
her thumb rub over Ana’s knuckles. “I think it is safe to say that she is pretty attached to you
and Kyouko. I also think that… When we next see Kyouko… we all need to… sit down and
talk.” Akemi admitted and sighed.
Ana blushed and chuckled “Before Hannyuu locks us all in a room together? Love the
munchkin, but she can get pushy.” Ana joked and recognized what she said after a moment
after it slipped out, but they both knew it was from the heart. “Lets… Wait until we see
Kyouko… Yeah.” Ana said, but made no moves to let go of Akemi’s hand as they made their
way back up the tower.
Everyone had settled in up top to relax like Akemi and Hannyuu had been, and were chatting
quietly while sipping the drinks Akemi had left out for them all.
“You know, I’ve never gotten to see the night sky with such clarity before I arrived in these
lands, it is humbling even to me. I feel like I could look at it all night, just spending hours
tracing each star. I could try to count them and I know even with my potentially… infinite
life I could never count them all.” Akemi said as she reclaimed her chair, as well as poured
herself more mead.
“You haven’t? I figured someone like you would have traveled the world, wouldn’t the stars
look the same no matter where you go? Doesn’t look any different to me.” Hekkeran said
with a shrug. After a moment he seemed to remember something. “Oh yeah what did you do
with those bandits? You got their location and everything but we just kept going.”
At that question, and Akemi’s silence at it they all got curious. Ana glared at the rest of them
and sat down in the chair next to Akemi, as if scolding them for ruining the moment. “You
don’t have to tell them if you don’t want to.” She nearly whispered to the Kitsune, and patted
her hand.
“I know I don’t have to… Alright, to put it in vague terms… I haven’t had as a fulfilling life
as you might think, I only really started to be able to actually live and not just survive very
recently. Frankly… I don’t think I really started to live until I met Hannyuu… as tragic and
violent of a meeting as it was, being her mom has made things feel… more real for me. If
you want any more of my back story you’re going to have to get to know me more~ what
about you four?” Akemi teased and sipped her drink. At Hekkeran’s other question Akemi
just smiled wide. “Oh I put some surveillance on them for now. I checked and they have no
slaves or anything so I can put dealing with them off for now, I can always go there any time.
Maybe I could even blow these ones up also…” Akemi mumbled that last part out loud.
Hekkeran chuckled under his breath at that “Always gotta be mysterious don’t you? Not a
whole lot about me to say, was just the fourth son of an upstart merchant. I tried to be an
adventurer but… some old money prick didn’t like my family and blocked me from
advancing, so I went unofficial as a worker. It is more dangerous, and I get less prior
knowledge on jobs, but the pay is usually better, as well as under the table. I met Roberdyck
there first, poor guy was drinking away his frustration-” Hekkeran said and grunted at a light
smack at his chest.
“I can tell my own part thank you… Yes, I was pretty frustrated… The temple I belonged to
was being greedy, and I couldn’t stand it. All I wanted to do when I got my training was to
use my connection to my faith to help heal the sick and wounded… Yet they wouldn’t allow
me to work outside of what they said I could do, which involved them demanding payment
for my services. I don’t care that I wasn’t seeing any of that money, even if I know it was
going straight to the top, but that money could have at least gone to a good cause…”
Roberdyck complained. With a heavy sigh he continued “So I left, and became a worker after
the temple blacklisted me from the guild, and met this sorry mug in the process, this way I
can help people hopefully, and I can use the money I make to support the orphanage that
raised me.”
Akemi nodded “That is a noble goal indeed, though I confess I might have already known
about that from my background check… Like I mentioned I wanted to make sure I was hiring
good people, and I’m thankful I did.” Akemi looked a bit embarrassed by that admission.
The rest of Foresight looked at each other and shrugged. “We already thought you did either
way, so I’m not really bothered by it, it is the smart thing to do in your position. I just want to
get my little sisters somewhere safe… So I’ll pay off my parents debt and take them away.”
Arche said and took a cup of Mead Akemi offered her.
“Why not just take them away anyway? Your useless parents won’t be able to touch you in
another Kingdom, and you have the strength to get away with it.” Akemi asked her as she
looked back up at the night sky.
“Because… even if it is my parents debt, and frankly I don’t give a damn what happens to
those irresponsible idiots, but the debt collectors would probably still come after my sisters
and me no matter where we run… The downside of being well known.” Arche took a few
gulps of the sweet drink and seemed to calm down.
“Well… One thing to keep in mind is that if these debt collectors don’t shy away from illegal
activity then… even if you pay the debt it is likely they’ll tack on some sort of extra charge to
keep you paying, maybe even more than now that they’ll see you as a steady source of
income for them. Just be careful alright? You can Message me if you need help, you all have
earned that. Actually, if there is a situation where an enemy of my level appears, you can use
my name if it will help, as there might be a chance I’d know them.” Akemi told her and
looked over at Ana, and at their still intertwined fingers that thankfully Foresight had been
polite enough to not comment on.
“What… What should I even do then?” Arche asked as the words finally sunk into her, and
seemed to visibly make her curl up when she realized how much truth laid in them.
Akemi shrugged for a moment and set her cup down. “Why not join my people? If a
Kingdom’s army can’t get to me, some debt collectors wouldn’t be able to.” The young
leader told her as she let some tails wrap around Ana unconsciously.
“But… I thought your people were all Demi-humans? Would I even be welcome there?
Would my sisters even be happy?” Arche asked worriedly, she didn’t exactly want her sisters
to get bullied or be the ‘other’ after all.
“I’m human and it didn’t take long for them all to welcome me with open arms. It really isn’t
any different there than any other little town, there are a lot of kids there so they would have
plenty of play mates.” Ana mentioned and blushed at Akemi squeezing her hand.
“I intend to have a country where race shouldn’t matter, so humans are more than welcome to
join us, there are already quite a few. Frankly the term Demi-Human is far too broad in my
opinion… since it lumps Kitsunes like me that have a rich culture and long history with the
likes of Goblins that kidnap women and barely have a language from what can be seen… If
there are tribes of goblins that want to live in peace with other races they would be
welcome.” Akemi vented a little as she finished her drink.
“So you’re making a country like the Argland Council States? Or it is going to be a
monarchy? Going to become a queen?” Arche asked, her tone a touch teasing as she looked
more tired by the minute.
“There is a country doing this already? Well, that is good then, I’ll try and make contact with
them at some point, hopefully they’re more reasonable than the Re-Estize Kingdom. I’d…
rather not be a Queen or whatever, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be stuck with some sort of title I
don’t care for.” Akemi said and looked to fall deeper into thought. “And you Imina? You’re
awfully quiet tonight.”
“Just enjoying the night, this has been a pretty pleasant trip so far, all things considered. I
don’t have a huge story, the adventurer’s guild in the Empire is just racist against Half-Elves
like most of the empire so a Worker is what I can be with my skills. I have to make sure
Hekkeran here doesn’t die or something, he is an idiot after all.” Imina said with a playful
smack on Hekkeran’s chest.
“Yeah yeah… pick on your leader, have I ever led you all wrong?” He asked in an obviously
fake tone. The look on the others faced stunned them all, it was as if they had been waiting
for him to say something like that.
“All the time! I still remember when you somehow led us into a goblin ambush! You got
distracted by that weird totem in the cave and left our backs open!” Imina shouted at him.
“Or that time you got us nearly arrested by town guards for flirting with the chieftain’s
daughter…” Arche glared at him just a bit.
“Hey! I didn’t know she was already engaged! And that totem looked like some weird sex
toy, I don’t know! Goblins are strange!” He complained back at them.
Akemi’s eye twitched just a bit at that as she sighed. “Well, I’m glad Hannyuu is already in
bed, or I’d have to ‘punish’ you for that one. Or will you punish him Imina? Aren’t you two
together?” Akemi asked, her usual brand of mischief creeping back up.
She was glad to see Hekkeran look properly scolded as he likely thought of what she could
do to him. Imina’s red face was something she wasn’t expecting, but it seemed she caught
two fish this round.
“W-wah! Like I could b-be with this clown… L-like you’re one to talk, who is holding
someone’s hand hmm?” Imina countered, and was rewarded with fluff to the face as Akemi’s
tail extended, making Imina sputter and try to get the tail out of her face and away from her
mouth. Akemi blushed bright red and looked down at her and Ana’s linked hands, yet didn’t
let go.
“I-I think that is enough questions for the night… We have more to do tomorrow so it is time
to head to bed.” Akemi said and shyly smiled at Ana before letting go of her hand, and also
removing the tail from Imina’s face.
Akemi had to chuckle at the look on the half elf’s face. “Yeah yeah, retreat all you want~
We’ve seen what we’ve seen little love birds.” Imina watched both Akemi and Ana nearly
run down the stairs. “Can’t handle the heat I guess. I swear those two… and that other lady I
suppose.”
“Yeah… They have it bad… Fuck it, anyone want to bet on it? I’m putting down ten gold
they go at it like rabbits within a week.” Hekkeran declared.
“Should we really bet on something like that? It seems crass. Ten gold on two weeks.”
Roberdyck said without a change in facial expression, or a single drop of shame.
“They are completely all over each other yet… both of them are pretty shy, it is kind of
adorable to watch right? They’re shy so ten gold on a month before an awkward first time
maybe.” Imina finished off her drink as she added her piece.
The rest of them looked at Arche who was deep in thought. Once she noticed their gazes she
was quick to look away. “Girls can go pretty slow, it isn’t that easy… probably. Maybe less
than a month to get a confession at most? They are both stubborn after all. Ten gold on that
also.” Arche said, far too used to those kinds of bets after so long with Foresight.
“Speaking from experience?” Imina teased and began to poke Arche’s cheeks, especially at
the pout that formed.
“N-no, I’ve never been in any kind of relationship. Wait, why did you assume that I go for
girls?” She asked as she realized what was said.
“Because you admitted it when you got drunk last time? That was the time you swore off
drinking enough to get a hangover, and that was like four months ago. If my memory serves
me correctly, you tend to shoot Ana a couple extra glances these days, or Akemi one any time
she bends over.” Imina continued, a smug grin gracing her lips at the blush she caught on
Arche.
“S-shut up Imina, as if we haven’t heard you and Hekkeran going at it before. She is right
though, it is time for bed.” Arche said and hopped up, and if asked she would deny that she
had fled down the stairs, and would deny the impact those words were having on her as she
mulled over them. “What they have looks… nice.”
The sun had already started to rise the second time Akemi woke up, the first time being far
too early for her. It was incredibly comfortable in bed despite half of the blankets being
thrown off due to wild tails that ensnared both her and Hannyuu. It was almost enough to
make her want to fall back asleep, the early morning light coming from the window she
added to their room just making everything seem comfortably surreal.
The moment was sadly broken as she felt a message spell connect to her. “Hello? Kyouko?”
Akemi asked as she could tell at least who had called.
“Oh thank goodness you’re awake, would you be able to come back to the settlement? There
is an emergency that I don’t have the skills to handle…” Kyouko admitted, a cold sense of
panic obvious in her voice.
Akemi sat up and climbed up off the bed, her pajamas being swapped to her travel clothes in
a small flash of light. “I can be there in a few minutes. What kind of emergency? Is there
danger? Surely nothing could get in and past the guards right?” Akemi asked as her own
panic began to fill her.
“No intruders but… There is one dead and… It would be better for you to see it for yourself,
the deceased’s family is begging for her to be revived.” Kyouko told her, her cold voice back
to being all business, even if there was obviously something she had left out.
“Got it, I’ll be there soon, I’ll make a gate near you after I tell Hannyuu.” Akemi said as she
began to gently shake Hannyuu awake. “Dear, I need to take a trip back to the settlement for
a little bit, so I need you to wake up, I’m sorry.” Akemi told her and pet the feline’s ears as
she sat up also, nearly still asleep.
“I recommend… not bringing Hannyuu, it is pretty grim, she shouldn’t see it. I’ll see you
soon.” Kyouko told her and closed the call.
Akemi cursed under her breath and very lightly shook Hannyuu a bit till her eyes opened up.
“Mom? Wha is it?” Hannyuu asked as she swayed back and forth.
If Akemi was in any good mood it would have been cute as hell for her to see this sleepy side
of her daughter, but the day had already started off on a bad note. “Emergency call from
Kyouko, I need to go check in with the settlement right away, but I need you to stay here with
Ana alright? No one is in danger but… I’m thinking there might have been a small accident.
I’ll Let you know soon alright?” Akemi told her.
That woke Hannyuu up plenty as her eyes opened wide at the news. “Oh no… Please tell me
if it is anyone I know alright? Go go go, I’ll be fine here with Ana, please just make sure
everyone is alright.” Hannyuu said, the panic in her heart showing on her face.
“I will, I love you Hannyuu, I’ll check in soon hopefully. There is a possibility I might drag
you all there later, so make sure everyone is ready to leave alright? Ana is in charge while
I’m gone.” Akemi said and ruffled Hannyuu’s hair one last time.
“Got it, I’ll wake Ana up and let her know, be careful mama…” Hannyuu said as her eyes
betrayed her worries.
“I don't believe there isn’t any danger, just… if it is anything like I’m expecting it is going to
be a rough day.” Akemi said with a sigh, and stepped back after one last hug as she knew she
might need it that day.
“[Greater Teleportation].” And with that Akemi vanished on the spot.
Hannyuu took a few moments to collect herself and get up, she was at the very least wide
awake, and Ana needed to be told about this.
“I’m here, what is the emergen… cy. Oh…” Akemi appeared out of thin air and a flash of
blue light ready for enemies or illness, yet the sight the greeted her as she appeared was
Kyouko kneeling down next to a woman and hugging her as the woman sobbed
uncontrollably. Akemi recognized her as one of the younger women in the settlement, nearly
more girl than woman, and that her name was Mara, a raccoon Demi-human. Akemi could
only guess that the body under a sheet next to Mara and Kyouko was the twin of Mara whom
she had yet to meet, only having heard about her.
A quick scan of area told her everything she needed to know. They were a small distance into
the forest near the settlement, and there was a vine hanging from one of the branches of a tree
with lower branches. It was cut but Akemi spotted a torn noose fashioned from a vine tossed
aside after she presumed they cut the girl down. Her heart sunk as she realized just how much
this day would hurt.
After a few moments more of sobbing Mara looked up and her eyes brightened as she saw
Akemi. “L-lady Akemi please! Please my sister! Please bring back my sister l-like you
brought me back! S-she was fine last night, and then she was m-missing this morning…
Please…” Mara begged Akemi, and Akemi felt her heart break further.
Kneeling down next to the two she gave them both a light hug for comfort. “I’m… I’m so
sorry Mara… I can’t give you what you wish…” Akemi had to tell her as gently as possible,
and braced herself.
She was pushed away a bit as Mara looked up at Akemi with the pain that could only come
from betrayal in her eyes. “W-what? Why can’t you? You brought so many of us back… Why
can’t you do the same for my sister? Lana didn’t do anything to deserve this! She was getting
b-better… I know she was… Why would she…?” Kyouko carefully pulled Mara in again to
let her sob.
“I-I cannot imagine what either of you have been through… Or how much the memories have
impacted you both… but I cannot judge for someone else whether they must push through
what ever pain they are facing, to deny someone the peace they seek. It would be far too…
cruel of me to force her to return and face the memories she did not wish to face… She made
what she felt was the best decision for herself, and I can only… respect that decision as much
as we’ll mourn it…” At the girl’s disbelieving look Akemi could only meet her eyes in the
hopes her message would get through the veil of grief.
“What would normally happen in these cases, if I tried to resurrect her, her soul would almost
certainly reject my attempt. While I have higher tier resurrection spells that can force her soul
back from death, but that is traumatic for the person revived, and a future attempt would be
extremely likely. It would be far too cruel… so I cannot do that to her… I am so s-sorry, I
truly am…” Akemi said as she began to sob with Mara who was inconsolable, but did not
seem to blame Akemi further.
“I know that… suicide can be painful for… those left behind, but please do not resent her for
it… The amount of will it takes to go through with that decision is… immense, It is a last
resort for those seeking peace. I’m so sorry for your loss Mara, we can only hope she finds
the peace she wished to find.” Akemi said as her mind drifted away from the situation for just
a moment, the many times her head had been filled with similar thoughts once again as she
hugged Kyouko and Mara all the tighter.
After a time Emeril carefully guided Mara away as two of Kyouko’s men carried her sister’s
body away with them, while Kyouko guided Akemi who had become far too listless and out
of it for Kyouko’s liking. After informing Ana of the situation Kyouko took her along into
their home to settle her down on the couch.
For a time the two of them sat on that couch with no space in between them, with Akemi’s
head resting against the wolf woman’s chest for comfort, a bastion of safety to her troubled
mind.
“I s-should gather the others… we need to be here at least a day or more, I’m not sure when
they want to schedule a funeral… or if they would rather wait until we’re out of this
temporary settlement, but I should be here for that. If… I open a gate, could you go through
and get Ana and Hannyuu to come over here? I can always teleport us back to the tower
we’re using but… I need a few moments. I’ll get Arche and them over later…” Akemi was
able to choke out and lean into Kyouko’s chest, her already small form appearing even
smaller as her tall ears drooped, and none of her usual energy animated her tails.
“I can do that for you, you just relax alright? Let us all take care of you for tonight.” Kyouko
told her and gently pet those droopy ears while she stared deep into Akemi’s electric blue
eyes and the sadness she could see deeply lodged in there. “Just trust us okay?” She asked
and got a nod. With a silent wave of her hand a swirling blue void opened up in the center of
the living room.
Akemi watched Kyouko disappear within and held the portal open with a trickle of mana that
she barely noticed. “Just what am I even doing…” She thought as her mind stayed on the
cold body she saw that day, and the words she spoke despite knowing they might only hurt
Mara. She was brought out her musing by a small body tackling her. While she didn’t move
much from the impact, the surprise did move her. When she noticed it was her daughter she
held the girl close, nearly in tears once again.
When Ana, Kyouko came through the portal Akemi barely even noted it before closing the
Gate. “Hey you two… Busy morning I guess…” She was able to get out as she hugged
Hannyuu close. It was hard for her to pull herself out of her head, even as she felt Kyouko
and Ana sit next to her.
“Sounds it, Kyouko told us something happened?” Ana asked as she looked worried for the
normally spirited Kitsune.
Akemi leaned into the three pairs of arms around her and took a few deeper breathes.
“Yeah… I had to tell Mara that I wouldn’t bring her sister back to life and it… took a bit out
of me.” Akemi said and bit her lip. They all seemed to catch her choice of words, specifically
that she Wouldn’t do it, not that she couldn’t.
Kyouko looked the most uncomfortable about it as she gently brushed over Akemi’s limp
ears. “I could barely hear what you said to Mara but… I heard enough that… this is personal
to you isn’t it?” She asked as her arm around Akemi’s shoulders wrapped around Ana’s as
well, both of them being small enough compared to her to do so.
“It sort of is… I believe in… the ability for someone to choose their own path, no matter
what, that we are all born into this world equally. Just like we have a right to live it as we
wish, you can’t have a right to do that if you don’t have the right to end it on your own terms
also… They’re two sides of the same coin.” Akemi stopped for a moment as she felt Ana
loosen her grip.
“So… the bottle you gave me back then really was…?” Ana asked as she dug out the tiny
spheric bottle from her pouch.
“Yeah, it would do exactly what I said it would, I wouldn’t give something like that lightly. If
you don’t want to hang on to it I’ll take it back, it is a pretty grim first gift after all. I’m glad
you didn’t use it…” Akemi said and reached around both of them to hug the two woman.
After a small bit of hesitation on Ana’s part, Akemi took that vial of poison and slipped it
into her inventory. “My views on the subject were never viewed favorably back in my last
life, despite how terrible a world it was… I swear the amount of times my brother yelled at
me for saying something he found depressing could last me several life times.” Akemi said
with a dark chuckle.
“Wait, you have a brother? You never mentioned him before.” Kyouko asked as she got
comfortable, seeing as they might be there a long while.
“Yup… Though we had a falling out before I d-died there. It is a bit of a long story, but he
didn’t like how I stopped fighting, he especially wouldn’t support anything that would have
put me out of my misery back then…” Akemi said with a dry chuckle and leaned her head
back. “For a while I would have done anything to make all the pain stop, when my condition
would act up my muscles fibers would start to separate the more I moved them, so just
moving was terribly painful. I likely just died at the end there from my condition finally
reaching my heart in those last few days, though I was planning to die that day regardless, it
just did it maybe ten minutes early. Sorry… sad topics all around today I guess. I miss him
though… he was the best big brother, better than me at everything, including playing
Yggdrasil. By the end he really was the only family I still had left…” Akemi said and looked
at the other three.
“You three really help me you know? Even if some of the depression of the past comes along,
I know I can lean on all of you. I just… wish I could help all of them… Nearly everyone in
this settlement has gone through as much as me in the past, and probably more…” Akemi
said as the smile she plastered on cracked from all the emotions bubbling up from the darkest
corners of her heart. “What good am I if I can’t even keep my people from dying though?
What good am I if I can’t give them the hope they need to keep going? I’m… I’m already
failing… T-this wasn’t the first Suicide here… just the first with family left behind…” Akemi
eventually choked out as emotion filled her words again.
“Akemi, you are doing amazing! Are you joking? Do you think all these people would have
the hope they do now without this place that you’ve created? The safety and security is worth
so much, people can actually smile again and start to move on.” Kyouko told her and pressed
her forehead against Akemi’s.
“You do realize that most of these people wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you right? You
aren’t perfect, but you are so much better than you are giving yourself credit for…” Ana said
and blushed as she looked to trip on her words.
Akemi didn’t quite look convinced yet, but she did seem to accept the other’s affection
regardless. Hannyuu stood up and off of Akemi’s lap and looked strangely upset as she
turned around to face her. “Mom… You can’t be there for everyone all the time, It makes no
sense to blame yourself… Its like you said, we all have to make that choice, and that girl
made her choice to die and stop her memories.” Hannyuu said as she lifted Akemi’s head so
she could look into her eyes. “You’re the one who convinced me to choose life.” Hannyuu
was able to quietly say after some hesitation before she returned to Akemi’s lap to hug the
depressed Kitsune.
“When you saved me from those… men, I wasn’t sure if I could ever want to keep going…
none of those memories would leave me a-alone. All that they did to me… I know they
probably did just the same to so many people in this place… I can’t blame her for choosing to
get away from her past forever… almost all of the memories I have are of my time in that
hell… I… I can’t even remember further back than maybe two years ago at best… I don’t
remember if I already had parents or anything, and I’m too scared to try and remember
much…” It took her a moment to catch her breath as her tiny hands clutched Akemi’s clothes
tightly while they all sat silently, none of them dared to interrupt her.
“Eventually all I could think about there, when I was able to hold a thought in my head at all,
was hoping to finally die and leave all those memories behind. When they were about to kill
me I felt… relief.” Hannyuu said, and as her voice wavered, they all could recognize that she
was digging back into her own memories that they were all careful to not push her on.
Right as that waver appeared in her voice, and that hint of despair hit her eyes it was gone
like a mirage, replaced by the fire she had been tempered in. “But things changed by me
staying, by becoming your daughter. Things are getting better… I don’t get as many
nightmares and… I feel better about living. Even if sometimes those memories still creep up
and sometimes… e-even if sometimes they make me want to still die, I know I want to live
and keep being with all three of you.” Akemi’s breath caught in her chest as she listened to
Hannyuu, and very carefully embraced her, and was happy to feel that hug returned tightly
around her neck.
“I know not everyone can feel that way… so you shouldn’t take it personally if things don’t
work out for them, you can’t control people’s acti-” Hannyuu looked to remember something
and tried to rephrase things with a grumble. “Without Magic, you cannot control people’s
actions… You’re the strongest person I know and you do so much for us all… I love you
Mama.” She said and hugged Akemi with as much strength as she had in her tiny body.
Akemi took a few deep breathes to settle herself and enjoyed the soul soothing warmth she
was getting from the four of them. “Mmm.. I still think we all end up in group hugs a lot.
Thank you three… I think I’m alright now, s-sorry I got like that… Hannyuu you are still far
stronger than me, far more brave, I love you too Dearheart.” Akemi said and wrapped her
tails around the lot of them.
“It is alright, we all have our off moments. You feeling a bit better?” Kyouko asked and let go
of the rest of them.
“Yeah… Yeah I am. Hannyuu? Have I ever told you you’re the best daughter?” Akemi asked
and applied a couple gentle scratches to the girl’s ears, and giggled at the light purring that
started up.
“I-I could stand to hear it more…” Hannyuu mumbled without raising herself up off of
Akemi, emotion still thick in her voice.
“Good, I’ll remind you of it even more, just wait till your present is finished~” Akemi teased
and poked her in the side to make her jump. Akemi poked Hannyuu’s cheeks as they inflated
from her pouting also. “Ana, Kyouko, thank you both also… I’m feeling better now, I
promise. I’ve done enough moping around today, I need to let Foresight in on the situation.
Regardless of if they want to do the funeral today or later we’ll be spending the night here.”
Akemi said and patted Hannyuu’s head who seemed to get the message as she moved over
onto Kyouko’s lap, much to the wolf woman’s surprise.
Ana and Kyouko smiled after her as they watched her head off to get business done. “Call us
if you need help alright? I’m going to do some training soon.” Kyouko said stretched out on
the suddenly spacious couch.
Leaning over just a bit Kyouko surprised Ana by pulling her in with an arm around her tiny
shoulders. “Maybe we could get some muscle on you also?” She teased and pinched the girl’s
thin arms.
Akemi snickered as she looked back to watch them. “Not a bad idea, muscles are… pretty
nice.” Akemi said as her eyes dropped to Kyouko’s exposed midriff, and the defined abs
there. They all watched the Kitsune flush red and turn away.
“Eyes are up here, don’t think I haven’t seen both of you ogle my workouts~” Kyouko teased
as she watched both of those women turn a rich crimson.
“M-maybe I’ll try working out… It can’t hurt to do…” Ana admitted as she poked and
prodded at parts of herself.
Hannyuu was all to happy to move between Kyouko and Ana, placing herself in the middle
of that hug. “I should also join in, I’ve been keeping up with the exercises you gave me
Kyouko.” The tiny cat excitedly told them.
“She really has, though what she doesn’t say is how much she’ll whine about being sore the
next day~ Of course I can’t really heal that or any gains are gone…” Akemi teased and
grinned at Hannyuu when she pouted at her.
Pausing in the doorway, Akemi gripped the frame and looked back at the other three. “Hey
Ana? Kyouko? Could we… talk? L-later tonight?…” Akemi asked and couldn’t meet their
eyes, though her tails were honest about how nervous she was. She didn’t seem to be able to
wait for a response and nearly fled out the door.
The rest of them blinked for a moment before two of them blushed. Hannyuu could almost
see those two’s thoughts racing around. Getting up Hannyuu snickered to herself before
heading to the door. “I’m going to go say Hi to some people, just tell me when it is time to
work out. Good luck tonight~” She cheered them on before leaving the two women alone.
Ana and Kyouko looked a bit shocked, and then looked at each other. “I gotta agree with
Akemi… where does she get this sass?” At the very least, they all would rather her be her
sassy and strong self, than burdened or broken by her memories.
“Welcome everyone to… unnamed settlement… Well, it is temporary until we move.” Akemi
looked a bit embarrassed as she let Foresight into her settlement with a Gate spell.
“This is temporary? Those are some interesting houses, did you dig out trees or something?”
Arche asked as she walked alongside Akemi.
“Oh I grew them, the trees are fully alive and fully furnished. I took the liberty of making you
all one for your stay for today and tonight.” Akemi told them with a wide smile as she led
them through the grove of tree homes. They noted the obvious false cheer in Akemi’s voice
and actions, as well as the general gloom of the settlement at the moment.
Soon they arrive at a slightly large tree than the others, which had a wider base than a normal
tree, but narrowed as it went up. The many windows on it showed that it had multiple stories
to it’s structure.
“Wow, you didn’t need to go to such expense really, we are used to roughing it and all. I
swear when to comes to employers you’ve provided the best accommodations and benefits
for sure…” Hekkeran told her, giving a quiet whistle at the impressive home. “How long did
this take to make?”
“Oh maybe twenty minutes? Like I said I grew it, so that combined with Create Greater Item
and the only costs were in mana, of which I have in abundance as you might have guessed.
When I first made these they took nearly an hour to make right, but I’ve had practice by now,
kind of like my towers. For now just… enjoy yourself, enjoy the break from all the walking.
Food is plentiful and mostly communal. Since the crop plots I set up can regrow in a day or
two you can just pick what you need. You might be able to barter if you want something
specific like meat, but I’m sure you can work out a deal with people. I did stock the kitchen
with some things but feel free to ask for a hand.” Akemi told them as she ‘gently’ patted the
tree house. They all blinked as the tree shook just slightly from the hit, betraying Akemi’s
emotions a bit more if she can’t control her strength.
“Convenient. We’ll keep that in mind, and we’ll take you up on that break. Will the tower be
alright just leaving it like that?” Hekkeran asked as he shared a look with the others.
“Yeah it would take a lot to break down that door, as in higher level spells than any bandits…
or probably any human would have available to them. Worst that might happen is them
camping out front of the door trying to figure out how to get in and loot the place. Time for
me to check up on everyone here.” Akemi said and sounded a bit less energetic at that.
“Hey… Akemi? What happened around here? Is it usually this… grim feeling? I expected
glares but people just seem sad…” Imina asked in somber curiosity.
Akemi had to think for a moment before she let out a sigh. “N-not normally, though most
people here have been touched by the slave trade and have their own trauma… There was
a… suicide this morning, which is why I needed to return here. Sorry for such a grim first
visit, but hopefully the new home I’ll be making us will make up for it.” Akemi told them
and seemed to walk off fast enough to avoid any more questions.
“Okay then… I can see why things are a bit sad around here… What a day to visit… Well,
I’m still tired, lets go see what this place looks like, shall we?” Imina asked, and seemed to
spur them all on to investigate their house.
It was thankfully quiet work as Akemi cast her spells on the farming plots she had set up,
refreshing the buffs on the soil and spurring further growth on the crops there. As her mind
drifted she hardly noticed as the melon near her grew to ridiculous size until it was up to her
height, only then did she stop.
“Um… That is going to take a lot of people to eat… Hello Lady Akemi, I hope you are doing
alright?” Akemi heard Emeril ask from behind her.
Turning around it was clear to see that Akemi was conflicted by something, right until she
‘corrected’ her expression into something more like her normal public face. “I’m doing as
good as can be expected. Are you and your’s doing well? Lirina growing up well?” Akemi
asked as she poked at the giant melon, as if it was a balloon to pop.
“She is hyper as usual, but that is kids right? I saw her and Hannyuu running around just a bit
ago, they even were able to get Rinna out to play for once. Poor girl is as shy as she is
fluffy…” Emeril said and looked Akemi over closer.
“This morning still have you down? Or is this something else? I know that my amount of life
experience is probably a lot less than your own, but if there is anything I can do to lighten the
load I’m all ears, especially as a fellow Kitsune.” Emeril told her leader.
“Oh yeah she must think I’m old as dirt… I need to tell her one day…” She thought as she
shrugged. “You would be surprised, I have a lot less than most people think… I’m just trying
to get by like everyone else… But I’m going to do what I can for our people, I just always
wish I could do more for some people’s mental health… I can’t heal that like a cut or bruise
after all.” Akemi said and leaned on the melon and looked up through the towering trees at
the blue sky.
“Oh? And here I was about to ask you about ways to look as young as you do~ I don’t know
if it is some advanced technique or not but for some reason It makes me want to mother you a
bit.” Emeril said with a chuckle. “Sorry if that is disrespectful, though everyone could use
some mothering occasionally. We all can tell you give your best effort here, and we’re
grateful, I think I can speak for everyone on that. You don’t need to do everything yourself
though, you can trust in us all also.”
Akemi shook her head with a smile. “It isn’t disrespectful at all, please, you can be more
casual with me, I’m not here to be some sort of ruler on high. I’m not even sure I’m much of
a leader, it isn’t something I have experience in, and it is a lot of pressure. I’ll do my best
since everyone wants me to be their queen or something, but maybe they could stop praying
to me also? I’m starting to hear them in the back of my head…” Akemi half complained and
slumped down to sit near that farm plot, using her accident melon as a backrest. With a pat on
the grass Akemi called her friend over to join her.
Emeril of course took the offer and sat next to the Akemi she was indeed at least half a foot
taller. “Even if you do not wish to be a queen, we’ll all still likely find a title. The thing about
being a leader though is you aren’t alone… A hundred years ago I was a local leader of a
small Kitsune village, and I couldn’t have done it without those under me. There will always
be people here with expertize in different fields to rely on, so if you might need my help I’ll
be happy to pitch in.” She told Akemi, her four tails joining the sway of Akemi’s nine. “As
for getting them to stop praying… You being able to hear them is a pretty sure proof you are
divine, so I don’t think there is much chance of getting them to stop.”
“I didn’t think so… I’ll… take suggestions at some point I suppose, if I’m going to be a ruler
I’ll have to take some sort of title. I know… one of my racial classes is Divine Being, so I
suppose they are technically correct… as much as I dislike that thought… As for help, I was
thinking about appointing you to a position when things got more set up, but it could start
now since you seem to wish to. How does Minister of Civilian Affairs sound? I need
someone to help me manage things I don’t have a lot of experience with.” Akemi asked with
a cheeky grin. “I really need skilled people by my side.”
That at least got Emeril to blush. “Oh but… I did say I was a leader but… just on a local
level… am I right for that big of a title?” Emeril asked and looked around nervously.
“Of course, you did basically volunteer for a position. You have plenty of experience, and
frankly our amount of people is still on the local level. One day I want our country to get
large but we will be starting at less than a thousand people, but hopefully we’ll get some
migrants quickly. I won’t spoil the surprise but… we’ll have a lot of room, lots of land that
cannot be invaded as well, you’re going to love it~ I’ll be sure to tell you when it is going to
happen.” Akemi sounded excited as her tails wiggled, her mood perked back up.
“When what happens? Lady Akemi? What are you planning? I-if you want me as your
minister please tell me so I can plan?” Emeril nearly pleaded.
“Oh but where is the fun in that? I’ll just say that you’ll be able to see it probably from here.
As a hint… What are most of my creations based on?” Akemi asked with a teasing grin
before she stood up. “Alright minister Emeril, take care alright?”
“Oh… Ooooh… I’ll be sure to watch, pretty sure if it is what I think it might be everyone in
the region might be watching…” Emeril looked a bit shocked as her mind conjured images of
their future home. “Oh well, I guess I’ll indeed find out, How nice it is to live in interesting
times indeed… So Akemi?” Emeril asked as she got a very Kitsune-like look on her face.
“I don’t like that look… What is it?” Akemi asked as her tails froze in midair.
“Oh I’m just wondering when you’ll stop tugging on poor Kyouko’s heart~ throw the poor
woman a bone already, maybe Ana also?” Emeril teased, her green tails flicking along with
her chuckles.
Akemi’s face soon resembled Kyouko’s hair more than anything, which fit as her head
became filled with those two women in her life. “I-I know already… You and Hannyuu I
swear. I am not experienced in this field as you might have guessed! I… I don’t even know
how to handle them, what if they make me choose? Am I allowed to choose both? What
about you?” Akemi whined a bit, her folded down as she didn’t look near her normal regal
self.
“Choose? I don’t think that will be a problem, got plans or something?” The mother of two
took far too much pleasure it seemed in teasing her mighty leader, lese majesty be damned. It
was concerning then to see Emeril’s face fall, and a haunted look fill her eyes. “I… I do.
Lirina’s other mother, Maiya, my Mate… there was an incident with humans about five years
ago.” Emeril barely whispered out, as if she was reliving what ever memories that had just
passed through her mind. "The Theocracy came to our village, and that was that."
Akemi stopped in her tracks and quickly walked back over to Emeril. She must have
surprised the older Kitsune as Akemi embraced her. “I’m sorry if… I brought up some bad
memories. If I can do anything to help please come to me also?” Akemi said and felt Emeril
give a few quiet shudders for just a moment before she calmed herself.
“I’m.. I’m fine. I just miss her is all, but I have Lirina also, I can look at her and be reminded
of the good times, she is the best of both of us after all, more so Maiya than me. It does hurt
though that… Lirina was too young to really remember Maiya.” Emeril’s expression shifted
to happiness as she remembered her daughters in this. “Of course I have Rinna to look after
also now and she is a really good kid that deserves a mother, so as long as they both can be
happy and safe, I’m happy. I hope you three and Hannyuu are able to make something
special, everyone can see that you share something important.” Emeril said and let go of
Akemi before standing up. “Well… I need to make sure the girls are alright, even if it is safe
here I… don’t like having them out of my sight for long.”
Akemi concentrated for but a moment before pointing off to the south. “They are that way,
only a bit outside of the settlement, but there are no animals around besides a few squirrels in
the trees. One question though? How were… you two able to have a kid as two women?”
Emeril turned to grin at her. “Well… we are Kitsunes after all, shape shifting is in our blood~
I’m sure you can make of that what you will if you are creative enough. Don’t have too much
fun~ Oh and maybe don’t shape shift like that if you or Kyouko are in heat, unless you are
trying to give Hannyuu some siblings~” Emeril teased and skipped off, content to leave
Akemi as a blushing mess.
Akemi had to take a few minutes to settle her nerves, and just watched the sun start to set,
alighting the forest in brilliant reds and yellows through the leaves. “This is going to be some
kind of night…”
The sun had already set and Akemi had yet to return. “She did say she wanted to talk
tonight… where the hell is she?” Ana asked as her and Kyouko both nervously waited on
their long couch, a fire already smoldering in the fire place to give them some nice lighting,
while a bit of magic on the fireplace kept sparks from leaping from it’s mouth.
“Well… maybe she is preparing herself? I really hope it is what I think it is, otherwise I
might need to talk to you two instead…” Kyouko admitted as she nervously looked over at
Ana with a slightly pleading look.
Ana to her credit looked just as nervous as Kyouko, and the wolf could even hear the short
human’s heart beating rapidly. “M-maybe… Should we go look for he-” Before Ana could
finish her sentence the front door opened.
First Hannyuu poked her head in and smiled as she saw the two. “Evening~” Hannyuu said as
she headed over to the kitchen, likely to poke around for a snack they assumed.
Akemi soon slinked in behind her, and looked far too nervous to be normal. Her tails showed
her restless energy as they twitched at every noise Hannyuu made in the kitchen. She would
wordlessly sit in between the other two women and look down into her lap.
Hannyuu appeared in the living room again with a small bowl of fruit and a cup. “I’ll leave
you three alone for the night~” Hannyuu looked all too amused as she headed up the stairs to
her and Akemi’s room.
Once they heard the sound of that door closing did the tension really set in. “S-so… I… uh…
How do I… T-this is going to be… harder than I thought…” Akemi grumbled as she rested
her head back against the couch.
Kyouko and Ana had the same idea as they scooted closer to Akemi and each took a hand
into their own. “Well… Try your best? We’re right here with you.” Kyouko offered and tried
to relax for all of their sake.
With a nod Akemi’s mouth flapped open a few times uselessly, as she failed to voice any
words she was thinking. “W-when I first got here I… I didn’t know what to think about
anything, or about either you…” Taking a few more deep breathes Akemi turned to Ana.
“When I first met you in that forest, I was amused by the curiosity in your eyes at my magic,
but I a-also thought you were pretty adorable right away… And later on that night when you
stood up to your asshole of a party leader I could have cheered you on right there… or maybe
k-kissed you. You were incredibly brave, more than me seeing as none of them were much of
a threat to me… but you risked everything to stand up for what’s right and… That image
stuck with me since that day.” Akemi said and grinned at the tiny mage. “Knowing you even
more has been great, you’re such a hard worker… you put everything into what ever you do,
and are never afraid to try something new.”
From there Akemi turned to Kyouko with a shy grin spread over her face. “And you
Kyouko… Meeting you has also been an extreme turning point in my life. At first I found
you really… intense, but I realized that was a combination of your passion as a leader and as
a mother, which I could only admire and respect. Learning just how long you have kept up
your fight was… inspiring, I have so much respect for you it is crazy… I want to be able to
help you as much as I can…” Akemi said and rubbed her thumbs over both of their hands as
she held them.
“What ever the future may hold I want to be there for you, for both of you, you’re both…
irreplaceable and precious to me, not to mention b-beautiful… I can tell Hannyuu is more
than attached to both of you, almost as much as me.” Akemi looked to struggle for a moment
in her words, her ears folded flat against her head. “I just… I know I’m really bad at saying
things b-but… Just…” With a few more deep breathes Akemi looked at each of them, making
sure to meet their eyes.
Her ears unfolded and she held their hands tighter, as well as wrapped her tails around both of
them. “I l-l-l… love you! Both of you! I-I don’t k-know if it is acceptable but… I thought
about it for so long now… I could never choose between you two… I need you both by my
side, but… If you d-don’t want that I won’t stop you if you want to leave.” Akemi said,
nearly having to grit her teeth at the end as she forced her tails to stop holding the two, her
eyes clenched shut as if she anticipated them walking out right that moment.
Both Kyouko and Ana were beet red, but had shy smiles on their faces as they couldn’t resist
leaning into to kiss Akemi’s cheeks on either side and enjoyed feeling Akemi shiver at that.
“Of course we aren’t leaving.” Ana said and rested her head on Akemi’s shoulder.
“Exactly, there is nothing wrong with having multiple partners, it is the norm for a lot of
types of Demi-humans even. Besides… I love you both also, and would be honored to have
you two as lovers…” Kyouko said as her own embarrassment gave way to her natural charm.
Ana and Akemi took that moment to flush further. Soon Kyouko and Akemi could only turn
to look at Ana with the obvious question in their eyes as their hug broke apart.
The lone human was stuck fiddling with a few strands of hair and looking between the two of
them. “Y-yes, I love you too… both of you, having two lovers might be a lot for me to get
used to though, in a good way.” Ana said as she took that final step between the three of
them.
“So… lovers? Girlfriends? All of us?” Akemi asked as she returned the hopeful smile she
saw on the other’s faces, a few tears shimmering in her eyes.
Instead of a verbal answer Kyouko placed a hand on Akemi’s cheek to gently turn her head
while she stared deeper into Akemi’s eyes than before. Akemi didn’t know who got closer to
who, or who closed the distance first, all Akemi knew was that Kyouko’s lips were
surprisingly soft, and her arms even warmer around her than normal as she tilted her head up
to keep their kiss connected. Things just felt… right. With a tiny whine from Akemi that kiss
was broken after a dozen or more seconds, her vision just slightly hazy as Akemi heard her
heart in her ears.
Ana certainly didn’t complain about the show, and soon had taken Kyouko’s place in nabbing
the fox goddess’s lips for herself. Both of them were equally inexperienced as their instincts
took over more than their minds. Akemi felt like she was finally in a pleasant afterlife as her
senses were filled with both of those women till she felt light headed, drunk on them even.
With a heavy gasp they finally separated from each other, their eyes heavy with emotions
they couldn’t even name. Akemi found it a bit harder to think as she just enjoyed those few
moments with them to the utmost, and found her heart swelling in joy further when Kyouko
took Ana’s lips right after the smallest of them caught her breath.
Akemi found she enjoyed watching it from the outside, the two women she… loved enjoying
each other’s company as much as herself. Watching her tall and muscular girlfriend kiss her
tiny and adorable one sent all kinds of flutters into her stomach.
When Kyouko finally released Ana the girl looked fit to pass out, but certainly didn’t look
upset, and just snuggled closer to both of them.
The sound of something falling on the ground disturbed them from their triple trance, their
gazes locked onto something behind the couch.
At the bottom of the stairs Hannyuu stood there with a strangely blank expression, her cup
nearly having fallen from her hands along with the wooden bowl she dropped. Wordlessly
she picked those dishes up and took them to the kitchen. They all listened to the water flow
and the dishes be put in the sink.
Hannyuu didn’t look at them as she passed by the couch and started to head back up the
stairs, only her tail showing her thoughts as it waved around excitedly.
Right before they heard her door close they heard it. “… Fucking finally.” Followed by some
delighted squealing that stunned the three of them despite it being so muffled. It was a good
night.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: So this chapter was a mixed bag I’d say, I tried to add just as much fluff as I did
sadder stuff. Hope you all enjoy Hannyuu’s one F bomb she gets! I had that scene
intended very early on! I hope the mix of light and dark didn’t give you whip lash…
That last bit of the chapter and the struggle to actually say your feelings is 100%
dedicated to my Jennybean~ I finally fucking confessed myself and it went well~ I
swear half of the jokes on Akemi’s uselessness as a lesbian may as well have been
intended for me lol…
As for the darker stuff this chapter well… I mostly derive lots of that from my own
experiences, and I know my… philosophy on the subject differs from most people as
I’m in the right to die camp, but… I think it is up to each person to choose what they
want to do with their life. I won’t get too into things since I’m aware my world views
are depressing as all hell, so I’ll write cute fluff instead!
It was… kinda hard writing fluff involving kissing being asexual, that kind of intimacy
isn’t anything the partner I live with or me care about. Cuddling is what I love though,
so that will get reflected in my writing~ Hope the kissing and such wasn’t horribly
inaccurate or something.
Nothing good without some bad
Chapter Summary
Basking in the warmth of their shared feelings, none foresee the darkness lurking on the
horizon.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Welcome everyone to the next chapter, I hope you all had a lovely week and will
enjoy this chapter to end your week on.
For a while after Hannyuu went back to her room, it was kept nice and quiet down in the
living room, the trio left to bask in the warm feelings of their newly blossomed love, cuddled
on that couch in front of a fireplace.
“How in the world did Hannyuu see all this coming before us? Did we get predicted by a tiny
kitten?” Ana sleepily asked as she rested her head against Akemi’s lap, having taken the
chance to take it as a pillow. While she did that Akemi let herself idly play with the blond’s
hair, while resting her own head over on Kyouko’s chest. Kyouko was just as comfortable as
she kept an arm around Akemi and got to also pet Ana’s hair and watched the human preen
under the attention.
“She is strangely world wise is all I can tell. I don’t think she got to keep much of her
childishness she should have, so I try and let her enjoy the childish things she does like as
much as I can.” Akemi said and let her tails wrap around both her lovers.
“True, she is a good kid, I think it is impossible to not love her once you get to know her.
So… you think she approves?” Kyouko asked, a hint of her nervousness still in her voice.
“Oh I know she does, she is very fond of you two, and you’re both so good with her. We’ll
see if she likes it now that we all get to embarrass her when it is her turn to like someone.”
Akemi sounded far too pleased for the possibility.
“Easy there, don’t tease her too much, we don’t want to drive her away from liking someone
ever if she ever does. I’m not saying she was making some interesting faces at Rinna earlier
today… but I’m not not saying it either. Well, it will be nice watching over her.” Ana said and
smiled up at the other two from her comfortable pillow.
“Mmm… true. Speaking of her I think it is time for bed for all of us also, got more to do
tomorrow. I still need to find out what Mara wants to do…” Akemi said and looked a bit
more somber.
Kyouko reached up to run her fingers through Akemi’s long ebony hair as she rested her
cheek on the top of her head, being tall enough that she had at least a foot over her
girlfriends. “I talked to her and Emeril earlier… they want to wait until we have a more
permanent home. Turns out Emeril can cast third tier magic, so they used something called
Preservation and… well you probably know about things like that more than me. Things will
be fine here, though I hope the trip is done soon, now that I have you two I don’t exactly
want to let you run off into the wilderness… at least not for a while… But I understand things
have to be done… As long as I’ll get some cuddling to make up for it.” Kyouko said and
smiled happily at her two lovers, and just enjoyed their cute blushing.
“Of course, I’m sorry we couldn’t take you with us… I promise the three of us will get out
own little vacation after things are a bit more stable alright? I wonder if Emeril could watch
Hannyuu for us? Something to think about… Bed time you two.” Akemi said and leaned up
to give Kyouko a peck on the lips, and then down at Ana to do the same. It was easy to see
the joy she took in being able to do that.
Ana and Kyouko both chuckled and got up with Akemi. “I need to stick with Hannyuu, I
don’t want her to get bad dreams and all, and I’m kind of used to it now also. You two are
welcome to cuddle for the night though~” Akemi teased as she nearly skipped up the stairs,
her tails wagging wildly. Even Kyouko’s tail was lightly wagging.
Soon the wolf woman noticed Ana had leaned back to watch that tail wave around. “My eyes
are up here~” She teased and wrapped and arm around Ana playfully.
Akemi chuckled as she heard their banter as she went to her room, she had the most
interesting lovers. She felt a jolt down her spine as things finally were realized. “I have a
girlfriend~ Two of them…” Akemi nearly cheered. She limited her cheering to her mind as
she cracked open the bedroom door.
After she changed into her pajamas her ears picked up a loudly beating heart. When she
looked over at the bed Hannyuu was curled up with her head under the blanket, yet from the
movements of her tail under the blanket Akemi could see right through her. Quietly moving
over she slipped a hand under and applied a finger to the feline’s nose. “I know you’re awake
you little peeper.” Akemi teased. She giggled at the grumpy look on her daughter’s face as
she poked her head out of the covers, though that face didn’t last long as she smiled at her
mother more than anything.
“I’m happy for you Mama~ Feel better?” She asked and relaxed again, still buried under
fluffy blankets.
Akemi shook her head in amusement as she laid down also, obviously full of nervous energy.
“I… do, I really do. You sound like you approve?” Akemi asked and turned to look into her
daughter’s eyes.
“Of course I do, they’re good for you, they’re really good people I like being around.”
Hannyuu said as she looked up at the ceiling.
“You do realize that just means you’ll have three moms to embarrass you right?” Akemi
teased and reached over to gently scratch one of those feline ears.
Hannyuu surprised her with the widest of smiles. “Yup, I’m happy to live with that fate.
Knowing you though… I doubt it will be just three…” Hannyuu snorted as she turned over to
cuddle up against Akemi “Night Mama, love you.” She mumbled, muffled against Akemi
and the blankets.
Akemi shook a moment with silent laughter. “Little dork… night dear, love you.” Akemi said
and closed her eyes to embrace a happy sleep.
Despite sleep being strangely hard to keep, Akemi felt full of energy that morning, enough
that she was trying her best at cooking everyone some breakfast. “Lets see… How did Ana
do this again? I just smash the egg?” Akemi thought to herself as she threw a few eggs in a
bowl, shell and all and began to mash them all together with a whisk.
Her tails swayed behind her as she just enjoyed this new activity. “Stove is on, Pan is…”
Akemi put her hand on the pan… over the fire of the stove top, not that she seemed to care.
“Feels hot I guess.” Akemi mumbled and poured the massacred eggs into that pan, and was
immediately confused as she continued. “Um um um… S-salt?” Before she could pour the
open salt shaker into the pan her arm was grabbed.
“Stop stop stop!” She suddenly heard Ana nearly shout next to her. Somehow in her
‘cooking’ she had paid enough attention to not listen out for anyone else. Ana gently ushered
Akemi out of the way and turned off the stove top. They both stared at the blackened yet raw
mess that was left over. “Akemi dear… Not to be mean but… Have you ever cooked at all?”
Ana asked in the nicest tone she could muster.
Akemi’s ears folded a bit as a small whine came from her throat. “N-no… I mean most of my
last life I had to eat nutrient paste from single serve tubes… when I could stomach food, so
I’ve never gotten to cook.” Akemi admitted with a heavy sigh.
Ana looked like she couldn’t stay upset if she even was, so she dumped the pan and set that
aside before she pulled her fluffy girlfriend into a hug. “Thank you for trying dear, want me
to teach you some?” Ana asked as she leaned up to give the fox a peck on the lips, which
seemed to do the trick of perking Akemi up.
“Okay… So what did I do wrong?” Akemi asked with a tilt of her head. If Ana wasn’t so
exasperated by the situation she would find it incredibly adorable… she did find it incredibly
adorable even still.
“…Yes.” With a heavy sigh that was all that Ana could say to sum it all up.
“I’ll finish up in here, why don’t you go wake Kyouko and Hannyuu up?” Ana asked as she
set out extra portions of eggs and other food items, she knew how much everyone could pack
away by that point.
“Got it, I’ll wake up Kyouko first I guess, Hannyuu probably will be waking up just from the
smell of breakfast.” Akemi said and grinned like an idiot.
“Alright, I’ll keep an ear out for her, I’ll come help after I plate all this up.”
Akemi nodded and headed back up stairs in search of their third. “Now that I think about it…
I think this is my first time in her ro- Awww…” Akemi thought as she cracked open Kyouko’s
door, and saw her girlfriend, normally so tough looking, curled up into a ball under an
avalanche of covers, only her head and tail still out from there.
She could only shake her head at the surprisingly cute scene and head on in. “Hey Kyouko~
It is breakfast time~” Akemi whispered like a siren in her wolf ear, and noticed them twitch
at least. “If you don’t get up then it all will be- Eep!” Akemi found herself captured as
Kyouko’s arms reached out from under the covers and wrapped around her, pulling her under
that warm blankets that were heavy with Kyouko’s scent.
Akemi felt her face flushing further as she realized where her face was pressed against. “This
is… a good morning.” She thought in a strange mix of bliss and exasperation.
“I had a feeling this would happen.” They both heard Ana’s voice call out. Pulling the covers
off her head Akemi looked over as best she could at Ana leaning against the door frame with
a smug smirk on her face. “Comfortable over there?”
Akemi figured her blush could be seen in the dark of that room by that point. “M-maybe…
Yes… A little help?” Akemi asked as she tried to figure out what help she even needed.
“Aren’t you stronger than her? I know you could escape if you wanted to.” Ana asked as she
made her way over, and stared at the two of them for a moment.
“I could b-but I don’t want to hurt her if I lose control of my strength… I’m used to it by
now, but I still have to be careful not to crush things that I grab… What are you doing?”
Akemi asked as Ana lifted up the covers from Akemi… and crawled into them also, pinning
Akemi between her lovers.
“Comfy~ Makes me want to go back to sleep almost…” Ana muttered as she hugged
Akemi’s waist tighter from behind. All in all it was the coziest the three of them had gotten
yet.
The sound of something smacking the bed filled the room as they looked at Kyouko who
seemed to be waking up. They both smiled as they noticed Kyouko’s exposed tail wag away
and smack the bed. “Mmm smell food… food and cuddling? Warm…” The wolf muttered
sleepily.
They all might have fallen back asleep if it wasn’t for a throat clearing in the doorway again.
“Well you all look comfortable.” Hannyuu noted with a grin. “Well, unless you all want the
food to get cold it is time to get up Mamas.” The feline seemed to take a large amount of joy
in that sentence, especially when she could tell the effect it had on Ana and Kyouko, who had
finally opened her eyes.
“Wait wait not again!” Hannyuu complained and tried to back out of the room as several tails
stretched across the room and pulled the girl into bed with the three women. “…Comfy…”
She mumbled as she was relaxed somehow between all three of them, the warmth there, as
well as the mixed scents of the three felt like Home to her.
“[Message]. You all have breakfast yet? Want to join us? Just look for the house someone
probably put a shrine in front of, Sounds good, see you soon.” Akemi said as she closed the
mental message she had sent. “Foresight will be joining us soon.” She informed them, and
blinked at the annoyed face of Ana.
“I only made so much you know…” She complained as she got up to start up the stove again,
she stopped as Akemi grabbed her arm.
“I got it is is alright. [True Gemini].” Akemi cast a few times over the different foods they
had set out on the table, spawning identical plates near them. “This isn’t exactly how this
spell is supposed to be used but… all it costs is mana, and It would take a lot of plates of eggs
for me to run out.” Akemi joked as she conjured up a few extra chairs as well, their table
already being decently large for the task.
Not a few minutes later there was a knock at the door. “Its open.” Akemi called out as she
poured herself a second cup of coffee, having drained the first one within minutes, so she was
at least half way alive.
“Welcome everyone, hope you slept well.” Akemi said as she loaded up her plate with the
others. While she could get vegetables and fruit everywhere there, her body always reminded
her now that Kitsune’s were carnivores, so she was forced to dip into her stock of otherwise
game-ingredient meats she had in her inventory from when it was a game and she wanted a
buff from a meal, not that she could enjoy it there…
Now that stockpile of beef in her inventory could be put to good use with thin slices of meat
to go along with their eggs and some other breakfast foods.
“Thanks for breakfast. Yup, the beds were really comfortable. If you went into the furniture
making business you would certainly put everyone else out of the market, especially with
zero operating costs. Maybe I should get into merchanting like the rest of family after all.”
Hekkeran joked as him and Foresight enjoyed a calm breakfast with all of them.
“You’re looking a lot better today Akemi, I’m glad.” Arche said as she sipped her cream
laden coffee happily.
“Yeah… It just took these three a while to snap me out of it, I’m feeling a good bit better this
morning. You all ready to continue? We still have a while till we’re out of the mountains
yes?” She asked as she looked between Ana and Kyouko, holding a hand from each for a
moment.
“Yeah, still at least a week and a half probably, there are foot paths leading up through the
snow that are well worn if you know where to go. I only know because of my family and it’s
merchant connections. The path was made for transporting very small amounts of usually
contraband or illegal products by horseback.” Hekkeran added as he ate his fill.
It was quiet except for the sounds of breakfast for a little while, though a few times she had to
remind Hannyuu to eat a bit more. She was getting to a healthier weight, but was still not
there yet.
“Now that food is squared away, I want to introduce Kyouko, this lovely lady is who Ana and
me talk to every night.” Akemi said and gestured to said woman next to her. After a few
looks between Ana, Kyouko, and Akemi they blushed just a bit. “We may as well also say it
before you ask like I know you will next… Yes we’re all t-together. Kyouko, meet Foresight,
they’ve been great ‘guards’ and great company during this trip.” Akemi tried to move past
any questions as her face flushed as much as her smile grew.
“Hey I heard those air quotes… Wait, what did you say?” Hekkeran asked as what they said
finally caught up to his brain.
“Oho~ About time, it was painful watching all this tip toeing around.” Imina commented
with a snicker.
“Tell me about it…” Hannyuu suddenly said with a heavy sigh. She soon blushed as she
seemed to realize she said her comment out loud, and now everyone was looking at her.
Akemi could only just grumpily sigh. “I have no idea where you get this much Sass from…”
Akemi half complained as she ruffled Hannyuu’s hair enough to make the girl flail to stop her
from mussing up her hair further. It was a rather warm moment.
At the very least all of Foresight was laughing to some degree at the blunt quip from the
quietest of them all. “But congratulations you three, really, it is important to pursue love if
you can find it.” Roberdyck said as seemed genuinely happy for them.
“Thank you. Well… lets see how far we can hike today…” Akemi said as she finished off the
last bites from her plate, and stared at Hannyuu until she stopped just nudging her food
around and actually ate it.
“Wait a minute… Didn’t you say there wasn’t anything actually going on between you
three?” Arche asked with a strange amount of interest in her voice, which got everyone else’s
attention.
“Um… I mean last time we weren’t at the time… We had a long talk last night though and…
well… yeah.” Akemi’s ears seemed to flick up and down as she grabbed Ana and Kyouko’s
hands as if to illustrate her point. Despite the nervousness in her tone she still looked
undeniably happy, all three of them did.
“That is really good, I’m glad you you all.” Arche said as she finished the rest of her food.
“I’ll meet you all outside, I’ll go get our gear ready to leave.” Arche told them as she got up
with a stretch. “It was nice to rest our legs for a day though.”
“We’ll meet you all outside when we’re ready, no need to rush.” Akemi said as she looked
over at Hannyuu, who was staring at Arche curiously as she left their house. “Oh no… what
is she thinking…” Akemi thought as she recognized the hint of the look on her daughter’s
face that meant trouble. “Its probably nothing… probably.”
“Dammit just what is wrong with me?” Arche thought as she suppressed the urge to stomp
back to their temporary house for reasons she didn’t understand. “Best just not think about
it… Just… focus on Kuuderika and Ureirika…” She told herself as she forced herself to calm
down and pack carefully.
“You doing alright there Arche?” She heard Hekkeran ask before she could realized he had
entered. While it was amusing seeing her get surprised and try to bash him with her staff, he
dodged the wood and took a few steps back. “You seemed to kinda run out of there.”
“Me? I’m doing just fine. Why do you ask?” Arche asked as she forced herself to slow down
in her packing.
“Because you’re so damn tense and jumpy. I won’t bug you about it, but if what is happening
is what I think is happening… I’m always here to talk, also if you keep showing that much
sudden interest Hannyuu might decide to start bugging You next.” Hekkeran joked as he
grabbed his gear from his room. “This was a nice break from walking, even if it was a grim
reason to visit here… beautiful place, but I hope we can see it when it is happier.”
When he looked in Arche’s room he found her laid back on her bed staring at the ceiling. “To
be honest… I have no idea what I’m feeling… M-maybe I was feeling a bit of a… connection
with them but… who knows, it is a bit late now. I’m not going to get in the way of any of
them, they looked so… Happy, my parents certainly never looked like that.” Arche muttered
as she heaved a sigh.
“Arche… It isn’t wrong to want that. You do seem to really get along with them, were you
getting some tender feelin- Hey!” Hekkeran complained as a pillow was thrown at his head.
“I’m trying to be helpful here… I doubt you would ruin anything they have together, so
maybe try and figure out what you feel before anything else? I think you’re overlooking
possibilities… I in no way can speak for them, or can claim to know anything about well…
polyamorous relationships like that. You already know Imina might actually kill me if I tried
something like that, but maybe you would still have a shot? They all seemed to make it work
somehow. Give it some thought I guess.” Hekkeran said as he turned to leave her alone for
the moment.
“Hey… Hekkeran… Thanks, you’re not a bad leader sometimes. I’ll give it some thought.”
Arche said as a bit of her spirit came back, that dark green envy she felt being beaten away
for the time being.
“Hey I’m always a good leader. Back onto the trail we go I suppose, make sure to check your
gear, we leave in ten to fifteen.”
“Could I see your ring Kyouko? I want to change one of the enchantments.” Akemi asked as
the four of them stood out of the front of the house, soaking up every last moment together
that they could.
“Hmm? Oh sure, I want it back though.” Kyouko said as she slid the astral gold ring off her
finger and held it out.
“Of course, I don’t take back my gifts dear.” Akemi said with a grin. She took that ring and
flipped it over her fingers. Looking up she saw Kyouko take a seat on one of the porch chairs
she she made in front of their home and got a smirk on her face. “Excuse me a moment~”
Akemi said as she gently placed herself over and onto Kyouko’s lap, using her as her own
chair to relax on. She tilted her head up to smile teasingly at the wolf woman as she she got
comfortable.
Kyouko for once was the one flushed and nervous looking, but she didn’t push Akemi off or
anything, if anything she wrapped her arms around Akemi’s waist as she watched the Kitsune
work.
“I’ll go check in on some of the villagers, make sure there aren’t any last minute requests
they need done, b-but I want some cuddling also when I get back okay?” Ana asked with an
adorable flush.
“Oh of course, the more the merrier~” Akemi said as she smiled lovingly at the both of them.
“Lets see… [All Modify Magical Item].” Akemi cast as that ring floated just a bit in the air
and became encased in Akemi’s golden magic again. “[Add Enchantment: Waystone
Teleport]. There we go.” Akemi said as she finalized her editing and held up the ring that
now felt almost uncomfortably warm.
In the time it took for her to do this Hannyuu and Ana returned to them. “So I got good
news!” Akemi said as she hopped off of Kyouko’s lap, which just let Ana take her place, the
tiny mage curling up adorably against their much taller girlfriend. Akemi had to grin at the
scene, her heart swelling just a bit “This is just the beginning.” Akemi thought as she pulled
out two more identical rings. “So I have one for each of you like I promised, now in addition
to the casts of fly and message on it, it has a single daily cast of a teleport that takes you
directly to the side of any of us. If you are ever in danger teleporting to me is the safest
option. I’m not sure if there is much that can threaten me besides a certain grumpy skeleton,
but I’d rather be careful…” Akemi said and handed out a ring to those three. Each one had
their name engraved on them they noticed.
Akemi watched them all enjoy the way the sunlight glinted off the violet tinged gold rings.
“Astral gold is likely unique in these lands, so those rings are one of a kind, hence why you
get your names on them. I added a nasty little curse if anyone were to ever steal them~”
Akemi noted as Foresight also showed up.
“Awww any gifts for us?” Hekkeran asked with a cheeky grin. Akemi noted Arche still
looked a bit off, but better than when she ran off. “Hope the dear is feeling alright… I’ll keep
an extra eye on her.” Akemi thought as she rolled her eyes at the man’s whining.
“Are you a cute girl? Then no~” Akemi taunted and winced as both Ana and Kyouko gently
flicked at her ears.
“I mean, I’m not but… Imina and Arche are~” Hekkeran watched as Akemi comically
stiffened up, he knew he had her. She was good at giving sass, but he had discovered she was
bad at responding to it without self destructing in some way.
“…Well not that she isn’t lovely, but I don’t think it would be proper of me to lavish your
girlfriend with presents.” Akemi said and she smiled at Imina, who looked ready to laugh.
“I think you’re great, but I’m quite straight, although I wouldn’t mind gifts from a friend.”
Imina turned and looked at Arche, and spotted just how hard the girl was trying to hold a
straight face. “Maybe it is a Noble training thing to hide their emotions? Damn she has it
bad…”
“Alas Imina I don’t have any bows or the like, not on hand at least.” Akemi said and then
looked over at Arche and her confident expression faltered as she must have seen at least
some hint of the struggle on the girl’s face. Akemi turned around to look at at Ana, Kyouko
and Hannyuu, who only looked amused and not pissed she she feared they might be. “Well…
I do have mage gear and… I don’t think anyone here could deny you’re a lovely lady A-
Arche. I had meant to give this to you once Hannyuu learned her first first level spell but… It
could still come in handy during the trip and all…” Akemi said and turned to pout at
Hekkeran, which let her not see Arche do just the same.
Akemi hid her anxiousness by reaching deep into her inventory to make a show of reaching
around. “I made your staff similar to Ana’s, both are Orichalcum and hand made, but the
inscribing is different. Their basically sister projects I had made at the same time, part of a
set.” Akemi said and pulled out another beautiful deep purple staff.
Holding out that staff Akemi was pleased to see Arche take her own with the same reverence.
“I recommend testing it out before using it in combat, since it is enchanted to amplify spells.
Hannyuu, once you cast you first first level spell I’ll make you your first wand~” Akemi said
as she tried to brush off her embarrassment.
Arche meanwhile tried to not meet Ana or Kyouko’s eyes as she felt both of them staring at
her. When she did peek up she was surprised by the lack of malice in their eyes, if anything
she just felt curiosity from them. “They… aren’t mad?” Everything she had ever been told
about relationships told her that showing signs of interest in someone’s partner was a quick
way to incur their wraith most of the time. She let her eyes drift back to Akemi’s partners and
gave a nervous smile, and was surprised by the fluttering inside of her stomach at the smiles
given back. Her eyes drifted to look at Kyouko some more, and fully grasped how tall the
woman was, how she had muscles but they only seemed to accent her curves, and the gap
between her pants and vest that showed her bare stomach was admittedly universally
attractive. “I gotta admit… they all have great taste.” Arche thought as she forced herself to
turn to her staff to examine that instead to stop her blushing.
“I think we have delayed long enough sadly… Kyouko I really wish we could stay for a few
more days… we’ll hopefully have more down time for us all to relax together soon…”
Akemi said and took a few deep breathes before moving closer to her taller girlfriend, and
with a finger hooked on Kyouko’s vest she pulled her down gently to her level to press a
gentle kiss against Kyouko’s lips. It would be far more romantic if she didn’t have to stand on
her tippy toes, yet it was still enough for both of them to get blushed by. “You’re just…
kissing your girlfriend, you kissed her… I don’t want to leave…” Akemi thought as she
forced herself to step away before she could attempt to full on make out with her.
Ana surprised them all next as she took a few moments of standing in front of Kyouko to
gather her courage before repeating what Akemi did, though thankfully Kyouko helped her
by leaning down just a bit for the girl to make up for the over a foot difference in height.
“Why is she so hot…?” Ana thought as she only let her hand briefly touch Kyouko’s abs
before backing off.
Foresight looked more amused than anything at the over the top goodbye they were doing.
Arche though was pointedly looking away and actually blushing this time, noble training be
damned.
“I’ll make sure to message you also Mama Kyouko~” Hannyuu said as she launched herself
up at the wolf woman when Ana had finished kissing her. Kyouko chuckled a bit as she
caught Hannyuu and hugged her right back, and seemed to just melt in the cutest way. Even if
it wasn’t quite the same compared to her first daughter, she did seem to like being called
Mama. “We’ll be back soon enough, I’ll keep up with my workouts while I’m gone.”
Hannyuu’s voice got a bit lower as she spoke, but her hug around the woman’s neck stayed
tight. “I-I love you also Mama Kyouko… I’m really happy for you three.” Hannyuu said and
tried not to wince at the tight hug Kyouko gave back as she felt the woman’s chest tighten
with emotion.
“Yeah… Yeah I love you too you little munchkin, don’t cause too much tro- actually cause
plenty of trouble for your other two moms.” Kyouko told the girl and careful set her down.
Akemi and Ana nearly had as many tears in their eyes as Kyouko did.
“[Gate]…” Akemi sadly muttered and summoned their way back to their tower. “I’ll talk to
you later Kyouko, I L-love you. Message us if you need to alright? There is literally days of
travel to go through and only so much to do on the road.”
“I love you also Kyouko… all that goes for me also, though I don’t have much fancy magic
to help sadly… But you, Akemi, and Hannyuu are a lot more important to me than you might
realize. We both have those rings so you can message me also, I’ll try and message you as
well.” Ana said as she smiled up at Kyouko, the tempered swordswoman looking even more
vulnerable than the frail little mage.
“I’ll message you every day Mama Kyouko. You both are important to Mama and me, so take
care alright? Lirina and her mom will tell me if you’re letting yourself get too sad~” Hannyuu
said as she turned to smile at Ana, and gently bunted her head against Ana’s shoulder like an
affectionate cat.
That amused the bunch of them, the smallest of them very mildly threatening the largest.
“When did you set this up Munchkin?” Kyouko asked curiously.
“I have my ways~” Hannyuu said and looked far too smug for her own good.
“Okay okay, I’ll message if I feel the need to, likely just going to be training and taking care
of things around here. Even if we’re moving somewhere else eventually it is important to
keep things neat and safe. Now go on before we’re here all day.” Kyouko joked and tried to
shoo them into the portal.
Akemi had to nearly force herself to go through the portal after Foresight, fighting against
every bit of her that wanted to just run back over to Kyouko and hug her tightly, till all the
pain she can see in her eyes was gone.
Ana was the last to go through, having to push Hannyuu through a bit. “We’ll be back Dear
love you! Take care alright? Oh Hi and bye Emeril!” Ana said and finally went through the
portal before It all could begin.
It began right as that portal closed. “Well well well~ that was an amusing display.” Emeril
jeered as she sauntered over with Lirina and Rinna behind her.
“Oh no… Well, guess you were going to see eventually… Go ahead, get it out of your
system.” Kyouko said with a tired chuckle.
Emeril’s face looked ten years younger as she jumped up and down a few times with some
squeaks of excitement. “It was so adorable… I’m happy for you.” Emeril said as she trotted
over to hug her friend.
“You do Not act over four hundred years old I swear… Thanks, It was an… interesting
night.” Kyouko said and then looked at Emeril again, knowing what the look on her face
meant.
“Hey kids why don’t you all play tag? I know~ [Kitsune Summon: Kudagitsune].” Emeril
said as she summoned a singular nearly transparent pipe fox. “Chase this little guy around
you two~ I’ll be here alright?” Emeril said as she guided Kyouko into a lawn chair, and took
one herself.
“Yes mom! Come on Rinna! The little fox is really fast!” Lirina said as the tiny ball of energy
dashed after the pipe fox as it swam through the air.
“W-wait for me!” Rinna yelped out as the sheep girl looked between Emeril and Lirina for a
moment until she got a nod and a smile from Emeril. With that she ran off after the younger
girl.
Once little ears were out of range Emeril’s face turned positively lascivious. “Okay spill, how
did last night go for Lady Akemi and Ana? I had a talk with her also and it sounded like at
least something was going to happen, and judging by the kissing…” Emeril looked more like
a Kitsune than ever before as her mischievous nature came out in full force.
“Calm down you eternally horny fox… We didn’t do anything besides kiss and cuddle. I’m
going to let them go at their pace since they are quite new to all this.” Kyouko said as she
observed the settlement around them, mostly to see if there were even more people listening
in.
“I got that feeling also… It feels like there is a lot she has yet to tell me, but I know Lady
Akemi means well, I trust her. So… how innocent are we talking? Well, I’m sure you can
give them a good education~”
Kyouko stared at her old friend for a while before sighing. “You are really not going to drop
it are you? Fine… Not everyone can have your stamina, so I’d have to go easy on them for a
while, but… I am damn looking forward to getting them to scream my name at the same
time~” Kyouko admitted with heavy gleam in her eye, and a sensual smile on her lips.
Akemi quickly checked her security systems for the tower as they returned directly inside.
Even from inside they could hear voices that sounded angry and annoyed.
“Called it. See how the place is still just fine? Looks like some more of those bandits have
arrived. Maybe one got away to tell the main group?” Akemi thought out loud as she
stretched.
“So you did, want us to deal with them?” Hekkeran asked as he set his gear back onto his belt
and equipment in place.
Once everyone had arrived and the portal was closed Akemi shook her head. “No, I know
you all can handle yourselves, and it isn’t worth wasting time on them, I’ll just deal with
them in one go. Killing is… distasteful but… I have no prisons for bandits…” Akemi
complained and let her tails stretch out.
“We don’t have any prisons yet for anyone.” Ana helpfully pointed with with a chuckle. Her
mood still seemed to be up as she kept touching her lips.
“Yeah yeah… that will be fixed eventually, though I’d rather our people just not commit
crimes but… to be mortal is to sin. Can’t be helped. You all may as well stand back, or watch
from above if you want, it will be pretty quick though.” Akemi told them as she mentally
calculated which spell might be best.
At that warning all of Foresight was quick to move up top, as was Ana as she took Hannyuu
along. “Don’t worry dear, they are no threat. There shouldn’t be a lot of blood or clean up,
just a quick strike.” Once Akemi had the room to herself she activated her Celestial Aura and
opened up the doors to her tower.
No words truly needed to be spoken, and on the bandit’s side it seemed they all couldn’t even
do that as they had collapsed to the ground under the pressure of her skill. “You have thirty
seconds to explain why you’re bashing on my door.” Akemi told the one who was resisting
the most.
“You… Bitch… Where are our… men?! What did you do with… them?” The bandit asked as
he tried and failed to stand up. As he struggled futilely against Akemi’s skill, their timer ran
out, as did Akemi’s patience. With far more ease than should be possible, each of her tails
reached out to one of the twenty men and began to almost gently fling them against the rock
wall next to the tower next to the path they had been traveling.
In mere moments all twenty men were collapsed in a groaning pile against the rocks. It was at
that point one they noticed her raise her hand at them again. “[Brilliant Radiance].” In
another instant a pillar of light rose from the ground and blessed the crags around in it’s light,
as that same light turned all twenty men into ash in even less time. It was once again just
Akemi’s tower, and Akemi herself standing in the open.
It didn’t take long for everyone else to arrive out of the tower and stare in awe. “No kill like
Overkill I suppose… doesn’t feel as nice as it did back then.” Akemi mumbled to herself as
she looked between her group and her tower. “Does everyone have everything of their out of
there?” Akemi asked and felt slightly hurt at the silence, only nods coming from them.
“[Magic Destruction].” Akemi half heartedly cast at her tower, and watched the entire thing
crumple in moments, the entire structure cracking and falling apart and over the mountain,
and from there the debris itself crumbled to dust. “Lets get going…” Akemi mumbled.
Ana and Hannyuu were quick to trot up next to her and grab a hand each “Are you alright
Akemi? Sorry if I was quiet, I was just trying to figure out that magic, it was really pretty.”
Ana said and looked up at the Kitsune in concern.
Hannyuu didn’t seem to need to say much as she just huddled at her mom’s side and bunted
her head against her affectionately.
“Yeah, I just get… worried… the more I do the more people seem to fear me it seems… It is
only going to get worse I fear. I mean, what I plan to do is going to top any other spell I’ve
ever cast…” Akemi said as they followed Foresight as they started down the path. They were
giving Akemi, Ana, and Hannyuu space to speak, but to Akemi’s eyes they looked like they
were avoiding her.
“I can’t really speak for anyone else… but I’ll never fear you Mama, I know you’re strong,
the strongest, but I also know that you try your best to do good things with it, so I believe in
you mom.” Hannyuu said as their feet crunched the snow under them.
“Thanks you two, that means a lot…” Akemi said and wrapped her tails around both of them
as her hand gave their’s a squeeze. “Love you both.”
9/4 Lower Fire Month
It had been nearly a week since her family had left for their trip, and Kyouko had started to
go a bit stir crazy. “I swear Emeril… Next time You are holding down the fort… I want my
own vacation with them.” She complained with a tiny whine.
“You’re still talking to them every day aren’t you?” Emeril asked as she sat at Akemi’s desk
in her study, and began to finally start her job as Minister of Civilian Affairs, and began the
paperwork that would be needed. “Think Akemi knows how much paperwork it takes to run
a country?”
“I am… but still… I want to hug them also, and kiss them. I also just want some more
bonding time with my new step daughter, she called me Mama and she knew how much that
meant to me…” Kyouko sighed as she laid back in a thick leather reclining chair that Akemi
had told her was more from her previous world. What ever it was it was comfortable and she
had half a mind to ask for one. “Oh I know she doesn’t know much about government, it is
going to be pretty amusing… Oh yeah, I think you’re going to have to join Ana in teaching
her how to read and write.”
That caused Emeril to pause her work and turn to look at Kyouko with just… exhaustion.
“You’re kidding right? How in the world did she live this long without it? She doesn’t seem
unintelligent, far from it. I swear I love that woman to death for all she has done for us, but
sometimes she reminds me of someone closer to Lirina’s age than anyone, like she is just a
tiny one tail that is new to things.” Emeril joked as she scribbled some more.
Once she continued working she noticed how quiet Kyouko had gotten. After the few years
she had known Kyouko, intimately in some instances, she knew the little micro expressions
her friend would make. She had her own naughty face, a mischievous face, the face she made
when she was lying, or in this particular case… when she was hiding something. That cute
and fluffy tail would neatly tuck away, while her ears folded up, all while she looked as far
away from Emeril as she could. “Kyouko… Is there something I should know?”
Kyouko took a few deep breathes and gave a quiet groan. “I’m pretty sure she meant to tell
you a few things while she was here, or at least after her trip… L-let me message her, see if
she would be fine with me sharing some important things.” Kyouko mumbled out, and could
barely meet Emeril’s eyes. “For a fucking bottom you’re damn scary sometimes…
[Message]” Kyouko conveniently tuned out the light outrage from Emeril as she focused on
the call.
“Hey Akemi dear? Emeril may have possibly figured out something is off with your age, since
you don’t know the language… I didn’t tell her I swear, she is really perceptive…” Kyouko
tried to explain quickly.
Akemi on the other end looked a bit startled by the sudden message. “Oh that is alright I
suppose… I did plan to tell her everything anyway, mostly everything… Knowing I’m from
another world should be good enough for her. I’ll talk to her soon alright? You can tell her at
least how old I actually am if you really really need to… If she is going to help me I need her
to trust me…” Akemi complained a bit.
“Got it, I’ll let her know, love you, tell Ana and Hannyuu the same please.” Kyouko said as
she tried to keep the longing out of her voice.
She must have failed as Akemi just hummed for a moment “The three of us really do need
our own vacation, you deserve it. I’m sorry I’m putting you in this position Kyo… I l-love you
too, feels strange that I can just… say that now, but good. I’ll pass on the love for you, or tell
them to contact you later. Oh dear… Hannyuu is laying down on the snow and is complaining
about her sore muscles and thinks the snow might help… I’ll talk to you later love, bye!”
Akemi sounded regretful as she hung up the message.
Kyouko had to shake her head in amusement as she could just imagine the scene. “Hannyuu
is a good kid, a dork though. So… what do you want to know friend?” Kyouko asked,
already she looked tired.
“Is she really a nine tails? how old is she really? What is she even trying to do with all of
this? Is this all just some sort of game to her?!” Emeril steadily started to look legitimately
pissed at the situation as more ideas came to her head.
“Hey! Don’t you Dare talk about her that way!” Kyouko growled as she glared at her friend.
“She has been doing her best to do what she can for us all. She is… sometimes painfully
innocent, she truly just wants to help us all, to give us a homeland we can call our own. As
for your other questions… I won’t tell you the whole story, that is Akemi’s place, not mine,
but she told me I can tell you some things. She is a nine tails, and does seem to be a goddess
as a matter of fact, despite what she wants to think. As for her age, has she ever claimed to be
as old as you thought she was? She is nineteen and has been trying her best ever since she got
to these lands.” Kyouko said as she tried to relax again.
“… Nineteen? We’re been following the lead of a child?” Emeril seemed torn as she went
through her memories of Akemi. “She has not… I can accept her being nineteen, it makes
sense with how she acts… maybe that is why I want to mother on her? Does she even know
what she is doing?” Emeril asked as she slowly calmed down.
“Do any of us really know what we’re doing? What I do know is that her power is the real
deal, I’ve never met anyone stronger than her, and yet she has been struggling over how to
use that power responsibly… You know her, she isn’t a good actor, she wears her heart on her
sleeve, she truly cares about all of us.” Kyouko nearly pleaded.
“I… I can tell she does… I’m just worried about being led by someone with so little
experience, the blind leading the blind…” Emeril looked far less spirited by that point.
“Why do you think she is trying to get people to help her? Its why she tapped you for help in
running things, she knows more than anyone how limited her life experience is, and what life
experience she does have isn’t valid in this world, its why she can’t understand the language.
She did also try and get anyone to volunteer instead of her…”
“This world? Are you trying to say she is like the Eight greed kings? Fuck… that is even
before my time… I think… this is complicated enough for me, I need to think on things. I’ll
stick with her, but I want a chance to sit down and have a long conversation with Akemi…
Sorry about… getting angry at your Mate It is just… a lot to take in.” Emeril admitted as she
folded up all the files she was working on, tucking them away in the case Akemi had
provided her when she ‘promoted’ her.
“It is alright to ask questions, just don’t accuse of doing any of this out of malice, I’m not
sure she even has any malice in her… Be careful with her heart…” Kyouko got up off of her
chair and paced around the room a bit.
“I will… I need to go check up on Lirina and Rinna, I’ll-I’ll see you later Kyouko, I have a
headache now…” Emeril mumbled that last bit as she left the room.
Soon the room was dead quiet once again as Kyouko kept pacing that office space. She froze
as she felt a familiar sensation in her brain. “Oh hey Akemi- No, you aren’t her. Who the hell
are you messaging me?” Kyouko asked as her mental voice turned ice cold.
“Who I am is of no importance, what matters is the organization I represent, and the message
I am to pass on. Five years the ever dedicated mother, you’ve really made things difficult for
us Kyouko. It was surprisingly for you to be spotted next to that fox abomination in the
Capital. We have what you’ve been searching for, and you will meet us alone outside of E-
Rantel if you wish to ever see her. Meet us at the sight that abomination crippled those
useless knights. We have an offer just for you that we will present, be there by midnight or
you will never see her again.” Before Kyouko could ask any further questions that Message
was ended by the other end.
Kyouko felt a chill in her gut as her mind raced to the only conclusion she could make about
this ‘offer’. It wasn’t the first time Eight Fingers or other groups have noticed her and what
she wanted and tried to claim they had her daughter. It had gotten to the point where it was
nearly predictable, they would offer no evidence, and even if she followed them it would end
up being a trap…
She thought about calling Akemi again, but knew that Akemi had her own business at the
time to deal with. She had all the tools and people needed to do it herself…
“Alright everyone, I have a mission for you tonight.” Kyouko said as she stood in front of her
four best fighters. “Ethin, Van, Kriss, Taffy, you’re all to follow back behind me at a
minimum of fifty to one hundred meters back depending on how close I am to the targets. It
is another asshole who wants to toy with my heart, so when I give the signal you’ll have free
reign to attack with me when it inevitably turns out to be a lie. I have a tool from Lady
Akemi that will let me tell if they are telling the truth or not so this should be easy enough.
Any questions?” Kyouko as she she double checked her gear, all her pouches, as well as her
Wyrm leather armor, plus Desolation sheathed at her side.
“Yes Ma’am, what do we do if it turns out to be true?” Kriss asked, his silver wolf ears folded
down as he saw the pain deep in his leader’s eyes.
“We’ll… figure that out if it happens. Lets move everyone.” Kyouko told them as she double
checked the position of the mood and stars for the time.
They all launched themselves into the forest as a single unit, one wolf pack with one mind.
The trouble was that it was still quite a long run to the meeting spot… and they were getting
a bit nervous in that silence. “So Ma’am… we’ve been hearing a lot of… rumors lately, about
you and Lady Akemi? And what about that human… Ana I think.” Taffy asked as he jumped
off another thick branch.
They all heard Kyouko groan and felt that was enough of an answer in the No direction that
no one followed up, they didn’t need to.
“Well, it will come out pretty quickly when Akemi and Ana return… and if I can’t trust you
four with this who can I right?” Kyouko asked with a smile as she led the way towards their
destination. She held out for a moment, enjoying the tense silence as they waited for her to
tell them before the question consumed them.
“Yes, the rumors are true, I’ve taken Akemi and Ana as my Mates and I trust you will show
Ana the same respect as that position calls for? Akemi and Ana have also taken each other as
Mates, so things are… going well between us, I’m happy on that front.” Kyouko admitted, a
feeling of giddiness in her belly as she thought about the nice moments they had already
shared.
“About time you settled down Ma’am, you won’t get any grief from me. Lady Akemi aside,
Ana seems quite nice, pretty strong willed for such a small girl.” Van said, his first words that
night as the normally quiet man preferred to keep to himself.
After a round of nods and happy noises they all seemed to calm down and get back on task.
The closer they got, the worse Kyouko felt… “We’ll separate from here, stay far behind, but
be ready to move if I give the signal.” Kyouko told them as she dashed ahead of her men.
It was still another few minutes of running before she emerged from the dense forest and into
the moonlight. Deep in the shadows of the city wall, Akemi could see a small group of
cloaked men. She forced herself to walk from there to not show them how anxious she was.
Soon enough she stood across from them, unable to distinguish them from each other with
their cloaks on, besides their scents she had never smelled before. One of those cloaked men
stepped forward from the group, and his yellow smile was bright under his hood. “Such a
dedicated mother, any whisper of that thing and you come running along.” The man sounded
malicious, as if she had personally cut his purse strings by that point.
“[Discern Truth].” Kyouko said as she took out a scroll she had been given, and tossed it up
into the air, which burnt to ash in a moment. In it’s place a green orb floated next to her. “I
didn’t come here to chat for pleasure. I’m not here to play your sick games either. Do you
have my daughter?” Kyouko asked, her voice cold as Ice as her hand played with the handle
of Desolation.
That smile on the man didn’t go away, even when she used the spell scroll. It wasn’t hard to
know what that spell did from the name, and yet they weren’t nervous… “We of Eight
Fingers do indeed have the one you seek, of course we always did. It was quite the popular
product for a while.” The man’s voice made Kyouko want to puke as he spoke like that about
her daughter, but she resisted the urge to kill them then and there. Turning to that spell orb
she watched it for any sign of it changing colors like Akemi said it would if there was a lie in
it’s presence. Her heart sank as it stayed a steady green.
For the first time with them her hand shook as it held her sword handle. “Tell. Me. Where is
Lorelei? I want my daughter and you know I will never stop until I get her back. Show me
proof this isn’t just a waste of my time!” She demanded as she desperately wanted to distrust
that spell…
Without a word that man reached into his cloak and pulled out a pouch. Kyouko caught it as
it was thrown and opened up the leather. The scent that hit her nose brought her back five
years as one she would never forget, to when her sweet Lorelei was even younger than
Hannyuu, just what kind of life had she been forced into after five years?
It was undoubtedly her daughter’s scent, and fresh. A large chunk of thin, dirty red hair sat at
the bottom of the sack, nearly black from grime, but still she could smell her daughter
strongly.
“What we of Eight Fingers want is quite simple. This ‘Akemi’ abomination has been a thorn
in our side since she appeared out of no where, and we have yet to so much as touch them.
We learned of her in this very town as someone who was walking in broad daylight with our
merchandise, acting like some sort of guardian to a broken toy, it was sad really…
Regardless, she did kill our men and steal it. We had planned on disposing of it after it failed
to sell but… well it’s value went up recently.” It was easy to see the man was taking far too
much joy in discussing ‘business’.
“What in the world do you bastards want with Hannyuu? How dare you fucking talk about
any of those three like that… Don’t think I won’t kill you.” Kyouko growled as her hand
clutched her sword hilt.
“Ah ah ah, temper. While that toy’s value has gone up, you walking with that Abomination of
a Demi-human also raised the value of one of our other products. Of course It is being kept
under guard around the clock due to said value It now has. While you Could kill me, easily
I’m quite sure, I’m no fighter you see, my employers would take that as a rejection of our
generous offer and we would have misjudged the girl’s value and would dispose of her that
very moment.” Once they were sure Kyouko wasn’t going to attack they relaxed.
“Now… as for our offer it is quite simple. While we cannot touch the Abomination, there are
others we can touch that might let us salvage this situation she has put us in. Bring us the cat
that monster stole from us, and we shall take you to your daughter and you’ll be welcome to
take it, as I said it does not sell so well these days.”
Kyouko felt like she might pass out as it took a few moments for those words to fully sink in.
“N-no… That isn’t fair…” She muttered too quietly for them to hear.
“We know that a deal such as this might be a lot to think about, and may require some
planning on your part so we will give you till tomorrow to bring the girl to this same spot at
this same time. Do not bring anyone else, and do not bring weapons. Do this and take your
daughter back, and then leave these lands. If you don’t show up with the cat we will take that
as a rejection of the deal and we’ll make sure the product is never seen again.” He finished
and turned around back towards the city.
Kyouko had completely locked up as she watched them disappear into the night, her only
lead to her daughter. “No… no no!” Kyouko cried out as she collapsed to her knees as her
mind warred against itself. She didn’t even notice as her men surrounded her and began to
help her back into the forest. “This… isn’t fair…” She thought In a blind panic, no option
was a good one. She was always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it finally had.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Welp, I won’t give you much else right now except that next chapter will be…
certainly something. In stories like this with very powerful protagonists, it is very easy
for things to go too well for them, which I try to avoid. I’ll see you all next week, where
questions will be answered.
Great Sacrifices
Chapter Summary
What would you do for those you love? Would you stain your hands in evil for them? To
those that walk into Hell's maw, take care...
Chapter Notes
A/N: This chapter is… a rough one… A lot of issues and triggering topics in it. As a list:
Extreme cruelty and violence, depictions of sexual slavery, assault of a minor, attempted
sexual assault on a minor, a lot of discussion of past trauma stemming from rape and
slavery as well.
Also this is for the one person who seems to think Ainz can solve everything: This story
is not about Ainz or Nazarick, the answer is not always to ask Ainz for help. Ainz is
very clear in even canon that unless it benefits him in some way he doesn't care. This is
about a very imperfect person with far too much power going through traumatic events
which can make people not think clearly and that often cannot be solved with her power.
Not every problem can be solved easily, and if you want things to be more about Ainz I
suggest you go read the excellent LNs or write your own fanfiction.
“Kyouko! Kyouko snap out of it and talk to me!” Emeril shouted as she shook Kyouko as she
sat slumped in her arm chair after what ever mystery trip she took.
“You’re men went through the trouble of getting me out of bed and watching the girls, so
please just let me help you friend… I’m worried about you…” Emeril whimpered as she tried
to remember any time she had seen her friend this down before. The only times she had
gotten near that level of depressed were incidents that involved her daughter.
“E-emeril…” Kyouko mumbled as hugged herself, on the verge of a complete break down in
Emeril’s eyes.
“Kyouko, I’m right here, what happened?” She once again tried to get the wolf to speak and
finally succeeded in at least getting the woman to look at her. The dead look in her eyes
didn’t make Emeril feel any better about the situation. “Ugh… why did I never bother to
learn Message? First chance I get I’m learning it… Please… Kyouko, give me something to
work with?” she pleaded.
“-n’t win…” Kyouko mumbled, barely under Emeril’s range of hearing. She lifted the wolf’s
eyes so she could look at her closer.
“I can’t win this… There are no moves that lead to anything good…” Kyouko barely
whimpered out before she pointed at a small leather bag that was tossed on the floor near her
gear.
Emeril reached down to grab that and hesitated for just a moment. Opening up the air tight
bag she was hit by a familiar scent. “Oh… oh no…" She didn’t know Lorelei for very long
before she was kidnapped, but she had been there with Kyouko through all the stages of her
grief, so she knew the level of anguish her friend was feeling.
Truthfully she had given up any hope of getting Lorelei back for Kyouko, but wouldn’t dare
speak it out loud. “Kyouko, what did they want? They offered a deal yes?” Emeril asked and
soon found Kyouko avoiding her gaze. That question seemed to just distress her further,
enough that Emeril noticed Kyouko’s claw-like nails begin to puncture her upper arms as she
gripped them. It was clear to her that Kyouko was not in a state of mind she could think
clearly.
Emeril was quick to grab a towel from the bathroom and rush back in to pull Kyouko’s hands
away from her arms. “Kyouko! You need to calm down! Have you contacted Akemi about
this yet? At the very least she can help right? Where did you put those tools…” Emeril
muttered after she got Kyouko to hold the towels to her bleeding arms, any pain didn’t seem
to even register to her.
“…Middle drawer… wands… instructions…” She was able to mutter barely loud enough for
Emeril’s benefit. After a few more muttered curses that would never be spoken in front of
young and big ears, Emeril came rushing back over with a fancy looking gold wand.
“Lets see… Oh she had Ana write these, good. [Cure Light Wounds].” Emeril spoke as she
held the wand at Kyouko and saw the item activate and those small stab wounds from
Kyouko’s claws faded away soon after. “There… Now Kyouko, you NEED to snap out of
it!” Emeril nearly shouted and looked into Kyouko’s eyes until she was sure there was
someone home in there.
“I’m… I’m here, I just need a moment. S-sorry, I need to think about the situation first, and
yeah I’ll talk to Akemi about it, she’ll need to know.” Kyouko seemed to slowly come out of
her shell shocked state with some deep breathes.
Emeril seemed to be relieved at that and would sit on the arm of the chair next to her and hug
the woman tightly. “I know things are difficult, if you need anything I’m more than happy to
help, you know I’ll always be there for you. I’ll come check on you in a while alright?”
Emeril said as she eventually let the woman go, but was obviously still worried about her as
Kyouko rubbed at her eyes.
Once the front door closed it was annoyingly quiet in her ears. “What do I even do? Lorelei…
I need you back…” She knew what she wanted, she knew what would be the easiest way to
get her back, but that choice was unthinkable…
“Five years… She has been trapped there for five years… I’m already a horrible mother, the
worst. If… If I can at least get her safe, I’d be fine with dying, as long as she is safe…” She
thought as she raised her head back up. Though tired, fire was in her eyes as lifted her hand
and the ring Akemi gave her. “[Message]. Hello Hannyuu…”
Kyouko felt her heart break as she heard Hannyuu’s own continue to beat out of her chest as
the two of them walked through the forest, not a word spoken between them. While they both
could see well enough in the dark, even without much light shining between the dense trees,
they both seemed on edge once they saw the trees end.
“It won’t be much farther I think, I’m sorry for disrupting your trip dear.” Kyouko said and
seemed to be forcing any kind of smile on her face.
“Its okay Mama Kyouko, if this helps you then it will all turn out for the best.” Hannyuu said
and tried to smile back at the wolf, but her own nervousness was clear to see.
Once they were closer to the city walls they noticed that where there would guards patrolling,
there was just an empty strip of tall city wall, casting a long shadow with the moon past it.
Deep in that shadow Kyouko could once again see many cloaked figures, as well one man in
black and gold clothes with red hair and a silver sword at his side. “Who is that?” She
thought and tried to analyze him from far away, It was easy to see they brought in some sort
of enforcer if they weren’t even disguised, while she was currently unarmed.
As both parties got closer she looked down at Hannyuu and felt a pain in her chest at the look
in the girl’s eyes. She saw the genuine fear there as her gaze shot between the men appearing.
“K-kyouko? What is going on? You said Mama would meet us here right?” Hannyuu asked
in a shaky voice, as the terror in those carmine eyes took hold.
She winced as she felt Kyouko’s grip around her upper arm, holding her there as those men
got closer. She held her there as the one who Kyouko had talked to first knelt down in front
of her and was examining the girl as if comparing her to a piece of meat. “Indeed, I’d
remember those defiant eyes anywhere, it took a surprising amount of time to break you,
though everyone breaks eventually. You’re regulars missed you, I’m sure they’ll be delighted
to see you again, and back in such excellent shape.” The man said with a chuckle as he held
up a small white object, a tooth at closer examination, and two scrolls. “[Divination:
Tracking], [Detect Magic].” The man activated his scrolls and watched as Hannyuu lit up
green. He then stood up and snapped his fingers, which prompted two other men get closer to
Hannyuu.
“Indeed indeed, you’ve certainly kept up your end of the bargain. Take her.” He told the men
near him as one grabbed the child’s other arm as Kyouko let go with an unbearable amount of
pain in her heart. That couldn’t even be compared to the look in Hannyuu’s eyes as the girl
turned up to look at her, those accusing carmine eyes glaring at her. “Traitor! How could
you… do this to us?!” All of them could see the bitter tears that had appeared in Hannyuu’s
eyes.
They eyed Kyouko suspiciously for a moment when she tensed like she would attack, but
they could already see she was missing her sword as she was told to do, and she had never
been spotted with any small weapons.
“Hannyuu… I’m so sorry…” Kyouko choked out and looked away as Hannyuu was slammed
into the dirt with enough force to make the girl visible choke for a moment, right as a gag
was quickly slipped into her mouth and her arms and legs were bound up, her still recovering
body easily overpowered by the men twice her size. She couldn’t bare to watch as she could
hear Hannyuu struggle against those bindings until a fist buried itself into her gut when she
was lifted up. The noise she let out nearly made Kyouko attack then and there, deal be
damned, instead she had to close her eyes, clench her teeth and try to not let those cries hurt
her as much as they did.
“Well, I’m a man of my word. We’ll take you to your daughter.” The man told her, and
looked far too smug at the face of despair on both Kyouko and Hannyuu’s face. They both
heard Hannyuu cry out through her gag as a bag was thrown over her, stuffing her once again
in a sack like Akemi had once found her.
“Lets just get this over with… Take me to my daughter.” Kyouko growled out, her fists
clenched as she looked murderous over the situation, her entire body tense as she began to
follow the group. They had subtly surrounded her, while the man that was called Malmvist
walked in front of her.
Even from behind she had a hard time spotting any openings in his stance. Even if she had
Desolation then, she wasn’t sure if she could take him, or land a blow.
Time seemed to pass at a crawl as each step brought her closer to what she wanted, or so she
so desperately wanted to believe. Her heart ached as she thought about how her daughter
might look, if she even truly was alive, as well as the sounds of the girl she had called
daughter as well.
The procession stopped as they had made their way back into the forest, and unlocked a very
well disguised trap door. Built into the bark of a large tree. Like a hold into the underworld
Kyouko proceeded like a sinner on their way to hell, and she certainly felt like one…
“We’ve certainly had a rough time since that abomination appeared, we’re pretty sure she
blew up one of our bases, nothing but a hole in the ground now… It is certainly frustrating to
have an opponent you can’t fight directly, but getting our property back should even the
playing field. She seems to care for this whore, and she certainly seems the sentimental type,
a few threats, perhaps a few fingers being sent her way and all her power can be ours to
wield.” The leader there said, heedless of the sound of grinding teeth as they all proceeded
down that staircase, revealing a long tunnel of stone bricks.
“This was originally a Noble’s escape tunnel, but it has really come in handy for getting
around. Now, follow Malmvist here and he’ll lead you to your daughter. Once you have her
you will be escorted out of the country and are never to return.” He sounded far too chipper
as that path split.
“This way Wolf.” The man named Malmvist said as he took the side path that had so many
mixed scents leading out of her it made Kyouko’s head spin. She was able to pick out one
scent amount many, her daughter.
Kyouko bit her lip as she took one last look over her shoulder at the burlap sack slung over
one of those men’s shoulder, and the quiet and muffled cries coming from it, from the tiny
girl she came to regard as a daughter, family. With tears stinging her eyes she forced herself
to turn away and follow Malmvist down the hallway. “I’m s-sorry Hannyuu…” She choked
out under her breath. Each step brought her closer to her five year goal.
She knew that they arrived as the door to the next chamber opened, revealing rows of cells
that were disturbingly silent, yet she could smell live people inside. The first thing she saw
when she looked into the first cell was a woman that was nearly unrecognizable as even
human chained to the wall by the neck, staring into space and only being held upright by that
chain, both her arms and legs merely stumps attached to her naked, bruised, and scared body.
“W-will Lorelei look like that? Will Hannyuu?” She resisted puking by a hair as she covered
her mouth tightly.
“I know, it is not a pretty sight, but these are the slaves that don’t sell anymore, but are so
broken down they are easy enough to put to use for the few nobles who like their toys still
and mindless. I prefer my women to be able to actually move and make some noises, well…
and for them to actually want it. The girl is in the last cell on the right.” The man said as she
stood where he was with his arms crossed.
Kyouko felt her heart pound as she tried to prepare herself for any sight she might see. Her
hand tightened around the small item in her hand, easily unnoticed as she gripped her fingers
around it.
When she heard the sound of movement and sliding steel behind just like she figured she
might. Before she could snap the small stick in her hand she felt the rapier in Malmvist’s
hand touch her leather vest from behind, ready to slip between her ribs.
“Oh yes, I brought a couple of your old friends pet, we even set up your old room for you,
I’m sure you’re out of practice after all.” The leader of that group grinned his yellow smile as
they made their way down more hallways in that underground labyrinth.
It was a path any of the Eight Fingers knew though, and one quickly learned by any new
recruits, the path to the break rooms, named as such as they broke new slaves in until they
were more than cooperative, the first phase of which conditioned them to their future
positions as pleasure slaves. “You still hold the record for the longest it took to break
someone your age, hell, even older woman didn’t last as long, we’ll see if you got any of that
fire back.” He joked as he pulled open a cell door and let the two men with him in first.
The brute with Hannyuu over his shoulder roughly tossed her bag away against the wall, as
she gave them a cry of pain from the collision. The bag was soon ripped open and she was
dumped out like something bought at the store.
“You’re all going to die… Mama is going to kill you all…” Hannyuu growled out as they
forced the squirming girl into chains, one around each arm and her neck, choking her for just
a moment. She spit up what ever bile was in her stomach as a foot lodged itself into her
stomach hard enough to make her puke. Even still she glared up at the three men with feral
rage instead of fear like they expected.
“Oho, I suppose you think you grew a backbone while you were gone? Well, there is plenty
of time for us to break you again, but I suppose doing it as soon as possible will help deal
with that troublesome abomination you call ‘mother’, perhaps we’ll be able to collar that
animal also. You two could share a cell even~ How does that sound?” He told her and closed
the cell door and exchanged a look with one of the other men.
Hannyuu felt fear creep back into her heart as that man removed his cloak and exposed his
stretched face over his skull, the long scar over his lip still there from where she put it who
knows how many years ago. “D-Dathans…” She mumbled as her ears folded, her memory
returned back to the time she was first captured, as far as she could actually remember in
those hazy memories, the first one that violated her out of all of them.
“Oh so you remember me? Gotta love a reunion.” He said humorlessly before he slammed
his fist into her tiny face, and felt several things give way. The first that broke was her nose,
and then a few teeth, which she spit out before he reached down to grasp her collar, and
easily ripped her shirt off with just a few tugs. Her face rapidly morphed back into fear as she
struggled against those hands as they began to try and wrestle her pants off. She still kept the
defiant spark in her eyes as she struggled as hard as she could, even with blood dripping from
her mouth and nose. “M-mama please… hurry…” She thought as she felt blood run down her
chin as she bit through her lip with her remaining front teeth.
Kyouko rolled forward as soon as she felt that sharp point stab into her vest and her back.
She quietly thanked Akemi for that Wyrm leather armor she wore as the tip of the rapier
failed to piece it. “That strength… There goes a rib even through the armor…” She thought
and winced from the pain of the cracked bone.
She snapped the stick in her hand and grasped the sheath of Desolation as it appeared in the
stick’s place. Drawing her blade she knocked away Malmvist’s follow up stab and shaved
just a hair of metal off that blade, which made him take a few healthy steps back from
Kyouko’s Nodachi.
“Well then, this will be much more interesting than I thought, It has been a while since I
fought someone who could counter one of my blows, not that I’m going all out just yet. That
is a very nice blade, I’ll be sure to take it with me after I kill you and put that living corpse of
a daughter out of her misery. I am Malmvist of the Thousand Kills.” He introduced as he
shifted into a dueling stance with his rose motif rapier pointed at her heart.
“This blade is going to cut your heart out, but not before you taste enough pain to match the
suffering you all put my daughter and me through for five years… None of you are escaping
today.” Kyouko tried to take a few steps back to hopefully check the cell her daughter was in
to confirm if anyone else was in there and could interfere, but had to keep her eyes on the
man as he lunged at her.
With greater speed than she could track she felt at least three strikes touch her chest, and fail
once again to piece her armor. “That is some tough leather! I’d love to meet the craftsman of
that, stylish yet strong, it would be fitting for me to wear.” He spoke with a strange calm as
he obviously intended to keep toying with his opponent.
“S-so fast… Dammit… This is a going to be a painful fight… doesn’t matter.” She thought
and gripped her blade harder, and felt comforted by the ring around her finger. “I just need to
check that cell and just a moment more…” She thought as she pushed forward to swing at the
man in front of her and felt like she hit a brick wall. For once her physical strength was not
superior and winced just before she had to dodge her head out of the way of the blade
heading towards her eye.
Getting her distance again she tried to look for any weakness in his stance. “You know,
you’re one of the few that can dodge by strikes, but we’ll see how long your luck lasts Wolf,
make this interesting for me. Demi-humans really do make interesting opponents, their
reflexes are so much sharper.”
“Come on Kyouko! Message me!” Akemi thought as she stood behind the three men in that
cell, her tails poised to impale each of them while she waited there, disguised by the spell
Perfect Unknowable, her heart was breaking as she was forced to listen to Hannyuu’s
involuntary yelps as a few cuts were inflicted as the man attempted to use a knife to try and
remove the touch leather pants she had given her. The high quality pants that may as well
have been metal were another of Hannyuu's ideas, anything to buy just a little more time to
let Kyouko save Lorelei, and before Hannyuu would have to endure reliving her worst
memories. It was hell as Akemi had to just stand there and wait for the signal, and let her
nails cut into her palms to keep her from throwing the plan entirely out of the window.
If those men paid more attention behind them instead of leering after Hannyuu they might
have noticed the blood drops falling from midair onto the stone floor.
Hours prior…
“Hey Hannyuu, are you all available? It is an emergency… Please tell Akemi that all of you
to come back right away…” Kyouko thought through her message as back in the settlement
she paced through the study in their home, her lip worn and bloody already.
“Y-yes! I’ll grab her, she is just talking to Hekkeran.” Hannyuu told her right before Kyouko
ended the message. Kyouko tugged at her hair with a pitiful whine as each second felt like an
hour.
It was less than a minute before a Gate opened up right next to her and her Mates and their
daughter appeared in a rush. “Kyouko, what is the emergency? Hannyuu said it sounded
urgent.” Akemi asked as her eyes focused on the smell of blood in the room, the bloody
towel, and the utterly devastated look on Kyouko’s face as she looked at them.
“Akemi… It is Eight Fingers… They contacted me l-last night with message, about
Lorelei…” Kyouko said and slumped back down into her arm chair.
“Last night? How come you didn’t say anything yesterday?” Akemi asked in a mildly
frustrated and worried tone as she moved over to hug Kyouko tight. “What happened? Tell
me everything.”
“B-because I’ve gotten these deals and offers before, back when I didn’t know who had her…
but Eight Fingers gave proof… All the others times were fakes or traps meant to stop me
from getting in slaver’s ways, I figured this was no different… I’m sorry… I wasn’t really
thinking clearly.” Kyouko said and her eyes drifted to the leather satchel on the desk. “They
had hair with her scent, fresh, she is alive… T-they offered a deal…” Kyouko said and looked
up at all of them, but couldn’t bring her eyes to look at Hannyuu.
“T-they offered… Hannyuu dear, could you leave the room please?” Kyouko nearly pleaded
as she bit her tongue after she nearly let the offer slip.
Akemi caught on to the possibilities Kyouko was implying with those two things in one
sentence. “Agreed, we’ll call you when we’re done talking alrig-” Akemi tried to tell
Hannyuu who just glared.
“No. This has to do with family… I consider you and Ana family Kyouko, that includes
Lorelei, so if there is a way I can help the sister I haven’t gotten to meet yet then I can’t not
know.” Hannyuu said with folded ears.
They were all speechless, as this had to be the first time they heard her tell her mothers No
before, especially not with that much defiance in her voice. Akemi had to think for a moment,
but she knew the look in the girl’s eyes, that fire… she reminded her so much of her brother
in that moment.
“Fine… Please Kyouko, what was the deal? We can work out a plan.” Akemi asked as she
mussed up Hannyuu’s hair to dispel the tension.
Kyouko still didn’t look sure of it all, and just looked down. “They told me… to bring
Hannyuu in exchange for Lorelei…” She said and seemed pained just by telling them.
First it was quiet, and then the room was filled with a mixture of fear and rage just waiting to
be expressed.
“I-I know that is an unacceptable offer, I could never do that to any of you… even for
Lorelei, I love you all too much for that. We n-need a plan.” Kyouko said as her claws dug
into her forearms as if to grip onto reality for a bit longer.
“We love you too, we’ll figure this out… This is… my fault for not being able to find them
still… My summons aren’t the best for spying, and can be seen through with a high enough
perception, it isn’t a strong passive invisibility. I had been marking the places where they had
been destroyed and keeping watch, but I think they noticed my summons more and the ones
who could see them kept destroying any of them they would find… I should have gone to
investigate those places in person, Ainz and the King be damned!” Akemi shouted as she
rubbed the bridge of her nose as her mind worked in overdrive to figure out a solution.
“Dear, you couldn’t have predicted this, we’ll make the bastards pay… Kyouko, is there any
more information?” Ana asked as she hugged Hannyuu as she felt the girl quietly shake.
“J-just that I am to come alone and unarmed… Even if they have her I can almost guarantee
it is a trap of some sort… I still need to see her…” Kyouko said and pulled at her hair in
frustration.
Hannyuu watched all this silently for a moment as her mother’s tried to figure out a solution
for this issue. Her own mind flashed back to the years of captivity there, the starvation and
cuts, the bits of her that would get removed on a whim like her ears, or a tooth here and
there… and the daily rape, all of which haunted her nightmares that were thankfully getting
more rare.
“M-moms… Just hear me out… What if… We went through with the deal? Lorelei is in a
really risky situation…” Hannyuu said as her ears folded after she said that. Despite what she
said, her own heart pounded out of her chest.
“Dear… that is unacceptable… I need you to stay as far away from those bastards as
possible… Though I could perhaps disguise myself as you and let them take me, and then
turn the tables on them. This world doesn’t seem to have ways to test DNA to tell if I’m
someone I’m not, and I can all but guarantee my illusions are currently the strongest in this
world.” Akemi said as she began to pace around the room, her tails nearly knocking things
off the shelves and her own desk.
“Hey Mama… Arche taught me a bit about Divination magic… and it made me remember
the first time they took a tooth… I think they take one from every person they keep as a
slave… And I remember sometimes they would talk about it as insurance… can a tooth can
be used to locate a person?” Hannyuu asked as her eyes widened, as if she made a connection
she didn’t wish to make.
“It… can, it normally wasn’t meant like that in the game, but that seems about right in this
world…” Akemi mumbled and bit her thumb. “If I use anti-surveillance magic to mess with
their spell and disguise as you…” Akemi’s mind was in overdrive as she looked away from
them all.
“M-mom… If the spell gets disrupted… they will know something is up… They need to
know it is me there, or they might just k-kill Lorelei right there if they can get a message
out… Or they might be in contact for the deal ready to respond if they’re messed with…
Mom… It n-needs to be me.” Hannyuu said and leaned against the three of them as they all
had gotten around her to hug her, a circle of motherly love as she tried to resist her worst
memories.
“Dear… There is surely another way, we just need to keep thinking… Please just trust us.”
Akemi said and kissed the top of her head, but blinked as Hannyuu squirmed away from the
three of them.
“No! I need you three to trust Me this time! I care about this family just as much, you three
are all I have! S-so if there is someone important to Kyouko in danger I’m going to help!
You’re the one that taught me that… that helping someone in need is always the right thing to
do… even if it is dangerous…” Hannyuu said and looked over at Kyouko and met her nearly
dead eyes, the normally spirited wolf woman empty of life.
“Mama Kyouko… If Lorelei… Died, what would you do?” Hannyuu asked as gently as she
could, unshed tears pushing up as she watch Kyouko’s expression morph into something even
worse than grief. “I’ve… I’ve seen that look before… a lot… You’d kill yourself… none of
us want that… That itself is all the reason I need to go through with this, because I love you
like a mother also and can’t stand to lose you…” Hannyuu said as she wrapped herself
around Kyouko as if she could pour love directly into the woman, but she knew the only cure
for that feeling that rotted Kyouko from the inside was to be reunited with her lost daughter.
Akemi’s hand’s bled as she clenched her nails into her palm more as her lips also bled.
“Hannyuu… I-I just want to keep you safe… but… dammit, where did you learn how to
speak so well. What is your plan?” She asked and looked at her daughter with pride and fear,
for her daughter’s safety, and for Lorelei’s.
“I’ll… trust her also, you’re a smart kid, and you probably know about these people more
than any of us… You’re going to give Princess Renner a run for her money I think if you
become a princess…” Ana said and grabbed a fresh towel to bring to Akemi for her hands as
she also gently unclenched Akemi’s hands for her.
“H-Hannyuu... Please don’t feel like you have to do this… I can’t ask you to put yourself in
that much danger… You’d get hurt, or raped, or even killed, none of them care about things
like age or anything. You’ve already been through so much… I know how the memories of
something like that stick with you… Fourteen years and I still remember every detail of the
night the same happened to me. At the very least Lorelei came out of that, and… I was able
to be fine with being a mother, even if I was pretty young… I can’t ask you to ever have to go
near a situation like that ever again…” Kyouko said as she sunk to her knees to hug Hannyuu
tighter.
Hannyuu took a few shaky breathes as she held Kyouko right back and felt Ana and Akemi
hugging her as well. “I… Yes I’m scared… but I’m not going to be scared of them, I’m not
going to let them control me anymore…” She said before she lifted her head from Kyouko’s
shoulder. “Even if I get killed, I know I can be revived, I will want to live and have the
strength to come back… We don’t know if that applies to Lorelei… Mama, you said revival
magic doesn’t work if the person doesn’t want to come back?” She turned to Akemi and
asked.
“Yes… It is pretty difficult to force a target back to life and is… immoral… I have the means
of reviving someone with very minimal loss in life force as long as they want to come back.”
Akemi clarified for her daughter.
“I thought it was like that… I can endure that if I’d have to, I took everything they threw at
me so far and I’ve stood back up, all the beatings, the degradation and being treated as just
some sex toy… all the r-rape, and I refused to let it stop me, even when they were going to
kill me. Of course I don’t want to die, not anymore… But I can almost guarantee Lorelei at
this point… if they’ve had her for five years, she would welcome d-death, and I doubt she
would have much life force at this point, we don’t know how she is is what I’m getting at. I
can come back if I die, and she can’t, so if I have to risk my life to save the big sister I
haven’t gotten to meet yet then I’ll do that.” Hannyuu said as her tail whipped around as she
collected herself.
“My plan… You’re going to let them take me, I’m going to play along like you’re betraying
me Mama Kyouko, please don’t think anything I say to you is real during the plan. They’ll
check with their spells probably and see it is actually me. Hopefully they’ll take you to
Lorelei, while Mama you’ll follow me as they take me away, I doubt they could see through
your magic if you hide from them. When you find her Mama Kyouko, you make sure nothing
can hurt her and then, only then do you contact Mama, and then Mama can rescue me.”
Hannyuu explained as they all heard her little heart speed up.
“M-mama… I’m scared but… No matter what they do, you can’t show yourself until Kyouko
gives that message, we can’t risk them killing Lorelei, even if I die, even if they do t-things to
me… I know you can heal me or bring me back to life. Just… please trust me on this?”
Hannyuu nearly begged as she saw a chance to finally heal that wound in Kyouko’s heart.
Akemi saw strength in those eyes. “This is why I say… you’re already braver than me…”
She thought as she pressed her forehead against Hannyuu’s and sighed. This girl had already
been through so much, and yet went from the trembling small girl she found, to someone
with such fire in her it made her both proud and scared for her. She had spent years in the
fires of her trauma and only seemed now to be tempered by it.
“…Alright… I’ll need to talk to Ainz first though, to tell him about the situation with Eight
Fingers, since I did say I wouldn’t interfere with them further but… this is a new situation.”
Akemi said and stood up to begin to pace again.
“[Message]. Sorry to bother you Ainz, but it is a bit more of an urgent issue this time.”
Akemi told him after she felt the call connect.
“It is not trouble, what is the issue? Does it pertain to me or is it another romance problem?
Because let me tell you I am neither a therapist or romantic counselor.” He asked with as
much snark as a skeleton could provide.
“I mean, I swear I always have romance problems, but no I finally fucking confessed and I’ve
been dating those two for a week now, remind me to tell you about it so you can get off your
bony ass and accept those two floor guardians that want your non-existent… you get what
I’m going for. No, why I’m calling is there is an issue with Eight Fingers that they initiated.
As agreed upon I wanted to inform you of the situation.” Akemi said in a near rush.
“Okay, first, congratulations are in order I suppose, you finally graduated from useless
lesbian. Second, Fuck you. Third, You’re just here to inform me, not to ask for assistance?”
Ainz asked, almost sounding amused at her words.
“Because… I know this doesn’t have much to do with you. Would you help even if I asked?”
Akemi asked with a sigh.
“I’m sorry to tell you that you are right, it does not have much to do with Nazarick, or benefit
me and mine in any way, the fact you only are informing me instead of asking for help tells
me you already have a plan, if you have a plan then I’m confident you can solve this issue on
your own. If we assisted we would risk tipping our hand to Eight Fingers before we are
ready, or to the Kingdom as a whole. We have our own issues to deal with tonight as well
unfortunately.” Ainz said and sounded genuinely disappointed in the situation.
Akemi shook her head and groaned. “I… I figured as much, it can’t be helped… Hannyuu is
really convincing about her own plan, I just hate how she is risking herself… I should
introduce you two, you might like her, she is pretty fiery and charismatic. Damn girl rolls
good on perception and charisma…” Akemi joked as she turned her gaze to look at
Hannyuu, her heart filled with motherly love for the girl, she was so worried about her… but
so damn proud also…
“I wish you luck, tell me how it goes or if you might need any clean up, if it won’t expose
Nazarick I do not mind offering other services. If you capture these members I can make sure
they endure any treatment you want, I need the information in their brains either way. You’re
daughter sounds quite interesting if she is able to even convince you of a plan.” Ainz said
and she wondered just what his angle was…
“Will do, I just might… I’m… not really made for getting revenge, which I’m very likely going
to want… Talk to you after.” Akemi said as she ended the message with a groan. “We’re on.
Get prepared everyone… You said you had to go alone and unarmed yes? Let me see
Desolation.” Akemi said and held out her hand.
Kyouko grabbed her blade from the side of her chair and tossed it over to Akemi and
wondered just what she was doing.
Akemi reached into inventory and pulled out a small carved stick. “I don’t have any cash
shop items I bought myself, mostly the ones I do have were gifts from Guild mates, such as
all those bottomless thermos bottles.” Akemi said as she pressed that stick to Desolation’s
sheath, and watched as the entire thing vanished in a tiny flash, the name of the blade
engraving itself onto the stick.
She soon tossed that stick to Kyouko and pulled Hannyuu over for more hugging to sooth
both of their nerves. “That will let you conceal your sword on your person, when you want it
you just need to snap that stick and it will appear, keep it close at hand.” Akemi said and bit
her thumb nervously. “Hannyuu… I can’t guarantee I won’t attack if they get too violent… I
told you I’d never let them touch you again and now I’m having to break that…” Akemi said
as she wondered how much drinking they’ll all need after this incident, they’ll need some
quiet family time to heal…
“Lets just… all get home safe, lets get our lost family member, and lets make them all pay…”
Akemi sounded positively murderous by that point, and none of them could blame her.
It was a very rough fight for Kyouko, and she knew she was being out played, the only
reason she wasn’t dead yet was that this man didn’t want her to be, just like a snake toying
with it’s food.
“Be careful, you don’t want to get nicked by Rose Thorn, oh dear~” Malmvist laughed as the
tip of his rapier very lightly scratched her neck, and right away Kyouko felt that nick begin to
burn.
“Shit… His weapon is poisoned… of course it is poisoned…” She said nothing as she tried to
not let the start of that wound distract her, she had felt worse pain before, and she knew that
Akemi could cure her just fine, and as long as she could rescue Lorelei she was fine with
dying either way. As she desperately struck out at him she noticed he would parry every third
strike instead of dodging it.
“[Possibility Sense].” Her eyes raked over his weapon and spotted several chips in his blade
from their clashes as her Martial Art told her what she needed about her chances of winning.
A plan started to form in her mind as she thought about how much it might hurt. She had to
finish it before this man started to fight seriously, she had to use that arrogance against him…
“Well… No choice, this might kill me but… Hopefully I can kill him… Please work!” She
thought and went for two slashes at the man, and watched as he predictably dodged aside
with a laugh. She lined up the edge of her blade horizontally in an obvious and easily blocked
attack, as the man had already seen that his physical strength was more than her own.
“[Greater Ability Boost], [Severing Blade]!” She hissed out as her strength, speed, and
reaction time increased, as did her slashing power. Her blade homed in on that chip she had
slowly widened on his blade and watched as her Adamantite sword with all of it’s sharpness
enchantments sliced through the rest of the damaged blade, as well as the abdomen of
Malmvist. Her Nodachi had a far longer reach than Malmvist seemed to anticipate, and so
Kyouko felt her blade barely scrap his spine as it passed through his body, disemboweling the
man in one swing without resistance to his own leather armor.
Kyouko felt the rush of the Martial arts fade from her body, as well as some blood leaking
from her nose and mouth, whether as a rebound from the martial arts or the poison in her
veins she didn’t know.
She stumbled over towards the back cells and leaned against the wall, her will the one thing
that kept her from passing out as she held her neck. She peered into the darkness of that cell
and felt her heart start to shatter. She barely remembered to activate her ring “[Message]…
Save Hannyuu and… meet me at my… location… We’re in bad shape…” Kyouko muttered
as she slumped down against the wall and kept her eyes locked on Lorelei, her first glimpse
of her daughter in five years, yet she lacked the energy to cut through the bars and get to her
on the other side of them, if it would do anything…
The first syllables were barely out of Kyouko’s mental mouth before Akemi’s tail impaled the
man that had removed his own pants and pinned her daughter down, the one Hannyuu called
Dathans. Hannyuu had already clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth, and found
nothing happened besides blood splashing onto her stripped body as a familiar tail impaled
Dathan’s gut above her.
Without any time to react Akemi swung two more tails at the other two men, and let them
collapse against the walls with a crunch, she threw Dathans at the wall as well. “[Cure
Greater Wounds].” Akemi quickly cast as she healed every scratch on Hannyuu’s body and
leaned down to hug the girl as she helped her sit up. Hannyuu had yet to say anything and
seemed to be flexing her jaw at the residual pain of her teeth being grown back near instantly.
“I’m so sorry baby… Kyouko sounded frantic, put these on and we’ll deal with these bastards
later… [Stabilize Major Wounds].” Akemi cast on the three men, not willing to let them get
an easy death, they had a lot to answer for…
Akemi pulled out a spare set of clothes as well as Hannyuu’s favorite cloak as she knew she
might need the sense of safety it gave her. Akemi hugged her close for a moment after she
frantically threw on those clothes. As her mother she just wished there was time for the girl to
get her bearings more, for her brain to realize she was safe. “We have to hurry. First… Just in
case… [Widen Magic, Mass Hold Person].” Akemi cast as she let her magic echo through the
underground area, and mentally counted how many of those men she had held in place for the
time being. She would have to do a through sweep of those tunnels to be sure she captured
each one.
She pulled Hannyuu close and homed in on Kyouko’s location from her message and the
connection between their rings. “[Greater Teleportation]!” With a small pop the two of them
flashed out of that area.
When they emerged from the teleport in that cell block they were instantly hit by the smell of
unwashed masses that was nearly overpowered by the stench of cut open bowels. Akemi
knew Kyouko had it in her to beat that man, she likely wasn’t as far in strength from him as
she believed, and she felt justified in that confidence in her girlfriend at her opponent dead on
the ground. Her worry increased though as she saw Kyouko slumped against the bars in the
corner. “[Greater Cure All], [Cure Greater Wounds]!” Akemi quickly cast the spells she
needed as she saw the discolored veins around Kyouko’s neck at a glance.
She sighed in relief as she saw Kyouko take a large breath, but not look very revived.
“Please… help her…” She mumbled, and looked still too weak to reach her daughter. Akemi
wasted no time in cutting apart those bars and looked inside. As she cast a silent light spell
she instantly regretted it.
Her mind shut down for a moment as she stared in horror at who she assumed Lorelei was.
Hannyuu moved away from her and Kyouko’s side and began to puke away from them, likely
both from the sight and all she had been through that night.
It was a strange cold rage that gripped her heart as she quickly cut the chain that was around
Lorelei’s neck and laid her on the ground, yet not a peep of a reaction was heard from the
girl. She could still hear a terribly weak heartbeat, as well as very slow breathing.
Those golden eyes that looked so much like Kyouko’s stared at nothing, dead to the world. It
was easily just as sick as when she found Hannyuu, if not more so… There was at least a
trace of life in Hannyuu’s eyes when she was rescued… as well as all of her limbs.
If she didn’t recognize those eyes Akemi wouldn’t even guess this girl was Lorelei, as so
many identifying features were broken beyond natural recovery.
Akemi was afraid to cast diagnostic magic, and at a glance she could see it would be nothing
good as already all of Lorelei’s limbs were reduced to long since messily healed stumps, and
there was more scar tissue on her than clear skin. Both wolf ears as well as her tail were cut
off to add even further insult to her… yet she still needed to know if she was to heal her
properly… “D-[Diagnosis All]… Wha-what the fuck…” Akemi muttered in disbelief. All at
once she felt her own earlier meal come up as she puked off to the side as the information
from her spell stuck in her brain whether she wanted it to or not, every failing organ, every
disease and infection, and the years of malnutrition that had wreaked havoc on the poor child.
“I’ll… I’ll kill them all… T-this is… [Message]… Ainz… I am asking you a one time
favor… I want you to have all of the men in this base… They… they need to suffer, I want
them to suffer several times over what they did to this poor child! to all the people in these
cells!” Akemi screamed as she stood up, while she felt another piece of her soul shatter. She
was ready to tear the land apart in her wrath, she would show them a vengeful Goddess…
Chapter End Notes
A/N: This chapter was really fucking hard to write… I hope I wrote it acceptably. Let
me clarify that under normal circumstances Kyouko would not have won her fight, if
she didn’t have a sword like that she would have also lost, but Malmvist didn’t take her
seriously at all and it backfired for him. Well, one less 6 arms member that Sebas pops
in a millisecond.
The Darkness hiding in the Light
Chapter Summary
To walk the line betwixt good and evil, do such vague concepts exist?
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you all for your comments and support in my last chapter, it really kept be
going through some writers block!
“[Supreme Heal].” She cast on Lorelei, and watched all those scars began to vanish, her
missing ears and tail grow back, as well as her missing limbs. Yet it was easy to tell where
her limbs had been cut at as the new reddish skin clashed with the dirty and discolored edge
where her stumps were. She quickly pulled out one of her two rings of sustenance and put it
on Lorelei’s tiny fingers while she herself tried to think clearly. Akemi winced as she heard
the girl’s jaw popping as all her teeth grew back in without even a look if discomfort on the
girl’s face, or any facial expression at all.
Akemi didn’t even notice her own jaw clenching, and it took her a moment to notice the other
two there wincing in pain. “M-mom…” Hannyuu said through gritted teeth.
It was enough for Akemi to realize that she had unconsciously turned her Aura on at full
power, which seemed enough to even affect good aligned beings to a degree. “Sorry…” They
all felt gravity lessen on them, as well as the glowing blue vanish from Akemi’s eyes.
“H-here, she needs this more…” Hannyuu muttered as she held out her cloak, and let Akemi
wrap it around Lorelei’s tiny emaciated body, not that it seemed to stir the girl at all from her
state. Kyouko listlessly pushed forward to pick up Lorelei and seem too shocked to move
very well still, like she wanted to sob but was unable to.
“Thank you Hannyuu… Stay with Kyouko for now. Kyouko, please protect those two for me
while I clean up the trash…” Akemi said and stumbled out of that room, her flailing tails the
only thing that betrayed her rage in that moment, especially as they vibrated the room as they
struck the walls and the ground, the stone cracked with each stray impact.
Soon all they heard from down the halls were screams.
Akemi’s mind was a mess as she used her tails to grab every man she could find and dragged
their magically paralyzed bodies with her into a more central room, their bodies being piled
up as they moaned in pain or yelled curses.
“[Life Essence], [See Through].” Akemi muttered as her eyes took on a green hue. In her
view every body in that room lit up with a heavy green glow, with some having a lot more
green coming off of them as others. She used that spell to located those glows through the
walls and stalk after them. After she rounded up the latest loud bastard and tossed him into
the pile she felt a message connect.
“Akemi, I’ll be there momentarily, I’ll be bringing some attendants to assist.” She heard in
her head and her senses warned her moments before a gate opened up next to her.
She felt… tired as she stood there next to that black and red swirling gateway, the entire day
had been a mess… so many things were fucked up, of which she knew how to fix almost
none of.
Moments later a black haired beauty emerged from the portal and glared at her like she was
filth, a small wand in her hand that her magical sense told her was likely a world item, even if
she didn’t know which one. Her inner suspicions were confirmed as two more of Ainz’s
people emerged, one with a large scroll on her back, and one with a pair of gauntlets on, one
demonic, and the other angelic. The ones carrying them appeared to be two tiny Dark Elf
twins that if she had the mental energy to care at the moment would wonder what children
were doing with Ainz. “Knowing Ainz and Nazarick though… I guess they’re probably evil.”
She thought and looked back at Albedo.
Akemi forced a tired smile at Ainz after he entered the room. “Thank you for coming Ainz, I
hope you’re doing well.” She offered and gestured at the pile of men still under Hold Person.
“I got all the Eight Fingers members in this area, with everything but a bow on them.” Akemi
told them as she leaned back against the wall as a headache brewed. She looked at the twins
again, and then between Ainz and Albedo… “Did you two have children already? Way to go
Ainz, I knew you would give in eventually.” Akemi joked with a dry chuckle.
She internally laughed as she saw Albedo preen a bit under the thought Akemi put in her
head. “Oh she has it bad… was I that obvious also?” She thought and just enjoyed Ainz
letting out a sigh.
“No Akemi… There are several things wrong with that statement. These are two more of my
floor guardians, please meet Aura Bella Fiora, and her brother Mare Bello Fiore, and you’ve
already met the Guardian Overseer Albedo.” Ainz said and turned to go examine those men
who had turned pale at seeing Ainz appear. Unlike what most might think, Akemi didn’t look
down on cross dressing, or at the very least it wasn’t among her worries in the world, they
both looked adorable either way in them. As long as they were happy and healthy.
“It is nice to meet you two, and a pleasure to see you again as well Albedo. I’ll keep rooting
for you, so don’t give up~” Akemi told the Succubus and felt the air loosen just a bit. Ainz
only seemed to sigh with non-existent breath.
“These are all the members here? What do you want us to do with them?” Ainz asked as he
stared down at those men like they stared down at women, like property or a piece of meat.
“This is all of them besides one dead one Kyouko killed, they seemed strong though, so
likely a higher up if you want them, I’ll revive and grab them. Okay, so besides getting what
ever information you want out of them… Could I cast [Memory Transfer] on… Okay maybe
not the twins. I’ll let you decide if they’d need to see the memory, it is the diagnostic report
on Kyouko’s daughter Lorelei… It is… relevant information on these bastards, some context
on what I want done with them.” Akemi gripped her arms as her rage seemed to seep back in.
“You may, I’ll share it with Aura and Mare if need be, If it is as bad as you seem to imply
then I appreciate you looking out for their mental well being. Albedo, allow friendly utility
magic.”
Once she got permission Akemi folded her ears as she grasped the memory of that diagnostic
report with her perfect recall passive and nearly felt like puking again. “[Mass Memory
Transfer].” Akemi said as she watched Albedo wince and Ainz glow bright green twice.
Akemi was surprised by just how… disgusted Albedo looked. It was harder to tell with Ainz,
but she was pretty sure he had looked away and maybe even felt a tiny bit of emotion.
“[Message]. Lupusregina Beta, stand by at Neuronist Painkiller’s interrogation rooms, there
will be many new guests there shortly.” Ainz said and sounded mildly angry. “That was…
distasteful. There are some things that should never be done, especially to children. I’ll be
happy to take these pieces of trash off your hands.” Ainz said and looked over at the pile of
men that seemed to get more terrified the longer he looked. Akemi guessed part of the source
of his rage was replacing Lorelei with one of those twins in his head with how he looked at
the two of them and seemed to hover over them protectively.
“Lord Ainz? What happened?” Aura asked as she stared up at the skeleton, them standing
next to each other really showed Akemi just show short those twins were, even shorter by far
than Hannyuu. If she was in a better mood she would find them adorable, maybe even want
to mother them a bit, but at the moment almost all she could feel was a cold rage.
“These men have… done some truly horrible things, and so we shall pay them evil for evil.
You did give them to us Akemi, so I assume you have no problems with what ever their fate
will be, even as the Goddess of Light?” Ainz asked almost like he was daring her to change
her mind.
“There are a few there that I want to have special attention paid to… To be honest I am not
entirely sure how to deal with all this anger in me… and yet I don’t think I can give them all
the proper punishment they deserve, It isn’t my field. Do with them what you will, I am not
feeling very ‘Good’ right now… I refuse to be naive this time. I won’t ignore my role in it
either, I’m sentencing them to a fate worse than death, yet better than they deserve.” Akemi
said and leaned her head back against the wall and glared at the mass of men which had
begun to whimper and scream in fear. “All of you shut the hell up! [Mass Silence], [Wave of
Pain]!” She cast on that group and refused to feel guilty as those child traffickers writhed in
silent agony as she caused all their nerves to misfire pain signals.
They could only blink at that, but yet at the same time they seemed to understand. “Lots of
these same people… we’re also the ones who tormented Hannyuu along with Lorelei, I want
to pick their brains to figure out which ones deserve even more punishment. If Kyouko is my
m-mate now as she calls me, then that makes Lorelei is my daughter also, these bastards
tormented both my daughters and I don’t care how much karma I lose in this.” Akemi
slammed her fist back into the wall, causing that room to shake. “Sorry I’m not sure if I’m
even making sense… I’ll be right back, I need to get my family home before anything else.”
Akemi told him as she forced a pained smile and walked back down the halls towards her
loved ones.
Ainz just stared at her for a moment as she left. “I think this proves something, do not get
between a mother and her children, it won’t end well.” Ainz noted with a nod. The others
could only silently agree as they began to drag the men through a Gate.
Akemi felt her heart break further as she heard and soon saw Kyouko quietly sobbing as she
hugged a limp Lorelei close, while Hannyuu hugged them both also, crying with them.
All she could do was return to them and hug them also, wrapping her tails around them as she
held in her urge to cry with them. Her family was hurting… So much needed to be fixed…
and she had no idea how to do it. She looked closer at Lorelei and just couldn’t see any life in
her eyes and knew all they could do was hope she would come out of that state eventually,
that the next few days would be critical in determining the future.
“Akemi… my Mate… do you know any kind of magic… that can help her?” Kyouko asked,
and it broke Akemi’s heart at how dead her voice sounded. To finally get Lorelei back… just
for her to be in bad enough shape that she almost may as well be dead either way. In a way
this was the worst possible scenario that they hadn’t thought of.
“I’m sorry… I-I can’t, the only thing that would be near possible would be Control Amnesia
but… This is beyond the scope of that spell… I can’t erase five years of memories without
even worse damage… There is still a chance she could recover, we just need to be patient. I’ll
try and look into some spells, maybe see if I can make some, but the mind is a really
complicated thing…” Akemi tried to sooth her Mate and sighed to hold in her tears. “[Gate].
Take her back home for now, you go also Hannyuu… I need to deal with the trash with Ainz,
we don’t have anywhere to take those men, so I’m turning them over to Ainz for their
punishment.” Akemi first kissed Hannyuu’s forehead, then Lorelei’s. Already she felt fiercely
protective of this tiny wolf girl that looked so much like her love, and just wished she could
put the life back in her empty eyes.
She leaned over and gently kissed Kyouko to sooth them both. Kyouko quietly cried, but still
leaned into the kiss, taking all the comfort she could. “I love you Kyouko, Ana is on the other
side waiting for you all. I’ll be over there as soon as I can alright? We’ll figure this out
together.” Akemi said and stood up.
The others got up and headed for the portal with all the reluctance they could muster.
“Akemi, If at all possible, see if I can get a turn on them? I have a lot to pay the fuckers back
for.” Kyouko said as she seemed to stir from her sadness for a moment. It was more life than
Akemi had seen since they found Lorelei so she would take it.
“Got it, I’ll see what I can do.” Akemi said and watched them go. As that portal closed
Akemi finally let the tears fall as she stood in that dimly lit cell block, her heart destroyed as
she looked around.
She hadn’t even noticed when she entered… that Lorelei was not the only one in that room.
Her eyes darted into each cell as she noticed one or more chained up living torsos silently
suffering in their catatonic states, jailed in their own minds. As she thought about her options
she could come to one conclusion on what to do with them.
“I-I’m sorry… I don’t have enough… rings for all of you… I can only free you…” Akemi
muttered as she shook in despair at what she now knew she had to do. She just hoped Lorelei
could recover one day, they all needed her to…
Her eyes also turned to the man on the floor near her that Kyouko had slain. “[Resurrection].
Wakey wakey you bastard.”
Ainz was concerned as he waited for Akemi in the chamber where she had stored those men.
“She is taking a while…” He muttered as he turned to see Mare, and Aura dragging the last
of the men through his gate he had opened. Albedo stood next to him tapping her own foot.
“Indeed, it is so incredibly rude to keep you waiting… Would you like me to kill her Lord
Ainz?” Albedo asked and, though she looked more grumpy than anything.
“Albedo… I ask that you do not kill my potential allies. Try and get to know her perhaps? I
think it would be a good thing for you to make some friends, she isn’t that bad.” Ainz
sounded just tired.
They soon noticed Akemi return, looking even more depressed than before. “Sorry that took
a while, they are all understandably upset. I needed to also… deal with the other prisoners in
those cells… None of them deserved such a fate.” Akemi said and shook her head and hid her
shaking hands. She also was dragging a silently screaming man in red and black, covered in
blood, which she threw near the Gate.
“I see, what did you do with them? Are you taking them with you?” Ainz asked curiously as
they both looked at the last man get dragged through the portal by Mare who had popped
back out. “Thank you two, you are free for the day.” Ainz told Mare, knowing he would pass
the message to his sister.
“O-of course Lord Ainz, thank you so much.” Mare mumbled out, the poor boy just as shy as
ever in Ainz’s eyes.
“No… I don’t have the means to care for so many people that would need so much in the way
of medical resources, not when things are so unstable. They were… already dead inside,
prisoners in their own mind, I’m quite sure their souls might be damaged by this point. I put
them to rest, there will be no more pain for them… ever again.” Akemi looked distraught as
she shook her head.
“Akemi, I am not accusing you of anything but… If that is the case would you not do the
same for that girl?” Ainz asked as he observed her for a moment, he had never seen her that
vulnerable.
“Because… She is too important to Kyouko, at the very least she is still her daughter, so her
having final say over Lorelei in this case makes sense. I have no idea who any of these other
poor women are… I wouldn’t even be able to imagine how to find if anyone knows them, not
when I can’t get their names from them. I had a spare ring of Sustenance to put on Lorelei,
but that was my only spare, while I need the other for emergencies. If I was smarter or more
savvy I might be able to do something but…” Akemi shook her head.
“Be content with what you can do, You’ll never be satisfied if you always believe you can do
better. You can only do what you can.” Ainz told her as the last man Akemi had brought was
dragged silently screaming through the portals.
“That man seems pretty high up the Eight Fingers food chain, I had to revive him since
Kyouko was able to kill him. I’ll… keep those words in mind, thank you. I have a request
from Kyouko, she wishes to get her own turn with those men, she has five years worth of
motherly rage to vent on them. I know it is asking a lot, so If that is unacceptable I can tell
her.” Akemi asked as she tried to ignore the glare from Albedo.
Ainz seemed to think about her words for a moment, and looked between Albedo and Akemi.
“At this rate should we just have a formal alliance? This would have been easier if you had
just accepted the invite to Nazarick all those years ago… I’m not sure why you had even
declined when Touch Me recommended you. Yes, I’ll allow her to come to help punish them,
they aren’t going anywhere. For now you should go be with your family, we can meet
tomorrow to further discuss this, just message me when you both are ready to be picked up. I
swear in the name of Ainz Ooal Gown that no harm will befall either of you while you are in
Nazarick.” Ainz said as he turned away from her and left both Akemi and Albedo in shock.
Once Ainz went through his gate and left it open those two looked at each other. “I swear if
you think you can betray my Lord I’ll end you beast… I’ll be watching you.” Albedo hissed
at Akemi before she went after Ainz, after which the portal closed.
“I gave my word I do not want to be enemies in the least… Maybe one day we can be
friends…” Akemi muttered to herself as Albedo exited through the portal. She was worried
but Ainz did promise in the name of his guild which meant he took it seriously, and he was
known to mostly keep his word nearly as much as her. All she could do was hope for the best
as she teleported back home.
“Ana! Please come help!” Hannyuu shouted as Kyouko, who carried Lorelei, and herself
emerged from the Gate, which closed behind them.
They both heard pounding footsteps before their front door flew open “Oh thank goodness
you’re both alright- Is that…?” Ana asked as she ran over to both of them and hugged them
close, which brought her closer to Lorelei. She seemed surprised at how much like Kyouko
she looked, besides being skin and bones with messy hair, and very pink skin from what was
exposed.
“Y-yeah… The plan worked but… Lets just get them inside…” Hannyuu said, speaking for
Kyouko, who had yet to look up from Lorelei’s face in her arms. The smaller wolf seemed to
have fallen asleep perhaps as her eyes closed.
Hannyuu and Ana led Kyouko inside as she cradled her daughter inside of Hannyuu’s cloak.
It was a tense silence as they let Kyouko tuck Lorelei into her mother’s bed. “She can hold
onto that cloak… it helped me feel safe… I hope it helps her.” Hannyuu said as Ana and her
sat next to Kyouko on the edge of the bed and hugged the wolf woman.
“Thank you… Hannyuu, that means a lot. A-ana… She… didn’t even respond to any of us…
Its like she is already dead… She was… it was horrible, what those monsters did to my
baby…” Kyouko muttered as she hugged those two back and finally began to sob against
them, truly sob with heart rending cries. It was a bittersweet end to her quest, and a harsh
start to her next one as well.
They just let her get it out of her system until she stopped shaking. “Hannyuu, where is
Akemi?” Ana asked as she looked between Kyouko and Lorelei, who laid like a doll in bed.
“How… should we feed her?” Ana had to ask.
“Mama went to bring all those men to that scary skeleton man… She said she would return as
soon as she can. She put that ring she had mentioned on her before, said she won’t need to
eat, drink, or sleep with it on… So I guess we just wait…” Hannyuu said and felt her own
sobs rise up as all the memories of the day hit her again now that the adrenaline had faded.
All the three of them could do was cuddle in that bed and wait for Akemi’s return, and hope
for their reclaimed family member’s recovery.
It was hard to tell how much time had passed, but it seemed to stand still as they all relaxed
in that bed with Kyouko who’s tears had reduced down to just the occasional sniffle.
Soon they heard the door open and feet approach their door. Akemi opened the door quietly,
just in case she would wake them, but found three pair’s of eyes look over at her in the
darkness.
“Hey dears…” Akemi said and used her quick change skill to swap to her pajamas, of course
after having used a cleaning spell before she had even arrived. “We should let her sleep… the
ring makes her not have to, but sleep is still mentally healing. Even if none of us are hungry I
think… we should eat something before bed, I know I’m not very tired.” Akemi said and
went over to Lorelei who still laid under the blankets and cloak Hannyuu lent her. “[Deep
Slumber], [Mass Wash]. No nightmares dear…” Akemi said as she set the girl’s mind at ease,
just in case she would even be able to get nightmares, while also cleaning all of them further
along with the bed due to the filth of where they came from. Next her mind showered her in
the images of the ones she had been unable to take with her, girls in just as bad shape as
Lorelei was. She was quick to walk out of that room and soon heard the others following.
Akemi sat down on the couch and took a few deep breathes as the events of that day wouldn’t
leave. She wasn’t there alone for long before she felt the spot next to her fill as Kyouko sat
down, with Ana on the other side of her as they could tell she would need that extra love the
most that night. Hannyuu contented herself with laying over Akemi and Kyouko’s laps while
purring, as if to make her wolf mother feel better. Akemi and Ana did their part and wrapped
their arms around Kyouko. “I… I love you all… One hell of a day huh?” Akemi asked with
an obviously forced smile.
“I bet… I wish I could have been able to help you three… Could you tell me what all
happened?” Ana asked as she seemed to have held back all her questions till then.
“The short of it… We have her back obviously but… The conditions we found her in… From
what I could tell from the diagnostic magic she seems to have locked herself away inside her
own mind. She is blocking out the world like a shell, we have to hope she can break out of
that shell and realize she isn’t in that hell anymore…” Akemi wrapped her tails around the lot
of them as she bit her lip.
Without a word Akemi reached into her inventory and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid as
well as a small clay jug. Along with the drinks she pulled out a small basket of bread rolls
and cheese that she set aside. “Got whiskey that was just a regular item from my world, and
we have mead from here, if you want some. I recommend eating at least something before
drinking.” Akemi said as she created four cups for them all. “I don’t know about you three,
but I don’t think I can sleep tonight.” Akemi muttered and poured some whiskey into one of
the cups.
She didn’t seem as prepared for it as she thought as she coughed nearly as soon as the first
drops hit her lips.
It at least broke the silence and Ana and Hannyuu giggled at her, and even got Kyouko to
crack a sad smile. “Not used to strong drinks? Let me try some?” Kyouko asked as she took
the cup from Akemi to sip at it. Unlike the Kitsune she didn’t seem to reject the drink even
seemed to enjoy it. “That isn’t bad, strong but I guess we can all use something strong right
now… I love you all also, I couldn't do this without you three… Hannyuu… I can’t tell you
how thankful I am for how much you risked tonight, I love you kitty cat.” Kyouko said and
ruffled Hannyuu’s hair, who seemed to just lean into all the affection the three gave her while
snuggling further on Kyouko’s lap, and let her purring show what emotions she was having
trouble getting out.
“Don’t discount yourself either Kyouko dear, you did beat someone who was of a higher
level than you, who was somewhat close to Gazef’s strength from what I could tell from
some information magic.” Akemi said as she poured herself some mead, moving back to a
familiar drink.
“Maybe… only because he was arrogant. I was at death’s door when you found me, his rapier
was poisoned with something nasty.” Kyouko took a few more sips of her whiskey and
leaned over to kiss Ana, who took a moment to lean forward to complete it, only to lean away
after a few seconds while coughing. Kyouko quietly laughed at the reaction after she slipped
Ana some whiskey through that kiss.
“Kyouko! How can you drink that stuff? Its so… harsh!” Ana complained a bit before
grabbing some mead herself, if only to wash out that taste. “You know you made four cups
right Akemi?” Ana asked as she looked over at Hannyuu who had just seemed amused and
thoughtful of all that was said.
“I think after all that happened tonight we all might need something. If you want to try some
Hannyuu It is fine on this occasion, you did just as much as anyone today, so better to
experiment with something like this under supervision.” Akemi said as she reached over to
pet Hannyuu a bit, and perhaps she just wanted to keep reassuring herself that her daughter
was safe.
“O-okay Mama… I think I’ll try a little, I’m kind of curious… People drink these to feel
better?” She asked as she reached for the opposite of what they thought she would, and took
the whiskey, pouring a tiny bit in a cup of her own.
As she went to sniff and sip it they all watched and waited for the moment she would spit it
out and complain, but were surprised as all she did was wiggle her nose in discomfort and
make a face. “That is… really strong.” She muttered as she took a second sip, and seemed to
actually analyze it a bit. “It has a really complicated taste under all of that, it isn’t that bad I
guess.” Hannyuu said and seemed to not notice how surprised her mother’s were as they just
looked at her.
“Huh, our daughter has a pretty refined sense of taste.” Kyouko noted as she sipped her own
whiskey.
“Well… if you’re fine with that drink dear, make sure you drink water tonight though, I hear
hang overs are terrible.” Akemi noted as she just enjoyed her mead. “Not sure If I can even
get drunk, so I’m just going to drink things that taste nice.”
“You’ve never gotten one?” Kyouko asked as she wrapped and arm around all of them as best
she could while being careful to not spill her drink.
They all were more than happy to lean into that hug as the fireplace gave them at least some
comfort. “Nope, I haven’t really seen if I can get drunk in this world, only been able to get a
little buzzed I think, and I didn’t have much of any either way, I was puking more than
enough on my own. In my last life it would have messed with all my medications. I tried a
tiny bit once but never touched it after that, mostly because my big brother gave me the
second worst scolding of my life.” Akemi seemed to slip into her own memories for a while
as she sipped her mead. “I wonder what he is doing now…”
“You’ve mentioned him a few times now, what was he like?” Ana asked as she cuddled
closer, and pet the tails wrapped around her.
Akemi got a strangely lonely look on her face as she looked away. “He was… my only
family really, at least the only one who hadn’t disowned me by the end. He always made sure
to look out for me, even after he left home, and even when he got married he made sure I was
taken care of. I miss him… Would be amusing to see him know that he is an uncle now.”
Akemi said and let the silence fell back over all of them.
“Oh dear… I shouldn’t have let you have a second cup, even if it was small. Here, lets get
you some water.” Akemi said to Hannyuu as the girl lightly flopped against her while the
others smiled at the girl who was either drunk, or just very buzzed.
“Mamas… Can we go bed?” She was able to sleepily mutter after she drank the cup of water
Akemi nearly forced into her hands.
“Yes dear, I suppose we might see if magic can fix hang overs, hopefully you won’t get one.”
Akemi said and carefully picked her daughter up as the girl quickly fell asleep.
“Where will you two be sleeping? Should we just keep our separate rooms?” Akemi asked as
she looked at Ana and Kyouko who both seemed quite cozy there together on the couch.
“I think I’ll stay with Lorelei, I don’t really like leaving her out of my sight right now. Want
to join Ana? You hardly take up any room after all.” Kyouko offered with a sly grin and
hugged the girl who had moved to lay on her chest.
“Mm… sounds comfortable, I’ll join Kyouko for tonight, keep her company. What is the plan
for tomorrow Akemi?” Ana asked as she cracked open her eyes to look up at the Kitsune.
“I think… Our little trip needs to end a bit early. In the morning Kyouko you and me are
taking a trip to the great tomb of Nazarick, you get to meet Ainz, he is granting that request
you asked for. I’ll tell you more about it in the morning when we aren’t sleepy or buzzed.”
Akemi said and stepped over into her room to tuck Hannyuu inside, right before coming back
out to join them.
She sat down next to the two of them and let Kyouko pull her into a kiss. It was amusing to
her that the taste of the whiskey was a bit more tolerable when it was on Kyouko’s lips.
Ana took her turn next and nipped at Akemi’s bottom lip for just a moment. “I like kissing
you two…” Ana said with a loopy giggle and silly smile on her face. None of the three drank
much, not enough to get more than buzzed, so they could tell she was more kiss drunk than
anything.
“Same, I think we’ll need a lot more time to practice those though, maybe a proper date when
we can. Love you two, sleep well dears.” Akemi said and hugged both of them a bit more
before she had to reluctantly head to her room, her limp tails showing just how she felt about
not being able to lavish them with more attention.
“Love you too, sleep well Akemi.” Kyouko said and relaxed on that couch, shifting over till
she was laying down completely with Ana on top of her.
“Love you Akemi, see you in the morning.” Ana said and snuggled against Kyouko a bit
more, obviously seeming to enjoy the comfort it brought.
It was soon just the two of them relaxing there on the couch, enjoying the heat of the
fireplace, and the slight buzz they both still had. “Its strange… I felt myself falling for Akemi
nearly since the day I met her in that forest, back when she acting as an adventurer. It wasn’t
just from the amazing magic she showed off, there was just something about her that made
me more curious… Though when I met you I honestly though you hated me, you did look
ready to cut me down, and yet… You seemed so strong and pretty at that moment, even if
you were glaring at me.” Ana quietly said as she rested her head on Kyouko’s chest. “I hadn’t
expected to fall for you also, I’m glad I did.”
Kyouko smiled down at her shorter Mate and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and just let
her use her chest as a pillow. “I’m pretty similar… She does have that attraction to her that
pulls you in, and she was so passionate about everything… Despite all that power, seeing her
get emotional about not being able to save even more people she hadn’t met was…
touching.” Kyouko noted and wrapped her arms around Ana and hugged her tight.
“I hadn’t expected to fall for a human either, I wasn’t feeling very charitable towards humans
at the time, yet something about you stuck in my head. Of course you being adorable helps,
but I liked you right away you went into helping this settlement, to helping the people in it
like you had been part of these people from the start. Sorry for being so harsh at the start…”
Kyouko said and nuzzled into that soft blond hair. “Have I mentioned how much I love
hugging you two? You’re both so damn tiny…”
“I forgive you, I think it is safe to say we all were under heavy stress at the time. You’re just
really tall, but also really warm and nice to be hugged by.” Ana said and giggled at that
nuzzling, and the occasional kiss to her hair she felt. “Having not one, but two loving
girlfriends is not what I expected to happen a few months ago. I really should introduce you
two to my parents eventually, I’m not sure how they’ll take it but… They taught me to treat
others equally, and there were even some Demi-human traders they were friends with. I think
they might like you two.”
“Might be a bit of a shock to them if they didn’t already know you were a lesbian, but I’d be
happy to meet them.” Kyouko told the girl and seemed far more relaxed than she was a few
hours prior, a bit more hopeful.
“What ever happens, I think the three of us can handle things just fine.” Ana said, and it was
as the only truth they felt they needed to keep moving forward, where ever things went.
“[Message]. Sorry for the early message Hekkeran, and the sudden disappearance
yesterday.” Akemi mentally told the leader of Foresight as she relaxed in bed, just enjoying
the quiet morning.
“It is fine, you had said something about an emergency, is everything alright? We all were a
bit worried, especially Arche.” He told her and sounded a bit sleepy, telling her she likely
woke him from his own rest early in the morning. She had set them up with their usual
shelter of Create Greater Manor, but it still was likely startling to them all.
Akemi knew she had been leaving that group hanging far too much lately. “Yes, it was a
pretty major emergency. I have good news, and bad news. The good news is we actually
rescued Kyouko’s daughter. The bad news is pretty bad… she is going to need a lot of care
and attention to heal, poor girl is likely going to always have some trauma if she ever wakes
up from the state she is in. Hopefully being surrounded by love and company will eventually
bring her back, but we just have to be patient for now. As for our trip… I do need to
apologize to you all, I’ve been having to take too my detours and leaving you all in the
wilderness.” Akemi told him as she sat up in bed and swung her legs off. She winced at how
cold the wooden plank floor was and made a mental note to make any future bedrooms have
nice carpet…
“It is alright, we’re pretty used to it by now, we’re making good time either way. We still
going with the same plan? Will you all be back today?” He asked.
“Yes, likely around lunch, there are still a few things to take care of, and a potential alliance
to make. We’ll likely be picking up the pace when we do come back… I don’t have the luxury
anymore of taking a carefree journey through the mountains, so we’ll be flying. Dress warmly
and I’ll see you all later.” She crept out of her room and made her way to the kitchen so she
could try out what Ana had taught her and make at least something…
“Okay, we’ll be waiting, not a lot else we can do. We hope things with Kyouko’s daughter
improves…” He told her right before she let the message drop. If only it would be that easy…
“So, after Kyouko and me return from Nazarick we’ll start to finish that trip since we are still
moving faster than any of my regular summon. I’d like to get to the Dragon Kingdom soon…
We can’t all stay here forever, the sooner I get started with making Natura the sooner all our
people can breath easy.” Akemi said and looked far too stressed for her age.
“Hey Mama? I think… I think I’m going to stay here with Mama Kyouko, it is going to be a
quick rest of the trip right?” Hannyuu asked as she nibbled at her breakfast, and seemed less
inclined to eat much, something they all picked up on. Whether it was from a light hang over,
or just the effects of the day before none of them knew.
“If you need some time to rest and relax that is perfectly fine, keep Kyouko and your sister
company okay?” Akemi asked and gave Hannyuu’s hair a few light pets. She knew just how
much the girl went through the day before… Akemi had to for the first time in a few weeks
cast Deep Slumber on her when her nightmares returned during the night. “The rest of the
trip won’t be as comfortable, I’m intending to really fly hard for most of the day at high
speeds if I can. You should eat a bit more dear. If you have a headache then some more water
will help, the headache from a hangover comes from dehydration.” Akemi said and placed a
few more slices of meat on her daughter’s plate.
“I think I’ll come with long enough to say goodbye to Foresight, Arche taught me a lot and I
honestly am going to miss her a bit…” Ana admitted and rubbed the back of her neck. The
shy action brought a smile to Akemi and Kyouko’s faces.
“Well, you can use that ring to message her when you need to, or even contact your parents
with it, though a sudden message might freak them out if they aren’t used to it…”
Akemi looked over at Kyouko and noticed just how out of it her girlfriend was,
understandably so. “Kyouko?” Akemi put a hand on the woman’s shoulder and looked up at
her worriedly, her ears flattened against her head. “Maybe… this will be too much for her…”
Akemi wasn’t even sure she was prepared for what she might see either, but there was no
backing out now. “Are you sure you still want to go?”
Kyouko seemed to come out a small zoned out state before she nibbled just a bit more at her
food. “I’m fine, just… tired. Glad I didn’t drink enough for a hangover, going to be a rough
enough day as it is. Ana, are you alright to watch Lorelei for me while we deal with this?”
“Its no problem, leave it to me you two.” She said and held Akemi and Kyouko’s hands for a
moment. Hannyuu smiled at them for a moment before she continued eating as much as she
felt she could. As much of a calm face as she was putting on, the others could tell that
Hannyuu was at the very least a bit rattled by the previous day’s events still, rightfully so.
Akemi just wished she had a few weeks to just relax and Exist with her family, to make sure
they all were completely okay.
“Akemi, will you and your ‘Mate’ be ready soon?” Akemi heard Ainz in her head ask as she
felt the mental connection come through.
“Yes, we’re eating what breakfast we can, making sure everyone is alright. I kind of assume
that is Kyouko’s version of girlfriend for wolves, think I should I ask her about that?” Akemi
asked and held a hand to her temple as she zoned out to listen to Ainz. “Sorry, Ainz is
messaging me. Ready to go soon Kyo?” Akemi asked and leaned against the wolf woman.
“Yeah… Lets get this over with, hopefully it will be a bit of closure, I want to know their
fate.” Kyouko’s eyes turned positively venomous as she thought back to those men and what
they both knew what would likely be happening to them that day.
“That sounds more serious than just a girlfriend, well you don’t seem the type to break up
with people, so I doubt it will be an issue.” Ainz told her.
“Maybe? I’ll ask her later, when it isn’t real serious hours. So… on a scale of one to Lithian
Corporation, how much will those bastards be suffering?” Akemi asked as she remembered
the worst rated company to work for in their previous world, that could get away with literal
debt slavery.
“Yes. If you add me as an exception to your information blocking barrier I’ll open a gate in
ten minutes.” Ainz said before he closed the connection.
“Okay, we have ten minutes before leaving. Please call him Lord Ainz when you meet him
you three, or his followers might get angry… I can get away with it only because I’m just as
strong as them and knew Ainz from before everything. I’ll be calling him the same as we
both need to keep up appearances in public.” Akemi told them as she started to mentally
fiddle with her barriers to allow only Ainz to open a Gate, she was just thankful she could run
those permission lists mentally without a visual menu… Unlike some of her other design
orientated spells, or ones she edited herself to include a visual element.
“Got it, well I don’t really feel like eating any more.” Kyouko said as she pushed her food
away, knowing there was a high chance she might just lose her breakfast later. None of them
could blame her for that.
“You all be careful alright? Please just… come back safe okay?” Ana asked of them as she
hugged her two girlfriends closely. Hannyuu soon slipped into that hug and purred in a
strangely anxious way.
“You better not get hurt Mamas…” Hannyuu was able to choke out before she shivered.
As those two got their reassurances out of Akemi and Kyouko, a swirling black and red gate
opened within the clearing near their home. Several villagers stopped what they were doing
to watch.
“Oh heck… [Whispers on the Wind]. Nobody panic, it is an ally, do not be alarmed.” Akemi
quickly told the settlement before Ainz walked through that portal with Shalltear right behind
him, her eyes scanning everything around for threats.
The group stepped out from their hug and let Akemi walk up to Ainz. “Good morning Lord
Ainz, thank you for coming.” Akemi told him as she stood before him in front of her family.
It was almost comical, the difference in height between the two of them, nearly a gap of three
feet.
“Good morning to you as well Lady Akemi.” He told her in his deep voice that seemed to
choke the area in what ever negative aura he was giving off. “This is a lovely settlement, It is
a shame that you intend to leave it behind, perhaps you could create an embassy here?” He
offered before his gaze drifted behind Akemi.
Akemi looked behind her and smiled at her family, mouthing to them to relax as she saw just
how tense they were, even Kyouko was frozen a bit. Hannyuu gave a few small shivers
before she took some deep breathes. Akemi tilted her head at her daughter who smiled back
and stepped forward just a bit. “I-it is a pleasure to meet you Lord Ainz, thank you for
looking after M-mother, I’m her daughter Hannyuu.” Hannyuu was able to get out with a
minimum amount of stuttering, her bravery almost forced as she gave a bow, knowing it
might help her mother.
He put a hand in front of Shalltear as the vampire looked ready to say something if Ainz
hadn’t seemed to silence her with a look. “Indeed she has talked a lot about you. It is a
pleasure to meet you as well. Hmm… Maybe Mare and Aura would appreciate spending time
with other children?” He seemed to think out loud for the last bit before nodding at Hannyuu
who took a few steps back behind Akemi again.
Her mother could only smile at her proudly before she looked at Ana and Kyouko, now that
Hannyuu had introduced herself, those two could only step up also. Kyouko soon put on a
brave face, while Ana still was sweating a bit.
“Well met Lord Ainz, I thank you for granting my selfish request.” She told the skeleton man,
standing up straight and soon looked like nothing was out of the ordinary, despite the worlds
difference in power. Kyouko could tell that the man she barely won against wasn’t even a
speck of dust compared to the one before her that she could only describe as the concept of
Death.
“There is nothing selfish about it. There is nothing more pure and potent than the love of a
mother for her child, or her rage. It is a pleasure to meet you as well.”
“I-I am Anatashia Bilon, thank you for all your assistance Lord Ainz.” Ana introduced
herself before she bowed before she took a step back once her own part was done.
“You as well, Thank you for taking care of Lady Akemi. Shall we go deal with my ‘guests’?
They have been left to sit for the night and I think we’ll find them more than talkative.” Ainz
said as he lifted a hand as he turned around “[Gate].” It finally had begun.
“With pleasure…” Kyouko muttered as her demeanor got noticeably more dark.
“So… This is Nazarick, it is pretty nice, a bit oppressive but I suppose that is the point. I’m
glad I’m seeing it like this and not like that stupid raiding party got to. I warned them against
it, but did any of those guilds listen? Nope.” Akemi looked around the tall dark hallways as
she stood near Ainz outside of an unassuming door.
“That was a smart decision, half of the guilds in those alliances ended up drained of gold and
gear, and we level trapped several of them till they quit for a while.” Ainz noted as he opened
up the door, revealing a long hallway of the men she had given mostly nude and locked
against the walls. “Shalltear, you can wait outside if you wish.” Ainz told his Guardian as she
gave a curtsy before walking out.
“Of course my Lord.” She said while taking that moment to also glare at Akemi one last
time.
Sadly she also saw a strange monster made up of grey tentacles and clothed in what seemed
to be a dominatrix outfit wiggling and writhing near them as they seemed to talk to the
prisoners in a sugary sweet voice. “Oh what naughty things did all of you do to earn such
special treatment with me? Oh what a lovely gift Lord Ainz~ Who are your lovely friends?”
Akemi and Kyouko resisted recoiling at the sight, it would have been quite rude.
“Good evening Neuronist, these low lives have earned themselves a long and full tour of the
tomb. This is Akemi and her Mate Kyouko, the ones who have turned these men over to your
care. Would you share with Neuronist their sins?” Ainz asked as he nodded down at the fox
woman.
She was about to answer right before she felt a presence approaching from behind. She
turned around right as she saw a tall and gorgeous woman with red hair in a maid outfit
creeping up behind her and Kyouko. “I’ve been spotted? Ara?” The woman said and
straightened back up.
“…This is Lupusregina Beta, one of the maids of the Pleiades.” Ainz introduced and looked a
bit annoyed as he gestured at the bowing woman. “Lupus, this is Akemi and Kyouko,
potential allies of Nazarick, and the one who brought in these vermin for questioning. She is
also one of the few you’ll find your own stealth skills out matched by. She was able to notice
CZ from a long distance.”
“Oh?” Lupus got an interesting look on her face as she leaned down a bit closer to Akemi,
not giving those wiggling tails any mind. “Aren’t you adorable~ We should play hide and
seek some time~” She told Akemi with a saucy grin.
While Akemi could sense some maliciousness in that grin, it felt more like just regular
sadism rather thank hostility. She stomped down on her blush as her mind reminded her that
the woman in front of her was quite beautiful, she also examined her a bit, and quickly found
her scent to be similar to Kyouko, enough to identify her as some form of wolf, even with no
trace of obvious wolf features. Akemi forced a grin on as she leaned forward a bit to wink at
her. “Careful, I play for keeps. A pleasure to meet you.” Akemi said and chuckled under her
breath at the amused look on the Maid’s face.
“Akemi… How many times must I tell you not to flirt with my servants? Is this going to be a
regular thing?” Ainz mildly complained and shook his skull.
“Probably, she is a big flirt.” Kyouko said with an amused snort. She then turned to Lupus as
she wrapped an arm around Akemi’s shoulders. “She talks a big game but she is actually
super innocent. Like Lord Ainz said my name is Kyouko.” She told Lupus, and chuckled at
Akemi finally giving in to her blush and slumping in that embrace.
“Oh is she? You wouldn’t be bad to play with either~ Not going to get angry at another wolf
for getting too close to your Mate?” Lupus asked and almost looked surprised.
“Considering we both also share a relationship with an adorable human girl named Ana, I’m
not really the jealous type. Maybe sometime, on a better occasion than this…” Kyouko said
before her attention was turned back to those men who were stuck waiting.
Akemi wasn’t sure how she felt about being so much shorter than everyone in the room but…
She was the one who decided to make her avatar five feet tall. “Take my fun away why don’t
you… I’m just playing along, I cope with humor.” Akemi said and then seemed to deflate and
remember why she was there. She turned back around to look at the grey corpse-like creature
in front of them, whom Lupus went to stand next to. “Well met Neuronist, all these men are
members of the criminal syndicate called Eight Fingers, whom I’m told the great tomb has a
special interest in. As for why I’ve sent them here… May I use a transfer memory spell? It
will be easier to sum up what is needed that way.” Akemi asked as she turned to glare at the
tied and gagged men.
Once she got a nod from Neuronist and Lupus, of course after they got the alright from Ainz,
she dragged those memories back up, feeling disgust once again. “[Transfer Memory]. I want
at least double that done to all of them… If during your questioning you can get information
about the one who hurt our daughter Hannyuu in the past also please do so and give them
some special treatment. Those three over there are likely to have that information. All of
these bastards had at least some hand in how both our daughters were tormented, so I want
them to never know peace again for the rest of their miserable lives.” Akemi said as she
pointed at the three previous men, still quite wounded but in stable condition tied up with the
rest.
As she suspected neither of those two changed expression much from it, except for Lupus,
who very subtly started to frown instead as her eyes looking predatory as she looked back at
the men. Neuronist only nodded as she made small noises of thought, as if planning up her
routine for the men.
“Akemi? What did you transfer them?” Kyouko asked as she gently put a hand on her mate’s
shoulder, looking far more curious than she should.
“It was… The magical diagnosis report from when I scanned Lorelei… It is pretty extensive,
disgustingly so. So would you all be able to do that? Normally I have a policy of not doing
things that in general are evil, but when I look at these bastards… frankly I find I don’t quite
give a damn about my karma in this case.” Akemi said as her eyes narrowed at those men.
“Akemi… Can you please share the report with me?” Kyouko asked as her fists clenched, all
traces of humor gone from her face from a few minutes before, and looked just as merciless
as when Akemi met her.
“I can’t do that… you don’t want that, please…” Akemi faltered and looked away, her ears
folding as looked away from her taller girlfriend, who put a hand on her shoulder to turn her
around to face her.
“Please… I need to know what she went through… How can I help her if I don’t know?
Please just… at least tell me something…” Kyouko nearly pleased as she stared into Akemi’s
eyes with such a haunted look it scared her.
What could Akemi do but give in to that look? She looked away from them all as she
mentally combed through that report again, to pick out relevant bits. “Fine… I-it is your right
as a mother to know… There were no small issues wrong with her, her legs and arms being
removed had to have happened a year or more back, and that is just scratching the surface.
Several transmitted diseases were found, and I don’t know what in the world they had been
feeding her but she had long term malnutrition and dehydration, enough that… there was
severe organ damage and failure. All except the malnutrition is healed of course, that will
take time. There was… some more but… Kyouko, do you really need to know?” Akemi
asked as her ears folded down completely now.
“Yes, I need to know. Please just tell me… I can take it.” Kyouko sounded so defeated as she
hugged Akemi to herself.
“…The report turned up signs of at least three miscarriages over the past two years, and her
body’s development has been thrown so far off track for a fourteen year old that she’ll likely
always be stunted in height along with other issues. There is a chance she might never be able
to successfully have children due to all of this, if she ever would even want to. I might be
able to come up with some treatments with magic, but making spells is a lot harder than just
modifying one, but not impossible.” Akemi hugged Kyouko tightly as she felt the woman go
just slightly limp against her.
She felt Kyouko shake for a moment, and thought the woman was about to sob some more as
would be expected from news like that, but instead she heard a growl come from her before
she pulled away from Akemi to stomp over to the first man on the wall and rake her
sharpened nails over his face, instantly drawing out a muffled screech.
Akemi was tempted to tell her to stop, but she could only watch as her girlfriend got her rage
out of her system, screaming out her rage and sorry in between bone shattering punches,
kicks, and scratches.
Ainz put a hand in front of Akemi to stop her from darting ahead as several tentacles stopped
Kyouko’s fists. Akemi relaxed as soon Neuronist released, showing no harm was done to
Kyouko, after which Ainz put his arm down.
“Now now dear, we don’t want them to die yet. You see all the nerve endings are near the
surface of the skin, so if you dig in too deep it will just make them bleed out faster for
nothing.” Neuronist said to Kyouko in an almost comforting way, seeming to empathize with
her rage. “Would you like me to teach you? You can join Lupus and myself in getting these
men to sing such a wonderful song.” She offered with an amused laugh as she stroked the
cheek of the man Kyouko had just mauled, heedless of the warm blood still coming from the
large gashes.
Lupus had went over near those two and pointed at the man “[Cure Light Wounds]. I’ll join
in, as a favor to another wolf I’ll help teach you all about the proper way to inflict pain.” She
told Kyouko with a sadistic grin on her face. Kyouko didn’t seem to dislike the idea, such
was the rage that burned inside of her.
Akemi could only watch as Neuronist held up a tiny spiked rod which made her wince. “Lord
Ainz, you’ve mentioned a potential alliance a few times now, shall we discuss that a bit? But
first…” Akemi couldn’t resist getting at least some revenge by her own hand.
“[Widen Magic, Mass Illusionary Stasis].” Akemi cast at the long line of men, and watched
each one slow down to a halt. “Feel free to keep it up, they’re feeling everything a thousand
times slower for about five real life minutes, so if you’re stick that thing where I think you
are they’re certainly screaming in their mind as it all happens in super slow motion. If you’re
quick enough you can get all of them before it wears off, might be a good opener for your
‘song’. Kyouko, I’ll be outside, just tell me when you’re done with Message alright? No rush
really.” Akemi told her as she just shook her head.
“Oho I like this one~ Very creative indeed.” Neuronist sounded far too joyful for their own
good as Akemi rushed off after Ainz. After they got out of the room Akemi noticed Shalltear
having joined them once again.
“Shalltear, there really is not a need for a guard right now. Perhaps you two and Albedo need
a day to get to know each other. I swear it is like introducing cats to each other sometimes…”
Ainz complained just a bit.
“But my Lord, It would be the height of irresponsibility to leave you alone with an outsider!”
Shalltear pleaded as she followed along still, she hadn’t been exactly ordered to not guard
him.
“If it makes you and Albedo feel any better, I am one hundred percent not after his body like
you two are, I stick with ladies myself.” Akemi said and just wished those two servants in
particular would stop being so hostile to her!
Following Ainz as he left the room Akemi kept her eyes mostly down. “So… think I’ll ever
get to have some days off? Its been one thing after another lately…” Akemi lightly
complained as she let Ainz lead her to a meeting room. “Kyouko will be safe in there right?”
Akemi cautiously asked as she took a seat across from Ainz. As they sat down the difference
in height became even more obvious. Shalltear had taken a position next to him in a chair, but
didn’t seem apt to disturb the meeting.
“Do you doubt my promise?” Ainz asked, almost sounding amused. Akemi shook her head
and smiled at him sadly, and tried to ignore the glare from Shalltear, knowing likely the only
reason the girl was so quiet was to not upset her Lord. “Nothing will happen to your
girlfriend, it sounds like she’ll learn a thing or two. Days off are quite hard to come by, even
for me, and you’re taking making a country onto your plate. Now, it is time we stop dancing
around the issue. Before either of us make our marks on this world, can we at least agree
officially to not interfere with each other, and cooperate if need be?” Ainz asked, and
sounded bone tired.
“That sounds fine, any war or conflict between use would be… apocalyptic for this world,
and I rather like this place. It is honestly such an improvement over Earth. Are you alright? It
is kind of strange to ask a skeleton, but did you get any rest last night?” Akemi asked and
tilted her head to examine him further, as if she could somehow decipher his lack of
expressions. She then turned to Shalltear and got her usual look back that seemed to accuse
her of being up to no good. “You keep him up all night or something?” Akemi asked with a
chuckle.
Just like Albedo that at least got Shalltear to look happier. “Ahh if only~” Shalltear whined a
bit as she held her cheeks, turning from stern guard that seemed to hate her, into a blushing
schoolgirl.
“Adorable. Ainz why do you leave those two ladies hanging? With the right materials I could
probably make a shape shifting wand for you. Everyone should have the chance to pass on
children if they want to~” Akemi joked and laughed as Shalltear got even more
embarrassed… or eager. Now the look Shalltear gave her seemed to be a desire for that wand,
and Akemi knew she might get a message at some point from her about it.
“Akemi… why are you like this?” Ainz complained before he shook his head “Getting back
on track.” He grumbled and waited for both Akemi to stop giggling and Shalltear to compose
herself. “Well, while you dealt with the section of Eight Fingers in E-Rantel, we were dealing
with the main branch in the Capital and… things got out of hand. it is no matter anymore,
none of them will trouble you all again. As for what will happen to all of them… well they’ll
get their own full tour like the ones you captured. So we are in agreement? We can draw up
something official to sign later once you have established your country.” Ainz said as he
stood up to hold out a hand to shake.
Akemi thought for a moment and decided she really didn’t want to know what those men
would experience, not out of pity, but because she wanted to have nothing more to do with
them. “As long as they all suffer and get a measure of justice then I’m happy with the
arrangement. Agreed, a pleasure working with you Skeletor.” Akemi smirked as she grasped
that skeletal hand that was comically larger than her own delicate looking one. She graciously
ignored the near silent cursing Ainz gave her under his breath.
They both yanked their hands back as if an electrical shock had hit them both. “Ow… You
know how did neither of us see that coming? You give off negative energy and I radiate
positive divine energy… guess some interference like that should be expected.” Akemi said
and shrugged before sitting back down. “Now… If we are going to work together I need to
know something… You had left some ominous words before about World Items, please
explain.” Akemi asked as her face turned serious.
“I suppose I did make it seem pretty urgent… I’ve yet to figure out who it was but there was
an incident with a World Item that a Native had. Do you know of one that can cast absolute
mind control? I had to fight Shalltear due to that and I’ve been on the look out for the culprits
since.” Ainz sounded genuinely pissed off as he explained. Shalltear for her part looked
ashamed of herself, even if her and Ainz both knew it wasn’t truly her fault.
Akemi felt her blood run cold as she remembered one such item, it had passed through
Natura’s hands before she joined, closer to the start of the game, though it had faded away
somewhere and was missing for years. “Downfall of Castle and Country… That is not a good
one to not know where it is. I have no idea who might have it but… tell you what, make those
men who raped both of my daughters suffer for absolutely as long as you can without letting
them slip into blissful insanity, and I’ll use Grand Enlightenment to look for it. Now I can’t
do it until I have my work area for that spell set up, which once I have my base created I can
make…” Akemi seemed to trail off toward the end as she looked at him.
“Well that is pretty dark for you, a bit out of character.” Ainz said and instantly regretted it as
he saw the furious look in her eyes “Just how is she hiding that much anger? A split
personality?” He thought before he shook his head. “…What do you want?” Ainz asked with
a sigh, he could read the girl a bit too well by that point, though it disturbed him that even
with him being open to give her something, she wasn’t happy.
“I’m not feeling very much like a goddess of light right now. Frankly I have no idea how to
make them suffer as much as I want them to, which is why I’m thankful for your services… I
know I’m quite… naive on certain things, but I’m not allowed to be that way anymore, not
with so many people depending on me.” Akemi admitted and bowed her head slightly. “So…
The thing about that skill is that the spell needs a casting altar and it is very specific with it’s
construction. I didn’t come to this world with anywhere near the materials I need though. I
need ten kilograms of Star Silver, and ten kilograms of Astral Gold. Once I have that I can
built it easily enough, and then I just need to know the location where the incident happened,
I can backtrack through the events and we’ll see exactly who it was who crossed you. I’ll be
able to mark that World Item and then track it later, or at the very least scry the location
where I think it is until I get lucky.” Akemi said and took a few deep breathes, rubbing her
throat as if it was sore.
“This is doable, We have some left over still, and I am not a crafter myself.” Ainz said and
rested his chin on his hands. “Now that that is out of the way… Since you seem so keen on
intruding into my romantic life, why don’t you share something about your whole two weeks
of experience? Fair is fair.” Ainz asked with as much snark as a skeleton could produce.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: I’m sorry this chapter seems all over the place, I was having a hell of a time trying
to write it… I had much more written in the outline for after that trip, but it was long
enough of a chapter and frankly my wrist is hurting.
Speaking of wrist hurting, there is a chance I might miss a week or two as I take a break
to make sure my wrist recover, I put too much weight on it too much and if I keep trying
to write with it will never really recover right.
Thank you all for reading, I hope it wasn’t too much of a grind to get through. I was
really surprised by the supportive comments for the last chapter which I know was hard
to get through, and I appreciate it. There will be some sweeter bits soon to wash out
some of that bad taste some parts of these two chapters have left. Next chapter should be
the start of the Dragon Kingdom Arc.
The Dragon Kingdom
Chapter Summary
Recovery is a slow path, and it is in no way linear.

In a Kingdom pushed to the brink of annihilation, can Akemi bring hope to a people
with none?
She will meet a true Queen worthy of only the highest respect.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Alright everyone, this one felt a big rough to me… Sorry about the week gap, was
having some writers block also. As for my wrist pain, seems ganglion cysts run in the
family… So fun times.
For ggg123666 on thanks for all your reviews! I wanted to reply and clarify some things
but you had PMs off. Again everyone I can reply a lot easier on Ao3. In the first chapter
she wasn't drunk, just a little bit buzzed in a body not yet used to anything of the sort.
There is a big difference between being actually drunk and getting a little light headed
from alcohol lol. Any buzz she gets likely wouldn't last long, not long enough for her to
physically drink and process enough of it before her body burns through the alcohol…
maybe if she was drinking like 99%? But that wouldn't be healthy, even if it wouldn't
kill her.
Thanks for pointing out a few of the errors, when I picked up this story back up after
nearly 2 years I made the choice to focus on the future of the story, rather than fully
rewriting the entire beginning, or a lot might have been different. Past a certain point I
actually planned things out more and tried to proofread and edit more. Alas I'm one
person and I tend to write strange, so things are going to slip through and that is fine, I
don't need it to be perfect. Sometimes my brain moves faster than my hands so words
might end up omitted or mixed up, and I think that is just a bit of a 'glitch' I have. I hope
despite it's imperfections, you all still enjoy this story.
Akemi felt her heart might beat out of her chest as her and Kyouko stepped out from Ainz’s
Gate, as her own would not work from within Nazarick. She felt Kyouko squeeze her hand a
few times, and the stare from her golden eyes. “You are okay Kyouko? Neither of those two
do anything funny to you?” Akemi asked as the worry showed in her voice. Her voice must
have attracted a few eyes in the settlement they had been dropped off in as she heard a few
voices call out to her that Akemi could only wave at with as natural of a smile as she could
give.
Despite the fear Akemi could see in Kyouko’s face, as well the tenseness of her jaw she
didn’t sense anything wrong with her girlfriend. While there wasn’t any less darkness in
those eyes compared to a while ago, it had eased just a bit, and perhaps a bit of fear had
perhaps taken it’s place.
“N-no, I’m fine, honestly Lupus and Neuronist were decently… nice isn’t the right word, at
the time we shared a common interest and I can tell the were enjoying showing me some…
things that I’m probably going to want to forget. At least I know the bastards will be well
taken care of… I probably shouldn’t be happy that they are suffering but… Lorelei, Hannyuu,
and I suffered for years, and now so can they… Lets head home.” Kyouko said and kissed the
top of Akemi’s head.
Akemi nodded and led them out of the public eye, not that they cared about being
affectionate in public. Before they entered the home Akemi cast a silent mass cleaning smell
on them to eliminate the smell of death that likely clung to them from Nazarick. “We’re home
everyone.” Akemi called out as they both stumbled in. The air had become mixed with the
scent of baked goods, that blended with all five of their mixed scents… the unique smell of
home was always comforting. It was an incredibly pleasant change from Nazarick.
“Mamas!” They both heard Hannyuu before their tired eyes saw her as the girl nearly flew
across the living room and tried to tackle them. “You’re both safe?” She asked as she looked
up with tears at the corners of her eyes.
What could both of them do except hug the poor girl? “We’re fine dear, I told you all it would
turn out okay. Getting invited into Nazarick almost always means one of a few things: one is
you’re trusted and seen as a friend, ally, or potential ally. Thankfully we have made an
unofficial agreement of sorts for an alliance, so I’m confident we’re firmly in that first
category. The second option is… better left unsaid, lets just say all those bastards are finding
it out the hard way.” Akemi summed it up as cleanly as she could… what they both saw in
there of those men was better left unsaid.
“Except perhaps a fear of bugs from now on, I’m just fine I think, maybe feeling a little
better. I can try and put it all behind me and focus on the future.” Kyouko said with a heavy
sigh while she leaned into the hug from her new daughter and Akemi. Soon enough though
another pair of arms hugged them all as best they could, being as short as Akemi’s. Ana, who
seemed to have come from the kitchen judging by the apron she wore, seemed to just be
enjoying feeling them safe and sound. “Anything happen around here?” Kyouko asked as she
let go.
“Everything has been alright here, I was just teaching Hannyuu what baking I knew since we
had the time. Oops… I guess I got you all dirty though…” Ana said and gestured to the front
of Akemi, Kyouko, and the entire back of Hannyuu that had been dusted by flour.
“That's alright… I can’t believe it is only the afternoon, I think that place made time go
slower.” Akemi whined a bit as she cast another silent mass cleaning spell over them just to
get the flour off of them..
“Mmm! Mamas, you should go sit down. I’ll bring what we made~.” Hannyuu said and
sounded surprisingly excited about it.
Once they all had settled at the dinning room table the three Moms there looked at each other.
“Is she doing okay?” Akemi asked Ana in a whisper, leaning towards her so try and avoid
tiny ears hearing them.
“I… think she is, she is pretty good at hiding things, but maybe she is just trying to push the
bad out with the good, she seemed to have fun baking.” Ana said before she leaned over to
give Akemi and Kyouko a kiss on the cheek. “Do you know how worried I was that
something was going to happen to you two? That guy was terrifying! That was Ainz?!” Ana
asked with a pout.
“Oh he isn’t that bad, though I guess I can see why he would look scary to most. Sure he is
technically pretty evil, and he does have several torture chambers… Okay, I’m starting to see
your point. I knew him before all this though, so it is hard for me to see the skeleton, and not
Satoru the office worker. Is it sad that he seems more alive here than our old world?” Akemi
asked as she laid her head on the table, right before a platter was set down next to it.
The smell of fresh cookies next to her head was enough to perk Akemi up from her slump.
She smiled at Hannyuu and ruffled the girl’s hair. “We may as well eat them while they’re
warm.” Hannyuu said as she took another chair. “I… heard what you said a little… I’m
getting by. You don’t need to be so careful, yesterday was hard for us all, and it did remind
me a lot of the past.” Hannyuu admitted as she looked away with folded ears, and seemed to
take a moment to try and breath. “But like I said before, they couldn’t break me then, and
they can’t now. I want to get stronger like all of you, so I can do the saving instead of having
to be saved though.” Hannyuu said as she nibbled at a cookie.
The other three could only smile at her at that. “You’re already plenty strong, but I
understand what you mean. Well, then I hope you won’t complain if we accelerate your
training, since we’ll have the time if you and Ana are staying here.” Kyouko said and
affectionately pinched Hannyuu’s cheek.
Akemi leaned back in her chair as she nibbled at her cookie, and just enjoyed the atmosphere,
her family was still whole and safe. She nodded and stood up with the other half of the
cookie hanging out of her mouth. As she stretched she reached out her mind with Message.
“Hey Hekkeran, we’re going to be ready soon, everything good on your end?” Akemi asked
as she tapped her head to let her family know she was using message when they looked at her
strangely.
“Hannyuu and me will be back in a few minutes Kyouko, we’re just going to say bye to
Foresight, they’ve been good company.” Ana said as even though it would only be a few
minutes apart, she still felt the need to hug Kyouko some more.
“I’m going to message Arche more later for magic advice. She has been great at teaching me
more magic and is really nice. Well, I doubt it will be the last we see of them.” Hannyuu
asked as she turned a smug grin towards Ana and Akemi, who could only sigh.
“Are you just trying to collect Moms now? Is shipping me with nice ladies going to be a
regular thing?” Akemi teased and poked Hannyuu’s nose.
After wiggling her nose Hannyuu only smiled and made a little hum like she was innocent in
it all. “We should probably hurry~”
“Yes yes you sassy cat… I’m not aiming at anyone else, I just go where fate blows me.”
Akemi said and snapped her fingers. “[Gate].” They all knew the snap was entirely
unnecessary, but there was no stopping the women when she wanted to be over the top.
Even as Ana and Kyouko both ruffled Hannyuu’s hair and teased her, the adorable smile she
had on showed them that the girl was just eating up the attention from three moms, and they
all knew the girl was overdue that much love. “No wonder she keeps pushing for more moms.
Well, whatever happens happens.” Akemi thought and guided Ana and Hannyuu through the
gate. “They’ll be back soon Kyouko, I’ll hopefully be back in a day or two, just going to be a
lot of flying today… Love you Kyouko.” Akemi said and leaned into the hug from her taller
girlfriend, and just enjoyed the warmth in her chest as she thought about how much things
had changed over just three weeks…”
“Be safe Akemi, I’ll look out for everyone. If you need to Message I have plenty of free time
to just chat if you’re bored.” Kyouko said and rubbed Akemi’s back while resting her chin on
the top of her head. “Alright tiny fox, go spread your wings.” Kyouko joked and pushed her
forward towards her gate. “Love you too.”
With a few giggles left behind Akemi vanished into her portal. Once those three were out of
sight again Kyouko’s face fell like the smile never was there to begin with, the energy
vanishing from her as she trudged back into their home. She knew two of them would be
back possibility within half an hour or less, but still, all she could do was wait.
She sat down in the chair next to her bed, next to Lorelei where they had laid the girl. Thanks
to the ring Akemi let her use they didn’t need to worry about the girl needing food or drink,
and were not sure how to feed her effectively otherwise. Until she could at least move a little
on her own it was the best they could do for her. They had dressed her in a pair of Hannyuu’s
pajamas, though they were even more over sized on her than Hannyuu, who was three years
younger.
For the moment her eyes were open but unblinking as she stared up at the ceiling without a
thought appearing to pass behind them. Kyouko grasped the girl’s hand under the covers and
held in between her own. “Please Lorelei… come back to your mother. I love you, we’re all
here for you…” All she could do was keep waiting yet again.
“Finally you all are back! While it is nice shelter It is still cold unless you’re near a fire! This
stone doesn’t keep in heat very well…” Imina complained as soon as Akemi stepped through
the portal.
“Sorry it took so long… Not sure how much Hekkeran said, but it was an emergency and all.
It is resolved but I’ve decided to accelerate our pace to the Dragon Kingdom.” Akemi said as
she pulled out a few jackets from her storage and put one on. “I have other cold weather gear
for you all, they have size adjustment enchantments so don’t worry about that.” Akemi said
as she loaded those jackets, as well as some gloves, hats, and thicker pants into Imina’s arms.
“Sadly Hannyuu and me will be needing to head back home for the rest of this trip. It was
really fun while it lasted.” Ana explained as she saw Hannyuu’s ears fold before both their
eyes drifted to Arche. “Thank you so much with your help in magic Arche, I think I made a
lot of progress in the second tier, maybe next time I see you I’ll have hit the third also.” With
that Ana reached over to pull Arche into a hug, which was soon returned. “I really hope to
see you again some time.” Ana said with a tiny blush before she let go.
They noticed Arche had to turn away a bit herself to hide her own emotions. “Oh alright, It
will be a shame to not have you two here. It was fun to have you, I’m going to miss our
talks.” Arche admitted before she turned to look down a bit at Hannyuu who had come over
to get a hug herself. Arche couldn’t help but smile as she felt the tiny vibrations of Hannyuu’s
purring for the few moments they hugged.
“Thanks for helping teach me, I’ll try and get magic arrow learned by the next time I see you.
You know you can’t get rid of all of us that easy right? We’ll meet again.” Hannyuu said as
she stood a few steps back with a grin.
Next Hannyuu hugged Imina, startling the half elf, who soon smiled as she hugged back.
“Yeah yeah, I’ll miss you too kid, take care of yourself.” Imina said and ruffled that light pink
hair.
Hannyuu even looked up at Hekkeran and Roberdyck, but didn’t hug them. “Thank you both
a-also, I’m sorry I was so cold to you both at first, you were really understanding about it and
I appreciate it.” She said and seemed to be able to resist her urge to look away so she could
look them in the eye for the first time as she said that.
They were just as surprised as the others were. “Yeah kid, you take care of your Moms, and
take care of yourself.” Hekkeran said and waved her off, while Roberdyck merely nodded his
head with a smile as his answer.
Akemi sighed a bit and opened up another gate back to the settlement. “Well you two, I’ll
keep in touch, but if you need me you have your rings to contact me, please use them.
Hannyuu, maybe you can get your other two moms to try out the fly function on their own
rings? Think you can show them the ropes?” Akemi asked Hannyuu as she hugged the girl to
herself and found herself wishing for a moment that she hadn’t embarked on such a heavy
quest… that she had just taken Hannyuu and made a simple life for them both, but the
thought of those downtrodden yet hopeful faces in her settlement, and of the two women she
loved made it all worth it.
“I’ll try, maybe I’ll work it in after training.” Hannyuu said as she hugged Akemi tightly.
“Love you Mom, I’ll call you tonight.” She said before she forced herself to let go of her
mother.
Ana’s wasn’t about to be outdone as she took her turn hug Akemi and kissed her deeply,
heedless of those watching. When Hannyuu cleared her throat they knew their kiss went on
long enough. They separated and both were equally flushed.
“Love you too dear, you as well Ana, I’ll see you back at the settlement soon.” Akemi said
and watched her two loved ones vanish within her gate. After taking a moment to collect
herself Akemi turned back to Foresight with a strange forlorn look on her face. “So… before
we go does anyone have any questions? I’ll be casting mass fly and we’ll be heading over the
mountains, so you’re going to want those cold weather clothes I got you.” Akemi said while
suddenly sullen.
“Are you alright? Hekkeran had mentioned that something bad happened with your
emergency, but didn’t tell us what exactly. If It is anything I can help with please speak up.”
Arche said while they all added those extra layers over their clothes and equipment. They all
seemed to notice the strange mood Akemi suddenly fell into.
Akemi then looked over at Hekkeran curiously. “You didn’t tell them?” When she got a shake
of his head she could only shrug. “There was a plot by the underground crime group Eight
Fingers to kidnap Hannyuu, they tried to use Kyouko’s daughter Lorelei as bait in it. We
turned the tables on them but it was still…” Akemi felt her rage flare back up as she
remembered the powerlessness she felt as she had to just wait for that message from Kyouko
before she could make her move.
She took a few deep breathes and leaned back against the cold stone wall of her summoned
shelter she had left Foresight in. “It left some marks on all of us, and we’re still recovering.
Lorelei was there for five years though, there was almost nothing left of her… Now she
seems to only be able to lay there… Like she is still asleep. We’ll wait as long as it takes
though for her to come back, she’ll have a lot of love to come back to.” Akemi said as she
took a few deep breathes to calm down and force herself to perk back up.
“Indeed she will, I’ll pray for her future recovery.” Roberdyck said with a nod as he finished
fitting the cold weather jacket over his armor.
The others look pretty glum at that news as they finished getting ready as well, their packs
slung over their shoulders. “Lets head out I guess, you sure it will be fine with the Wyvern
Rider tribes? Are you sure we’re enough security for that?” Hekkeran asked as he saw
Akemi’s eyes widen.
“That is right you mentioned them… well it will be fine, if they are reasonable we can talk to
them. If they aren’t so reasonable then… I am here, that is all the security we need. In all
likeliness if we encounter them I’ll cloak us in invisibility and bypass them, we really don’t
have the time to get waylaid again. Just stick near me and we’ll fly hard. Hekkeran stay up
front with me and point us in the right direction.” Akemi said as she opened up the door and
winced at the freezing gusts of wind that carried with it snow that felt more like sand as it hit
them. “This is going to be fun…” Akemi grumbled as she waded out into the snow storm,
instantly being consumed to her knees by the snow on that mountain path.
As the others followed her out they seemed to shiver instantly. “Damn this is going to be
rough… You want us to fly in a snow storm?” Imina asked as she hugged that fur coat Akemi
gave her and seemed to curl in one herself as the cold mountain gusts cut through them.
“Oh don’t be such a baby, like I would bother with that. [Control Weather].” Akemi said as
she held her palm up to the sky. All of them, but especially Arche could only stare at that in
wonder as the winds ceased, the snow as well, and the dark clouds above began to disperse
like mist. Soon the midday sun was glaring down from above, bathing them all in it’s
warmth.
“…I know that spell. That took Teacher an entire ritual and a few hours or even days to cast,
and here you go casting it like it is nothing… Why am I surprised?” Arche complained as she
held a hand to her face with a humorlessly laugh.
“Why are you complaining? You act like I haven’t been showing you tenth tier magic nearly
every day. I’m a bit different, so it is unfair to compare your teacher to me, he worked harder
than me for what he can do, as did you.” Akemi said as she mentally seemed to calculate
something.
“Yes yes… I already know you are just unfair like that. As long as you eventually teach me
some of that I’ll forgive you.” Arche said with a smug grin, while Akemi just pouted at her.
“If I knew how to teach I wouldn’t have needed you and Ana to help Hannyuu learn, I’m not
good at explaining just how I do my magic, like I said I’m a bit different. For you though I
might try once~” Akemi grinned at her like a tease. “[Extended Maximize Magic: Mass Fly],
[Extended Maximize Magic: Mass Haste], [Extended Widen Maximize Magic: Nature’s
Cloak].” Akemi cast her spells one after the other, bathing all five of them in a multicolored
glow. Akemi took a few deep breath as she began to float upwards.
“Ahh! Okay only Arche has experience with flying, let us get used to it!” Hekkeran said as
his legs fluttered in the air as the feeling of weightlessness took them all over. Only Arche
was fine as she looked at her teammates with a bit of embarrassment.
“Well… I taught Hannyuu, so lets get you all up to speed.”
“This is amazing! Arche why didn’t you let us try this before!?” Imina asked as she swerved
around in the air as the pack of them flew at high speeds over the mountain range. It was easy
for all of them to see how much trouble they were saving themselves not needing to wade
through proper snow. Previously they had encountered small drifts in the early parts of the
mountain, but the further into the mountains they flew, the deeper they could tell the snow
would be. The amount of snow also meant that their path would be incredibly dangerous to
walk without slipping to their deaths, not that Akemi would allow that.
“Because I’m not a cheating ball of fluff and can only cast fly on myself.” Arche said as she
flew a bit behind the others.
“Oi! Leave my beautiful fluff out of this! Not my fault you can’t.” Akemi said as those tails
still waved in the air.
Arche chuckled a bit as she stared ahead during their flight. She didn’t notice Imina fly next
to her and drift closer till she could whisper as quietly as possible, not that it stopped
everyone from hearing. “Why you back here hmm? Staring at a taken woman’s ass?” Imina
asked with an amused smirk on her face. “Aww your embarrassed face is so cute~” She
teased as Arche zoomed past her with a roll of her eyes.
Akemi was blushing herself as she flew ahead, which could be attributed to the wind flowing
past them. She tried to put that out of her mind, as she also doubted someone more refined
like Arche would be doing that. Akemi ignored the pain in her gut she was getting as she
flew.
Next to her Hekkeran chuckled at the scene. “If you’re thinking something like ‘former
nobility wouldn’t do that’ then you don’t know nobility. She totally does do that, I’m
surprised you didn’t notice her staring at Ana als-” Hekkeran was interrupted by a staff
hitting him in the head from above.
“Oh dear, my hand slipped. Less talking and more flying, or you might bite your tongue.”
Arche left a thinly veiled threat as she zoomed forward. Akemi had to laugh at that at least,
the awkward air dispersed quite effectively.
“Well, you heard the lady Hekkeran, we don’t want you to get smacked too hard, you might
just fall~” Akemi joked as she sped up to match Arche. Once again that very Kitsune like
urge washed over her like a wave. “Don’t worry Arche, Ana already noticed~ She is weak to
surprise attacks, so a sudden confession might just work~” Akemi teased as she enjoyed the
sight of Arche getting even redder.
“Ugh you all are incorrigible!” Arche complained as she just focused on the path ahead. Her
eyes widened as she spotted what she really didn’t want them to encounter. “We have Wyvern
Riders! Do not attack them, they are generally peaceful, but also territorial.” Arche warned as
her mind flipped into serious mode.
“Oh, fun. Follow me.” Akemi said as she flew in front of the group, her tails ready to defend
all behind her and her spells only a flick of her hand away. “[Widen Magic: Perfect
Unknowable].” Akemi cast on the five of them. The Wyverns and their riders stopped in
midair and looked around as their targets vanished from sight, scent, and sound. Akemi led
the group higher up to bypass those pursuers and continue on. “I think intruding on their
territory wouldn’t be the best first impression… I’ll come back when there is time for it and I
have an actual country to represent rather than an idea.” Akemi decided as they continued on.
“What spell is this? Even Invisibility wouldn’t work well on Wyverns- Actually… knowing
you it is something crazy…” Arche complained.
“Perfect Unknowable, its a ninth tier spell that is one of the best spells for stealth. Low
powered Wyverns wouldn’t be able to see through it. I have maybe one more refresh of the
flight spells I cast on you all and then we’ll need to rest. Even I can eventually run out of
mana, especially recasting spells a dozen times a day as well as a widened ninth tier spell that
does have a higher mana cost compared to other spells of the ninth tier. Any objections?”
Akemi asked as she turned over in mid air to look at them all.
“N-no, that sounds fine, if we rest we might get there tomorrow.” Hekkeran said and seemed
a bit worried at the look he saw on Akemi’s face.
With that Akemi returned to just flying in silence. They noticed soon that her pace would
slow and she would start to bob through the air after just an hour, the near limit of spells she
had cast.
“Akemi, lets land here.” Arche said as she flew next to Akemi and put a hand on her
shoulder. The jolt that went through Akemi’s body startled both of them.
“We can… go a bit longer…” Akemi mumbled as her eyes stared into the distance, though
they were a bit hazy.
“Arche is right, you need to rest and the spell is close to running out.” Hekkeran said as he
flew next to her also. Akemi’s ears folded and they heard a slight growl come from Akemi.
“Fine…” Akemi eventually said as she began to descend towards the top of one of the spires
of stone that existed in the valley of the mountain range. Arche was the one who barely
caught her before she impacted face first into the surface. She was breathing heavily and
seemed shaky. It was a side none of them had seen before from the woman. She had always
put on such a strong front that it was hard to see who she was under it… which was
something none of them knew. Arche let Akemi use her lap as a pillow for the moment as the
woman’s eyes were closed like she was in pain.
“Roberdyck, I think we’re using those tents for tonight, lets get those set up.” Hekkeran said
as all except Arche began to establish a camp with practiced ease. “I almost thought we
wouldn’t get to use this.” It was nowhere near as grand as Akemi’s shelters, but for a tent it
was spacious enough for five people to stand up, though the floor was still hard ground.
Arche was surprised that she was able to lift Akemi up as she brought her into that shelter,
and laid her on one of the sleeping mats that had been rolled out. “You’re… surprisingly light
Akemi.” Arche mentioned as she caught Akemi looking up at her through half closed eyes.
“S-sorry, I guess I was… more tired than I thought…” Akemi muttered as she watched
Hekkeran set out a small device in the center of the tent, and for a small fire to appear from it.
“What is that?”
“Its a portable camp fire, its a pretty common magical tool for adventurers and workers. It is
operated with small amounts of mana to make fire, it isn’t as hot or strong as a real fire, but it
is good if you are somewhere with no wood. So what is wrong?” Hekkeran asked as the other
three members of Foresight fell into a rhyme that Akemi could tell was well practiced.
“I think I’m just tired… I’m not sure it is even possible for me to get sick at least. I guess I
wasn’t paying enough attention to my mana but… I’ve been casting spells non-stop the past
few days… if not weeks. Maybe I just wore my stocks down faster than I could regenerate
mana and it is catching up with me.” Akemi seemed to relax a bit more as she caught her
breath. “You know Arche… if you keep holding my hand like that, I’ll get pregnant.” She
joked and was amused at the look on Arche’s face as she let go of Akemi’s hand she had
grasped, and likely forgot she was holding.
The rest of them had to stop what they were doing and look at the pair of them as Arche
sputtered out something they couldn’t understand. “T-that isn’t how that works! Besides
otherwise you would be well on your way to Ana’s kids with how much you two held hands.
I was just worried about you… You kinda scared me collapsing like that. Why didn’t you say
anything?”
“I’m just teasing you… even I know that, was just a joke from where I’m from. You’re
awfully fun to tease you know that right? It is pretty adorable.” Akemi let out a tired chuckle
as she seemed to take a few deeper breathes. The blush Arche gave made it even more worth
it. “She is indeed damn adorable…” Akemi thought and caught Arche’s eyes again. “I
thought I was fine though… I should have had more energy and Mana than that.”
The flick Arche gave her forehead made her wince, even if no pain actually came through.
“Wait… have you never run out of mana? How much have you been eating and drinking
lately? When was the last time you took a day off?” Arche asked and sighed as she saw
Akemi look away.
“I’m not normal, it is a long story, maybe best told over drinks or dinner… I’ve run out of
mana before, but it didn’t feel like this. I’ve… eaten plenty…?” Akemi sounded unsure as
she tried to dig back in her normally near perfect memory. “No… I didn’t eat breakfast, or I
would have puked, I only had that one cookie before I came back, and then we flew through
lunch time… I gave them some flight snacks for lunch, but now that I think about it I didn’t
have any. Yesterday was… Okay, I didn’t eat much then either.” She thought with a sigh.
“Brought down by something that simple? It hasn’t been a good few days, seeing my new
daughter in the state she was in just… I couldn’t eat after that. I don’t have time for breaks,
each day means something important, that I have a job to do. I have over a thousand souls
riding on me, as well as so many more to save with this plan…” Akemi complained and felt a
few tears creep up. “I hate feeling sick… It feels way too familiar…”
Arche took Akemi’s hand again as she saw the woman look close to a breakdown. “You
know… you are strong, unbelievably strong, but you still have a body you have to take care
of, you can only take on so much at once. Take tonight to rest, maybe Message your
girlfriends and Hannyuu.” Arche suggested. If Akemi had been looking into her eyes as she
said that she would have seen the hints of pain there as she said that. “We already know
you’re not normal, normal isn’t making a new home every night or rescuing as much of
several races of people as you can… Or making a country.”
“You’re… right, and wrong. I’ll try and relax for tonight. Even I can’t be in two places at
once, not yet.” Akemi shrugged and squeezed Arche’s hand back. “There is just so much I
have to do, so much riding on me getting this done… So many people counting on me. I
guess I underestimated the pressure of taking this on, maybe I’ll be a terrible ruler…” Akemi
sighed and look over at that fake campfire, and at the pot above it that had started to give off
a pleasant smell.
“You’re wrong.” Arche said as she stared down at Akemi sternly, not daring to look away
from Akemi’s shocked eyes. “You’re running yourself ragged for people. I can tell you care a
lot about your people, someone like that can’t be a bad ruler. At the very least you’ll be a
better ruler than the Bloody Emperor…” Arche said with a gentle smile.
“Thanks Arche, that means a lot. I guess I’ll try to take it easy for tonight.” Akemi said and
carefully sat up to accept the bowl Imina handed her. The smell of food quickly reminded her
that she did have a body now that needed more than nutrient paste… even if it was a level
one hundred body.
“Yeah Akemi, just relax, you did hire us as your guards and guides. Frankly we haven’t
pulled our weight for what you’re paying us. It isn’t as good of a shelter as your’s but it keeps
the elements off of us, you’re getting a more genuine trip this way.” Sitting in a circle and
eating stew that was put together from rations felt more like a home cooked meal than some
of the things Akemi had pulled out of her bag in Akemi’s mind.
“When this trip started I thought it would be some sort of trap, I mean… someone young
looking like you being some master of magic that even Arche couldn’t examine, and when
you said Hannyuu was your daughter I was just confused. I didn’t expect that, or expect you
sleeping with your other ‘student’, what a naughty magical teacher you are~” Imina teased.
They all chuckled at Akemi’s suddenly red face.
Eventually Akemi was able to get out more than outraged squawking to pout at them. “W-we
haven’t even done anything like that!” Akemi nearly yelled.
“I’m hearing a Yet at the end of that.” Imina ate her food with a smug look at the reactions
their client was giving.
“I mean… M-maybe, I don’t know, I’ve never done anything like that!” Akemi stared down
into her bowl like it would give her the answers she sought.
“But… aren’t you like really old? And you never even…?” Arche asked with a raised
eyebrow while blushing.
“How old do you think I am? I swear you all make a lot of assumptions…” Akemi
complained and finished her bowl before she realized it. “Could I have some more please?
Pretty impressive cooking for stuff from rations.” She said and took a deep breath.
As Roberdyck took her bowl to pour her more he looked at her strangely. “I was under the
impression you were like the Kitsunes I read about in my studies on more magical beings,
ranked right up there with the True Dragon Lords in strength, though the last time one with
nine tails was spotted was outside written record, it would involve making it to nine hundred
years old. If you are objecting to that am I wrong?” Roberdyck said.
Looking around at the others Akemi could only see agreement on their faces, even on
Arche’s. “You all think I’m some old hag? You all earned enough trust to get some truth, and
frankly you are some of the only ones to directly ask me about my age.” Akemi said and ate a
bit more first, if only to increase their tension. “Normally you would be right in that
assumption, as far as I know that is the way Kitsune age and grow stronger naturally. I’m
actually only nineteen, or near there at least, time has been hard to track here.” Akemi just
enjoyed the look on all their faces.
“Well that makes me feel a bit better. I thought you might have been stringing Ana along,
Kitsunes have a… reputation for tricking people after all.” Hekkeran admitted.
Akemi just glared at him for that comment. “I would never string her or anyone along,
romance and love aren’t toys to throw around. I’m finally able to truly live after a lot of
struggles, so I want to live as true to myself as I can. Though I can see why someone nine
hundred years old and dating Ana might be strange, that would be a big age gap. I’d say three
years of a gap between us isn’t that bad. Frankly her and all of you have more life experience
than me. I’m not saying Kyouko’s age, but I am not the oldest in our relationship.” Akemi
said and wrapped her tails around herself as she polished off her second bowl.
“Huh, you and Arche are a lot closer in age than I thought then.” Hekkeran said as he grinned
at his teammate who had looked away with a flush.
Akemi wisely chose to not comment on that, but by her own blush it did spark ideas in her
that the others noticed.
It eventually had gotten quiet around their fake campfire, with Foresight chatting among
themselves as Akemi stared into her mug of tea Roberdyck had prepared with the tiny kettle
they kept with them, despite the fact they knew Akemi had all the tea she needed in her
inventory. They seemed willing to give her her space when she had gotten quiet, though she
noticed Arche kept sending her worried looks.
“Fourteen… Fifteen… I can’t…” Hannyuu whined as she collapsed, her round of push ups
finished, and rested with her cheek on the dirt as the midday sun shone down on them
through the trees.
“If Fifteen is what you have right now then we’ll next do some squats, and then more push
ups.” Kyouko told the feline as Kyouko did enough push ups to make Hannyuu look on in
awe. Once what Kyouko said caught up to Hannyuu’s brain she let out a quiet whine. “Fifty
is a good amount to aim for. I know your arms feel like they’ll fall off if you do even one
more, but when they are feeling like that is when you’ll get the biggest effects from it. I can
tell you’ve been following the routine I set for you since you’ve been gone, you were only
able to do a couple when you left. Good job dear.” Kyouko said as she sat down with
Hannyuu, letting the girl catch her breath.
“Thank you… Mama Kyouko…” Hannyuu said between pants as she carefully stood back
up. “It does feel like I’m getting stronger, But does it always have to hurt?” Hannyuu asked
as she stretched out as best she could.
“It just feels that painful because you are just starting out, eventually it feels satisfying. Just
keep at it like you have and you’ll feel nice and strong.” Kyouko said and ruffled the short
cat’s hair. It was strange, but nice, getting to just spend some bonding time with her new
daughter, it felt far more normal than she was used to after such chaos in her life.
“I hope it does… It isn’t the worst pain I’ve ever felt, far from it, but my arms feel so heavy.”
Hannyuu sunk down into squats with Kyouko, following along with her wolf mom in their
work out.
“You’ll get used to it, and just think next you get to work out your mana with Ana, you’ll be
strong in no time~” After a few chuckles Kyouko sprang back up to lift Hannyuu back onto
her feet. “Lets continue, the sooner we get you up to par the sooner we can put a sword in
your hand, then I’ll really be able to teach you.” Kyouko seemed far too excited at finally
getting to train the girl.
Back in their home Ana smiled as she looked out the window at the two of them. She moved
from the window facing behind the home where those two were, and sat on the edge of the
bed in Kyouko’s room next to Lorelei. “I hope you wake up soon, your mom needs you, and
you have other moms that want to properly meet you. You’re going to love Hannyuu I think,
she is really eager to get to know you. I’m not sure if you can hear me but… I really want to
be able to meet you, though you might find it weird to have a mom only a few years older
than you~” Ana looked down at Lorelei’s blank face and could have sworn she saw her lips
move for just a moment.
“You just take all the time you need, we’ll try and make the world a better place when you
want to return to it. Rest well Lorelei.” Ana said as she saw Lorelei’s eyes close. Ana had to
stop for a moment as she felt her heart ache while she looked at the poor girl, and tears gather
in the corners of her eyes. “You and so many others deserve so much better…”
Dark had fallen over the forest floor as Akemi’s household also wrapped up their day.
Hannyuu enjoyed the scent of the dinner that Ana and Kyouko were making downstairs as
she sat in the chair next to Lorelei, her eyes drawn to the hollow gaze of the girl. “I know
how it is… I was the same right before I was saved, though I guess you got treated even
worse. Whenever you want to join us, I’ll be ready to listen, I think out of everyone here I
can relate to what you went through the most, so I can guess how you feel just a bit.”
Hannyuu gently said as she took Lorelei’s pale hand in her own. Despite being three years
older than her, Lorelei’s hands were still smaller.
“One day I hope you notice, and can realize that this isn’t a dream. You aren’t in that… hell
anymore. If you stay here with us no one can ever hurt you again, I’ll get stronger so I can
protect you also and any little siblings we might get one day.” Hannyuu spoke low and soft in
the soft glow of the magical lamp next to the bed.
Hannyuu soon heard footsteps coming up the stairs. “Hannyuu, dinner time.” Kyouko said as
she poked her head into the doorway and saw the two of them, a clearly fake half smile over
Kyouko’s face.
“Okay Mama Kyouko, I’ll be down soon.”
When Kyouko went back down Hannyuu sighed to herself and gave Lorelei’s small hand one
last squeeze before getting up. As she did so her ears shot up and her eyes darted down to
Lorelei. Lorelei’s eyes still had that blank look, and she hadn’t moved from where she was.
Hannyuu smiled and her throat tightened as she felt that small hand squeeze back just a little
for a few seconds before letting go. “Take all the time you need big sister.” She said and
tucked Lorelei’s arm back under the covers and one last pet of her hair before following
Kyouko down the stairs.
It was a normal, but too quiet dinner as it felt like the core of that household was missing.
None of them liked Akemi being away, and yet they knew how needed she was. Hannyuu
looked up and smiled at her new Moms.
“Thanks for your help Mamas, I think I’m starting to understand what you have been
teaching me a bit more about fighting and magic. Will I… have to choose between the two?”
Hannyuu asked as she picked at her slices of venison they had gotten their hands on thanks to
some helpful hunters in the settlement.
“Happy to help. I’m not the best teacher, and I have a lot to learn still, but if I can teach you
what little I know hopefully it will give you a good floor to learn from. Arche is way better at
teaching, though she had more formal education on magic so I guess that makes sense. Sword
using mages exist, so it isn’t unusual, though normally they’ll lean towards one or the other,
with the other being a backup option.” Ana said as she ate while watching the small orb in a
cradle at the center of the table.
“There isn’t a lot that is too complicated about getting your body stronger, you’ll figure out
your own limits in time, but I’ll help you all I can.” Kyouko said as she enjoyed dinner,
though they both could see the odd look she had on her face. “Hey Hannyuu, thank you for…
talking with Lorelei, I heard you in there when we were making dinner. It means a lot to me.”
Kyouko said and ruffled Hannyuu’s hair.
Hannyuu stiffened for a moment before she nodded. “She is still in there, I can feel it. After
you left she… squeezed my hand back after I squeezed her’s.” At the surprised looks at the
other two’s face she could only shrug with a sad smile on her face as she ate.
The first sob that broke the silence started Ana and Hannyuu, but they were quick to drop
everything to sit next to her and hug the poor woman. “Thank… goodness… My baby isn’t
gone forever? I just… I just need her to finally wake up…” Kyouko was eventually able to
get those words out as she hugged those two tightly, enough that they winced in pain, yet
didn’t have the heart to say anything about it as they let her finally cry out her sorrow. It was
a small hope, but it was hope nevertheless.
“We’re almost out of the mountain range, soon we’ll hit the foothills and pass over some
villages… Some guard towers might notice us, but I what can they do about it?” Hekkeran
joked as they flew closer to the mountains, which slowly had been sloping downwards.
“That is true, I doubt they have anything that can reach us up high, at the very least nothing
between tier one through three. If they had tier nine though… Nuclear blast can be nasty. Not
deadly to me, not by itself, but would be pretty bad for you all.” Akemi told them and seemed
amused by the annoyed face Arche gave her.
“I’m teasing, like I’d let anything like that hit us all. But really… This all is beautiful now
that I really look at it.” Akemi said as she let her eyes greedily take in the terrain as more hills
were revealed, and the small hamlets nestled snug within them, home to lives just the same as
her own people. “All these people… The fear they must always be under with those
Beastmen invading…”
The others looked at her with a strange curiosity. “That is how it is being human. There are so
many beings stronger than us, it is all we can do to fight against all that. Before tier magic
came along humanity was on the verge of extinction, or so the Slane Theocracy says.”
Hekkeran told her.
“I can believe that. If there is one thing humanity is good at it is struggling with all their
might even at hopeless odds, at least those are the more notable ones. I guess the ones that
don’t struggle on die out. It is the same everywhere, the strong taking advantage of the weak
until there is no one left. I can’t change the laws of this world like that, but I hope I can create
at least a safe haven for the more gentle souls of this world.” Akemi sounded distant, like she
was remembering something from long ago.
The others politely didn’t interrupt her thoughts as they flew over those hills and valleys.
They had drifted higher to avoid being spotted the further into the country they went, and
soon signs of bigger cities began to appear. Larger settlements with more than simple houses
were passed by, with even more simple people just living their lives. It didn’t feel like a long
trip with so much to look at, it helped Akemi settle her mind for the rest of the day.
Nestled up against another mountain in the distance Akemi saw a city that seemed to defy the
land around it, with spires extending into the sky as if the humans who made them could spite
their place in that world, such was the aura of rage and sorrow that could be felt even as far
away as they were.
The castle closer to the top of the mountain was made of almost blackened stone, which
absorbed the light of the early evening sun. “Seems we might make it in time for dinner, not
that we have time for it. I recommend eating something before we arrive. Hey Hekkeran, how
warm of a welcome can I expect?” Akemi asked as she made herself pulled out a sandwich
wrapped in paper to not let it spill from her flight. Like hell she was going to nearly pass out
again…
“Well… Seeing as the Beastmen are grouped in with Demi-humans which are well known to
treat the people of this kingdom as livestock, not so good… Tread lightly.” He warned as he
looked into the distance. “See those three smoke pillars? My guess is those are the three cities
the Beastmen have taken so far. Lets land outside of the city, arriving directly at the castle
would be a bad idea.”
“That sounds like a good idea… So I have my work cut out for me. Well, Kitsune are just one
of many Demi-humans, and are an entirely different species than Beastmen. I suppose
dressing for the occasion and not as a barbarian would help.” Akemi said as she activated her
quick change skill, letting her traveling and winter clothes get swapped out for the golden and
white robes that were her favorite non-combat clothes. “While they aren’t my best armored
battle robes, these might leave a better impact.” She moved to the front of the flying pack to
angle them towards the ground near the city’s front gate.
As she got low enough to see the shock looks on the gate guard’s eyes she heard the low
sound of a warning horn blowing. “Great…” As she landed she would dust herself off and
stay in front of Foresight. “Time to put on my best acting face…”
For each step closer to the gate Akemi counted a guard or two emerging from the gates to
form a wall. With a deep breath Akemi stopped her advance and waited. She could see at
least some of the guards become a bit less frightened of her, whether it was from her well
groomed appearance, or the lack of hostility was hard to say. “Men always did seem to like
the face I gave my character.”
That wall of soldiers at the gate slowly advanced on her, and split into a circle to start to
surround them. Akemi made no move against them except to watch them curiously. “Relax
you four, I will allow no harm to befall you while I’m here.” She told Foresight before her
with a confident smile that radiated a sense of peace. She waited patiently until she saw a
man emerge from the pack. He stood a head above the others and was suited up in Mithril
armor that was as well worn as metal as precious as that could get.
“Beastwoman, what do you think you are doing in these lands? Do you think you can fool us
with some paint and clothes?!” The man demanded as he stopped five meters or so away
from her, enough that his voice could easily reach her even if she had human ears.
“I am not called a ‘Beastwoman’, I am a Kitsune. While I come to discuss your enemy, I
certainly am not with them, or have ever spoken to them.” Akemi tried to keep her tone firm
but polite. “My name is Akemi of Natura, and I come to speak on behalf of my people.”
The man was annoyingly silent as he stared her down. She was finding it was hard to appear
regal to someone who had possibly two feet of height over you, not counting fox ears. “I am
Ingrid Bahgram, the Commander of Her Majesty’s garrison and army. State your business,
and then leave. Who are those behind you?”
“So much for any sort of welcome…” Akemi thought and held in a sigh. “I come with an
mutually beneficial offer for your Queen. The ones behind me are known as Foresight, I had
hired them as guides to bring me here on this diplomatic mission. Pay them no mind.” Akemi
said and looked back at Foresight with a reassuring smile.
“And what proof do you have of that? What country do you represent? Anyone could claim
they represent some vague people. We’ll make sure to get your story out of you, right in the
dungeon.” Bahgram said and raised a hand, which seemed to signal a group of his soldiers to
raise their spears towards Akemi and creep closer.
“Bad move Commander.” Akemi complained as her smile turned into a displeased and flat
look, her eyes just a bit colder. “You four, I suggest you get down.” Akemi said and waited
for Foresight to quickly hit the dirt, right before her tails became a blur of motion.
It had happened too fast for at least the normal soldiers to see, and even Bahgrim only caught
the slightest blur of those tails as they sliced the heads off of all the spears pointed at her. “I
come here in peace as a potential ally, so I highly suggest you don’t try and make me an
enemy.” Akemi warned in a low and annoyed voice.
The tension was broken just a bit as a man on a horse came at the group at full speed. “Stop!
No one attack!” They heard one man shout. It was just in time as Bahgram had his hand on
his sword, ready to draw and charge at her. Everyone’s eyes were on the younger looking
man in chain mail, a younger recruit if Akemi had to guess. “Commander Bahgram, Sir, I
have a message from Prime Minister Dahl! Permission to speak?” The man asked as he
snapped into a salute before the commander.
“Granted, what is the message Private Urgon?” Bahgram asked, some of the tension in his
voice dissipating.
“He wishes for you to bring the Demi-human woman and anyone with her before him. He
apparently knew her by the description and warned us against any hostile moves.” The
Private explained.
Bahgram could only grit his teeth and nod. “Very well, go inform him that we’ll be there in
the hour, we’ll be heading straight there.”
“Sir!” Private Urgon climbed back on his horse and dashed back the way he came into the
city to fulfil his orders.
Soon Bahgram’s steely gaze turned back to Akemi, a tired glare upon her. “I assume you
heard the man with those big ears. You five follow. All soldiers stand down.” He said and
made another gesture that made the soldiers back off from Akemi, not that they could
advance further with those deadly tails waving around threateningly.
Akemi kept her response as quiet and measured as possible, but it was obviously difficult for
her. After nearly a month on the road together, Foresight had come to understand some of
Akemi’s behaviors, so they could tell from the very small twitches of her tail, as restrained as
they were, that she was giving her all at holding her tongue to keep playing nice. As Akemi
began to walk they felt that strange pressure from her once again when they looked at her, as
if dissuading them from gazing at her.
“Very well. Lead the way.” Akemi said as she followed behind Bahgram as gracefully as she
could, even though she had to make two steps for every two of his.
Around ten of those soldiers followed along behind her and Foresight, though Akemi knew
they were no threat. Akemi took that time to gaze around at the city as it passed by. The
mood throughout that main street was… somber, understandably so. Akemi knew by now
just how under threat they were, the fear of being turned into livestock, of their families being
chopped into meat like common thoughtless cattle.
Besides the sad atmosphere the city had become grimy, covered in built up dirt, like it had
begun to reflect the state of the Kingdom itself, the entire country was balanced on a knife’s
edge. Under that grime Akemi could see an intrinsic beauty to it, with an old style to the
stonework that truly made it seem like part of the mountain the capital city was built up
against.
It was a bit too quiet for her tastes as they ascended the city in silence, besides the chatting
off in the streets by some downtrodden looking civilians that either looked at her in fear, or in
anger. “There is so much pain in this city…” Akemi’s ears folded as she got no response from
Bahgram who just looked back to glare at her.
Akemi’s gaze was drawn back to the city she was passing, and stopped at a small figure
seated on the steps into a dark alley. The look in the child’s eyes reminded her too much of
others she had seen since she arrived in that world. From their scent, besides the harsh scent
of street life that clung to them, she could tell it was a boy. Barely peeking through the rags
he wore she saw the tiny stump of his leg poke out, while one of his eyes was covered by
bandages. Judging by the size of the boy he hadn’t been fed in possibly days. He held a sign
up that she couldn’t read that made her curious.
“Arche, what does that child’s sign say?” Akemi asked as she stopped in her tracks, much to
the soldier’s annoyance. Bahgram soon noticed she had stopped and growled at her.
“It says… ‘Hungry, please help, the Beastmen killed my parents’. He probably escaped one
of those cities.” Arche quietly told Akemi, and could tell what the woman would do before
she did it.
She stepped away from the procession, ignoring Bahgram’s quiet threats, and stopped in front
of the boy, kneeling down to gaze at him with the eyes of a mother. The boy held fear in his
face, and when she reached a hand out he clenched his eyes shut like she would be the one to
kill him, a strangled cry in his throat.
“[Cure Greater Wounds]. Here child, it isn’t much, but I hope it can help…” Akemi said and
held out a wrapped package as well as a small bag that jingled, both of which she pulled out
from thin air in everyone else’s eyes.
The boy was in shock as his leg quickly grew back from that stump, and looked stunned as he
pulled the bandages from his covered eye, revealing it in perfect health. Taking that package
he would peek inside and let out a choked noise that Akemi could recognize as emotion. She
kept the food simple, a large sandwich she had prepared for the road that wouldn’t spoil
quickly, and for a child would last for several meals. “Keep the money secure and it should
help you. I wish I could do more for you, but things will get better here, I can promise you.”
Akemi said as she gently pat his head before standing, letting him stand up on his own and
look up at her in wonder.
“T-thank you Ma’am… but why are you… being so nice? Aren’t you a B-beastwoman?”
“No dear, I am a Kitsune. Demi-humans are a pretty big group, we aren’t all the same. I am
those Beastmen’s enemy, and I will be dealing with them. Peace will come child.” She said as
she gave him a comforting look before she moved back into the procession. With a deep
breath she nodded at Bahgram who stared at her in shock. He stared at her with a bit less
suspicion as well before they started off again.
It still took about twenty minutes of walking before they arrived closer to the top of the
mountain after ascending the winding main road, until they stood in front of a immense
palace made of dark stone, perfectly fitted together for untold decades.
“It is a beautiful palace.” Akemi mentioned as Bahgram pushed open those heavy doors.
“It would be more beautiful but… certain expenses have to be cut during war.” Bahgram
admitted, though it seemed to pain him. True to what he said, there was also a level of grime
and soot stuck to the walls that Akemi guessed would normally be cleaned often.
When you are fighting for survival, clean walls won’t keep invaders off of them, or put food
in your citizens stomachs.
The palace was also quite empty, besides a few people that had no time to so much as glance
at them as they handled paperwork, their steps near running as the frantic energy of the
Kingdom drove them.
Those soldiers had followed them along, though their group was lessened to just five troops.
They ended up inside of a sort of large waiting room, with chairs lining the wall. “Your
guards will wait out here, you will follow me into the throne room.” Bahgram told Akemi
and looked at Foresight who didn’t seem to have a problem with it.
“That is fine, we’re more her guides than guards, she can handle herself.” Hekkeran said as
the four of them shuffled over to some chairs and looked far too relieved to be off their feet.
Bahgram just shook his head in annoyance as he opened up the engraved metal door that
separated them from the throne room.
Akemi took a few deep breathes and kept her ‘game’ face on. As she followed Bahgram from
behind she could only marvel at the structure of the palace, how the main way through was
far bigger than it needed to be, and the sturdy pillars that emphasized strength more than
beauty help up the high ceiling that was lit by mana lamps. It truly looked fit to be used by
Dragons.
“Minister Dahl, I’ve brought the Demi-human you wanted, though she would have been just
as easy to meet in the dungeons.” Bahgram told a man that stood in front of a tall and empty
throne. He held a stack of papers in his hand and was peering at them through a pair of
glasses that made his already handsome face look more so in an intelligent sort of way, all
framed by long black hair that was impeccably trimmed. The sharp eyes that turned towards
them gave Akemi chills for all the wrong reasons. It was like she was looking at a cold
blooded snake… he seemed more inhuman than herself.
“If this Demi-human is who I believe she is you wouldn’t have been able to even get her
there.” Dahl said as he looked directly at Akemi. “I am Prime Minister Jorgen Dahl, a
pleasure to meet the one who brought the Re-Estize kingdom down several notches.” He
introduced with a bow.
Akemi very lightly bowed back and stepped a bit closer. Once again she had to stare up at
someone… “Yes, they were pretty arrogant and prideful… and with all that was going on
with my people there I had an obligation to… chastise them but a bit.” Akemi said and stood
up straight. “I am Akemi of Natura, a pleasure. Let me assure you I come with far kinder
intentions than I came to Re-estize for. Has that story spread this far”
“Chastise them a bit? Well, if you count crippling one of their battalion of their best knights
as just a bit. Yes, word travels quickly for something large like that. A previously unknown
Demi-human of unknown power arrives with not even an announcement and quickly defies
the local government, while storming the throne room to have words with the King and force
a deal out of him. Merchants are the biggest gossips around, you would do good to remember
that if you seek information, for information is power.” Dahl said as he finally cracked a
smile, not that it seemed anything but fake.
“So, what is your business here Lady Akemi? We keep no slaves for you to free, nor are we
oppressing local Demi-humans.” Akemi could tell he was nervous, even with as little
experience as she had in reading people properly. She knew that might be just what he
wanted her to think, he seemed like the type to play politics as easy as breathing, a natural
liar.
“Indeed, I wager a minor subsection of Demi-humans are the ones oppressing you instead,
which might surprise you to learn is equally unacceptable to me. My protection does not stop
at Demi-humans, they just tend to be the more oppressed in most countries. I am pleased that
the barbaric practice of slavery has no roots here, yet I know that the Beastmen tribes to your
south seek to do even worse than slavery.” Akemi’s face turned genuinely empathetic.
The Minister looked a bit surprised at her assessment, but not offended. “That they do, we
have exhausted all negotiation tactics, which has brought us to this current long war. Surely
you did not come to benevolently offer to cure that problem. What is your true purpose for
coming to visit our little Kingdom?” He asked and narrowed his eyes at her.
“True, true, but nothing quite so malicious as I can see in your eyes. I have a proposal that I
wish to put forwards to your Queen, that will benefit all of us. You are correct though that I
would deal with your Beastmen problem, for what they are doing is against every one of the
principles I strive for.” Akemi said and looked around at the rather dull throne room with a
plain throne. Compared to the Re-estize one it lacked almost anything regal or golden, not the
gold trim on the walls or furniture, or the gems encrusted into the throne, no it was far more
economical of a throne room, not that she was judging it. “They even sold things like throne
room decorations? A good Queen, to be sure.”
When Dahl closed his eyes and seem to fall into thought as he pinched his chin. “Prime
Minister! Surely you are not considering letting a Demi-human near our Queen are you?!”
Bahgram asked, his hand on the longsword at his waist as he glared between Akemi and
Dahl.
Akemi turned to face the mountain of a man and glared at him. “Even for a brute, you’re
quite rude. Do you know how broad of a category Demi-human is? All it is is lumping in
nearly every Non-human species with a speck of intelligence into one mass. Such a human-
centric view leaves you blind to the world around you.” Akemi said as her slitted eyes
glowed blue in the dim light of the throne room, and an invisible pressure pressed down on
them.
“Bahgram, please return to the garrison, I can handle things from here. She is not one of
those Beastmen, and that is good enough for now.” Dahl told the Commander and stared him
down until he growled and stormed out of that chamber.
Akemi look back at Dahl and nodded. Dahl turned towards a man that stood near a door off
to the side. “Please bring the Queen, I know it is a bad time but… The Kingdom waits for no
one.” He said and watched that man bow and head out on his task. As the minutes ticked by
and the sound of feet echoed from that closed doorway Dahl lowered his head. “My
apologizes…”
“None needed, I showed up unannounced, I don’t fear a little waiting.” Akemi said and
looked around a bit more.
“No… I’m sorry about our Queen…” He muttered that barely in hearing range, right before
that door would slam open.
“Dahl! This is the first time this week I got to sleep more than an hour! I can’t even sign my
name correctly like that!” Akemi heard a small voice that would fit more on Hannyuu than a
Queen. The woman… or girl was as short as her as well. Akemi kept the surprise off her face
as her eyes saw through the veil of magic around the woman. “What is her game? Dressing
up in such an illusion?”
Soon enough that woman in the shape of a young girl stopped in her tracks to stare at Akemi.
“I’m sorry for yelling in the throne room stranger. Who are you?” The woman Akemi
assumed was the Queen continued on her way to the throne and hopped up onto it. The way
she was talking, it was… strange to Akemi.
“I’m known as Akemi, and I have come bearing an offer for this Kingdom to aid it. Forgive
me if I am crossing a line but… Why are you disguising yourself as a child? Or trying to talk
like one? Is this… an aspect of this country’s culture that I didn’t know?” Akemi asked as she
genuinely looked confused.
Both Dahl and the Queen stopped moving and stared at her. After a few moments of silence a
frustrated and amused smile broke over the Queen’s face and she laughed a bit more
naturally. “So you were able to see through that? Well Dahl, there is a first time for
everything.” She said and stood up off her throne to face Akemi. “Let me start again…
Welcome Akemi, to the Dragon Kingdom. I am Queen Draudillon Oriculus, first of my name
and great grand-daughter to the Brightness Dragon Lord.” With a shift in her form that veil of
magic faded away from her body, and seemed to actually change her physical shape with
many snapping sounds all over her body, but if it hurt any she didn’t show it. In place of the
little girl as young or younger than Hannyuu, Akemi had to look up just a tiny bit at the now
grown woman not much older than Akemi looked that stood in front of her, her hair a deep
silver and white that trailed down her back in a shimmering flood. On her head she had a set
of stubby ivory horns that nearly blended into her hair. Her figure was certainly far more
mature, in a way that tipped the scale in Akemi’s mind from cute to stunning.
Akemi had to look away with a small blush at the surprise of such a beautiful sight. Clearing
her throat Akemi smiled once again. “It is an honor to meet you Queen Draudillon, tales of
your love for your Kingdom and skill in it’s management reach all the way near Re-estize. As
I was explaining to your Prime Minister, I have a proposal that will benefit us both that I have
traveled from the Re-estize Kingdom to deliver. I speak on behalf of the faction of my people
I represent on our desire for peace and prosperity.” She took a moment to gather herself as
she silently cast a small spell to conjure a floating map. “I have heard the tale of your brave
struggle against the Beastmen tribes that invade from your south.” On that map red dots
appeared south of where the Kingdom was marked, with three Xs in places that were easy to
assume were cities that were publicly acknowledged as lost to them.
“That is very interesting and useful magic to be sure. Yes, they have been a constant thorn in
our side. If you wish for us to try diplomacy with their army it has been tried before. Our
hope is on the battlefield only.” Draudillon responded as she sat back into her throne again.
“I assumed so, that was not my suggestion. I know all too well that sometimes… there is no
choice left but violence, as distasteful as it is. Where words fail, war takes it’s place.” Akemi
said and showed on her map a small wave of blue that passed through each X, and then down
into the main enemy line where they waited.
“I have been on my own warpath in freeing my own brethren from chains in Re-estize, where
I currently reside with a faction of Demi-humans and humans. Despite my own struggles and
my people’s I cannot even truly imagine the cruelty your people have experienced at the
Beastmen’s hands. While my people were used as toys and property, there are indeed worse
things as we here are all aware. The crux of my offer is this: I will personally deal with the
Beastmen army and drive them out from those three cities as well. There are three
concessions I wish for on your end.” Akemi said and looked into Draudillon’s eyes, and saw
the pain that was reflected there, the pain from seeing her own country being literally
devoured while she can hardly do a thing about it.
Those sad eyes soon hardened as she looked at Akemi. “Our entire armies have been at war
with them for several years now, and even our Adamantite Adventurers have yet to solve the
situation. The enemy’s main army that lies on the border numbers at over a hundred and fifty
thousand. If neither the best adventurers, or our army’s can decisively defeat the Beastmen,
what hope does one Kitsune have of it? I have learned of many races, and Kitsune are one
such race I studied under my Great Grandfather’s tutelage. Your’s is a race with a specialty in
illusion magic and trickery is it not? Why should I even entertain this nonsense? This false
hope.” The Queen demanded to know, her fists clenching on her throne’s arm rests.
As Akemi’s tails waved around she gestured to them. “I like to think I am more than a mere
Kitsune, as you’ll learn. Do you know what Super Tier magic is? It is also in these realms
known as the eleventh tier?” Akemi asked the queen and smiled further as she saw her eyes
widen.
“…Where did you hear of such a thing? Very few records so much as mention that. I suppose
you would have been around for the Theocracy’s ‘Six Great Gods’ and the Eight Greed
Kings. The only records of those spells show up as being used by those beings of great power
that appeared from the ether.” Draudillon nearly shouted as she stood up from her throne,
looking grimly at Akemi, especially at those nine waving tails.
“Once again my age is assumed… well, I can work with this.” She thought as she nodded.
“That is indeed the case, I’ve yet to see other residents of this realm cast Super Tier Magic, or
have the capability for it. That skill though happens to be within my arsenal. I’ve done some
scrying on their army on my way here, and I can see why humanity fears them. Compared to
the average human, they are much stronger at a basic level. On the other hand, not one of the
ones I saw in that army approaches my strength. Naturally any deals can be agreed upon after
I solve that pressing issue. I have no intention of holding your Kingdom hostage with that to
force you into a deal, no truly fair deals can be made under such a threat. By the end of
tomorrow you can have those cities back, and then we can formally agree to any terms.”
Akemi assured the Queen as she thought of ways to prove herself.
“I suppose we will… Frankly if you were able to destroy that army and free those cities, we
would have not much choice but to agree to any deal. What are your terms?” Draudillon
asked as she sat back down in her throne, looking far more old than she looked with how
tired she was.
“The first one is currently the biggest one.” Akemi said and brought that map back again, and
marked a point where that army is, right along the border between the Dragon Kingdom and
the Beastmen tribe’s domain. “I wish for a fifty kilometer wide circle of land. I intend to
create a country of my own, a place for my scattered people to live in peace, as well as any
others that would join me, demi-human or human. Currently my group is only a hair away
from two thousand strong, but I have nothing but time to anticipate growth. It will also aid in
rescuing the villages of Demi-humans under threat in the Slane Theocracy, hence the need for
room.” Akemi said and helpfully marked out the amount of land she was talking of, a circle
of fifty kilometers placed down, taking a small chunk of that border, but did not appear to be
near any true cities. Any small villages and towns in the area had likely long since been
abandoned under the threat of Beastmen invasion.
Draudillon’s glare slightly scared her, and Akemi could hear the woman’s teeth grind. “If that
was your intention, why would you even ask? If you can clear that army certainly we
wouldn’t be able to stop you.”
Akemi raised an eyebrow at her and sighed. “Because I’m not a savage. I recognize your long
established country’s rights to those lands, and would much rather have an ally in this world
close by. That brings me to my second point in this deal, I want an alliance that will allow us
peaceful cooperation. You’ll certainly find me a better neighbor than the Beastmen. The
benefit of me being set up in that spot is… I can guarantee no more Beastmen will cross that
border line, you’ll have an unassailable ally guarding your entire southern flank.”
Akemi dismissed her map and looked at her with clear respect. “This will give you time, time
for your country to heal it’s wounds, of which I’m more than happy to help with as well. My
skills mostly lay in divine magics such as healing, and in manipulating nature. I can heal
citizens in mass, as well as bless your crop fields with increased productivity. Once my
country is up and running food will eventually be exported by the ton.” Akemi declared.
“You certainly know how to promise the moon and stars, what I do not understand though is
why? Why even make your offers? Why did you choose our Kingdom for what ever plans
you have.” The Queen asked as she seemed too tired to even glare.
“Why did I choose you all? Your struggles here speak volumes of your tenacity and wit in
keeping things going in the face of such numbers a stronger foe possesses, it is inspiring.
Every action I’ve seen you take today and heard of in the past has told me a lot about you
Queen Draudillon. I see a Queen the loves her people and will do anything she must to let
them survive. I want someone like that as an ally in this world, we could bring such wonders
to life with our combined strengths.” Akemi began to pace back and forth in front of the
throne, her tails showing some of her inner turmoil.
Draudillon looked a bit in shock at that speech and took a few moments to recover. “Thank
you, I will of course do whatever I need to for my people. So… What is your third
condition?” She asked and seemed to brace herself.
“Well it is mostly redundant at this point. A complete abolition on all slavery, which seems to
already be the case as your Prime Minister has informed me. I want equal rights under the
law for Demi-humans.”
“As you said there is no slavery here, and while there are no laws explicitly discriminating
against Non-humans… I cannot force a change in public opinion by decree.” Draudillon
sighed and rested her cheek on her fist.
“I understand that, the government can only do so much in that regard… Hopefully public
opinion will shift with some good Demi-human neighbors. The details can be hashed over
later I suppose.” Akemi told her.
“Indeed… This all hinges on you being able to do what you say in the first place. If you
succeed then I would truly be in your debt. Now, what else is there that you wish?” The
Queen asked.
Akemi’s head tilt and confused look seemed to surprise them, it was a bit of a break from her
seriousness. “That is all, only those three things, anything else can be worked on later. Were
you expecting me to demand more?” Akemi appeared genuinely confused by that question.
“Well… Yes! Any ruler I know would have demanded at least repayment of some kind, tax
exemptions, trade deals or anything they want in this case! At the very least they would be
trying to make me marry or something as a political tie.” Draudillon complained, by her
voice she had clear experience with that.
Akemi stared at the Queen for a few moments, trying her best to understand the woman in
front of her. “If you are expecting that so much should we maybe just have a political
marriage or something?” Akemi asked in an clear teasing tone, her face breaking into a smile
as she quietly laughed.
“Deal! No take backs! Take that Dayl!” Draudillon suddenly shouted as she stood up,
laughing as well for obviously different reasons.
Akemi’s tails stood upright as she stared at the Queen. “Wait wait wait… It was merely a jest,
I wasn’t actually-”
“Is a Queen not a good enough prize?” The Queen asked in a tone that brokered no argument
and put Akemi on the back foot, her calm quickly crumbling like an illusion. “That should
suffice shouldn’t it Dahl?”
“Well… Kitsune are known for perfect shape shifting, so long as an heir is possible I suppose
no objections could truly be made.” The Prime Minister conceded with a sigh.
“Hey! I did not agree to this! You are overlooking a few things you know!” Akemi declared
as her face flushed red.
“Oh I do not mind you being a woman, as Dahl said as long as an heir can be had the
Kingdom will be secure. Or is it the fact I’m a woman that is the deal breaker?”
“N-no that isn’t it… I’m only attracted to women myself, but I’m already with two women! I
can’t just decide this on some whim!” Akemi tried to calm herself back down and was having
a rough time doing just that.
“So you’re already ahead of the curve when it comes to being a ruler, most tend to have a
paramour or several, it is of no consequence. As for why I would agree to that, it is pretty
simple: I won’t have to worry about this man trying to marry me off and having an heir with
someone I’d hate… Or heaven’s forbid Cerabrate. While it isn't exclusive, I prefer the fairer
sex, and you are certainly prettier than any nobleman Dahl has tried to hoist on me. Out of
many candidates you were the first to see past that other form that this one makes me stay
in.” Draudillon said and pointed to her Prime Minister with a glare.
“Like I’ve explained… It is a form that can make a favorable impression no matter the
gender or age of the other party.” Dahl said and looked away. “To be honest I hadn’t expected
anyone to be attracted to it like Cerabrate, but… when the future of the Kingdom is at stake
nothing is off limits.” As Dahl explained that Akemi could only wince.
“Do you… wish for me to destroy who ever that ‘Cerabrate’ man is? I’m assuming it is a
man but they do not sound like a respectable individual.” Akemi looked genuinely worried
for the Queen once she connected the dots.
“That likely won’t be necessary, once he sees that that child appearance was just a ruse he
might leave on his own. If you destroy that army at our door we will have no more need for
that disgusting man and for That I would very much thank you on a more personal level.”
Draudillon admitted with a bit of a shiver. “With that out of the way we can return to the
topic of our future marriage at a later date once my Kingdom is out from under the weight of
annihilation.”
“Its already decided?! This is what happens when I try and play politics… I can only try and
Talk with my girlfriends.” Akemi’s facade of professionalism quickly crumbled as she pouted
at Draudillon, who appeared more smug than anything.
“Try and keep up if you wish to make it on the grand stage of politics. Take this as a lesson to
watch your words when deal making. I’ve been Queen for a long time now, and I’ve long
since been able to recognize posturing, lying, and other common mistakes those that are still
green make.” The Queen was far more smug than usual, but it was a nicer face than the sad
and sullen one she had when she entered the chamber.
“Forgive me for saying but just as you did not wish for me to put up that frustrating face of a
child, there is not a need to put on such a stiff facade yourself if it is not like you. I detected
no lies through what you’ve said though, so while your acting might be a bit… new, I pray
that your power is not. My Great Grandfather compared Nine tails to True Dragon Lords such
as himself in power, so I have high hopes for you to succeed.” Draudillon said as she climbed
off her throne. “Come, let us rest and discuss this somewhere more comfortable.” She
declared.
With her mood still written on her face and shown in her angry tails she followed along.
“So tomorrow I will begin my attack on the occupying army, I’ll free those cities before
taking on their army, so please be ready to send in your forces to help any civilians, as
besides some wide range healing I won’t have the leeway to stick around the area and help
them much.” Akemi said as she sat around a table with Queen Draudillon, Prime Minister
Dahl, and Commander Bahgram who had returned a bit more calm.
“Assuming you are even able to do so and this isn’t some boasting…” Bahgram complained
as he continued to glare at Akemi.
“I’ll let my actions convince you, you’ll change your tune after tomorrow, on that I am sure.
I’ll try and get started at first morning light, that should give you plenty of time to get things
prepared yes?” Akemi asked as she leaned back in her chair and sipped at the cup of wine she
was given.
“Bahgram, she isn’t a very good liar surprisingly, so I have some confidence in what she says
she can do, or at least she does not believe she is lying. I suppose it will be another long night
then… Maybe once this is all over I can actually sleep more than one or two hours. I’ll have
the forces marshaled by the morning and ready to go.” Draudillon sighed in a manner rather
unbecoming of a Queen, but she seemed to not care about Akemi seeing her true behavior
anymore, or her downing a third cup of wine.
“It cannot be helped my Queen, such is the burden of being a hands on ruler.” Dahl said with
zero sense of remorse in his voice, though him and his Queen knew he was half to blame for
her schedule.
“Listen Akemi, if you aim to be a ruler, be sure to get plenty of people to help you… One
person really can’t do it all, not if you want to have any rest or free time at all. Well, if all of
this works I’ll be happy to provide you with instruction on ruling, it will be the least I could
do for an ally and fiance~” She seemed to take far too much enjoyment in the look on
Akemi’s face at that, like making a powerful being squirm in their seat was fun.
“I still haven’t agreed to that… but I would appreciate any help on that front, I’m getting into
this job because I must, even if I have no experience. As far as I’m aware I won’t age and
might just be immortal, so I can afford to wait on many things, that and I already have an
heir. No I’m not marrying her off either. Both her and myself will only ever need to marry for
love.” Akemi said mostly at Dahl as she saw the look in his eye.
“That is the way of royalty though, and that seems to be what you are trying to become.
Wait… you’re already a mother?” Draudillon asked as she looked at Akemi with a bit of
shock.
“Y-yes? Is that such a strange thing? A child I really wish I was spending more time with, If I
could come up with a way to be in multiple places at once… Maybe there is a world item like
that? Something for me to search for I suppose.” Akemi said and looked at Draudillon with
exhaustion in her eyes.
“…I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that you know that term.” Draudillon said as she
narrowed her eyes at Akemi.
“I’m more surprised you do. Should I make that the fourth condition? If you have a world
item I would very much like it, or any knowledge of one’s location.” Akemi’s tails began to
whip around excitedly.
“If I had one I would have used it to help my Kingdom already. As for information about
one… Well there is no harm in telling you after you complete your end of the deal, No one
possesses it, but there are other challenges in nearing it. That would also be the fifth
condition, nice try but you cannot get away that easily.”
“That will work…” Akemi looked a bit grumpy from being called out but she knew she
couldn’t get past the slip up that easily. “How in the world do I explain this to them?…” It
was going to be a long night for her for sure. Reaching into the void of her inventory she
would pull out a small ring. “For now I will let you borrow this… Only to borrow though, I
only have two and one of them is in use on another. As for what it does… Why not see?”
Akemi said and slide the ring over.
Bahgram would intercept the ring and hold it up to inspect it. “No, we can’t allow something
unknown to be used by the Queen, not from someone suspicious.” He was then surprised as
Draudillon reached over to snatch it from his hand and of course put it on her left ring finger.
“Come off it Bahgram, don’t let your prejudices get in the way of a clear head. What is this? I
feel… if this does what I think it does you might not get this back, pry it off my finger if you
can.” The Queen declared as she put looked at the ring in the light, and looked positively
giddy.
Akemi looked away with a bit of a blush at the smile on the Queen’s face… “Well… she is
certainly beautiful, no complaints about that.” Akemi had to shake her head a bit to clear her
mind. “It is called a Ring of Sustenance. While wearing it one need not eat, drink, or sleep.
Keep in mind that it will not deal with mental exhaustion, so breaks are important still, and
there is a backlash when removing it. If you keep it on for days at a time then anticipate
needing a full day’s rest to make up for it.” Akemi pouted just a bit. “I better get it back, I’ll
need it myself you know…” Akemi explained and sighed.
“Yes my apologies, but I doubt I can give this back any time soon~ Ahh I can finally clear
my backlog of work and relax!”
“Well… At least you’re happy about it. Hopefully tomorrow your workload will lessen. I’ll
be by before dawn to confirm my plans with you. I’ll be giving you a way to watch things
happen for yourself.” She said and looked at Bahgram next. “You wanted proof of my words?
I’ll be giving it to you.” Akemi declared as she stood up. “Now, It is time for me to head back
home for the night. After I go through with my end of the deal we can discuss the rest in
more detail, I’d like for Ana and Kyouko to be here for that, as well as my daughter.”
“That is acceptable. I’m quite curious to meet them. If all goes to your plan we’ll all be
seeing a lot of each other after all.” Draudillon said and got up as well to walk around the
table and hold out a hand.
Akemi looked at that hand for a moment before shaking it. “I’m sure they’ll all be delighted
to meet you. You’re certainly already better in my eyes than the King of Re-estize. It is
already that late? Oh dear…” Akemi muttered as she looked out the window and saw that the
sky was dark.
“Take care, I shall see you on the morrow. It has been a pleasure to meet you, may this be the
start of a beautiful alliance together.” The Queen said and began to leave the room. “Come
Dahl, we better get started on all that needs doing, I’m feeling pretty great. I can’t wait to
kick Crystal Tear to the curb…”
Dahl looked at Akemi and bowed his head slightly. “I hope you live up to your promises, for
the Queen’s sake. Well met Akemi of Natura.” He said and closed the door behind him.
Akemi was left in the room with Bahgram, though she had yet to look up at him as he walked
over. “So where was Foresight left? I need to send them- Hey!” Akemi shouted as a tail
interposed itself between her neck and the sword that was pulled from it’s sheath at
Bahgram’s side and swung at her at a speed far superior than his size would suggest. It wasn’t
fast or strong enough that Akemi couldn’t block it easily enough with a tail. “Still testing
me?” Akemi asked as her glare sharpened.
Bahgram put his sword away and made a satisfied noise. “I figured if you couldn’t stop that
there would be no chance of you succeeding tomorrow. I suppose your boasting isn’t all for
show- Fair enough…” He muttered that last bit as he noticed nine tails surrounding him, their
sharpened points aimed at him from all angles, and all had moved in the space of a breath.
“It is one thing to test me, I can take it, and you are fair in being suspicious of strange fox
women appearing with mysterious offers, but if these ‘tests’ of your’s are ever attempted on
those I love… Well, you get the message.” Akemi said as her gaze softened again, back to the
kind and motherly look she had before, and her tails back to just being fluffy and whimsical
things.
Once Akemi got a nod from the man she smiled. “I’m glad we understand each other.”
“Akemi! I was worried something had happened… but if it took that long I take it
negotiations went well?” Arche asked as she excitedly stood up. As she saw Hekkeran,
Imina, and Roberdyck smile at her knowingly, Arche stiffened back up and wiped the smile
from her face.
“Yup, things are in place, negotiations were successful, I just have to pull through on my end
of the deal and we’re golden. I need to get back home and rest, I bet they are all worried
sick… Will you four like to spend the night in that house in the settlement? Or shall I send
you back to the Empire with Gate?” Akemi asked as she stretched out.
Foresight looked at each other and seemed to debate it between themselves mentally. With a
shake of Arche’s head at the rest Akemi knew things were finally at an end. “Sorry Akemi, I
think it is best we get back to the Empire… I’m worried about my sisters, so the sooner I sort
that out the better.” Arche sounded genuinely sad at that, and Akemi herself looked upset, her
ears drooping down.
“Well… It has been wonderful to meet you four, it has been a strange but fun journey, and
hopefully one day we can have another without as much of a time limit. Now you four… I
consider you personal friends, so please if you get into some sort of trouble contact me and I
might be able to lend a hand. If you all keep doing jobs please be safe… Here.” Akemi said
and reached into her inventory to pull out four rings made of a dark wood. “This are a bit
simpler than ones I’ve made for Ana, Kyouko, and Hannyuu, but you can cast message
fifteen times a day with them, as well as cast Cure Medium Wounds three times a day. Use
these and stay safe, and stay in contact.” Akemi urge them after she placed one in each of
their hands, as well as another bag in Hekkeran’s hands. “The other half of your promised
payment.”
In addition to the ring she gave each of them a hug, it seemed she truly would be missing
them.
Arche was the last to be hugged, and it took her a few seconds longer for either of them to let
go, which was not unnoticed by the others. “Akemi I… I think- I mean t-through this trip…
I’ll try and keep in contact…” Arche’s voice wavered for a moment before she looked away
with a flush to her face. She avoided the eyes of her teammates who stared at her expectantly,
yet what ever nerve she had failed her.
“You all better. Get your sisters somewhere safe and take care of them Arche. [Gate]. Oh
right, you can keep that staff Arche, a gift from me~” Akemi said with a wink and opened up
a portal next to her. “This will take you outside of the gates to Arswintar. Take care you four
alright?”
Hekkeran stepped forward and grinned. “Of course, we’ll stay out of trouble if we can, but no
promises. I kind of want to try and fight Kyouko one day though, she looked skilled.”
“Oh I’m positive she would enjoy that, she does like testing her skills.”
“See you later Akemi, tell Ana and Hannyuu bye also. Enjoy your new romance~” Imina
teased as she walked through the portal. Akemi could only shake her head at that with a tired
grin.
“Farewell Lady Akemi, it was an honor to meet a Goddess, especially one so pleasant.”
Roberdyck said and ignored the pout she sent his way.
The Kitsune just groaned under her breath. “Please don’t call me that… I think I’m just going
to have to get used to things like that… Well, you all will always be welcome in Natura once
it is created. Farewell Roberdyck.”
With that the other three went into that gate and vanished from sight. When it closed Akemi
felt a sadness creep over her heart. “What was Arche about to say? Oh well… [Greater
Teleportation].” With the next day scheduled, it was past time for her to return.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: I honestly don't know how that chapter got so long… I was a bit behind in the last
chapter when I cut it off early, I wanted to stick with my outline that I might have
packed more in than I should have. I'm doing my best in just adding scenes that mean a
lot to the story… so sorry if this chapter felt more disjointed, I'm honestly still learning
and trying my best.
There is a chance I might slow down my pace over time as I might fiddle with other
stories, but I don't intend to drop this story. Now if I don't update any stories for like 2
years, or show any activity for two years, then it is safe to say I'm just dead or something
lol.
I did my best on the Dragon Kingdom, I was really going off just about no information
on them… On the wiki Draudillon and that creepy adventurer are the only named
characters there and even that wasn't a lot. I tried to make Draudillon more politically
savvy as it makes sense, and talks a bit older being estimated in her 80s.
I hope I made the Prime Minister crafty enough like he acted in his few appearances in
the LN.
Rapture
Chapter Summary
Amidst the fields of slaughter, hear the trumpet of the Rapture resound, and pray.
Chapter Notes
As Akemi stepped out from her Gate she just enjoyed the cool and moist forest air that blew
through the settlement. It wasn’t nearly as cold as the air in the Dragon Kingdom, just cool
enough that sleeping with the windows open would feel lovely.
Sleep was exactly what she wished to get as she stumbled a bit towards her home. Even
though it was well past dark, the lights in her home were still on, a warm beacon that called
her inside. Opening up the door and looking around Akemi saw three of loved ones of them
piled on the couch. Ana had claimed Kyouko’s lap as a pillow and seemed to be nodding off
as Kyouko pet her hair. Hannyuu had nearly curled up on top of Ana, and even from the
doorway Akemi could hear those quiet purrs that told her her daughter was fast asleep.
“Sorry I’m late you three…” Akemi said as she closed the door behind her as quietly as she
could manage, but she still saw Hannyuu’s ears flick in recognition at the muffled sounds.
When she sniffed the air her eyes opened to look at Akemi with such a bright smile that
Akemi felt renewed in her goals, to make a world where her daughter can live happily. “Sorry
for waking you Dearheart.” Akemi said as she stole the other end of the couch after she lifted
Ana’s legs to put over her own lap.
“Hey babe, glad to have you back.” Ana said as she looked at Akemi sleepily and giggled as
she felt her legs get hugged. Hannyuu for her part stayed curled up against Ana, yet stayed
awake with a cute yawn.
“Hope everything went okay, nice to have you back.” Kyouko said as she relaxed. “Long
day?” She asked as she saw yawn also.
“You have no idea… I’ll explain more in the morning but negotiations have gone well so far,
the Queen was surprisingly pleasant to talk to. She is certainly passionate about her people,
and I can respect that, a lot more than the sad lump on the throne in this Kingdom.” Akemi
slumped down a bit and closed her eyes. “I am exhausted though… I used up far too much
mana lately, I guess I should be careful…”
“Oh we know. Arche informed us about that little incident, but we’ll leave the scolding for
that, and for us having to hear about it from Arche for later when we’re all awake enough.”
Kyouko said and glared a bit at Akemi in clear worry.
“I’m reflecting on it… I know I’m not invincible, but I figured my mana regeneration was
keeping up, it is hard for me to check it often.” Akemi explained, but the stern looks she got
from the other three told her they didn’t buy it.
“Not eating enough will impact how fast you can get your mana back, everyone knows that.”
Ana said and winced just a bit as Hannyuu shifted off of her, and moved over to Akemi to
steal her mother’s lap from Ana’s legs. Ana could only chuckle at the clingy cat as she sat
back up and leaned against Kyouko fully.
Akemi wrapped her arms around Hannyuu as she hugged her daughter and felt the purring
begin. “Hello you tiny dork, love you too.” Akemi whispered with a tired laugh. She had long
since noticed that her daughter would act more cat-like the sleepier she was, and it never
failed to put a smile on Akemi’s face. She returned her attention to Ana and frowned. “I
didn’t know that… Not too long ago nothing about this body was real and physical…” Akemi
defended as she just tried to relax. “Alright Kitten, bed time I think.” With that Akemi stood
up and lifted Hannyuu with her into her arms, eliciting a sleepy giggle from her that was
more fitting for her age than how she normally acted.
“Good idea, you look exhausted. You bunking with me again tonight Ana? Wish there was
enough room for us all though…” Kyouko grumbled as she loosely wrapped an arm around
Ana’s waist.
“Mhm, It was rather comfortable. All three of us together would be even better.” Ana said
and tilted her head back to smile at Kyouko, who responded with a light kiss on her forehead.
Akemi smiled and leaned down to get a kiss from both her girlfriends. “A bigger bed is
definitely something for me to make at the new place, right in the big master bedroom. Screw
it, I’ll make it tomorrow if I can.” Akemi said and felt Hannyuu grumble under her breath
against Akemi’s chest. “I’ll get this one to bed.” Akemi said as she headed up the stairs.
Ana and Kyouko made no move to get up as they enjoyed cuddling on the couch. “You sure
you don’t get too warm at night Ana?” Kyouko asked as the sleepy wolf woman hugged her
girlfriend tighter.
“If we have the window cracked it is cool enough, especially since you’re like a furnace. I’m
still not… entirely used to sharing a bed and…” Ana’s face flushed just a bit, not that she
moved from her spot.
“Cuddling? Being the little spoon at night? If it helps you’re awfully comfortable to cuddle
with, you and Akemi are so small and huggable~” Kyouko was having way too much fun
teasing the girl, especially as she saw Ana’s ears getting red.
“Y-yeah that… I might be small, but you’re also just super tall, n-not that I’m complaining.”
Ana said as her hand reach back to lightly touch those exposed abs.
“Me neither~” Akemi said as she came back down to retake her spot on the couch, sinking
down into the cushions with her eyes closed.
“Oh I know you don’t, don’t think I haven’t seen either of you watch me work out. So what is
the plan?” Kyouko sounded far too smug as she stretched herself out as best she could.
“Mm… What can I say? Those abs are a work of art.” Akemi admitted with a blush. “The
plan right now is going the hell to sleep… I have to be up super early to head back. I’m going
to lend the Queen that mirror of viewing so she can watch the battle, while at dawn I go deal
with a lot of Beastmen in three cities… before facing their army. No pressure right?” Akemi
moved over to cuddle up to Ana and Kyouko, unwilling to not get in on the comfort.
“Wait… an entire army? I’m not doubting you but… How many?” Kyouko asked as she
stopped petting Ana’s hair, her demeanor suddenly much more tense.
“About… one hundred and fifty… thousand. I scouted them out remotely already, none of
them are near a threat. I know ‘levels’ don’t really work in this world but I can still check
them myself. The lowest I saw was around level fifteen, and the highest was twenty eight. In
comparison I’m one hundred. They could wail on me all day and they still wouldn’t be able
to get through my low tier damage nullification to give me even a scratch. Besides It won’t
matter how many there are with my plan, if they are in range they are done as I doubt any of
them could resist the super tier spell I’m going to use.” Akemi said and saw the gears in her
lover’s heads turn slowly, levels were still a foreign concept she was trying to teach them.
“Oh, I meant to ask, so… what level are we?” Ana asked. Akemi saw the same question in
Kyouko’s eyes.
“If you really want to know, Ana you’re level eleven, and Kyouko you’re fifteen. For
reference Kyouko that man you fought at Eight Fingers was level twenty one.” Akemi
seemed quite proud of Kyouko, and cuddled against those two all the more.
“I have a long way to go to catch up…” Ana complained, but cracked a smile as the other
two kissed the top of her head.
“Just keep training and I’ll do all I can to help you two, no way am I letting anyone I love be
anything less than an absolute badass. That will be another day though, I really need to go to
bed… Sleep well you two, I love you both.” Akemi said accepted a small kiss from each of
them. “Don’t wear poor Ana out too much~” She teased them and watched Ana turn pink.
“No promises are made.” Kyouko said as she leaned down a bit to nibble at Ana’s ear
playfully. The squeak that it elicited out of the human seemed to make both Akemi and
Kyouko perk up a bit. “Well that was adorable~”
“That it was, I’ll be sure to keep that weakness in mind. I wish I had some free time… well,
things will get better when everything is done. Once I have things running I’m taking a
vacation and no one can stop me… No more delaying for me though, I need sleep.” Akemi
trudged up the stairs again with her tails nearly dragging on the floor.
“She really does need that vacation… well, I know a good way to relieve some stress…
Maybe when we all have that free time I can show you.” Kyouko teased as Ana got off of her
while looking even more red.
When Ana saw the worried look in Kyouko’s eyes, along with the surprisingly cute tilt of her
head, like a puppy, Ana felt her heart squeeze. “E-eventually… It might take a while for me
to… be ready for something like that. Kissing is fine though, I’m just getting used to all this.”
Ana said right before yawning also.
“That was the plan, I don’t want to do anything you two aren’t ready for, so tell me if I go to
far okay?” Kyouko asked as she stood up and stretched.
Despite the blush already on Ana’s face that didn’t stop her from peering at those abs and
getting even more red. “I-I will, its been fine. Why must you wear shirts that don’t even go
all the way down?” Ana asked in a slight whimper.
“Because I’m proud of my body, and it seems to make cute girls melt~ Enough delaying, off
to bed, lets see Akemi off in the morning.” Kyouko said and ruffled Ana’s hair.
“Well… melt is one word for it.” She admitted and cleared her throat. “You’re right, I’m
going to make a nice big breakfast for us all in the morning.”
Reluctantly leaving her girlfriends downstairs Akemi made her way upstairs to go to her
room, but made a quick detour into Kyouko’s room. She took the chair placed on Lorelei’s
side of the bed looked worriedly at the small wolf who still just stared at nothing. “Hey…
Not sure if you can hear me or not… I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much. A lot has been
going on, but I think you’ll like our new home when it is done. I’ll make sure your room has
a good view, you’ll really be able to see the stars.” Akemi let her words trail off and her ears
fold down.
“I… love your mom, and I hope you’ll approve of me and her dating. I want to get to know
you also, I hope one day I’ll be able to call you my daughter as well. It is late for you also so
I’ll let you have some good sleep. [Deep Slumber]. Rest well Lorelei, I’ll take care of your
mom in the meantime.” Akemi said as she gave a few light pets over the tiny wolf’s hair
before getting up.
“No more children can end up like this…” Akemi thought as she returned to her own room to
finally curl up and sleep the dead. After changing and slipping under the blankets that were
sure to end up on the floor by the morning, she wrapped her tails around Hannyuu and
herself, nearly curled into a ball around her daughter for maximum comfort and protection,
before she finally passed out.
Akemi stared at the pile of food Ana and Kyouko kept putting on her plate. “You are not
skipping food today, not on my watch. If I have to start keeping track of how much you eat
like I do Hannyuu I will.” Ana scolded the Kitsune as Akemi sat at the breakfast table next to
Kyouko’s empty chair.
“Okay okay… I’m sorry for worrying you two, honestly I just forgot to eat, I’m not used to
feeling hungry still. In my old body I was never really hungry and couldn’t really hold much
down, so eating was more of a chore.” Akemi admitted as she forced herself to eat as much
as she could, knowing that her mana would be quite taxed that day.
“That… is a fair point. Sorry if I’m being a bit aggressive on that… I just worry, you know? I
have to keep reminding myself you aren’t invincible.” Ana looped her arms around Akemi’s
neck from behind as Akemi sat, and hugged her tightly.
Akemi couldn’t help but smile at the affection, and leaned back into those loving arms. “I
have to remind myself of that… I should take a page out of Ainz’s book and be more
cautious, or it might bite me in the ass one day.” They lapsed into silence as Akemi forced
that pile of food down, with Ana watching from the other side of the table where she herself
ate, to make sure Akemi ate every egg, slice of ham, and piece of fruit. “She is taking this
way too seriously… You nearly pass out one time…”
Akemi’s ears twitched and she turned towards the stairs right before Kyouko came stumbling
down the stairs with Hannyuu nearly asleep in her arms.
“I guess she still wanted company to sleep, she is really clingy when she is asleep isn’t she?”
Kyouko seemed amused as she adjusted her now youngest daughter against herself before
taking a seat at the table.
“Mmm… morning…” Hannyuu mumbled from against Kyouko’s shirt. Akemi gave it a fifty
fifty chance of her falling back asleep.
“Morning dear.” Akemi said and chuckled while she leaned over to scratch one of those
feline ears, eliciting a purr that only raised Akemi’s mood just a bit more. “Morning Kyo~
Sleep well?” Akemi asked as she reached up to try and scratch one of those wolf ears also,
but had to let Kyouko lower her head into reach.
“More or less, still a bit early but I’ve had worse. I think it might take a bit more to wake up
this ball of sunshine.” Kyouko joked as she looked down at Hannyuu in her arms who just
made a sleepy grumble.
Akemi smiled at the two of them, and seemed to just love the sight of Kyouko mothering on
Hannyuu. “Adorable. Hey dear, I’m going to have to head out soon, you’re free to go back to
bed after that. If you plan to stay up you can have a cup of coffee, one every so often isn’t
that bad for you.” Akemi said as she drained the rest of her second cup.
Hannyuu lifted her head a bit and pouted just a bit at Akemi. With all the energy of a sloth
she climbed over onto Akemi’s lap. “Mmm… now you can’t go…” She mumbled out as she
purred.
They could only smile warmly at her as she soaked up absolutely every minute with Akemi
she could. “Hmm… when I first found you you were level three, you’re already level seven
now. Been doing more with Kyouko and Ana?” Akemi asked as Hannyuu finally got off of
her and stretched out.
“Mhmm, Mama Kyouko has been helping me work out, and I started swinging a wooden
sword… I’m sore.” She complained as she stretched out those painful muscles.
“You just aren’t used to it yet, it won’t be so bad after a few weeks maybe, stretching like you
are doing should help. You’re making really good progress for your age.” Kyouko said and
ruffled that light pink hair.
“And I think you are close to casting a tier one spell. Honestly you’re picking up what what
Kyouko and me teach you fast… maybe you have a talent?” Ana perked up at that thought.
Hannyuu tilted her head and shrugged.
“I wouldn’t know, how does that get checked?” Hannyuu asked as she made herself a plate
and a cup of coffee from what was set out on the table, her body and mind slowly waking up.
“I think some sort of divination magic? A priest came through my village when I was a kid to
check for talents, since they are valuable to the Kingdom, so I know I don’t have one. Got a
spell like that Akemi?” Ana asked as she sipped at her own cup.
“Talents didn’t exist over there, so my information gathering spells have never shown
anything like Talents, so it might be a different spell. Maybe I can pick Roberdyck’s brain for
that… If I can get that spell and examine it some I might be able to modify some of mine to
get that information, localize some of my spells for this world.” Akemi checked her internal
clock and groaned. “I need to bring that mirror I let you all use with me.” Akemi said as she
stood up and stretched, nearly knocking a few jars off the shelves behind them with her tails
as they extended also.
Soon Akemi was faced with three sad gazes in perfect sync. “Okay you all practiced that…
I’m weak to the cute eyes… I told Draudillon I’d let her use that mirror so she could watch.
Besides I don’t think… even if you’ve all seen plenty you really don’t want to see some of
what these Beastmen have done, all of which I won’t say at the breakfast table.”
“Fine… I guess you can take it, it is on my dresser.” Ana said with a pout that Akemi and
Kyouko both found adorable. “So… you said you would tell us more about the negotiations
in the morning, so spill before you go.”
Akemi sat back down and groaned, suddenly she looking far more nervous. “Well… She is a
pretty shrewd negotiator, and honestly a lot better at that stuff than me, It made me feel like a
child in comparison. If I succeed today, which I will, of that I can promise, that the amount of
land I wanted is no issue. An alliance will also be nothing to worry about, and she already has
no slavery. There was one other problem…”
They stared at her in curiosity, with Ana and Kyouko’s seeming to get more and more
suspicious. “So what did she want? You as a war tool? I guess you’re already doing that…”
Kyouko asked as she thought about it.
“Akemi… Did a comment you make bite you in the ass?” Ana asked with resignation, her
gaze turning frustrated yet amused at the nod Akemi gave her. “So what was it? You make a
joke about political marriage or something?”
Akemi froze up at that and nodded again. “Can you stop reading my mind? You sure you
don’t have a talent in that? She had asked if I had more conditions besides those three… and
didn’t believe me that I didn’t… so I might have joked about if she wanted a p-political
marriage after she said that was what any other country would try for…” Akemi’s ears folded
as she looked away.
“She called no take-backs… For a Queen older than me she is surprisingly immature. I only
told her that that would have to be negotiated, but I told her I was taken! She won’t let it
drop…” Akemi whined and buried her face in her folded arms.
“So it really was your own fault… I honestly had a feeling something like that might happen,
you do tend to gather people around you. There is already three of us, so I’m not that opposed
to it being explored if you wanted to. I want to meet her for that discussion also.” Ana said
and tapped her fingers on the table.
“Yes… I also want to ‘talk’ with her…” Kyouko sounded a bit more annoyed, more at the
situation than anything. “Well… guess you might get a fourth mom at this rate Hannyuu.”
Hannyuu could only shrug. “That is fine by me, I want to see her also, I’ve never met a real
Queen before. Wouldn’t she be almost the fifth? I mean… Mama… you and Mama Ana sure
acted pretty close with Arche…” Hannyuu teased with a grin.
Akemi lifted her head up to pout at the lot of them. “Well, we can discuss that more
tomorrow. Today is just finishing this job for the Kingdom, and then I’ll try and set up more
negotiations after that I want all of you to come with me, the Queen is someone we’ll be
seeing a lot of regardless, so there isn’t any harm in getting to know her. Arche is… a friend,
she has her own life to go live. I doubt she likes me like that either way. Now she might like
you Ana, you are adorable and you did interact more with her.”
“No way! I annoyed her with a bunch of questions about magic! Though she is cute and
nice… If she a-asked… Haaa…” Ana slumped on the table at the conversation. They all
noticed Hannyuu pouting and looking annoyed.
“Again with this? I thought this whole thing where you deny what you feel was a thing of the
past?” Hannyuu complained with a cute pout, now fully awake and nibbling at food.
“Seriously, where does this sass come from?” Akemi asked in exasperation, but smiled at
Hannyuu through her frustration. “So I suppose you know all about all that? We’ve seen how
you act around a certain cute sheep girl… Turnabout is fair play~”
Hannyuu to her credit barely blushed. “You mean Rinna? W-what about her? She is really
cute and pretty.” She admitted with a shrug. Looking into her food it seemed her comments
about her parent’s love life was done… for now.
After a dozen seconds of silence Akemi couldn’t help but start to giggle like mad. “I love you
all, breakfast with family really should feel like this. I never thought I’d get to have this…”
The others couldn’t help but join in at that, it was a happy start… for such a blood soaked
day.
“I’ll message you three later, okay? I doubt I’ll have any problems dealing with this, but we’ll
see. I won’t let my guard down.” Akemi said as she activated her quick change skill to swap
over to her best battle robes. Like the ones she had worn the day prior they were gold and
white, but were more armored around the shoulders and chest, while still having a loose robe
bottom with a thick metal cloak for further protection. To those sensitive to magic, and even
to those not, it was easy to sense the amount of power that was contained in those likely
priceless artifacts.
To their surprise she pulled her personal weapon from her storage and tapped the ground with
the butt of the Naginata.
“So that is the weapon you talked about before. What is it made out of? It feels almost like
my weapon.” Kyouko asked as she examined the weapon that was as tall as herself. The shaft
was made of some sort of pitch black material that was unlike wood or metal that gave no
reflection of the dim light from the house, as if absorbing it. The blade was a work of art in
her eyes, and seemed to shimmer in ways that shouldn’t be possible for metal, similar to the
rainbow color of oil in water, and seemed just as fluid, while the entire piece was trimmed in
the unique purple gold hue of Astral Gold.
“This is Ex Oblivion, she was my Magnum Opus of my time before I got here. She is the best
weapon I ever forged, I haven’t been using her much lately as it seemed like overkill… using
her on any of those knights or slavers was just insulting to her, not when she was made to
take on fully geared players the same level as me. I still wish I picked a different name but…
younger me was a bit… you know how it is when you are young. As for what she is made of,
it was a curious material of my Guild’s that I got special permission to use. It was something
called a Caloric Stone, it was a strange world item that was made instead of found. I’ll give
you the fully story some other time, but she packs a lot more of a punch than anything made
of even Prismatic metals… Hence why I haven’t been using her. Nothing calls for that much
power here, not when my tails work just fine, or even better than Adamantite.” Akemi said
and examined the edge of the blade for any flaws.
“You had mentioned world items once before when you talked about how you got here but…
I didn’t really get it.” Ana said as she reached out to touch that weapon, and blinked as
Akemi pulled it back.
“Careful, I’m not sure how the Anti-theft enchantments will work here for touching it, and
they’re pretty nasty… I don’t want you three getting hurt from that.” Akemi said and leaned
on the weapon. “So World Items are… Well back in Yggdrasil they were nigh all powerful
items that could bend reality to their whims, I’ve used a few in my time and I intend to find
as many as I can in this world… we need them. I’ll… explain the threat they pose later. I
figure today is a big enough occasion to show off my best gear, this armor and weapon is me
not taking any chances like you all wanted. [Gate].” Akemi sighed as she opened up her way
towards the Dragon Kingdom that thankfully didn’t involve another month of travel now that
she had been there.
“You be careful alright? Get back here safe and do what you have to do. I don’t care how
many bodies you have to lay out and crawl over, but you get back here.” Kyouko said and
hugged her armored girlfriend and kissed her goodbye. Akemi stumbled a bit with a blush
after that kiss, and was pulled right into Ana’s, who seemed amused by her reaction to it.
After separating from Akemi Ana grinned the few inches up at her. “Make sure to actually
message us after alright? Because I swear if you get hurt this time and don’t say anything…”
Ana vaguely threatened, though her puffed up cheeks took any bite out of her threat.
Hannyuu took her turn to hug Akemi as tight as she could, a light shake from her showing
her inner turmoil she must have felt. “Love you Mama… come back please…” She was able
to choke out before reluctantly letting go.
“I’ll be fine you three, I promise…” She said and noted in her head how Not reassuring that
was even to her own ears. “That was a death flag if I ever heard one… Lets not get Isekai’d
twice.” She thought and blew a kiss to the three of them before vanishing into that portal.
As it evaporated the three huddled together in similar states of worry. “Think she’ll be okay?”
Ana asked as Kyouko wrapped an arm around the shorter two, that wolf tail tugged between
her legs as a whine worked out of her throat.
“Physically I think she’ll be fine… Mentally? I don’t think she has fully realized the weight
of what she is going to do.” Kyouko sighed, and tried to suppress the irritation she felt inside
at not being strong enough to truly fight at Akemi’s side. “Well, we all ate, we’re up, so it is
training time while it is nice and chilly. We’re going for a run Hannyuu.” Kyouko said and
cracked her neck.
At the whine Hannyuu gave Kyouko just pressed a finger to her nose. When Ana giggled at
their antics Kyouko turned her attention to her other girlfriend. “Oh you’re coming with us~
stamina is really important for a lot of things. Less complaining you two, go get ready.”
Kyouko said and watched both of them whine in sync before trudging into their home to
change into something easier to move in.
“Oh you’re going to need some stamina one day Ana~ All good things in time.” The wolf
thought with a quiet chuckle.
“Halt! Where in the world did you come from?!” The first thing Akemi saw as she came out
of her Gate was two spears pointed at her chest.
“What is with people and putting spears near my chest? It is so damn rude. I was here
yesterday, I have an appointment with the Queen.” Akemi said, not giving a care about the
weapons an inch from her.
“I’ve heard no such information about some Demi-human intruder!” The fully armored guard
to the left of the castle door said as he grabbed a horn from his belt and prepared to blow.
Akemi groaned and cast a Silence spell over the guard, muting the horn before it could wake
up the entire city before the sun even hinted at rising. “I have permission to be here you-
Oi…” Akemi glared at those men as one of them did the most idiotic thing he could have
done as he stabbed at her throat with the spear. It was more annoying than anything for her as
the tip grazed off a shimmering field around Akemi above her skin. “Thats it, if you can’t use
these responsibly…” Akemi grasped both of the guard’s spears with her tails and held them
high above them.
As she dismissed her silence spell she stared at the guard. “[Message]. Oi, why did you not
tell your guards I was coming? Whatever… Should I go to the same place? Fine, I’ll be
there.” Akemi held a finger to the side of her head to focus on her message a bit better and
groaned. “Alright you two move aside, do not follow me or raise the alarm.” Akemi
commanded and watched as despite the Guard’s facial expressions, they stepped off to the
side and out of her path. Akemi dropped their spears at their feet as she entered the castle.
It was surprisingly active in the castle as even more people busied themselves that early in
the morning. Before yet more guards and soldiers could rush at Akemi they were halted by a
high pitched voice. “Stop! No one attack her, she is my friend!” Akemi saw down the
hallway the Queen once again In her previous child form. Inside she felt a bit bad for the
Queen, having to put on an act can be exhausting…
“Welcome Akemi, are you almost ready?” Draudillon asked as she waved for Akemi to
follow her while she scampered off in a not at all dignified way, adorable, but not like how a
Queen would walk or run. It felt odd seeing it as she knew there was a beautiful woman older
than herself under that illusion. She followed the Queen into the council chamber she had
been in the night prior.
“I really am not going to miss having to act like that!” Draudillon shouted as soon as the
thick and likely sound proof doors closed, yet she didn’t remove her illusion yet.
“I don’t blame you… I’m not comfortable trying to act stiff, proper, and like I deserve the
respect my people give me… I guess it is a bit of the opposite for you?” Akemi asked as she
took a seat across from Draudillon. As she did so Dahl entered in from another door behind
the Queen.
“There you are Dahl, how are things looking? Are we prepared for refugees?” Draudillon
asked and leaned back in her chair.
“We have enough food stored I believe, as sadly between all three cities I would not count on
more than a city’s worth having survived. As for medical supplies and our priests… never
enough.” At that Draudillon looked over at Akemi.
“Well Akemi, you did you your divine healing magic is open to our use? We will certainly
have need of it.” The Queen said.
“I was already intending on that. So I have this for you two… and Bahgram, I guess…”
Akemi wrinkled her nose at the name like it personally offended her. She reached into her
inventory, which that itself got a bit of a wide eye from the other two. Pulling out her mirror
of viewing Akemi double checked the enchantments on it to confirm it would work. “It is
pretty simple to use, you’ll figure it out with some messing around. As for what it does…
See?” Akemi said as she placed the mirror on the table in front of Draudillon.
On the mirror was a view of Akemi from behind, almost like a third person camera in real
time. “Wow… This is pretty useful, I might keep this also.” The Queen said with a chuckle.
“Oi, considering that that thing follows me everywhere I’m taking that back after the battle. I
will get that ring back also, I can’t afford to just give that thing away.” Akemi said with a
grumble.
“Now now, there is no need to be stingy. If you want the ring back you just have to replace it
with another~ This thing really is useful, for once I feel great! Now… do you want to speak
to the army before this all happens?” Draudillon asked after she flashed the ring she was
‘borrowing’ on her left ring finger.
“We’ll… discuss that once everything is settled… and I can bring my family here to back me
up, it feels like I’m up against three people at once.” Akemi complained as she stood up.
“That isn’t a great idea… almost everyone sees me as a Beastwoman because they don’t
know the difference between Beastmen and women and anything non-human. After I deal
with this and prove myself I’ll say a few words if necessary. I’ll make sure people will have
full confidence on what side I’m on.”
“I’ll make sure to tell my forces who our savior is. The sooner this is dealt with the sooner I
can ditch this form… I heard word Cerabrate and Crystal Tear is on their way, and are set to
arrive tomorrow. I can’t wait to tell him to screw off…” The Queen hissed. “I’ll deal with the
troops and the speech, will you be waiting until sunrise? That should give me plenty of time.”
She said as she hopped off her chair with the mirror in hand.
Akemi stretched and picked her weapon back up from where she leaned it on the table. “I’ll
be waiting, when daylight first touches the city I’ll strike with the sun at my back, that should
catch them by surprise. I’ll go get started then, starting with Avala, then Neve, and last
Hearth. Move your forces out as soon as they are ready, it will be a pretty quick battle. [Fly],
[Greater Teleportation].” And with that she flashed out of sight.
It was all too well Akemi couldn’t see the look on the Queen’s face in that moment. “She gets
more and more interesting.” She said in a smug tone, all while Dahl followed behind her
shaking his head in surrender.
Scorched and cracked walls lined the perimeter of an aged city that seemed devoid of all life.
All the movement within seemed to be it’s occupiers that numbered only a fraction of the of
the original inhabitants.
Three hundred meters above ground Akemi hovered with flight magic, and glared into the
crumbling city that smelled of death and blood. She had seen enough sights in the first five
minutes to make her already regret her large breakfast. As the Beastmen awoke from tents
and ruined buildings they all seemed to gather in the main square of that city to fight with
each other over wrapped chunks of meat, snapping at each other for what they felt were the
best cuts.
The fact that those pieces of meat was human was not lost on Akemi, and just fed the rage
she felt. She saw large cages kept in a different area that were filled with people that looked
drained of life. Akemi didn’t know how long they had been kept there, but they seemed all to
have seen death. Yet a few whimpered cries still emerged from cages, children in such terror
that it was impossible to stay quiet as they huddled together for warmth and the illusion of
safety.
Akemi counted the minutes while she grit her teeth, her rage only building, as shown in her
tails that whipped the air. While it was in truth, a short amount of a time, how long Akemi
had to wait there in the air for the sun to finally wash over the city felt like years. Akemi felt
her blood boil as more of the details of the city were revealed. Such a beautiful city… stained
in blood, turned into one massive butchery.
She held her weapon up to the sky as her slitted eyes glared at the Beastmen below with pure
loathing. “[Armageddon-Good] [Summon Angel Seventh: Dominion Authority]” Akemi
unleashed a portion of her magic in a tenth and a seventh tier spell, to give the Beastmen a
taste of their own hell.
With the sun at Akemi’s back to hide her movements, dozens of Angels formed behind her
out of her offering of mana. They appeared similar to Archangel Flames, but with thicker
armor and with a greater variety of weapons, With a bright light that even matched the
morning sun for but a moment, as well as causing several strange ethereal feathers to fall
from the sky, one massive angel formed above Akemi, who’s force of presence was second
only to the aura of majesty Akemi gave off as her eyes glowed bright blue.
“Archangel Tempests, snipe every Beastman in your sights and keep any messengers from
leaving. Archangel Locusts, charge forth and cut them all down! Dominion Authority keep
watch on any Beastman that can hold their ground against one angel and intervene if they last
more than ten seconds. Do not allow a single one to live! Protect every human life here, let
not a drop more of their blood be spilled. Go!” Akemi pointed at the city and watched the one
hundred and one angels flood the city like a biblical punishment of old. “A seventh tier angel
and one hundred level thirty angels should suffice. Where was that commander looking
fellow?” Akemi thought as she tracked the one who was giving orders to make the crowd of
Beastmen earlier calm down at their ‘breakfast’ time.
Akemi watched as those angels struck hard and fast, before most of the Beastmen that
lounged in the city square could even look up from what ever meat they had gotten for
breakfast they had come under attack from above. Several Beastmen that were more capable
began to fight a losing battle against a singular angel, but that would come to an end either
from a holy arrow from above, or from another angel joining the fray from behind them,
tipping the already skewed balance of power further.
With a feel deep breathes Akemi tried to calm herself through the rage that dyed her vision in
red as she dove towards the city. In but an instant of her own time she had reached the street
where a larger Beastman had begun to bark orders. Another instant later the two Beastmen
near him, likely his guards, fell over dead from being sliced in half at the waist.
The one Akemi was after could only stumble back for a few feet before falling on his ass, his
gaze stuck on the toothed maws of his men that hung open in death.
“Up close you really are basically just mostly animals. How people keep thinking I’m like all
of you is beyond me…” Akemi complained as she stared down at the Beastmen she had
assumed to be a leader. They were all completely furred and only really human shaped in the
vaguest sense of the word from walking on two legs that were not even jointed the same way
as a human. “Now… lets get some information.”
It had started off a decent enough day for Flagor in the conquered city of Avala. The
temperature had gotten rather cold overnight, but that didn’t bother him or his men, and it
kept the Meat quiet. It wasn’t cold enough to kill them overnight, but just cold enough they
would calm down and conserve their energy.
“Quit your barking you lot! You’ll get meat when I say you do!” He shouted at the crowd of
Beastmen gathered in the center square. Despite what other thought, he could at least do
mathematics, and had been trying to figure out how many meat rations to give the crowd for
the day so they wouldn’t run out any time soon. With his current stock of meat he knew they
would never breed fast enough to be sustainable as a food source, but it was what their leader
wanted…
“Two legs, or two arms! Take your pick and no fucking shoving!” He shouted at his pack
who cheered once distribution began. “Olind, tell the butchers to pick out thirty for
butchering, we’ll need to restock.” He told a third Beastman that walked near him.
“Got it Pack leader.” The black furred Beastman named Olind separated from the other three
and towards the meat storage.
“We have maybe a few weeks worth left… We’re running out of feed for the meat. We were
only told to hold this city until food runs out, then head back to the main pack. We’ve done
our job here, What do you two say to one last big celebration before then? We may as well
eat every last scrap before we go, that should get the boys motivated.” Flagor said with a
snort from his snout.
“Ha! I knew there was a reason you’re the pack leader!” One of the two Beastmen guards that
walked in front of him said, right before they froze in place.
It was a moment after that he heard roars and screams coming from the main city square
where he had left the bulk of his men. “Dammit I leave them alone for five minutes! You two
with me-” His voice was cut off as his two guards fell over dead like cut open bags of meat,
the still pulsating organs that were above or below the cut and were still whole spilled out
from both halves of their bodies.
In the next moment a nine tailed human woman- “No… humans don’t have tails… Demi-
human? What is a Demi-human doing her-” His thoughts were interrupted as she had pointed
at him after mumbling to herself. “[Dominate].” And so his conscious thoughts cut off from
his control, the last actions of his life unknown to him.
“Tell me your orders and command structure.” Akemi demanded as that Beastman knelled
before her.
“We are to occupy the city until we run out of food, and then move onto any other towns or
villages. Fifty percent of the humans we capture are to be sent back to the main War pack and
homeland for cultivation. We are under orders from High Pack leader Viazut, our Ruler and
the leader of the War pack. I am Flagor, the Pack leader of this human city.”
Akemi gritted her teeth as she thought of how callous these beasts were, talking about
sentient beings as just some sort of food source. She already knew that the sights she had
seen there would haunt her likely long life.
As she raised her blade to behead Flagor she thought of something better, fueled by those
darker emotions running through her. “Your next orders, aid the angels and kill your men.
When there are no more Beastmen alive slit your belly and die slowly.” She ordered and
watched Flagor wordlessly rush off back towards his men while unstrapping the great axe
from his back.
She didn’t feel good about what she just did, and it barely soothed the rage in her belly, but
she tried to not let it get to her as she floated back up into the sky and turned her gaze
towards the next large city in the distance that was very likely more of the same. There would
be time to unpack that days events later.
Back from the direction where she came from she saw the banners of the Dragon Kingdom
mixed in with a ‘small’ army of soldiers on horseback riding towards the city. “Right on
schedule.” Akemi said as she mentally commanded her Angels to rise above the city once she
sensed the last Beastman had died, the last besides Flagor who she saw had dutifully carried
out her order and laid dying in the main square among numerous Beastmen.
It was a small amount of Beastman for one city, only a few hundred, not many seemed to be
needed to hold off a human army. “With their stat differences I guess they don’t need many…
How the hell did the Dragon Kingdom survive this long?” Akemi knew now it was only due
to the lazy pace of the invading army.
“[Widen Maximized Magic: All Greater Heal].” Akemi’s magic washed over the area of the
city where all the living humans were kept in big metal cages, and healed them all as best she
could. “Not that I can help all those mental wounds… So useless…”
She looked over the ruined city, and tried to imagine how beautiful it was before this war. All
she saw now of that city was a half eaten carcass left behind to be picked over and rot.
“Hmm… These two will do. All of you back up!” A Beastman with the face of a leopard
roared into the cage stuffed full of people. When that Beastman pointed though it made
Halen’s heart sink, as he pointed at her young brother in her arms, and her mother holding
them both, as if she could shield them from that violence that was absolute in it’s disregard
for their humanity.
“Mommy! Filli! Let go of them!” She shouted out through her tears as two clawed hands
reached through the cell door once it opened and grasped both those two by their necks,
pulling them out without seeming any effort needed.
The screams of her mother and brother echoed in her head and kept Halen from letting go of
her Mom, getting pulled out of the cage with them. “No don’t touch them! Please!” She cried
out before she was pried off her mother and slammed on the ground. As they made to shove
her back in the cage the Beastman who pointed her family out in the first place just shrugged.
“Keep her there, she can watch, and then we’ll harvest her early. Don’t worry you mutts I’ll
share.” He ‘joked’ in a toothy grin, to the cheering of the other Beastmen guarding all the
large cages where an open market used to be.
“Helen no! Please forgive her!” Her mother yelled out even as she was dragged kicking and
screaming towards the stump and axe, still stained in blood, that had been used to behead
every other human they ‘harvested’ in front of all the others.
Helen found she couldn’t worry much about herself as she watched her mother’s head get
forced onto that block and held in place despite her struggling, while her tiny little brother of
only four cried his heart out as best he could as he was held high up by his shirt. “Hmm…
I’m sure the Pack leader won’t care too much if he gets the bigger one instead of this
screamer. If you all keep it a secret you can have one after dark.” The Beastman in charge
said to his fellows as he took her little brother into his own huge clawed hand.
Her eyes were torn between two terrible sights of watching her mother be beheaded and
butchered like some common cow, or her little brother being devoured then and there.
Despite it all she couldn’t close her eyes as the shock of the moment started to freeze her
thoughts in place, her struggles slowing on the ground where she was held. She wasn’t even
able to look away as the one pinning her kept her head tilted up to watch the horror show.
The butcher raised his axe above her mother, and the small boy’s head was brought closer to
the fanged maw of his captor in preparation to crush it between his jaws, she could only wait
for the worst. At the young age of nine she had already acknowledged her life was over, and
that moment sealed it, the fact they had said she would be next didn’t phase her as she
already began to wish for the release of death.
She could barely process it as the butcher’s arms and head toppled to the ground, soon to be
followed by the rest of him and his axe. Her little brother was no longer in the hand of the
beast, with said hand laying on the ground, and the Leopard Beastman bleeding onto the dirt
from a cut across the throat, writhing in pain and dying.
The blood thirsty roars that followed made her vision dim from the pressure before they
ceased as suddenly as they started. Her head was released, though she was still trapped as that
Beastman suddenly turned into dead weight on top of her. Suddenly she could not breath as
the bulky form crushed her! The Beastman was thankfully pulled off her and tossed to the
side, and she saw the tearful face of a blood stained woman with fox ears.
“Why is she crying?”
Akemi didn’t care about her tears being seen, not with what she had nearly seen as she killed
every Beastman near her before they had a chance to notice her move. “[Widen Maximize
Magic: All Greater Heal]. The city of Neve will soon be free again, your country’s army is on
their way to help, just sit tight alright?” Akemi said as she forced a smile on for the girl that
was staring at her.
As she looked into her arms at the frightened young boy she had snatched from the Beastman
She felt a hand clutch her robes. “T-thank you nice lady…” The girl was eventually able to
force out, once she got her bearings again.
“You are welcome little one. I’m going to cut open the cages but I insist on you all staying in
this one area for your own safety. My Angels are sweeping the area for more Beastmen, so
once it is fully quiet and you see the Angels fly off it will be safe for you to move.” Akemi
said as she stretched her tails out down the rows of cages, cutting through locks like they
were made of tin foil.
Akemi noted the frightened looks she got from many of those humans, and she didn’t blame
them. She shook her head and moved over to help that mother up off the block, and felt a jolt
of pain as the woman screamed and pushed her away. As the woman seemed to realize what
she did she looked at Akemi in fear, expecting anger there. “I-I’m sorry!”
All Akemi could do was smile sadly at the woman and hold out her son. “Your people will be
here within the hour, you all will soon be safe. I… wish there was more I could do to help.”
Akemi said and began to fly off before any more words could be said to her. Akemi hovered
in the air the and tried to collect herself. She could feel her emotions slipping as every aspect
of the memories being made in these cities kept jumping to the front of her mind. Every drop
of blood scattered on stone, the smell of inner organs that had spilled from their eviscerated
shells.
“Dammit Akemi… now is not the time to get choked up!” Akemi told herself as she tried to
get her mind back on task. She closed her eyes to get information from her scouting
summons she had summoned once she entered the Kingdom, and narrowed the stream of
information to the few Kudagitsunes she had hovering near the Beastmen Army further
south. “Dammit all… [Message]. Draudillon, there is a problem. We’re moving too slow, My
scouts report movement from their main force, so I’ll be moving to intercept them soon.
When I get to Hearth and clear it of Beastmen I’ll open up a Gate near Neve, so if you can
have a detachment ready to take Hearth it will be much quicker. It doesn’t have to be many
men, just enough to reassure the civilians, all the Beastmen will already be dead.” Akemi said
through the message.
“Got it, I’ll relay that to Bahgram. Are you doing okay? You aren’t looking so good.” The
Queen asked with worry clear in her mental tone. Strangely enough there was a static noise
that covered the Queen’s sounds somewhat through the connection.
“I’m… I’ll be fine, there is no time for me to get emotional on the battlefield.” Akemi told
her as she commanded her angels to leave Neve and make their way further south and their
next target. She flew alongside Dominion Authority and tried to keep her mind on task. “Can
you… talk to me while I fly?” Akemi asked Draudillon.
“Oh you’re still connected? I suppose, was there something else you needed?” The Queen
asked in a distracted tone.
“Sorry I guess you would be quite busy, I’ll let you go.” Akemi said and felt her mood deflate
just a bit as she disconnected from Draudillon. “You’re dumb Akemi… Why are you trying to
casually chat with a Queen with so much on her plate? Just stop being a bitch and do your
job…” Akemi scolded herself as the next city, Hearth, quickly came into view. “I want this
place cleared faster, there seems to be more of them here closer to their main force. Oh I
know what can make this more ‘fun’ for them. Angels gather near me.” Akemi grinned at her
own plan as those robot-like summons got within her range, one large flying ball of wings.
“[Widen Magic: Indomitably], [Widen Magic: Haste], [Widen Maximized Magic: Heaven’s
Fervor].” Akemi cast her buffs and sent those summons down into that city in a dive bomb
while Akemi flew towards the main city gate. “Now it is really like some sort of divine
wraith, invisible super charged Angels… I’m mean.” Akemi mumbled to herself as she saw
Beastmen get cut down without spotting their attackers.
“[Extend Magic: Sense Life]. They are clearing it fast… Good. [Gate].” Akemi opened a
portal behind her, and let it grow larger. “[Message]. Oi Bahgram, send that detachment
through the gate. I swear if you say it is a trap…”
From the other side of her message she heard just a growl before one person passed through.
Akemi closed the connection between their minds as Bahgram himself emerged from her
Gate. “Perfect, this saves time. This place is almost clear of Beastmen, don’t attack my
Angels or they might fight back, they are currently going to be invisible to you right now so
don’t freak out when that stops.” Akemi said as she cast some cleaning magic on herself to
shed off all the blood still stuck to her.
“You’ve at the very least proven you aren’t an enemy… We’ll take things from here.” He said
and walked back through the Gate for a moment, and in his place rows of soldiers marched
on through, shooting her suspicious looks as she stood aside for the group.
Akemi stood off to the side as those men filed out and took formation in front of Bahgram
once he reemerged from the portal to stand among his men. “There are are three thousand and
three hundred and forty five people still alive in this city, they’ll be scared and hungry, but the
enemies are dead so you have run of the city.” Akemi told those gathered forces who were
staring at her suspiciously.
“You heard her! Get to it men!” Bahgram directed his men through the busted open city
gates. “What Fox?” He asked as he turned towards Akemi, though his gaze kept drifting to
Ex Oblivion. “Where did you get such a weapon? You steal it?”
“Well… That is a step up from Beastwoman.” Akemi’s eye twitched at the accusation and
she growled at him despite the fake smile on her face. “This is the best weapon I ever crafted.
I should stab you with it for accusing me of being a common thief.” She complained as her
forced calm faded.
“Well… you are not as bad as I thought… for a Demi-human. Just keep your hands off the
Queen and we’ll get along fine.”
That seemed to take her by surprise as her tails fluffed up. “Me keep my hands off her? This
whole ‘engagement’ thing is her idea… I’m not even sure how serious she is about it… You
aren’t so bad yourself, for a bald monkey.” Akemi cracked a smile and looked towards the
south, past the city. “The enemy is on the move. Keep watching that direction, I’ll end that
battle in a single spell. I might be immature and lacking in many ways, but I’ll demonstrate
that my power is very real.” Akemi declared as she recast her fly spell and floated upwards.
“I’ll be watching. Thank you…” He said, though the last part was so far under his breath
Akemi was not sure if she even heard it.
With a slightly lighter heart Akemi flew over Hearth and towards the section of the city that
the soldiers had reached that was filled with yet more cages of people that looked agitated
and elated in equal measure once their captors fell over dead from weeping wounds. Without
bothering to fly down she did a quick check for injuries. “[Widen Maximize Magic: All
Greater Heal]. Damn that takes an annoying amount of mana making a heal that big…”
Akemi held up her hand and focused on one of the rings. “Better top off before I fight…
[Activate Equipment: Elysian Tear]” Akemi felt like a weight had fallen off her shoulders as
she pulled from the stored mana in her ring till she was full once more.
“Three extra mana bars storage was a lot more useful in Yggdrasil… So much of my gear is
going to waste…” Akemi lamented, knowing that it would take twice the amount of mana to
refill the thing, its one drawback. There was no such thing as free mana after all. She flew at
top speed towards her next battlefield.
Once the last of the Beastmen in the cities were fallen, Akemi dismissed the angels she had
left, already having a plan for dealing with an army. Akemi noticed as the sun was obscured
just a bit by the clouds that had rolled over the mountains, darkening the last battlefield for
the day. Inside she found it scary how well the weather could represent her current mood, the
roiling thunder clouds being perfect at expressing how much frustration she felt, the tension
that made her body ache, like lightning about to be let loose.
Even if it was pitch black Akemi knew she would be able to find that army, if only from the
smell downwind. “I am seriously regretting having a Kitsune’s sense of smell…” She thought
as the retched stench of tens of thousands of man-eating Beastmen fully hit her nose.
The smoke and light of thousands of torches revealed to Akemi just the scope of enemies she
would be facing. “I might have… underestimated how many people one hundred and fifty
thousand is…” Akemi knew that was more of a limit of her brain, past a certain scale it was
just difficult for a normal mind to picture. It was a veritable flood of enemies that were
slowly on the move deeper into the Kingdom. An ocean of bodies that she could barely see
all of from her high vantage point.
“Oh this is going to hurt… Need to find their leader though. [Widen Magic: Mass Sense
Statistics].” As she cast that spell she nearly tumbled out of the air from the shock to her
brain. She couldn’t even form a word in her head as she tried to filter out all the useless
information she got about so many thousands of people. Eventually she narrowed the list
down to the few higher level Beastmen. “There you are Viazut, I’m coming for you.” Akemi
thought and took a few deep breathes. Feeling something wet on her face she wiped her nose
and was was shocked as it revealed several streaks of blood. “Okay don’t use that spell
around an army, I still have a fleshy brain that can be hurt… That actually did some
damage… Good to know for later I suppose.” She thought as she cast some silent healing
spells on herself and felt her headache start to be relieved.
She knew her passive Major Regeneration would have taken care of it within a couple
minutes, but she knew she needed a clear head for what was next. Once she felt capable of
movement again she floated lower towards the army and headed off in the direction of her
target, closer to the center of the the mass.
Soon enough she had flown high above the entire army and spotted a Beastman massive
enough to put the rest to shame. He was easily over eight feet tall, and bulging with muscles,
it was clear that survival of the fittest was how the ruler was chosen for them all. Their leader
Viazut walked with several other large Beastmen in front of a mass of covered wagons that
were dragged by his men. It wasn’t hard for Akemi to guess who was in the wagons as she
smelled the air. “So they’re bringing their ‘supplies’ with them…” Akemi counted up the
enemies closest to the wagon and ran through her options.
“[Widen Magic: Repulse Evil].” Akemi cast towards the center of the group of wagons and
watched an invisible wave of force pulse out from that location. The Beastmen closest
screamed as that wave of force would burn their fur as it hit them like a hurricane force gust
of wind, pushing them further away from the wagons. A few of the Beastmen that were
inside of the wagons were launched out as well, taking with them the fabric on top of the
wagons, exposing all those cages to the open air.
Once her enemies were away from the civilians she cast again. “[Widen Magic: Greater
Sanctuary].” Another spell was cast at the center of the group, forming a dome of holy energy
around them, sealing them off from the battlefield.
She swooped down and landed among all those Beastmen, right in front of Viazut with her
Celestial Aura on low.
“Greetings High Pack Leader Viazut Mirefang, you and your men seem quite far from
home.” Akemi put on her mask of a noble ruler and tried to not feel intimidated by what
amounted to a werewolf that towered over her. She knew she was the stronger one, but he
was… intimidating to be sure. “Level twenty eight… So around the same strength as that
man Gazef? I could see why the Dragon Kingdom was having trouble with him.” Akemi
planted the butt of Ex Oblivion in the ground and casually leaned on it.
Akemi desperately suppressed any fear she might feel as that mountain of a beast stared her
down. A short bark from it seemed to signal the Beastmen around her to lunge at her, ready to
tear her apart. “[Brilliant Radiance].” Akemi simply cast as the area directly around her was
turned into a pillar of bright light that lit up the gloom and caused all to take a few healthy
steps back.
The Beastmen closest to touch her were erased as that light touched them, while the beam
seemed to do nothing to her. “Glad Divine damage heals me instead… I don’t care what
these bastards think, but I need those witnesses in the wagons to have a good impression,
they’ll tell the story. I’m sure the Queen is still watching also…” She thought as she looked at
Viazut with contempt and pity.
“Tiny wretch! Who are you? Where did you come from?” He growled at her, spittle flying
out as he seemed to have to resist the urge to lunge at her himself.
“Who I am is unimportant for you, as is where I come from. All you need to know is I am
here on behalf of the Dragon Kingdom to ‘deal’ with you.” Akemi said as her tails flicked
around behind her. As another Beastman lost his senses and tried to charge her from behind, a
tail was quick to lunge out in return.
Akemi looked behind her and lifted up the Beastman she had impaled through the skull with
the end of her tail. She tossed that body away and shook off the blood from her fur with a
frown.
“You aren’t any of the ones this land of cattle has sent before… A cowardly magic caster this
time? Why do you defend these cattle Fox? You aren’t human, you have no loyalty to them.”
He questioned and seemed to be analyzing Akemi for openings in her defense.
“Sentient beings are not food, and you are quite harmful to my cause of making a peaceful
world for Demi-humans by acting like this. It is completely evil, the cruelty I’ve had to see
today. I’m giving you all a chance to go and live your lives in peace, and all you have to do is
retreat behind your own borders like good little dogs. I’ve already killed every one of your
men to the last in the cities you’ve taken. I very much don’t like taking lives, but you are
really forcing my hand…” Akemi complained.
“You fox bitch… I’ve dealt with enough of your kind to know you aren’t shit! It is all about
illusions and putting on this fake bravery… What is going to happen is we’ll kill you, suck
the marrow from your bones, and then that Kingdom of cattle is going to be put in their place
and be the food they are meant to be! It is the issue of lesser beings, I bet you just haven’t
experienced the type of joy that can only come from real food! You would think twice about
getting in our way if you knew that, the pleasure of a fresh kill and meat, and the crunch of
one of the tiny mewling cattle’s skulls when you crush them in your ja-” That Beastman was
interrupted as his own massive skull hit the ground, several seconds after that the rest of his
body fell.
“Disgusting… Unforgivable… utterly Unforgivable!” Akemi was trembling in rage, and

slashed wildly through the beast men around her with her razor sharp tails, crushing them
into a bloody mess, or impaling them and throwing their bodies away. “I… I heard the
stories, I saw it even today, but I still didn’t want to believe… that people could be this…
Evil! No better than goblins… or demons.” Akemi finally stopped her rampage as the only
living Beastman left were a few dozen meters away from her spot in the middle of the tens of
thousands strong pack she had invaded to confront their leader directly, the leader she had
just beheaded. She felt blood run down her blood from the massacre she had accomplished
from her tail’s flailing. It was enough for her stomach to start to turn as her senses were
saturated from that same blood. “I suppose peace is a pipe dream with you all. I had a small
hope I’d get you all to turn around but… Some people only see force, so I’ll show you
force!” As Akemi said this, the Beastmen around her could only watch as a mass of glyphs
appeared around her in a golden orb, swirling and forming strange arcane shapes.
The air around her trembled, almost as if superheated from the aura she gave off. It was that
same aura that kept more Beastmen from rushing her as those glyphs continued to spin
around her, weaving what ever spell she was planning.
None of them knew what it was they were seeing, they only knew that they could not let her
succeed. When any one Beastman got too close, they were all knocked onto their knees from
a wave of pressure emitted from Akemi, her Celestial Aura on fully and her eyes glowing an
icy blue. Some of the more intelligent ones of the pack began to flee in the other direction,
they didn’t know magic themselves, but they had never felt magic quite like that the times
they had seen it!
A strange calm settled over Akemi’s mind as she concentrated, trusting her Celestial Aura to
keep the Beastmen from getting too close to interrupt her spell. They couldn’t get to her
within the casting time that was just half of the normal thanks to Ex Oblivion. All had to
watch as that dome of glyphs expanded outwards further, and then upwards as a pillar of
golden light reached into the heavens.
“Evil beasts that know not the concept of mercy or peace, hear the sound of the your end and
face divine judgment! [Super Tier Magic: Trumpet of the Rapture]!” Akemi cried out as the
sky was soon imbued with the same shade of gold as her magic. In an instant that growing
dusk of the stormy sky was replaced by the warmest of morning light, blinding those down
below as it pieced through the storm clouds. The Beastmen stared up as golden feathers
began to rain from the sky, turning into golden dust as they neared the ground.
It was peacefully quiet, as not a single one could make a noise in response to the majesty of
that spell. It was beautiful in a disturbing and otherworldly way, a sight that should not
appear within their plane of existence. Later on the Queen would only be able to describe it
as the color and shade of Hope itself, yet terrifying in it's beauty. She had looked away from
the mirror to look out from the castle walls and towards Akemi’s battlefield, and was able to
see the light from so far away.
The silence was broken by a low chorus of trumpets that seemed to come from the sky,
played so delicately that they could barely hear it, yet so many of those Beastmen dropped to
their knees to listen as closely as they could, so lured in by it’s majesty. As the sound of more
trumpets joined the chorus, the music swiftly increased in volume to near deafening levels.
That feeling of Hope that even the Beastmen felt would be their last feelings as deep inside of
each of them that magic would delicately wrap it’s way around something far more fragile
and precious than vital organs. The feeling of their soul igniting in a burst of golden flames
was the last they all felt as such a feeling as Hope clashed with the weight of the sins in those
souls, judging them, and finding them wanting.
Akemi watched with a saddened gaze as that tide of Beastmen turned into a sea of flames that
writhed around in angry waves, formless until Akemi raised her palm upwards. That sea of
golden holy fire swirled around in a shrinking whirlpool, and centered on her hand, gathering
there at her will.
It only took but a minute for the flames that came from so many tens of thousands to
compress down into a small pearl in which those flames could still be seen swirling around.
Akemi looked at the item in her palm and thought of what to do with it for a moment before
she put it in her inventory.
“Its done… I d-did it…” Akemi knew she should be basking in that cheering she heard from
those wagons as the civilians in those cages saw all, but instead she felt sick.
“I already know this isn’t a game but… No, no Akemi It isn’t the time!” She tried to stop
herself, yet as It dawned on her all that she did. She hadn’t even noticed she had fallen onto a
knee as she held a hand over her mouth to try and stop herself from puking. Stumbling back
up she walked towards those cages, all the words of the captives not even registering in her
ears, not the thanks, or the fear. Akemi just broke open cages with her extended tails, and let
those people do what they wanted.
“[Gate]. I’ve come to rescue you at the request of Queen Draudillon. Follow me, This will
take you all to Capital City Viriathus.” Akemi smiled at the scared civilians as they bunched
together. There were over ten thousand of them and were only there for what Akemi could
guess as the Beastmen’s food source.
Akemi didn’t wait for them as she headed through her portal, her mind already craving the
comforting embrace of home to wash away the horrid feeling that had begun to overtake her
mind.
She wasn’t surprised to see a detachment from what was left of the Queen’s army ready to
meet her back at the capital. For just a moment Akemi’s mind moved to the possibility of the
Queen suddenly turning on her… but she knew the woman was smarter than that, or so she
hoped.
Akemi knew this wasn’t the case as she looked into the Queen’s eyes, still in her child form,
and saw the joy and heavy emotions in her eyes. Akemi put a hand on her temple to focus
“[Message]. Shall I leave you for the day? I’m sure you’ll have a lot to talk about and to
do.” Akemi mentally asked to keep their conversation quiet.
“Ah, yes that is acceptable. Please, bring your family tomorrow, I wish to meet them as well
for these talks. We have much to discuss, but you also seem rather tired. Perhaps come
around lunch?” Akemi couldn’t quite tell, but the Queen sounded almost hesitate to respond
to her. She wasn’t about to deny herself that out, she was completely done for the day in more
ways than one. After all the civilians had filed through her Gate and left in the care of that
army, it was just a singular Greater Teleportation spell back home. She knew she had likely
forgotten a few things to do, but she didn’t care.
She instantly got looks as she reappeared in her settlement. What should have felt like home
felt nearly as cold as her. It took her a moment to wonder why her people were looking at her
in concern until she wiped her face with a sleeve. With a silent cast her body and clothes
were cleaned of blood and ash. Akemi opened her mouth to speak to them all, but felt no
energy left to put on that fake mask of being some noble being, not when she felt like more of
a monster than ever.
With a slight bow to them all she tried to walk to her home without stumbling, and barely
succeeded. Opening up the door she could smell that no one was home, not even Lorelei. She
almost panicked at that until she remembered the wheelchair she had conjured for them that
was missing as well. “They must be out on a walk or something…” She thought as she
moved to her bedroom.
Staring at that medium sized bed, more fit for her and Hannyuu she felt frustration. “[Break
Greater Item].” She cast and watched that bed turn to ash that also faded away. Akemi moved
the night stands to the corner of the bedroom and stepped back. “[Create Greater Item].” In
it’s place an even larger bed appeared, filling out more space and hopefully having more
room for them all.
She didn’t have the energy to use her quick change spell, and just stripped off her Divine
level battle robes, discarding them on the ground along with everything else on her body.
Crawling into the bedsheets she let go of any other worry to finally let her mind shut down
for a while after such a day, and the new weight on her shoulders. “So many looking to me for
salvation… and now so many that I killed…” She thought and rolled around in that bed for a
few moments, and then drifted to sleep buried in a mass of blankets and tails.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: FFS this one was hard for me to write… I might be getting a tiny bit burnt out…
So if this chapter seemed a bit rough, been having it a little rough atm x.x ran out of my
heckin anxiety meds so I’ve been stuck waiting for them to get back. Hopefully once
those are working again I’ll get that creative spark back.
By all means tell me what you think, constructive feedback is always welcome, I try to
reply to all comments if I can and I love talking to you all. It really makes me happy to
see people enjoying what I write.
Reflect
Chapter Summary
Not all scars exist on the body, or the mind, some go soul deep. Akemi discovers just
how heavy the weight of life is, as well as the ability to destroy it.
A moment to step back and decompress is what all of them need.
Chapter Notes
“Come on! They said Mama got back!” Hannyuu shouted behind her as she ran ahead of
Kyouko, Ana, and Lorelei in a wheelchair. Despite her body being sore from the day’s
training, she was still quick at rushing through the house to look for Akemi. It took her a
minute to follow her scent up the stairs to the bedroom where Akemi’s and her own bedroom
door was, and found it cracked open.
Peeking inside Hannyuu saw a lump under the covers that was softly breathing, the blankets
tangled up and blended with the many fluffy tails contained within. “Is she in there?” Kyouko
asked as she came along up the stairs, carrying Lorelei in her arms like a limp doll.
It took just a moment for her to settle Lorelei back in bed and emerge once again. Hannyuu
nodded up at her wolf mom and couldn’t help but look worried. “I guess she fell asleep, I
hope everything went alright…” Hannyuu mumbled and leaned into Kyouko’s hand when
she had reached over to ruffle her hair.
“Hmm… Maybe me and Kyouko could wake her up?” Ana asked as she also joined them in
peeking in the door. As a group they noticed the pile of Akemi’s fancy clothes that likely
were worth a large country tossed aside, and most of all they noticed the now bigger bed that
stretched nearly across the end of the room, which also led to at least two of them homing in
on the patches of pale skin that could be seen between blankets and tails. Hannyuu took that
moment to gently push the two out as best she could and close the door.
She nearly laughed at the disappointment she could see on both her other mom’s faces. “I
swear you two… Let her rest, I bet it was really tiring for her. I hope she is okay… maybe
you two could wake her up at dinner time?” Hannyuu said, taking the role of arbiter of that
particular issue.
Kyouko pouted just a bit before she wrapped her arms around Ana instead. “You’re right,
We’re not going to leer at her when she is asleep. She can’t get cutely embarrassed like that
and that is a shame~ Dinner time wake up it is.” Kyouko said and leaned down to give Ana’s
ear a nip, much to the small human’s surprise, judging by how she jumped.
“Kyouko! B-be nice…” Ana mumbled, though she didn’t pull away from her girlfriend at all,
and didn’t seem to be against the slightly rough affection. She just gently placed her hands
over Kyouko’s own as those arms stayed warmly wrapped around her.
“Okay I’m going to go… somewhere else. Drawing, yeah drawing sounds good.” Hannyuu
mumbled and quickly began to skitter away downstairs like the Theocracy was on her heels.
“Sorry about that Hannyuu, I’ll keep my hands to myself, I suppose it is embarrassing to
watch I bet.” Kyouko said and reluctantly let go of Ana, and just held one of Ana’s tiny hands
in her own.
“Not really embarrassing… I mean I know all about all… that, it doesn’t really embarrass me
anymore, that doesn’t mean I want to see my moms getting frisky. I’ll be downstairs, don’t let
me stop you.” Hannyuu said with an amused snort.
To Ana’s credit she had quickly buried her face in her free hand to hide her blush. “S-sorry
Hannyuu… I’ll be down soon.” Ana mumbled and squeezed Kyouko’s hand.
“You don’t need to worry so much, as long as we keep it down even she won’t be able to hear
us~” Kyouko teased and raised an eyebrow as Ana pulled her into Ana’s own room. Kyouko
was more than happy to let herself be pulled into that room, and closed the door behind her.
When Ana looked up at her with a red face Kyouko had to stop herself from kissing her then
and there. Ana and Akemi were both so much smaller than her, and it showed plenty with
how much Ana had to look and lean up towards Kyouko to be the one to press their lips
together.
Kyouko was a bit surprised by Ana taking the initiative, but was more than eager to return the
affection as she leaned down a bit to make it easier on them both. “My adorable shorties…”
Kyouko thought as she wrapped one arm around Ana’s back and placed a gentle hand on the
back of her head to lightly caress that fluffy chestnut colored hair with her thumb as she
intensified the kiss between them.
Ana’s eyes had drooped shut as she tried to make up with her lack of experience with passion
and energy, while her arms wrapped around Kyouko’s back, feeling up the toned muscles
there. Kyouko nearly yelped as she felt one of Ana’s hand’s drop down to the base of her tail
and begin to press and play with the muscles that surrounded it above her rear. Ana seemed to
have realized she had found a rare weak point of Kyouko’s and focused on that spot, circling
her fingers right above her tail and the sensistive nerves there. Kyouko’s breathes can in
harder as that sensitive spot was stimulated. She was impressed that Ana had found it so
quickly, but whined once it had begun to drive crazy, and she pressed their bodies together
harder.
With a hungry growl Kyouko nipped at Ana’s bottom lip while she used her tongue to map
out every spot that made Ana’s knees twitch and tremble during their kiss. With a gasp Ana
broke the kiss to inhale some much needed air. “Sorry… I can’t hold my breath for… very
long.” Ana mumbled as she rested her forehead against Kyouko’s chest to catch her breath.
“No, I’m sorry, I should have gone a bit easier on you.” Kyouko said as she tried to calm
down her own raging heart while she hugged Ana close, resting her face and nose in Ana’s
soft and messy hair, her mind feeling just a bit better from Ana’s now familiar scent. “Wanna
nibble on Akemi to wake her up later?” Kyouko suddenly asked, only getting a snort from
Ana as she stayed hugged against her taller girlfriend.
“Is… your tail wagging?” Ana asked with amusement after she noticed the fluffy movement
behind her. A quick touch and Ana confirmed that tail was indeed wagging. “Hmm… quite
nice to the touch.” She noted as she gently pet over what tail she could reach. Normally it
was overlooked, as Akemi had nine even fluffier tails, but Kyouko’s was still rather fluffy
and soft.
“Amused?” Kyouko asked as she felt Ana exploring some more. Normally she might chew
out any human that would dare touch her tail like she was some sort of Pet, but she knew this
one didn’t think that way, she got away with a bit more. Still though… gentle punishments
were required. Kyouko leaned down a bit to nibble at the base of Ana’s neck, making Ana
nearly jump at the sensation. Kyouko held Ana up as her girlfriend’s knees went weak once
again as she gave a bit of suction. Separating from Ana, Kyouko grinned at the tiny mark she
left, a certain urge in her fulfilled for the time being.
“Why did you do that? I’m n-not saying you can’t but… it can be seen there… is it big?” Ana
asked in an adorable pout up at Kyouko.
Kyouko looked down into those forest green eyes and felt a comfortable warmth in her chest.
“Felt like it, you make cute noises. It isn’t that big, though I guess it can be seen, is that bad?
Though…” Kyouko leaned down next to Ana’s ear with mischief blooming in her heart. “I so
look forward to leaving a lot of those… all over you and Akemi~ Look forward to whenever
that night is.” Kyouko whispered into that reddening ear, giving a gentle lick of the shell of it,
delighting in the shiver Ana gave before she let go and stepped back. “Lets go see Hannyuu, I
want to learn how to cook like you also.” Kyouko said as she exited the room, knowing
exactly the effect she had on her far less experienced girlfriend.
Ana took a few deep breaths as she leaned back against the wall, gently touching that mark
on her neck, something she couldn’t say she disliked. Being marked by her girlfriend’s… the
thought left her a stirred up and excited. What was annoying was how hot she felt by that
point, a cold bath sounded wonderful by that point… something she couldn’t have! “Dammit
Kyouko…” Ana mumbled as she got control of herself back before heading downstairs, her
mind already whirling as she tried to think of a way to get back at Kyouko for leaving her hot
and bothered. She didn’t know how well she would do one day, on some future night where
the three of them might take that next step, but she couldn’t help but look forward to it. “She
gets extra spicy food today…”
With a quiet gasp and cold sweat Akemi shot up in bed, panting away as her heart hammered
in her chest. “Fuck…” She mumbled as she swung her legs off the bed. She felt sticky and
gross, yet she couldn’t remember any specifics of her nightmare, except she couldn’t help but
remember what it felt like to be covered head to toe in blood. Closing her eyes and taking
deep breaths she finally smelled the scent of her family downstairs, and could even hear their
quiet conversation.
“Shower then food.” She mumbled and stood up. Nearly tripping on something on the
ground. She lifted her robes up and finally remembered that she slept nude for her nap.
Tossing those into her inventory she pulled out a towel and peeked out of her door and into
the circular ‘hallway’ on the second floor. After a careful listen downstairs to tell if the others
were busy, she dashed into the bathroom in her birthday suit. “Oh duh I could have used time
stop… the door was open… better not waste the mana anyway.” She turned on their shower
and admired the design she had created with Create Item. It looked just like a normal shower,
yet she had enchanted it to be able to create the water for it, while the drain dissolved it back
into mana for the system.
Once she was under the warm water Akemi tried to clear her mind of her worries and enjoy a
nice shower. Sure she could have just used magic to clean herself, but that was no where near
as soothing on her tired mind. “I need a vacation…” She mumbled as she finished up a quick
shower, knowing that even if water was free and unlimited, time was not.
After reluctantly getting out and drying off she took her tails back out, having vanished them
with shape shifting to avoid the lengthy process of drying each one. “Tomorrow is going to
be rough…” She used quick change to put on a pair of comfortable sweats and a tank top to
at least be decent.
Conversation stopped once she opened the bathroom door. Heading downstairs she saw all of
her family, sans Lorelei, sitting at the table. “Morning Akemi. Were you that tired after all
that?” Ana asked as she lifted a metal lid off a platter, blessing them all with the smell of
smoked beef. “Thought we would have to wake you up by opening this next to your sleeping
face.”
“Yeah it was a rough day… Sorry I passed out on you all. You weren’t home and I was just
so tired… Is it really the morning?” Akemi asked with a hint of sleepiness still in her tone.
“Ana is just messing with you, it is just the evening, dinner time. I was about to go in there
and nibble on you instead if you didn’t wake up~” Kyouko teased as Akemi sat down.
Akemi’s eyes were drawn to the small red mark in the crook of Ana’s neck.
“Seems you instead nibbled on this cutie? No fair~ I want a taste also.” Akemi teased as she
leaned in to kiss them both on the cheek. They all got to see Hannyuu fake gag for a moment
before eyeballing that beef.
“I would probably just lay on you till you wake up, I’ve done it before. Are you doing alright
Mom?” Hannyuu asked worriedly as they all began to fill up their plates.
They noticed Akemi shrink at that question, cluing them in to her mood, especially as her
ears drooped. “I’m… not sure.” Akemi admitted as she began to eat, not even noticing that
she was barely tasting it.
“You aren’t sure? Did things not go well today? I’m just glad you’re safe… You didn’t get
hurt did you?” Kyouko asked as she seemed to try and scan Akemi for injury.
“Things went as planned just… I didn’t… think things through enough, I didn’t prepare
myself right.” Akemi admitted as she set her fork down, suddenly looking a bit green.
Kyouko took a deep breath and sighed. “I had a feeling that might happen. You didn’t think
about it, did you? That you were fighting an army of people, or think about just how many
people one hundred and fifty thousand is?” Kyouko sounded a bit harsh, but it was a fair
criticism, especially as she saw Akemi cover her mouth.
“I’m the one who told Ainz that this wasn’t a game anymore… But I’m the one who just
killed so many people with so little effort. It didn’t even hit me till after, I’m a hypocrite.”
Akemi closed her eyes and seemed to have to try to hold back puking. “One hundred and
fifty thousand was a lot… I’ve killed before in much worse ways… and left others to worse
fates with Ainz, but still! Sure they were terrible and evil people, but they were still people.”
Akemi took a few deep breathes and forced more food into her mouth. “I don’t regret what I
did, because it had to be done, but it is regrettable they couldn’t just retreat like I told them
to… If they had all just left the Dragon Kingdom nothing would have happened, or not
invaded in the first place.”
Hannyuu was the first to get up and hug Akemi from the side where she sat next to her. “You
rescued a lot of innocent people also though, right?” She asked and looked up at her mother,
and saw the pain that was stuck in those blue eyes.
“Yeah… I did, there were a lot of cages of people, all free and back with their own now.
There was never going to be a peaceful way to deal with the Beastmen, our sense of morals
are just too different. I don’t like… that all I felt at the time I used my spell was rage at all
that their leader was saying. I won’t repeat it but it made me kind of snap. Sorry for bringing
down the mood... On a happier note, the Dragon Kingdom should be safe now, and
negotiations will be happening tomorrow at lunch, for which you are all invited.” Akemi said
and stretched out.
“That is a lot on your mind… We’re all here for you if you need us.” The other two at least
held on of Akemi’s hands. “It sounds like you did all you could, and at least it is done. What
is the Queen like? Besides crafty I mean.” Ana asked.
“From what I can tell really stressed, she was so incredibly desperate yet determined to save
her Kingdom. I can see why she was worried about hidden intentions if I didn’t ask for much,
since I think she would have agreed to just about anything if it meant saving her people. So
all in all I can’t think of someone like that as a bad person, she really put her people ahead of
herself… even at the expense of herself. She is looking forward to kicking this creepy
adventurer out of her Kingdom it seems, I don’t blame her. At least with him no longer being
needed she doesn’t have to put on that child form anymore.” That was enough for the others
to get what Akemi meant judging by the sour looks on their faces.
“She sounds interesting, I’ll be happy to meet her. Now… I guess we can talk about that
condition she herself keeps trying to get out you.” Kyouko mentioned and looked a bit more
frustrated.
“Yeah… I have some words for her about that. Before that though, as a potential partner, how
do you actually see her Akemi? She does seem loyal to her country, but how is she as a
person? Are you considering it?” Ana asked rather casually.
“Her child form just confused me since I can see through illusions, and I’m glad she doesn’t
have to use that anymore… I would not even consider that proposal if that wasn’t the case.
As a person she actually seems pretty good, rather humble for a queen.” Akemi said and
stretched out.
“Hey Mom, when we met them Blue Rose, weren’t you admiring Evileye?” Hannyuu
casually threw out and continued eating, even as Akemi froze up a bit with a grumpy look on
her face.
“It isn’t like that… Not every woman I look at I want to date or sleep with. Though that mask
does give her an air of mystery, she is pretty experienced as a adventurer. Evileye is a true
born vampire, as I found out scanning her with Sense Statistics. As far as I know Evileye is
older than all of us, and acts as mature as her age and not her appearance. The Queen on the
other hand had adopted a child-like persona for when she was in that form, which was what
made my skin crawl just…” Akemi said and tried to ignore the raised eyebrows of the others.
“Like I said, just found her a bit interesting, I’ve only met her once after all. So the Queen…
Outside of that form that she doesn’t need anymore, she is really beautiful and surprisingly
sassy. You’ll see what I mean tomorrow.” Akemi said and nibbled at her food.
“So… you are a bit interested?” Kyouko asked without suspicion, not looking as worried as
she was before. “I just don’t want you to get fooled or anything. We’re already at three
people in this relationship, so if either of you ended up exploring something with someone
then I don’t mind as long as I get the same treatment, and get to meet them.”
Ana nodded at that. “That is fair, I like this… no jealousy thing we’ve had so far. I’ve seen so
many relationships destroyed by that emotion just while I was in the guild. Meeting any
partners is a good idea.”
“I’m sure as hell not jumping straight to marriage with someone I’m not even dating… I’ll
leave marriage till after the plan is complete, I still have so much work to do. She wouldn’t
be the first to get a ring either way.” Akemi complained and rested her chin on the table while
avoiding the other’s eyes. “Most I’ll compromise on is having a few dates with her, then
we’ll see how it goes with that. I won’t marry outside of love, and won’t make anyone else do
that. Don’t worry Hannyuu, no political marriages on the horizon for either of us~” Akemi
teased and reached over to ruffle her daughter’s hair.
“You’re still tired?” Ana asked as they all migrated upstairs and into Akemi’s room to get
ready to sleep. Hannyuu had already gotten into Pajamas and stolen the center of Akemi’s
bed, as per cat rules.
“Very much so… Not even counting destroying an army with super tier magic, I still cleared
and freed three decent sized cities that were under Beastmen control, and used an annoying
amount of mana. I even had to use my mana bank item… It is going to take a while to refill
that, since I never know when I need lots of mana. All of it was just… mentally tiring.”
Akemi said and rubbed her eyes while she regretted letting Draudillon hold onto that ring of
sustenance. “Maybe Skeletor might have an extra I could have? Nah, not worth barking up
that tree…”
Kyouko and Ana shared a look before Kyouko gently pushed Ana towards Akemi. “I’m
going to stick with Lorelei, I don’t like leaving her alone, but why don’t you three stick
together tonight? Ana is great for cuddling.” Kyouko teased and leaned down to give both her
girlfriends a quick kiss.
While Ana blushed Akemi nodded. “That sounds good, so rotating?” Akemi asked and
returned that kiss while she put an arm around Ana. Part of her wanted them all to stay in one
bed but that might get a bit cramped, even with her new bigger bed. “Memo to me, make an
even bigger bed at the new place.” She thought.
Hannyuu seemed to think about it a bit more before hopped off the bed to stand near Kyouko.
“I’ll stay with Mama Kyouko and Lorelei for tonight. I think… at the new place I’m going to
try and sleep in my own room, if t-that is alright.” Hannyuu said and gave both Akemi and
Ana a hug. The three moms couldn’t help but smile at that, recognizing the steps Hannyuu
was taking to grow.
“That is fine dear, you know we don’t mind either way. Would it help if I made some tools
for us all that can cast Deep Slumber? That way if you wake up from a nightmare you can get
back asleep?” Akemi asked as she seemed to slip into design mode, staring past them all and
at the possibilities, the materials she might need.
“I’ve been… getting better at waking up from nightmares. I know that I’m safe here, so I’ve
been quicker at remembering that if I wake up. Something like that would be nice, sometimes
I want to be able to just sleep and not risk nightmares.” Hannyuu said and yawned while she
leaned on Kyouko and the affectionate hand on her head. “Love you Mama Akemi, Mama
Ana.” Akemi could have sworn she saw a wink.
“Night Hannyuu, we love you too.” Akemi said and kissed her head between her cat ears, and
reluctantly let her go after Ana got her own goodnight out of the way. “Night Kyouko, sleep
well, love you.”
“Love you both also dears, don’t have too much fun without me.” Kyouko teased as her and
Hannyuu went to bed.
The other two couldn’t help but blush and look away from each other. “You sure you want to
stay in my room? N-not that I’m saying I don’t want you to.” She was quick to correct as her
tails twitched around anxiously.
Ana just nodded and took a deep breath. “I do want to be able to be closer with you also…
Kyouko might be the more bold one, but… I’ll be right back, I’ll get changed and meet you
in there.” Ana said and seemed to nearly flee to her room.
For a moment Akemi thought she fucked up, but heard the sounds of frustration and changing
of clothes. Heading inside of her room Akemi cleaned the blankets and sheets of her previous
sweat with a cleaning spell before sitting down on it. Not a minute later Ana slipped inside
also, and Akemi could hear the girl’s heart from across the room as it thundered away. Once
she looked over from her spot her mouth went a bit dry as she saw Ana in a pretty blue
negligee that went to her upper thigh. Akemi honestly didn’t know where Ana got it from,
but she wagered Emeril was involved. Her face heated up as she tore her eyes away from Ana
and at the ground. “T-t-that looks really pretty on you…” She mumbled out and slipped into
bed.
“Thank you, I hope it isn’t too much…” Ana said as she got in on the other side, neither side
yet looking at the other due to the redness on their faces. Akemi scooted closer and began to
quietly giggle. “Whats so funny?” Ana asked and rolled over and found herself nose to nose
with the Kitsune.
“Oh just that… I’m getting shy from This after everything else from the past few days. You
really are cute, especially in that, even if it is barely there~” Akemi teased and lightly rubbed
her nose against Ana’s, pressing their forehead’s together.
“That is kind of the point, it is meant to be pretty and s-seductive…” Ana mumbled and
leaned into the contact, her nerves calming at the gentle affection.
“It is, it really is… Though you’re cute enough to not need it. If I wasn’t dead tired and… and
knew more than theoretical knowledge, I’m sure I’d enjoying helping you out of that~ I’m
sure Kyouko would be up for helping me out and teaching us… One day though. For now
though sleeping and cuddling is what is needed.” Akemi gave Ana a few gentle kisses and
chuckled at the look on her girlfriend’s face.
Ana’s mouth opened and closed like a tiny fish before she just moved forward to rest her
head against Akemi’s chest, hiding her red face away. Akemi was more than happy to wrap
her arms around the smaller girl and rest her chin against her head. “Night Ana, love you.”
Akemi said and felt Ana clutch her shirt and snuggle in more.
“Love you too.” Akemi vaguely heard from Ana, as muffled as it was. Once the blankets
were pulled over them and the lights turned off, sleep was quick to come.
“So how red do you think they are?” Kyouko quietly asked as her and Hannyuu settled in, the
feline getting quite cozy with Kyouko between her and Lorelei.
Hannyuu snickered sleepily and stretched out. “Probably as red as your hair. Hey Mama?
Could you tell me a story? Mama Akemi usually does or reads to me when she can, and it
kind of helps…” Hannyuu asked shyly. The embarrassed look on her face was utterly
precious to Kyouko, who only could smile down at both her daughters at her side.
“Sure sweetie, lets see if I can think of one, its been a long while since I’ve needed to…”
Kyouko closed her eyes and folded her ears as she seemed to think deeply about it,
something that must have been amusing to Hannyuu as she felt the girl shake with a few
laughs. “Many years ago there was… a big fire that separated a wolf from her pack, and her
pup. That was when a long rain storm started, it went on for years. After the rain washed the
fire away, the wolf didn’t know where their pack or pup were.” Kyouko smile turned just a
bit sad as her eyes drifted over to Lorelei. “For years they searched and searched, getting into
more fights as slowly hope for a reunion began to fade. When the wolf was about to give up
and lay down in the rain, the clouds broke, and they realized It wasn’t time to give up yet.
They joined a new pack who helped them find their lost pup. While their old pack might
never be whole again, they enjoyed running with their new pack, and even gained a second
pup to watch over.” Kyouko couldn’t help but sigh and hug Hannyuu just a bit tighter, while
her hand clutched Lorelei’s.
Kyouko’s soft voice began to make Hannyuu’s eyes drift down as she laid curled against the
wolf woman, a light purr coming from her as the comfort and affection made her feel nice
and warm inside. With her nose buried against Kyouko’s side and soothing her with the scent
of the woman she now truly regarded as another mom, Hannyuu fell asleep.
For her part, Kyouko felt pretty content as well as she gently pet both her daughters hair, and
admired just how easily the feline snuck into her heart. What would make it even better
would be for Lorelei to show more signs of recovery… but she knew she needed to be
patient, at least she knew where she was and that she was safe. “Night you two, love you.”
She mumbled as she fell asleep as well, feeling hopeful for the future for once in a long time.
It was a tossup between Ana and Akemi who would usually wake up first. Ana was just an
early riser, while Akemi and Kitsunes in general had a sleep cycle that favored getting up
early. With a quiet groan Ana tried to squirm away from the sunlight in her eyes that made it
through the curtains in Akemi’s bedroom.
The sound of quiet breathing, and the softness she felt all around her made Ana wake up
quicker. “That’s right, I slept with Akemi last night. Cozy…” She thought as she nuzzled back
into Akemi’s chest, just soothed by the arms arms around her, as well as all those tails that
wrapped the both of them up. She felt so incredibly warm in such a good way, it was the best
way to wake up. “Only better way to wake up I suppose is if Kyouko was in here too… maybe
Arche also…” She whimpered a bit at That thought, perfectly aware of her own crush, and
just hoped either it faded or she might see her again. “I guess if we see her again, we did all
agree it is alright to try things with others… I think Akemi might want her also. Things for the
future I suppose.” Ana thought as she lifted her head once again.
Akemi whined in her sleep as Ana disappeared from her arms when she sat up. Ana looked
down and admired the way the morning sun shined on Akemi’s smooth black hair,
complimenting her pale and clear skin. It was the first time Ana had truly seen Akemi at
peace in a long while, completely still and not off on some monumental task that would
weigh those slender shoulders down.
“Under all that power and fluff, she really is just a girl.” Ana thought as she rested her chin
on her palm and just smiled at the picturesque scene. Akemi slowly began to stir also, her
tails getting more active around them both, almost like independently living creatures
themselves. As Akemi’s ears twitched on her head, her eyes cracked open and caught Ana’s
own. Ana couldn’t resist leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. “Morning sleepy.” She
said and laid her head back down.
“Morning cutie.” Akemi said and yawned, her ears folding back at the same time. Rolling
over Akemi took a similar place on Ana, resting her cheek on Ana’s chest and sighing
contentedly. “Sleep well?”
Once their positions were swapped Ana wrapped her own arms around the fluffy goddess and
nuzzled that hair. “Very. Pretty warm though, your tails are like extra blankets, in a good
way.” She mumbled and seemed to start to fall back asleep. Akemi on the other hand had just
woken up further, especially as some of the situation hit her more. “A year ago I never could
have imagined I’d get to wake with an adorable girlfriend, while in a body that makes me
want to wake up. Your’s also makes me want to wake up~ Lets see… Kyouko got to leave a
nice mark…” Akemi said as her Kitsune nature came out to play.
“Huh? What do you- Eep!” Ana blushed as she felt Akemi scoot further up on her and sit up
until she was straddling her. The look in her eyes was surprisingly hungry, and her tails had
begun to sway back and forth in sync. Akemi slowly leaned down and gently pinned her
girlfriend under her with their noses together and nearly touching.
“May I?” Akemi asked in a tone that Ana felt was absolutely unfair in it’s pleading. It was
just as sexy as the way Kyouko had spoken the day prior, though it was easy to see under that
allure that Akemi was just as nervous if Ana looked closer.
“You m-may.” Ana tilted her head and let Akemi take the lead. They enjoyed their soft
morning kissing as they intertwined their hands together. There was an undercurrent of
laziness to it, less lust and more comfort than the kiss with Kyouko, and both had their perks
in Ana’s mind. “These two are going to be the death of me!” She thought and felt a quiet
moan slip out as Akemi broke away.
“Did you have to make that body so… sexy?” Ana asked in a whimper, her head tilting as
Akemi began to kiss her way to her neck. Just like Kyouko had done the day before, Ana felt
Akemi give a light nibble and suck, and just knew a mark just as big as Kyouko’s would be
left. Sitting back up and suddenly looking a bit more shy Akemi had the decency of looking
away.
“Um… Kind of? It was what I imagined my dream body to be like, so honestly I’m quite
happy with it. I almost regret not making myself taller, but what is a couple inches compared
to Kyouko? Think our sexy wolf is awake?” Akemi asked laid back down, resting her head
back on Ana’s chest, and felt it pounding just like her own.
“Lets go find out, I can get breakfast started. Want to help?” Ana asked as she gave Akemi’s
rear a quick squeeze, causing her to jump up with a cute yelp. “Knew that would get you up~
Acting all seductive when we both have no experience.” Ana teased as she got up. “I’ll go get
changed and meet you downstairs?”
Akemi settled back on the bed with a red face and her tails showing a tiny bit of agitation
with the way they flicked around. “Y-yeah… I just need a minute.” Akemi smiled back as
Ana grinned in victory before closing the door behind her. “For fucks sake… is this what
being horny is like?”
“Just crack the eggs into the bowl and add a splash of that milk.” Ana said as she chopped
away at a cutting board. “Isn’t an Adamantite kitchen knife a bit… much though? Not that I
don’t appreciate it, this thing is amazing.”
“I have plenty of Adamantite, so why not? Sure I might not have much in the way of what I
consider a good metal, but I have plenty of low tier metals. That thing will never dull since I
gave it a durability enchantment. Not that you’re liable to dull Adamantite with chopping
meat.” Akemi said as she very carefully tried to crack open eggs. It was almost comical to
watch, if it wasn’t sad with how many eggs she had broken into mush by then. When Ana
giggled at her inability to do so she got a pout. “T-this is harder than it looks…” Akemi
whined and folded her ears as she pulled out another tray of eggs from her inventory,
courtesy of Yggdrasil’s rudimentary cooking system and her many attempts at using that,
leading to bulk purchases of supplies.
“Really? Let me give it a try?” Ana asked and reached over to crack and egg over the bowl
with one hand, earning her an even more adorable frustrated look from Akemi. “Just need to
be gentle with it, a small rap will do it, just poking it with your nail might actually work.”
“Ana dear… That isn’t easy for me, I have to be very careful with my strength basically at all
times, if I’m not I might accidentally crush someone with a hug. When you can crush a
boulder in your hand without much effort, trying to use minimal force for hitting anything is
difficult. Haa.. Fuck it. [Triplet Magic: Mage Hand].” Akemi stepped back as she cast her
spell, and let three extra spectral arms emerge from energy coming off of her.
Ana could only watch in a mix of exasperation, wonder, and amusement at the display.
Akemi’s solution was certainly effective, she had cracked eggs in record time, even if it was
technically cheating. Akemi folded her arms and looked away with a blush. “N-now what?”
After giving her blushing girlfriend a quick peck, Ana pulled a pan off the hooks she had
Akemi set up. “You’ll be in charge of scrambled eggs, Its really easy, Lets give the others a
nice breakfast.”
“So what exactly does our time table look like Akemi? You said she wanted the meeting to be
at lunch?” Kyouko asked as she ate heartily, even the burnt bits of egg from Akemi’s first
true attempt at cooking.
“Yup, lunch will work she said. For now though I guess there isn’t anything planned till
then.” Akemi said as she mentally calculated her task list for the day.
“So that means you’re going to actually take it easy till then Akemi? Right? Right?” Ana
asked with a stern look that made Akemi look away fast enough for her neck to click.
“I-I I do have some things to do, I need to work on our future home and also make some
items…” Akemi tried to defend herself as her ears folded, suddenly preoccupied with her
breakfast like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
“Have you ever truly had a day off since we met before? Its always been something I think…
Hannyuu did she ever take a break?” Ana asked as she caught their daughter’s eyes.
Akemi shot up and waved her arms “N-no need to question her! Of course I take breaks!
There is just a lot to do…”
“No, she didn’t. Even when it was just us in the Inn I think she would control those summons
she uses when she looked like she was relaxing, she mumbled things a few times about what
she probably saw.” Hannyuu said as she grabbed more meat, surprisingly of her own accord,
though she knew Kyouko was a few moments away from putting more on her plate anyway.
Her wolf mom looked satisfied with her choice so all was well.
“Et tu Hannyuu?!” the Kitsune nearly shouted, pouting as she finished her breakfast. “Old
reference, really old, like over two thousand years ago… Anyway, I take plenty of breaks,
making items is a fun activity for me. I’m torn between letting you all see what I’ve been
working on and letting it be a surprise, the home and Hannyuu’s present.” Akemi said and
smirked at her daughter who had perked up.
“Ooh what is it?” Hannyuu asked as her tail began to twitch all over behind her. The giant
smile on her face didn’t fail to melt all her mom’s hearts.
“You’ll find out once it is done~ So what do you three plan on doing today?” She asked and
set her silverware down.
Ana and Kyouko looked a bit contemplative on that question, like they weren’t sure.
Hannyuu on the other hand nearly jumped from her seat when she finished her food. “I want
to do some baking. Do you have more ingredients Mama?” Hannyuu asked as she circled
around the table to hug Akemi.
“I have plenty, and if I need to I’m happy to go fetch some from the cities. What are you
going to make? Do you want some help?” Akemi asked as she reached into her inventory to
pull out several bags of flour, sugar, and other pastry materials. “Is this enough? I don’t know
how to make much of anything, I just made things with a menu in Yggdrasil after all.”
“I want to make some cookies and give them out to a couple people. I remember mostly how
to make them, but could you still walk through it with me Mama Ana? Wanna help Mama
Akemi?” Hannyuu asked as she lifted the ingredients as best she could, and seemed surprised
as she lifted the big bag of flour. “Huh, it feels lighter than last time.”
“That is because you’re a bit stronger, it is a lot easier to carry right? The stronger you get the
easier it will be.” Kyouko said and pushed her plate forward.
“Mm! Good, I’ll try and get muscles like you! Why don’t you help also?” Hannyuu trotted
out with those supplies happily, her tail flicking around in excitement.
Kyouko shrugged. “Alright, I’ll help out also, family cooking time.” She wrapped her arms
around Akemi and Ana after they had stood up with her to follow Hannyuu into the kitchen.
“Sounds nice to me, I’d love to spend some time with you all for a while. I’m sorry I haven’t
been here much late-” Akemi was interrupted by two fingers put against her lips.
“We understand dear, you’re only one person doing so many things. I think it is safe to say
we’re all proud of you, and we think you’ll be a great Queen.” Ana was grinning as she said
that, but it was clearly not teasing, not to Akemi’s eyes.
“W-wait, Queen? No way, I just wanted to make a place for all of us..” Akemi complained in
a grumble, not at all looking excited for that prospect.
“Well who else would rule? Sure there is something different in the Argland Council states
and their representative system, but that has it’s own issues. Judging by the look on your face
you might already know about that system. I think you’ll be a great Queen also, we’re a very
small group for right now, so you’ll have time to grow into the role. I don’t think anyone else
would accept another leader, not with how much you’ve done.” Kyouko said as they all
began to help Hannyuu with the baking.
“I suppose… I’ll make sure to ask everyone again first before all of this happens. If they all
decide that… they want me as a Queen, then I’ll accept it. Gods I’m already so busy, I need
to figure out a way to make more of me to help with work. Emeril will probably know a lot
about how things will work with running things, I don’t know anything about organizing an
entire government. I know she started some sort of paperwork, though I still can’t read it.”
Akemi used Mage hand for delicate cooking actions once again.
“If you figure out how to clone yourself then I can think of a lot of uses for that.” Kyouko
said in a tone that made Akemi turn bright red. “I see you caught what I meant, by all means
get that skill. I know Emeril is able to, so maybe it is a Kitsune thing, she could probably tell
you. You still might want to explain to her about your circumstances before she barges in
here. Pass the butter please?”
“Wait, how would you know that and what do you mean?” Ana asked as she stopped what
she was doing to raise an eyebrow at Kyouko. The head tilt from Kyouko she found strangely
adorable.
“I mean, didn’t I mention I’ve been friends with Emeril for a long time? She is probably my
oldest friend that is still alive, and well… We’ve kept each other company in the past~”
Kyouko’s tail wagged as she seemed to be going over some of her memories.
“So… You and Emeril used to…” Akemi didn’t seem to know how to phrase what she was
trying to say in any logical way, yet Kyouko just chuckled quietly at the face.
“We used to enjoy some healthy fun? Is that so surprising? Sure it was purely physical, but
we find each other attractive, and when it’s mating season… you do what you have to scratch
that itch.” Kyouko said without any change in expression, to her it was clearly just normal.
When she looked up the other three were looking away and flushed. “Something wrong?”
“I’m going to leave my questions about this… mating season aside for now… I think that
would be a whole different conversation. Glad she is such a good friend to you, I kind of
suspected there was at least something like that. If you two want to keep doing that I have no
issues with it.” Akemi said and dabbed a spot of flour onto Kyouko’s nose playfully.
“No problems with that here, we did say things are a bit open last night.” Ana said as she
rolled out the cookie dough, and let Hannyuu cut it into shapes, courtesy of a small cookie
cutter kit that they had Akemi make.
“Noted, like I said though it was just physical, but thanks, she is a really good friend… and
hot.” Kyouko said and didn’t notice her tail wagging a bit behind her.
Ana and Akemi couldn’t help but agree with that assessment.
“I’ll be back Moms! Thanks for the help!” Hannyuu said as she carried off three small cloth
bags that she had filled with some of the cookies she made.
“Be safe and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Akemi yelled back with a happy grin, it was
so nice for her to see so much life in her daughter despite all that had happened in her life.
“Okay! I won’t storm the King’s throne room and I won’t fight an army~” It was Hannyuu’s
cheeky smile as she said that that really made Akemi crack up, that intelligent sass that was
so much a part of her daughter was something she would never get tired of.
Hannyuu herself dashed through the settlement, waving at the other villagers she passed.
“Miss Emeril are you all home?” She called out as she knocked on the door of one of the tree
homes on the opposite side of the settlement from her own.
“That you Hannyuu? Come on in, Lirina and Rinna are in Rinna’s bedroom.” Emeril said
from the window near the door. When Hannyuu entered she removed her shoes to keep it as
clean as Emeril liked it before she moved to the Kitchen where the woman herself was busy
cutting some fruits up. “How are you doing Hannyuu? Everything alright?” Emeril asked as
she patted the girl’s head with a tail.
“Things are good, we made cookies so I brought you all some. They should still be warm.”
Hannyuu said as she set one small cloth bag on the counter near Emeril and smiled at her.
“Thanks for helping Mama Akemi with so much, she appreciates it.”
“We’ll see how much she appreciates it when I next see her~ Thank you dear.” The older
Kitsune said as she cleaned her hands before taking a cookie.
“Hannyuu! How are you? Did you come to play?” The cutely high voice of the youngest one
there, the one tailed Lirina, came from down the hall, nearly sprinted down it until she
hugged Hannyuu. “Ooh what is that? It smells good!” The excitable Kitsune was quick to
zero in on the two remaining bags and nearly vibrated before Hannyuu handed her one with a
giggle.
“Just dropping off some gifts then I need to get to training. This is for you, enjoy~ Don’t eat
them all too quickly.” Hannyuu said and hugged the younger girl back and seemed to delight
in the energy of her, and the easy appreciation she gave for the cookie when she tried one.
“Hey Rinna, how are you doing?” Hannyuu asked with a wave as she saw a wisp of white
hair barely peeking around the corner of the hallway. The white haired sheep girl eventually
approached them while avoiding looking at into Hannyuu eyes. “You alright? Here, this one
is for you~” She said and held out a similar bag to Rinna, though this one had a thick green
ribbon tying it closed.
“A-ah thank you Hannyuu..” Rinna said and took the still warm bag. After she pulled the
ribbon to open it she held onto that fabric with a sparkle in her eyes. “They smell really good.
Can I keep this also?” Rinna asked and held up the ribbon shyly.
“Of course, it is part of your gift, You said green was your favorite color right? I could I put it
on one of your horns if you want, I think it would look really nice there.” Hannyuu said and
seemed oblivious to how her words made Rinna’s face light up bright red. Rinna handed that
ribbon over wordlessly and lowered her head so her right horn was easier to get to, even if
they were about the same height. Hannyuu quietly marveled at how soft that curly white hair
was, just like sheep wool, while she wrapped that jade ribbon around that little curved sheep
horn and made a small bow with it that fit in among those curls.
When Rinna lifted her head Hannyuu was still a bit close and was staring at her curiously. “I
knew it would match your eyes really well~ It makes you look prettier.” Hannyuu said with a
smile as she stepped back, seeming pleased by how the that accessory highlighted Rinna’s
bright green eyes.
Rinna’s mouth flapped open uselessly for a few moments as she just got more and more red.
Hannyuu was polite enough to just tilt her head and shrug as Rinna made a tactical retreat
back into the hallway, not at all taking it personally. “Yup, really adorable.” Hannyuu said
with a content nod. When she looked back over at the other two in the room. Emeril was
more amused than anything, while Lirina was just content to munch on her cookies. “That
went well I think. Hope you three have a good day, I’m going to get some training in before
we leave.”
Emeril just nodded and ruffled Hannyuu’s hair. Like her moms, Emeril was familiar enough
to get away with that level of contact. “Have a good day, tell your moms I said hello. Oh, can
you tell Akemi that I want to speak to her eventually? I guess things are busy so when ever
she has free time I guess.”
Hannyuu had to snort a tiny bit “We have to make her make free time… Hopefully she can
get a break soon, I miss just hanging out with her like we used to do. Have a good day Miss
Emeril, Lirina.” She looked past them and waved to Rinna as she saw her peek around the
corner. “Talk to you later Rinna~” She got one last blush from the fluffy sheep girl before she
ran off.
Looking over her shoulder Emeril could only smile at Rinna as the girl seemed to be unsure
of how to deal with something as she hid her hands in her face. “Rinna? Are you alright?
Why are you red hmm?” Lirina asked as she looked up at her new older sister.
“I’m back!” Hannyuu said as she dashed into the house, nearly skipping on her way upstairs.
In her’s and Akemi’s shared room she was greeted by the sight of a large construct of light in
the center of the floor covered in all sorts of diagrams and figures for just a moment, before
the whole thing vanished, keeping her from finding out just what it was.
“Welcome back dear, so did your ‘friend’ like their gift?” Akemi asked with a smug smirk, it
didn’t stop her from accepting Hannyuu’s hug as her daughter flopped down against her
where Akemi sat on the side of the bed.
“…You know what, I earned that one, thats on me. Well she turned bright red and ran off
after I just told her that that ribbon looked really pretty on her, so I think she liked it. It did
look really nice, she is already pretty.” Hannyuu was purring in delight as she maneuvered
herself to rest her head against Akemi’s chest, looking every bit the happy kitten she was
being.
“I’m glad, she is pretty adorable.” Akemi said and just laid back to actually relax for once. “I
missed this, I’m sorry I’ve been so busy.” Akemi said and hugged her daughter just a bit
tighter, closing her eyes and enjoying the time they got to spend together.
“Its alright Mom, I know you’re busy. I hope one day I can help you though.” Hannyuu
mumbled against Akemi’s chest as the girl closed her eyes and just enjoyed lazy cuddling.
Akemi could tell Hannyuu was starting to fall asleep, and she herself was getting tired as
well, it was just too comfortable there with the sun warming up the spot on the bed. “One
day, for now just be a kid, have fun, make friends, and above all… be happy.” Akemi said as
she gently pet through that pink, nearly white hair. When she felt Hannyuu finally fall asleep
on top of her, Akemi let her own eyes drift shut for small nap, and hoping she earned that
much.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Sorry that chapter took so much longer to get out… was feeling kinda burnt out a
unmotivated. I keep telling myself to not compare myself to other stories and works
but… You all likely know how it is, you can’t help doing that sometimes. I did go
through and did a lot more refining of chapter 1-8 as I noticed a lot of mistakes and plot
holes, and just things I wanted to add.
In previous chapters a reader criticized that I had too long a time skip in the beginning
when Akemi met Hannyuu, and I agree, so I’ve done my best to add to that chapter in
particular, to show the turning points in their relationship. I suppose the reason I skipped
over so much back then was due to impatience and not knowing how to write a
traumatized child. I admit when I started that I did not plan things out well, or at all, I
only started really plotting ahead when I picked it back up. Did more research and
hopefully it is more believable, I’m trying to get Hannyuu to actually act her age when I
write her, sure she is decently mature for her age from the life she had so far leeching so
much joy from her, but she is still a kid and kids don’t always act logically, they are silly
often times and in Hannyuu’s case she is sassy af.
Please tell me what you think and have a nice day~ I’ll keep trying to get chapters out
more, but I doubt I can do 1 a week anymore. This chapter was meant to be longer but I
added so many extra scenes I didn’t plan that it got too long, I’d have ended up over 10k
words for one chapter again. Consider this chapter a bit of a cool down chapter since I
know the last few ones have been pretty dark, hope you enjoyed the cute.
A Long Awaited Peace
Chapter Summary
The family finally gets to meet Queen Draudillon as the country finally settles down,
comforted by the new sense of peace.
Chapter Notes
A/N: I figured it might hard to visualize some of the characters with the scattered
details, so I’ve added a few small bits of information for some important characters.
There might be more of these in the future as needed.
Akemi
152.4cm (5’0), Age 19, Kitsune (9 Tails)
Lower back length black hair, similarly colored ears, black tails with white tips, and
light blue eyes that appear lighter when Celestial Aura is active, visibly glowing.
Has a bit of a baby face. Fun fact, her tails combined take up more area than her body.
Kyouko
187.96cm (6’2) Age 25, Wolf Demi-human
Has upper back length dark red hair that is often wrapped into a ponytail to keep it out
of the way. Her tail, and ears as the same color as her hair, while her eyes are like a
wolf’s of bright yellow and amber.
Has a great mix of beauty and muscles, and prefers outfits that can show that off, almost
all of which show off her abs.
Ana Bilon
149.86cm (4’11) Age 16, Human
Ana has neck length brown chestnut hair and dark green eyes.
She is tiny even after considering her height, and has freckles on her face and shoulders,
as well varies other places.
Hannyuu
134.62cm (4’5) Age 11, Cat Demi-human
Has neck length very light pink, almost white hair. She has bright red eyes with small
bags under her eyes as her sleep still is disturbed often. She is also incredibly pale due to
her time in captivity.
She is still very skinny for her age, but her weight is slowly getting to a healthy number.
Draudillon Oriculus (True form)
160cm (5’3) Age 82, Part dragon, Great Grand Daughter of the Brightness Dragon Lord.
The Queen of the Dragon Kingdom, has rear length silver white hair with a prismatic
shine in the light.
She has dark silver eyes, and small stubby ivory horns on the top of her head due to her
heritage.
Emeril
175cm (5’9) Age 432, Kitsune (4 tails)
A Kitsune that has dark green hair and eyes that extends to her four tails as well. She has
a motherly appearance and is much more endowed than Akemi.
Lirina
124.4 (4’1) Age 9, Kitsune (1 tail)
Lirina has reddish blond hair like her late mother Maiya, and green eyes like her other
mother Emeril.
She Is tiny, excitable, and hyper like a Kitsune her age should be. Thankfully she was
sparred most trauma when she was captured, and wasn’t in captivity for long before
being reunited with Emeril.
Rinna
133.34 (4’5) Age 11, Sheep Demi-human
The small sheep demi-human has short and very curly white hair, like a sheep’s wool,
and is just as soft. Her eyes are a very light and bright green with hazel specks along the
irises. Is quite skinny like Hannyuu, and has a lot of the same trauma. Was adopted by
Emeril when the Kitsune found out the girl’s parents were killed when she was captured
like so many others. Has treated her just the same as her blood born daughter and
naturally sees her as her child by that point.
Is incredibly shy and can be easily flustered, as Hannyuu has found out.
Kyouko listened to the wind whistle through the forest through the open window as she sat
next to Lorelei in her room, just gently holding that tiny and emaciated hand while she ran
her thumb over it in a dim hope it might provoke a reaction.
She felt older than her twenty seven years as she tried to keep hope. Her ears only twitched as
a knock was heard on her open bedroom door. Looking up Kyouko forced a smile for Emeril.
“Hey.” Was all the Kitsune said as she sat on the end of the bed. “You doing alright?” Emeril
carefully asked as she looked over her shoulder at the two.
“I’m… getting by I suppose. It is hard to see her like this, I just want her to come back to
me…” Kyouko sighed and put Lorelei’s hand down, tucking it back under the covers before
turning to Emeril. “Could I ask you a favor?”
“You want me to watch her for the day?” Emeril asked, and smirked when she saw the
surprise on Kyouko’s face. “Please, I know you well enough, I figured you might need a
babysitter anyway. It won’t be any trouble. I’ll keep the kids from breaking anything while
you’re all gone.” She said.
“…Thanks friend, I appreciate it, I was just going to ask you about that. I need to watch
Akemi’s back during these negotiations… This Queen seems really tricky. I know Akemi can
physically take care of herself, but she is just as vulnerably mentally as the rest of us, and
painfully innocent. I mean, that innocence is adorable, but it worries me.” Kyouko leaned
back in her chair and forced a smile at Emeril.
“Anytime. It might be a long road to recovery, but you have all the time now for Lorelei to
recover, I’m sure she’ll come back eventually. All that can be done right now is keep her safe
and comfortable until she feels like coming out of her shell. I’ve seen cases like this before,
and if they are kept alive they usually regain awareness eventually. Do I… even want to
know what all happened?” Emeril looked unsure of if that was even okay to even ask.
She regretted it instantly as she saw the pain on Kyouko’s face get worse. “You really don’t,
It was… really bad, and I don’t think I even can. I don’t blame her for retreating into her
mind like this, it was probably the only… way to cope. This ring Akemi gave her sure is
helpful though, It makes keeping her fed easier, she is even getting weight back slowly.”
Kyouko took a few deep breathes. “Well, we can only be there for her, when she returns we’ll
all be there. Who knows… Maybe by that time she’ll have a few more siblings?” Some of
Kyouko’s usual spirit came back into her smirk.
“Akemi does strike me as the type that would want more kids, you have fun with that.”
Emeril said with quiet chuckle. “Speaking of kids though… I think your’s is putting the
moves on my mine. It was really really adorable seeing them… Hannyuu is a bit of a
romantic it seems, and more proactive than you three, not that that is hard to do.” She teased
and twitched her ear right before said feline walked in the door.
“I heard my name, did I do something?” She asked with a tilt of her head. “Mama Akemi
says that we’ll be leaving soon.” Hannyuu said and looked at Emeril suspiciously.
“Oh I’m just telling Kyouko about how we might end up related. Don’t worry, you have my
blessing~” Emeril said with a grin as she patted Hannyuu’s head while the cat pouted.
“Same, you just have fun kid. I’ll be out in a minute lady-killer.” Kyouko joined right in the
teasing as she stood up. “Thanks for watching her again, we’ll probably be back tonight. Her
wheelchair is right there if you want to take her around, or take her to your house.” Kyouko
said as she pointed to the chair in the corner.
“Wheel… chair? Huh, what an interesting device. Is that something from Akemi’s previous
world like you mentioned? I still need my own time to ask her things… one day, take care
friend.”
“Yeah, it is, she had told me it was one she had to use a lot. You as well. Well I’m off to make
sure Akemi doesn’t get taken advantage of and bundled off into some political marriage, wish
me luck.” Kyouko half joked as she followed Hannyuu out.
“Oh dear… Lorelei, I think you’re family is going to be even bigger, take care of your future
siblings alright?” Emeril smirked and pet the girl’s head, hoping that the girl would one day
return to some semblance of the excitable pup Emeril knew when the girl was born.
“Why would have Akemi needed that wheelchair in a previous life?”
“These are some fancy clothes, where did you get- Never mind, you made them.” Ana asked
with a shake of her head as she caught the pattern of any gift Akemi gave them.
Ana had been given nice mages robes that were a nice black and gold with embroidered
glyphs sewn on them. It fit snuggly and was quite warm.
Hannyuu was looking quite happy in the thick dress with cute frilled short sleeves, suitable
for both hot and cold environments, not that it mattered with the temperature regulation
enchantments on both her’s and Ana’s clothes.
Kyouko opted for her white drake leather armor with Desolation on her hip, looking every bit
the experienced swordswoman she was.
Akemi herself was in robes she had worn when she first met the queen, a nice white and gold
robe that seemed to hug her body enough to show some of her curves. It hugged her enough
that she felt Ana and Kyouko’s eyes on her. When she looked behind her they were quick to
look away.
“Dorks. Alright everyone, don’t take it personally if some of them don’t quite trust us, they
are still pretty shaky on non-humans. Queen Draudillon’s General Bahgram especially
doesn’t like them, but he might be a bit better today. I hope he heeds my warnings on not
trying absolutely any nastiness with you three though.[Gate], now then, Shall we?”
The other three were far too nervous to actually respond as they followed Akemi through the
portal.
“Halt! W-wait, it’s you!” A new pair of castle guards were manning the front door, and at
least one of them seemed to recognize Akemi.
“Greetings, I have an appointment with Queen Draudillon for a discussion regarding

yesterday.” Akemi said as she seemed to turn into a different person once she past that gate,
her family recognizing her going into her old and wise persona.
“Yes, of course. We were told to expect your coming, please come with me.” One of the
guards said but sighed as he saw his partner move in front of the door instead.
“Excuse me, as per protocol I need you all to hand over any weapons before you can be
allowed near the queen.” He said and looked pointedly at Kyouko’s sword at her waist.
“Please forgive this fool Ma’am. Excuse me a moment.” The first guard said and moved off
to the side while dragging the second one away. While they were whispering, all except Ana
could still hear them.
“Are you an Idiot?! We were told to forgo protocol, on top of that what sense does it make to
ask for the weapon of the companion of someone who destroyed an entire army? Use your
head for once private!” The first guard quiet yelled before releasing the second rattled guard
and returning. “I apologize for the delay, please follow me.”
Akemi just nodded with a peaceful smile, not at all perturbed by that interaction, even if
internally she was cackling. As they followed after the guard the three of them could tell that
Hannyuu was getting anxious, and so they put her between the three of them like her own
guards. The look she gave them was thankful, and all three of them were happy they could
help their daughter.
“Before we arrive at the Queen, Ma’am, I just wanted to thank you for what you did, you
saved my parent’s lives.” The soldier said, only stopping for just a moment to look behind
him and meet her eyes.
“A family is the most precious thing one can have, so I’m glad. If even one family can be
made whole again, then it was worth it.” Akemi was genuinely happy about that fact.
The halls were a lot busier than the other times Akemi walked them, and she pleased to see
so much more life on the people’s faces, as if the shadow of death had been dispelled over
that country.
She gave small waves when she got stares, and bowed her head when a few more people
came by to thank her, thankfully not bothering her companions. When they finally came up
on the door to the meeting room Akemi was in the day before she couldn’t be happier.
“Thank you, keep up the good work.” She said as the guard opened the door for them all.
Once they all filled into that room and were away from prying eyes Akemi took a big sigh,
her fake mannerisms vanishing in an instant. When she looked up she saw the Queen and
Dahl staring at her curiously. “Keeping on airs is difficult. Greetings Queen Draudillon, Dahl.
I hope things have been getting a bit better.” Akemi said as she took a seat across from their
party.
“Oh it is still pretty busy, but morale is high thanks to you. Akemi, I truly thank you for
freeing my people.” Draudillon was in her adult form and had gone as far as bowing her head
to the Kitsune.
Draudillon’s smile returned and turned into a smirk as she lifted something up and pushed the
mirror of viewing onto the table. “You forgot this by the way.”
Akemi’s ears flattened in an instant as she took the mirror, vanishing it into her inventory as
quick as she could. After a deep breath she shook her head. “How much did you see?” Akemi
grumbled while pouting at the Queen.
“Not for long after you left, I was too busy to watch idly anyway, I put it away when you
started to strip, I’m not that uncouth. On an unrelated note, nice butt though.” That was
enough to make Akemi’s face to flush red and to try and hide in her tails.
“That’s the truth.” Kyouko said with a snort, and gently pet her girlfriend’s ears. “Nice to
meet you Queen Draudillon. I am Kyouko, Akemi and Ana’s partner.”
The others took that time while Akemi recovered to continue the meeting. “I’m Ana Bilon,
Akemi and Kyouko’s partner. A pleasure to meet you.” Ana gave a polite bow from her seat.
Soon eyes had turned to Hannyuu until she began to look around worriedly, her feline ears
folding shyly. She had been all excited to meet a Queen, but she felt her tongue get tied up
from the pressure. “H-hello, I’m Hannyuu… and these are my Moms. Its an honor to meet
you Queen Draudi- ow…” Hannyuu’s eyes teared up just a bit as she covered her mouth. “I
bit my tongue…”
The others were entirely silent and politely looking away, yet it was impossible to think of it
as anything but cute. “Nice to meet you three as well, please, be yourselves, we’re going to
be seeing a lot of each other. Now then, I hope you don’t mind if we have lunch while we get
down to business, time is still sadly in short supply.” Draudillon said as she rang a hand bell
on the table next to her, right next to her paperwork she had been doing.
As if waiting for that cue, a woman in a maid outfit entered from the door behind her. “Yes
my Queen?”
“Could you please have the chefs bring lunch over? It will be a working lunch today so
something easy to eat would be nice. Thank you Hilda.” Draudillon said with a smile at the
maid, who couldn’t look happier.
“Right away your Majesty.”
Akemi’s breath caught for just a moment as she stared after that maid with a sense of longing
in her heart. That longing must have reached her eyes as the others stared at her. “No I won’t
give you my maid, she is my favorite.” Draudillon said with a smug grin.
“Oh no, I’m sorry, just her name reminded me of… an old friend.” Akemi said and sighed
before shaking her head. “Now then, I suppose we should get down to business?”
“Indeed. So, you said you wanted a fifty kilometer wide area of land? What kind of country
can you make with such a small amount of land? How many people did you say you have
again?”
“Oh you’re thinking too horizontally, you need to think vertically. Well, it is a bit more
complicated than that, but it will involve more magic. It is safe to say when I go through with
it everyone in the region will be able to tell that something is happening, if not see it, but I
want to keep it a surprise. As for how many people we have right now… Between one
thousand to two thousand, we haven’t done a census or anything, but I’m anticipating a lot of
immigration as I intend to take in the Re-Estize Kingdom’s demi humans if they choose to
follow me. I’ll also be offering this choice to at risk settlements in the Theocracy if I can find
them. Of course if any humans or others end up wanting to immigrate I won’t be stopping
them, this will be a long term project that I want to last. As for what kind of country I want to
make, it will likely be an agricultural one at first, I have ways of massively increasing crop
yield and harvest speed. It will help quite quickly here as well, just as I will not let anyone go
hungry in Natura, I don’t want to let any allies go hungry either.” Akemi said and caught her
breath before the door behind the Queen opened again.
Pushing in a food cart, Draudillon’s maid set out several platters between the group of them
and set out the plates. “Thank you Hilda.” Draudillon said and looked at the other three. “The
Theocracy really is a problem on that front. They only helped us due to being a shield against
the Beastmen tribes, so thankfully I can also not be obligated to them. I will ask for your
protection for the Kingdom though, I can foresee that they might declare war now that our
fates are tied together.” Draudillon said and seemed resigned to that outcome.
“I mean, you did agree to be allies, and I want our countries to work together, so of course I’ll
defend it. I’ll make sure to set up a surveillance perimeter around both of our borders, that
way I’ll know the second a soldier from the Theocracy arrives. From what I’ve heard of them
they’ll probably be hostile to any diplomacy I might try, and without a world item for
protection I’m not going to charge into their country like I did the Re-estize. Speaking of that,
you had mentioned you knew the location of a world item?”
“Yes, I’ve known of it for decades by now. Underneath this Kingdom, are the ruins of an
even older kingdom that had been buried in the past by a volcanic eruption. All expeditions
down inside have failed and we long since closed it off due to the danger. I don’t know what
it is, but it can defend itself. If you feel you can get it then I’ll give what information I have if
it will help.” Draudillon said as she grabbed a few of the small sandwiches that had been laid
on the platter.
“Don’t you not need to eat with that ring your Majesty?” Ana asked curiously and took a few
sandwiches for herself.
“Sure, I don’t have to, but eating is a pleasure to the mind. This thing really has made work
better though, if I can at least take some breaks I’m sure I can work for days straight. You
don’t need to call me that in private, like I said we’ll be working pretty closely.” The Queen
said and seem to caress that simple gold band.
“I don’t know how to make more of those you know… I do need that back eventually. Just
keep what I said in mind about taking it off, with how long you’ve had it on, plan on needing
a good day’s worth of sleep. I’ll… have to put off looking for that item for now, too much to
do just yet. Once things are up and running I’ll check out those ruins, any world item would
be at least useful in warding off another.” Akemi said and looked quite nervous as she
remembered something. “If anyone has the world item that brainwashed Shalltear I bet it is
the Theocracy, I need to get proof somehow though. There is no way their Six Great Gods
weren’t players, and if I could figure out what who they were and what guild they were I
might be able to figure out what items they have.”
“Well, I suppose now is as good of a time as any to bring it up… You had added Marriage as
a condition to giving Akemi your support?” Kyouko asked as she put her food down.
“If at all possible, but… I am not one to split up relationships like some thieving cat.” The
Queen said before she straightened up and looked at Hannyuu “Apologies for the
expression.” She was quick to say, knowing that those three mothers would likely get
defensive of their child.
Hannyuu just shrugged. “I know it is just a phrase, I’ve been called worse in my life anyway.
Are you just wanting mama for political reasons?” At the look the small feline gave,
Draudillon surprisingly stiffened.
It was clear enough that Hannyuu’s support would be crucial in that particular discussion,
with how highly Akemi valued her opinions on people. “Yes and No. While the political
benefits are quite large… I am tired of having fat nobles with no personality foisted on me
from all over the map. Personally Akemi, you’re a far better option in all categories than
other options I’ve had. My tastes already lean more towards women, and the fact that an heir
can be secured is also critical.”
“She is hot yeah.” Kyouko said with a nod, and also ignored Akemi as she blushed off to the
side. “We did discuss this last night.”
“As long as Akemi is okay with something like that we don’t mind.” Ana added as she
reached over to ruffle Hannyuu’s hair till her hand was bapped away.
“I’ll be honest… I’m not entirely opposed to the idea. From what I’ve seen… I wouldn’t
mind getting to know you more, you’re a good ruler that cares about her people and puts
other far before yourself. I can’t agree to marriage or engagement right away, give that some
time, but I can agree to some dates so we can see how that goes? I don’t want to marry
without love.” Akemi said and looked behind her at all her tails and sighed. “I should
probably disclose this in that case, before the misunderstandings get worse.” Akemi seemed
to be trying to come up with a way to say something, but the look on her face made the
Queen chuckle.
“Is it that you are a puh-layer? You fit all the traits my great grandfather described. You
appeared out of nowhere without any warning, and have power on a different scale than those
native to this world, and super tier magic has only ever been shown to be used by Puh-layers.
There have been several instances of this in history, such as the Theocracies Six great gods,
and the Eight greed Kings.” When Draudillon said that she seemed to enjoy the look of
surprise on Akemi’s face.
“Well… take all the fun out of it why don’t you. You’re separating the syllables too much
though, it is just one word, Players. As for how that is… that sounds like a fun topic for a
first date. While my power is the real thing as you’ve seen, I’m nineteen, not over nine
hundred like most think.” Akemi said and looked a bit disappointed by the lack of surprise on
the Queen.
“You should work on your professional face, learn to keep a blank face in negotiations, I can
basically read your mind like this~ I had a feeling you were a lot younger than nine-hundred,
though you are a bit younger than I thought you would be. If you don’t mind me asking, what
about you three? I’m eighty two.” Draudillon asked.
“As far as Mama and me could tell, eleven, it is complicated.” Hannyuu said as she nibbled at
some food.
“Twenty five here. You sure don’t look eighty two.” Kyouko complimented and rested her
chin on her palm.
“Thank you, it is the dragon blood, Great Grandfather guesses I’ll probably live to at least
two hundred to three hundred.” Draudillon said and winked at Akemi.
Soon all eyes moved towards Ana next, making the lone pure human in the room, barring
Dahl. “Oh um, I’m sixteen, just a normal human.”
Akemi snorted just a bit “You’re adorable is what you are. Anyway… I suppose you would
need to likely change your laws on marriage?”
“They’re pretty progressive, at least in comparison to some other countries. The Theocracy is
the worst about it… very strict male and female marriage, and only their god-kin can have
multiple marriages. I haven’t had the time to work on the marriage laws besides getting rid of
that male female requirement. Now that I have more time to worry about things other than
survival in the Kingdom I can change that pretty easily, the benefits of being an absolute
monarchy.”
“I have… a lot of work to do getting Natura up and running, I know nothing about running a
government after all. The marriage laws though are going to, of course, be quite free, as long
as all parties are consenting and in love. I’m tempted to forbid political or arranged marriages
but I can decide that later. Of course it is all dependent on if my people even want me as a
Queen.”
That made Ana and Kyouko both roll their eyes. “She seems to think that the people back at
our settlement aren’t going to want to follow her lead, despite literally bringing a chunk of
them back to life and being their holy protector, while also being in denial about being a
goddess.”
Akemi had the decency to blush at that and sigh. Hannyuu was more amused by all of them
than anything. “Well, looks like mom four might happen, well… fifth counting Arche.” She
teased her mother.
They all got to watch Akemi’s face turn bright red, and for her tails to coil around her like a
shield. “Hannyuu…”
“Maybe little one, we’ll see what the future holds. For once things are looking nice and bright
here. Now then, I think it is time to really buckle down, if you want to run a country you’ll
need some more information. What is first…”
Hannyuu looked ready to fall asleep after an hour into that impromptu lesson by the Queen,
until finally they seemed done. “Oh dear, I lost track of time. I have more work to get done
today, approvals to sign for housing, and letters to write. Would it be possible to meet in
perhaps two days to go find the exact site you wanted to claim?” Draudillon asked as she
stacked her papers up and moved towards the door. “I can walk you to the entrance.”
“That was a lot of information to absorb… Yeah we can see you in a few days, around the
same time?” Akemi said as she ruffled Hannyuu’s hair to further wake her up.
“That works, I’m interested in what you’ll be doing, but I’ll trust you on it. Oh no…”
Draudillon stopped in the hallway as she had begun to lead them down. It was hard not to see
the man in light blue armor as he stomped down the halls like he owned the place, heedless
of the guards that had tried to get him to stop.
Behind the guards following him there were three other men in blue armor, that seemed just
tired by that point, or embarrassed by the one in front.
“Excuse me, have you- Did the Queen have a sister? Would you happen to know where the
Queen is miss? My party Crystal Tear and I have an urgent need to discuss the war with her.”
The man was a blond haired pretty boy that at first glance seemed like he would be decent
enough, but that name run a few bells in Akemi’s head… alarm bells.
The Queen herself looked flustered on how to deal with the situation that only escalated from
there. “Oh? Where did you come from beautiful?” The man whom Akemi assumed was
Cerabrate had seemed to look past Draudillon and at Akemi, much to the other’s discomfort.
Akemi herself tried to stay composed and shook her head. “My apologies, but I’m not
interested, I’m here on business with the Queen.” Akemi resisted growling out, and held a
hand in front of Ana and Kyouko before they could say anything. “No need to kill him over
just flirting with me.”
To her surprise the man’s face took on a sour note for a moment. “My apologizes, I wasn’t
talking to you, but to the feline demi-human behind you. Did the Queen buy you from
another land? Well… I’d rather have the Queen, but you both are quite adorable.” Cerabrate
said the last bit quieter as he took a step closer and held a hand out towards Hannyuu behind
Akemi.
The tension in the air could choke a cow like a garrote wire as Akemi moved in front of
Hannyuu fully, while Ana and Kyouko took the sides to block him off completely. “I’m
feeling quite generous today, I’ll give you one chance to turn around and leave. Do not so
much as look at my daughter again you bastard.” Akemi growled as part of her hoped he
would try something.
“Lady do you know who I am? Well, not my fault if you get hurt, I’ll have you learn your
place Demi-human.” Cerabrate said with a cocky gleam in his eye as he drew closer to
Akemi and made no move to draw the sword on his back.
When the guards moved forward to try and get between Akemi and Cerabrate, the Queen just
help up a hand at them off to the side. “I’ll allow it.” That seemed to make Cerabrate happy
for some reason, as if he thought the Queen’s sister was on his side in it. Akemi didn’t even
move as the man tried to simply punch Akemi in the gut, and felt absolutely no give in the
impact, just his hand inside of his gauntlet hurting.
“My turn~ Self defense time!” Akemi said and quickly punched back, right in his sternum,
which she felt crack even as she pulled her punch to not kill him. The man flopped on the
ground like a fish, gasping for air and staring up at Akemi in shock as bits of hit armor
cracked into pieces, falling onto the floor.
“Well, I guess this is perfect timing. I Am Queen Draudillon, this is just my true form, and
thankfully the time I have to put up with your… proclivities is over. Crystal tear, your
services are no longer required, the Dragon Kingdom’s Beastmen problem has already been
solved as of yesterday.” Draudillon said with a barely contained smug grin.
“W-what? Who the hell would be able to do that? Their leader is a match even for me!”
Cerabrate said as he sat up while trying to not cough up his raspy lungs.
Draudillon just gestured to Akemi who continued to glare at the group of them as Cerabrate’s
party came to gather around him.
“I dealt with that army yesterday morning, it was a simple task. Perhaps your skills have been
over estimated by the guild? Regardless, I suggest you leave, quickly.” Akemi threatened as
her aura slowly was being pushed onto the area, making Crystal tear get even more nervous.
To Akemi’s delight Cerabrate was as much of an idiot as she thought, and with all traces of
knightly demeanor he had before he opened his mouth gone, he drew the greatsword on his
back that was as long as Hannyuu was tall, and made to swipe Akemi’s head off. “Oh this is
satisfying.” Akemi said as she held the edge of that sword between the tips of her fingers
before it made contact with her.
“[Illusionary Stasis]. Now you three, prostrate yourself.” Akemi used her Divine Edict on
his party members, who seemed to throw themselves onto the ground at Draudillon’s feet.
“You may raise your heads. Now, you three really should take care who you associate
yourself with, this man is disgusting company. As much as I want to as a mother, I won’t kill
him, but some punishment is needed.” Akemi said as she pulled the sword from Cerabrate’s
grip as he stood like a statue in the hallway, and put his sword into her inventory.
It was not enough for her, and so she began to trace her sharpened fingernail on Cerabrate’s
forehead, using her tails to lift herself up to the needed height, really taking her time with it.
Ana and Kyouko couldn’t help but snort, and Draudillon had a smile that seemed to say
‘what can you do?’.
“There we go, that will work. [Stabilize Wounds], [Maximize Magic: Curse Wounds]. You
can keep that scar as a reminder.” Akemi said and snapped her finger. At that Cerabrate fell to
the ground and grasp his forehead, wailing as that pain must have caught back up. The shiny
floor was enough for Cerabrate to see the words Akemi had scarred on his face, a bright red
‘Pedo’ that was visible under his short bangs. When the man looked back up at her in both
fear and fury she matched that with her own fury. “Never look at or speak to children
again. I think I made my point, is that enough for you Queen Draudillon?” Akemi asked as
she moved over to hug Hannyuu to herself when she saw the girl retreating back into her
mind from that encounter.
“I think that should do for now. Cerabrate, for the crime of assault on a diplomat visiting this
Kingdom, I banish you beyond our borders. As for the rest of you… You may stay if you
wish, but I highly suggest you part from this man, being strong of body does not make
someone strong of character.” Those three party members could only stare at them, their
bodies still frozen.
“Oh yeah, You are free to move.” Akemi said and watched the three jump up, and drag
Cerabrate away. They ignored the man’s cries for his sword back as they seemed to just want
to get out.
“Guards, please make sure he leaves within the hour. Akemi?” Draudillon looked at the
Kitsune and was all smiles.
“I’ll send a summon to watch him and make sure he leaves, if he doesn’t I’ll teleport him
somewhere else.” Akemi said and gently pet Hannyuu’s ears as the girl slowly calmed down,
her ears still folded.
“That will work I suppose. That is one problem dealt with, also I didn’t see you take that
sword, neither did anyone else, for the record.” Draudillon said as she looked at the
surrounding guards who were quick to nod. It turned out that the man was not very popular in
the palace.
“I mean… I’ll see if anyone wants it I guess, it will probably gather dust. You want it
Hannyuu? I remember you were curious about big swords when we went to that smithy, and I
guess it would make a passable training sword.” Akemi didn’t pay any mind to the shocked
looks on the other’s faces.
“Um… Akemi, that sword is Starshooter, it is decently famous and is made of Orichalcum,
there isn’t much better you can get than that.” Draudillon said with a chuckle as she led them
down the halls again, once all the guards stopped staring at them.
“Debatable. I mean, the blade Akemi gave me is Adamantite, she does damn fine work as a
crafter.” Kyouko bragged and ignored the blank stare Draudillon gave her.
“I think I don’t want to touch anything that man touched. Um Que- Draudillon, I’m sorry you
had to deal with someone like That for so long… I can r-relate…” Hannyuu mumbled and
still looked upset as she admitted that. She flinched, but allowed the hair ruffle from
Draudillon.
“I’ll reforge it for you later if you change your mind. I’ll do some upgrades, and personalize
it as a victory over the bastard~ Well, something to think about dear.” Akemi said and smiled
at her daughter as the girl finally seemed to look a bit better.
Soon enough they at the front of the castle and had stopped to look over the capital from the
high perch the castle sat on. “So I’m thinking that when we meet up to look at potential spots
that we could turn it into a picnic and treat it as a first date? Test the waters outside of
business…” Akemi blushed, seeming to shrink down just a bit more as her inexperience
showed.
“You two are right, she is adorable.” Draudillon said to Ana and Kyouko before she had
taken Akemi’s hand while the Kitsune was looking down and flustered. Her fluster reached
new heights as the Queen planted a chaste kiss on her hand. “That sounds like a plan, I’ll
look forward to it. I’ll try and get things more stable here by then, I’d like the place to come
back to life before we have a night on the town.”
“Y-yeah, we can do that… Ugh this guy again… I’m going to teleport him alright?” Akemi
said as she glared at Cerabrate as he stormed up the stairs to the castle with a cloth wrapped
around his forehead like a bandanna.
“You! What the hell did you put on my head!? It won’t heal! Give me my sword back you-”
He was cut off by a magical glyph under his feet.
“[Greater Teleportation Other]. Bye bye now~” Akemi watched as the man vanished into thin
air. The others could only blink at that, including the guards.
“So… where did you send him? I mean, he is a creep but I’m not sure if it is death penalty
worthy yet.” Draudillon said.
“I was tempted to put him on the mountains between here and the Empire but that would
probably be murder right now, so I just teleported him about an hour away from Arswintar in
the empire. He’ll likely have a ton of fun getting help with that on his forehead. I wish I
could rename that spell... TeleYeet sounds so much better...”
That was enough to get Draudillon to truly laugh, not that polite court laugh, but one what
felt like she was finally relaxing after years of hardship.
“Oh I’m glad, if I don’t ever have to see that man again it will be too soon. You all have a
good night. It was nice to meet you three.” Draudillon smiled at Ana, Kyouko, and Hannyuu.
“I hope we’ll all get to know each other more, I see a good future for both our people.”
“I feel the same, I hope we’ll see each other again some time.” Kyouko said with an easy
grin.
“Thank you for your hospitality, you’re a lot more down to earth than I thought a Queen
would be.” Ana said and did seem far more relaxed than earlier that day.
Hannyuu was still visibly disturbed by that man, but seemed to be calming down with the
familiar and gentle hand petting her head. “I-it was nice to meet you also, I hope I can learn
more stuff like today.”
“[Gate]. I’ll see you in two days then Drau… Is it okay if I use that nickname? Oh, here I
made a few more of these.” Akemi said and pulled a small gold and wood ring from her
inventory, an identical one to the one she gave Arche. “This can let you contact me with
Message, just in case you need something, I’m just a teleport away.” Akemi said as she let
the others enter the portal first before following.
“You may, I know my name is pretty long. Farewell Akemi~ I’ll see you then.” She said, not
seeming to be at all offended, and even winked at Akemi before she passed through the
portal.
“Are you enjoying yourself your Majesty?” Dahl asked as she emerged from the doorway
with an amused smirk on his face.
“Oh I am, been a long time since I’ve actually been interested in someone, least of all one
that is in the same social strata that I might be able to marry. That much adorable naivety
mixed with that form is completely unfair. Well… paperwork waits for no one…”
Chapter End Notes
A/N: A slightly shorter chapter than normal these days, but this was the overflow from
the previous chapter. Sorry if this one was a bit dry, it is hard to make negotiations…
interesting in my eyes, but I hope enough other bits were sprinkled in to add to the story.
If you found that punishment for that creep over the top, I didn’t, was kind of satisfying
to write, I hated him the second I read about him lmao. I don’t really intend for him to
be a recurring character, so probably the last we’ll see of him.
I took a lot of creative liberties with the Queen, as not a whole lot is known about her,
especially not her appearance.
Please tell me what you thought in the comments, I always love interacting with you all
<3
Baby steps
Chapter Summary
As everyone relaxes for the day, Hannyuu makes progress in her training, also also
seeming to become more like a Kitsune by the day.
One day... The Prank War shall begin anew...
Chapter Notes
A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter! It is mostly fluff to celebrate the 200k milestone!
Besides the fluff there are many future plot points dropped in to find.
Akemi didn’t know whether to feel like she was in heaven or hell from where she laid. Her
mind was quickly waking up as she laid between two sources of heat, sending her heart into a
frenzy.
She felt Kyouko behind her with her arms wrapped around Akemi’s stomach, yet she knew
the wolf was asleep from the quiet breathes that came from right next to Akemi’s ear where
she felt Kyouko having snuggled against the back of her neck, her nose burrowed into the
soft hair.
Akemi also felt a hand on her chest, along with a head. Like before Ana had decided to
cuddle against her front, using Akemi’s petite breasts as a pillow. While it was likely
comfortable for Ana, Akemi felt her face burning up, especially as she became hyper aware
of Kyouko’s small movements against her back, and those strong hands occasionally
squeezing her. All of that while the tall wolf’s large chest was pressed into her back,
something Akemi was very aware of.
When Akemi felt Kyouko quietly growl in her ear she felt a jolt go down her spine from the
sleepy and husky voice. “Mmm… ‘kemi? Oh yeah… Hannyuu stayed with Lorelei.” Kyouko
mumbled as she hugged Akemi tighter to herself while she slowly awoke.
“M-morning Kyo, comfortable?” Akemi asked with nervous hitch in her voice as she felt
those hands from both her girlfriends light a fire where they touched.
“Yeah, you make a great pillow, so soft and nice to hug… I see Ana is comfortable also.”
Kyouko said as she gave a quiet yawn. If Akemi had seen behind her she might have thought
it adorable as that yawn made Kyouko’s ears fold down for a moment. Akemi took a few
deep breathes to calm herself as Kyouko hugged tighter. Her breath caught in her throat as
Akemi felt Kyouko sniff and her neck for a moment before planting a gentle kiss.
“Adorable~” Kyouko seemed to enjoy feeling Akemi shudder beneath her as she planted a
few more kisses along her neck and shoulder.
“Kyouko…” Akemi bit her lip as she tried to resist making the noises that kept trying to
escape her. It was too late though, as the small huffed breathes she gave must have ruffled
Ana’s hair just enough that the human began to wake up also.
In the mellow morning light Akemi stared down into those emerald eyes that felt like home.
With a quiet yawn Ana lifted her face off Akemi’s chest. The mood was changed as Ana
seemed to smile at Kyouko over Akemi’s shoulder, a strangely mischievous smile
considering the early hour.
It was an assault on her senses as those two squeezed against Akemi tighter, and both began
to kiss a spot on opposite sides of her neck, causing the Kitsune to let out a squeaky half
moan. When Ana’s hand accidentally squeezed her chest from where it had been resting, that
got an actual moan out of Akemi that seemed to surprise even her.
They paused and looked at Akemi as she slowly got more and more red due to the volume of
it. “You’re pretty sensitive dear~ Not used to them being touched?” Kyouko asked and
grinned at her two girlfriends that had become red as tomatoes.
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to do that Akemi.” Ana said and gave her a peck on the cheek, some
of her energy toned down.
“O-of course I’m not…” Akemi’s ears folded as her heart pounded away.
“You mean you’ve never…?” Kyouko tilted her head as she tried to decipher Akemi’s little
noises.
“If you mean like… t-touching myself, no.” That seemed to get her girlfriend’s attention
more.
“Really? I mean, even I-I’ve… that.” Ana half admitted and rested her cheek back on
Akemi’s shoulder.
“Huh, I thought with how much you like your self-made dream body that you would have
tried out some fantasies by now. I mean, you are absolutely gorgeous after all, you did a great
job with it.” Kyouko complimented and nuzzled into Akemi’s neck.
“It… crossed my mind a bit, but I’ve been way too busy to think of spending time on doing
things like that… The second day I got here I already had a lot on my mind from that stupid
Guild Master there, and had pretty much given up on being an adventurer. Later that night I
found Hannyuu and we’ve mostly shared a room since then.” Akemi admitted with a sigh. “It
wasn’t ever something I was big on, I certainly didn’t care about that with my old body. Of
course I did… have fantasies of what I might do if I had my dream body. Thinking about
those fantasies back then just depressed me, so it wasn’t often I thought of that.”
“You know, that explains a lot. You really haven’t had a lot of free time to just live… I’m
sorry babe.” Kyouko said and kissed the top of her head.
“It’s fine, there is… always time to learn at some point… I don’t mind you t-touching me.
Should I maybe… have made my boobs bigger?” Akemi look strangely self conscious of her
body, something they had never seen. The scratching at base of her ears and the gentle
kissing on her collarbone made her relax just a bit more again.
“Nope, they’re perfect~ You said you don’t mind being touched?” Kyouko asked as her
finger tips trailed sensually over Akemi’s thin pajama top and bottom. Swallowing the lump
in her throat Akemi gave a nod, which was immediately followed by Kyouko gently cupping
one breast from behind, while Ana put her hand on the other.
They were both rewarded with a shaky moan, the normally strong Kitsune almost like putty
in their hands. Akemi felt both of their other hands starting to graze over the rest of her body.
“What is t-this?” Akemi felt her breath coming in harder gasps due to how extra sensitive her
skin was getting, till she was forced to cover her mouth to avoid yelping louder as her those
loving hands touched over more of her body, such as her thighs, stomach. One brave hand
that Akemi guessed was Ana’s even grabbed her rear, getting another squeaky moan from
Akemi.
Like the hand of fate, a hand knocked at the door and startled them all. “Hey Moms, you all
awake? Or are you all sleeping in? I made breakfast!” Hannyuu said through the door before
they heard her bare feet skitter down the stairs again.
“Well… She has a lot of energy this morning. You alright there babe?” Kyouko asked with a
teasing grin, right before leaning down to apply another love bite on Akemi’s collarbone,
adding to the array of them both her and Ana had left that morning, eliciting another cute
squeak from her inexperienced lover. Akemi herself looked out of it but didn’t seem to be
upset.
“I think we broke her… Hey Ana~” Kyouko scooted up, letting Akemi rest against her own
chest as the Kitsune slowly rebooted, and leaned her head towards Ana, taking the cute
mage’s lips in a tender kiss. Ana made a little yelp of surprise as well before she melted into
the affection. That tender kiss soon turned more intense as both of their lust was added to the
mix, their kiss growing in passion.
Akemi felt the heat in her head slowly simmer down, and then get boil right back up as she
watched the intense kiss between her girlfriends. “Okay… That is hot, better than anything I
looked up for sure…” Akemi thought as she nuzzled against Kyouko’s chest and let a hand
slip down.
Kyouko shivered as she felt that hand getting lower… that then stopped at her abdominal
muscles. When she felt Ana’s energy in the kiss start to lessen she broke the kiss herself and
grinned at her. “You’re getting better, that was longer than last time.” Kyouko said and licked
her lips. “You two feel alright?”
Akemi jolted like she had been caught and remove her hand from feeling those abs. “Y-yeah,
just… That was more… intense than I thought it would be though, not in a bad way.”
With Ana still staring into space and catching her breath Kyouko relaxed. “Yeah I’m
surprised you’re so sensitive, all that over your clothes, even if they’re thin pajamas.”
Kyouko said before running her fingers through Ana’s hair to check up on her. “You alright
love?”
Ana’s gaze moved between the two of them as she touched her lips with a pensive look. “I
can’t feel my mouf…” Ana quietly slurred and snuggled up to the two of them.
“That is just one of the secret techniques I’ve picked up, Wait till I show you what else I can
use this tongue for~ Well… that will be for another time, I want to have all the time possible
to give you both the loving you deserve, and teach you all that I know~” Kyouko said
without a hint of embarrassment, and just gently cupped a hand over both of her girlfriend’s
cheeks, lightly running her thumb over them with all the care in the world. “I love you two,
you two are adorable…”
Akemi and Ana both flushed bright red and leaned into that hand, holding it against the side
of their faces affectionately. “Maybe when we have our new place, we might be able to all
move into one room together. There is… a lot I still need to learn. It is embarrassing, but I
want to explore all that with the two of you without interruptions. We should probably head
downstairs before Hannyuu busts down the door… but I want our f-first time to be together,
all three of us…” Akemi snuggled against the two of them and tried to relax herself.
With all the reluctance in the world, the three of them pulled themselves off each other and
out of bed. Akemi sat on the edge of the bed and took some deep breathes. “You can go
ahead, I need a minute I think…” She admitted and tried to calm her pounding heart.
“Me to, I need to change anyway.” Ana said as she stumbled back to her room while still
touching her lips.
“I’ll meet you two downstairs~ That was nice way to wake up, a good morning.” Kyouko
seemed more energized than anything as she went into her own room.
Akemi tried to flatten her ruffled hair and grabbed a pillow to groan into it. “Maybe I
shouldn’t have turned my nose up at those H games, maybe I’d have a clue on what to do.”
Akemi thought as her face just got more flushed as she laid back on her bed, her head finally
cooling off.
Hannyuu was still moving around the kitchen as the three of them slinked down and took a
chair. They only sat down though after Hannyuu shooed them out of that kitchen when they
tried to help.
Akemi couldn’t help but notice how at home Hannyuu seemed in that kitchen, how much
more confident she was handling cooking, she seemed to actually have fun doing so. “She is
a lot better than me at it for sure.”
It didn’t take long after they got down before Hannyuu set out breakfast and sat down with
them.
It was a strangely awkward breakfast as the four of them sat around the table, with only
Hannyuu acting normal. Eventually Kyouko was the one to break the silence. “Hey Hannyuu,
thanks for staying with Lorelei for the night, I really appreciate it.” She said while she
reached over the table to ruffle that soft pink hair, eliciting a small laugh from the girl.
“It wasn’t a problem, it is better she has company as much as possible so I tried to talk to her
as much as I could before I fell asleep. I’m trying to get used to sleeping away from Mama
Akemi, and it wasn’t that bad, I think if I have a room of my own I’ll get used to it pretty
quickly. So… how was your night Mamas?” That smirk told them that she knew what she
did.
“You’re a good sister to her, thanks for that.” Kyouko said and looked relieved before digging
into breakfast. “It was a pretty good night, very fluffy. Akemi’s tails really have a mind of
their own, like fuzzy snakes.”
“You’re always welcome to come to us if you need to though, even the middle of the night.
Thank you for breakfast, you’re learning fast.” Ana said as she found her recipes she taught
Hannyuu perfectly replicated.
“Thank you dear, what they both said, though I hope you don’t get tired of hugs.” Akemi said
with a smirk. It was nice to see her daughter slowly growing up and recovering. “You are too
much like a Kitsune though… I wonder where that came from.” Akemi joked.
“I think she had that potential in her all along.” Kyouko added and enjoyed the way Akemi
jumped when her bare feet grazed Akemi’s leg.
“Just be careful who you prank, preferably not us. I can’t exactly discourage pranking… I did
nuke Ainz after all. Wanna think up a prank for him later with me? I think it is time for the
prank war to resume.” Akemi declared with a grin, while also playing footsie right back with
her girlfriends under the table.
“Prank war? That sounds kind of bad… what happened in the last one?” Hannyuu asked as a
worried look spread on her face, especially at the thought of pranking that terrifying skeleton
man…
They all felt a shiver of fear in their hearts at the grin Akemi gave, it was just so purely
mischievous. “Ahh it was several years ago, the great prank war. Thankfully it was the only
war between our guilds that happened, even if we all came close to blows a few times. It
started with some things like sending each other junk mail, or just annoying each other, until I
may have went too far…” Akemi scratched her cheek and looked away. “So glitter is tiny bits
of colorful metal or plastic… plastic is complicated so please don’t ask me to explain that.
My point is glitter gets everywhere and you can never get rid of it all ever, it is basically a
colorful curse. I put a bunch of that into a chest, as well as some really high level crafting
glue that would stick to just about anything. Under all that I put a spell crystal of one of my
favorite spells, Nuclear Mine, which was set to go off a few seconds after opening the box.”
Akemi chuckled as she leaned back in her chair, visibly enjoying the memory.
“Wait, that spell you used in the eight fingers hideout? How is that a prank!?” Kyouko
shouted as she nearly glared at Akemi in exasperation.
The others stared at her suspiciously, enough that Akemi looked just a bit ashamed. “Because
we all were strong enough that that wouldn’t kill us or anything, or cause much damage. I did
get told off for it though… since it did nearly make us actually go to war with Ainz Ooal
Gown, eventually we all laughed about it though… after they got my clan mates to put my
Lilys into strange hair styles…” With a sigh Akemi’s ears folded. “And that was the end of
the prank war.”
“You’ve mention that term a few times also, what are these Lilys?” Ana asked with a tilt of
her head.
Akemi’s face broke into a nostalgic grin as she remembered. “They were my four NPCs back
in the guild. You know Shalltear, Lupus Regina and those around Ainz? They are NPCs,
beings we crafted ourselves in their entirety. Back in the game they didn’t move on their own,
and were not alive, all their personality was just back story added to them, just data in a
system. You could give them basic orders like ‘guard this area’ and the like, but nothing
complicated. The same was true for my Lilys, they were basically my dress up dolls almost,
or surrogate daughters since I had no chance of ever having kids in that world. Having a real
daughter has been far better, for one you actually hug back if I hug you.” Akemi said and
reached over to affectionately boop Hannyuu’s nose.
“So why did Ainz get to bring his NPCs and you didn’t?” Kyouko asked and also booped
Hannyuu’s nose, who now squirmed from it in annoyance.
“What were they like? I’m curious now what kind of beings you created.” Ana said and Also
booped Hannyuu, who then flailed her arms at her mothers to ward off any more fingers to
the nose. “Sorry, it is the mother’s job to bug their daughter~”
“Agreed, you’re stuck with us dear~” Akemi said with a loving smile. Hannyuu could only
smile and shake her head in exasperation. “I… honestly don’t know why he got to bring his
entire guild base with him, it might have something to do with World Items, but I don’t have
enough information to go off of. I only got to bring what I had on me at the time I died, while
Ainz only got transported at the end of the game a few weeks after that. I honestly don’t
know why he got here before me in that particular case… though maybe I was laying in the
forest that entire time unconscious.” She took on a thoughtful look as the gears slowly turned
in her head.
Coming back to her senses she waved those thoughts aside. “As for how my Lilys were?
They were a bit taller than you Hannyuu, they were basically set as my personal guards or at
least made to be capable of fighting with me as a team, and yet also able to work with just
them. They were all various demi-human races, I admit I was making them with the intention
of them being as adorable as possible, yet deceptively strong.” Akemi reminisced with a sigh.
“No one expects a bunny girl monk that knows exploding palm strikes after all…”
“They’re all gone now though I’m sure, the game ended after all, and the servers are probably
wiped. Likely the only way I’d be able to bring them here is maybe an unknown world item
or something, and I’m not sure if world items can reach into other worlds.” Akemi said and
finished her food. “So… I basically have two days until I have anything big to do again, what
do you three want to do?” She sounded strangely lost.
“Training for me. Mama Ana? Can you help me with magic again?” Hannyuu asked and
looked excited for the day, something they all loved to see.
“Of course, I’ll be happy to.” Ana said and rested her chin on a palm while she relaxed. She
didn’t realize it, but Kyouko and Akemi could see the absolutely motherly look on Ana’s face
that was so clearly proud of their daughter.
“I’ll try and help during it, I want to be there when you cast your first spell. I got an idea for a
small gift to celebrate that big event~ Yeah, making some items today sounds fun to me, and
then working on the plans for the country.” Akemi looked strangely excited.
“What even do you mean by that? You building something?” Kyouko asked.
The grin on Akemi’s face just grew. “Oh you can say that, it will be a pretty big surprise for
everyone, but I figure if everyone wants to make me a goddess then I may as well do
something Goddess-like.”
“Are you going to make a Moon or something to live on?” Ana asked while setting her fork
down, looking a bit concerned. To their surprise Akemi just tilted her head.
“That is still a bit much for me… Though thanks for the idea, if I ever figure out how to
break my level cap that will be my new goal! That sounds awesome and I want to do it! No,
what I’m doing is still on a smaller scale than that… relatively speaking.” Akemi seemed
quite proud of her secret plan.
“So what, is it like the floating city of the Eight Greed Kings?” Ana asked next, leaning
forward as they all got more curious.
“Someone has made a floating city? Wait… what was the city called?” Akemi’s fork froze in
place as she stared at Ana, Her tone no longer joking.
“Um… I learned about it a bit, it was a long long time ago… It’s called Eryuentiu. Is
something wrong?” Ana looked nervous now.
Akemi shook her head. “Well, from what I know they are all gone now yeah? I knew of that
city back in Yggdrasil! Did they rebuild it or something? Or did it get transported with them
like Ainz and Nazarick? That was their guild base, the guild Yokubari. It makes sense they
might take that nickname of eight greed kings in that case. Most of their guild was retired
after they joined in that raid on Nazarick, so maybe only eight were left? This is big…”
Akemi seemed to talk more to herself as her mind whirled with theories. She snapped out of
it and looked at her family, who seemed worried. “S-sorry, I was just trying to piece together
how they might have arrived, I think I have a few clues now.”
She slowly calmed down and relaxed herself. “So… that city is pretty big as far as I’m aware,
but that is a city, I’m making something that can truly hold a country if I do it right. I kind of
wish I had the power to make that moon idea instead but eh… I already had thought of this
one back in Yggdrasil and started the technical plans, though I had no need for a new guild
base back then, I was in Natura after all.” Akemi got up and started to take the other’s empty
plates with her to the kitchen as they finished up breakfast.
“So how serious are you about making your old guild into a country?” Kyouko asked as she
stayed at the table. It didn’t take long for Akemi to return to them while drying her hands off.
“Completely serious. Sure we don’t have many people now, but if I’m letting demi-humans
and other oppressed groups all over immigrate then it will fill up pretty quick. I intend for the
population to grow pretty big over the years. I’m planning for the long term and potentially
millions of people. There will be plenty of room to build, farm, and even raise livestock. The
home that will be included for us will be rather fancy, with a lot of room for the family to
grow also.” Akemi looked so excited that they didn’t want to interrupt her.
“How big are we talking? Wait, how big do you want the family to grow?” Ana asked with a
blush. Kyouko just smirked.
“Um… Yes. I keep imaging a big castle with a bunch of children running around and being
happy, a big happy family.” Akemi said with a blush as she imagined it a bit more, a dorky
smile breaking out across her flushed face. “The thought has stuck in my head since I got
here of… if this body can get pregnant and all… back in my old life that was a large chunk of
my depression, that I could never have that kind of hope for a big family. It is kind of
embarrassing to say out loud…” Akemi tried to will the blush off her face.
Clearing her throat she stood up and moved towards the living room where the fireplace was
roaring. “I’ll just be working on some items today I think, and the floor plan for the house.
When it is time for Hannyuu’s magic training bring me also please, I want to see her cast her
first spell.” Akemi said as she quietly hummed, her mood seeming to be sky high from her
fantasies.
The other three could just look at each other for a few moments before Hannyuu shrugged.
“We shouldn’t be surprised, Mama does what she wants, it isn’t like she breaks common
sense daily around us or anything.” That playfully sarcastic comment was a sentiment the
others could only nod at in agreement. “Hmm… I wouldn’t mind having some little
siblings~” She said with a mischievous grin to her two other mom’s exasperation… and
embarrassment.
With the air still chilled by the night Kyouko and Hannyuu emerged from their home and into
the quiet settlement. Many demi-humans had sleep schedules that were different from
humans, so it wasn’t a surprise that most were still in their homes.
“Alright Hannyuu, we’re going to go for a little run, did you stretch?” Kyouko asked as she
herself stretched. Both of them were dressed in stretchy shirts and shorts that Akemi had
given them for working out in.
“Yup! I’m ready to go.” Hannyuu was full of energy, like a child her age should be. When
Kyouko took off in a sedate jog, it was faster for Hannyuu and her short legs. Kyouko
listened out and could tell Hannyuu was breathing like she had taught her to maintain her
pace. “Such a good child.”
Kyouko took them through a path in the forest till they got to the edge of the barrier. “We’re
going to run around the edge of the barrier until we get back here, alright? If you need a
break we can take one, you’re doing really well.” Kyouko said as she turned left, taking them
along the glassy barrier dome.
It was quiet and peaceful as they ran, a beautiful morning. Hannyuu’s stare was dead ahead
and determined as she sped up just a bit, pushing herself more and more. Kyouko could only
admire that determination and smile at her new daughter. Once that burst of energy faded
from Hannyuu she had slowed her jog to something far slower, and Kyouko slowed to match.
“Hannyuu, I want to thank you. Right from the start you’ve been helping just as much as all
of us in taking care of Lorelei, it was your plan that helped rescue her even.” Kyouko said in
between breathes, keeping conversation slow for both of their sake.
The feline looked confused by the thanks, surprisingly enough. “Huh? Of course I’m going to
help my big sister, especially since I can imagine what she went through. I never… had any
siblings, but I think it is a little sister’s job to help their big sister, right?” Hannyuu slowly got
out between huffy breathes as she kept from slowing down any more than she had.
Kyouko couldn’t help the joy that filled her at Hannyuu’s words, and turned around to lift
Hannyuu up into the air playfully, spinning them around for a moment before hugging her.
“You’re such a good daughter! I love you dear~” Kyouko said and had a bright and motherly
smile on her face, even her tail wagged as she hugged the feline.
Hannyuu chuckled and hugged her back, a purr emerging unbidden from her throat. “Love
you too Mama.” She said, though it was muffled by the tight hug. When the joy Kyouko felt
slowed, she set the girl back on her feet and just smiled down at her.
More words didn’t need to be spoken as they picked their running back up, their hearts
feeling just a bit lighter.
Several hours after that Hannyuu was sitting on a rock in a small clearing Kyouko had
claimed as a training ground behind their house. She had been told to wait there while
Kyouko went to fetch a few things back at the house.
When Kyouko’s large foot steps entered the clearing Hannyuu had to get up and scramble as
Kyouko tossed something to her as she got closer. Barely catching the long object by a
handle. She realized it was a long wooden sword, nearly as long as her body, and thicker than
a longsword. With a grunt she found she could barely lift the thing, and let the end rest on the
ground behind her as she held it.
Kyouko was watching curiously as she saw Hannyuu make several strange body movements
when she caught it. “One moment Hannyuu, I want to test something.” Kyouko said as she
approached. Hannyuu sensed nothing off with it until she was lightly pushed on the shoulder
by the wolf woman who was training her.
To both their surprise Hannyuu had swung that sword in front of her when she was pushed
and took several unstable steps back, yet she didn’t fall. “Are you realizing what you are
doing?” Kyouko asked in slight amazement.
Hannyuu just tilted her head with a pout. “What do you mean? Why did you push me?” She
asked as her cheeks just puffed up further, almost like a hamster, and deflated as Kyouko
poked them.
“Adorable~” Kyouko could only think that with a smirk on her face. “Oh you moved that
heavy sword in front of you like a counter balance when I pushed you. You seem to be doing
some movements unconsciously but you have exceptional balance for your size, it is honestly
amazing. Giving you a big sword might just be the right call if you get the strength for it. You
wanted a bigger sword yes?” She asked.
The girl just tilted her head. “I do? I guess I don’t fall much… Big swords seem c-cool. This
is a bit heavy though, it is a lot bigger than the one you gave me that was my size I was using
before.” Hannyuu said and struggled to lift the sword. Even when she lifted the wooden
sword above her head she didn’t lose her balance, her feet shifting to a wider stance and her
tail flicking around to help. With a clumsy swing, that sword hit the ground as she lost
control.
“Trying to show off for Rinna eh? I won’t tell~ You’re next task will be to swing that sword
just like that until you can do it without the end touching the ground on the down swing. Just
keep going until you can’t anymore alright? This is the next phase of your training.”
“Ehhh? My arms are going to be so sore tomorrow…” She complained but quickly let go of
her hesitation. She trusted her wolf mama’s training regime, and so she raised that wooden
great sword with all the effort she could, and tried to just swing the thing down, yet could do
nothing to stop it from hitting the ground. “This is going to take a while… But I can see the
point of it.”
“You’ll figure out the right muscles to use soon enough.” Kyouko said and unsheathed
Desolation, beginning her own rapid practice strikes away from her daughter as a
companionable silence took the place of conversation, both of them working towards getting
stronger.
“Sounds like they’re enjoying themselves.” Ana said as she rested her head upon the
supremely comfortable pillow that was Akemi’s lap. Akemi herself had taken a seat on the
ground in front of the fireplace while she worked on an item, letting Ana lay on and watch
from her lap.
“That they do, I’m glad. You two are so good to her, you don’t know how happy it makes me
to see it. What are beginner’s wands usually made out of? I don’t want to give Hannyuu
something outrageous for a first wand.” Akemi said as she leaned back into her tails that took
the place of a support for her back.
“Oh wood from a tree struck by lightning usually can work, but that is more tradition. They
usually don’t have a focus like better magic mediums, but they can. Aren’t your tails going to
get tired like that?” Ana asked and kept her eyes closed, looking amazingly comfortable.
“Hmm… I’ll just use a medium level wood for the base I suppose, and a minor focus, just
some thing to assist in focusing her mana.” Akemi said and pulled out a small log of a
reddish wood, more of a thick branch really. Controlling the crafting with magic was
completely natural to her as the wood was floated into the air, leaving her hands free to pet
Ana and run her fingers through that soft hair lovingly. “Nah, my tails are in a way stronger
than my arm, they can lift a couple dozen of us probably, making an arch on the ground to
lean on isn’t anything.”
“Good enough. It is fun watching you work, I thought you had lots of these items pre-made
or something. The strongest and fluffiest tails in the world.” Ana peeked her eyes open to
watch Akemi cut off a chunk of wood and begin to carve it with what appeared to be visible
threads of mana coming from her, leaving no sawdust to fall on Ana.
It was a comfortable day for them all. “So I’m curious, the people of this world do know they
have classes and job levels yeah? How do you find out about that?” Akemi asked as she
worked, now fitting a tiny white crystal into the very tip of the wand by hand.
“Hmm? We do, though normally we can check at the adventurer’s guild, or some towns
might have someone who can tell you what classes you have, just like the spells that can tell
if you have a talent. Now, both of those spells don’t give the caster knowledge on just what
the classes mean, or what the Talent they have does.” Ana said.
“I see… I can check someone’s classes depending on their resistances or willingness with
Sense Statistics, but I mostly only check total level, as there have been classes I don’t
recognize. I might have a book with some explanations, but I’d have to check. I should make
some items so people can check these things themselves, I want to see my own detailed
statistics now that I don’t have a menu to use to do that. I can’t cast that spell on myself
sadly.” Akemi’s grin widened as she thought about it more, an idea blooming in her mind.
“I could totally turn adventurer’s plates into an item that can do that, the materials getting
better can certainly help hold the enchantment more. I’d need something pretty strong to
check my own, but I want to double check my skills for any surprises.” The tails that weren’t
supporting Akemi began to wiggle around behind her on her own. With a happy hum Akemi
took that floating finished wand, and put the finishing touches on it, giving the surface a
polished sheen, and ensured there was a clean and closed seam between the wood and the
focus. “There we go, a wand suitable as a first wand in my eyes. It is made from sacred
maple with a piece of purified quartz as the focus, common enough materials from Yggdrasil,
mostly used for grinding crafting levels.” Akemi said and let Ana hold onto and admire it.
“Feels nice to the hand, no splinters at all. My classes are nothing special sadly, but I think
I’m making progress with my magic. What are you making next?” Ana asked as she sat up to
give Akemi room to pull something out of her inventory.
“You’ll get there babe, I believe in you~” Akemi said and pulled out what seemed to be a
waterfall of silver. Pulling it up Akemi revealed it to be a very thin sheet of silver material. “I
finally finished the chain portion of it. It is made of Star Silver, most of what I had left. This
will be Hannyuu’s new cloak, and her ultimate defense. If I can find more I’d like to make
something like this for everyone. I figured that since Hannyuu gave Lorelei her first
enchanted cloak, she needs a new one.”
“So… what does it do?” Ana asked as she touched the thin chain mail and marveled at the
smoothness of it, how it could flow almost like water around her hand.
“Well, I need to attach the other material to it and enchant it, but I wanted to make something
that could handle better enchantments, like perfect unknowable and maybe a regeneration
enchantment, so I have to use top tier materials. I suspect the fur I’m going to attach will give
it some summoning properties, but I’ll see how it is when it is done. The main feature will it
being able to turn into full body armor or something. Hmm… Mahou Shoujo Hannyuu, has
an interesting ring to it.” Akemi was back in her own little world for just a moment.
“…I can’t get over how casually you make these items that could be worth small countries.
Shall we go see how they’re doing out there soon?” Ana asked as she peeked out the window.
“This item is going to be on the level of my own equipment, so forgot a small country, more
like the Empire. Mm, give or take twenty minutes? I’ll get some of this cloak done and put it
away. I think our daughter might be sore tomorrow.” Akemi laughed under her breath as she
remembered the girl’s amusing complaints when she was training alone.
———
“Mama Kyoukoooo… I can’t swing this anymore…” Hannyuu whined and leaned back
against a tree, the wooden sword falling to the ground as she slid to the ground as well, her
breath coming in tired pants.
“Good work dear, you’ll thank me eventually. If you keep it up maybe you’ll get muscles like
me, the ladies love them~” Kyouko said and sat down next to the feline, ruffling her hair.
“…I wonder if Rinna likes abs?” Hannyuu muttered to herself under her breath. It was
amusing to see Hannyuu seriously think about that.
It was at that moment that Ana and Akemi walked outside to join them. “That is the truth,
and even if you don’t there isn’t anything wrong with working out after all, we want you to
grow up healthy.” Akemi teased. “So how about lunch, and then you can start magic
practice?”
Hannyuu nodded sleepily and stumbled over to them as Akemi laid out a picnic blanket. It
was a nice day outside, if a bit cold, but the sun that leaked through the trees was nice and
warm, making it perfect for a picnic.
It turned out Hannyuu still had enough strength in her arms to make herself a sandwich from
the selection of meats Ana had brought out. “My arms hurt… I can’t even tell if I’m getting
all that much stronger, I feel weaker right now… Have I gained any levels?” Hannyuu asked
as she nibbled at her food.
“Lets see. [Sense Statistics]. You’re up to level nine, good, the levels in Slave were replaced.
I’m not sure what the Balance class is, I’ve never seen it before, but you have three levels in
that. Honestly that is a lot of potential, especially at level nine. You succeeded in getting a
level in Apprentice Heavy Fighter, and Apprentice Sorcerer. I assume those will end up being
replaced perhaps by regular versions of those at a certain point, but I don’t understand
everything about the leveling system in this world.” Akemi said and bit into her own
sandwich with a thoughtful look. Ana and Kyouko met her eyes as they recognized that she
had left out four of those levels, which Akemi shook her head at, as if to say she would
discuss it with them later.
“I’m glad those got replaced, I feel a bit more free of all that, of that past. I’ll keep trying
magic arrow till I get it!” Hannyuu declared as she shoved the rest of her sandwich into her
mouth, her energy coming back to her in her excitement.
Her parents watched fondly as the girl tried to move her mana around like Ana taught her,
and visualize the spell.
“I really need to learn the local language, maybe I’d be able to translate my spell books.
Thinking about it, why haven’t I tried to read them? Back in Yggdrasil they were just flavor
text without any meaning, just a way to record a spell and help someone learn it, just another
item and probably randomly generated text. All my other digital books were turned into
physical objects, so it could be possible…” Akemi said as she reached into her inventory for
her easier spell books.
With the book being held up and turned by mage hand, Akemi continued to eat her sandwich
with her actual hands. “I think… I might need to start my magical education from scratch,
and really understand everything about it from the view of this world.” Akemi said and
closed the book she cleared seemed to have trouble understanding. “I can use all my magic
intuitively like Yggdrasil, but I realize I don’t know anything about How I use the magic.”
From her words the others thought she might be upset by that, but they saw a grin spread
over her face.
“It should be fun, it isn’t like I hate learning. Language first I guess though, I’ll need that for
the sake of our people.” It was a good lunch for them, a good sense of peace after so many
rough days. “Hey Kyouko, I’m curious about something. You’ve called me and Ana you’re
mates before, is that different from girlfriends?” Akemi asked with a blush.
To their surprise Kyouko also turned red. “M-might have been a bit soon, but it is sort of. It is
more than girlfriends, but less than married these days. It is mostly a cultural thing for a lot of
demi-human races and used to represent more than being married, but it is hard to keep much
culture with how scattered we all are. Was that… over stepping?” Kyouko nervously asked.
Ana and Akemi didn’t need to answer much, and just took one of Kyouko’s hands each,
holding them tight. “No problems here, I feel the same. I guess in the grand scheme of things
we all got together in a pretty small amount of time, but we all went through a lot together
already.” Akemi said and leaned on them.
Ana leaned on them as well with a grin. “I’m not quite sure I get it, but I’m sure I’ll pick up
demi-human things more by being around you two. Call me what you like loves.” She said
and looked more content than anything. It really was picturesquely beautiful there in the
forest, with just the sounds of the settlement around them and family so close. It was the most
peace they had had in weeks.
“[Magic Arrow]!” They all watched Hannyuu continue to practice, and nearly jumped as a
singular yellow dart appeared in the air in front of Hannyuu and launched itself at the tree in
front of her after her attempts at casting the thing had fizzled a few dozen times before. They
were all silent for a moment before clapping quietly. “Good job dear.” Akemi said with bright
smile.
“We’re proud of you.” Ana pulled her into a group hug, something the feline was happy to
fall into, giggling as her mom’s took turns ruffling her hair and hugging her.
“You’re doing great with both your trainings.” Kyouko said and looked just as proud, her tail
even wagging behind her.
“Thank you Mamas… really, thank you…” Hannyuu said as her face shifted into a
bittersweet smile. She snuggled against the three of them as a few tears even leaked out. “I’m
still not used to actually having people be… proud of me. Casting a first tier spell isn’t really
big or anything… or swinging a sword.” Hannyuu sounded genuinely confused.
“Maybe in general, but they’re important first steps for you, and that makes them worth being
proud of, we all start somewhere. Just because one person climbed a mountain, that doesn’t
change the value in climbing that mountain yourself. Do we need a reason to be proud of you
in the first place? You’re our daughter, that is reason enough. We love you, and are proud of
you.” Akemi quietly said as the three moms hugged Hannyuu from all sides, hoping to give
her some of the years of motherly love she has been horribly overdue on.
The others could tell though that Akemi was also trying to give Hannyuu the validation she
wished she had received as well.
After a few more tears were shed all around they broke apart. “Here you go Hannyuu, in
celebration of your first spell I made this.” Akemi said and handed over the red and white
wand she had made earlier. “I tried to make it be for beginners, so I didn’t put any crazy
enchantments on it, or any strange materials.”
With a happy sort of awe Hannyuu took the wand, and held it up into the light, admiring just
how it reflected the sun into a multitude of colors. “Its so pretty. Thanks Mama!” She said as
she jumped up to point it at the tree from before. “[Magic Arrow]!” To their surprise three
arrows came out this time, impacting the tree in the same way. “That took much less mana I
think, It felt easier.”
“That makes sense, a wand or staff can help channel mana much more efficiently, so it
doesn’t use as much mana, and will be more effective.” As Ana went into explanation mode
Akemi felt a ping in her mind that signaled the message spell.
“One moment, got a message.” Akemi said and walked back towards their house. “Hello?”
Akemi called out through the connection once it went through.
“Ah it worked. Hello Akemi, it is Evileye. Is this a bad time?” She asked. Akemi sat on her
couch in front of the fire and relaxed.
“No, just having a bit of a family day at the settlement. Is everything alright?” Akemi asked
as she twirled a strand of ebony hair around her finger.
“Not really, The capital was attacked a few days ago, and I was wondering if you knew
anything about that?” Evileye asked with just a hint of suspicion in her voice.
“Hmm? I haven’t really been paying attention to the capital since I went there in person, I’ve
been dealing with some things in the Dragon Kingdom. What happened exactly?” Akemi
asked and tried to ignore that silent accusation.
“A bunch of demons appeared, they seemed to be led by a really strong demon that… he took
out Tia and Gagaron like it was nothing, and nearly took me out just as easily if Momon the
Black didn’t arrive. You were the only one I knew at that level of strength so I wondered if you
knew anything about him. He called himself Jaldabaoth.”
“Jaldabaoth? Never heard of him honestly. Demons? Sorry I have nothing to do with them,
you already know I summon Angels, opposite side of the karma scale. I’m sorry about your
team… If you need resurrection I can help with that. Why don’t you start from the top and
explain what happened?” Akemi asked and rubbed her temples, already feeling stressed once
again.
“…To be honest I thought they might be related to you as I suspect this Jaldabaoth is a Puh-
layer like I’m pretty sure you are, if that term means anything to you. They’ve both been
revived successfully already, Lakyus possess that ability.” Akemi felt her exhaustion go up as
she heard Evileye in her head.
“Huh, surprised you know that term, though like I told Queen Draudillon, it is just Players,
one word. We aren’t a race or anything, it is a pretty complicated and long story. I’m more
surprised you know that term. Glad they are fine then, though if you need advanced healing
or such I wouldn’t mind helping.” Akemi offered. “Now, please tell me what happened, it is
important it seems. I’m surprised my summons didn’t tell me anything… but I guess I haven’t
been paying attention to them in the capital at all.”
“I’ve been alive a long time, and I was around for the Evil Gods and their reign of terror. I
guess it is fine to tell you some extra details. There were planned raids on the bases of crime
group Eight Fingers around the capital, and during them my party encountered a strangely
powerful maid. She was enough to overwhelm Gagaron and Tia, but I was at least enough of
a match for her.” Evileye sounded exhausted, as much as an undead could be.
Akemi got a bad feeling in her heart. “I’m familiar with Eight fingers, I’ve blown up a few of
their bases near here. What happened after that? Did you kill her?”
Akemi felt like slapping Ainz as she very quickly connected him to Momon… not that she
had room to criticize him, everyone wanted to feel like a hero sometimes, but she had a
feeling that this ‘Jaldabaoth’ was his servant or something similar. Of course she didn’t say
her suspicions to Evileye, but she did want to stab her own ears as she listened to Evileye
squeak about ‘Momon’ yet again, not that that would stop the voice in her head.
“Well… best of luck with Momon, love lives are important. If you’re trying to get information
about dealing with men though I’ll be no help, I only care to date women.” Akemi said
through the message with a shrug. She was not at all feeling salty at Ainz for attracting
Evileye, not at all.
“I had a feeling that was the case. So… how has it gone with those two women? Kyouko and
tiny Ana right?” Akemi didn’t know where this teasing side of Evileye was coming from but
it wasn’t what she was expecting… maybe she just needed to socialize with someone that
wouldn’t suck up to her or call her out for being out of character.
Thinking about it, It was common sense that Akemi would keep her secrets considering all
that Evileye knew about her. If it was known that she was only nineteen with no experience
in politics she would quickly get taken advantage of. “Sure, my power is real, but I guess
there are no convenient skills that give me negotiation skills, or advantages in politics…”
Akemi carefully thought, keeping those thoughts out of her conversation, the struggles of
using Message with just mental communication.
“It has gone pretty well, I’m dating those two and it has been amazing, and both are so good
with Hannyuu. We got Kyouko’s daughter back a few days ago as well from Eight Fingers,
the night before your incident in the capital. It was… a terrible night, and the aftermath
hasn’t been smooth at all, but I don’t want to talk about that much, it wasn’t a good night for
any of us.” Akemi said through the link and laid on the couch, having been at it for at least
twenty minutes.
“Fair enough, I hope she gets better, and that the criminals get brought to justice.” Evileye
gave the diplomatic response, and likely didn’t expect the dry laugh on the other end.
“Oh they’re getting justice. I’m sure they’re still probably alive, but I’ll just say I left them
with some people that will ensure they get at least double what their victims got. As for
Lorelei… I hope she gets better also, but we can only be patient. Know any spells for mental
healing?” Akemi said and closed her eyes, just listening to the fire crackle and the radiant
heat on her arm that hung over the side of the couch.
“Sorry, I don’t, never even heard of one for mental wounds besides wiping memories, but I’m
sure you know the risks in that.” Evileye sounded genuinely empathetic to Lorelei’s plight.
“Hey Evileye, I need to go, but I need to leave you with one warning. If you find anyone else
at my level of power, do not get on their bad side please. If they look like an elder lich with a
red orb in their chest… call me, what ever you do, do not fight him. Promise me that
alright?” Akemi asked, her mental voice deadly serious.
“…Got it.” With that the message dropped. Akemi just hoped Evileye would be just a bit
more cautious.
“Now… hopefully she gives up on ‘Momon’ before it gets her killed by Albedo or
Shalltear…” She muttered to herself as she relaxed on the couch, closing her eyes to calm
herself.
She started to doze off before she felt a familiar form climb on the end of the couch and flop
on her chest and stomach. Cracking open her eyes she smiled at Hannyuu curling up on her
as best as she could, unconsciously making herself smaller. She even had started to purr when
Akemi wrapped her arms around her. “Nap time I suppose, sleep well, you did good today
dear.” Akemi quietly said and kissed the top of Hannyuu’s head before soon joining her for
an afternoon snooze.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Hope it wasn’t boring, or an information dump, was mainly going to be a fluffy
chapter as a way to pass those two days. Next chapter will have some even cuter
moment. I’m not sure if I’d even be able to write anything actually lewd. Please tell me
if the first part was bad or not, because honestly I’m out of my element on that, the
partner I live with and myself are both ace and pretty much just care to cuddle, so it hard
for me to picture more really.
Please tell me your thoughts in a comment, each one really motivates me.
The Divine Queendom of Natura
Chapter Summary
One last celebration before the hard work begins.

Or, How the mothers learned to stop worrying, and enjoy their daughters being adorable
with each other.
Chapter Notes
Hannyuu felt warmer than usual as she slowly awoke from her nap. It was darker in the
room, but more than bright enough for her to see, yet sleep was keeping her head feeling full
of cotton. “Mmm… Mama?” She mumbled out of habit to confirm Akemi was near. “That
was a good nap…” She thought before she yelped from a very cold poke against her head, as
well as some sniffling. Looking up she was greeted by the visage of a fox.
Not even a Kitsune, but a large and incredibly fluffy fox. She was laying on top of it and it
didn’t take much to figure out who it was, There were not a lot of foxes with the deep black
fur that matched Akemi’s hair so much after all.
Another poke of a very cold nose that made Hannyuu shiver was more confirmation.
“Mama… Um… why are you a fox?” Hannyuu asked once she got over the shock of her
mom being on the fluffier side even more than usual.
The little head tilt Akemi gave was rather adorable, even to Hannyuu. “What do you mean?
I’m always a fox? Why are you looking at me like that?” Akemi seemed to say, though their
fox mouth was not moving as if she was using message, yet certainly it wasn’t the same from
what Hannyuu could tell.
“No, I mean you are an actual fox right no- Gah! That is cold! Hey Mom cut it out!”
Hannyuu tried to squirm away, but Akemi’s tails seemed to have a mind of their own as they
kept Hannyuu there while Akemi poked her with her cold nose again, before doing what any
mother fox would do.
“Stop licking me! You don’t need to clean me I take baths!” The feline complained before
seeming to give up with a whine.
“What in the- Is that Akemi?” Kyouko asked as she walked into their living room and turned
on the mana light.
“Oh hey dear. Yeah I don’t know why, must be another Kitsune thing I don’t know about. I’m
starting to think I might need Emeril’s help with this. In the meantime, I’m going to keep
bugging Hannyuu.” Akemi said while being far too amused to stop her incessant cleaning.
“So you are just doing it to bug me?! Moooom! Why?!” Hannyuu complained, though her
pout was just adorable.
“You’re my daughter, it is my literal job to bug you just as much as I love you.” Akemi huffed
just a bit, and even gave a tiny foxy grumble before ceasing licking Hannyuu’s hair, but not
before it was sticking up in a dozen different places. “Fiiine I’ll stop, though you’d be
surprised at how much this form is making my instincts act up.” Akemi said and curled
around Hannyuu before laying her head back down. “This isn’t that bad though, if I can pop
into this form more I probably will.”
“I guess I’ll go ask Emeril to come on over, sit tight you two.” Kyouko said before she started
out the entryway, right before a bump sounded from the hall. “You alright Ana?” Kyouko
asked as she helped her tiny girlfriend up off the floor after their collision.
“Yeah… I heard most of the situation. I’ll go ahead and go get her, I was going to bring some
things I baked over there anyway.” Ana said. She flushed as Kyouko kept a hold of her hand,
and only let go after planting a light kiss on it. Seeing Ana shyly scoot away amused both her
and Akemi.
“Adorable… Akemi, how did we get such a cute girlfriend?” Kyouko asked as she joined
them on the couch, and immediately went into petting all of those fluffy tails. “I swear you
are even softer in this form.”
Akemi just seemed to preen at the compliment while flopping over her lap a bit, so she could
lay with both Kyouko and Hannyuu. “Thank you, I’m quite proud of them. I have no idea
how I ended up with either of you, unless you were looking for the most useless lesbian of
them all.” Akemi joked and rested her head down.
Kyouko found that she could get Akemi to make a few more cute little huffy noises when she
scratched behind her ears or pet her. “Oh I think we all were a bit useless… Thanks for
getting our heads out of her asses Hannyuu.” Kyouko reached over to scratch her feline
daughter’s ears as well, that familiar purr being evoked from Hannyuu as she leaned into the
affection.
“You’re welcome, I was going insane watching you three go back and forth… On the bright
side I learned that you have to be a bit more productive to make some progress.” Hannyuu
sounded far too proud of herself.
“Well, you and Rinna are certainly being productive, if you ever want to have her over for
dinner she is always welcome here~ She is a delight. You sure picked a shy one though.”
Akemi noted.
Hannyuu only appeared to get a bit flustered by those comments, looking away from her
moms. “She is pretty cute, I’m… liking getting closer to her, we’re just friends though. I’ll
try and invite her sometime, when it isn’t so busy maybe…”
“I’m hearing a ‘friends for now’ there~ No rush. You’re still a kid, so try and enjoy that while
you can. We’re all here for you if you need us.” Kyouko teased, but hugged Hannyuu all the
same. What was unsaid was clear, that both Hannyuu and Rinna finally had the space to Be
kids, the safety for it.
All Hannyuu replied with for the moment was some quiet purring as she leaned on both of
her moms there.
The moment was gently interrupted by the front door opening out of sight, soon followed by
Ana and Emeril peeking into the living room. “So, I was wondering if this might happen at
some point.” Emeril said as she stood in front of fox Akemi and folded her arms. “Well, at
least this way you can’t avoid finally discussing the issue of your age that I’ve let you put
off.” The stern tone she was taking made Akemi stiffen and fold her ears.
“I wasn’t avoiding it… I’ve been pretty busy you know? I had to fight an entire army of
Beastmen just the other day…” Akemi tried to explain, but the look on Emeril’s face showed
that they didn’t care for her excuses. Ana just snickered under her breath at her girlfriend’s
expense while sitting down next to her to try and pet those tails also.
“If you can destroy an army on your own in a day, then I assume it was easy for you, so you
could have made time.” Emeril said before she sighed. “We can talk about all that
tomorrow… but if you want me to help you I need to know who I’m working with. So, I’m
assuming you don’t know how to shape shift properly?” Emeril asked and took the arm chair
across from the couch.
“Not really… I know most illusion spells and could make myself look like nearly anyone as
long as they were humanoid, but the world I came from I couldn’t shape shift, this must be
specific here. Explain things to me like a one tail?” Akemi asked and hopped onto the floor,
stretching out her vulpine body.
“That I can do. So, shape shifting is not a tier spell, it isn’t wild magic either, it is just one of
the abilities Kitsune have naturally by manipulating the mana in our bodies. It is a bit easier
for us to manipulate our mana as long as you can focus. Since you are already shape shifted
you just need to spread your mana throughout your body and focus on what how you
originally look, it is quite simple once you get the hang of it.” Emeril explained, though she
herself looked quite tired that night.
Akemi had already started to figure out moving her mana outside of spells before, and
seemed to not have too much trouble with it, besides making Emeril jump with the amount of
mana that ‘spilled’ out from Akemi. “Try and not let too much mana out also… Gods that is
potent… You don’t need much for shape shifting, just slight amounts, just like illusions.”
Emeril said and smoothed her tail fur down which had fluffed up at Akemi’s mana overload.
The ‘all powerful’ nine tails just grumbled under her breath before she finally felt her form
change into something more familiar. “Fuck… that was a bit harder than I thought, not sure
how I did it in my sleep…” Akemi muttered and stood up with a stretch. She yelped and
squirmed away as she felt a finger run down her spine. “Kyouko!”
Kyouko sat back in the couch and tried to look innocent, but her smirk gave her away. Her
punishment was Akemi taking a seat on her lap instead, looking right at home with her taller
girlfriend. Kyouko seemed to just accept her fate of the mass of fluff ending up in her face, at
least it was soft, as was Akemi whom she wrapped her arms around while she was there.
“Anyway… I’ll teach you more about that tomorrow, right after we teach you how to read
and write. Alright… You all have a good night, I need to make sure Lirina didn’t get zoomies
and get into the sugar… again.” Emeril looked just a bit more tired as she made her way to
the door. When Akemi snickered at that she stopped to look back and grin at their leader.
“You laugh now, just wait~ If you plan to have more kids you’ll have to deal with that, all the
energy, all the pranks, all the midnight zoomies~”
Akemi shrugged and ruffled Hannyuu’s hair. “Maybe, but I know you wouldn’t trade it for
the world. If that is the cost I’ll pay it happily.” Akemi closed her eyes and leaned back
against Kyouko, a big smile on her face at imaging a future like that.
That got a happy sigh of agreement from the older Kitsune. “I wouldn’t have it any other
way. Have a good night.” With that Emeril closed the door behind her, leaving the family of
five to the rest of their evening.
“You know Akemi… that shape shifting is very very flexible, just saying. Be sure to ask
Emeril about any extra uses for it tomorrow~” Kyouko said and nibbled at one of those fox
ears, making Akemi yelp and squirm on her lap.
Ana had leaned on Kyouko also, and took one of her arms to hug. “Oh? I’m curious now, be
sure to share what ever you learn.” Ana teased and seemed content to snuggle the two.
“Moms… I’m right here…” Hannyuu grumbled, not all that offended, it wouldn’t be the first
time. It wasn’t like she pushed them together or anything… “I’m going to go take an Actual
bath and get ready for bed.” She endured the hair ruffling from all three of her moms, and the
triple forehead kiss as well.
“I’ll be in in a while Hannyuu dear.” Akemi said and leaned back against Kyouko. Her ear
twitched as she heard the bathroom door upstairs close and the bath start.
“Hmm… So how do we want to do the sleeping arrangements tonight?” Akemi asked as she
flopped over to lay over both her girlfriend’s laps, soaking up all that love.
“I think I want to stay with Lorelei for tonight.” Kyouko said and suddenly looked a bit more
dour. She wrapped her arms around the other two though and seemed to take comfort in their
presence.
“Okay, anything we can get for you?” Ana asked and leaned into those strong arms.
“Nah, I’ll be fine, I just don’t want her to be away from me too long. I figure if anything will
remind her that she is safe that just being there with her could help… You’ve all been great in
helping me with that. I’m thankful you’ve all been spending time with her and trying to
include her.” Kyouko said and seemed to force a smile on her face. “I think I’ll go get ready
for bed.” On that note Akemi slowly sat up and got off both girlfriend’s laps, though not
quick enough to avoid Kyouko giving her rear a gentle pinch.
The squeak Akemi let out made the other two pause for a moment, before they all could only
laugh. “Oiii, gotta take me out to dinner first~”
“That can be arranged!” Kyouko said and pulled Akemi and Ana into a hug once they all had
gotten up.
“I can provide the dinner~ A date night does sound pretty fun sometime…” Ana seemed to
wilt into nervousness once what she said caught up to her.
“Agreed, something to make time for, I bet Emeril would watch Hannyuu and Lorelei for us.
Hmm… when could we do that though? Maybe after I meet the Queen again? I think before I
actually started on making our home would be a good time, because once that happens we’re
all going to be busy setting things up…”
“Oho, trying to get the kids out of the house for a night? I can support that. Does that mean
you two might want to try…” Kyouko seemed very amused by the thought of a nice date.
“I-I’d be up for maybe trying something… all together r-right? I guess it depends on how that
day goes…” Ana said as they all squeezed into that three way hug.
“Sounds like a plan to me. Well, you’ll be teaching us both some things then Kyouko. We
need a nice date either way, we’ve been way too tense lately.” Akemi’s tails wrapped around
them all to close out the day.
The crowds around them that moved like waves made Kyouko’s hackles rise, pulling at every
one of her nerves. Despite the crowds all she could do was keep her hood over her head as
best she could to hide her ears, and keep the small hand in her own secure. She couldn’t help
but look down every few moments to reassure herself her pup was there.
It felt more like Kyouko was watching a replay rather than dreaming, she was seated and
being forced to watch the memory that was burned into her mind forever, her failure that
changed her entirely. It wasn’t the first time that memory was on repeat, and it would likely
never stop entirely.
The conversation with the stall worker leading up to it didn’t matter, and didn’t stick in her
head enough, but like all the other times she had had that nightmare she begged herself not to
let go of that hand for even a moment, and each time the past refused to change at her wish.
It was just a few moments, letting go of Lorelei’s hand to reach into her pocket and pull out
money for their meal that night. One moment Lorelei was standing there next to her clutching
her mother’s cloak tightly, her own hood snug over her tiny ears, and in the next moment
Kyouko only felt a small tug from behind, and a tiny bloodcurdling yelp that had been stuck
in her head on repeat for years, along with the tiny repeating scream of ‘Mama!’.
“Lorelei! Lorelei!” She shouted and pushed through the crowd, her nose desperately trying to
track her daughter’s scent, something all but impossible in that crowd. To that day she still
didn’t know how that scum who took her daughter made such a easy escape despite how on
guard she was for just that type of situation.
Her ears were stuck hearing her daughter call for her, the voice getting ever more distant in
her ears as the crowds didn’t move around her. Even removing the hood from her ears didn’t
lend her any aid, and only made the crowd around her louder at the presence of a Demi-
human.
“Lorelei! Please… Please…” The dream finally faded away with the last cries of her
daughter filling her ears. Kyouko desperately shoved down her tears and the sobs behind the
paper wall that was her will.
“…M…Ma…Mama…” Kyouko felt her blood chill as she fully woke up. Her eyes snapped
open and darted to the side where Lorelei laid. “Ma…Ma…” Lorelei muttered with closed
eyes, face scrunched up as she squirmed, those fuzzy ears pressed flat to her head. It was all
the same tell-tale signs of a nightmare, like the ones Lorelei would have when she was
younger. Even if her voice was older, and clearly rough from disuse, she would never mistake
it. Kyouko felt her heart tear apart as she ever so carefully pulled Lorelei against her.
“I’m right here baby… Mamas right here, you’re safe now…” Was all she could choke out as
tears slipped out of her control. Her reassurance and embrace did seem to get a response out
of Lorelei though, a simple small whining noise before she had buried her face against
Kyouko’s neck, her nose tucked against her mom. A few shaky inhales and the girl’s
breathing started to return to normal, seeming to be reassured by the scent she knew her
entire life that had meant safety and love.
Even as she felt Lorelei slip into a content sleep, Kyouko knew sleep wouldn’t come to her,
not that night, and for once she was fine with that. She just held her pup close and tried to
avoid waking her up with her own relieved sobs. “You’re here… You’re with mama, I’m not
going to let you go again…” She whimpered, her own nose pressed between those tiny wolf
ears in an attempt to reassure herself that what she said was true, that it wasn’t a cruel dream
and that It was indeed the unique scent of her daughter that she had enshrined her mind,
bringing with it all the memories since her birth. “Mama loves you Lorelei… more than
anything.”
It was a hopeful sign of progress though, that she knew, her daughter was now moving and
speaking a tiny bit, even if it was in her sleep.
After a sleepless night Kyouko sat at the breakfast table with a look of melancholy on her
face.
The others of course were looking at her in concern, but seemed to wait till Akemi handed
her a large cup of coffee before trying to pry. “You okay Kyo? You can tell us anything that is
bothering you, you know?” Akemi said as she drank deeply of her black gold, opting to
ignore the cream that morning.
Kyouko took a deep breath before sighing, setting her fork down. That was enough to get the
others to concentrate more on her. “Last night Lorelei actually spoke a bit, it was just in her
sleep but still… She moved around and actually… cuddled against me… I had hoped she
would wake up a bit more this morning but she is back to being unresponsive…” She looked
conflicted.
“That is great progress though! I think at least someone staying with her at night is having a
good effect, though only you’ll get a reaction like that probably. You’re scent is going to be
the only truly familiar to her right now, and could wake her up. Progress can be hard, and it
certainly isn’t a neat path.” Akemi tried to comfort her.
“We just need to be patient, I bet within a month she’ll be up and about!” Ana said as she put
more food on Kyouko’s plate.
“Maybe, hopefully… Hey Akemi? Could you put that Guardian Angel spell you had
mentioned you had on Hannyuu on her? If she starts moving around she might get hurt or…”
Kyouko didn’t need to finish her sentence as Akemi nodded.
“That is a reasonable worry. I can do that, she will likely not be quite stable if she wakes up,
not for a while, but keeping her from doing something harmful is just a good idea.” Akemi
noted and looked at Hannyuu who had perked up.
“What is this about a spell on me? Did I do something?” Hannyuu asked with clear anxiety in
her voice, enough that it got her mom’s attention.
“No dear, it was just a precaution. You deserve honesty, I was… worried you might hurt
yourself for a while, so I had a guardian angel summon around to protect you.” Akemi
admitted.
“Did… you not trust me?” Hannyuu asked with a bit of a waver in her voice, her ears slowly
folding.
“Of course I do dear! A mom worries about these things though… But you were quite clear
that that wasn’t a worry, I trust you when you said you weren’t going to hurt yourself, I got
rid of it a long while ago, before we left on our trip.” Akemi said and reached over to scratch
those flattened ears, till they lifted back up.
Hannyuu just nodded and smiled back eventually. “Sure I thought about that for a while
closer to when we met, but that is just a distant thought that sometimes I can’t help, I can…
fight it off much better now.” Hannyuu said and leaned into that hand.
The conversation lapsed back into silence before Ana stretched. “So, how goes the planning
Akemi?” Ana asked with an excited grin.
That perked the Kitsune right back up, her tails flicking behind her. “I’m so glad you asked~
So! Most of the country’s physical structure is already planned out, and it will be massive!
What I’m still planning is our place at the very top of it.” Akemi looked a bit nervous at that
admission. “Is it… wrong of me to be planning on making our home when likely I’ll be
having people build their own homes this time? I’ll likely be pretty busy putting the finishing
touches on the entire structure, as well as our home, so I can’t really grow everyone a house
this time. I’ll of course be providing a ton of materials so people can do what they want, trees
are something I can grow as long as I have mana.”
The other three just looked at her strangely. “Why would that be wrong? Akemi… you’re
allowed to do things for yourself. I mean you’re making a homeland for everyone already, I
don’t think any of them could or would accuse you of being selfish.” Kyouko said with a
shake of her head, clearly thinking that Akemi was just being silly.
“What she said. So, what have you already put into our mysterious house? What even will it
even be? A castle or some sort of fort?” Ana asked as she winked at the two of them.
“Lets see… I already planned for lots of bedrooms put into several wings and floors, there
will be a nursery in each wing as well. A private garden area for both nice flowers that I
might need to manipulate to let grow, and food for all of us. The kitchen is going to be huge,
and I’m adding room for a big cellar to store things like cheese and wine.” Akemi seemed
absolutely ecstatic at her plans. “While each room gets a bathroom like the one we have here,
I want to add a nice big main bath, you’ll see it. As for the scale of the place… I’m aiming
more for a modest castle, but in my style as much as possible. I want lots of nature with all
that stone. I don’t want to spoil to much but… an entire floor is almost going to be a forest. I
might be going overboard with it, but I just want a nice home.” Akemi
“How big of a castle?” Hannyuu asked as she ate, she seemed ravenousness that morning
from all her training the day prior. It was a good change for her moms to see, that she was
actually eating as much as a kid like her should.
“I think it is pretty modest… Okay I can’t say that with a straight face, it will be pretty big…
and I don’t think a floating home is very low key, but I want the place to last forever and have
all the room for the family to maybe…g-grow…” It didn’t take a genius for her girlfriend’s to
put two and two together.
Ana was just as red as Akemi, while Kyouko was just amused. “You two are so adorably
shy… I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to make that happen, though It will probably take a
long time for all that I want to teach you, and sex, a lot of sex.” She must have taken far too
much amusement from being blunt as she cackled at the looks on the other’s faces.
“Mama Kyouko… Please… I’m eating you know? I really don’t want to hear about any of
that…” Hannyuu complained after setting her fork down.
Ana and Akemi seemed to gobsmacked to respond much besides flapping their jaws. Kyouko
seemed almost proud of leaving them that way. “Sorry Hannyuu~ I’ll try and tone it down.”
Kyouko said and ruffled the feline’s hair until she loosened up. “Now! Ready to go for a run
after breakfast Hannyuu?”
Hannyuu’s ears folded with a whine. “B-but, I still hurt from yesterday…” She complained
and faked being barely able to lift her arm.
“Oh don’t worry, a light jog is all I’m asking, it will be less than yesterday so you can
recover, and that is all for the day for physical training, it is a good habit to get. If you really
don’t want to I can’t make you, but I’ll be downstairs ready to go in 10 minutes if you want
to go.” Kyouko mentioned as she finished up her breakfast and left to presumably go change.
“Yeah… alright…” She mumbled with a grumpy expression. “I’ll be back soon moms, I
should get this out of the way…” Hannyuu said as she got up and put her plate in the sink.
“Okay dear, make sure you stretch. We can still do magic practice later if you want, it is also
like a muscle if you stretch it.” Ana said as her and Akemi watched her run off to go change.
“I’m so proud of her… You two have been such a good part of her recovery. On another
note… how about those tight shorts I made for Kyouko to work out in?” Akemi asked with a
sneaky grin.
Ana seemed to close her eyes and think on it before smiling. “The ass of a martial
goddess…” Ana mumbled with a smile. “Kinda like you have the ass of an actual goddess.”
She teased, and enjoyed how Akemi seemed to squirm at her words.
It was a pretty quiet morning, nice and peaceful even with the window opened to let in that
fresh air. The settlement was still asleep by that time, especially after Kyouko and Hannyuu
had jogged away into the forest. It all made the foot steps crunching leaves all the louder as
someone approached their house, though a sniff of the scent was more than enough for
Akemi to know who.
Akemi would use mage hand and reach towards the front door to open it. “Morning Emeril,
thanks for the help last night…” Akemi said as Emeril stepped inside and took off her shoes.
“Morning Akemi, Ana. It was no trouble, though it did make me worried about how little you
know about yourself… So while there is time I think I should explain it. Is now a good
time?” She asked and sat down when Akemi pulled out a chair with mage hand.
“Yup, just relaxing, Hannyuu and Kyouko went to go work out. Want some coffee? Or tea?”
Akemi asked and set her two unlimited thermoses down near her.
“Tea please.” Once Emeril was set up with a steaming cup she seemed to finally relax. “That
works out well then, I doubt you wanted Hannyuu to hear some things about what I’ll say, or
she wouldn’t care to hear.” That got the other’s attention.
“Oh? Can I shapeshift to more than just a fox?” Akemi asked with a tilt of her head.
“A lot more than that. If you have the will to practice it and have the mana you could turn
your form into a dragon… though of course without their abilities. You had once asked how
me and Maiya were able to have Lirina? It is pretty simple actually, you just need to
shapeshift the proper… bits. If it is done right it is fully functional. These can even be used
on others for a temporary shapeshift. I bet Kyouko could give you some tips on how to get
that right, it wouldn’t be her first time~” Emeril noted with a snort.
That also got the other two as equally curious as they were shy, turning crimson rather
quickly. “You’ll lose some of that shame soon enough. If you three want to have kids
naturally that is what has to happen. Now… Kyouko mentioned you were nineteen, Explain.”
She all but demanded.
With a deep breath Akemi prepared herself. “I guess if you’re going to be helping me so
much, you deserve the full story. Once upon a time not that long ago, there was a fatally ill
girl in a world far far worse than here…”
“Well… That explains a lot, I can see why you wouldn’t be too open with that information.
I’m sorry you had to go through all that, it does put a lot of your actions into perspective.
Honestly all things considered you’ve done pretty well for yourself, I mean you haven’t tried
to take over the world like some otherworlders, BUT!” She slapped the table, getting
everyone’s attention. “It is unacceptable to try to be a ruler without knowing how to read and
write our language, I’ll be assisting you with that, even if I have to tie you to a chair.”
“That… is fine, I know I need to know, I’m not trying to avoid it or anything…” Something
about what Emeril said seemed to put a interested look on Akemi’s face, which only one in
the room picked up on.
Ana cleared her throat and leaned on her palm. “Two things… speaking of tying up, know
how to properly tie Akemi up? I feel like I could use that skill. Second question: should
Hannyuu join in those lessons? They can both learn at the same time. If Akemi gets taught
elsewhere that might get spread around the settlement…”
“Good point, lets do that. When will Hannyuu be back best we start as soon as we can, then
we can continue with the rest of the day. Oh I taught Kyouko all she knows about wrapping
someone up like a present, she’ll probably teach you quite happily~ In the meantime
though… aren’t our daughters so cute when they are together?”
Like a switch was flipped Akemi grinned back. “It is… they’re so precious together~”
Akemi folded over the table she sat at in her study, with Hannyuu right there next to her.
“Well, that should start you both off pretty well. You’re picking it up pretty quickly Akemi.”
Emeril said as she gathered up the conjured papers Akemi had provided. “You’re doing great
also Hannyuu.”
“Thanks Miss Emeril, It isn’t as hard as I thought. Hey Mama, can you also teach me your
language?” Hannyuu asked.
Akemi lifted her head with a groan. “I can do that, I’m still weirded out that spoken language
just gets translated automatically, but not written words… Yeah teaching both of you
Japanese should help, especially if I eventually make it the national language and get it to
spread. I think I have an unfair advantage… my classes and skills are taken a bit literal so…
likely my Perfect Memory passive from High Sage is helping, even if that was just originally
for having more spells. I might be able to remember all that I have if I could access my damn
menu but…” Akemi said as she pulled out a book from her inventory and handed it to
Emeril.
“What is this?” Emeril asked as her mind seemed to try and work over the complicated
characters that were entirely foreign in her mind.
“Its a medical text from my world, I have a few. Before I got here I had copied my guild’s
entire library over time, and now those are physical copies. Back then I really liked to read,
but books were even more expensive than here. It is… a pretty extensive collection, some are
spell books that were just for learning a spell, but that flavor text might mean something
now.” Akemi said as she leaned back in her chair. “So… what happened to calling me Lady
Akemi?”
Emeril had the most kind smile she could on her face, yet somehow Akemi felt it was
mocking her. “That was before I found out you are basically a baby. I still can’t believe you
want to lead a country at your age, but… like I said, all things considered you’re doing well,
and your abilities are real. I’ll do my best to help you as needed. At least I know why I have
the urge to mom on you so much…” That nearly got Akemi to spit out the tea she was
drinking and laugh.
“If someone else wants the job they can have it, if you want it just say so, I can just act as our
military by myself. Well… I’m not against you doing that.” Akemi seemed to get a look of
melancholy on her face as she sorted through her memories. “I never had anyone I could
consider a mother, my own mom certainly couldn’t be… I’m pretty sure she just was waiting
for me to die in my sleep. There was a time I think she was going to do it herself… I woke up
after a really rough sick day and she had a pillow in her hands and everything, but she just
left the room when I saw her.” Akemi said as casually as if she was talking about the weather,
even as Hannyuu and Emeril looked shocked.
“I’m sorry dear… You deserved a lot better than that. Well, their loss, our gain. I’ll pass on
that job, that is way too big of a job… I’ll help you as much as I can though.” Emeril said and
shook her head. “Could… you tell me more about your past world, you mentioned that it was
destroyed but… what do you mean?”
“I mean the world was more or less a wasteland. No trees, no plants, no animals, no
breathable air unless you could get artificial lungs or a gas mask- Let me just Show you what
my reality looked like… [Transfer Memory].” Akemi sighed as she still remembered quite a
lot of that hellscape.
Emeril and Hannyuu looked horrified to say the least. “Mama… was that the sky? You’re
reflection was in the window also…”
“You are far better off here… You’re right, that is hell if I ever saw it… You were so much
smaller also, like a…” Emeril shook her head as if she could banish the images she just saw,
and also not say something insensitive.
Akemi shrugged and looked away. “I looked like a skeleton, I felt like one also, I was dying
after all. That was the last time I looked outside, though it looked like that every day. Acid
raid was the only thing that fell from the sky and just being under it without protection would
kill you. The air was the same, it was poison from all the pollution that never stopped.”
Akemi looked pissed for a moment. “Sure the world was destroyed, but it is okay~ For a
while some people made a lot of money, and thats what matters right?” The biting sarcasm in
Akemi’s words was laced in fury that was not often seen on her.
“Merchants and their gold… though we will eventually need a full economy, for now with
how small we are doing well with just bartering and community support. On that note I’m
going to let you all go, I need to go check on the kids.” Emeril said and got up. When she
noted Hannyuu’s excited, look her and Akemi got a matching grin. “I’m sure Rinna would
love to play with you~ Go have fun.” Emeril said and stretched.
“I will!” Hannyuu’s expression brightened up instantly, and she seemed to not even pay
attention to the teasing as her grin was unable to be suppressed. Once it was just the two
Kitsunes they could only sigh together.
“They’re so adorable…” Akemi said with a dumb grin on her face.
“Ahh young love… lets not interfere too much. I’ll see you later Akemi, feel free to stop by if
you wish to talk.” Emeril said and much to Akemi’s surprise, leaned over to plant a gentle
kiss on her forehead and a quick pet over her hair, evoking a feeling entirely different than
others had. “I told you I feel like mothering you a little, you need it.” Leaving a red face and
silent nine tails behind Emeril went back to her kids.
Akemi tried to ignore the low whispers around her as she walked through the settlement of
tree homes and small buildings. She waved back at a pair of nervous kids peeking around a
corner, and at least got them to wave back.
As much as she wished to take her time to explore and meet her people more, she had an
objective with her strolling. As she entered the large community gardens she saw several
people working them, picking plants and placing them into baskets. It was comforting to see
that most had content smiles on their faces.
“Lady Akemi! What brings you here?” A short man with horns asked, which got everyone
else’s attention. Soon she had all those farmers gathered around her and was a bit out of her
element.
“I’m just out and about to check on some things, I needed to ask a few questions about
farming. With farm land this size, how many people could it normally support? I’m planning
out farm areas in our new land and I’d figured I’d ask the experts.” Akemi asked as she tried
to make a note of everyone’s face.
“Outside of this place? To support everyone we have we’d need five times more than this
little garden, or more since it would take the usual amount of time to grow. You used magic
right? Crops are growing in just a few days here, it has been a real blessing. If we have the
room our food problems, except for meat, are solved.”
“That is good, exactly what I’m going for. My vision is everyone being able to have a tiny
garden if they want that could support a family. As for meat… I’ll have to come up with a
solution for that.” Akemi said and looked around at those gardens, it made her want to try her
hand at properly growing something without cheating at some point. “Maybe a tiny bonsai
tree? I think brother had a few of them…” She thought as she dipped back into old memories.
“In the meantime, the storehouses are nearly full to bursting, so things are going well. Is there
more we can do to help?”
Akemi looked relieved. “Good, we can always bring those stores with us. It is time for
everyone to know more of my plans. I should be the one asking that… but can you spread the
word? We can make it a nice festival tonight, it is a good night to celebrate.” Akemi asked as
she knelt down by the fields, lightly running her fingers through the loamy soil. “Still plenty
of magic in the soil, the spell is still holding? Did the enchantment become permanent?” It
was something to think about later, but a good sign.
“Of course Lady Akemi, I think people will be happy to hear from you.” He said as he turned
back to the fields. “Lets pack it in for today people, the plants aren’t going to go anywhere.”
He said and looked back at the Kitsune curiously.
When she noticed the man staring for a moment she nearly jumped, but forced her nerves to
calm down. “I’m just checking on the soil is all. I had done some small scale testing here, and
it seems the enchantments I have planned will be very efficient even if I scale them up.”
Akemi said and blinked as she remembered something, her ears folding for a moment.
“Where are my manners… might I ask your name?” She asked as she dusted herself off.
“Me? Gerald, My lady.” He said and seemed to straighten up at being addressed more
directly.
“Nice to meet you Gerald, I’ll see you at the festival later.” Akemi said and made her
hopefully graceful exit. “For fucks sake… I just had to adopt nearly two thousand people but
I can barely talk to strangers without feeling like having a panic attack…” She mentally
berated herself as she headed into the woods to relax.
One of her favorite spots was blessedly empty, and it let her sit on the bench of rest her head,
to let nature around her sooth her senses.
Further away from where Akemi lamented her social ineptitude, Hannyuu lamented her own
as she tried to get more than a word or two out of Rinna who had been walking next to her.
“How are things for you? Lirina driving you nuts yet?” Hannyuu asked as they both walked
along one of the trails that had formed within the barrier, safe from anyone from the outside,
and yet alone in a nice way. Only the sound of birds and the wind interrupted them.
“A little… I can’t keep up with her. She is an adorable little sister, but… she is pretty loud.”
Rinna admitted in a quiet voice.
Hannyuu turned her gaze at her friend and felt some of that pain. “She is pretty cute, but I can
see why so much noise would bug you… Loud noises still freak you out? I know they can
even screw me up…” Hannyuu asked as she stopped walking to sit and lean against the bark
of an old tree, the grass cool beneath her. It was comforting when Rinna sat right next to her,
like she was trusting her.
“Y-yeah… She wakes up earlier than me, so she used to try and jump on me to wake me up.
I’m glad that Emeril got her to stop, I hate waking up so panicked…” Rinna said and pulled
her knees to her chest, and taking a few deep breathes before relaxing again.
“I hate it also… sometimes I still get some nightmares or wake up in the night… You can
always come to me if you need to talk Rinna, okay?” Hannyuu said and tilted her head to
look at her friend. She had to hold back a snicker at Rinna rubbing one of her horns on the
tree behind her, and seemed to be completely unconscious that she was doing it.
“Thanks Hannyuu…” Rinna mumbled and let out a sigh. Hannyuu saw that she was also
fiddling with the green ribbon around her right horn, yet another nervous habit. “So how
has… Lorelei been?” Rinna asked and knocked her shoe against Hannyuu’s where they sat,
getting a light tap right back.
Hannyuu’s ears folded as she looked up at Rinna. “Slowly coming around I think, I hope she
wakes up soon, I can’t blame her for wanting to stay asleep though.”
Rinna just nodded and shrunk in on herself more. “Y-yeah… I mean, you’ve both been
through worse than me but it can still be… hard to get out of bed sometimes…” She admitted
with a waver of shame in her voice. She flinched for just a moment as Hannyuu’s hand
touched the top of her head, before relaxing again.
Hannyuu didn’t seem to mind when Rinna leaned her head over a bit onto her shoulder, it let
her play with the sheep girl’s hair a bit easier. “Everyone suffered differently, no one can
really say anyone suffered worse or better… We each have our own memories of hell, and we
can only try and deal with them. If you can’t get out of bed I’ll be sure to bring you a nice
breakfast, right before I pull you out of it~” She teased and rested her head over on top of
Rinna’s own.
It was a comfortable silence that they lapsed into, neither of them seeming to want to break
the peaceful atmosphere around them. Neither of them dared point out their intertwined
hands between them either, as if it would break the magic, only their quickening heartbeats
adding to the background noise of the forest around them.
No one except Ana as she emerged from the path they themselves had come from. “Hmm?
Oh sorry to interrupt~ Have you seen Akemi? She talked to the farmers and then seemed to
vanish… Damn lady is so slippery sometimes. Kyouko had the right idea of tying her up…”
Ana said and leaned against a tree, clearly racking her brain.
“Is it for something important? I could probably find her. Want to come with us Rinna?”
Hannyuu asked before she looked down at their joined hands, a blush spreading over her
face, yet neither of them had let go yet, not even as Hannyuu stood up.
When she tried to let go she found Rinna keeping a tight hold, and so Hannyuu could only
help pull the sheep girl to her feet. “You get lighter?”
Rinna didn’t let go once she was up, only smiling ever so slightly at her friend. “I don’t think
so, think you’ve just gotten stronger.”
“I could use the help yeah, got a special ‘sense mom’ spell or something?” Ana asked as she
very politely resisted the urge to squeak at how cute the two were being.
Hannyuu just looked at her like she was crazy, almost a look of pity, right before tapping her
nose. “I can smell her. She doesn’t wander around the settlement much, so she will be easy to
track.”
Ana rolled her eyes and gently poked Hannyuu’s nose. “Sassy cat~ You coming with us
Rinna? I don’t want to drag you two apart when you’re having a good time.”
It was Rinna’s turn to blush and squirm at the compliment. “I’ll come with…” Rinna said and
followed the two, at the very least they could hold hands a bit longer.
“This is the last round all of you, I do need to do some things.” Akemi said with as much
finality as she could muster, yet she knew it wouldn’t take much to bend that decision. She
was seated in the grass near her favorite relaxation bench a small distance from her house,
along with a crowd of small demi-humans and human children. It was just one at first, but
then friends were brought over… and Akemi couldn’t resist playing with them a bit, too
many cute pleading eyes…
She remembered each of their faces from the various places they were rescued, and it was a
great change from what she had seen in so many of those eyes when she rescued them, they
finally had hope in their eyes again, and were able to actually be kids. “Please again miss
Akemi!” Seeing the Demi-humans and human children playing together also sparked further
joy in her heart, it was exactly how she envisioned and hoped the future would hold.
“Yay!” Several of them cheered as Akemi grasped another nine kids in her tails and raised
them into the air like she was some sort of amusement park ride. The laughter of the kids had
a way of cheering Akemi up, there was no room for sulking as she focused on gently
spinning the kids around for a few minutes before setting them back down, only for the next
nine to get their turn.
“Akemi? Having fun there?” Ana asked as Hannyuu, Rinna, and her emerged from the path
from the settlement, grinning at the precious scene.
“A bit yes, I mean… you try telling them no when they look at you like they do- Yeah like
that.” Akemi said and rolled her eyes with a smile as a small cat boy stared up at her with
bright eyes that bore into her soul…
Ana looked at the crowd of kids, almost all younger than Hannyuu by a few years, and felt a
bit bad for Akemi, it would indeed be pretty hard to tell them all No.
Akemi sighed and smiled at all the children “Why don’t you all go play? I’ll see you all back
at the settlement tonight, there will be a party~ If I can I’ll give you all a ride again then.”
Akemi had braced herself, but still felt her heart shatter just a bit at the chorus of grumbling
from them, but eventually they all started to file away.
“Thanks Miss ‘kemi!” “That was fun!” “Anyone else hungry?”
Once little ears were out of the way Akemi let out a sigh. “That was… a thing, I did not
expect to get mobbed by a bunch of munchkins.” Akemi said and dusted herself off as she
stood up.
“You seem like a natural at dealing with them though, I bet they appreciate it. You looked to
be having fun also.” Ana said and leaned up to give her a peck. “I heard that there will be that
festival tonight, so I think you should join me for something to help with it, it will be a good
experience for you.” Ana said and leaned into those fluffy tails as they hugged around her.
“What can I say? I wasn’t really joking when I mentioned wanting a big family, I’ve always
wanted a family with lots of kids to mother on, it was just impossible in my previous life.”
Akemi shrugged with a blush on her cheeks before looking back at Ana. “Hmm? I’d be
happy to help, it is better than sitting around and… I’ve felt a bit bad I haven’t really gotten
to know m-my people much… I’m absent from here so much…” Akemi mumbled.
“Mama, I think everyone understands, and if they don’t then they’re being ungrateful. Things
are getting exciting around here, and people can feel that. Are you going to tell them more
about what’s been going on?” Hannyuu asked as they all followed Ana onto the trail back
home.
“Yup, they deserve it if they’re going to let me drag them into a messy baby country.” Akemi
said and looked back at Hannyuu and Rinna, and at their cutely joined hands. She kept her
comments to herself, but she was squealing inside just a bit.
“I’m back Granny, I brought someone to help out~” Ana said as she opened up the door to
one of the larger buildings in the settlement, this one made not by magic, but the traditional
way. It was still rough, but it already had a lived in appearance inside and out. The smells the
came out when Ana opened the door though…
It was as if the scents of every past meal were soaked into the new wood like a sponge,
giving the long building a welcoming feeling.
“Oh Ana, I was wondering who you were grabbing. Oh my, Well met Lady Akemi, the
name’s Rory, but everyone just calls me Granny.” A older Demi-human lady introduced
herself, poking her head over a counter. “I’m not sure if you’ve been here before, but this is
the community kitchen.” The woman clearly had been through plenty herself, as one of her
ears was missing, and a large scar cut across her forehead. The remaining ear clued Akemi
into her wolf heritage, her scent doing the same. Akemi made a mental note to dedicate a day
to healing old wounds and scars for those that wanted her to…
“It is wonderful to meet you Miss Rory. I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook… as Ana here can
probably attest- Where did those two go?” Akemi turned around and saw that the kids had
separated from them once they entered.
“Oh you don’t need to be good at cooking, if you’d like to help though I wouldn’t turn it
down. Ana here has been a delight to teach.” Rory said and leaned and popped her back
before turning back into the kitchen. It was almost a restaurant style place… yet the kitchen
was far too big for just her, behind the counter Akemi noticed several other people chopping
away at ingredients.
“I’d be happy to help, just… don’t expect too much please…” Akemi admitted and pulled an
apron from her storage. “So this is where you’ve been learning to cook more?”
“Yup! Granny here is a great cook!” Ana said and pulled an apron off a peg that had her name
on it. “I come here pretty often.”
“If by pretty often you mean at least once every other day, sometimes more, than yes. It is
nice to have more hands to help out. Now, lets see what you can do lady Akemi.” Rory
sounded far too amused for Akemi to relax.
“You aren’t that bad at this my lady, it is just about finding the right task and practicing.”
Rory said as she stirred a massive pot that had started to simmer. Akemi was behind her
rolling dough with ease. “If your strength makes delicate things hard, something that needs
more force would be better. It takes me far longer to roll the dough most days, these old joints
aren’t getting any younger.” The older woman joked.
That prompted Akemi to turn around to cast a silent diagnostic spell on the woman, but found
not much out of the ordinary thankfully, just age taking it’s toll. “Another thing to do, really
examine people’s health for anything I can fix.”
Looking around Akemi saw that Ana was completely in her element, not a trace of
nervousness in the least as she mixed spices together and cut up meat with the one Akemi
gifted her with. Akemi wished she could feel as at home there as the others, but everyone has
their strengths. “I’d… like to apologize…” Akemi started, her hands not stopping rolling the
dough.
“What ever for my Lady? What could you have to apologize for?” Rory asked in disbelief,
not stopping her stirring either, so focused on the task as she was.
“For not being as involved in this community as I should be. Sure I’ve been busy elsewhere,
but I said I’d take responsibility for the people here and I’ve done… a terrible job of that I
think.” Akemi said, her hands finally stopping.
Ana looked back and saw Akemi’s ears had folded down. “Dear, that is in no way true… You
know this.” Ana tried to reassure her and set her knife down to meet Akemi’s eyes.
“Agreed, we’re all safe and fed, and you are already off dealing with future problems. I won’t
lie… A lot of people are curious about what you are up to, but not one person I’ve talked to
thinks you are doing a bad job Lady Akemi.” Rory said with a sigh.
“Maybe… I’ll be trying to be more active soon. The fact I didn’t know enough about the
settlement and all my people have made here means I haven’t been among you all enough.
Like I had said before… I don’t want to be some ruler on high, or raised onto some pedestal,
I most certainly don’t want to seem like I’m looking down on anyone. On that note you can
be more casual, just Akemi is fine, or anything, unless people decided something without me
there I’m not your ruler or anything besides the general direction we go, since for some
reason people decided to entrust that to me. I didn’t know this kitchen existed till Ana
brought me here, could you… tell me more about it?”
That got Rory’s tail to wag a bit more. “Sure Akemi, the building is actually a bit new, but
early on I started the community kitchen. So many people didn’t know how to cook good
meals, so I taught as many as I could. Now I try and feed as many of them as possible, there
is enough ingredients, which I hear is your doing as well, that everyone can have as much as
they want. The meals are entirely free to the public and likely more than half the settlement
comes here every night to get something. As long as I have ingredients I can keep this up.
Normally anywhere else I might need donations of money to keep a place like this open, but
we’ve been doing just fine without here.”
Rory seemed excited as she tasted her stew. “Perfect. It is almost time for the dinner rush.
Joseph can you go prop the doors open? The last of the dough rolled out? Go ahead and roll it
into fist sized balls. If you can add some more mana to the bread oven I can finish set that up
after I put the finishing touches on the stew, I wouldn’t want you to burn yourself.”
Akemi had to laugh a tiny bit at that, as did Ana. “I don’t think you have to worry about
that… this knuckle head tried to cook the other day and was checking how hot the pan was
by putting her hand on it, no burns or anything.” Ana teased. Akemi was used to that level of
playful teasing, but she still blushed as several chuckles echoed in the kitchen from the others
working there.
“Eh, I’m immune to damage below a certain threshold, and simple cooking burns don’t meet
that by far. I’ll get the dough finished then.” Akemi said and got to work with the rest of
them, a smile on her face as she worked.
“If you say so Akemi, lets finish up and get to serving them all.” Rory sounded neutral
almost, but Akemi could hear the humor in her voice before they all got back to work.
Stumbling forward as if drunk, or just dead tired, a wolf man slowly made his way into the
dining hall and up to the counter. “Hey Granny…it has been a day. I got a deer hanging up to
age for when ever you want it.” He said before looking up at the one behind the counter.
“Oh hey Taffy, here you go, its venison stew in a bread bowl, plenty to go around if you want
seconds.” Akemi said and held out that day’s dinner on a plate.
To Taffy’s credit he only stood still for just a moment before recovering. “Lady Akemi! What
are you doing here? T-Thank you.” He said and took the plate with the heavenly smelling
stew.
“Just helping out, it has been a while since I could stay in the settlement for more than a day
or two, so I want to get to know everyone more.” Akemi said and smiled brightly.
“Didn’t you just go win a war though…? Kyouko had mentioned you took on the Beastmen.
Thanks for dinner all of you, I’ll see you around.” Taffy said and seemed a bit more
energized, his tail even wagging as he went go sit down. He was the first of a stream of
‘customers’ coming for their meal, nearly all of which were surprised to see her there
working.
It was mentally tiring for her to remember so many faces and matching them to a name if she
could ask them, but she felt just a bit closer to them all, like she was finally part of something
bigger.
So many people at once was a bit much for Akemi eventually. Thankfully Granny made her
and Ana take a break from handing out the food to eat with Ana at an empty table. “Ooo this
is good, I thought the bread bowl thing would just get mushy, but it is crispy on the outside.
All the juices soaked into the bread, this is my new favorite food I think…” Akemi said as
her tails wagged behind her like she was eight tails younger. It was a carefree and innocent
smile, one that showed she had forgotten she was in public for a moment, her guard finally
down.
“I can make that for you more if you’d like dear.” Ana said and nibbled at her own, though
she was mostly smiling up at Akemi like the lovestruck dork she was, not that Akemi was
much better with all the looks she took right back.
They had long since tuned out the glances in their direction, the curious and good reactions
outweighing the bad looks that were occasionally shot their way. A person would have to be
blind if they didn’t see those two being far closer than public knowledge had found out.
Akemi finally finished her food, bowl and all and set her plate on a stack. “Hey Rory? Will
you be good for the night? I think it is time for me to go set up the bonfire.”
“Oh that is fine dear, thank you for the help, you treat Ana right okay?” Rory chuckled to
themselves before going back to making more servings along with several others.
“Of course I will, she is dear to me.” Akemi reassured the aged woman before heading back
to her girlfriend. “So dear, I’m going to get a nice bonfire going, feel free to come join me
when you’re done~” Akemi said and kissed the top of her head, much to the chattering of the
crowds, setting them both to blushing.
“A-alright ‘Kemi, I’ll meet you soon.” Ana said and put her blushing face in her hands once
Akemi had left the building, her internal screaming clear to see. The rest of her meal was a
blur as she just wanted to get out of that room and from under so many eyes. Making her way
into the kitchen she resisted further blushing.
“I think you two make a cute couple~ May you have many years of happiness.” Rory said as
she handed out more food without even glancing at her. She might have been able to see Ana
catch on fire if she had been watching.
In the central ‘plaza’ of the settlement where nothing had been built except some smaller fire
pits, Akemi drove residents out of the area with her quiet cackling. “Grow grow~ Now burn!”
Akemi had been carefully pulling up more tree growth to form thicker strands, almost like
logs laid together. With a careful application of Dominate Nature Akemi extracted as much
moisture as she could from the strangely shaped tree spire that went upwards around 5 meters
tall. With far more glee than was healthy she cast a silent burning hands and watched the
thing start to burn, the flames almost gently lapping up the length of it, bathing the area in a
steady warmth and light, cutting away the growing evening darkness.
Clearing her throat Akemi took note of the way others stared at her. “Well… [Mass Create
Greater Item].” Akemi had fallen away from the fire before casting, and around the fire
dozens of long tables and benches popped up in that large area, conjured by her mana. Once
she noticed a crowd forming she gave a slight bow.
“[Whispers on the Wind]. Attention everyone, I’ll be setting up a nice celebration in the
central plaza, there are many things I wish to share tonight and things to discuss.” Akemi told
everyone, her voice carrying to every corner inside the barrier. As people began to gather,
their curiosity obvious in their voice, Akemi set out Kegs of different drinks, as well as
platters of food still steaming on a few tables without benches. “At least I have the food from
cooking in Yggdrasil still, too bad That skill didn’t carry over…” She knew there wasn’t an
endless supply for her to pull from but… her people were more than worth spoiling.
It was eventually… relaxing for Akemi, to hear her people settle down with excitement in
their voice, that they hung onto her every word. It was a lot of power over them, and she was
afraid of it to a degree. “I need to do right by them… That starts today.” She thought as she
took a seat on one bench with the fire to her back. Sipping a cup of Mead she thought of what
words to use as more and more people gathered.
She was distracted enough that she jumped when she felt a hand get put on each shoulder.
Looking to her sides she wasn’t surprised to find Ana and Kyouko sliding into the bench with
her. “Hey you two, ready for me to unveil my evil plans to everyone?” Akemi teased with a
grin, her tails swishing behind her unconsciously.
“Evil? Ah yes… helping everyone get a new home and saving another Kingdom, so evil~.”
Ana said and poked Akemi’s nose, which just made her giggle when Akemi wiggled it.
“I don’t think you need to worry about them disliking what ever you got, you forget that
some of them seem to be worshiping you…” Kyouko sounded almost worried about that,
especially when Akemi groaned hearing that.
“I know… I can hear them in the back of my head if I focus, and in my sleep… I wish they
would stop.” Akemi complained and took a few extra gulps of her Mead to try and wash
those thoughts away.
“Um… You do realize that since you can hear that… that you are a goddess? You ever going
to accept that?” Ana asked with a shake of her head and a smile.
“I’m in permanent denial…” Akemi grumbled, her tails wrapping a bit around the two of
them for comfort, they could tell the thought troubled her mind. “Hey Kyouko, where is
Lorelei? She still at the house? And where in the world did Hannyuu run off to?” Akemi
questioned as she fruitlessly attempted to mentally trudge through the scents around her, the
fire behind her didn’t help with sorting through them…
“At least you’re aware that you’re in denial… I found Hannyuu earlier with Rinna, they
offered to take Lorelei for now since I have her in her wheelchair. She was actually sitting up
on her own and her eyes were looking around!” Kyouko sounded absolutely ecstatic, her tail
was even wagging at full speed behind her.
“I’m so glad! She is making such great progress! I say give it a week or two more and maybe
she’ll talk again. It would be nice if she could witness the main event soon. Speaking of…”
“See Sis, a lot of our people are here. We’re all here for you, so you just keep doing your best
to recover.” Hannyuu to Lorelei as she kept a hand on the wheelchair Lorelei sat in. They had
noticed Lorelei’s wolf ears twitch at loud noises, and her eyes were scanning the area slowly.
They had put a blanket on her lap to help keep her legs warm, and Hannyuu’s first cloak was
still wrapped around her to keep the rest of her warm.
“I don’t know exactly what all happened to you L-Lorelei, but I’ll try and help also.” Rinna
said as she clearly felt for the wolf girl, it wasn’t hard to get idea about what could put
someone in a state of complete disassociation after all.
Rather then getting in the thick of the crowd, the two of them preferred the quiet and cool at
the tree line, watching the festivities for now in peace. Neither of them dared bring up their
joined hands yet though, but neither seemed ready to let go. Hannyuu was even rubbing
Rinna’s hand with her thumb soothingly.
“I don’t know where the future will go but… Lets get there together, okay?” Hannyuu asked,
tilting her head at the sheep girl who’s only response was to lean her head on Hannyuu’s
shoulder.
“Yeah, just like this. Together.” Neither seemed to notice Lorelei’s turned head or twitching
wolf ears though as she peered at them for just a moment before looking back at the bonfire
away from them, listening to the peaceful chatter.
“[Whispers on the Wind]. Now then everyone, I think before it gets any later that I disclose
some things today. First of all…” Akemi took a few deep breathes and stood up to face the
crowd. “I apologize for not being around nearly as much as I implied I would be, for not
walking among you more.” Akemi said with a deep bow. After several moments of many
people telling her to not bow did she finally lift her head.
“It wasn’t without fruit though. My talks with the Dragon Kingdom have gone excellent, and
tomorrow I’ll be finding the site I wish for us settle. The Dragon Kingdom also has gone
through a lot… I very recently ended their war with the Beastmen who sought to cultivate
them as mere livestock. With their armies decimated the Beastmen will not be attacking any
time soon if ever.” Akemi began to pace back and forth as her tails showed her tumultuous
emotions more than her face did.
“Reaching out a hand to help others leads to others reaching back out to help you, as is the
case here, we will have a decent section of land that intend to cultivate into something
wonderful for us all. It will be on the border between the Dragon Kingdom and the Beastmen
tribes lands. You there, yes?” Akemi paused and looked towards a man at one table near her
who had raised a hand to get her attention.
“You want to put all of us between that Kingdom and… an army of Beastmen? Isn’t that like
putting our heads in their mouths ourselves? How shall we form our military with such a
small number here?” The man seemed to restrain himself from asking much more than that.
“A valid question. Their army does not currently exist anymore, and even if it was reformed
they would be no threat to us. As for the question of military might, there is no need. At the
risk of sounding arrogant I’d like to quote a wise old man. I am here, there is no greater
security than that, not when very few in this world can match my power. The Beastmen are
entirely a non-threat, please do not worry about them. Our lands will be entirely unassailable
if things work out how I wish.” Akemi declared quite simply, though her lovers could tell that
she was nervous by the flicking of her ears and tail at every sound.
That got the crowd chattering loudly before one slightly drunk human stood up to stare her
down. “How can you even say that?! Everyone knows the Theocracy has true monsters under
their command, even the True Dragon lords have destroyed nations before! How do you have
enough arrogance to promise something like that?” The man shoved several people off him
who were trying to pull him back. They all stopped when Akemi raised her hand, not looking
the least bit displeased.
“Another fair question. I say it because it is true. I am aware it sounds arrogant, but I did
destroy the Beastmen’s entire army within a day… well, the bulk of it was in one group,
which took less than a minute for me to neutralize, technically. There are some who rival me,
but they are far and few between from what I’ve found, and I have an… alliance with one
such being, and the Dragon Kingdom is already our ally. Our entire country will be our
fortress, and I will personally risk it all to protect my people… if you all still wish for me to
continue leading. That brings me to my next topic…” Akemi took a deep breath and folded
her arms behind her back. Her words seemed to mollify the human who took a seat again,
though his neighbors still didn’t look happy with him.
“The time has come to know how we want to form ourselves, so we can declare it to the rest
of the world our place in it. I may be setting many things in motion, but I will not arbitrarily
declare myself our ruler or the like, nor am I here to be a untouchable being… I wish to be
among you all, all souls will be treated the same by me as long as they have peace in their
heart. If there is anyone who believes they would do a better job than me at helming our
country, please speak up. I am willing to act as our military itself if someone is better at
leading, being strong does not mean I would be a good leader.” Akemi looked around and
saw several strange looks directed at her.
After a minute of no one coming forward Emeril stood up. Heads snapped to her, including
Akemi. Emeril might have even been able to see a faint hope in Akemi’s eyes.
“Lady Akemi, I think the silence speaks for itself, I would follow no one else. Do you all
agree? I think Lady Akemi would make a wonderful Queen.” Emeril said, and gave Akemi a
smirk only she could see.
“Oh this sly bitch… Dammit all…” Akemi thought as she saw the way things would work
out. The chorus of cheers of Queen Akemi rang in her ears quickly as she looked down to
hide her blush that thankfully was hard to see with the fire behind her.
“Although my Lady… Do you deny being Divine? We have all felt it, you have a draw about
you that no mortal would have, and have done miracles that I feel only could come from the
gods.” Emeril pointed out, though by that point Akemi could see no teasing or malice in her
gaze.
“…Like many things in life… it is complicated. I certainly do not feel comfortable declaring
myself something as grandiose as a deity, I am just Akemi. I really cannot stop anyone who
thinks as such… But I do not believe I am worthy of that title, not yet.” Akemi could tell the
audience was not swayed by her argument as they chattered among themselves.
“Hmm… I suppose you do need a title if you want to rule though. Well everyone? How does
Divine Queen Akemi sound?” Emeril asked the crowd, seeming to enjoy stirring them up.
The noise in the crowd soon morphed into chanting. “Divine Queen Akemi! Divine Queen
Akemi!” It was enough to drive her slowly insane. “Can I just… turn into a slime and slip
away from here?” She thought and looked past the crowd, spotting her daughters finally as
they watched from afar, the hope in both Hannyuu and Rinna’s eyes was enough to give her
confidence that she was doing well, and she swore she could see Lorelei firmly watching her,
her eyes not unfocused like usual.
“…Very well then. Well, as for the name of the country, I have no idea how long I shall live
for honestly so I might be on that throne you want to put me on for a long time. The Divine
Queendom of Natura sounds acceptable to me.” Akemi finally added, seeming to resign
herself to her position.
The cheering was enough to make her ears hurt, quickly putting an end to the noise as so
many others cursed their sensitive hearing all at once. “We may be less than two thousand
souls, but in time we shall grow into a powerful country, we’ll outgrow our wounds stronger
than ever, and we’ll gather our scattered comrades and make our families whole. Now… I am
just one woman, and one woman does not a government make, nor do I have the expertise for
so much I need done.” Akemi had to pause for a moment and take a drink from her mug,
clearly not used to so much public speaking, her nervousness being even easier to spot than
before.
After a few deep breathes she continued. “I need people with skills, such as building,
planting, everything you can think of. As for aiding in management I had already thought of
the first post to fill… Please welcome Lady Emeril, your Minister of Civilian Affairs!”
Akemi declared, and internally delighted in the shocked expression on Emeril’s face.
“[Message] I make no idle threats Emeril~ If I’m going to some lofty position, I’m dragging
you with me!” Akemi just smiled at the silently annoyed women, but that faded eventually as
she bowed to the crowd.
“Now then, as for our new land, within the next two weeks It will be ready for us to begin to
migrate to, made all the easier by Gate, we can work on homes there before coming back here
for the night if need be. If you have valuable skills, please see Lady Emeril so we might help
you utilize them. Now then… That is enough stiff talk, lets all enjoy the festivities for the
night!” Akemi declared as she went to sit back down with her girlfriends, grasping their
hands as hard as she dared.
Leaning in they both got to exchange a kiss with her once the crowd had stopped focusing on
her. “You did great Akemi, proud of you.” Kyouko said and grinned at her. “Our cute little
Queen~”
“Does this make us Queen Consorts? Wow, my parents will be impressed by that jump in
status~” Ana teased and scooted closer to Akemi, not caring about the eyes still on them.
“I suppose it does, as long as you two are happy then it is fine, things are going to be a lot
busier I think, but I feel like I can do anything if I have you two with me.” Akemi blushed
and looked away as she seemed to realize just how cheesy she sounded.
Words didn’t need to be said as they leaned on each other and watched people eat, drink, and
finally be merry. They all deserved to let loose after all.
It didn’t take long for a line of people to start to dance around the bonfire, which more and
more people joined. Akemi didn’t know where anyone there got a drum or lute, but she heard
some sorts of music fill the quiet of the night, mixing with the crackling of the wood burning.
The trio noticed their kids finally approach, as well as noticed Emeril now pushing Lorelei.
Lirina walked behind mother her munching on a meat skewer, seeming too distracted to pay
attention to others around her. “Hello my Queen~” Hannyuu sounded far too smug for her
own good as she stood in front of Rinna, though they all could tell the two were closer that
day than the day prior.
“Hello Princess Hannyuu~ Two can play at that game Dearheart.” Akemi said and sipped at
her drink, just to enjoy her daughter flinch at the title she also now had. “Feels heavy doesn’t
it? Anyway… why don’t you two go dance?” Akemi asked and just adored watching both
girls blush.
“O-okay Mama, you wanna dance Rin-?” Hannyuu asked and turned to grin at the girl, her
mouth stopping as she seemed to freeze up. The way the firelight was reflecting from Rinna’s
emerald eyes was enough for her to hold her breath for a moment. “Wanna dance R-Rinna?”
Hannyuu asked with a blush, clearing her throat and looking away.
It must have eased her nerves as Rinna seemed just as nervous, though she was always
nervous… but this time she was blushing just as red. With a nod the two of them went to join
the line dancing around the fire hand in hand.
Their mom’s could only watch them with glee. “So precious… Least they are doing well.”
Their eyes all moved to Lorelei and could see the progress even she was making as she
tracked the dancers in front of her with her eyes that clearly were conscious to some degree, a
huge leap in recovery.
“They really are… I haven’t had Rinna long, but she is a good child that I see as my own
now, I think I can trust Hannyuu with her. Now then…” Emeril put her hands on her hips and
looked at the polyamorous trio and grinned. “Get out there and dance with your people!”
Emeril laughingly commanded and pointed at the bonfire.
It was Kyouko who broke their standstill, pulling on the other two’s hands towards the fire.
“Sounds like fun, thanks for looking after Lorelei so much Emeril.” Kyouko gave Lorelei one
last smile before she nearly dragged her Mates off to finally dance.
Now that the sun had fully gone down it was truly lit by the flickering flames, the people
dancing around them just the same as those flames danced. Once Akemi and Ana got into the
spirit of it it didn’t take long for Kyouko to guide them into a dance around the fire, the three
of them hand in hand just enjoying the moment.
Akemi closed her eyes for a moment and just enjoyed the sensations of moving, of the
warmth from her girlfriends, the happiness of her people, and her own happiness. Her cheeks
felt warm and it wasn’t even the fire or mead that did it. “I love you two.” Akemi couldn’t
help but say as she felt drunk off the atmosphere. Finally she looked her actual age, dancing
with the relaxed freedom a nineteen year old should have, an easy smile on her face.
It was a bit… difficult for them to work the dances as a trio instead of a pair like almost all
others, but they couldn’t bare to let go either. With the laughter around her it was a dream she
had never thought to experienced in the past. The previous few months had been so far from
what she had hoped in her previous life that she didn’t know what to do with the feelings in
her chest besides to lean forward to kiss Ana and Kyouko once each as they continued to spin
around.
“Love you both too, getting to just be together like this has been…” Kyouko took a moment
to turn and look at Lorelei, and noticed she was looking right back. It might have been a trick
of the light, but she could have sworn she saw Lorelei smiling ever so slightly. “It has been
amazing, I haven’t felt this… content since I had Lorelei… Thank you for helping me get her
back, I don’t know if I ever would have if you hadn’t dropped into our world. Or you Ana,
you haven’t even noticed how much people respect what you do around here, you’ve treated
this place like home and I’m so glad…” Kyouko seemed to choke up a bit as her amber eyes
stared into Akemi’s blue and Ana’s green.
“I’m glad also… I treat it like home because this Is my home, right here with you two, with
everyone. When I started as an adventurer I never expected for things to… end up like this,
but I’m thankful they did. I’m really glad I met you in that forest Akemi, both of you, I love
you both.” Ana said as her voice grew tired. “Now… can we take a break? I… I’m not built
for this…” Ana admitted, letting them both notice just how out of breath their adorable mage
was.
With a grin Kyouko was quick to duck down and lift Ana up into her arms princess style.
“That better? I told you that cardio is important, you’ll thank me for harping on it
eventually.” Kyouko’s tail waved behind her as the two on their feet started walking back to
their original table together.
“K-Kyouko… This is embarrassing…” Ana half laugh half groaned, but looked a bit
disappointed when she was put down so she could sit on the bench.
“Yeah but you liked it, I can tell~ Whew… that was fun.” Kyouko said and plopped down as
well, looking absolutely content.
Akemi was a bit more subdued as she sat backwards on the bench between them, just smiling
as she watched the fire behind them all, her eyes drawn to all the different laughing couples,
or just people dancing together for the hell of it. “Awww look~” Akemi pointed out two
smaller figures spinning around each other as they followed the crowd’s endless dance
around the bonfire. It was far away and dark, but not enough that all three couldn’t see the
big smiles on both Hannyuu and Rinna’s faces.
“Yeah, our families are destined to end up tied together.” Emeril said with a nod, her eyes
watching her adoptive daughter fondly. “They deserve this, lets lay off the teasing… at least
until tomorrow.” Emeril said and stretched out, her four tails waving behind her, as if in time
with the kid’s dance.
Ana and Akemi looked at one another, and then at Kyouko, lightly pushing the wolf woman
with grins on their faces. Looking into their eyes their message was clear, let Emeril get some
fun also.
“Very well~ Come on Emeril, you don’t get out of the fun, dancing is required~” Kyouko
said as she offered her arm, and smirked as Emeril rolled her eyes before placing a hand on
that arm.
“Very well, I suppose you’ll do…” Emeril said with a grin as they made their way over to the
fire to dance. Looking over her shoulder she had a curious look on as she looked into Ana
and Akemi’s eyes to find an encouraging acceptance on both their faces. If they were fine
with it she felt no reason to hold back.
“You know, if Emeril and Kyouko don’t want to be together like that, I wonder if we might
be able to find someone for Emeril, she deserves some more love in her life.” Ana said and
leaned against Akemi who had wrapped an arm around her, along with a few tails, as per fox
regulations.
“If those two wanted to get together it would be a bit less complicated strangely enough, and
I’d worry less about my new Minister. I’m no matchmaker though, I don’t want to step on her
feelings if she is still in mourning… For someone over four hundred years old years old five
years is probably nothing, for most people that might not be enough time. I think it is best we
let her go at her own pace, if she even would want romance again that is up to her. If she does
then we can support her as much as she needs.” Akemi said and brushed her thumb over
Ana’s slender shoulder. “For now… lets just enjoy things.”
As the hour drew late, the fire began to burn down, dimming the light and ending the
dancing. There were only a few left dancing by then anyway, with some residents having
gone home for the night, many in various states of drunkenness. It was quiet and relaxing as
the last of the bonfire snapped and burned.
Most children had gone inside, but some like Hannyuu were still up, barely. Both her and
Rinna were leaning on each other and nodding off between Akemi and Kyouko. “Why don’t
you two head to bed? If you want I don’t mind if you two stick together, you can make it a
sleepover.” Akemi offered while idly petting her daughter’s hair, eliciting those sleepy purrs.
“That alright with you Emeril?” Akemi quietly asked as she saw Emeril cradling a sleeping
Lirina against her as she sat across from them, the tiny Kitsune entirely out.
“That is a great idea. Rinna dear, did you want to sleep over with Hannyuu today?” The tired
nod she got was enough for her. “Our home or her’s?”
“Mm… Maybe… your’s Hannyuu? Sleepy…” Rinna grumbled as she made no move to stop
leaning on the feline girl.
That got Hannyuu’s tail wiggling behind her as she rested her head against Rinna’s. “That
sounds fine to me, we can stay with Lorelei, let the moms stay together.” She muttered with a
yawn.
There were no disagreements around as they soaked up the last of that night, the cold of the
fall night already taking the place of the flame’s warmth.
“Excuse me Y-your Majesty?” The voice of a young women called out from a spot on a table
table, her chin resting in her palm.
“Please, you don’t need to go that far, just Akemi is fine. Something wrong?” Akemi asked
as she tilted her head at woman who she now could tell was a wolf like Kyouko.
“Lady Akemi, may we ask… what your relationship is with those two?” The women sounded
just curious but Akemi felt no malice in the question.
Looking between Kyouko and Ana she found matching looks of comfort and confidence.
Taking both of their hands and holding them up a bit Akemi smiled as brightly as the mood
of that night. “Ana, Kyouko, and myself? I suppose now is as good of a time to officially
announce it as any. We’re officially Mates.” Akemi was glad to see the women grin back at
her in delight. The few wolf whistles were a bit harder to ignore, but she didn’t dislike this
acceptance.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: I’m sorry that took so long! Been a busy holiday season… was getting my
motivation back for writing and all… I hope this chapter was acceptable, felt like I
dragged it on too long. It was originally going to be a time skip past the dancing but… I
felt that was an opportunity to put some more fluff in that couldn’t be passed up. If you
can’t tell I also am loving Hannyuu and Rinna being adorable together.
I got caught up with the new Pokemon game too much… my boyfriend and girlfriend
surprised me with a switch for Christmas and Violet, and I got Pokemon for one of my
other partners so we could all play together~ hope you all had a really great holiday
season!
I’ve also fully finished dumping FF.net, tired of that dumpster fire of a site. I don’t
appreciate their greedy EULA and other things like putting ads in my story, not when
Ao3 does things better without either. Welcome to the FF.net readers who have followed
on!
Please tell me what you all think if you want, I love to reply to comments and appreciate
your continued support!
A First Time for Everything
Chapter Summary
Akemi says fuck Dysphoria and has a wonderful morning with her loves.
While later it will be time for Akemi to enjoy her date with Draudillon, revealing more
of her past she has yet to share before.
Rating moved to E for content in this chapter.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you all for the amazing support last chapter! Unlike the last time I claimed
something was spicy, this time we actually get a lewd enough scene I’ll be moving the
story to E rating. Adding this on top of a lot of stuff in the story justifies it in my eyes,
especially since this will be far from the only sex scene. I hope it turned out alright, first
time publishing something like that, but I think it turned out well.
This chapter kinda ran away from me so it is a bit long, hope you all enjoy it.
I think this might be the chapter that brings this story to 10k views! Thank you all in
advance!
????
The darkness and fire reminded her of her first trip to the Pits, but the dream her mind
seemed to conjure painted the scene with far more joy than that. The smell of smoke might
have reminded her of bad places and worse times, but seeing so many people dancing around
happily was a nice break from reality. Like keeping the windows closed and shuttered, it was
easier to just let her dreams be dreams, it was better than getting her hopes up so much.
Shutting herself away at the very least stopped her from feeling anything, she couldn’t be
hurt more like that.
It had been the first time in what felt like years that she had peeked beyond those shutters
rather than pretending to not exist, sleeping dreamlessly. “Maybe… I really am finally dead.”
It was a thought with no more emotion behind it than what to have for breakfast, even if the
memories of food were like a far off dream, so far removed from reality.
She may have been convinced her peek beyond was a dream, but it was nice to at least dream
well for once, that her mind let her see her mother smiling again, dancing even. Thinking
about that warm smile made her both happy and sad, or what ever ghost was left of her
emotions after so much of her had crumbled to dust. “Maybe… I’ll peek again sometime…”
The prospect of another nice dream like that was enough to give her a momentary peace
before giving into that familiar and comforting darkness once again.
It was surprisingly hard for Akemi to sleep that night, as her mind kept reminding her of the
pressure that was now officially on her shoulders. She was nineteen and yet thought it was a
good idea to become a Queen… “If only brother could see me now…”
She was the first one in bed awake and it didn’t sound as if either of her Mates were waking
anytime soon. It was blissful warm as she laid between them, her tails wrapped around them
like fluffy snakes, taking the role of their blanket. Sniffing the air, she found the pungent
scent of charcoal really got everywhere, for all of them. “I think a nice morning bath will
help… But how can I…” She barely could move she was so tied up with them. Sure being
snug with her girls was comfortable and emotionally fulfilling, but it didn’t help her at the
moment.
“Screw it… [Time Stop], [Ghost Walk].” She silently cast her spells, letting the colors fade
from the world as she became the only one moving in frozen time. “Toki wo Tamare~ gods I
watched too many classics as a kid…” Akemi chuckled to herself, not worrying about
waking her lovers as none of her sound would be transferred. Normally she would be stuck
still as others were immovable within the time stop except her, hence Ghost Walk. Like the
name she slipped through her lovers, extracting herself from their grip, tails and all.
With an entirely pointless snap of her fingers she dropped the spell before it drained her mana
further, and then rushed to pull the thick blanket at the end of the bed over the two before
they could get too disturbed with her and her tails no longer warming them. “Love you two~
Now then…” She could tell she was the only one awake in the house with just a mental
glance at her passive skills, able to feel no movement in the bedrooms besides her own, just
gentle breathing.
Quiet as a mouse Akemi slipped into the bathroom and stored her pajamas in her inventory
with a quick swap to nothing. Filling up the bathtub left her with an annoying gap of time to
fill. “Okay… big date today Akemi, get cleaned and maybe start breakfast. Lunch needs to be
put together and maybe do some last minute preparations?” Her pondering nearly made the
tub overflow before she stopped the water.
Before she cast her regular illusion to vanish her tails she thought about it more, and instead
started to focus on her mana like she was told. “Alright… just like Emeril taught me, flood
the body…” It was surprisingly difficult for her to hold back the tide of mana she could feel
within her stores. It was as if there was a lake inside of her, and she wanted to pour out just a
glass of the water, while at the same time lifting the entire lake up to do so.
With the feeling of her skin almost vibrating, her tails vanished from sight entirely, leaving
just her bare rear. “You know… Kyouko and Ana are right, I made this body, but did I ever
really look at it in detail?” A quick glance back made her silently chuckle. “Huh, I did give
this body a great ass, it is always covered by my tails but… maybe I should have shrunk it?”
She thought and stepped into the tub. She let out a content sigh as she sunk into the scalding
hot water, never before so glad for her resistance to damage that let her have the water as hot
as she wanted.
Akemi let her mind wander as she relaxed, before one of her hands absentmindedly explored
her skin, taking the time to really check out the details of her form. “Well… not surprised
there. I guess not having hair options besides my head and tails at character creation got
translated as only having hair in those places here…” That also didn’t bother her too much,
she hadn’t needed to shave or anything, it hadn’t even been in her thoughts due to how busy
she always was.
The times she has had to simply relax in a bath since she arrived in that world could be
counted on a single hand, least of all having the head space for sorting out her own issues at
the same time. With just a touch of mana she could keep the water heated up, letting her just
soak her problems away.
She let her mind and hands continue to wander, just fascinated by her own creation. One of
the things she had noticed from the start was that her chest was on the smaller side, but she
found it didn’t bother her as much as she thought, she was already on the petite side. A gentle
squeeze she noticed didn’t provoke nearly the same sensation as when Kyouko or Ana
touched her chest. “If I cared about having bigger boobs I would have made them bigger
when I made the character.”
There were a few places her hands seemed to just refuse to approach. With an annoyed sigh
she laid her head back onto the edge of the tub. “For fucks sake Akemi, it is your own body,
you aren’t being wrong for wanting to experiment…” She tried to tell herself as she
recognized at least some sort of mental block that made her want to scream.
Almost out of spite, or at least stubbornness, she pinched the pebbled tips of chest. Her eyes
shot open with a tiny yelp that she had to cover her mouth for. To her surprise it wasn’t… a
bad pain.
After checking through her skill if anyone else was awake she took a deep breath. Letting go
of her worries she let one hand slowly wander down, tracing small patterns on her belly as
she tried to image it was Kyouko or Ana’s hand instead.
“Don’t worry, I’ll teach you both everything I know~” She tried to remember Kyouko’s
words and how they had stirred her up inside. It didn’t take much to grasp that feeling,
especially if she thought about either her girlfriends.
With an annoyed sigh she stopped. “I hate my mind… well, I bet Kyouko will teach me
plenty…” Just that thought was enough to make her breath catch a bit. She felt a sudden
urgency to schedule that date for the three of them as early as possible. “Do we really Have to
wait till a date? I trust them…” She got out of the bath as In the rest of the house she felt at
least one of her girls in her bedroom stirring awake…
Pulling on her apron and as well as a cookbook, Akemi hyped herself up. “I can do this, I’m
not super useless here anymore, lets make them a nice and simple breakfast.” She pulled out
a tray of eggs, vanilla extract from Yggdrasil that just looked like a small white bottle, and
sugar.
Reading through the cookbook for potential ideas she wanted she abused her Perfect Record
passive to it’s fullest to get the recipes memorized. “Wow, this cookbook must have been
damn ol- Yup… Wow, two thousand twenty four? Hilda must have had to scan this book into
Yggdrasil if she said she had a copy.” In terms of books it was ancient for her world, not
when so much knowledge was left to ‘their betters’.
Shaking her head to let go of the past she just focused on making French toast. Mixing up
eggs, vanilla, and sugar she pulled out a loaf of bread she had gotten from Rory the day prior.
“[Mana thread].” It was a very underpowered use of the second tier spell, but it let her slice
the bread with precision, till she had thick slices ready for a bath.
“Now… soak it in the mixture? Wouldn’t that just make eggy bread? Well… trust the recipe.”
She told herself as she let the mixture be soaked up by a slice and tossed it into the pan she
had heating up.
Pulling out another plate and a small jug she carefully cooked the first test piece and
examined it. Pouring a generous amount of syrup on the thing she took her first bite of this
unknown food, as like hell she would give her family food she didn’t know was any good…
Her eyes widened at the combo, like she had discovered a great secret. She felt she had
discovered a slice of child-like joy. “Thank you Hilda, going to totally reprint this book in
this world… I need a steady supply of syrup probably.” Her mind whirled and planned, right
before she remembered the stove still being on and waiting. She was soon well into cooking
before the first steps down the stairs began.
“Oh no what did you do Akemi- Wait that actually smells good. Morning love.” Ana sounded
surprised enough that Akemi’s tails flicked in annoyance for a moment.
“Morning Ana dear. I’m a slow learner, but I Am learning…” Akemi defended herself as she
set another piece of French toast aside and turned off the stove. “I’m not sure what else to
make for breakfast that would go well with this but… It turned out better than I thought.
Should we wake everyone up? Oh hey we match~” Akemi grinned as they had gotten a pair
of workout shorts like Kyouko, and had even stolen a shirt of their girlfriend’s as well, being
quite large on them they were great for casual wear, or just lazy mornings. There was also the
fact they smelled of Kyouko, something even Ana could tell, and that comforted both of
them.
Ana thought for a moment as she attempted to read the cook book. “That should be fine, if
we’re all still hungry I can cook us more, thank you ‘kemi. Maybe? It is still pretty early.
Maybe we could give the kids more time to sleep? It was a pretty late night and all. We could
however likely wake up Kyouko easily enough… that could be kind of fun even…” Ana said
and turned the book sideways as if That would do something. “Okay, I’m not going to tease
you for not knowing our language anymore, this seems more complicated…” Ana
complained and set it back down.
“It can be hard to learn but it is possible, one day I’ll translate all the books I have, I want to
have a nice library that the public can access.” Akemi picked up the large platter of French
toast and set it on the table, placing a metal dome over it to keep warm. “I think if we try and
wake up Kyouko we may not leave the room for a while… But I kind of want to anyway.
Thoughts?” Akemi mentioned with a blush.
Ana joined her in flushing red but nodded. “She does get pretty frisky in the morning, but she
usually stops for our sakes I think. It would be worth the risk of food getting cold. Ugh… our
girlfriend is way too hot… Well, into the fray. Wait.” Ana declared as she started to head
back up towards Akemi’s bedroom, Akemi followed along behind with her heart pounding
but stopped as Ana did.
Akemi had to think a moment “Am I ready for something like that? Wasn’t I just having
trouble with doing anything to Myself? Maybe it was Because it was myself? Well… whatever
happens happens-” Her mind shut off for a moment as Ana pressed her lips to Akemi’s own,
both of them quickly melting into the embrace. Neither of them were experienced in it, not
anywhere near how Kyouko was, but it was still quite nice for the morning. Ana had taken
the lead of gently pushing Akemi against the stairway for a good minute as they just enjoyed
each other’s company and the affection they felt in the kiss.
Breaking from each other they both had to catch their breath. “There~ Now lets go wake our
girlfriend.” Ana said and moved with a bit more pep in her step. Akemi was right there with
her, her tails nearly wagging, both of them at least mentally prepared for the possibility of
escalation. After their intense kiss they certainly were itching for something.
“Glory, glory, glory, what a hell of a way to die~” Akemi quietly mumbled with a lick of her
lips.
Kyouko felt that she was on the verge of waking up, yet she didn’t want to leave that
comfortable sleepiness. She recognized that her girlfriends had gotten up, with the bed being
colder, but she was still so sleepy…
The door opening up and two pairs of foot steps approaching brought her to at least fifty
percent awareness, while them slipping back into bed on either side of her was a nice and
warm way to fully wake up.
“Morning Kyouko~ It’s time to wake up dear.” Ana whispered from one side as she clung to
the wolf woman’s back, right into a twitching wolf ear.
“I made us breakfast~” Akemi kissed her forehead and seemed amused by the sleepy
grumble Kyouko gave in return, it was strangely adorable for for her.
“Five… ten more minutes…” She complained before snuggling her head forward against
Akemi’s chest, waking up more and more from both her Mate’s scents.
Akemi thought for a moment before she held up a finger. “[Sound Alteration: Other]” She
silently cast her spell, an invisible wave expanding to fill the room. Only Ana seemed to
notice it as it made her shiver. Akemi seemed nervous, yet amused as she leaned closer to
Kyouko’s ear. “The kids are still asleep, and I sound proofed the room.” That was enough for
her to notice Kyouko take a deeper breath and pull her head back, her ears perking up
straight.
“You have my attention…” She mumbled with a chuckle, before sitting up, turning over and
putting her hands on the bed beside both her girlfriend’s heads, hovering over them with a
saucy grin. She clearly was enjoying the fact she was big enough, and her girlfriends tiny
enough that she could pin them both. “And my interest~” Kyouko said and leaned down to
give both of them a quick kiss, observing everything about them, such as their half lidded
eyes, dilated pupils, their slightly quicker breathing, and their rising heartbeats. Their scents
had also changed, an extra layer to them that she was quite familiar with. “Did you perhaps
plan this?” She teased, now fully awake.
Akemi and Ana looked at each other before they both nodded. “I-I’m up for trying…
something, even if I have absolutely not idea about anything… Feeling pretty prepared.”
Akemi mumbled and looked aside.
“Well… getting the blood pumping in the morning i-is a fun activity…” Ana admitted while
pushing her index fingers together to work out her nervous energy.
It was clearly the right answer as Kyouko looked almost predatory, in a way that made Ana
and Akemi both tense up in strange anticipation. “You two are so adorable I swear… If you
want me to play with you, you just have to ask~ Well? What do you want me to do to you my
dear Mates?” Kyouko asked and leaned down near their ears as they laid next to each other.
“Tell me~” She merely whispered, yet loved the squirming reaction she got from them both,
their scents spiking just from some verbal teasing.
Neither of the two could get much more than a squeak out yet, yet Akemi started to look
almost guilty, her ears folding down. “Is… this even alright for me though? Or for you? I
mean, t-this isn’t even my real body… Just-” She was cut off as Kyouko leaned down to take
a nip at her neck playfully, right before suckling on the mark she left, taking her time to really
make Akemi get her point. The lick on the hickey was just out of affection though.
“If you were about to imply you’re not a real woman, I can make all the time I need to drive
it home that you in fact are, and that that body is entirely your own. It would involve tying
you up with some cozy silk ropes though till you lack the clarity of mind to say anything but
mine or Ana’s name. Of course I’d do that anyway, bondage is a pretty fun activity I’d love to
introduce you both to. Hey Ana, you did say Akemi tied up would make a fun picture right?
Or was that me?” Kyouko asked as she kissed Akemi on the nose.
“I-I think it was you but… That would be a fun thing to see… I’m with Kyouko though
Akemi, why are you suddenly doubting that now? That is your body and you can do what
you want with it. We see how happy you are in it and we love you, and certainly not because
you have a hot body, it’s because you are You.” Ana said and reached for Akemi’s hand,
squeezing it tight.
Akemi took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right, I know you’re right. I hate my brain
sometimes, thought I’d be free of dysphoria completely, but seems I need to work through it
still. S-so… I’m fine with continuing.” Akemi said with a tiny amount of confidence and
looking extra shy.
Kyouko smiled and shook her head in clear exasperation. “Well then…” Kyouko scooted up
till she was kneeling between the two of them, enough that she could rely on her legs for
balance and still cup both of their faces affectionately. Those hands slowly moved
downwards. “If this is alright, I think I’ll give you both your first lesson if you’ll trust me.
You can tell me to stop at any time~” Kyouko said and touched both of their stomachs, her
hands slipping under their shirts, shirts that Kyouko noticed were her own. Kyouko had to
take a moment to shiver, feeling extra delighted that both of them marked themselves with
her scent, that she is safe enough to them to do so, it stimulated her instincts, as well as some
other places.
Neither of them showed opposition to the touching except sharper intakes of breath. “I trust
you, I want to learn…” Akemi admitted as her hand squeezed Ana’s tighter.
“Mm… same, you can do what you like to me…” Ana was eventually able to say, nearly
squeaking as the hand under her shirt reached up to gently cup her tiny chest, a thumb
brushing over her nipple to elicit more adorable noises.
“I’ll give you two a nice quick lesson, hold us over until that date, I really want to be able to
take an entire night… an entire night and the next day if I can, to really give you two the
works. There is also only one of me, so my options are a tiny bit limited…” Kyouko said as
she squeezed and massaged one of those perfectly shaped breasts of Akemi’s till she got a
whimper from her, and yet more when she lightly pinched the tender flesh at the tip. “You’re
both so sensitive, I love it~” She licked her lips as she saw both of their eyes were on her.
The two on the bottom soon got to feel Kyouko’s hand slide down south, dipping below the
shorts the both had put on for the morning. It clearly delighted Kyouko to see them
unconsciously spread their legs before she so much as directly touched them, their matching
workout shorts allowing them all the flexibility they all needed. “If you want me to stop, you
just need say so, other than that just relax and let me treat you right…” She said and kissed
them both on the cheek, right before reaching down further to press her palms onto their
damp cores.
The matching moans they both let out were oh so satisfying to the wolf, but she wanted more,
she wouldn’t be satisfied till they both were screaming her name at least once. When her
middle fingers dipped down and swiped along the pair’s swollen lips did Kyouko got to feel
their backs arch in sync. The wetness she felt was driving her wild… it was the best start to
her morning in ages.
Removing her hands both her lovers whimpered and watched her with red faces. Seeing the
desire in their eyes and how they also had joined hands to lean into each other as they
watched Kyouko sent wonderful sparks down her spine. Kyouko took her team to lick both
wet and sticky fingers clean while looking into their eyes, just soaking up their precious
reactions.
“Fuck I love you both…” Kyouko growled as her hands dipped back in, wanting so much to
just spend hours exploring them, finding what made her new lovers tick, where she could
best make them feel good. It was the rough part of morning sex, usually time was more
limited.
As her fingers dipped back down, she spread them both oh so gently. She almost felt like a
bard as she rubbed the tip of her fingers at their tight entrances, swirling around and listening
to the moans and squeaks they couldn’t contain, evoking those adorable noises from them
nearly in sync. “Be as loud as you want, you don’t need to hold back so much~ I mean, you
sound proofed the room anyway you said. You won’t be disturbing anyone at all… and I want
to hear the moment you cum for me…” Kyouko purred, her fingers sinking into both of them
as she watched their reactions.
Ana was more subdued, being admittedly more familiar with herself, yet she still shivered
and clenched around Kyouko’s finger, soaking it more in her arousal as her whimpering grew
a bit louder.
Akemi’s reaction was clearly surprise, as well as heavy lust, her incomprehensible moans
filling the room as she squeezed even harder on that finger tip, enough that Kyouko winced
and had to pull back out. The whimpering that came out of her at the lack of sensation did not
help Kyouko’s desire to keep them in that bedroom for hours, breakfast be damned. “Love~
You have to relax, I can’t do much if you snap my finger off~” Kyouko teased and leaned
down to bite and suck at the Kitsune’s neck for a moment.
“I-I can’t… It is… I don’t even know what to expect…” An idea came to her head as she
groaned. “Of course… I never thought this body being too strong would get in the way like
this… I-I’ll need to make something if I want to… lower my strength.” Akemi let out a
frustrated whine, right before bucking her hips again as Kyouko’s fingers moved upwards
from her entrance, spreading her open further and coaxing out her swollen clit with the tip of
the sopping wet finger that had just been inside her.
It seemed to get an even larger reaction out of her than penetration. “K-K-Kyouko what the f-
fuck?! Haa!” Even Ana watched as Kyouko was quickly unraveling Akemi’s inexperienced
body and mind.
“Nice isn’t it? I’ll slow down if it is too intense, sometimes I forget you’re new to this. Don’t
worry though, if you trust me you won’t regret it~” Kyouko slowed her finger down to very
slow circles on and around that bundle of nerves. “Remember that spot, it is very fun to play
with~” Kyouko noted before her other hand in Ana’s shorts began to move as well, a second
finger slowly being slipped inside of Ana, making the human shudder and hiss through her
teeth as the wolf stretched her just a bit more, slipping in past the second knuckle.
“That feels… fucking good… W-why isn’t it that nice when I do it?…” She half complained
before her back arched into Kyouko’s curling fingers, tightening around those digits as they
were dragged along her upper walls. In place of an explanation, Kyouko made another hickey
on Ana’s collarbone, her shirt falling off one shoulder. Both Akemi and Ana’s shirts were
already pushed up, something Kyouko took advantage of to first lean down to Akemi’s chest
to clamp down on a nipple for a good minute, licking and sucking till Akemi was only able to
cry out. Repeating the same on Ana’s chest Kyouko was more than fine when Ana had
gripped her hair to hold her in place, the light pain of her hair being pulled just making
Kyouko happier.
Ana and Akemi were whimpering and moaning loud enough that if the room wasn’t sound
proofed then they would have long since woken the kids, if not the whole settlement. The
thought made Kyouko chuckle, the whole village hearing Akemi and Ana come undone by
her hands… she doubted the two would like an audience for that though. Akemi’s reactions
were far more forceful as she struggled to cope with the unfamiliar sensations of her body
tightening like a spring with each rotation around her clit, each rub of Kyouko’s slightly
rough fingers, her years of working with her sword helping her there. All of it told Kyouko
that her Kitsune was close, more so than Ana who was building up slower.
“Kyouko! W-what is happening?” Akemi nearly pleaded as she bucked her hips against
Kyouko’s hand, whimpering in need as Kyouko rubbed four fingers against her while her
thumb continued to play with her clit, giving Akemi that stimulation Kyouko knew she
craved. Kyouko released Ana’s nipple and gave it one last lick before sitting up to watch both
of their faces, and how their bodies writhed in pleasure, their legs having only shifted to give
Kyouko better access.
“Shhh, just let yourself go love~ just be careful of your grip.” Kyouko said as she she worried
a bit about Ana’s poor hands if Akemi squeezed too hard, but thankfully Akemi seemed to
have enough presence of mind to not break poor Ana’s hands.
Akemi’s eyes clenched shut as her hips bucked harder, pressing against Kyouko’s hand wetly
before her entire body stiffened up, her breathing coming out in moaning huffs. “K-Kyouko!
Fu-” Her ability to speak was quickly compromised as she felt Kyouko held back on the
pressure on her clit as the wave of pleasure she was on also slowed to a trickle, helping her
ride out that wave to the end. Akemi was near boneless as she panted to get her breath back.
Next to her Ana watched Akemi’s face with mirrored rapture before she also came hard
around Kyouko’s expert fingers, each beckoning gesture of her fingers extending the wave of
her climax far more than she ever brought to herself, even as her lover let her down from that
high nice and easy with a thumb pressing against her clit and only very slow strokes of her
fingers continuing. “Kyoukooo… Haa…” She whimpered as she slowed, eventually only
twitching around Kyouko’s still fingers till she was limp like Akemi, and just as tired
looking.
Kyouko shuddered slightly as she got to feel and hear both of her loves climax, knowing that
she was the one that brought them there was perhaps her own favorite sensation. “Love you
both~ Thank you for trusting me.” She said before leaning down to give them both a quick
kiss, not wanting to go overboard as her lover’s tried to get the air they needed.
She truly looked like the wolf that got into the sheep pen as she slowly licked her fingers as
her dazed lovers watched on. With a mischievous look on her face she leaned down and
brought the opposite hand that she used on each near their mouths, still visibly wet,
presenting them that choice. The utterly blissed out looks on their faces, combined with how
they obediently licked at and suckled the other’s taste off her fingers was enough to make
Kyouko arch her back in her own pleasure, completely in her element. “Good girls~ That was
fun…” She said and laid back with a happy sigh.
They all needed a minute to recover and process what all just happened, but as expected
Kyouko was the first to spring back up. “I am starving… but first I need a shower or
something.” Kyouko said and smiled at the two ladies. “Join me?”
Akemi quietly shook her head with a sigh. “I… need a minute still… took a bath not that
long ago. I Do need to change now though. Maybe we should have just gotten naked?” She
asked as her face flushed despite what she just went through with. “Hey Kyouko? Want me to
try for you? I feel kind of bad that you didn’t get anything out of that…” Akemi muttered.
“Fair enough~” Kyouko slid off the bed and stretched out. “Well I’m nice and awake, always
a great way to start the day. What about you Ana?” Kyouko asked with a tilt of her head, her
tail wagging behind her. “Oh Akemi… I got off plenty don’t you worry love. If you want to
though I can show you something when we actually have the time to go multiple rounds.”
With seemingly all the strength she could muster Ana stood up on wobbly legs. “I can if…
you make sure I don’t fall. I’ll meet you in there, I need some new clothes…” Ana was red,
but a bit less embarrassed about the prospect, that and a hot shower sounded wonderful.
“Okay… love you two, I’ll be out soon…” Akemi mumbled with a smile, enjoying the gentle
kiss both of her girlfriend’s gave her before Kyouko helped Ana wobble out of the door.
“We love you too. Lets Just take a shower though Kyouko, I want to be able to walk
today…” Ana half complained with a tired laugh.
Akemi smiled and relaxed in bed as she let her blood cool off. “Well… that was a thing.” She
covered her face with her hands in a whimper. All that she did and said finally began hitting
her, from every sensation to the ending of cleaning Kyouko’s fingers off… the taste of Ana
now firmly lodged in her brain with her perfect recall. It was for sure a step forward in their
relationship… and not one that she regretted, and not just because her brain was still foggy.
The strangest part for her was that despite how embarrassed she felt, how flustered, she
wanted to try it again at some point, Kyouko wasn’t lying about making her see stars…
Finding clean clothes and cleaning up didn’t take any effort on her part, but she still felt
wobbly in the legs on her way down the stairs. She was just thankful the sound proofing held,
that the kids were still asleep. They succeeded in stretching out some time for them to get
extra sleep, they could wait a bit more. “We were at it for over forty minutes? Time really
flies…”
Akemi sat down and sighed tiredly. “What to make to fix that strength problem…” It was
easy enough to make a lightly cursed item, or just a limiter. There were some reservations
about not having all her power available at a moment’s notice, but if it was an item just for
the bedroom it would have to be something that could stay on without issue, while also
preferably having a way she could quickly release it.
She hated how easily her brain supplied the solution to her problem, and perhaps what it
might say about the part of her she still didn’t yet want to confront. It was something to bring
up… That and how the idea of being tied up by her girlfriends sounded like a very Very
interesting experience.
Downing a cup of coffee took just enough time for Ana and Kyouko to return from their
shower, Ana was blushing once again, not that Akemi blamed her as her mind tried to supply
her how Kyouko might have looked…
Kyouko was just full of energy, nearly bouncing into the room with a wet and wagging tail.
“This is already turning out to be a very nice day~” She said and sat in her usual seat. When
she noticed Akemi blushing while looking at her she tilted her head. “You alright Akemi?
Still rebooting? Was that your first orgasm in both lives?” She asked gently, leaning forward
to brush her hands over Akemi’s ears lovingly.
Akemi looked away while clearing her throat. “I-it actually was… I haven’t… done anything
with myself here or… there. I figured out I was in the wrong skin early on and that killed
any… desire for me, even If I had the energy when I wasn’t sick. So y-yeah it was the first
time I felt… fucking hell…” Akemi muttered while covering her face with an embarrassed
whimper.
“Well, I’m happy I got to give you your first then, hope you had fun.” She said while clearly
enjoying the shy look on the Kitsune’s face from the admission.
“It was… It was really good dammit… I had fun.” Akemi whined at the back of her throat
before drinking more coffee to distract herself for a moment. “S-so… I thought of something
for keeping my strength in check, last thing I want to do is accidentally hurt you two after all.
I can make an item to limit my strength by a lot and I’m… not sure what to make it as.”
Akemi looked away as she said that.
Kyouko grinned wide as she poured herself her own coffee. “How does a collar or choker
sound?” She asked, and watched both Akemi and Ana turn into sputtering messes. “You both
are a bit of the submissive type, which works out well. You see, I like taking control, and love
really driving my partners to the edge and back…” Kyouko said without a lick of hesitation,
not that they didn’t already know that Kyouko had almost no filter, perhaps even less of one
now that they crossed that line in their relationship.
“Hey Akemi, I’m just curious about something, so you don’t need to answer, I figured I’d ask
while we have privacy from the kids. Does the idea of a collar excite you? You know, it isn’t
unheard of or wrong for some people to enjoy that kind of play. For a time just letting
someone else control things and just enjoying the ride, letting go of your worries from
outside. How does Ana and me gently tying you up sound? There is a lot of fun things that
can be done with that.” Kyouko surely was having fun discussing things, and observing her
lover’s reactions to each word.
Akemi looked down into her coffee as her ears folded up and down in concentration. “I…
that doesn’t sound… bad. Is it normal to… feel that way? I would be fine with… a collar as a
seal, I was actually thinking of that already.” Akemi admitted with a groan. “I’ll work on that
at some point… I think that is enough sex talk at the breakfast table for today. It is already
nine, so shall we go wake the kids up? You just know they’re probably cuddling, Hannyuu is
just like that, and it would be adorable to see.” Akemi calmed down with a few deep
breathes. “I am also pretty hungry, so once everyone is up we can eat…” Those were things
all three moms could get behind.
Hannyuu’s heart felt like it was beating out of her chest as she slowly recalled the night
before. “Okay there was going to be a festival, I hung out with Rinna all day, we held hands a
lot, we danced at the festival…” She felt her face heat up as she opened her eyes, finding her
face pressed into curly and fluffy white hair.
“Rinna spent the night… Moms are going to tease us so much…” Hannyuu thought as she
squeezed the adorable sheep girl cuddled up against her. As far as she could tell neither of
them had any nightmares, it was even one of the best sleeps she ever had if she was being
honest. Looking behind her she saw Lorelei was asleep, yet the morning light also
highlighted a few tear tracks on her face. Hannyuu just hoped her sister would continue to
recover…
The turning of the doorknob alerted Hannyuu to all three of her mom’s heads peeking inside.
As she entirely expected, they all were far too amused. She rolled her eyes at them with a
smile. Looking down she very gently rubbed Rinna’s back. “Hey Rinnaaa, it’s morning, time
for breakfast.” Hannyuu tried to gently coax the sheep girl awake, but succeeded instead at
getting the girl to hug her tighter like it would keep the morning away.
“I’ll get her up, be down soon.” Hannyuu whispered to her moms who just nodded with a
look between them.
It was amusing and adorable, but Hannyuu didn’t realize how hungry she was till she had
smelled food downstairs. “Please Rinna? There is food to be had~” Hannyuu very gently
booped Rinna on the nose, and smiled down into those emerald eyes when they barely
cracked open.
The screech of shock was both expected, and not expected for Hannyuu, and if she hadn’t
stopped Rinna from falling she would have wiggled right off of the bed. “Easy there Rinna, it
is just me, you stayed at my house after the festival, you’re safe.” Hannyuu reassured the
sleepy girl as she saw the hints of panic in her eyes from the confusion, it was completely
understandable to her.
“O-oh…” Rinna said as she caught her breath, looking slowly over at Hannyuu her face
turned red.
“Sleep well?” Hannyuu said as she turned over to stretch out like a cat, her tail sticking
straight out as well.
Rinna just nodded as she hid her red face in her hands. It was going to be that kind of day.
“With the syrup this is great, what did you say this was called mom?” Hannyuu asked as she
ate with such glee that it put a smile on everyone’s face.
“French Toast, it is pretty simple to make.” Akemi said as she enjoyed the surprisingly edible
product of her own cooking. She didn’t even check the heat of the pan with her bare skin this
time!
“French Toast? What does French mean Mom?” Hannyuu asked with a tilt of her head, her
fork in her mouth as she pondered on the food.
“Oh French meaning it is from the old country of France back in my wor-” Akemi stopped
herself as her eyes drifted to Rinna who looked nervous, but just as curious. Hannyuu seemed
to tell exactly what Akemi was hesitating for and nodded at her, as if to tell her mother that
Rinna was trustworthy. Akemi shrugged and nodded. “Back in my old world, though last I
had heard it was basically absorbed into this mega corporation that was based there.” She
winked at Rinna and the wide eyed look she was getting.
“I trust you’ll keep that bit to yourself Rinna dear? Emeril already knows so you don’t need
to too tight lipped about it. It is just a bit of information I want to play close to the chest.”
Akemi stretched out before grabbing another piece for herself. “Alright, it is about nine
thirty? I got that… date with Drau at lunch time, any tips perhaps?” Akemi’s ears folded
before she looked at Ana and Kyouko. “You sure this is alright?”
Her girlfriends just smiled at her. “You are silly, we already talked about this. After we eat I’ll
help you make a nice picnic basket to take with you.” Ana said and actually looked excited
by the event.
“Alas I don’t really have much I can contribute in that way, but of course I’m okay with it.”
Kyouko said and looked at the kids, clearly biting her tongue, giving the adults a clue where
she would have taken the discussion if young ears weren’t around.
“Can I make some cookies then? You can take some with you!” Hannyuu said excitedly, her
tail wiggling off to the side. “Want to help Rinna? We can make a big batch for everyone.”
When Rinna nodded Hannyuu’s ears just perked up further.
The moms shared a look with each other, they all could almost see the heart above the two.
None of them wanted to point it out for fear of breaking the magic. “That sounds lovely
dears, I bet she’d love them. Now… what to bring for lunch…”
“Here you go Mom, make sure to tell me how she likes them please.” Hannyuu said as she
handed Akemi a small basket filled with fresh cookies and covered in a cloth to keep them
warm. The stasis effect of Akemi’s inventory would be able to keep those just as fresh for
when it was time to eat them. Putting those away along with the picnic basket that had been
packed by Ana and herself, Akemi took a deep breath.
“Thank you Dearheart.” Akemi said and pressed a kiss to the feline’s forehead, as well as
ruffled her hair till her hand was knocked away playfully.
Ana and Kyouko hugged her at the same time, putting her into such comfort that none of her
anxiety had room to manifest. “You’ll be fine, you’ve talked to her before, just have fun
okay?” Ana said as she rested her head against both her girlfriends.
“Exactly, it is a Date, with a Queen. She seems really fun, hopefully we’ll get the chance to
get to know her more also when you two hit it off.” Kyouko said and rested her chin between
Akemi’s ears.
“You know, the Queen part was unneeded… well I guess I don’t need to worry about that
rank thing, technically we’re both Queens now. You sound really sure about that Kyouko,
how do you know?”
“I’ve seen how you are with her, she appreciated you caring about her people a lot from what
I could tell, and trust me… she is into you, you didn’t see her checking out your butt~”
Kyouko teased and nipped an ear. Akemi squeaked much to the woman’s amusement. Pulling
back Kyouko leaned down to give Akemi a longer kiss.
Ana had to chuckle and look at Hannyuu who cleared her throat with a shake of her head.
Rinna had her red face buried in Hannyuu’s back.
The two Demi-humans broke apart with a gasp. “Well… that was a Good bye…” Akemi said
and caught her breath, just in time for Ana to turn her head and lean up the inch or so that
separated their own lips.
Thankfully (for Hannyuu) their kiss was shorter. Both of the women backed away from
Akemi to give her space. “Love you both, I’ll be back later okay? You two have fun alright?
Love you Hannyuu, take care Rinna~” Akemi waved to Hannyuu and Rinna and resisted the
urge to tease them… she had agreed to spare them for a while after all…
“Give us all the dirty details when you get back~” Kyouko said right as Akemi activated
Greater Teleportation, letting them see her blush one last moment before she vanished.
Akemi covered her face for a moment as she forced down the blush due to that comment,
because of her course it made her mind conjure the vivid image of Drau naked, that prismatic
hair like a waterfall over her flawless skin. She forced the image out before she looked
around, freezing up as she saw the two castle guards she had met before just staring at her.
“You two saw nothing… Right?” Akemi asked with a raised eyebrow, the extra blood in her
cheeks finally fading. The rapid shaking of their heads made her laugh, enough to make the
guards relax just a bit. “You have been told about the fact I was arriving today yes? If
Bahgram dropped the ball on that yet again I might just start to take it personally.” Akemi
already knew it would be personal though, the man had it out for since the beginning. “Jokes
on you Bahgram, I’m going on a date with your Queen~” She thought with no small amount
of amusement.
“O-oh yes, please, go on ahead, Her Majesty is expecting you.” One of the guards said,
opening the massive door for her with the other guard’s help. Knowing that she could have
pulled the thing open with literally no effort made her feel terrible for not helping but… It
was their job after all.
“Thank you Gentlemen.” Akemi said with a serene smile on her face. Walking down that
massive hallway Akemi just hoped she was dressed well enough. She was wearing a thicker
dress of dark blue more suited for the season, trimmed in gold, forming a beautiful array of
patterns like constellations in the night sky.
Unlike before she noticed that she wasn’t getting looks of fear and worry, but admiration,
respect, or in a few cases quiet lust from guards and maids alike. “Excuse me Lady Akemi,
I’ve been instructed to take you to Her Majesty, she is waiting presently.” The maid named
Hilda bowed before her with a neutral smile on her face.
“Thank you Miss Hilda, I hope she has not been waiting long.” Akemi said and followed
along, trying her best to keep her tails under control, knowing that when she is distracted by
her nerves they tended to run wild against her will.
“No Lady Akemi, she has only been strangely tense.” Hilda said and seemed conflicted on
something. “Please forgive me if I am asking above my station, but would you perhaps be the
reason? I have never seen her in such a state. Once the question was out of her mouth did she
seem to think on it. “Please forgive this gossiping maid Lady Akemi.” Hilda to Akemi’s
surprise seemed more worried than anything.
“Is she? I’ll remember that when she is so calm and collected when I see her, It is rather hard
for me to see her true feelings strangely enough. I suppose she is just as nervous for our…
meeting, as I have been.” Akemi barely put the brakes on spilling the news on their date in
the hallway, not knowing if Drau had been trying to keep that information hidden. The fact
her personal maid was not told that it was a date made her think it was more of a secret meet
up.
Despite her changing course, the nearly invisible smirk on Hilda’s face for a moment made
Akemi think the Maid guessed regardless. To her surprise she was being led to the throne
room, making Akemi think Drau might be making it more of a thing than Akemi thought she
would. “She is really not going to let me get away from that potential engagement…”
Akemi nodded at the two silent guards in heavy armor standing on either side of the doors,
letting them push them open for her yet again. “Thank you Gentlemen.” She said and spotted
Drau at the end of the throne room, seated comfortably on her austere throne, still
undecorated with not a trace of gold. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw the
gorgeous dress and coat the Queen had put on for their trip, looking to be made of silver and
silk with how it flowed around her, clinging to every curve she saw, as well as revealing a
light amount of cleavage. The image of a dragon in flight was placed in such a way that it’s
wings followed the Queen’s arms, fitting for the ruler of the Dragon Kingdom.
Swallowing the lump in her throat at the raw beauty, as well as the notion of actually going
on a date with her nearly stopped her in her tracks. “Greetings Queen Draudillon, you look
magnificent today.”
The wide smile on Drau even Akemi could tell hid some sort of anxiety. “Really? Is she
anxious to go on a date with Me?” Akemi thought as she gave a light bow.
“As an ally of a soon to be sovereign country I should inform you that rulers either do not
bow to each other, or both will bow, for only one doing so would imply an unequal balance.”
Drau said as she bowed her head in return. It made sense to Akemi, something for her to
remember. “Now then, I have to say you look wonderful, I do hope it is warm enough
though, it will soon be winter after a- Ah, yes.” Drau stopped her worrying as Akemi
wrapped her tails around herself almost smugly.
It at the very least got a chuckle from Drau as she stood up to move towards. “Shall we? You
said you wanted to pick out a location at the same time?” Drau asked as she held out her bent
arm to Akemi.
Strangely Akemi’s heart beat just a bit faster at that, she was not quite expecting Drau to take
the lead, but she could tell the woman was a good bit more… assertive than herself, and also
a few inches taller. Hooking a hand on that arm, she let Drau lead her down the hallways,
clearly she didn’t intend for it to be a very secret affair after all.
Akemi felt her face flush for the millionth time that very day as several people watched their
Queen guiding the Kingdom’s savior through the castle, their touching anything but
professional at a glance. Akemi kept her face neutral, smiling at those she passed by, even if
it was hard for her to hide her nervousness.
It was at least satisfying to see the look on the castle door guard’s faces when Akemi was
being escorted by their Queen. “So Lady Akemi, how shall we be getting there? What do you
have planned?” Drau asked as they stood in front of the castle, heedless of the view of the
staff nearby, guards, or the very few civilians that were there to witness it. If Akemi had to
notice one thing, it was that she seemed to enjoy making jaws drop around her.
“Your Majesty! Please, It is far too unsafe to go near the border without so much as an
escort.” Bahgram said as he led a group of twenty soldiers in full platemail and shields along
with him.
“Bahgram, I told you already that that is not needed, I already have the safest escort around, a
much prettier one as well. Besides it is very hard to have a nice date surrounded by a bunch
of men in armor.” Drau noted with a sigh, not even noticing Akemi blush at it being stated so
plainly. She just knew the two of them might become the talk of the Kingdom before the day
was done.
“Bahgram, you need not worry, my summons already have scouted the location out, not a
soul has passed through that entire valley since the army was destroyed. Well then Drau, shall
I teach you how to fly? If anyone deserves to it is a beautiful Dragon.” Akemi said with a
grin.
“Your Majesty… Very well. Lady Akemi, I ask you just keep her safe… and preferably
happy.” Bahgram added the last bit, finally cracking a defeated smile for a moment.
“I’ll be fine Bahgram, I promise. Flying sounds absolutely lovely, that is something I’ve
never gotten to try. Is it difficult?” Drau asked.
“Oh it isn’t that hard at all, I taught Hannyuu the basics in minutes. For a spell It is very
intuitive, kind of slow in my opinion though… I might try and create a high speed flight spell
at one point. It will just be the basic flight spell of the third tier this time, though maybe one
day I can give you some actual wings for a while. [Extended Maximize magic: Mass Fly].”
Akemi teased as she blessed the two of them with that sought after ability.
Akemi’s grin just got more Kitsune-like as she dragged them into into the air. It was enough
for the Queen to panic a bit as her feet flailed in the air. “Relax Drau, I won’t let you fall.”
Akemi said with an actual giggle, the mask she had plastered on fading away with the
childlike joy she was enjoying sharing.
Her mask wasn’t the only one that vanished. Once Drau’s panic ended and she could
appreciate the feeling of freedom that only flying could bring she looked happier than Akemi
so had seen her in the short time she had known her. She had a smile bright enough to get
Akemi to look away, looking towards the horizon that she dragged her towards.
It must have been a sight for the civilians that got to witness the moment, their Queen was
positively radiant as she flew off into the distance hand in hand with the strange Kitsune that
saved their Kingdom.
“So what you are gonna wanna do is just imagine you’re swimming, or in the bath, except
you can move in a direction just by thinking it.” Akemi told her once they were a good
distance from the castle, holding onto both of Draudillon’s hands as the Queen fluttered in the
air with her nerves clearly rattled.
“B-but! I won’t fall?” She took a few deep breathes as she gripped Akemi’s hands like a vice.
“Don’t let me fall, okay? T-this is harder than I thought…”
Akemi didn’t tease her, or make fun of her, and just kept her floating in the air with a patient
smile on her face. “Relax Drau, I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise. Do you trust
me?” She asked while she looked into her eyes.
It took a moment for Drau to nod her head. “If… I didn’t trust you after letting you pull me
out here alone… I’d be a very foolish Queen.” When Akemi looked at her blankly for a
moment, more concerned than anything the Queen sighed. “Of course I trust you, you silly
fox.” She said with a sigh, though her smile took the bite of her statement.
With that the Queen let go of Akemi’s hands and found herself floating in mid air… over a
hundred feet above the ground. Looking down was an experience she could have done
without. Like Akemi told her she tried to picture herself moving forward, which just put her
right into Akemi’s arms for but a moment, clutch Akemi’s dress to get her bearings again.
Letting go she moved herself backwards until she seemed to be getting the hang of it.
“There you go, just try and follow me, we have the same max speed with this spell so there is
no worries about getting left behind. Just have fun~” Akemi said and leaned back and turned
over until she was flying head first with her tails trailing behind her.
“A flying fox… what a strange thing to see. Wait for me!” She called out and moved without
having to consciously think about it to follow the tiny Goddess.
“Is this the spot you had thought of?” Drau asked as they finally approached ground level
once again, to her secret relief.
“Indeed, I had some summons survey the area the past few days for a few specific
requirements I could confirm in person. I’m feeling pretty confident about this spot though.”
Akemi said as she looked around that flat plain, and at the mountains on either side of it,
making a large choke point that was more than fifty kilometers across.
“How can you tell? What are you even looking for?” Drau asked as she looked around that
torn up plain, at the ground still muddy, the grass destroyed from the marching army. For the
moment she hovered a few inches off the ground to avoid that mud.
Akemi didn’t seem to mind too much and knelt down as carefully as she could while keeping
her dress clean to press a hand into what grass was there. With a nod she stood back up. “It is
on a pretty central part of the continent from what I can tell, a major leyline source begins
right here, and branches outwards, several of these leylines run through this entire land under
your Kingdom, Even more branch up the mountains on either side. It is a perfect spot for me
to begin my ritual.” Akemi said as her eyes glowed a lighter blue while looking around. On
closer inspection darker specks of blue seemed to move within her eyes, her iris shifting
every second like a slowly rotating galaxy.
“Are your eyes alright? It is pretty, but they weren’t like that earlier today. How do you know
all this?” Drau asked curiously as she stared into Akemi’s eyes with concern, though with a
blink the glow disappeared.
“Huh? What do you mean? I don’t think my eyes were doing anything different than usual?”
Akemi said and seemed to freeze up. “How Do I know all that?” Akemi asked, her face
morphing in confusion and doubt. “That… wasn’t knowledge I knew from my past, there
were no such things as Leylines…”
“That… is pretty strange. I doubt you’ll tell me what this ritual will do?” The Queen asked
and tried to drop the worrying topic for both of their sake.
At the very least that question succeeded in putting a smile back on Akemi’s face. “Oh that is
no fun, you gotta wait like everyone else~ Just that you should inform your people of light
earthquakes during the process, besides that it shouldn’t cause any harm to your Kingdom.
The show that it will create will be a once in a lifetime sight. I’m quite excited for it! If my
people want a Goddess then… I guess this will be the first Goddess type thing I’ll truly do.”
Akemi said and looked around.
“This spot right now is unsuitable for a date, allow me to correct that. [Widen magic:
Dominate Nat- Eh?” Akemi had begun to cast her spell, but her mana had begun to flow
before she could even cast it. A green wave swept over those plains, the mud turning to dirt,
and that dirt instantly sprouting grass. With a second pulse of mana that followed flowers all
but erupted in all directions.
“Wow, that is… really pretty Akemi…” Drau said, seeming to be genuinely impressed.
Akemi reached into her inventory and pulled out a large picnic blanket to set up, as well as
the stuffed picnic basket. “T-thanks. I’m not sure what happened though… I didn’t finish
even casting the spell, and I know I didn’t use silent meta magic. The hell is up with me
today?” Akemi muttered mostly to herself as her tails twitch anxiously.
“I’m sure it is nothing Akemi, your magic is still working, yes? It is just something to get
used to I’m sure. Did you make all that?” Drau asked with widened eyes as Akemi pulled
many different containers from the basket, including a smaller basket from her inventory
covered in a cloth to keep it warm.
“Ahh… Only some of it. I’m good at some things, but cooking is not one of them, I’m
learning slowly. Ana helped me with most of it, and Kyouko helped with some of the meat
once she got the ideas for it. Hannyuu insisted on making cookies.” Akemi said and looked
wistful as the smell of food filled the area.
Drau looked genuinely surprised. “They all helped? Helped you make lunch for… our date?”
She sounded strangely emotional as she asked.
Akemi smiled at her, reaching over to tuck a lock of hair behind Drau’s ear. “Of course, they
were surprisingly excited. You see even before we got to your Kingdom we had talked a bit
about how to respond if anyone else is going to be added to our… family, or any courting
happened. You made a good impression on them all, and me.” Akemi said and looked away
with a blush. “So… how did you know what players were any way?” Akemi asked curiously,
building up a plate with a mostly meat sandwich.
The Dragon Queen was quick to dig into the food as well, though she ate with a bit more
grace than Akemi, not that either of them cared right then. Clearing her throat Drau leaned
her head back. “My great grandfather, the Brightness Dragon Lord, he was my mentor
growing up, he really helped me grow into myself. Sure there were a lot of unpleasant things
about him I can see now that I’m older, like that he is an absent father to a lot of kids over the
world, and is apparently known for his… lascivious behavior, but I didn’t see any of that
myself, he was honestly a great grandfather in my eyes. I do kind of… wish he came around
more, I haven’t seen him in him about twenty years. Time seems to get pretty loose with
Dragon Lords, what is twenty years to an immortal?” She admitted with a distant look in her
eyes.
“Great grandfather is also a collector of knowledge with vast libraries all over, and has
witnessed much history. He got to witness the Six great gods Shepard humanity when most
other races quietly drove them to extinction. Without tier magic it was much harder for us all
to defend ourselves, most other races are far stronger physically, so it helped even the odds.
Later the Eight greed kings and their near genocide against the dragons happened. He told me
that both of those groups were Players, beings not of this world. What exactly Is a player
though? Even he didn’t know that.”
Akemi had to think on that for a moment. She reached into her inventory to pull out a large
book to hand to the Queen. “That is the language from our world. These Six great gods and
Eight greed kings were from my world and were just like me. I don’t know what Guild the
Six great gods were in, but I have my suspicions on the Greed king’s identities. Let me paint
a scene for you…” Akemi set her plate aside and laid on her back, using her tails as pillows,
which she was more than happy to share with Drau who joined her.
“Back there it was a world similar to this one except… people like me and my strength were
common place. Tens of thousands of us completing our own goals, fighting giant monsters
stronger than us and crafting new items to fight stronger foes. I was in a guild hundreds
strong at it’s peak… I miss those days sometimes, but I wouldn’t give up the life I made here
for anything.” Akemi turned to see Drau looking almost spellbound by her storytelling. “That
place was divided into nine different worlds, all vastly different. At it’s peak the place was
wonderful… but…” Looking away from Drau Akemi took a deep breath. “It was all only a
dream, a fake reality to escape to from our own horrid world that was all but dead. In our
actual reality things were bleak, bleak enough that people would rather spend forever within
that sweet dream if only to forget the hardships for a while before having to return to them.”
Drau looked to be almost in shock. “It was… all just an illusion? How so? How is that
possible to create a separate world to escape to? What do you mean your world was dead?”
That question got Akemi to darkly laugh.
“I don’t think words can do this justice… Can I show you instead? I’m not sure exactly how
this might work but… If I can use transfer memory for still images, I think with some
creativity I can show you a full memory of mine.” Akemi said and reached over to hold
Draudillon’s hand. If it was to comfort Drau, or herself, neither of them knew.
“Y-you may. Please show me, I want to learn more…” Drau said and squeezed that hand
when she felt it shake.
“This can double as me showing you the world and showing you a bit of my old self, who I
used to be before I truly came alive here. [Transfer Memory].”
The sky roiled with black and yellow clouds, not a hint of sunshine peeking through them,
letting any light get filtered through those clouds, bathing the hellscape below in it’s sickly
hues.
Akemi rested her head on the glass as she stared at the passing scenery with such a blank
expression it was a toss up if she was even aware of her surroundings.
Next to her sat a taller man, yet his shoulders slumped down enough it seemed the weight of
the world was on them. “Akemi-chan, It’s gonna be okay. I’ll get you all the help I can.” The
man said and leaned over to ruffle Akemi’s thin and white hair, all color leeched out of it by
the ravages of her body.
“Nii-sama, I’m alright, really. I was just… shocked is all, I kind of had a feeling that is what
the doctor would say.” With a slightly wince Akemi turned her head to look up at the man,
his kind eyes that always promised her protection, yet she knew even he couldn’t protect her
this time, not from the death slowly creeping up on her.
That didn’t comfort her brother at all sadly. “If that is the case, why do you insist on a
separate apartment outside of the dome? I’ve told you that it is no trouble to have you at my
house instead, there is no reason for you to stay outside, it is dangerous, and you’re body is
already in a fragile state.” He told her before he handed her a knee length heavy jacket with a
hood, gloves, shoe covers, and full face gas mask.
“You just got married, you don’t need me getting underfoot, go enjoy your new married life
you stud~ Can’t believe you chose the childhood friend route, that is a rarity.” Akemi said
and found herself cracking a smile despite how tired she felt, body and soul.
Soon enough the train they were on began to slow down, the area appearing more night than
day despite it being mid afternoon.
“If you say so Akemi… if there is anything I can do please call me? Don’t forget you have
another appointment on Tuesday, we’ll figure out how to fight this, I don’t care what it
takes.” He said and stood up, literally towering over Akemi as she stood up to follow him to
the exit of the train with all that gear in her arms. “You stay safe alright? Make sure your gas
mask is on tight and the gear is sealed. Love you Akemi, behave yourself little sis.” He pulled
her into a hug that she returned, leaning on him like he could protect her from all her
problems. With reluctance she let go of him, picked her gear back up and stepped out of the
train.
Akemi stood outside of the train door, and her brother stood inside. “I’ll be fine, you picked
out the apartment anyway, it is a short walk. Love you too Nomura-nii, can we go raid in
Niflheim later? A patch dropped last night, so there are a few new wandering bosses. We can
team up on them like old times, see what they drop.” Akemi asked as she started to put on the
protective gear, what would more or less what would have been worn during chemical
warfare when the only poisonous gas came from weapons and not the air itself.
“I’ll see what I can do, see if I can get the time tonight.” The horn blowing and the steam
hissing around the train was their warning to step back a bit. “I’ll try for eleven tonight!
Make sure to actually eat, and don’t run or jog home, alright?” All there was time for was a
smile from Akemi as the door closed.
Akemi took a deep breath and sighed, watching as he rode away back to the safety of the
dome. Putting on her Gas mask she prepared to head out of the sealed train station. Just then
a security guard at the door walked in front of her way. Freezing up she felt her heart nearly
stop in her chest. “P-please sir, I have a travel pass, my brother lives in the dom-” She
stopped when the guard held up a hand. Part of her worried if she would be disappearing that
day.
With surprising gentleness the masked guard nearly twice her size carefully redid the straps
on her mask to connect it with her hood. “Your mask was on wrong kid, stay safe.” He said
and stepped out of the way.
“T-thank you…” She was able to get out, her voice coming out choked with fading fear as
she entered the air lock door. With dread she stepped out under the open sky and tried to
control her speed, not to walk too fast or slow.
The hiss of her breath through the mask filled her ears and made her feel confined, but she
knew it was death to take it off. Maybe someone healthier could survive a while, but she was
not healthy enough for that… She had once seen the face of a kid nearly her own age across
the street, laying on the sidewalk after a storm. “That guard saved my life I guess…” She
thought as she passed the first block and her halfway point, so far she was fine.
The first drop of water that hit her hood she dismissed as condensation from a roof. The
streets were predictably empty, like most days, but it felt more ominous that time. Looking up
for a moment she saw how the toxic clouds roiled above, right before more water fell down.
It was not clear life giving liquid, but yellow tinged death that made her glad her apartment
was only two blocks from the train station.
As the rain truly started up, ramping up from sprinkling to a steady pour, Akemi felt her heart
race at the unrestrained panic she felt. It wouldn’t take a lot to do her in, just some touching
her skin wouldn’t help her at all. “Don’t run Akemi don’t run…” Just the panicking was
enough for her to feel like she was already dying, each quick beat of her heart feeling like a
knife.
Each step felt like eternity when she could see the door to her grey apartment building just a
small bit away. The rain was enough that it was unlikely to seep into her suit she knew. There
was less than half a block to go when she heard it before she saw it. Further down that main
street her line of sight got obscured as the rain truly began. It was falling in dense, heavy
sheets in her direction. Her apartment was between her and the rain.
Her heart dropped as she began to run as fast as her emaciated little legs could take her while
in her heavy protective gear, otherwise she would be dead anyway. Adrenaline kept her from
feeling too much pain as she barely made it to the apartment lobby door and slammed the
button to open the doors. With painstaking slowness it crept open, showing it hadn’t been
oiled in far too long. Right when the rain was about to reach her she was able to sleep into the
opening, just wide enough for her to fit sideways through. Pressing the decontamination
button the doors shut behind her just as slowly, but not much rain splashed in after her
thankfully.
Once she was safe and through the rinse, decontamination, and drying cycle did her heart
finally catch up to her. Ripping off her mask with a gloved hand she gasped for air, collapsing
on the ground. Rolling on her back she tried to calm herself, to let the pain vanish as soon as
possible. “Think about something calming… calming… I’ll make some hats for the Lilys…
Just imagine Kizuna in a top hat…” She soon felt her heart finally calm just a bit, and the
pain recede to something that didn’t make her want to die.
She already didn’t care much that the doctor gave her just a few years to live before her
muscles, including her heart would, would tear themselves apart, the world wasn’t worth the
tears.
As the memory faded away the Queen’s eyes blinked rapidly. “Oh… oh fuck…” Drau said
and rolled over to hug Akemi as gently as she could.
“Drau I’m okay now, that was literally a lifetime ago. If I didn’t die there I wouldn’t have
gotten here, that was just the surface of how terrible that world was, I don’t regret leaving it.
Glad my spell modification worked right.” Akemi said and winced as the Queen touched her
face. To her surprise Akemi was actually crying, matching the Queen.
“Ah… I just miss my brother is all. Sorry, making us both cry, this must be the worst first
date.” Akemi said as she hugged the Queen right back.
“You shared much more than I thought honestly… So there was no magic or…” Drau
separated from her and picked up another tiny sandwich, not that she was sure she could even
eat more after seeing all of that.
“No magic, just technology and the ravages of capitalism… This entire form I’m in now is
what I had within the game Yggdrasil. That is all it was, just a game with no real stakes,
where things were just numbers on a menu. Everyone’s power, from the Six great gods, to the
Eight greed kings, to my own, all of it was just essentially playing pretend at having some
form of actual strength in that world. I didn’t… earn all this power, all I can do is try to use it
as responsibly as I can. I’m not old or wise, just a formerly terminally ill girl with a very low
education level…” Akemi admitted with a sigh.
“If it is anything, you are doing well so far I think. You haven’t gone crazy with that power,
or tried to take over the world like the Eight greed kings. If you can keep me from getting
assassinated by the Slane Theocracy for throwing my lot in with your beautiful self then
we’re in this together as far as I’m concerned. Now… these are really good cookies. Your
daughter made these you said?” Drau asked, seeming genuinely amazed.
Akemi wiped her eyes and smiled once again. “Thanks, I try, I just want a peaceful place for
my family and my people. I also want to exterminate slavery entirely, which would likely be
one of the few ways I’d interfere with another country, though I’d rather put economic
pressure on them to get that done.” Grabbing a cookie her eyes widened. “Wow she outdid
herself this time. None of us helped her on them, she is improving fast!” The tails wiggling
behind her told even even more about her happiness at that moment. When she looked over at
Drau she saw the Queen with a content smile on her face watching Akemi, making the
Kitsune tilt her her head at her. “Having fun?”
Drau looked back out into the distance with a flush. “That isn’t fair…” When Akemi just
tilted her head in the opposite direction the Queen pouted. “That, the head tilting! You can’t
have a body that cute while also doing the adorable head tilt thing like some sort of puppy!”
Drau couldn’t help but start to giggle at the confusion on Akemi’s face, though she soon was
laughing with the Queen.
When it finally died down they laid back on the blanket again with a content sigh each,
feeling relaxed once again. “So… you figure out exactly what kind of country you’re
making?”
When Akemi’s ears folded, Drau knew she had. “Um… I talked to my people last night, we
had a small festival…” Akemi had to take a few deep groaning breaths. “The Divine
Queendom of Natura shall be founded here I suppose, and they want me as their Queen
despite my flaws.”
“Not happy about that Divine Queen Akemi?” She teased as they relaxed. “I think it fits
pretty well. Not sure why you thought you wouldn’t be a ruler when you’re the one who is
making their homes and making alliances. The Divine part I could certainly see as true… yes
I know your past now but… it doesn’t change the energies I felt since I met you, and well…
destroying an entire army in holy fire. You’re in denial aren’t you?” Drau asked, only able to
shake her head with a smile when the Kitsune just nodded nervously and winced at the part
about the army.
“Of course I am! I’m literally just a formerly dead nineteen year old from a wasteland with
the life experience half of someone half my age… I didn’t earn this power!” Akemi sounded
legitimately upset by the end. “As for that army… I don’t regret what I did at all, but… I
wish I had prepared myself better before k-killing that many people. It wasn’t my first time
killing someone in this world, but I didn’t so much as scratch anyone back in my world. The
first time I killed was when I… rescued Hannyuu. I don’t regret that either.”
Drau rolled her eyes for a moment before reaching over to ruffle the Kitsune’s hair. “Then
keep doing what you’re doing, you’re doing a good job. You inspire loyalty in those around
you, and you’re pretty lovable to boot. Better you then some old uncute man on a throne.
Listen… Sometimes you have to take the parts of yourself you might not like and accept
them, make them part of your identity if you must.” The Queen seemed to have to think for a
moment. “I used to hate my Draconic heritage entirely due to some of the treatment I got for
it, either treating me like a demon or worshiping the ground I walked on. My horns always
got in the way of nearly everything I did, and I hated the way my hair stood out so much, but
eventually I had to accept that that was a part of me that wasn’t going away. I’m the great
granddaughter of the Brightness Dragon Lord, and now that fills me with pride, the blood
that runs through my veins is filled with thousands of years of history. I’m the only humanoid
that I’ve ever known in my over eighty years that can use Wild Magic that is normally
reserved for dragon lords. With my… diluted dragon blood it isn’t as effective as I’d like and
requires sacrifices, but it is still within my capabilities.” She paused to reach over and grab
Akemi’s hand.
“What I’m trying to say is be proud of who and what you are. If you are a divine Kitsune
then be proud of that, no one cares about a past of your’s they don’t know about, let your
future actions speak for themselves, okay?”
“You’re… right… It is just a lot of pressure, I know something about me is still otherworldly
when I just wanted to live a normal life, have kids, and be a good mother to those kids. But…
normal Kitsunes do not hear people’s prayers I think…” Akemi admitted with a heavy sigh.
“Fine, once my plan comes together I won’t be able to deny it anymore, even to myself.
When Natura is built and I am crowned as Divine Queen Akemi I’ll accept being…
technically a Goddess. Even if I’m not really worthy of Divinity, I have it anyway so I’ll do
what I can to Be worthy of it.” Akemi sat up and stretched, leaning back on her hands.
“Good, you can’t be so unsure of yourself as a Queen, or in negotiations. I’ll help teach you
all about diplomacy. First lesson… I wonder what kind of kids would come about from a
Divine Kitsune and a Human with dragon blood? I mean, you mentioned wanting to have
kids and all, and you already seem to be a good mother~” Drau asked with a teasing smirk.
The bright blush on Akemi’s face as her ears flapped was all the Queen could stand before
giggling again.
“Lesson one is curbing your reactions to provoking comments. As cute as you are when
you’re blushing it is too easy, it isn’t quite acceptable in formal discussions on the national
stage.” Drau told her and poked her burning hot cheeks.
“I guessed that… I’m still trying to curb my reactions a bit, but I may as well still be a child
when it comes to politics…” Akemi’s blush slowly faded as she looked back over at Drau.
“It will come in time. I wasn’t kidding about wondering what kind of baby that would make~
Any of your kids are going to be utterly adorable I think. You didn’t give birth to Hannyuu
and she is absolutely precious.” Drau took far too much joy in seeing Akemi turning into a
stuttering mess. “With reactions like that I gotta wonder if you’re still a pure maiden or
something~”
Akemi looked like a deer in the path of a fireball as she sputtered out nonsense. Her
mumbling eventually was almost coherent. “…depends on what counts as s-sex…”.
“Oho? Kyouko and Ana finally get you into a bed? If it doesn’t count though, I mean… We
can change that for you sometime~ Stress relief is also very important for Queens.” Drau
teased, and enjoyed Akemi’s tails wrapping around herself like some Kitsune fluff ball. When
she was done laughing at those reactions she fell back down on the blanket to catch her own
breath.
Eventually Akemi emerged again and laid back down, still looking a bit embarrassed from
falling for the bait. “So… when would be a good time to start the main event? I don’t need to
prepare too much, besides marking this spot. I will also need that ring back for it all though.”
“Give me a day or so to get the word out to my citizens to not panic about what ever big
thing you’re going to do.” She did pout at Akemi and hold that ring defensively. “Do you
really need it?”
“I really do need it… I have to stay awake for three days straight to do this, I won’t have time
to eat or drink anything. I did make you a different one though.” Akemi said and pulled out
black and gold ring with a small pearl centered on it, cradling it firmly. That pearl seemed to
have flames swimming within, a visual spectacle that was ever changing the more Draudillon
looked at it. “This may not be an engagement ring, but I thought you might want a… symbol
of your Kingdom outlasting the Beastmen tribes.”
The Queen cradled that ring like she thought it might burn her. “What is this pearl? This
something from the other world? I’ve seen pearls before and this isn’t normal… It is
undoubtedly beautiful but…”
“When I cast my super tier spell Trumpet of the Rapture it caused all the Beastmen that failed
the karma check to burst into holy flames, at the end of the spell I condense those flames into
one of those pearls. It might not have as much utility as that ring of sustenance, but it is
useful in it’s own way. It can provide you with energy, minimizing the need for sleep to
potentially just a nap a day if I had to guess. It can also create a barrier around yourself of
flames that I want you to use for protection. On top of that It grants fire damage immunity,
divine damage resistance, and can cast message up to twenty times a day. All in all it is a
powerful ring that is perfect for a beautiful Queen.” Akemi seemed extremely proud of her
creation, but reached out to stop Drau’s hand when she started to take the other ring off.
“Wait till we get back somewhere you can collapse… if you fall asleep here I won’t be able
to wake you up… and I do Not want to explain to Bahgram why I’m bringing you back
knocked out…” Akemi held up that ring and held out a hand. “May I put it on you?” Akemi
asked with only a tiny bit of a nervous stutter.
“Oh yes… you had mentioned it had a backlash effect I believe. I’ll wait till I can get to bed
or near enough someone can drag me there to do that then. I’ll write up instructions for
telling the citizens about your event before I take it off when we get back. Would it be better
to give it to you today then?” She actually looked nervous as well as she placed her right
hand on Akemi’s own. “I’d say my left ring finger but… the other one is already on there, so
the right ring finger please~” Drau asked as she stood back up, their date winding down. It
was a relaxing few hours for them at least.
Akemi slipped that ring onto her finger and stroked the side of the metal and some unseen
control as the ring shrunk down to fit her finger perfectly.
“As long as you take it off it will be fine, I’ll just pick it up before I go start, I only really
need to put it on right before then. Would it be alright if you host my family during those
three days? I get anxious if I’m too far away from them for long…” Akemi cleaned up their
picnic and stretched. “[Message] Bahgram, we’ll be heading back soon, figured you would
want to know. You can expect us at the front of the castle.” Akemi didn’t wait for him to
respond before she dropped the message, lest he ruin her mood.
“I’d love to, it will give me a chance to get to know them more, even if… We don’t become
something together, our countries will still have close ties, so it will be important to know all
of you. Shall we head back?” Drau asked as she smoothed out the wrinkles of her dress.
Akemi had to admire for a moment how the Queen’s hair was still nearly perfect despite
laying down for much of the date. “They want to know you just as much, especially
Hannyuu, she was quite happy to meet a Queen… well, one that isn’t her mother. Lets,
teleport or fly?” Akemi asked as she took Drau’s hand in preparation for either of those.
“Teleport please, it was a bit of a long flight. If taking off this ring is going to put me out for
the rest of the day I need to get some work done before then.” Drau said and clutched
Akemi’s hand tightly.
“Sounds good to me~ Oh yes, that ring, like a lot of rings I make for people I’m fond of, it
can also cast fly several times a day, so feel free to enjoy that. [Greater Teleportation].”
Bahgram was standing near the castle door and several citizens were enjoying the view from
the plaza at the top of the mountain where the castle was. All eyes were drawn to the front of
the castle in a few moments as their Queen and Akemi flashed into existence near the center
of that plaza in front of the palace. Drau didn’t let go of Akemi’s hand, even taking her other
hand as she smiled down at the shorter woman. “That was a lot of fun, I had a good time
Akemi. How do you feel? You think you’d like to have more dates like this?” She asked once
she caught Akemi’s eyes.
Akemi cleared her throat a bit as she fought down her innate shyness. “I did also, honestly
much more than I thought I would, well… I already thought I would. I would like that,
you’ve been great today. I shall see you perhaps the day after tomorrow?”
“I’m glad, let us have another once things settle down. That sounds acceptable, I’ll have
guest rooms set up for your family by then.” Drau said with a happy sigh. She got a strange
look in her eye as one hand was freed to reach up to gently cup Akemi’s pink cheek
affectionately. Leaning just a bit closer Drau’s eyes started to close. “May I?”
Akemi felt herself just get warmer, and her heart speed up just as much. “You may.” Akemi
said, closing her eyes as they came together in a chaste kiss, only but a few seconds, yet it felt
like ages to at least Akemi. It took her a moment to realize that there were many many eyes
on them… “I-I… thank you for the date Drau, contact me if you need m-me. [Greater
Teleportation]!” She appeared to nearly bite her tongue as she cast her spell, vanishing on the
spot.
The Queen just had a smug and happy look on her face. She gave a wave to her citizens that
were still there. This also would pass through the gossip circles by the end of that day.
Bahgram even had an amused look on his face as he approached. “You enjoy yourself Your
Majesty? You’re impressions of her?” he asked and followed Drau as she walked towards the
castle.
“I very much did, she is a… fascinating individual, it is rare to find that level of purity in a
ruler, she was so shy it was adorable. I’ll keep her personal details to myself, but I could see
myself eventually falling for her fully, she has a way of getting into your heart. Now then… I
have some work to do, the Kingdom waits for not even me.”
Chapter End Notes
A/N: That chapter was a good bit longer than I thought it would be… and It included a
lot I didn’t initially think of. The sex and flashback were something I thought of in the
moment. I hope the lewd scene wasn’t too out there, like I mentioned I’m an ace lady, so
writing it was a tiny bit difficult. There will be more sex eventually, when the group has
the time to dedicate to more than a morning quickie.
I left several plot hooks within, so I hope some of you remember these hints. Like
always I hope you all tell me what you think <3
Apotheosis
Chapter Summary
The day finally arrives to put her plan into motion, and Akemi learns the true nature of
the gifts she had been given.
Beware the wrath of a mother, few things rival the intensity of a mother's love for their
children, woe be to those who would stand in it's way.
Chapter Notes
“How did the date go love?” Kyouko wrapped an arm around Akemi’s shoulder, while Ana
snuggled up over both of their laps as soon as Akemi sat down on the couch with them.
Hannyuu watched from the low table in the living room as she seemed to be drawing, though
the smug grin on her face said a lot, as did her tail that wiggled behind her.
“Yeah, was the Queen a good kisser?” Ana asked playfully, laying her head on Akemi’s lap
like she belonged there. The happy look on her face when Akemi pet her hair would make
anyone think she was the cat girl and not Hannyuu.
The question though made Akemi freeze up a tiny bit. “The date went… surprisingly really
well, I’m glad for it, I wouldn’t mind going on another one with her when things are calmer,
after ours. Where could we take our own date to?” Akemi asked and leaned against Kyouko
with a content sigh.
From the table Hannyuu smirked just a bit like a Kitsune. “So Mama… you didn’t answer
that other question~ You two kiss?” Hannyuu seemed more interested in bugging her mother
than anything. “Also did she like the cookies?”
Akemi just pouted at the three of them. “She liked the cookies, she was honestly really
touched all three of you pitched in for that picnic basket, I don’t think expected much
support.” Akemi flicked her ears against Kyouko’s chin, a conflicted look on her face. “We
did kiss, she kissed me at the end of the date, surprisingly in front quite a lot of people.”
She nearly purred as she felt a hand rest on her thigh, she didn’t know if it was Ana or
Kyouko, but she was sure it was one of them.
“Hmm? Was that a problem? Did you not want her to kiss you?” Kyouko asked with a slight
edge to her voice that Akemi dispersed with a kiss to the chin that put a smile on Kyouko’s
tense face.
“She did, it is alright. She was pretty sweet about it, especially since I thought she would
have hidden our arrangement more due to her Kingdom’s history with Beastmen. Looking at
it another way, it might repair Demi-human’s images just a bit there. It was pretty quick,
something acceptable in public, but it was sweet.” Akemi said and felt Kyouko relax once
again, though an arm had wrapped around her stomach protectively.
“Good, I’m glad.” Kyouko seemed to leave a lot unsaid about what might have happened if
she didn’t ask permission, likely something violent if Akemi had to guess. “She seems really
good though, I’m glad the date went well~ Now we have someone else to tease you with.”
Kyouko chuckled while resting her cheek against Akemi’s head. Ana had taken to cuddling
her face into Akemi’s stomach as she laid on her lap, looking incredibly comfortable.
“I thought Mama’s lap was my spot?” Hannyuu asked with an actual pout. That pout only got
bigger as Ana turned over to stick her tongue out immaturely. That pout broke with a
exasperated smile, like she couldn’t believe her mom was acting like that. “Well… I did push
you all together…” Hannyuu had a smile on her face as she idly drew. “Hey Mamas? Thanks
for not… trying to tease me and Rinna… I can handle it, but she is still really skittish.”
Hannyuu set her pencil down and got up. She claimed the spot on the other side of Akemi to
get her share of snuggling. When Akemi’s arm wrapped around her she began her usual
purring that could be heard by them all.
“You’re welcome Dear, Emeril and all of us agreed to go easy on the teasing for now, keep
our interference to a minimum. As far as I’m concerned you’ve made a good choice either as
just friends or more. You two are good influences on each other, and she is a good kid, maybe
she’ll keep you out of trouble~” Akemi looked more relaxed by the minute as they all wound
down.
Hannyuu snickered and leaned into the hand that was petting her. Ana pouted as her own
petting stopped. As was fair Hannyuu stuck her tongue back out at her, the most smug of
grins on her face. “Behave you two~ Don’t make me wrap you in the tails together.” Akemi
teased, knowing that it wasn’t much of a threat. “Now then… The day after tomorrow is
when the main event shall happen. The thing I have yet to say though is once I start it that it
takes three days for the ritual to finish. I want you all to stay with the Queen during that time,
you can use it as a chance to enjoy some royal luxury~ She said she is more than happy to
host you.” Akemi noted as she just soaked up the love with a happy sigh.
“That sounds alright with me, as long as we can bring Lorelei it is fine.” Kyouko said as she
hugged them all tighter, her arm also wrapping around Hannyuu with Akemi.
“Sounds like a fun time, If our countries will be as close as you say then getting to know
people there would be nice. I wonder if there is anywhere there for dates…” Ana wondered
aloud. Ana didn’t see the look in Hannyuu’s eye, her dilating pupils, and her tail twitching
rapidly, none of them did.
“Ooo that is a good idea, maybe ask Drau? You two could take a date around the city. I’m
sure it is still being repaired a bit, but from what I saw life was actually returning there. Do
you think- Hannyuu…” Akemi winced at the thump on the ground.
Hannyuu slowly had reached out, and started to push on Ana’s side, rolling her human
mother off the couch. Hannyuu was quick to lay over Akemi and Kyouko’s laps while
purring like a nut case, stealing the best spot.
Ana groaned from her spot on the ground, making no move to get back up yet. “A date…
sounds nice… If you wanted the spot you could have said so dork…” Ana grumbled while
sitting up to pout at the girl. To her credit Hannyuu looked guilty once her eyes went back to
normal.
“S-sorry Mama Ana…” Hannyuu said and kissed her on the forehead with a purr. It was
adorable, and an obvious attempt to soften the mood.
“That is not fair… I can’t be angry when you do that. That’s it~” Ana declared as she swiftly
got up to sit on Hannyuu who was laying over both laps. It was clear she wasn’t putting her
full weight, and it dissolved the light tension as Ana and Hannyuu both cackled.
Akemi just shook her head with a sigh and a smile. “Dork, and Cat-type dork.” Akemi said
and applied a boop to their noses. To the side Kyouko just stifled her laughter.
“Least she is mostly past the age for those midnight zoomies that Lirina still gets.” When she
caught Hannyuu’s eyes she saw that mischievous spark lurking under the red. “Please do not
purposefully run around at midnight or I will tickle you.” Kyouko’s ‘threat’ had absolutely
not teeth behind it.
It was a peaceful night for the family, to cap off a nice day.
After the last morning, they had mutually agreed to take to their own rooms for the night. It
was hard for Akemi to actually sleep that night. She stared up at the ceiling as she pet
Hannyuu’s hair while the girl cuddled against her in her sleep. It was… healing having a
daughter to protect, but she had been being reminded of past scars more and more as new
ones were added. “Nomura-nii… I wonder what you would think, am I doing the right
things?” She planned in her head all that she still needed to do, how much more there was to
go before she might be able to just… relax. Taking a deep breath she tried to set her worries
aside, she needed the sleep…
Paying attention to Hannyuu’s rumbling purrs and soft breaths as she had peaceful dreams
was a good way for Akemi to finally slip off to sleep, fully relaxed knowing her child was
perfectly content.
It was a bit fragmented, but she eventually dreamed…

“P-Please… Nomura-nii, please help me… Mom and Dad found out…” A tiny and frail
looking girl sat huddled and with chattering teeth as she stayed curled up inside of the closet
she was in, her phone clenched in her hands, hoping her brother would be in time to save her.
She flinched as she heard the house being rifled through by the furious hands of her parents.
“Akemi, stay hidden, I’m coming!” She heard her brother say before the call ended, or so she
hoped he did, she didn’t trust her own ears as her heart pounded painfully. Her head felt hot
as she knew she really needed to be in bed and staying calm, but that wouldn’t happen. Her
brother had hung up and was hopefully on his way…
“Koichi! Get out here boy!” She heard her father’s voice roar, the echoing of the hallways not
letting her know just where he was. She was glad she had the sense to hide in a closet other
than her own. Out of anywhere she hoped her parents wouldn’t think to look for her in their
own massive walk-in closet where she stayed huddled among the business suits and dresses
her ‘parents’ wore.
She felt her phone vibrate, yet she didn’t dare look at the screen to see just what it was until
she listened through the door for any sign of her father. Daring to light up the screen she saw
his words were simply ‘Run, get out of the house, head for the driveway’.
If he was telling her that she paled at imagining just what her parents might intend to do to
her. They’ve never been shy about telling her to just die already, and if she didn’t have her
brother she would be just fine doing that. She knew her parents were powerful enough to
have ‘cleaners’ that could just make her disappear without a trace, yet so far they had only
threatened it, now it seemed they might actually go through with it.
When her parents had stopped yelling she had a feeling she was in even worse danger as the
silence just left room for her mind to fill the gaps. The overwhelming thought of ‘I can’t stay
here’ pounded through her, giving her the courage to crack open the closet door and peek out.
Her parent’s room was still empty, but she knew the door was unlocked.
Creeping out of that hiding spot within the viper’s den she listened and looked around as
much as she could. “The window can be opened, it is only the second floor, I’d survive…
Please be on the way brother…” She thought with pure panic, which only was compounded
as she heard the noise of creaking on the old wooden floors, the deliberate quiet steps that
were only given away by that.
Her parents didn’t have the patience to be that quiet, not with how furious her father was. She
knew it had been at least ten minutes since the encounter with her parents, more than enough
time for them to call their thugs to find her for them. She rushed to lock that door, it might
buy her a moment or two she could need, especially as those footsteps stopped being quiet
once she gave away her location.
Her parent’s bedroom door was made of thick oak, and was decades old, worth enough that
she doubted their goons would kick it down so easily due to being irreplaceable. It dawned
on her that that door was worth more to her parents than herself, as if she needed anything
else to be sad about.
Rushing to the window Akemi fumbled with the latch as she heard the door knob rattle and
the yells of several men as one began to mess with the lock. She slammed the window up and
was falling out before she could dare think about backing out of her plan.
Pain was about all she could recognize as she stared up at the artificial blue sky above, the
dome keeping them in an illusion of peace and safety, the forever puffy clouds as much of a
lie as her own life. Her head hurt from both the fall and fever, and she noticed her left arm
was at an awkward angle. The pain had yet to hit her as she got to her feet, she knew she had
to escape as far as she could. “Brother’s house… gotta run!” She told herself as she tried her
best to move quicker along the house, barely noticing her father’s face peer out the window at
her, his gaze positively murderous.
She forced herself into a run, clutching her broken arm as her heart felt like it was tearing
itself apart. “Get back here boy!” She heard him yell as he personally began to chase after her
as she ran as fast as she could down the well kept road towards her brother’s house, or at least
off her parent’s property.
It was hell, feeling him gaining on her as she could only flee, which was far from fast enough
as she was spun around forcefully, before even falling she felt a fist strike her face with
enough force she swore she blacked out for a moment, and to hear her nose crunch. All she
saw was her father’s hateful eyes above her as his hands wrapped around her throat tight
enough she thought it would snap. Her breath wouldn’t come as she futilely scratched at his
hands, her vision quickly dimming around the edges as her lungs screamed at her for air.
The pressure let up as a loud crack echoed through the area, as well as an impact next to her,
or more accurately right next to her father. The noise and rush of air was enough to make him
freeze up to look to see a divot carved out of the pavement a meter or so behind him.
“Freeze! Get the hell off her!” She couldn’t help but silently cry in relief as she heard her
brother’s stern voice warn her father. Looking behind her by tilting her head back she saw her
brother there in his uniform, his steely gaze directed at their father. He had his gun drawn and
had fired a warning shot to get their father to stop choking Akemi. “You two stay back as
well. Get off her! Now!” He had yelled, his gun drifting behind their father at two bulky men
in suits that had arrived as back up for their father.
Finally her father scrabbled off her as she saw genuine fear in his eyes now that the prospect
of death faced him. She didn’t know if her brother really would have shot him, but it didn’t
matter as she felt a pair of strong arms lift her up off the hard pavement and start to back up.
“What the hell do you think you are doing Nomura?! Put Him down this instant, I will not
have this disgrace around to ruin our name! If you defend him I’ll have you disposed of as
well! You’re lucky I let you run off with that low born trash!” Her father was getting his
nerve back, yet didn’t dare take a step towards them.
“SHE is coming with me! If you fucking try Anything at all you’ll find out exactly how much
dirt I’ve got on you! I know you have moles everywhere, but you think you wouldn’t have
any in your own company? I have a lot of information your competitors would love to have. I
also have a nice backup plan in case you try anything else… Even if you killed me the files I
have will get released unless I’m around to keep the dead man switch running. You Try
absolutely anything to absolutely anyone under my protection you’ll find out just how much
damage I can do, if I don’t kill you first!” Akemi just hugged herself to her brother as best as
she could, just clutching his shirt with her one good arm.
“You Bastard!” Her father’s hands were clenched tight enough Akemi swore they might pop.
“Get. Out. I don’t want to see either of your faces again! You were dead to me the moment
you were born! I knew you both would be failures unworthy of our family’s name!” He
shouted, but that seemed to be all he was good for.
“I don’t give a shit, I never thought of you as a father or this as a family. Remember my
warnings, you are better off just forgetting we exist. You need to go make another heir
anyway. Maybe this time Actually act like a father. Goodbye ‘father’, go choke on your
money.” Nomura growled as he holstered his gun and carried her with both arms now back to
his car that had skidded to a stop. Putting Akemi in the passenger’s seat he peeled out of there
as fast as he could.
“Nomura-nii…” Akemi mumbled as she felt her head just get lighter and lighter. Her brother
looked so worried there as he drove them towards who knows where, either his house or the
hospital… It didn’t matter as long as his hand stayed gripping her own, she finally felt safe
again…
Akemi awoke with a jolt, her breath coming in gasps and sobs at the back of her throat. Her
heart was pounding, and she swore she could feel the echo of the pain from her past life.
Looking around Akemi realized she didn’t thrash from the nightmare as much as she thought
she would. Thankfully she saw Hannyuu still asleep against her, though she looked a bit
stirred from her rest, but not enough for her to wake up. With a few gentle pets she quieted
back down. “Fuck… I hadn’t thought about that day in a long time… I could have died that
day, but thanks to Nomura I got to spend another seven years with him. I hope he was alright
after I died…” She wiped her eyes and very carefully extracted herself from Hannyuu’s
grasp. Thankfully her daughter didn’t wake up, and just moved onto her spot with a grumble,
the blankets pulled over her head as she curled up on the warm spot that smelled of Akemi.
She could only smile down at her precious daughter for a moment, if only to remind herself
that there was a point to everything after her dream. She would keep trying to uphold her
brother’s ideas as best she could. “Who knows… maybe one day I can try and get him over
here… As long as he is happy with his wife and kids then it is fine.”
Akemi slipped out of that room and moved into the workshop she made in the basement, a
door separating her from the meat storage. Pulling out her current project she got to work
weaving a beautiful blue-white fur coat among the silver chain mail sheet she had made.
“Lets get this finished before the big day, I need Hannyuu protected. Even if the stats will get
reduced by her low level, it should still at least let her tank a blow from even the strongest
assholes who might aim for her. I can work on power leveling them all later, if I could just
give them the growth curve of a player!” She worked through her problems mentally as her
hands kept busy.
“Akemi? How long have you been up love?” Akemi from the doorway and turned to see Ana
peeking her head in to the workshop. Akemi lifted herself from her desk as she examined
every inch of her work, trying her best to not think about why she could see her enchantments
interwoven in the material, and even see the massive amount of mana soaked into each link
of chain. “Worry about your powers changing later Akemi…” She told herself as she put the
cloak in her inventory.
Ana looked distressed by her being so quiet, but hugged Akemi as the Kitsune moved over to
follow her out. “I don’t know… didn’t get much sleep.” Akemi said and leaned into Ana’s
arms, The comforting scent of one of her mates was enough to get her mind off her troubles
for the time being.
“Lets get you some food, could you get us some coffee?” Ana asked while guiding her inside
and into a kitchen chair. “She really will feed someone at the drop of a hat won’t she?”
Akemi thought with a smile, watching Ana work at the stove in an apron.
“How come you couldn’t sleep? Too nervous?” Ana asked while laying out some sizzling
meats. The smell was heaven to Akemi’s nose, and reminded her that she was actually
hungry. Pulling out her unlimited coffee thermos she finally imbibed the first bit of black
gold for the day after pouring them both a cup.
“Yeah… that and I had a nightmare, more of a memory.” Akemi admitted with a shaky sigh.
She closed her eyes and tried to relax, perking up once a plate was set under her nose. She
smiled as she felt Ana kiss her forehead and scratch her ears for a few moments. “Thanks
love.” Akemi said and leaned on Ana when she sat next to her with her own plate. Both of
them seemed to be up well before sunrise. “How come you’re up so early?”
“You’re welcome.” Ana ate as she leaned her head on Akemi’s shoulder. “I tend to wake up
right before sunrise, It is a left over habit from farming life. I would have to get up, get eggs
and milk, help make an early breakfast with my parents, and then all of us could start tending
the field before it got too hot in the day. It was a simple life, but I wanted to see more of the
world, and I had at least some talent in magic.” Ana stretched out and sighed. “Want to talk
about it? I’m here for you if you do or don’t.” Ana reassured her, grasping Akemi’s hand on
the table, neither of them yet touching the food.
Akemi’s ears folded and she looked away. “It was… the time my brother stopped my dad
from m-murdering me.” Akemi admitted with some clear difficulty, looking away and
freezing up even as Ana wrapped her arm around her tighter.
“He What?” Ana’s tone was as cold as ice as she tried to keep Akemi from shaking further.
The fact that Akemi was upset even talking about it told Ana that it was far more serious than
just a near death experience, considering she didn’t seem to care too much about the fact she
Did die before and could talk about that without a wince.
“I had accidentally left my computer on, and I had changed my screen name to Akemi… It
wasn’t hard to connect the dots that I was actually a girl from that, my parents didn’t quite
appreciate it. My brother was the first one I told about this, he helped me figure myself out
and helped me choose my name years before this happened. That day he rescued me and kept
my dad away from me from then on with some blackmail and planning, it was what was
needed to fight a man as dirty as that bastard. I miss my brother a lot, but I’m sure he is fine.”
Akemi shoved food into her mouth to keep herself busy as Ana leaned up to kiss her cheek.
“Well… your father certainly can’t do anything else… he is lucky he isn’t here or there
would be a lot of people who would kill him for you. You have a lot more people who love
and would fight for you now, just lean on us if you need to, alright? No one expects you to be
invincible.” Ana said and let Akemi set her fork down with shaky hands.
Akemi didn’t sob, but Ana still felt tears all the same as the Kitsune when the Kitsune turned
in her chair to hug Ana and bury her face into the crook of Ana’s neck. The gentle petting on
her head and soothing whispers would eventually let her get control of herself again.
It was a pretty quiet morning, as they all could tell Akemi was in a somber mood for once.
Later in the morning she finally stirred from her silence. “I have some gifts for you all to help
defend yourselves with. It is going to take three days to complete my ritual, so if anything
happens I likely can’t get there personally, so these are measures just in case.” Akemi said
with them all gathered in the living room to relax.
Akemi pulled out a beautiful silver and fur cloak that she folded onto the table, a small
smooth hunk of crystal, and a large chunk of pure white metal. “First. Hannyuu, I know you
gave your cloak to Lorelei, that was really sweet of you. I’ve been working on this new cloak
for you for a while now, it is a piece of gear on the same level as my own. I used what Star
Silver I had to form the internal structure, which let me add the enchantments I wished. As
for the fur… It was from a quest I did in Yggdrasil. It was a pretty cute repeatable quest, I
had to find and bring a wolf cub back to it’s mother and protect them both, I would get some
fur at the end of the quest as a reward. To summarize… Before enchantments, the materials
will allow you to summon a level eighty Celestial Wolf three time a day for an hour at a time.
The enchantments on it I added are Regeneration: Major, Experience Growth: Major, and the
protective spell of Maximized Infinity Wall. When activated the cloak can fully cover you in
a sort of protective suit. It doesn’t give you extra physical abilities, but I’m confident you
could tank a lot of blows without getting hurt… though I’d rather you never be in danger…”
Akemi smiled as Hannyuu’s eyes widened. “I was honestly tempted to make it have an
activation phrase, or make you dab or something, but I’m not That mean.”
“For your gift Ana this is more of… a promise of power one day. If I can translate my spell
books I can let you read them, and if I figure out how to really give you all some of the same
properties I possess as a player then I will. What I have for you today though is this refined
spell crystal, it contains the tenth tier spell Summon Primal Star Elemental. If ever it is
needed, use it and it will obey you for a day. Please do not tell anyone you have that though.
Frankly all three of your gifts are things that should be kept quiet… I don’t want to think
what some countries might do to get their hands on any of them.” Akemi sounded entirely
serious.
Akemi pushed the chunk of metal towards Kyouko. “This is my only chunk of Siriusium. It is
normally not the best for a weapon but… the sword I gave you is a living weapon like I had
explained. It was made of a base of Adamantite, but it can be upgraded with better metals.
This metal is normally best used for adding to gear instead of as a base, as it adds more
ability to enchant it, it is different in this case though. This will help Desolation speed up in
growth, while also helping you grow stronger with it, you just need to feed the metal to it.”
Akemi said and watched them all marvel over their gifts.
“Wow! Thanks mom!” Hannyuu’s tail wiggled back and forth as she threw on that cloak. “Its
so warm~ How do I turn on th- Ack!” Hannyuu yelped as that cloak seemed to almost liquefy
around her, her limbs being wrapped in full chain mail and metal gloves. Every inch of her
was covered by something, even her head had a full helmet of plate. On the top of the silver
metal a pair of metal wolf ears existed, giving her space for her own feline ears. Despite the
bright lighting, her eyes could not be seen past the dark eye holes. Her tail wiggled around
like a metal slinky with a spiked tip, which looked more amusing than anything.
“Hmm… might need some work, some adjustments perhaps? How does it feel dear? If I can
get more metal I’d love to be able to make something else now~ If I could just get a tiny staff
of it I could go with the idea from Death Mage and make transformation staffs… I think the
world needs some Mahou Shoujo Hannyuu, That is a plan for another time though.” None of
them could decipher what she was saying, or if she was even talking to them by the end.
“It feels actually pretty nice. The helmet is a bit in the wa- Ah, that is useful.” Hannyuu
chirped as the helmet split into pieces that folded around her neck instead. “It is pretty
comfortable, I don’t even feel heavier honestly…” She said and tried to jump. With a bit of
focus that armor retracted back into a cloak.
“Oh good you figured that out, a lot of it is thought controlled. Once we get to the Dragon
Kingdom tomorrow I’ll explain my whole plan finally to you all and Drau. Tomorrow before
we leave I’ll gather everyone up like we did before our other trip, though this one will be
shorter thankfully.”
“Hey Akemi… with this crystal, just how powerful is this summon you gave me?” Ana asked
with apprehension while holding that gem.
Akemi just smiled happily. “For this world? If you were quick enough you might be able to
decimate most armies in the world~ You know my big angels guarding the settlement? Those
are level ninety. That one you have is ninety five after the bonuses from my passives and the
crystal, normally it is only ninety as well. I’m confident that unless Ainz himself was
attacking that it can hold the line for you. I’m not sure about the Slane Theocracy’s
capabilities, but I’d hope this would be enough assuming they have no world items of
horribly destructive power.”
Kyouko retrieved Desolation and pressed that otherworldly metal to it’s surface, her eyes
widening as it almost seemed to be absorbed into the blade, that dark black blade gaining a
steak of white on the edge. When the lump was fully consumed Kyouko could feel it give a
pulse. “That is… something. Out of curiosity, how come you didn’t make it like that in the
first place?” Kyouko asked as she examined the new edge of the blade with almost reverence.
“I needed to be sure it would bond to you right, as I’m unsure if level requirements are too
much of a thing here, but you could equip it no problem. Now that it is bound to you it seems
to have handled the better materials nicely. I wish I could get someone to really help you
train, but I’m hoping to at least get some items to assist all of you in getting stronger.” When
Akemi got some blank looks she just shrugged. “It can cut things better, and I want to help all
of you be badass.” She summarized for them all.
“Thanks Mama! I’ll try and get used to this cloak, it is really comfortable!” Hannyuu said
and wrapped the fur around her with a happy grin.
The others could only smile that, and all three ruffled her hair, mussing it up to the feline’s
frustration. “Adorable. Well, I want to see how well this sword performs, any tips?” Kyouko
asked as she tested the weight of the blade in her hand.
“Oh I can summon something to give you a training partner. It will be more of a dummy you
can fight with, not super smart and can’t give advice, but still durable enough for you.”
Akemi said and hopped up.
“I suppose I’ll just try and work on my magic, think I could have a durable target also to cast
at?” Ana asked as she followed the others out the front door.
“Sure thing. I’ll mostly be storing mana up for tomorrow, I’ll give you all some buffs first
though.” Akemi said as she sat down on a bench she had added to the back of the house.
“[Widen Magic: Invigoration], [Wall of Mercury], [Summon Angel Fifth Altered: Archangel
Locust]. There we go~ Locust, sparring mode, use regeneration as needed, restrict your
strength to level twenty.” Akemi told the strange angel that had appeared in a flash of light.
The robotic construct turned to look at Kyouko and created a longsword from light. “They
should be just right for helping you hone your skills.”
Kyouko had a hungry grin on her face as she separated from the group, especially as she felt
the strength from Invigoration fill her body with a surplus of energy. “Got it love, It will be
nice to be able to go all out.”
Akemi nodded and let her eyes drift to Kyouko’s rear as the woman walked away. Looking
back at Ana she was staring just the same as herself. “Those shorts really are a danger to our
minds… Anyway! Feel free to throw any spell you can cast at that wall.” She said and
gestured to the eight foot tall and wide mass of silver metal that looked more liquid than
solid. “[Magic Arrow].” Akemi cast at the wall, just to see the mass of yellow bolts stretch
the wall before dissipating. “It can repair itself and tank a lot of damage. Feel free to use it
also Hannyuu.” Akemi said before peering at Hannyuu.
“Now Hannyuu, activate your armor?” When Hannyuu’s cloak formed a full body suit of
armor around her Akemi nodded. “Good. I need to test the durability so… Ana, I know how
this sounds but... without your staff cast Shockwave at Hannyuu.” Akemi said, looking like it
physically pained her to say that.
“What?! I can’t do that!” Ana was in disbelief at the suggestion.
“Mama Ana, Mama Akemi wouldn’t suggest it if I would actually hurt me. I’m eventually
going to have to spar also, so I’ll be fine.” Hannyuu said as she braced herself.
Ana let out a tiny whine as she looked between the two of them. “Fine… You’re right…”
Ana admitted with a grumpy sigh. “[Shockwave].” Pointing her palm at the center of
Hannyuu’s chest she cast her spell with as little power as she could. Akemi was not surprised
as the most that happened was Hannyuu taking a step back.
“Huh… That didn’t hurt. Use more power?” Hannyuu asked Ana as she poked at where the
ball of crushing force impacted her chest, the metal barely disturbed.
Looking a bit more relieved with the lack of injury Ana held up her hand again.
“[Shockwave].” Without her holding back it got Hannyuu to yelped just a bit as she took a
more forceful step back. “You alright?”
Hannyuu took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, was just more surprising than anything I
think. Maybe try your staff?” She suggested and looked towards Akemi, who looked worried
again.
“That… might actually hurt you know? Are you sure? I’m confident that the suit could easily
deal with a fifth level spell, but some of the damage is transmitted to the user past a certain
point, especially with crushing damage.” Akemi looked at Ana, and was pleased to see her
looking full of energy still. “Mana still alright?”
Ana held up her staff and pointed it at Hannyuu, though it did seem to pain her. “Yup, I think
my mana pool has grown a bit lately. Having people to really train with has helped, Arche
was great at teaching me some ways to improve. Hope she is doing alright…”
As expected Hannyuu looked close to snickering with the urge to tease her mother. “I’m fine
with it, hit me with your best shot! Mama Akemi, you said this thing has a healing
enchantment on it?” Hannyuu asked as she bounced in the armor, looking amused by how
little noise it made.
“It does, Regeneration: Major in fact. If I remember right one of Gazef’s pieces of armor that
I saw had Regeneration: Medium, so don’t lose any limbs and it will eventually heal you up.
Of course I’d rather you not ever Need to be in a situation where that is possible but… I’d
rather know you all can protect yourselves, I’m not omnipresent after all. Seeing how little
damage Hannyuu took I’d call it a success for now.” Akemi said as she focused on her ring,
seeming to be funneling mana into it.
With that their attention shifted to training, Ana and Hannyuu firing spells at the mercury
wall as many times as they could. Kyouko could be heard grunting deeper in the forest with
each swing of her sword, and the robotic hiss of the angel that clashed with her again and
again. The tension would be heavy that night as they all prepared for the unknown.
Akemi took several deep breathes as she stood on a small raised platform to speak to the
crowd that had gathered. She saw so many excited faces it raised her own mood as much as
her nerves. “[Whispers on the Wind]. Everyone, today is the day.” Akemi declared and keep
the smile off her face. “You’ll know when it starts I think, a small tremor might make it here,
but it should be safe. Over the next three days you’ll really be able to see what I can do. You
all seem to wish for me to become your Goddess, so I’ll answer those hopes and prayers with
my first act as Divine Queen Akemi. Look towards the south east and you’ll get your
answers. While I am gone Emeril will be in charge, she has my full trust.” Akemi declared
and winced at the cheering that began. The barrage of prayers in her head did Not help her at
all sadly.
“Well then. With that I shall return once my task is done. [Gate].” Akemi let her family go
through the portal first. Ana walking with Hannyuu in front of her, and Kyouko rolling
Lorelei in her chair. Akemi followed behind them and closed the portal.
The change in temperature made a few of them wince, it was just a bit colder due to being
higher up than a forest floor.
“Welcome Akemi, all of you, it is lovely to see you again.” Drau said as she met up with
them in front of her castle.
“Likewise, are you ready for the big day?” Akemi asked as she nearly bounced in clear
excitement. It was adorable to the others to see as her tails wag back and forth.
“Thank you for taking care of my Mom, Queen Draudillon.” Hannyuu said as she smiled at
the Queen, looking far less nervous than the last meeting.
“Please, all of you can just call me Drau like Akemi does, we’re going to be working closely
together after all. In the mean time I have several things planned while you’re here, I want to
show you my Kingdom while we have the time.” Drau said as she led the others into the
castle.
None of them pointed out what else might happen potentially, the ever increasing likelihood
that she would just plain join their growing family. “I think it is time I fully explain what is
about to happen, lets get comfortable alright?” Akemi said as she looked fit to fall over in her
own excitement.
The air on the plain was fragrant and cool as the field of flowers remained just how it was left
two days prior, still wet with the morning dew. Akemi felt bad that that entire area was about
to go through such an upheaval that this beautiful sight would soon be replaced.
Reaching into her inventory Akemi slipped her Ring of Sustenance onto the hand opposite
the one she wore Tear of Elysian on, and felt a surge of energy roar through her. “It is finally
time… but first~” Akemi grinned as she spread her arms. There was sadly no one around to
witness her super tier magic activate. “[Super Tier Magic: Pantheon]!” She shouted as she
felt the four Seraphs back at the settlement despawn, and four more take their place around
her. “Seraphim, spread out into a fifty kilometer circle and patrol, allow no one to approach.
If they show hostility stop them with every ounce of force at your command.” Akemi
declared.
“Yes, we hear and obey Goddess.” They spoke as one before flying off at top speed in four
directions. Akemi nodded and felt the air still crackle with energy.
“[Message]. Hey Skeletor~ If you watch the south east today you’ll get to see me do an
awesome, try not to let your skull explode from seeing it. I’m about to spit in the shitty Devs
eyes!” Akemi declared with a maniacal laugh.
“Oh dear… I’ll wear some sunglasses I suppose. I am interested in what you have planned,
but please do not fuck up the world. I’ll make sure my guardians stay far away.” Ainz
sounded more amused than anything, especially as he could likely guess the fuckery the Devs
had added to make Akemi that spiteful.
Closing the message Akemi stretched out, quick swapping to comfortable robes that would
keep her nice and warm. “Now then… That is more than enough scrying attempts to allow.
Learn to take a hint nosy fuckers…” Akemi groaned as she felt several more scrying spells
bounce off her Ring of Obfuscation. “[Cracked Mirror: Explode].” As she expected, after one
more ping of scrying, all further attempts stopped. “It wouldn’t do to be distracted after all.”
“Now now Akemi, it is time… You went over the blueprints dozens of times, you’ve allocated
every point you could.” With a heavy groan she knew she would not be able to deny her own
divinity after that day, especially after literally establishing her own Divine Realm on the
surface of the planet.
Akemi knelt down into the grass to dig a small hole with her hands, after which she pulled a
tiny silver seed from her inventory that pulsed with power similar to her own. She tucked the
seed into the hole and covered it with the utmost care. Kneeling there in the dirt she clasped
her hands as if in prayer.
A veritable mountain of blue glyphs appeared around her in layered rings that slowly circled
her. Akemi felt her mana start to drain and filling each glyph ring and dying it a bright white.
She didn’t notice as her own eyes glowed bright blue, with specks of white circling around
her irises. After a few minutes the last of those rings turned white, and unlike a super tier
spell that expanded outwards, those rings that dwarfed a super tier spell in size shrank back
down around her, till they only circled her clasped hands in a dense mesh, each one still
rotating rapidly.
Inside of her mind Akemi already felt stress building at just the amount of energy that was
being released into one spot, as well as the drain it was having on her. It was slowly pulling
from her mana pool, and she felt it pulling from something deeper inside of her. If her mana
pool was a lake of cold water, then what she felt deeper inside than that was an entire tank of
icy slush that really did not want to flow at her command.
“Is that what I felt before? No no, existential thoughts later Akemi…” She thought as that ice
cold not-mana filled her hands in preparation. In minutes that felt like hours Akemi finally
felt the preparation phase complete. Her heart was beating faster than ever before as she
closed her eyes to fully focus. “[Skill: Salvation’s Genesis].” It was spoken lowly, a whisper
to the world, or even a prayer.
The ground around her seemed to glow in hues of emerald and white, steadily expanding out
around her, all while Akemi felt both pools of mana begin to empty rapidly. The ground
rumbled as Akemi poured more and more into her skill. Activating her Ring of Elysium she
felt her refilled mana continue to sink. It had actually become worrying for her as she used
the final burst of mana she had infused the ring with.
The expenditure slowed down suddenly, before stopping entirely. It didn’t feel nice to be at
only twenty five percent mana or so remaining, especially with it not regenerating, but she
knew she had only just begun her task.
She finally could open her eyes and take a deep breath, able to continue her connection and
observe the beginning with her own eyes. She felt a surge of energy from below as the roots
finally reached the Leyline. The ground cracked around her in a perfect circular shape was all
the warning she got as she began to rise rapidly, far faster than even fly.
The ground she was on was still under her, but it also was being lifted by branches, all around
her an entire forest seemed to bloom just as fast as it shot into the air. One kilometer passed
in the blink of an eye, and then a second without any sign of slowing. Akemi knew this first
phase of growth was the most explosive, and she would just had to keep her connection going
until it was completed.
Less than an hour prior they all sat in the Queen’s meeting room and watched Akemi collect
herself before speaking. “So, this isn’t a spell technically, this is a skill I acquired from a very
long quest chain. Back in Yggdrasil there were a few rare classes that had unique skills
attached to them that could sometimes eclipse even Super Tier magic. World Disaster and
World Champion were two such classes, of which only a certain amount of people could hold
those classes at one time. World Disaster classes had a skill called Grand Catastrophe, a spell
like skill powerful enough that it could kill most players in one shot if they landed it directly,
and could even take out some bosses under the right circumstances. It was a powerful skill to
an entirely broken level.” Akemi sipped at her tea nervously as she looked around, seeing
eyes enraptured by her story.
“The reason I bring that up is it is an example of a class unique skill. Some were better, some
were worse, and some were only useful in very specific situations. Divine Being is not the
most unique class, several others could acquire it given the right build and quest lines
completed. There was an Oni King class, an Angelic Ruler class, and many others that all
could gain Divine Being after getting those other classes. Most of them are classes meant to
represent reaching the pinnacle of your race’s power, usually after maxing out the class
exclusive to that race. For Kitsune players reaching the end of your quest lines with
numerous conditions fulfilled gave one the chance to unlock the Kyuubi class and advance
from eight tails to nine tails. There were only to be two players with Kyuubi at a time, but the
only other one besides me got it right before the game was announced to be closed within a
year… I think they quit after that. The requirements for Kyuubi were many, but one of which
was either a maxed out positive Karma score, or a negative one. Like Yin and Yang, there
was meant to be one for each side, and we were both given quest lines to complete once
Divine Being was gained.” Akemi let her tails whip around behind her as her nervous energy
made her hands shake for a moment.
“When I finished it I was absolutely pissed… the shitty Devs of the game used such a long
quest line and time investment as a chance to siphon just a bit more money from the
potentially Two people who could get to that point…” Akemi growled. “The skill I got was
called Salvation’s Genesis, a one time use only skill that was all but impossible to use. At the
end of a quest chain that involved me having to actually Solo a special raid boss… which
took took weeks of preparation, and literal hours to accomplish after multiple tries, I got a
seed of Yggdrasil as a quest item.” Akemi pulled out a white seed that pulled with energy, it
was enough to make the room feel abnormally heavy.
“Is that that seed? How can a seed feel like That? I’ve only felt that when you were angry…”
Hannyuu asked and smoothed her tail fur down once Akemi put the item away.
“It was in the lore, and they are meant to be pretty important. It was a dud as a skill though
back in Yggdrasil… the requirements to cast it were purposefully inhuman. Sure it let me
fully design a dream structure that could function as a very massive base depending on how I
allocated the points it came with, and was honestly fun to use to make the perfect base, but it
also would take three days to cast. I could not interrupt the spell or it would fail entirely.”
“But… didn’t you have that ring with you? Why didn’t you just use that?” Drau asked
innocently. Akemi had to take a deep breath and giggle at the innocent question.
“If you remember, that world was all just a big shared dream, I still existed in the real world,
and no human would be able to stay up for three days straight without eating, drinking, or
using the bathroom, not without serious health issues that the game would forcefully log you
out for once it detected your vitals dropping. I was no where near peak physical condition, I
was a sickly skeleton that was either sleeping, playing Yggdrasil, puking, or just crying from
pain.” Akemi shook her head and looked away from her loved ones. “So yeah, it was entirely
impossible to cast… Hence why the shitty Devs offered an ‘optional’ item at the end of the
quest chain that would shorten the cast time to three hours…”
“How come you didn’t get it then?” Ana asked as she gripped Akemi’s hand, reaching across
the table to do so.
“Because it would have cost four hundred thousand Yen, an amount that could feed a family
for potentially a year if budgeted very carefully! After that much time investment for such a
cool skill it was wasted as a cash grab! I wasn’t going to ask my brother for that much
money, not for some skill in a game. The only thing in game he made me let him pay for was
the game and subscription fee itself. I was already getting living expenses and my rent paid
for by him, and I felt like… a burden back then, so I couldn’t ask for more. Things are
different now, this ring now actually works like the flavor text says it does, meaning I now
Can cast it. I will be creating a tree of life that will reach the heavens, within which we all
can live freely, I have it all planned out.” Akemi's mood seemed to fluctuate several times as
she talked, her emotions bouncing between the sadness of remembering her former life, and
hopefully excitement of the here and now.
“You said it will take three days? How will we know it is done?” Hannyuu asked curiously.
“When it stops growing and the thing lights up I suppose, by that point it should be safe to
teleport to me with your rings, just try and wait at minimum the three days. I’ll probably be
too tired to teleport back here right away.”
“Tree of life for sure…” She mumbled to herself as she lost track of how long the tree had
been rising. Many more branches reached above her as her platform continued it’s ascent. “I
can’t wait to see how it looks on top… I want to really see the stars, I want to just live free…”
It shouldn’t have to be a lofty goal for her, but her project of worldly proportions was
certainly lofty.
It was surprisingly tiring even as she just had to kneel there to maintain the spell. Her own
central platform was going slow enough that she was starting to fall behind the creation going
on. “It is… more beautiful than I thought it would be.” She thought as she passed a floor she
had designed as the landscape itself slowly formed from her gift of mana, as well as the the
Leyline itself feeding the tree. If she was just a human she would have trouble seeing the
details of the land being created within the tree. Her own eyes were not human though, and
capable of seeing every tree to every boulder within a landscape spanning a forty kilometer
wide circular area generate, that she could see a lake start to fill with water, which then filled
the rivers and creeks.
She almost felt she went too far as she passed floor after floor, each layer unique in it’s own
way just as she designed it. “This goes way farther than the Creation super tier spell…”
What she herself could feel could speak volumes as she felt that connection between her and
the tree only growing, like a budding sprout.
The sky she could see only grew darker as the hours passed, as well as the air thinner, the
measures for oxygen taking time to catch up to her level of growth, the tree’s own network of
mana veins having to form first to support the magic woven within the tree.
When the sky outside was pitch black, and the light of the stars above grew bright, did she
know that she was likely at least at the fortieth floor. “This is… going to take a long time.”
Like she warned, an earthquake had begun low and slow nearest to the tree. Thankfully the
Dragon Kingdom was warned, dampening the fear citizens still felt as the ground rumbled
beneath their feet, yet something else soon caught their attention instead.
Up at the castle, seated on an upper floor balcony, the Queen, her guests, and several others
watched as things began.
“M-mamas… is that…?” Hannyuu asked as she watched a tree begin to explosively grow on
the plains far to the south. By all rights they normally would not be able to see something that
distant, but when it grew to monstrous proportions on the scale of full kilometers wide it was
hard to miss.
“A big tree? Yeah… She was not kidding about the whole ‘tree of life’ bit. So, do you still
lack confidence in my Mate?” Kyouko asked as she turned to Bahgram with the biggest
smirk. Of course she did not get an answer besides a sigh of resignation and a shake of his
head.
“It is beautiful, how tall do you think it will go?” Ana asked as she sipped at her tea, her eyes
never leaving the marvel in the distance. The white wood of the tree seemed to form a
spiraling trunk, rather than one solid tree, letting them see the gaps between what appeared to
be layers
“Well… she did say it would reach into the heavens, and I have a feeling she was speaking
pretty literally.” Drau said as she watched with child-like joy.

The first day of growth was breathtaking for Akemi, but the two days after seemed to slog by
as she stopped being able to tell the time long before. It was cold, hard to breath, and she felt
dizzy from hovering at low mana. The magic of the experience had begun to fade, and she
just hoped it would be done soon so she could sleep for days in the warm company of her
girlfriends. “I’m so done with all this, if this wasn’t a max level body I think I’d have died by
now.” She thought as she controlled her breathing while she moved ever upwards in the
atmosphere. The only breathable air was the updraft from the tree, as well as the magic
activating through every limb of it to produce a breathable atmosphere that people could live
in.
She felt lighter on her feet than when she started, which she at first thought was just her low
oxygen level, but then she realized just how high up the tree would likely reach.
Her eyes stayed closed as she just focused on maintaining her connection to the tree, though
that was thankfully getting easier the longer she was bound to it, till she knew a permanent
connection would end up forming by the end.
When she felt her ascent slow down her breath caught in her throat. As she came to a stop she
felt the ritual reach it’s final phase. The connection was now complete between her and the
tree, though her connection to the Leyline felt muddy still with how much of the tree was still
in progress. When the glow around her clasped hands faded she knew she was safe to move.
Standing upon shaky legs she finally got her bearings as she felt the link between her mana
pool, and the deeper pool inside of her merge into one. “I suppose that might be my
divinity?” She thought as she felt her mana tick back up at a snails pace, only a fraction of
her normal regeneration speed.
When she looked over the edge of her platform she regretted it immediately, while she also
was stuck in awe at the sight. In every direction she could see a haze hundred or thousands of
meters below that spread endlessly into the curved horizon. Her vision felt sharper with her
slitted eyes amplified further by the divine mana that now circulated through her body
seemingly permanently instead of just when she called upon it. “I suppose my body had to
adapt to the changes? Was I always supposed to feel mana this way?”
She could see so much that her brain could barely keep up. From that point she could see
individual shapes on a castle far to the north. Looking to the north west she saw many and
more people watching, though she could not see their facial expressions to see if they were
pleased or not. “If that is the Slane Theocracy I wonder how they’ll react to a literal divine
act? I wonder how long it will be till they attempt to declare war…”
From the rivers to the seas, to the fields of grain scattered around, she could see nearly
everything from the top of the world! Looking upwards she finally felt tears fall freely down
her face as she observed the stars with such clarity that she felt like she was dreaming. None
of them were like anything in the pictures from Earth’s past. From those first pictures on
earth she had so desperately wanted to see the stars, to see that endless expanse that humanity
was so close to grasping until their own greed pulled them back to earth.
“Its beautiful…” She felt It was entirely too weak to describe the sight of the heavens above
her, revealed with clarity that she had never even imagined she could see them in. It was not
the milky way, but the galaxy that was spread out before her eyes was a tapestry that she felt
she could reach out and touch. Her eyes were good, but not good enough to see too many
details besides the points of light and the spiral of what galaxy they were in.
“I have all this power, and I’m standing on the top of the world, yet I’m still so small…” It
was a humbling sight for her, that she was just one tiny speck in the universe, just one slightly
more powerful than the others. Looking at the two moons that she could see she was
surprised that she could see individual craters dotting the surfaces, and even a few rock
formations… Though any detail further than that was beyond her for now. “I wonder if I can
make my eyes even better? Eh, thought for another time.”
Looking down again she saw that the floors were still forming under her after she had passed
them earlier that day, until the platform she was on began to expand outwards in every
direction, the rock and dirt being created there and then, with grass soon following.
Breathing was steadily getting easier as the tree continued to grow, the spells to generate air
and gravity finally creating a micro atmosphere that would eventually be safe for mortals.
She laid back in the soft grass that had formed beneath her feet and just watched the stars
without a thought in her mind. Her vision was soon taken up by wide streams of mana rising
up beneath her from the tree and up into the sky. That mana began to make a wire frame
outline of the crown jewel of her tree of life.
It would take a while for it to be complete, and thankfully the tree was almost entirely self
sufficient by that point, she could finally relax. The air was eventually nice and fresh, even if
it was very cold from being higher than any mountain in the world by a very wide margin.
Her only warning she received was her Pseudo-Omniscience passive warning her of eyes
upon her and movement from the corner of her eye. She leapt from her spot in the grass right
as it seemed to explode from a blunt object hitting the ground. Her reflexes felt slow as she
dodged a spear to the face by inches, and blocked a heavy blade with one of her tails,
flooding the limbs with as much mana as she could spare. She was launched backwards from
the blow, but it let her get a good view of her attacker as they floated several meters from the
ground.
“Who in the world?” She observed the suit of white armor float there with crossed arms, all
while four weapons circled without the tethers of gravity to bind them down. Her passive
scan of them didn’t go through, giving her almost no knowledge of her opponent besides
being clearly hostile. “Well that was exceptionally rude.” She complained as she caught her
breath from the surprise attack. “This is not good… if he can shrug off my passive scans, I’d
need higher level information magic… Mana still is low.” It was overall the worst situation
she could think of barring her family being killed or some other horrid event.
Her Angel guards she had set to patrol did not even register an intruder, so she assumed he
teleported up to her, it was about the only way to cross the distance in any reasonable amount
of time. It was that same height that she knew would keep her guards from arriving within at
least an hour. While they were faster than a Fly spell, they were not supersonic.
The moment she moved her mana to activate Quick Swap, the spear once again lunged out to
interrupt her, keeping her from putting on her combat gear. “No, really, who in the world are
you? I don’t come to your home and try to break your face!” Akemi demanded as her tails
hung behind her ready to strike. The silence from her foe was getting frustrating…
“If you have any sense of honor name yourself, or I’ll drag you from that armor as a nameless
criminal. You stand in the Divine Queendom of Natura and even attack it’s Queen, you’re
quite bold.” Each moment she could get was another moment to regain her mana, as well as
for the tree to get closer to completion and free up more mana regeneration.
“My name does not matter, nor does your title. I will do what I must for the world.” Was all
the male voice said before all four weapons shot forward at her, which she deflected with her
tails. The remaining five tails that were not countering shot forward like spears of their own,
and impacted the chestplate of the nameless warrior.
To her annoyance it did not piece through, only denting the front and sending the figure
flying a dozen meters back. “What is that armor made out of? I can tear Adamantite to
shreds with my tail passives! This is entirely not normal.” She thought as she tried to rush
through the strategies she could employ. “[Radiant Bl-” She was interrupted from her casting
by a distortion in the space next to her head expanding. With barely a moment to spare she
had backed away from the veritable bomb and put her tails between her and it. Thankfully it
didn’t even singe her body, only dealing some blunt damage from some sort of Spacial
technique. “[Life Essence], [Mana Essence]. So, he will only attack what he can hear me
cast and the most obvious of quiet spells?” She thought as she observed the warrior rush back
towards her.
“He has no mana? Even a farmer has some… False Data Mana? He has HP though, a lot of
it.” When he stopped several meters from her she also paused.
“You do not flee? I was right in guessing you are bound here for the time being. If I end you
it should as well put an end to this threat you’ve unleashed on the world.” He said as she
observed his hp go down, right before three more explosions nearly took her head off. She
did feel one of the explosions hurt her shoulder, sending her flying and into the ground.
“If you’d actually Listen you would fin- Quit that you fucker!” Akemi shouted as she
countered an explosion with an instinctive pulse of mana from her tails, sending the force of
the explosion outwards. “How did that work? I’ll file that away for later when I’m not
fighting for my life…” She finally had slipped off her Queenly persona as her temper started
to rise.
Talking for the time being was doing nothing besides giving him free hits, and so she rushed
forward, countering his weapons blow for blow as best she could. “He is good…” She found
herself taking more and more grazing blows as she noticed him adapt to her nine angles of
attack. She couldn’t actually have random attack patterns, and she found her brain starting to
hurt from controlling her tails to such a degree for so long. “I’ll give you one thing, this is the
hardest I’ve had to fight before, Though it would be far more enjoyable if we were both in
top shape.” Akemi said between blows, dodging and weaving around his launched weapons
as she aimed to crush his armor like a tin can with each tail strike.
The fresh landscape around them was becoming littered with trenches where either of their
blows missed. It was a bad match up, a Jack of all trades build versus someone who clearly
focused on melee and had far more experience with it. She didn’t have the mana to turn the
fight around just yet, and she now had begun to lose more mana as some of it went into her
regeneration, healing the cuts and crushes she took.
As she attempted to reach into her inventory she nearly lost her hand as all four weapons
aimed there at once. “I am not going to allow you to use your otherworldly weapons,
transgressor.”
“So, you know what Players are? Is that why you are trying to kill me?” Akemi asked as both
of them took a pause. “Sorry but… I already died once before, this is my world as much as
your’s now, I have way too many people depending on me to die to some coward.” Akemi
finally felt her mana begin to refill at a decent pace, the tree nearly completed. In the distance
she could see the shape of her palace already built, which she knew by design was one of the
last parts to be created.
A chill went up her spine as she felt the magic within the tree finally start up, like the engine
of a massive ship it started slow, but the Leyline fed it more mana, and that mana was finally
starting to also be distributed to Akemi herself as her senses began to merge with the land. “I
can feel him within the borders, so I suppose the boundary is finished. All the magic has
begun…” The air had thankfully become easier to breath, yet she felt her breathing catch as
she remembered one detail.
Her brain felt like it was seeing things in slow motion as the spear her opponent had floating
began to spin, gaining power before it was launched towards her at high speed. As she
pumped mana to her limbs to dodge she felt the disturbance of space directly behind her.
“Stop!”
That spear did not stop it’s flight as Akemi held out her hands to stop the train wreak in
progress, there was no time to transfer mana to her tails instead. The possibility of being
wounded didn’t cross her mind in the slightest in that moment, far to much was happening in
less than a second for her to be worried about her own life when someone more important
was at stake.
The light behind her was all the confirmation she needed as she placed herself between the
spear and the small figure that had materialized behind her from a familiar channel of magic,
it being an item she made herself.
A sickening ripping and tear sound echoed through that area. “Ma… Ma?” A look of horror
was worn on the faces of both mother and daughter. Looking over her shoulder Akemi felt
several things, relief and rage to start with as the tip of that spear carved a bloody line on the
side of Hannyuu’s head, a minor wound considering how close it was to hitting her head
directly.
Her daughter stared at her in horror, her eyes following the end of the spear to see where to
jutted out of Akemi’s back, blood already dribbling down her in rivers. She collapsed to her
side as that spear was ripped out roughly, letting Hannyuu see the hole through Akemi’s chest
and both hands, showing she had only been able barely alter it’s path to save her daughter.
One of her hands was all but destroyed, yet the pain didn’t show on her face yet as she was
laser focused on Hannyuu.
“Mama? MAMA!” Hannyuu shouted in anguish, her own pain not even crossing her mind as
blood dripped from the cut on her head, but it was thankfully far from a fatal wound. At a
glance the same could not be said about Akemi. Hannyuu didn’t know what to do as Akemi
gasped for air and clutched at the hole.
“C- [Cure Greater Wounds]…” Akemi barely gasped out as Hannyuu would feel her own
wound get sealed in moments. It didn’t stop her crying at all.
“… Why would she not heal herself first instead?” The male voice in the armor asked, only
observing for now as the situation was reevaluated. He didn’t stop the child from pulling out
an object from her side and pointing it at him, a wand.
“[Magic Arrow], [Magic Arrow], [Magic Arrow]!” She repeatedly cast as bolts of yellow
repeatedly shot at the armor, and only bounced from it harmlessly. “Why you bastard?!” She
shouted as her gaze moved between Akemi who had begun to look slightly blue in the face,
and her assailant.
“For the sake of the world, I could not get to these lands in time to prevent this unnatural
construct from being created under our feet, but destroying it’s source may well stop it-” He
was cut off by another shot of magic arrows that did absolutely nothing. “Why do you defend
her? She is not of this world, do you realize that? She will only bring chaos and destruction
as others before her have.”
“Why? Why?! Because she is my mother! I already know she isn’t from this world… That
doesn’t matter to me, she is the only one that saved me from hell and who showed me what it
meant to be loved! And yet you try and take her away from our family without knowing
anything about her?!” Hannyuu shouted as she panted, unable to pull the mana for another
shot of weak magic. “She is the bravest p-person I know, even when she is scared she puts us
all first! I know that she is strong, that she is so strong it is almost scary, but she has done
nothing but help people! She gave me a life I actually wanted to live! She is my mother and
that is all the reason I need to help her!” By the end she was sobbing, seeming to try to force
the mana out of her for yet another spell, yet could only fall to her knees and look back at
Akemi.
That man seemed almost sympathetic as his weapons lowered. “Child, you do not understa-”
He was cut off by the girl being encased in a multifaceted white barrier that looked like a cut
gem.
The words of her child were barely getting through the haze in her mind, the pain having
quickly become almost all that Akemi could feel. “This… feels too familiar…” The feeling
of her lungs torn apart, yet she had become less resistant to the pain she could handle in her
old body. Her new body was just unused to pain. Akemi could feel her passives slowly
knitting her body back together, but it was going far too slow for her liking.
She had at least healed her daughter, which was top priority in her mind in a snap decision,
above her own lungs and hands.
What happened next felt like a cold drink of water on a hot day, the feeling of mana flowing
back into her body, her own mana finally not occupied with finishing her project. It was just
enough of a relief for her to get her thoughts in order. “[Regeneration].” She silently cast,
and felt the spell begin to mend her lungs much faster than her passives would.
“[Skill: Divine Severance]. Thank you baby… I’m alright, You just stay safe.” Akemi said
with a raspy breath as she shakily stood up, stretching out her hands that finished being
pulled back together. A few coughs brought up the rest of the blood in her lung as the hole on
her chest finished healing. “Hannyuu, Dearheart, thank you… all I want is for you to live a
safe and happy life. No revenge quests, okay?” She took in her daughter’s smile as she saw
Akemi looking much healthier.
When her gaze turned back towards the assailant it was as vengeful as a demon’s. “You hurt
my daughter…” Was all she said as all except Hannyuu could feel her energy rising, the
divine might filling her veins as she reached into her inventory to pull out Ex Oblivion,
thankfully not being stopped this time. It was then that the armored man looked nervous from
his stance. “I may not be from this world originally, but I would never do anything to destroy
it, everyone I love is here. If my suspicions are right on your identity I could even understand
your motivations for trying to get rid of players.” She had to take a few more deep breathes.
“The Six Great Gods didn’t do much except help humanity I think, but the Eight Greed Kings
I now know committed a genocide against the dragons. Your grudge and caution against
Players might be valid, but frankly I don’t care at this point. [Dimensional Lock].” A wave of
energy expanded around them for what felt like Kilometers. It was her declaration that he
would not escape.
“Allowing your kind to roam free has only led to tragedy. My apologies, I did not intend for a
child to be injured, regardless-” He was interrupted by the air seeming to tremble around
them.
“You don’t understand at all… You Hurt my child. You can stab and hit me all you want, but
even if you didn’t intend to, you hurt the one I cherish above all else.” Akemi took a few
deep breathes as her mana finally began to refill, even more so once she held Ex Oblivion
and it’s passives aided her. “I didn’t want to even fight you, I would rather discuss things like
adults, but… you already crossed a line.”
“I can tell you are not even here, that is some sort of puppet, so I suppose even if I break it
you won’t die. You attacked while I was exhausted, a cowardly surprise attack without any
time to let me so much as breath, but let me assure you that you have my Full attention, so I
guess talking things out can wait till you come here yourself. Are you going to remain a
nameless coward?”
“…I may have misjudged, I can admit that. I am known by most as the Platinum Dragon
Lord, Tsaindorcus Vaision.” His weapons began to rotate once more as he clearly sensed that
Akemi was not done, as well as the power of the weapon she wielded.
“I am Akemi, Queen of Natura. I have a Lot of bones to pick with you, and a lot of
frustration, so you’re going to have to bare with me as I use you to burn that off.” She said
and looked back at Hannyuu within the person sized barrier and placed a hand on it. “You’ll
be entirely safe in there, I’ll deal with this guy and we’ll go back to our family. Hey
Hannyuu… you are also the one who saved my life, you gave me a reason to give living
another try. I love you, let me show you how far I’ll go for your sake.” Akemi said and
smiled when Hannyuu placed her on hand against Akemi’s from within the barrier.
Akemi lowered Ex Oblivion parallel to the ground, her stance matching. “You know, I don’t
think I’ve gotten to go all out with this weapon since I made it, at least not in this world, I
was never much of a direct fighter you see…” Akemi said as she almost casually swiped the
weapon upwards at him, the air in front of her all but exploding as mana was poured into her
strike.
The dragon lord was sent flying farther than ever, an actual dent in his armor from an attack
that didn’t even connect directly. He was blitzed by her dive towards him, the tip of her
weapon penetrating the chest of his armor with deceptive ease for just a moment before he
was able to knock her away with his floating hammer. “Not so slow now am I?! Today was
supposed to be a good day!” Akemi shouted as she quickly met back up with the dragon lord,
her blade already being swung downwards to chip his weapons further as he blocked.
“A world item? No…” He mumbled right before he impacted the ground, dodging a slash
that split the ground near him where his armor’s head would be, leaving behind a trench a
kilometer long in the direction the blade had traveled.
“Well, No, but kind of yes!” Akemi’s glare turned into a feral grin for a moment as she began
to a series of thrusts that left the dragon lord scrambling backwards, her strikes faster than all
nine of her tails were.
Akemi’s breath can in pants as she pushed herself to the limit, her entire chest still sore from
the heavy blow she had taken and exhaustion. “I’m glad my mana is finally coming back, lets
turn this around.” She thought as she dashed after the dragon lord, a thunder clap echoing
with each clash of their blades. “[Radiant Blade].” Akemi finally was able to cast without
interruption, her own blade soon enveloped by a white light. The dragon lord’s weapons only
seemed to lose more and more pieces, right until the spear failed and cracked in half,
allowing Akemi to cut through his arm like sand.
“Wow, you really are hollow inside…” She complained as she saw his health only go down a
chunk. To her relief he seemed to almost be dead, and she didn’t think he could use False
Data Life. “[Delay Magic: Dominate Nature].” She silently cast right as she pointed her
weapon at him. “He seems to have some magic resistance, but he isn’t immune to tier spells
entirely…“[Maximize Magic: Icarus Fall]!” Her spell activated, canceling what ever flight the
dragon lord had used for enough of a moment for gravity to increase over him and pull him to
the ground hard.
It was then that Dominate Nature activated, roots bursting forth from her domain to wrap
around the armor’s sprawled limbs, as well as the weapons that hit the ground with him.
Before he could begin to try and extract himself from the mire of roots Akemi landed near
him and slashed thrice more.
“[World Teleport]…” The freshly limbless body and severed armored head remained where
they were. “That was not a tier spell, how did you block my teleportation?” He sounded
mildly fine for being in pieces, but being just the armor the pain was likely not transmitted.
“A tier version of Dimensional Lock exists, but it does normally belong as a skill to high
level demonic and angelic beings. I’m a bit above a mere angel, but it is still within my skill
set.” Akemi noted as she planted the butt of Ex Oblivion into the ground to lean on.
The dragon lord was quiet for a few moments, yet she could still clearly see his presence in
the armor. “…Surely you can see the potential destruction you can bring? Destroying this
armor will not stop me.” He said, making no further effort to escape, and from the lack of
reaction in the severed limbs to her spell, only the head still contained the remaining HP.
Akemi started to swing her blade down at that helmet, but stopped herself millimeters from
doing so. “Dammit… I already know all that…” Akemi mumbled through gritted teeth.
“Mama… I-I don’t think you should kill them…” Akemi heard Hannyuu tell her, making
Akemi notice her barrier had faded.
“But dear… He hurt you… I told you I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you again and I keep
messing up that promise…” Akemi growled out as her weapon shook in her grasp. She
appeared to be torn between the rage of a mother, and her gentler side.
“I’ll forgive him! I didn’t get hurt much, you got hurt a lot worse than me mother…”
Hannyuu nearly cried, her face scrunched up from her own conflicting emotions. “I was so
scared… I thought you had died protecting me…” Hannyuu stumbled forward until she was
able look into the eye sockets of the Dragon Lord’s helmet. “Please… Will you two just try to
talk? Mama… I know you just want peace, and he seems to care about the world also, it
doesn’t have to be this way…”
Both Kitsune and Dragon Lord were silent at the child’s words. It was easy enough to suggest
just talking through things, but it often took far more energy to end a conflict than to start
one. “Haa… Having to get reined in by my daughter…” Akemi finally put her weapon back
into her inventory with a deep breath. “So? Could you try and talk to me instead? I consider
myself pretty reasonable… but hurting my family crosses every one of my lines… but she
says she forgives you. Why did you attack me? Did it appear so urgent that you had to
immediately try to assassinate me?” Akemi asked with clear exhaustion in her voice.
“An anomaly had begun to pull massive amounts of mana from the Leylines and had grown
to over one hundred kilometers in the span of three days. I assumed it was a threat on the
scale that the world was in danger.” The Dragon Lord’s head eventually answered.
Akemi stopped for a moment, closed her eyes, and took several breaths. A low growl of
frustration was in her throat till she sighed. “You know what… I can see your point honestly.
Unfortunately there was no convenient warn-the-world spell. I have nothing but peaceful
intentions with this world, as I said, everyone I love lives here. I know more or less how the
Leylines work, even if I don’t know How I know. We could discuss theories till we’re blue in
the face but at least that would be more productive than violence. I’m willing to sit down and
talk this out, as I really am not looking to make enemies, I just wanted a home for my family
and a safe haven for my scattered people.” Akemi looked still on guard but dismissed the
roots holding the armor down. “Also, it is one hundred and fifty kilometers almost exactly, if
the blueprints I made were executed precisely.” It was hard to miss the quiet pride in her
voice at that boast.
It was a good minute of silence as they waited. “Very well. You have given me much to think
about.” Those glowing eyes seemed to point at Hannyuu for a moment. “You as well. For a
child, you are clearer of mind than several individuals I know that are decades older.” It
looked to take a lot out of him to speak those words.
“Out of the mouth of babes... Yeah… she humbles me sometimes also, get used to it. I have
your word as a Dragon Lord that you will not attack if I repair your armor to working
condition?” Akemi ruffled Hannyuu’s hair before hugging the girl to herself to be assured she
was safe.
“You do. This tree seems to have stopped siphoning mana and I can feel the Leylines
stabilizing once more, the situation has fully changed.”
“Good, I really am exhausted… Now then, I’ve recovered at least some mana now.
[Maximize Magic: Greater Mending].” Akemi focused on her spell, looking frustrated for a
moment until that armor began to glow green, all of the little pieces that were scattered
around their barren arena flying in their direction to assemble the armor again like a puzzle. It
took over a minute till the entire thing was one solid piece again, but there were visible
cracks and seams in many places. “Huh… what is that even made of? It was trying to resist
my magic like crazy, otherwise I wouldn’t stand for a half-assed job like that. [Dimensional
Lock Release]. Will that work?” Akemi asked as still unconsciously moved in front of
Hannyuu, her tails in a defense formation around her daughter.
She tensed as the armor floated upwards and flexed it’s limbs. “It is sufficient to function. I
will make my own repairs on it.” True to his word he did not make any moves to attack her.
“Good. Now, maybe give us a few weeks or so to get settled? I have a lot of people to move
and help rebuild a settlement. I’d prefer if you yourself came for these talks, unless that is too
much to ask?” Akemi asked, still appearing to be cranky, not that she could truly be blamed
for that.
“Hmm… That may take longer, I have an uneasy relationship with the Theocracy to your
north west, they are likewise wary of me. They will note if I leave my lair, hence why I use
this armor.”
“Oh their Scrying? I turned my anti-scrying magic to counter-attack mode, so I believe they
will be more cautious of that in the future. I highly doubt who ever they had trying to spy on
me would die from a singular magical explosion though, so keep an eye out. When you are
able you can come back up here, we’ll be living up in there, there is a landing spot on the
top.” Akemi said and pointed her thumb towards the floating structure another several
kilometer up. “One warning though. If you or anyone threaten my family or hurt my family
again, I’ll make what the Eight Greed Kings did look outright merciful. As long as you are no
threat to my family we’ll get along fine.”
“Hey Mom? What even Is that? Also I thought you were done threatening…” Hannyuu asked
as she stared at said building. She winced as she felt Akemi’s weight a bit more on her, she
could see Akemi’s legs shaking ever so slightly.
“Very well. My apologizes for this night.” Thankfully the threat didn’t seem to bother him
much, or at least he didn’t show it. [World Teleportation].” With that he blinked out with
something other than mana from what Akemi could sense, but she herself was distracted.
“Lets get back Mom, I bet everyone is worri- Mama!” Hannyuu yelped as Akemi nearly fell
on her. “What is wrong, I thought you healed?”
Akemi was panting and looked near to passing out. “G-[Greater Teleportation].” Akemi
choked out, and let her spell carry them off that high tree top to safety.
With a feeling of relief the Platinum Dragon Lord walked his armor back to it’s stand and
released his possession of it. He had yet to move from his resting spot, but his eyes were open
and his brain whirling through ideas. “Fascinating. Never get between a mother and her
children I suppose.” It should have gone without saying, what with the horror stories he had
witnessed in the past of parents going to extremes for their children.
“And yet my own Father brings yet more transgressors to our world… The only time I’ve
sensed that much divine energy though was from Father himself, what did he drag through
this time? The best chance to kill her has passed, but she does almost feel like Him… right
down to that protective nature.” With that last thought he got some rest of his own,
something not often needed by a True Dragon his age.
Chapter End Notes

A/N: Ahhh that was a long chapter that I am not sure I’m happy with… It is very hard to
give things the majesty I imagine in my head, sometimes words can’t really cover
everything well and I find my limits hard… Fighting scenes are truthfully not my forte,
but I tried my best to really show the struggling on both sides, it was her hardest fight in
that world so far. He struck her coincidentally at the worst possible moment when her
guard was down. I tried to portray that her Jack of all Trades build isn’t able to
overwhelm a dedicated melee build without her magic unless she can at least gain the
edge in weapons. As for her distraction in not dodging or blocking with her tails, it was
happening far too quickly even for her to change course now that Hannyuu was behind
her.
Pain was something she was not as used to anymore, and as an actual fighter she is still
pretty green, game fights don’t count very well, so casting spells through the pain is
difficult.
As for some facts about her weapon, it is almost wasted on her as majority
caster/support build, and would be much more effective in a pure warrior’s hands. Like
Rubedo, it is made from a Caloric stone, so it’s potential is very high, she just cannot
fully access it all. While she has many enchantments and properties on it that aid her
with magic, it was a bit of wasted potential that her guild let her get away with.
While it was made From a world item, it is not itself a world item and cannot protect her
from the effects of one.
Her one time skill is in a way the Super Tier spell Creation on steroids. It had a lot of
design choices, and thankfully she did still have the ability to edit the plans, as well as
allocating points it came with. It was a skill meant to establish a Divine realm that could
act as a guild base potentially back in Yggdrasil.
The Kyuubi racial class can only belong to two Kitsunes at any one time, and both have
to be at opposite ends of the karma spectrum. The other Kyuubi was the Yin to her Yang
and could have potentially used that same skill in Yggdrasil to likely form some
underground haven.
It is a powerful skill, but it is one time use unlike many other class unique skills, and as
shown requires a lot of preparation and care to use. To summarize: The shitty Devs are
assholes who wanted to get just that little bit of extra money after she had potentially
thousands of hours of time invested, fucking EA… I kinda doubt EA ran them but that is
my head canon, if any companies could survive as Mega Corporations in their ultra
capitalist world it would be them and no one can tell me otherwise.
Next chapter we’ll be going back a bit to show what we might have missed elsewhere,
there wasn’t room for absolutely everything in this chapter after all.
By all means, please tell me what you think~ if you have any questions I’m happy to
answer.
Fun facts for her new Tree of Life
-101 floors, including ground floor
-There is a gap of one kilometer between one floor, and the ceiling, and each floor
between layers is .5 kilometers.
- It's height in total is 155 Kilometers tall, you can stack over 150 of the Burj Khalifa
(Tallest building currently on earth) to equal it in height.
- The distance Akemi could see from that top point to the horizon: roughly 1391
kilometers, if it was placed in San Francisco it would be able to be seen about half way
into Colorado
- Yes I did way too much math for this and a lot of it might be wrong, me and math are
not friends.
- The truck of the tree is 40 kilometers in diameter around, leaving 10 kilometers of

buffer room from the land she was given.
- The total area of the floors very roughly (like I said, not best at math) counting all
space on the floors (including lakes) is about 126,856 Km, bigger than North Korea if it
was all laid out.
Not sure where I would throw these within the story, but I wanted to show the annoying
amount of math I had to do.
Dates and Damage Reports
Chapter Summary
While Akemi was busy learning extreme tree breeding, her girlfriends enjoy a nice date
of their own, until things take a turn for the worse for them all.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Sorry that took a while, was a bit burnt out, had this chapter written and needing
editing for a while.
“I suppose that will be going on for quite some time. Well, I don’t think any of us can sit here
for three days to observe. Let me show you three to your rooms.” Drau said as she got up to
stretch. They had been watching Akemi’s tree rapidly grow for over an hour, speculating
away.
“Thank you your Majesty.” Ana still sounded rather uncomfortable as she stood up, she
whined a tiny bit under her breath when Drau gently poked her forehead.
“Now now, I said you three can just call me Drau like Akemi. Really, just treat me like a
normal person.” Drau said and ignored the scoff that came from Bahgram, he was not quite
as quiet as he likely thought. She led them along the titanic sized hallways and towards a
wing they had yet to see. It was more human sized, and had several doors along it that.
“These are the guest quarters, built after the castle was built and my Great Grandfather
stopped walking these halls.”
“Oh is he…?” Ana stiffened up and had started to convey her condolences before Drau shook
her head and her hands in a panic.
“Oh no no, he is alive last I remember. I suppose Akemi hadn’t told you about my heritage
much? So we’re called the Dragon Kingdom for a reason, my Great Grandfather is the
Brightness Dragon Lord. He helped build this country, so he used to actually use the castle,
now he just wanders the world getting into trouble. He taught me a large portion of what I
know, to me at least he was a good mentor and grandfather, I think I might have been the
exception though.” With that Drau opened up one door. “There are a couple of bedrooms in
this hall, feel free to take which one you like, who ever wants to stay in which. I’ll be having
Hilda take care of you all, you’re in good hands.” Drau said and gestured to her maid who
stood behind her with a professional smile on her face.
“Please, if you need anything at all I’ll be available.” Hilda said and took a few steps back to
stay out of their conversations as much as she seemed to be able to.
“Noted, thank you Drau, Hilda. So Ana, do you want to stay with Hannyuu and I’ll stay with
Lorelei?” Kyouko asked as she stretched out.
Ana did not notice Drau starting at Kyouko with a strangely hungry look, mostly because she
was doing the same as Kyouko’s firm midriff was further shown off.
Hannyuu must have as she snickered to herself. “It is okay Mamas, I could stay with Lorelei
so you two can share a room. Wait… The rooms are sound proofed right?” Hannyuu asked
Drau with a suddenly nervous expression.
Drau couldn’t help but chuckle at that, but stopped when she saw the genuinely worried
expression on the feline’s face. “Sorry Hannyuu. They are, don’t worry.” Drau said and
smiled when Hannyuu let out a breath. “I had your bags set aside in the first room, feel free
to ask for help if you need moving them.”
Kyouko shrugged. “I got it, no problem.” She said and poked her head into the room to pull
out Hannyuu’s small bag. “Wow kitten you really didn’t bring much did you? Are you sure
you want to stay with Lorelei?”
“Just some clothes. I have my cloak and my wand on me, and this cloak is warmer than any
coat. Yup, I can give you two some time together.” Hannyuu pulled her cloak over herself
more, snuggling into the soft fur.
“If you say so dear. Oh yes, Bahgram was it?” Kyouko turned to look at the giant of a man at
the end of the hall where he had waited a respectful distance, even if the look on his face
conveyed anything but.
“What do you want?” He asked in a sour tone, clearly unhappy about something, and Kyouko
knew it was likely her being a Demi-human near his Queen.
“Oh I was just wondering if you’d like to spar is all, you look strong and it is hard to find
good opponents to sharpen my claws with. Don’t worry, Akemi won’t get upset or anything,
she knows how I am.” Kyouko said and stretched out some, rotating her shoulder till it
popped.
That got an excited smile out of him, enough for him to push off the wall and wave her over.
“Lets get going then. Been feeling rusty, lets see if you can chip the rust off or not. Directing
troops has kept me away from the front lines for far too long.” Kyouko’s grin matched his
own as she marched along.
“Want to go watch? I don’t think I’ve really gotten to see Kyouko fight much, except when
she is taking practice swings… and working out… getting sweaty…” Ana trailed off by the
end of her sentence as her face reddened. “Y-yeah lets go watch…” The others were polite
enough to not comment on that, even if Hannyuu did shake her head with an exasperated
smile.
“So what rules are we playing by today?” Kyouko asked as she finished stretching. They
stood in a courtyard closer to the back of the castle where many others guards and soldiers
had gathered to watch.
“Did Akemi make that sword for you?” Bahgram asked with just a hint of nervousness in his
voice.
“Damn right she did, she gives the best gifts~ Oh yeah, Hannyuu, why don’t you go do some
practice swings over there while you have the time? You can see how comfortable the cloak
is while working out.” Kyouko suggested as she pointed to a rack of simple looking weapons
under an alcove. “Is that alright? I’m working on training her up.”
“None of my business how you raise your daughter, the weapons there are all blunted for
practice, but weighted just the same. If Akemi made that for you… lets also use the practice
weapons.” Bahgram noted and handed the massive double sided axe on his back to one of his
soldiers, who nearly buckled under it’s weight.
“Isn’t that axe Mithril also? Afraid I’ll break it?” Kyouko teased and gave the still sheathed
Desolation to Ana who just shook her head in amusement.
“No killing each other okay?” Drau asked as she took a seat at the patio table in that court
yard that had been moved out of the way into the corner.
When asked that question Bahgram just looked her in the eyes. “Yes actually! I cannot
predict that woman… so I wouldn’t be surprised if that thing is something that could split a
castle. I like my axe and this city how it is thank you.” Bahgram took another axe he was
handed and got a feel for the weight.
One knight was nice enough to bring Kyouko a sword of a similar length to Desolation.
“Thank you. I can’t blame you for that. I love the woman to death but underestimating her is
not something wise to do.” Kyouko said and gestured up at the tree in the distance growing
ever upwards, now tall enough they could see it reaching into the clouds. “Case in point.”
“Exactly, now, lets see what you got lady.” Bahgram finally looked excited as he held that
axe up behind him.
Off to the side Hannyuu pulled out a great sword from the rack, and looked frustrated with
the weight. “Well… Guess I can do this and watch Mama.” Hannyuu said as that cloak
molded around her with just a thought, coating her in armor within a few moments, much to
the surprise of several others there. The sight was ruined by her barely being able to lift that
sword up high, and swinging it down, doing her best to slow it down from hitting the ground.
Bahgram and Drau both looked at her like she was crazy. “I don’t know what to comment on
first, the sword just as big as her, or yet another crazy item. Does she always give out nice
toys like that?” Drau asked with a sigh.
Ana snorted from across the table. “Oh I’m sure she’ll give you something insane soon
enough. She thought an Orichalcum staff was too weak of an item… but she means well for
sure.”
Ana’s eyes caught sight of the ring Draudillon had on her finger as she held it up. “Oh she
gave me this, said it was made from that super tier spell she did to destroy that army. It does
give me some more energy. She gives presents even more insane than this?” She sounded
almost worried as she saw Ana nod. It only took a few moments for Drau’s smile to turn
positively naughty. “I wonder… can she make other toys?”
It was amusing to see Ana blush as bright as she did as she sipped from a tea cup. “I doubt
she even knows those exist… You might have noticed but she is surprisingly super innocent
about things like that. Feel free to ask her though, I want to see how red she gets, its adorable
isn’t it?”
“Oh you and I are going to get along wonderfully~” The Queen and Ana had matching evil
grins on their faces as they plotted.
“I’ll say one thing… your Mate has stamina, Not many can keep up with Bahgram when he
gets going. She is also a bit…” Drau surprisingly enough had a blush on her face as her and
Ana watched Kyouko clash with Bahgram.
“Y-yeah… It is a good thing she didn’t bring those shorts… or I might die.” Ana’s eyes
roamed over Kyouko’s form, at each flex of her muscles when she swung her sword. She was
well muscled, yet was in no way not beautiful or unfeminine. “She has some really tight
shorts for working out in…” Ana clarified as she saw a sheen of sweat on her girlfriend’s abs.
“That… sounds like something wonderful to see…” Drau fell into silence as they watched
the energetic spar, though both of their focus had shifted from observing the martial display,
to observing Kyouko.
“Mama Ana… Lorelei and me are right here…” Hannyuu complained as she sat in a chair
nearby, sipping a glass of water and looking exhausted.
“Ah… Sorry Hannyuu, Lorelei…” Ana quietly apologized and looked away after getting
caught.
“It’s fine, I’m getting used to it… I wonder if I’ll eventually have Abs… Ah-” Hannyuu
perked up in a panic as she saw Kyouko’s sword go flying.
Kyouko was loudly panting and disarmed, yet she looked satisfied. “Fuck, that was a good
fight, been a while since I got that. Thanks Bahgram.” Kyouko grabbed the towel that was
left out for her on the table after nearly stumbling over towards Ana. She stood over Ana and
winked. “Glad to hear you two can appreciate a good fighter.” Kyouko said and pointed to
her ears, making Drau and Ana’s own ears redden.
“Good fight Kyouko, you nearly had me a few times.” Bahgram said, sounding far more
respectful at least, at the very least he seemed to respect her as a fighter. “Alright everyone
show is over, get back to your posts. I need to go do some paperwork…” He complained.
With a nod from the Queen he walked off after taking his axe. Ana handed Kyouko back her
sword and passed her a glass of water. “That was fun, I’d wanted to do that the first time I
saw that giant. I never get to enjoy many fights anymore.”
“I can tell he had his own fun with it, thank you for that. Him leaving was a pretty big sign of
trust, so you must have left a good impression. Now then… If you want I can give you two
some ideas for date spots within the city? If you aren’t comfortable leaving the kids I’d
understand.” Drau offered and smiled at Hannyuu, who seemed entirely at ease.
Ana and Kyouko looked at each other, quietly communicating with each other before
nodding. “What do you say Hannyuu, think you could watch your sister for a while? Would
you be alright staying here?” Ana asked and ruffled her daughter’s hair.
Hannyuu had rested her chin on her arms as she sleepily watched them all. “Mama Akemi
trusts Drau, so I trust her also. Don’t let me get in the way of your date, I’ll look at the city
another time. You know I don’t like crowds anyway.” Hannyuu smiled up at Drau who
cautiously reached out to pet a feline ear, giving plenty of time to stop her if it was
unwelcome. The tiny catgirl just quietly purred as she looked even sleepier.
It was more than enough of a sign of trust for the group. “We accept, if it is alright with you.
Make sure you listen to her Hannyuu alright? If an emergency comes up you can still contact
either of us, we’ll come running.” Kyouko said and stood up.
“I’ll take good care of them, no worries. Now… I’ve gone into the city a few times in
disguise for a casual dinner, I’ll write down some directions. The city is recovering slowly
but surely, seeing you two around might start to change people’s minds about Demi-humans.
Any restaurant should appreciate the business though.”
It was a nice evening for relaxing as the sun had begun to set. Off to the south they could see
Akemi’s tree only getting bigger, enough to dominate the skyline, the clouds that had been
driven off coming back around and circling the tree, giving them just glimpses of it getting
taller.
Kyouko squeezed Ana’s hand as they walked down the long staircase to the city proper. Ana
had change into a warm and beautiful black dress Akemi had given her for just such an
occasion, with her hair done up in a nice bun that exposed her collarbone, something Kyouko
appreciated as she gazed at her short Mate. Kyouko had changed into a nice pair of trousers
that clung to her in ways Ana found amazing. As per usual Kyouko’s top left her belly
exposed to the air, the shirt she wore lacking sleeves, but she had at least thrown on a jacket
that she left the front open on, presenting an attractive profile as her tail slowly wagged
behind her. They were both attractive in their own right, but together they were a striking pair
hand in hand.
They got a few looks as they went down, but they didn’t let it bother them as they tried to just
enjoy the town, much of the town was still engrossed in watching Akemi’s tree either way.
The city had indeed gotten a bit more life compared to when Akemi had first arrived, the
buildings were cleaned up and markets finally had products out in the open. The veil of
despair had lifted, and celebration had taken it’s place, despite people’s nervousness at their
new southern neighbor.
“Well my Lady you really look lovely tonight, are yo- shall we get some dinner?” Kyouko
asked with a fanged grin. Internally she winced after changing course in her speech. “I
suppose asking her if She was dinner would be pretty fucked up in this city…” Kyouko
thought with a cough, covering it up as nerves before her mouth got her into trouble. “Drau’s
said it was called the Burnt Offering?”
Ana chuckled under her breath as she leaned against Kyouko, letting Kyouko wrap an arm
around her tiny girlfriend’s shoulders instead. “Mhmm, it should be somewhere on the main
road. Ah, There it is.” Ana guided them to a well kept building where the smell of roasted
meats and alcohol came from.
“Welcome to the Burnt Offering, how might I help you ladies?” A woman behind a reception
counter asked as the pair entered, with Kyouko holding the door open for Ana. “How many
in your party?” The lady asked and peered behind them a bit in confusion. Her confusion was
dispelled as Kyouko put an arm back around Ana again.
“Just my lovely lady here and me.” Kyouko said as her golden eyes stared into the waitress’s,
as if daring her to say anything about that, or about her being a wolf.
To their delight the woman just smiled and nodded, there was even a tiny bit of a blush,
barely controlled by her willpower. “My apologizes, right this way Ladies.” It was thankfully
less awkward after that as they were led to a booth near the back. “It should be nice and quiet
here, the front can get rather loud with the bar there.” The Waitress said and tapped her head
where Kyouko’s ears were. “My name is Dalia and I’ll be your waitress today. Could I get
you some drinks?”
“I’ll take a glass of Mead if you have it. I’m not sure what they serve here, any suggestions?”
Kyouko looked towards Ana and winked.
“Cider for me please.” Ana asked and relaxed in her chair.

“A Cider and a Mead, it won’t take long at all. Our selection has become rather limited I’m
afraid. The war ended only just recently, so there is still some scarcity on goods. This portion
of the business has been closed for a while, but the bar kept us afloat. What we do have that I
can recommend is the steak, we have a selection of dry aged steaks, we previously were
rather famous for it. It comes with seasoned bread and fresh churned butter.”
Ana and Kyouko looked at each other and back at the Dalia. “That sounds perfect. I’ll take
one of those steaks rare. Oh and if you can, can you avoid putting garlic on any of it? It
doesn’t agree with people like me sadly…” Kyouko rubbed her thumb over Ana’s knuckles.
“I’ll take the same, medium rare though. I’ll avoid the garlic also, makes it simpler.” Ana
squeezed Kyouko’s hand right back.
“Easily done Ladies. I’ll be right back with your drinks, and it get your order in.” Delia said
with a slight bow. When Dalia had moved away Kyouko took their small moment of privacy
to lean over and kiss Ana’s forehead.
“You look beautiful in that dress Ana. It is nice that we can have this time to relax together.”
Kyouko had gently cupped Ana’s cheek as she leaned forward on the table. Ana herself was
flushed red but looked otherwise happy, her heart beating rapidly. They had begun to lean
towards each other, their eyes only seeing the other.
Two glasses being set on the table snapped them out of their trace. “My apologizes. Your
Cider, and your Mead ladies. Your meals will be out shortly.” Dalia said with a hint of
amusement in the curve of her smile.
“Thank you Miss D-dalia…” Ana eventually sputtered out as she took a sip of her Cider.
“This place is really nice. I’m not from here, but I’m really glad to see it healing.”
“I’m kind of surprised, I expected to get denied service or something for being a Demi-
human, but you’ve made this place really welcoming for us.” Kyouko flicked her ears a few
times for emphasis.
“I personally have no problem with Demi-humans, people just have some… scars about the
Beastmen. The Queen was quite firm that not all Demi-humans are to blame, that the one
who drove off the Beastmen was a Demi-human Fox woman.” Delia got a contemplative
look on her face. “Now that I mention her, rumor is that the other day the Queen was seen
flying off with that same woman. I hope it isn’t a rumor, the Queen deserves some romance.
Oh, look at me chatting away, I’m sorry to interrupt. I’ll be back with your meals and leave
you ladies be.” Dalia was clearly a cheery type of person, not that either of them minded.
“Well, sounds like at this rate this Kingdom won’t be surprised if Akemi marries their Queen.
Well, that could be a long time from now… she is pretty slow with these things.” Kyouko
leaned back in her chair and let her tail wag without a care as it stuck out to her side.
“The Queen really seems nice. I don’t know about before, but at least now I can tell the
relationship she wants with Akemi isn’t just political. Would Akemi have to meet her
Grandfather?” Ana got a thoughtful look on her face as she sipped some more, her cheeks
already reddening from it. “When we can I really think I should introduce you two to my
parents. What do you think?”
Kyouko looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “I have no problem with that, I’d
love to meet them, I’m sure Akemi would also.” Kyouko’s tail started to wag again before
she stopped. “Would they get angry at you being with two older women? I mean, Akemi isn’t
too much older than you, but I’m… a good bit older than you both.”
Ana tilted her head as she got to see Kyouko for once not exuding confidence like she tended
to every since they reclaimed Lorelei. “I’ve been considered an adult for over a year, my
parents aren’t going to care too much about an age gap, It has been strange circumstances and
all. Life really has become exciting though since we met Akemi hasn’t it? I think… that as
long as they can see how happy you two make me they’ll be just fine. Hannyuu should meet
them also, she should be able to butter them up enough.” Ana smirked by the end, imaging
how her parents would react to more or less being grandparents, assuming they all married in
the future. “Would… It even count as bringing them a grandchild? I mean… none of us are
really married yet or anything…”
Kyouko looked at her strangely before smiling with a shake of her head. “Hannyuu pretty
clearly calls us all Mama, even before the three of us got together, I’m sure Lorelei will do
the same once she is up and about. I know I see Hannyuu as my daughter also.” Kyouko’s
smile shrunk a bit as her mind went back to her first born as it often tended to. All the signs
pointed towards recovery, so she could only wait.
A wolf twitched as Kyouko caught the sound of footsteps, right as Dalia returned with a
platter to carry plates. “Here we are, rare and medium rare, and I made sure there was no
garlic. You two have a lovely dinner.” With that they were free for the time being.
It didn’t take much more than the scent hitting them to start to enjoy their food. “Soooo
good~” Kyouko nearly moaned in her seat after cutting and taking her first bite of her steak,
which quickly had Ana chuckling. “What? It is!”
“Oh it is, you face was just adorable is all.” Ana teased as she held up her glass “To the birth
of Natura?” That was enough for Kyouko to put her fork down for,
“To the birth of Natura, and our lovely family.” Kyouko said, tapping her glass on Ana’s and
lifting it to the tree they both could see out of the window.
“I hope everything was to your liking Ladies?” Delia asked as she removed their empty plates
and mugs.
“It was wonderful, I would certainly come back here again, I’m really glad the Queen
recommended it. Ana, we have to bring Akemi here sometime.” Kyouko said as her tail lazily
slapped the side of her chair while she pulled out the coin purse Akemi had given her. “How
much do we owe you?”
“T-The Queen sent you? How do you…?” Delia looked shocked for a moment, or confused
before she straightened up. “It is two gold coins. My apologizes, I hope that is not
unreasonable?”
Kyouko pulled out three coins and set them on the table. “Third one is your’s, you’ve helped
make this a magical night for us, when we can I’d love to bring our other partner in with us,
this has been great.” Kyouko waved off the worries. “Our partner Akemi left us money for
tonight, said we should help get the economy moving. Sadly she is a bit… indisposed.”
Kyouko pointed her thumb at the giant tree without any explanation. “It is right after a war
that strangled the country, it would be unreasonable to not expect good meat and dining to be
more expensive than usual.”
“You have a… third? Thank you, you’ve been wonderful guests.” Delia looked happy enough
to wag her own non-existent tail. She didn’t seem like she had heard of such things though.
When she looked out the window at the tree she was further confused.
“Yes, Akemi is our other girlfriend, that tree is her doing actually, it is perfectly safe though.
You’ll likely see her around sometime. Thank you for dinner, but it is time for us to get back
to the kids.” Ana said as she took Kyouko’s hand when it was offered, being pulled up by the
taller woman.
“Thank you for eating at the Burnt Offering, I hope you return.” Delia looked in a daze as she
said that, but also happy as she held a coin that could feed her family for a month in most
places.”
“[Deep Slumber].” Hannyuu pointed a ring on her finger at Lorelei who she had just tucked
into bed, letting the girl sink into a dreamless sleep to ward off any nightmares. “Night big
Sis.” Hannyuu said and sat on the edge of the bed and kicked her bare feet before looking at
Drau as she stood in the doorway. “It isn’t anything new, but she is getting better, she went
through a lot… I guess I did also…” Hannyuu said and folded her ears before claiming a seat
on the room’s couch. “Did Mama Akemi tell you how I met her?” Hannyuu’s voice cracked
for a moment before she looked back at the Dragon Queen as she entered the room to sit next
to her.
“She… it seemed like a very personal topic, not something for me to ask to fill curiosity. I got
the sense you two have a pretty big story together.” Drau was careful with her words and
giving Hannyuu her space as she saw the girl tensing every few moments.
“We do… It is pretty obvious that she didn’t give birth to me, but it feels longer than a few
months since she took me in. Would you like to hear it? Mom trusts you enough…”
“If you want to talk, I’ll listen, but if it makes you too uncomfortable you don’t need to, I
won’t be offended.” When Hannyuu reached out to squeeze Drau’s hand even she could tell
this wouldn’t be a good story, but she took the invitation to hold the girl’s hand either way if
it would comfort her.
“So from the timeline Mama gave me, when we met she had only been in our world for less
than two days, she went from dying to saving my life in such a small amount of time. It
was… a horrifying meeting, but I think it was fate. The first time I meet her and I see her kill
two terrible men? I wasn’t upset by that though, she saved my life right then. They were
horrible people who had helped make my life hell for probably years, and we’re even in the
process of doing horrible t-things to me when Mama arrived. I… I don’t want to describe it
too much… she rescued me from slavers right before I was to be d-disposed of…” Hannyuu
had to pause and squeeze Drau’s hand.
Drau only held that small hand between both of her own as she was able to piece together
what Hannyuu was trying to imply, it didn’t paint a pretty picture.
“I still have a hard time even thinking about my own past without getting terrified… But I
know I’ve gotten a lot stronger since then. I can look men in the eyes again, and being near
strangers doesn’t make me think about when I was a slave.” Hannyuu had to take a few deep
breathes before her tail could hit Drau next to her. “I’m alive and living better than I ever
have, and they are either dead or they’re now the ones wishing they were.” With a shake of
her head she sighed.
“That is right, you’re getting the last laugh. You’re safe, taken care of, and I can tell very well
loved. Your moms are quite protective of you.” Drau leaned back into the couch and smiled
at the girl kindly. “I’ve been Queen a long time now, and seen my fair share of tragedies, and
I’ve seen them break the survivors, I’m happy to see that this isn’t the case with you, you’re a
strong girl. Does Lorelei share a similar tale?” Drau looked worried as peeked at Lorelei who
was quietly sleeping.
Hannyuu nodded, her ears folding down to match the mood. “It has been not even a month
since we got her back… That is an entirely separate bundle of terrible memories for me. I had
to relive a few things to help get her back… but it was my plan in the first place, I knew the
danger I was in, I trusted my Moms and it worked out.” Hannyuu stood up to begin to pace,
her tail flicking around with nervous energy. “We both were slaves to the same group, but I
think Lorelei was treated worse, and maybe for even longer.” Hannyuu stopped to place her
hand on Lorelei’s own, feeling not a twitch from the girl.
“I’ve found there is no such thing as suffering worse than someone… We all have our own
struggles and tales. You both went through things no one should ever have to, let alone two
children…” Drau quietly said
“I’ll… leave out how we found her, it was just horrible, but that group tried to force Mama
Kyouko to choose between Lorelei and me. They wanted to use me to control Mama Akemi,
so they tried to get Mama Kyouko to trade me for her. It was… a horrible night, but we won
and those men are in hell. I… Sorry, It is not a very good conversation to know each other
more…” Hannyuu said and returned to the couch to sit by the Queen.
“Thank you for telling me, I mean that, it takes a lot of strength to live through what you did
and come out stronger on the other side.” Drau said and slowly moved a hand closer to her
head, giving Hannyuu time to stop her, and gently pet her head when the girl nodded her
approval.
It didn’t take long for purring to begin as they relaxed on the couch.
Time had become quite slow until the bedroom door cracked open. “Oh, there you all are.
You three get along while we were gone?” Kyouko asked as she took off her jacket, closing
the door behind Ana.
Hannyuu took a moment to wipe her eyes and nod, happily leaning into Kyouko’s arms when
they wrapped her into a hug, lifting her up with ease. “I was just telling Drau about… some
of how I met Mama Akemi.” Hannyuu cuddled into those arms, taking a few deep breathes
before she truly calmed down, Kyouko’s scent just as soothing as Akemi’s by that point.
“So… how did your date go Moms?” Hannyuu asked with a grin of absolute smugness.
Ana rolled her eyes with an exasperated smile plastered onto her face, one she clearly
couldn’t push down. “It went well, no one gave us a hard time and it was nice to see the city.
Thank you for that recommendation your Maj- Drau, it was really nice there. Sure prices
were high, but we kind of expected that… meat is in short supply and all.”
“That it is, but I have a feeling food shortages will soon be a thing of the past, what with our
local Goddess of good harvest. I hope she is doing alright up there…” Draudillon said and
started to head for the door. “Well, sadly the Kingdom does not sleep, I’m going to get some
work done before bed. It has been a lovely day getting to know you four. I’ll show you to
some more places tomorrow. Sleep well.” With goodbyes exchanged it was down to the four
of them again.
Kyouko still held Hannyuu in her arms, with Ana coming over to hug her from the other side.
“I think it is time for you to go to bed too little one. You sure you’ll be good to stay in here
with just Lorelei? Would you like Deep Slumber used?” Kyouko asked as she tucked the
feline under the silk sheets and heavy covers, while Hannyuu wrapped her cloak around
herself and over her pajamas.
“I’ll be fine I think, I feel pretty safe here. I have our deep slumber ring anyway, if I wake up
from a nightmare I’ll use it then. Love you moms, sleep well.” Hannyuu snuggled into bed
and yawned hard enough her ears folded.
“Night Hannyuu, Night Lorelei, love you both, sleep well. We’re right next door if you need
us.” Kyouko said and gave Hannyuu’s ears one last pet before heading to the door.
“Night you two, love you also, try and get some good sleep.” Ana said and leaned down to
press a kiss to both the girl’s foreheads like she had known them all her lives. “Only two
more days to go till Akemi is back, we’ll make it till then.”
When the door closed behind the women Hannyuu sighed and ran her fingers over her cloak,
it being warmer and more comforting than any blanket. “Good night sister, sleep well.”
Hannyuu said and looked at Lorelei sleeping away, knowing she wouldn’t answer, and not
just because she was under a sleep spell.
It was nerve wracking for them all as that tree only grew taller and taller, till the top was no
visible till night time. Nearly three whole days of just waiting for Akemi to finish was taking
it’s toll. Hannyuu rocked back and forth on her heels as she watched the tree like a hawk.
“She said three days, it is almost three days exactly… I just need it to be done already…”
Hannyuu knew what to look for, what Akemi said would happen when she was done, but it
was hard to be entirely sure.
“Patience little one, it will be done soon enough. I am rather impressed… I’m going to have
to ask her just how tall that thing is… She really will be fine with just that amount of land I
suppose. I just thought of something… Bahgram, can you have the the guards be extra
suspicious of anyone coming from the direction of the Theocracy? Now is not the time for
them to visit… I don’t think they would be that reckless, but they are really not going to like
how we’re bound to Akemi now.” Drau seemed to wince as she thought of the human
supremacist country that was their neighbor, them and their ‘god kin’ that transcended
humankind’s limits.
“It shall be done, they’ve proven to be no friend of ours. Please avoid being alone with any of
them diplomats your Majesty, see if you can wrangle some items from your lady perhaps?”
Bahgram suggested with snort, leaving to complete his task.
It was at that moment that a great rush of air swept over the castle, enough to make them
cover their faces and take a few steps back. As quickly as it came it was gone before any real
damage had been done. Off in the south they could feel the vibrations increase, and light pour
from the base of the tree, slowly curling up the tree in what seemed to be floors. “There it is!
Mama said to look for that I think! I’m going to get Mama Ana and Kyouko!” Hannyuu
cheered before rushing off through the castle.
“W-wait! Oh dear… That might be bad… Well, they can handle it. Dahl I do believe we have
made an excellent choice in allies.” Drau grinned as she watched those lights advance further,
the tree seeming to power up more and more, clearly in the last stages of it’s creation as the
actual upward growth stopped.
“Has my Queen’s heart been taken captive?” Dahl teased as she stood off by the door,
looking just plain amused. To his surprise the queen had, for the first time he had known her,
actually blushed instead of answering.
“I wouldn’t say that, might be a bit soon for that… I do like her for far more than political
reasons though. I could… see myself fully falling one day, give it some more dates, she is a
wonderful and fascinating person. For someone so powerful they are hilariously innocent.”
Drau joked as she continued her watch.
“Okay then! Moms seem to be busy and I am Not about to interrupt anything… I can’t wait
for what ever they are doing. I’ll head on up there first.” Hannyuu had a grossed out flush to
her face as she clearly at least heard something she didn’t wish to.
“Perhaps you should still wait for- Oh dear…” Drau sat up as Hannyuu seemed to vanish on
the spot after the ring on her finger glowed. “That… could possibly be bad. I’m going to go
get her mothers…” With that Drau wasted no time in walking quickly towards her guest’s
rooms.
It was clear as soon as she stepped into the hallways, small little moans that Drau could
quickly identify as Ana that came from her room. “Well then…” It didn’t deter her from
walking up to the door to knock. “It is Draudillon, are you decent?”
There was a panicked scramble on the other side of the door as Drau guessed clothes were
straightened out and hair put in order. She had to chuckle when the door was opened, their
hair still looking very much like messes and they both were clearly interrupted. “Sorry for the
interruption, but it seems the tree is finished, and… Hannyuu might have heard you two and
ran off ahead. I can’t teleport after her, but I figured you two would like to know.” Drau said
as she led the pair back to the balcony they had been observing things from.
“So it is… That little cat… We’ll be back, likely with a tired Kitsune in tow, thank you for
telling us.” Kyouko said and held up her own ring. Her’s and Ana’s ring both glowed the
same as Hannyuu… but both stayed where they were. “Eh? Why didn’t it work? Hannyuu
was able to yes?”
“It didn’t seem to give her any trouble a few minutes ago… Was it blocked or something?”
Drau asked and started to feel their panic spread to her.
“The only thing I can think of is Akemi herself blocking teleportation. I know that she has
Dimensional Lock, she told me before. Why would she turn that on unless…” Ana froze, her
blood turning to ice as she looked up at Kyouko.
“Something went wrong, something she doesn’t want us to getting in the middle of… If
something can get up there with her it would have to be nearly as strong. I’m not sure how
tall that thing is, but no one is climbing that tree, it is bigger than any mountain I’ve seen…
Shit shit!” Kyouko shouted as panic truly started.
Ana and Drau were theorizing, but all it did was take up time that Akemi could potentially be
being attacked in.
Their attention was soon taken up by shout coming from within the castle, right before loud
stomps revealed Bahgram there with Hannyuu following closely behind. In Bahgram’s arms
Akemi laid limp, covered in blood. Just as worrying was Hannyuu having a splattering of
blood on the side of her head.
Kyouko thought her heart might stop as she rushed to take her love into her arms, her gaze
raking over her for injuries. “They… aren’t open? Her robes are all torn up… Hannyuu what
in the world happened?” Kyouko asked as she walked back inside with the rest following her.
Hannyuu seemed inconsolable as Ana held her close while the girl tried to control her heart
rending sobs. “M-Mama was… fighting some suit of armor and… took a hit to… save me…
She healed herself and won b-but… As soon as she brought us back here she fell over!”
Hannyuu’s ears were flat as she stared at her mothers in visual anguish.
“So she isn’t hurt really? Lets… get her to our bed, she might just need rest… Bahgram,
thank you, I’ll take it from here. Kyouko looked frantic still as she fast walked back to Ana
and Her’s room.
“Hilda, could you please get us some water and a wash cloth? Lets see if we can get that
blood off her. Oh, lets get clean you up also Hannyuu dear…” Drau said as she ushered the
crying girl into the chair next to the bed Akemi was to be put in.
“Oh um… we should probably get her bloody robes off though. Sorry Akemi, but not the
time for decency…” Ana apologized as she helped Kyouko sit Akemi up and pull those
bloody robes off before they could stain the bed. Hilda was thankfully fast in bringing water
and some towels. Kyouko and Hilda cleaned the blood off of Akemi and tucked her in, while
Ana cleaned up Hannyuu’s head before hugging the girl tightly. “I’m so glad you’re both
alright… Please never scare us like that again dear… you and Akemi both I swear…” Ana
had joined Hannyuu in crying as the family came together to comfort their youngest member
as her mother was tucked into bed still deep asleep.
“N-now what?” Hannyuu asked with a sniffle, eventually all cried out and stayed curled up in
Ana’s lap as best she could.
“Now… we wait for her to wake up, like Lorelei. Please, tell us everything that happened
Hannyuu, who hurt you both?” Kyouko asked, her voice promising violence for the ones
responsible, a fury lit in her that had no outlet.
9/17 Lowering Fire Month
“For fucks sake my head…” Akemi felt her skull pound like Hannyuu was jumping on it, the
dim light past her closed eyes already stabbing her brain. “Where…” She whimpered as she
placed a hand on her head, instinctively casting a silent healing spell. She sighed in relief as
the pain lessened to something far more tolerable. Cracking open her eyes she was surprised
at how dim everything was. “Huh? Where am I? Hmm?” Akemi turned to either side and saw
Kyouko and Ana cuddled up against her.
Squeezing her hands open and closed Akemi got her bearings as the sleep faded from her
mind. Next to her Kyouko stirred. When those amber eyes opened she squeezed Akemi
tightly. “You reckless idiot!” She shouted as Akemi felt the wolf mom actually wet her
shoulder with tears.
“Akemi? Oh thank goodness!” Ana said and held her from the other side while nearly
sobbing. “How in the hell did you get in a fight on the top of a giant ass tree? Only you could
manage that I swear!”
Akemi gently hugged them both back and groaned. “It is… a story for sure. Is Hannyuu
alright? I remember healing her, but did I miss anything?” Akemi asked frantically, her ears
immediately perking up once the sleep was gone from her eyes. Sitting up she stretched as
much as she could, until she noticed Ana and Kyouko both look away, only then realizing
that she was naked under the blanket. Covering herself back up she sighed in embarrassment.
“Yeah she is fine, she’ll probably wake up really soon, she needed magic to really stay asle-
What in the world is with your eyes?” Kyouko asked with curiosity.
“What do you mean?” Akemi asked as she yawned, looking internally to examine her state.
“[Diagnostic All]. Oh good… all healed up. Mana is back to full and I feel pretty good… Did
I really make my ass that big?” Akemi asked as her spell supplied her brain with nearly every
detail about her own body.
“Your eyes are glowing… I mean they are really pretty, it is like when you used some of your
abilities or get angry. It kind of reminds me of stars, they’re little specks that are blinking in
and out.” Ana said with a blush as she looked away.
Kyouko had to nod and agree. “Indeed, it is quite amazing. Your eyes are really pretty and
nice also.” Kyouko teased as she wiped her eyes, enjoying the blush once Akemi's mind
caught up to her words.
“Are they? I kind of had a feeling they might do that. I’ll explain a bit when Hannyuu wakes-
well there we- Ooof!” Akemi had started to say before the door swung open and a pink and
white haired missile impacted her chest, her daughter pouncing directly on her. It didn’t
actually hurt, but it was surprising.
“Mama! Don’t do that again! Don’t leave me…” Hannyuu began to cry again as she stayed
buried against Akemi’s chest, just comforted by the arms that wrapped around her.
“Shh shh, It is alright, I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere Dearheart.” Akemi said as her
tails wrapped around the lot of them, the covers over her thrown astray, barely covering her
up. “I… hadn’t expected a fight at all, or to pass out right after… Why Did I fall asleep even?
My mana was quickly refilling by the end of the fight and the strain the tree was causing had
stopp- Damn everything! I changed my mind I’m going to turn that guy into a pair of
slippers!” Akemi ranted, her tails fluffing out in legitimate annoyance from the sides of the
covers, moving the entire group around.
“Wha- what happened Mama?” Hannyuu asked in surprise, scooting back to stop the fluff
from hitting her face.
“When that spear destroyed my right hand it broke my Ring of Sustenance… I don’t know
how to make another one… No wonder I passed out so quickly.” Akemi whined, her face
contorted into a pout.” Akemi laid her head back on the pillow, pulling the others down with
her, something she was entirely fine with as she cuddled her family. A knock at the door got
everyone’s attention. “Come in.”
Drau looked stressed as she entered, but her expression softened as she saw Akemi awake.
“You gave us all one giant scare… I’m sorry about… my Great Grand Uncle, not that I’ve
met him before… The Dragon Lords are a very strange and scattered family. I miss
anything?” She asked and took the chair by the bed.
“I just woke up… Was about to explain more about what happened and why my eyes are now
night lights.” Akemi joked and sat back up, though Hannyuu had curled up on top of her and
showed no signs of moving. All Akemi could do was pet her hair and ears till she relaxed
there. The purring it elicited just made Akemi feel at home. “So… I had noticed when I
started my skill that there was another mana pool or something within my main mana pool. It
felt… much more intense. Don’t ask how I’m figuring out how to really feel my mana more,
but my guess is it is the same reason I know what Leylines are and how to really utilize them.
As for What Leylines are… they are basically mana veins within the planet itself, and are
connected to just about everything. Nearly everything alive in this world has some mana,
even a blade of grass has a tiny bit of it, if the planet stopped providing it things would get
bad quickly… I bet that is what happened to my old world if it had them also.” Akemi said
and held up her hands, from which a small orb of light expanded above the bed, showing a
model of the planet and the veins running all over it. “I only know the areas I’ve been, so I
don’t know exactly how far away anything is, but there is a lot in this world I don’t know.
Number of continents, land masses, islands, I don’t know any of them.” Akemi said and
dismissed the floating model.
“I think… what ever Divinity is, it comes from the planet. Theoretically I’d have it in
Yggdrasil, and while the transfer from there to here made things real, since the Divinity
belongs to the planet itself it didn’t put that in me at the start. What I think happened is… I
was asleep in that forest for a few weeks perhaps. I died before the end of the game when
Ainz got transferred, I logically should have been here first. My theory is I spawned here
with a hole where the Divinity should have been, and it forced the world to fill it. I was not
born with it so I’ve been slowly adapting to it, which is why my powers have been changing
so quickly. When I started my skill the tree’s roots dug down until the Leyline and deeper
than that. When it got to the Leylines it took mana from that instead of me, and as I’m
connected to that tree on a fundamental level, so to am I connected to the Leyline.” Akemi
held up a hand and let sparks of blue drift over her fingers.
“Mana had started to become visible to me recently, and now I can see things really clearly…
When I connected to the Leyline, to the planet, it finished adapting the Divinity I received
with my body and soul I guess. To Summarize I think I can do a lot more cool stuff I couldn’t
before, maybe, there is a lot of experimenting to do.” Akemi took a few deep breathes,
rubbing her throat after talking that much. “Now as for how and why I was attacked… the
Platinum Dragon Lord showed up as the tree was near finished, and tried to assassinate me.
Hearing his reasons I could… see his reasoning, a giant as hell tree connected to the Leylines
just popped up and was soaking up mana from the planet, he thought it was a world ending
threat. He might have some good intentions, but he is lucky that Hannyuu forgave him, or I’d
likely have torn his armor apart, and then him if he came here himself…”
“Mama… went a bit crazy when I got hurt… after she took that big hit for me.” Hannyuu
said and rested her head on Akemi’s shoulder, still looking no where near done cuddling.
“Well… that solves that mystery I suppose. I have some questions though… How tall is that
tree even? That thing is absolutely massive… you said you connected to it?” Drau asked.
Akemi nodded with a grin. “I still am connected to it… best I could describe it is… it is
almost an extension of my own body, my divine realm to control on a whim. If I focus I can
sense every tree within it. It is Yes meters tall!” That just got her some blank looks that she
giggled at. “I’ll take you all up there if you want. We could make it a lunch or dinner picnic. I
really want to show you the view from up there, I had to just stare at it for a while… right
before a mace nearly smashed my pretty face.”
“You are way too calm about nearly dying… anyways, I’m curious just how tall that thing is,
so food up there sounds fun.” Ana responded and hopped up. The noises of agreement settled
their plans.
Another hour passed before they were all ready to go. “You know Hannyuu… you know I
love you, but do you really want me to keep carrying you?” Akemi asked with an bemused
chuckle as she cradled her kitten in her arms, while said kitten kept her arms locked around
her neck looking as small as she could be.
“Well, you wouldn’t let me just nap on you so this is just a compromise…” Hannyuu flicked
her tail defensively as Drau reached over to scratch her ear.
“Well, you know cat rules Akemi, once a cat pins you down you aren’t allowed to get up.”
Drau teased as the group met at the balcony.
“A law as ancient as the land, that even Queens and Deities are bound by.” Ana nodded
wisely and booped Hannyuu’s nose to get the girl to cutely whine.
“[Gate].” When a portal spawned just to fizzle out a moment later Akemi stared at her hands
after handing Hannyuu to Kyouko, their cat being almost entirely limp and purring. “Weird…
the spell is fighting me a bit… Give me a moment to figure this out.” Closing her eyes Akemi
turned her attention inside herself. “Is my changed mana not compatible? For fuck’s sake…
Maybe if I try and dilute it?” Akemi thought as she held up a hand again, forcing her mana
slowly through the spell. “[Gate].” It took more time, but a gate finally opened up in front of
them.
“Sorry about that, I think I have some kinks to work out with my mana, it will take some time
to figure That out. It might be a bit cold up there, but I can fix that if any of you want me to.
Now, take your first steps into Natura.” Akemi said and started to herd the group through her
portal before following behind them.
As she expected Akemi saw them all slack jawed in the dark grassland and staring up at the
heavens above. “Beautiful isn’t it? I doubt I’ll ever get tired of it, and we can always see it if
we want to. Welcome to the Divine Queendom of Natura proper.”
“A-Akemi… did you already know it would turn out this way? How tall is this thing? It was
day time down below…” Kyouko asked as she she handed a squirming Hannyuu over to
Akemi again who was soon just as engrossed in the view.
“I did know, it was what I intended after all. All my life I wanted to be able to see the stars.”
Akemi seemed to concentrate for a few moments like she had with casting Gate. “[Memory
Transfer]. See?” Akemi asked as in all of their heads, an image of a toxic grey and yellow sky
momentarily replaced the tapestry above them, showing such a contrast that it made the stars
even more beautiful. “That is what the sky would look like for me, not even the mega rich
could get above the clouds anymore… All I saw of the stars from the books I’d read. This
is… exactly what I had wanted…” Akemi said as she didn’t even notice tears falling down
her cheeks.
Shaking her head and wiping her eyes Akemi spread out a large picnic blanket for them all
using her tails entirely. Hannyuu let out an adorable whine as Akemi set her down on the
blanket, and with the utmost care Akemi lifted Lorelei out of her wheelchair into her arms.
She was smaller than any fourteen year old should be, but slowly seemed to be improving,
her cheeks no longer as hollow. Laying her on the blanket with a small pillow, Akemi
brushed her hand over her hair a few times. “We’re all always around Lorelei, just enjoy the
stars with us for now.” Akemi whispered as she laid back on the blanket also. “Now… as for
how tall the thing is… we are currently at the highest point on this planet besides our new
home, on that I’m confident. One hundred and fifty kilometers high give or take. Growth will
be pretty slow from now on, but it might even get bigger over time.” She spread out her arms
with a smile of childlike glee on her face.
“By all rights it should not be able to exist by the laws of physics I know, but I’m not sure if
those apply the same on this world… Maybe being Deified lets me bend some of those?
There are one hundred and one floors currently, not counting the ones I could make
underground. Each floor is different, and all of it is more or less impossible to invade. My
soul is connected to the entire thing, and I’ve found I can manipulate magic through it as
easily as my own body. That is actually how we can breath up here where no air would be, or
how there is sunlight on earlier floors where the actual sky went dark at around floor forty.
Normally I intend every floor people are living on, and the farming floors to be enchanted
with the same magic that has made our fields at the settlement go crazy, food will Never truly
be an issue… Except meat I suppose, I need to figure that one out still.”
“Maybe, is there no wildlife?” Ana asked and laid down, cuddling up to Akemi, while
Kyouko cuddled up on the other side of Ana. Hannyuu mostly laid on top of her three moms
and purred, while Drau actually laid down close to Akemi’s other side. None were looking,
but she had a slight blush on her face.
“I could not create wildlife sadly, not with that skill… best I can do is figure out a way to
single out species and teleport them into a floor. I’m going to kidnap all the Kingdom’s
Squirrels and no one can stop me!” Akemi’s maniacal laughter just made the others reach
over to pet her.
Things lapsed into silence as everyone watched the stars, tracing out constellations for those
that knew them, and enjoying the peace and quiet. Barring anyone teleporting up there, there
was no one around for over a hundred kilometers, not another living soul that wasn’t them.
With a flick of her hand something behind them and higher up began to glow. “What even
this that Akemi?” Ana asked as she tilted her head back to look at the structure floating even
higher than the one hundred and first floor.
“That, my love, is our new home. There is still a lot of things to make inside of it, but there is
all the room we’ll need.” Akemi said and stood up to look at the thing better. “There is no
furniture so we can all decorate the place ourselves.”
It appeared to be more of a giant pillar than a castle. It was a circular cylinder that was hard
to grasp the scale of from down there. It was made of marble and silver metal, with a pointed
bottom that appeared to be for observation of some sort and made of opaque glass. By it’s
layered structure ten floors could be counted, and the very top of it seemed just flat, but it
was difficult to tell from there. It was an alien structure in that world as it floated a few more
kilometers up without any obvious propulsion mechanism.
“I’ll first need to make a way for you all to teleport there directly, with proper safeguards
attached, I want that place to be entirely secure, just friends and family for the most part. As
for the floors on the tree… I want this top floor to eventually be the center of government, a
capitol city in a way open to the public. I want this place to be a destination everyone wants
to see at least once in their life… I won’t bar the stars from anyone’s view.” Akemi took a
deep breath of the pristine air, as she felt elation flow through her, all the struggle to create
Natura felt entirely worth it.
“What about the bottom floor? I have to say my Kingdom will need to step up a little or we’ll
be entirely over shadowed.” Drau joked as she leaned against Akemi as she laid back down
with the group. Little by little she had joined in the giant cuddle puddle.
“The bottom floor will be more of a… start for the entire country, the first thing visitors see,
but for now it will likely be the main floor as our population is still incredibly low… Once I
have the teleport systems fully running people will be able to start up towns almost on any
floor below ninety. I intend for floor twenty through ninety restricted for citizens only unless
there is reason to be there, keep security simple. The first through nineteenth floor will be
open to visitors and I hope trade centers can be established there. Floor ninety to one hundred
will room for me to experiment perhaps, I haven’t decided, but overpopulation won’t be
much of a problem if we’re smart with the land.”
“Wow, you’ve really thought this through Mom…” Hannyuu said with a bit of wonder on her
face. Her face shifted into delight as Akemi pet her gently, occasionally scratching behind her
ear.
“Indeed, though you’ll need to learn all the features of it Princess Hannyuu~ Technically
you’re in line for my current non-existent throne that I still need to make. Now then… Who
is ready for dinner?” Akemi asked as she pulled out their picnic basket from her inventory
after sitting up.
“This is the first floor, where for now most everything will be happening.” Akemi said and
gestured to the forest surrounding them after they got down by Gate, no one taking up
Akemi’s suggestion of sky diving to her surprise.
“How is there sunlight? This is so weird…” Kyouko mumbled as she looked at the sunset
peeking through the gap in the side of the tree, while the roof above them was dyed lightly
red by the setting sun, just like the actual sky, blending them together almost seamlessly.
“For floors where people are habituating I have set up an artificial sky to match the time of
day outside. It is important people have sunlight, and plants won’t grow without it either. I
can even add a weather system to properly rain, as that is also incredibly important. I’ll
probably put out a schedule of the weather for people eventually…” Akemi’s face right after
saying that started to turn mischievous.
“Mama… you’re going to put lies sometimes in that aren’t you?” Hannyuu asked with a flat
look at her mother.
“Of course I am, what is life without some unpredictability? A sudden rain can make for
interesting situations for people~ Sure I can tell what the weather will be down to the minute
here, but… it will be more amusing this way, and what kind of Kitsune would I be if I didn’t
do a prank or two? I think… we have a good future ahead of us.”
Looking out over the first floor and it’s forest none of them could disagree.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Well everybody I think this is a good stopping point for this chapter. I wanna be
clear I have a lot more plans for all of this but…
I need a Break… I’m not sure how long of a hiatus I’ll be taking from this story, but I
need one. I’ll be using this time to work on other stories and ideas, and plan out as much
of this story as I can, perhaps write ahead as well. One of the things I regret with this
story is that I didn’t plan things nearly enough, hence why things seem all over the
place, at least they are to me.
It is too late for earlier chapters, but I also want to take a look at those and perhaps
revise or clean them up. Hopefully when I come back to this story I’ll have a more long
term plan on where I want this story to go. One thing I do know is that I intend for there
to be a Sequel, quite possibly with Hannyuu as the MC and her adventures when she is a
bit older. Keep an eye out on my profile for more stories~ Appreciate you people.
Homesteading
Chapter Summary
While ground is broken on Natura, and her citizens get comfortable, Akemi grows
frustrated and fed up with the Re-Estize Kingdom and it's slow bureaucracy.
Chapter Notes
Emeril found it hard to keep track of everything as she looked down at her notes while the
crowds gathered, while also keeping Lirina from running off into the crowds to play with her
friends. “Now now dear, you can play soon alright? We’re going to get to see somewhere
new soon.” She said and reached down to pat her daughter’s head as the young Kitsune
pouted adorably.
After the fifth attempt at sneaking away from her, Emeril had let two of her four tails lift her
daughter up into the air to hold her that way. The girl giggling like crazy made the stressed
mother feel just a bit better about not letting her daughter go play.
“Last time I let you have sugar before bed…” She muttered to herself as she saw more of the
settlement’s inhabitants filling the meeting square where their bonfire had been held.
“[Whispers on the Wind]. Please gather around everyone, Queen Akemi shall be arriving
momentarily, and she can answer all of your questions.” Emeril said as she moved off of the
speaking platform that was there.
A few moments later a Gate opened up that they were all familiar with. “Welcome back
Queen Akemi.” Emeril said as Akemi stepped through, followed by her family. She seemed
far more tired than Emeril thought she would be, but she supposed growing That would take
it out of you.
Akemi nodded at her and gave her a look that promised an explanation, or so she hoped.
“Thank you Minister Emeril.” Akemi said and stopped at the edge of the platform, staring out
into the nearly two thousand strong group gathered, nearly every face within the settlement as
far as Akemi could tell. “[Whispers on the Wind].” Taking a deep breath Akemi spread her
arms out, as if to embrace them all. With her Tree of Life in the distance far behind her, with
it stretching into the sky Akemi looked more divine than ever. It was then that Emeril noticed
that Akemi did seem more like a Goddess… she had a strange glow about her, and her eyes
were now lightly glowing blue like stars.
“Our future is secure. The foundations of our new land have been rooted within the planet,
and no one shall take it from us!” Akemi declared as her tails fanned out dramatically.
The overwhelming roar had many covering their ears, yet the jubilation on people’s faces was
clear to see, some crying in joy, and some holding others in relief.
“Yes, you’ve all suffered too much, we all have, it is time to change that. Within my tree
there will not be an army in the world that can invade us. We are all the first citizens of
Natura and today we make our mark on history.” Akemi stopped next to Emeril who had
stayed facing the crowd with a neutral smile on her face.
“In one hour I’ll open a portal there so we can get started with building. I still have some
things to finish on the tree itself, so I cannot grow the homes like I did here, we’ll be building
things the old fashioned way. I’ve created a general outline of where to build what that
Emeril will have with her, as well as keeping track of the tools I have left there for free use. I
have made a few key buildings to help things along, but we have all the time we need to work
on this. Any questions? Feel free to speak up.” Akemi said and looked over the crowd.
To her delight Granny Rory took a few steps forward. “Will I be able to get a new kitchen set
up? Are we staying over there or can we take a few trips to bring things?”
“Thank you Granny. That is one of the buildings I can deal with. I’m sure everyone has their
own ideas of what they want their home to look like, you’re all land owners if you want.
Now, we’ll be starting on the first floor of the tree while I work on the teleport network. We’ll
figure all of this out together. The portal will be staying open for the foreseeable future, so
you may come back and forth as you so desire.”
Amongst a crossroad of pathways, Akemi stood in front of a circle of white stone on the
ground, her hands held out, and her eyes closed in concentration.
Off to the side Ana watched as a glow formed over Akemi and that circle, both pulsing in
time. With a ripple through the air that had Ana stumble back the glowing ceased from
Akemi, but the stone circle was now radiating a pale light.
“Is that your teleport thing?” Ana asked once Akemi opened her eyes back up, only then
seeming to notice her.
Akemi stumbled over tiredly and hugged her, wrapping all her tails around them. “Yup, I’m
going to have to link so many teleport areas up together it is insane… but we have nothing
but time. Once I get more done people could make a house where they desire, there are no
predatory animals around, or bandits. It is quite literally free real estate.”
“Wow… you really thought this through.” Ana mumbled as she relaxed into that hug all the
same, feeling warm and safe.
“Way too much thought… To be fair most of the design was done before I got to this world, it
was something to do.” Akemi said and rested her chin on Ana’s shoulder, taking a few deep
breathes. “Nice and recharged~ So… Tomorrow I’m going to go threaten that king just a bit,
he has had more than enough time to keep up his end of the bargain… So I’ll be getting our
people out my own way.” Akemi said and seemed reluctant to let go.
“Is that wise? Won’t that piss him off instead?” Ana asked as she shivered, a cold breeze
passing through the entire floor, until Akemi wrapped her tails tighter around her to keep the
wind out. “Or did you have some other plan?”
“Of course it will, but I don’t want it said I jumped to force to get my way, not that any force
will be needed for my plan, it will be a bloodless extraction of our people. I’ve been laying
the groundwork for a while now, I had a feeling he wouldn’t actually get our people to safety.
I’ve been having my Kudagitsune infiltrate the entire capital and marking any Nobles who
keep Demi-humans captive. At the very least Ainz gave me all information on the slaves
Eight Fingers had, he has them somewhere safe supposedly.”
“Hopefully that goes well. I can’t say there isn’t enough room after all. How many citizens do
you think we could fit here?”
“Well, there are one hundred more floors of this size above us, it is hard to even imagine just
how tall this thing is, but it is taller than any mountain on this world. I would say we could
easily fit a few million people. I’ve set up a basic system that Emeril will explain to people.”
Akemi released Ana and gestured around them. In just that area there were marked off boxes
and areas where houses and shops could presumably be built, all surrounding the central
teleport circle. “People are welcome to take any of the spaces I’ve marked out, or even
outside of them. I’ll have this first floor finished off today I think. What will you be doing?”
“Well… I suppose I’ll do what I did with the last settlement, I’ll go help people build. I’ll see
you later Akemi.” Ana said and nearly skipped off after pecking Akemi’s cheek.
“Adorable dork…” Akemi whispered fondly as she watched her go.
Kyouko had long since tossed aside her over shirt, finding it stifling as she worked to ferry
logs back and forth for the citizens. She was dressed in just her work out clothes and found
herself getting a lot more stares than usual. “Maybe the girls are onto something about these
clothes…” She mumbled as she carried three logs on her shoulders.
“Here you go, they’re heavy so be careful.” She said as she set those logs down in front of a
group of people with saws, working tirelessly making planks and otherwise shaping the wood
into something useful.
It was the strangest thing… each trip she had made to the tree grove Akemi had directed her
to, she found them regrown by the time she returned… It was certainly saving time. It was
the kind of tiring but satisfying work she found she could get lost in, giving her the time to
reflect on how strange her life had become over the past few months.
It was entirely the wrong use for the precious gift she had been given by her love, but
Desolation was undeniably effective at cutting down trees in one swipe. Strangely enough
she could almost feel her sword complaining at her at being used in such a way. “Well…
Akemi did say it was a living weapon. Oi, deal with it, I’ll try and see if Akemi can spar with
me later.” The sword settled down in her hands, making her roll her eyes. “So it is a meat
head…”
Off in the distance she caught sight of Hannyuu and several other kids wandering through the
woods on what ever adventurer the younger ones came up with it. It was a peaceful sight to
see, and it was comforting to know that she didn’t need to worry about any wild animals or
humans within this land harming them.
Seeing Hannyuu and Rinna pushing Lorelei along in her wheelchair made a warm feeling sit
in her chest. “Lorelei… please come back soon…” Seeing Hannyuu act more like an older
sister was nice though. “I wonder how much she would enjoy being a big sister? Well that is
more motivation~” She mumbled to herself as she lifted up another log.
“Motivation for what? Knocking Akemi up?” A familiar voice asked as Emeril walked into
that grove, her clipboard still in her hands. “Might be good for morale also, another tiny
prince or princess does make the people protective when the leaders are as beloved as Akemi.
How Is that going by the way? She as innocent as you predicted?” Emeril teased as she
circled Kyouko mischievously.
Kyouko rolled her eyes but didn’t shoot the idea down. “Her and Ana are adorably innocent,
I think Akemi might be more of a bottom than you. Or were you trying to rile me up?”
Kyouko asked as she set the log back down before slowly advancing on the Kitsune. To her
delight she saw that Emeril was put on the back foot. When Emeril was backed up against a
tree Kyouko placed a hand on the tree next to Emeril’s head, not needing to lean down nearly
as far as she did with her two Mates with Emeril being closer to her own height.
“Oh my~ What would your mates think?” Emeril tried to bring back her normal confidence,
but that seemed difficult with Kyouko looming over her with a smug smirk on her face.
“Don’t worry, they already know a bit about our past, they wouldn’t mind if I say… made it
difficult for you to walk for the next few days… especially with so much walking being
done~” Kyouko teased and leaned down just to lightly blow against one of those fox ears,
making it twitch adorably.
The battle seemed over when Emeril looked away nervously, her face uncharacteristically
flushed. “W-what would the citizens think if they found that happening right here?”
“Oh you know I don’t mind an audience, how many times were we almost caught? Lets be
honest, the scent would tip everyone off anyway, what with most of our population being able
to smell you getting riled up all the way over here. So…” Kyouko had leaned in even closer
to that ear the entire time, whispering softly into it. Her knee had found it’s way between
Emeril’s legs as well.
Just when it seemed like Emeril was about to give in, her arms reaching up for Kyouko, did
Kyouko step back with a calm smile. “Well, you are probably right, lets not give the
population a show, what would our daughter’s think if they found us?” Kyouko said and
picked the logs back up, enjoying the sounds of Emeril sputtering into a quiet whine.
“You never change you fucking tease… I swear those two are going to have their hands full
with you… damn mutt in heat!” Emeril complained as she stood up a bit straighter. “We still
up for whenever That happens again?” She asked after a few more deep breathes.
“Of course, I don’t think that will be a problem. Alright lets get back to work, these trees
won’t lug themselves…”
“But you look rather nice doing it~ Where Did you get those clothes?” Emeril asked as she
fanned herself with her clip board.
“They are one of Akemi’s creations, they’re really comfortable for working out in. They
seem to have a certain effect on women~” Kyouko teased.
Emeril rolled her eyes, but clearly watched Kyouko’s rear as she left. “Akemi is as innocent
as a baby deer, but damn does she make some nice things… I don’t know if I should pray to
her, or that ass.” With a shake of her head to rid her of unnecessary thoughts Emeril moved
onto her next tasks, the tree grove was clearly working as intended.
“Alright everyone, I have an item I’ll need everyone to take.” Akemi told the population as
people gathered for lunch at the open air kitchen Rory had set up with help from others.
“Just take one of these with your lunch, this is both your identification as a citizen and a pass
for the teleportation network.” Akemi set out a box of wooden bracelets on Rory’s table.
“They are activated by just a drop of blood, this binds them to you and you alone. In the
future upper floors will be restricted to allow just citizens within, while lower floors will be a
bit more open to the world.”
It seemed to excite the population though as they took one of the bracelet each. “[Maximize
Widen Magic: Mass Invigorate]. That should help everyone, you’re all doing great.” The
wave of gold that swept through the crowd made the people look just as full of energy as they
were at the start of the day. Akemi stepped back to observe things a bit more, just soaking in
the sights and sounds of her people, her citizens, coming together more and more as a
community.
The houses around that central plaza were well on their way to being built, with all the tools
and materials Akemi had brought, all that was left was to actually build the things. “I can
grow houses but handmade is better.” The only buildings she had made herself so far was a
fortress close to the center that would act as a temporary center of government, as well as
several lines of barracks for people to stay in as they wish.
Finishing her own meal Akemi would review what she needed to do. “Later tonight I ask that
you all join me while I show you something special.” Akemi told them all through her spell
before vanishing on the spot.
As promised Akemi had her citizens gather in the central plaza later, directed them to the
101st floor. Up at the very top of the tree Akemi watched more and more of them stumble out
of the teleportation system before inevitably looking up to be literally starstruck.
“[Whispers on the wind]. Beautiful isn’t it? This is what I wanted to show you all. When I
finished creating this tree I had to sit and just stare for a while.” Akemi took a deep breath as
she watched the stars. “This top floor will be the actual center of the government when there
is a greater population, where visitors to Natura may see this sight for themselves. This
tapestry should be shared with all who wish to see it.”
It was uncharacteristically quiet up there as so many just stared in awe at the stars. “Using the
teleport network you can check out all the different places on this floor, but more importantly
there are four that have a sight just as grand. I invite you to go look at them when you feel
like it. This entire tree, barring the seventieth floor through one hundredth are open to all to
explore, I have most of the system finished. Whenever you all wish you are welcome to
return to our Re-Estize settlement for the night, or you could take a bed in the barracks.”
Back at the bottom of the tree she watched people cycle out of the teleport system and to their
next destination.
“Good work today everyone. Get some rest, tomorrow is a new day.” Akemi said as she led
her people through the three meter tall archway that contained a glowing portal. “Hey loves,
you all enjoy this place?” Akemi asked her family as they stood near her while the population
funneled through back to the first settlement for the night.
“It is really big! It was kinda of quiet though without any animals.” Hannyuu said as she
sniffed the air. “Having just the smell of the trees and plants here is… empty.”
“I suppose, but I’ll be fixing that eventually, I have a spell I’m developing that can be useful
for that. Shall we head back home? I don’t know about all of you but I’m exhausted…”
Akemi admitted as she followed the last of the crowd through the portal.
Their first settlement was just as they left it as expected, but it felt a bit… lacking compared
to the majesty of the tree. “I’ll probably keep this settlement around for fast transport here, it
Is pretty far from here to Natura after all.”
Unsurprisingly the others were not up for much conversation, and they all but collapsed onto
the couch once they were inside their home. “Hmm… Now that we’re here… What Did you
do to Emeril to make her so fidgety today Kyouko?” Akemi asked with a smirk.
“Why do you assume I did something?” Kyouko asked with a tired tilt of her head.
“Because we know you?” Ana added as she flopped over onto Kyouko’s lap. “How crazy did
things have to get to make Emeril of all people act like?”
“Like a shy bottom? Because she is~ Not as much as Akemi here though.” Kyouko teased
and wrapped her arm around Akemi who looked like she was choking on words.
“And with That I’m going to go to bed…” Hannyuu complained with a shake of her head.
Her complaint didn’t stop her from going around hugging each of them in turn, including a
quick squeeze of Lorelei’s hand. “Love you all, I’m tired… kids run around a lot…”
“You’re a kid also you know, glad you’re getting to do things your own age at least.” Akemi
said and ruffled the feline’s hair lovingly. “Love you too, sleep well, I’ll be in in a bit.”
Ana was the one to break the silence after Hannyuu left with barely restrained giggles. “So
that is what it feels like to embarrass a daughter.”
The tone of her statement surprised her girlfriends. “What do you mean? You haven’t before?
I mean I’m positive it isn’t the first time we’ve embarrassed her.” Akemi said and ran her
fingers through Ana’s hair from the human’s place on Kyouko’s lap.
Ana leaned into that affection, clearly in a comfortable mood, but a heavy sigh cast that mood
into doubt. “It is just… hard to imagine being a mom, that she could possibly see me that
way. I mean, Kyouko is tall, strong, and brave. And Akemi you’re an actual goddess. I’m…
just a human, I don’t have really anything special going for me… There isn’t much I can
teach her, and I’d be less useful protecting her either.” Ana look away as if she couldn’t bare
to meet the other women’s eyes.
“Love… You don’t Need to be anything, you just need to be Anastashia. We love you for
you. Hannyuu loves you too, she was calling you Mama Ana before we all even got together.
As for teaching her, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the one who taught her how to cook~” Akemi
reassured her, standing up to move to the other side of Kyouko so the two could be closer to
their partner.
“We aren’t dating Just a human, we’re dating Ana, the brave woman that stepped between
one demi-human woman and an entire group of knights. I can’t speak for Hannyuu, but… I
do know she sees you as a mom just the same as us, you are there for her as much as either
Akemi or me.” Kyouko said and pulled Ana close when the girl had sat up. Akemi leaned in
to hug her on the other side, pinning Ana between both warm bodies.
“Thanks… Love you both.” Ana eventually choked out and settled into both pairs of arms
snugly.
“[Message]. Greetings King Ramposa, it has been some time since we last had a chat.”
Akemi said as she laid back on the couch. She found a delicious sense of dissonance in
having a magic call with a King while still in pajama shorts and one of Kyouko’s over sized
shirts. It was early in the morning and she knew he might even have been asleep.
“Lady Akemi I presume… May I ask for the reason for your contact?” He sounded absolutely
exhausted, but Akemi could not find it in her to give a damn.
“Of course. I’m calling to ask you about your car’s extended warranty.” Akemi took great
delight in the stunned silence on the other end of the call, while Akemi barely held in her
giggles. “Sorry, I could not resist. In all seriousness I’m calling to let you know I’ll be
visiting later today, we need to have a discussion about our arrangement, it is a matter I’m
afraid cannot wait.” Akemi informed him as all humor went out of her tone.
“This is quite sudden, I’m afraid we’ll need to schedule a time for this discussion.” He
sounded like he knew what Akemi would say next, his words resigned and only being spoken
as a token resistance.
“I apologize for being… uncouth, but this was not a request. My non-interference in your
Kingdom’s affairs is made under the assumption you will actively bring my people to safety.
Deals can only exist when both sides hold up their end. This meeting is my attempt to civilly
solve this problem. I shall be there midday.” Akemi declared in a tone that brokered no
disagreement before ending the call. “Dumbass King… So what are your bets?” Akemi asked
around her as she didn’t bother lifting her head from Ana’s comfortable lap, seeming far too
happy with those fingers running through her hair and scratching her ears.
“I bet he stops you at the city gate, or at least the castle walls.” Ana added as she seemed to
be engrossed in touching that silky hair and ear fur.
“I think you can at least get into the castle, but that Head Warrior will stand in the way. Think
I might be closer to being able to take him?” Kyouko gave her piece as she polished
Desolation at the table.
“Mom, he is a prideful old man surrounded by other prideful old men… Sure they seem to
fear you a bit, but he sounds stubborn. I know you have a backup plan though Mom.”
Hannyuu added as she laid on top of Akemi, who was still on Ana’s lap. Her own hair was
being played with by Akemi, eliciting a gentle purr.
“Likely a mix of all of those… Well, I’m feeling less generous with them, so I’ll use Divine
Edict if I need be. Will either of you be joining me? I intend to take a nice walk through the
city first up to the castle. If he doesn’t cooperate like I know he won’t… I have my own plans
for getting our people. I’m almost certain he will have made no progress… I already had a
feeling he wouldn’t when making the deal, but I lacked the means to sniff out our people
throughout the entire Kingdom.”
“I think I’ll stick behind and watch the kids, I’m not exactly intimidating.” Ana said with a
shrug and looked at Lorelei in her wheelchair, still sitting quietly. They had noticed that the
wolf child was occasionally looking around every so often, a good sign of progress.
“I’ll go like last time then. No using that spell to blow anything up though… That was
terrifying last time.” Kyouko scolded and sheathed her sword.
“It was a one time thing… not like I use that so much it is a problem…” Akemi complained
and looked away as everyone stared at her.
“Mom… didn’t you say you ‘pranked’ Lord Ainz with that in the past?” Hannyuu asked with
some worry in her voice.
“No one died and it was still a game! I’m a good fox…” She pouted and leaned into Ana’s
hands and the pleasant petting. “No, I intend to just locate and chat with our people, figure
out who wishes to come… which I anticipate just about all of them to accept. This trip can
double as the announcement and introduction of Natura as a Queendom, not that I anticipate
much diplomacy with them. Please do not try and fight the Head Warrior… Not yet at least.”
“Sounds like a plan, I’ll not be giving up my weapon this time then. If Gazef protects his
King by having a weapon, I shall protect my beautiful Queen the same. I’ll try to not fight
him… I wouldn’t mind a spar but I know this isn’t a friendly visit. Wanna spar with me
love?” Kyouko asked and came over to lounge with them in the living room. Pulling
Lorelei’s chair closer to her she took the brush on the side table and gently tended to her
daughter’s hair.
“I could try, I don’t have any amazing techniques to share I think… it was just a game back
then and all. When it comes to talent with melee weapons you already surpass me. I wonder
if I could get any of Ainz’s people to train you? Well, that is a deal to work out at some point.
Feel free to be heavy handed this visit, we aren’t there to play nice this time. I know I intend
to throw my weight around, they had their chance to do the right thing.” Akemi said and
leaned down to kiss Hannyuu between the ears, just delighting in the happy purring of her
daughter. It was a nice calm family morning before the storm.
The crowds in front of Akemi clear themselves as she walked with Kyouko half a step behind
her, her hand near her sword and her eyes alert like a proper guard. Akemi was dressed to
impress in her best battle robes, including several decorations and ribbons on her tails,
matching the robes quite well.
The long walk through the Re-estize capital was enough for Akemi to clear her head and
prepare what she wished to say. “So do you think any other guards will try anything?”
Kyouko asked quietly, knowing her Queen could hear her over the noise of the crowd.
“They are following us about a street back, I think they know better. They must have figured
out I can move them no matter what they try, or they were informed to not get in the way.
Maybe the guards at the city gates didn’t get the message?” Akemi asked as she looked
around, her head held high as she she caught nervous glares from all around.
“Couldn’t you have ordered those guards to just move aside though? Did you also have to tell
them to quack like a duck for an hour after letting us pass?” Kyouko sounded entirely
unconcerned, or even amused, like she could still hear quacking from the front gate.
“My dear are you accusing me of using mind control to mess with some innocent guards in a
funny yet ultimately harmless prank? I am both shocked, offended, and you are entirely
correct.” Akemi snickered under her breath. “I swear the urge to prank has just been getting
stronger… I promise to use Divine Edict for good though, or at least keep pranks with it
entirely harmless.”
“You are an adorable fluff ball, if only they knew the types of noises you can make~ Oh look,
more guards. It appears the Head Warrior has come to greet us personally.”
“Love you too my big bad wolf.” Akemi said with a shake of her head, her face lightly
flushed. She smiled at Gazef as they stopped in front of him and at least twenty armored
knights. “Greetings Head Warrior, pleasant day to you.”
Gazef didn’t seem relaxed in the slightest, it was easy to tell he expected violence that day.
“Likewise. I’ve come to escort you to the castle. We had expected you to teleport directly
there like you had last time. Forgive the heavy escort, but appearances need to be kept.”
“It is no trouble, you can relax, I have no violent intentions, just diplomacy. Shall we?”
Akemi noted how nervous the man was as he turned around to lead them to the castle,
knights surrounding them on all sides. Kyouko was calmer than Gazef, likely knowing the
odds in a fight were very heavily in their favor if it came down to Gazef against Akemi and
herself, the knights were a non-issue. Kyouko sadly also knew that in a two on one fight like
that that she would also be a non-issue to someone like Gazef, until she could get stronger.
It was annoyingly quiet on the walk up into the castle, Akemi far less nervous than the first
time she had visited. To her surprise when the knights split off from them, leaving her and
Kyouko with just Gazef, leading them down a different hallway than to the throne room.
Leading them into the room they were surprised to find the King and several other men
centered around a table. “At least they are taking this seriously.” Akemi thought but looked
over at Gazef as he stepped in front of Kyouko.
“Your weapon please. I cannot allow any to possess them near my King.” Gazef said, holding
out his hand as if he expected the same as last time. To his surprise Kyouko shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but things have changed. Just as you cannot be unarmed to defend your King, I
cannot be unarmed if I am to defend my Queen.” Those words seem to send a stir in the
room.
“Preposterous! First you demand an audience with the King and now you claim yourself his
equal?! Have some shame!” One older man shouted as he stood up at the table. “Where do
you purport to rule?”
Akemi was the picture of serenity as she took her seat. With all the pride in the world she
gestured out of the window the covered the entire wall, and at the tree several hundred
kilometers in the distance that could be seen quite clearly. “You may have seen my
Queendom emerge over the past week. That tree is my Tree of Life, and all within it as well
as the area around it is the domain of the Divine Queendom of Natura. I’ve been quite busy
since we last saw each other actually, after ending the Dragon Kingdom’s war with the
Beastmen, Queen Draudillon and my own country have become firm allies.” Akemi said and
folded her hands in front of her.
Her words seemed to take the wind out of that Noble’s sails for a moment, right before he
made to start yelling again, until King Ramposa held out his hand to stop him. “Please, calm
yourself.” He told the man, staring him down until the Noble retook his seat, though his glare
at Akemi told her all the complaints she could guess. “Head Warrior, please allow Queen
Akemi’s guard through.” It was a clear admission of recognition, though the potential for
Akemi to force that recognition was clear if her claim of ending the Beastmen war was
accurate. When Gazef moved to stand at his King’s side Kyouko did the same with Akemi,
her smile calmly proud.
“Queen Akemi, for what reason have you called this meeting, I believe we agreed I would
contact you if need be, to receive any demi-humans.”
“That was indeed our agreement, but it has been quite some time since then and I have yet to
receive even one of my people. Our agreement was that I would not interfere in your affairs
on the condition you cooperate in freeing my people. I ask, what progress have you made on
that front? Every day that goes by is another that my people are under the yoke. I am a patient
woman, but that patience is not endless.” Akemi tapped her fingers on the table in a clear
sign of her displeasure.
“Yes, that was the agreement. Alas there have been several disturbances within the Kingdom
recently which have taken priority. I am having my men take stock of who still possess Demi-
human slaves, and negotiating for their release.” It was the wrong answer as Akemi’s gaze
narrowed.
“So, least of all punishing the offenders for violating the law and basic morality, you would
negotiate with them instead? Forgive me for saying so, but that is not enough. With your
military and guards, as well as the law on your side, could they not simply be removed from
their captors by force?” Akemi asked, though she acted more furious than curious, as if she
knew the answer.
“Circumstances are not so simple as using soldiers as a cudgel to help you get your way.
There are traditions and procedures to follow.” Another noble chimed in who had previously
remained silent, though the contempt in his voice and gaze were clear.
It took a few moments before Akemi seemed to process those words, letting the silence
deepen like a rift in the room. Without another word Akemi stood up and looked towards her
guard. “Let us be off Kyouko, this was a grave waste of time. Let it be known though that we
tried diplomacy.” Akemi sounded genuinely disappointed, giving the humans in that room
one last disapproving look before heading to the door.
“Excuse me?! Who gave you permission to leave? This level of disrespect is unfathomabl-”
The first noble began to shout again, while the King looking strangely defeated. It told
Akemi volumes about the relationship between the King and his Nobles in his Kingdom.
Nevertheless… Akemi let her aura expand and fill the room with an invisible pressure that
was directed at the humans there, the yelling of the nobles ceasing immediately, their
breathing becoming labored. “Who’s permission would I ever need to be able to leave?
Your’s? What respect is owed for a King and Kingdom who enslave my people? I am a
patient woman, and I prefer peace and quiet, but do not mistake that for weakness. Farewell
King Ramposa.” Akemi said as her aura cut off just as suddenly as it started.
The room was silent as Akemi and Kyouko left the room, soon followed by Gazef after the
King wordlessly ushered him to do so.
Akemi was clearly furious, though it was a restrained fury in Kyouko’s eyes, for she knew
that her love was being quite honest in wanting to settle things peacefully. Gazef seemed at a
loss for words as Akemi stopped at the castle steps once they were outside.
“Well, I was almost certain it would be like this, so luckily I have planned for such an
occasion.” Akemi said as she closed her eyes to tap into her mana.
“Lad-” A glare from Kyouko stopped Gazef from finishing his first word. “Queen Akemi, I
must insist you restrain yourself within the country. The wheels of justice may turn slow, but
they grind fine.” His words only brought a hollow laugh from Akemi.
“The wheels of justice of this country are clearly rotted away. For a country to be so
paralyzed by internal conflict is… disappointing.” Akemi took a deep breath and sighed.
“Apologizes, I do not wish to speak ill of your country or your King. Personally he seems
like a wise man in some respects, but the Nobles around him do not allow that to be utilized.
You can rest assured I intend no violence, my spells shall have no negative effects to any of
your citizens.” Akemi held up her arms in front of her and closed her eyes again. “[Maximize
Widen Magic: Heavenly Web], [Widen Magic: Chain Telepathy].”
Like a spiders web, blue lines spread into the air from her open palms, extending in all
directions. “Connection successful.” Kyouko jumped as she heard Akemi’s voice in her head
as clear as anything.
“I speak to all of my people, the downtrodden, those who suffer under the yoke of slavery,
Demi-human and Human alike. I am Divine Queen Akemi, and I am speaking to you on
behalf of the Queendom of Natura. For too long you all have suffered in these lands, crushed
beneath the heel of a broken country. I present this offer to all of you, no race is excluded. If
you so wish I shall take you from this place, there is space for you all within my domain,
where you shall be free to build your own future, with food and room plentiful. Within the
coming days I shall personally contact each of you and if you so wish, whisk you away, far
from the clutches of the ones who would force you to call them Master. Please think on your
decision if you are so able.” Akemi took a moment to catch her breath as she clearly appeared
strained.
“For those of you who have been shattered by your unjust treatment, who lack the means to
speak for themselves, you shall know peace with me, and you shall be forged anew so you
may heal. I look forward to welcoming each of you personally.” With those last words the
connection was cut, leading to Akemi gasping for air.
“Akemi! Are you alright?” Kyouko asked and rushed over to support her Mate when she
stumbled. Gazef watched curiously behind them, especially at the concern that far outstripped
the duties of a normal guard.
“I’m fine, it is still rough contacting that many people at once. It is rather mana intensive
even for me. On the bright side there are far less Demi-humans and slaves in this country
than I believed, most of which are held within Noble houses. We can finish preparing space
for them over the next few days.” Akemi tiredly explained before turning to look at Gazef.
“Farewell Gazef, I’m unsure if we shall meet again, but please stay in good health.” Akemi
told him as she wrapped an arm around Kyouko’s waist. “[Greater teleportation].
Once they’re feet were on the grass within the first floor of the tree did Akemi breath a sigh
of relief. “Well… can’t say that went well, but it went about how I expected. At least once I
remove our people from that cesspool of a Kingdom we can be done with them. I predict
they’ll collapse somehow within the next few years regardless. Kyouko?” Akemi let go of
Kyouko’s waist to look up at her Mate with concern.
Kyouko’s eyes were full of a strange doubt as she looked away. “Akemi… I need to know
something. How did that spell work?”
“Hmm? Oh right you were working out when I was talking about it with Ana. It is a rough
around the edges as far as spells go, but I contacted all who fit the criteria of being Demi-
humans, and all the slave humans I discovered by finding those with Slave as one of their
classes. Is something wrong?” Akemi asked as she saw Kyouko’s hand clench.
“You had something like that? I’m sorry if this is… Why did you not use that spell… to find
Lorelei?” Kyouko asked and seemed to regret it right away as she saw the look in Akemi’s
eyes once she processed Kyouko’s words.
Akemi blinked her eyes to counter the tears that had begun to fill them. Wiping those away
Akemi shook her head. She appeared to start to say something several times, but was clearly
choked up by the sudden question.
With a barely recognizable squeak Akemi turned away. “I’m sorry… that I couldn’t find her
sooner…” Before Kyouko could respond Akemi had vanished from what she guessed was
silent teleportation magic.
The clearing near the central teleport circle only had a few people roaming around, but it was
dead quiet as Kyouko stood there in shock.
“Kyouko? When did you get back? Where is Akemi?” Ana asked as she walked up with a
small crate in her arms. The look of panic and fear on Kyouko’s face made her nerves tighten
in moments.
“Ana? I think… I think I fucked up…” Kyouko mumbled and bit her lip.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Sorry everyone I was gone for so long, been having a rough time getting that
writing spark back… still not sure if I have it back but it is starting to feel easier again.
Like always if you liked the chapter I always appreciate your thoughts on it! Take care
everyone.
Dear Brother
Chapter Summary
Just one thing after another... After dealing with the Kingdom for the moment Akemi is
thrown right into another mess that puts her directly in the crosshairs of the one person
she did not want to conflict with.
Chapter Notes
A/N: Thank you all so much everyone for your comments! It has really helped a lot in
motivating me and I hope this chapter doesn’t disappoint. Thanks especially to
Land_Of_Chaos for an idea I ended up using for a character that may or may not
become important later on… one idea leads to another and all that. You'll know her
when you see her.
Ana had to stare at Kyouko for a few moments before her face scrunched up into a scowl. “I
can’t believe you would dare try and blame her like that! She didn’t even have that spell back
then! Did you even think about that?!” Ana shouted, heedless of the people watching.
“I-I didn’t mean for it to sound like that! I didn’t… think about it before I said it…” Kyouko
stood a step back and bit her lip. It was unusual for her to look so unsure of herself.
“She only made that spell yesterday! Her and Hannyuu risked everything to get Lorelei!”
Ana took a few deep breathes and took a moment to calm herself as best she could. “We need
to find her, you shouldn’t let this fester.” Ana said and grabbed Kyouko’s hand as her mind
whirled to figure out where Akemi may have gone.
They must have looked ridiculous as they dashed around the first floor, but there were so
little places built that checking them took no time at all. They found not a hair of the Kitsune,
but heading back into the Re-estize settlement they spotted Hannyuu pushing Lorelei around
towards the portal.
“Mamas? Why are you running ar- You should get some water Mama Ana, you look like me
after Mama Kyouko made me do sprints with her…” Hannyuu said as she saw Ana panting
tiredly. Kyouko as expected wasn’t even breathing any harder than normal.
The two mothers look at each other before Kyouko gave a heavy sigh. “I messed up and said
something… very insensitive. Have you seen Akemi? We’ve been trying to find her.”
Kyouko admitted. Kyouko could see that Hannyuu was trying to figure out what she had
said, but wasn’t keen to ask her, something Kyouko was thankful for.
“I haven’t, no. Mama Kyouko… If you made Mama Akemi cry I’ll make your food spicy…”
Hannyuu mildly threatened with a rather sad pout. The pout, moist eyes, and her wilted ears
painted a heartbreaking picture that made Kyouko dread if their daughter ever decided to use
that face for evil.
“I hope she didn’t… I’m going to fix it, she teleported off though and I don’t know where…
So technically she could be absolutely anywhere.” Kyouko complained with a whine. She
was secretly grateful when Hannyuu stopped giving her The Face™ and breaking her heart.
“I guess she could be, but I didn’t see her at home. You remember the rings she gave us can
teleport us to her right?” Hannyuu told them and watched as they froze up. With a sigh
Hannyuu went over to give them both a hug. “Go fix this, I’m not giving up any of my
moms.”
Kyouko and Ana pet her hair and seemed to gain just a bit more courage before Hannyuu let
go. “We will, don’t worry. We’ll be back before long.” Kyouko said and held up her ring.
“How does this work agai-” With a flash from the ring Kyouko vanished on the spot.
“I better go to… Love you both, be safe and don’t let the smaller kids tire you out too much.”
Ana said and vanished as well.
It was back to just Hannyuu and Lorelei. To Hannyuu’s surprise Lorelei seemed to have been
watching, and even slowly looked back up at Hannyuu.
“Our moms are still a bit useless sometimes, right? They’ll figure it out. Lets go hang out
with Rinna, she always makes me feel better, I’m sure she’ll be able to help you too.” For a
moment Hannyuu swore she could see Lorelei barely nod.
“She didn’t mean that Akemi, just try and relax…” Akemi told herself as she carried at least
three logs with each tail, the stares of her citizens not bothering her as much as they used to.
If she was so strong it made sense to her to help out with some heavy lifting. She had moved
to the edge of the first floor near a far teleport point where an outpost was being built by
hand.
Telling herself not to be anxious didn’t seem to be working though as she barely responded to
greetings from her citizens before going off to gather more logs, despite the pile of them
being quite large already.
With her mind so out of it she noticed far too late the teleportation near her, something her
passive skills should have informed her about if she was paying attention. She squeak as
strong arms lifted her up by the waist.
“H-hey!” She shouted and would have started struggling if she didn’t recognize the scents of
her Mates quite clearly.
“Sorry love, we need to have a talk.” Kyouko said and moved Akemi into a princess carry.
“You also just wanted to pick her up didn’t you?” Ana asked as she walked alongside the two
of them.
“I… cannot deny that. You both are very light and fun to just hold~” Kyouko teased, but she
must have noticed that Akemi was not reacting to the teasing at all, she was just looking
down.
Once they were deeper into the forest did Kyouko set her back on her feet. “Please don’t
teleport away again… I’m sorry Akemi, I… I wasn’t thinking… I know you did everything
you could, I just…” Kyouko’s ears had folded and there was a whine at the back of her
throat.
“It was your… grief talking, that isn’t your fault. I really wish I had that spell much earlier
but I could only make it the other day. I’ve been having to remake my entire spell list from
near scratch so it doesn’t bug out with my divinity… Making spells has been much easier
though, and I can just adapt old spells pretty well, I think they’ll be more potent as well.”
Akemi explained and took a deep breath.
“Y-yeah, Ana told me about some of that. I jumped to conclusions before I could stop
myself…” Kyouko would almost wince as Akemi went to hug her.
“I forgive you. I keep thinking about if there could have been some better way to solve that
problem, to rescue Lorelei with less risk but… It is too late to change any of it, we can only
deal with it as it is. We’re… all alive and healing, that is what matters.” Akemi said and sunk
into Kyouko’s arms.
“Yeah, you’re right. I love you both…” Kyouko said and pulled Ana into the hug as well. The
fact she was tall enough compared to her Mates that she could hug them both at once quite
comfortably never failed to put a smile onto her face. “Is there anything else I could do?”
Akemi appeared in thought for a few moments before turning just a bit red. When she began
to twist a few stands of hair around her finger they knew something was up. “Well… Part of
the whole ‘kiss and make up’ deal Is kissing.” Akemi cleared her throat, but the shy smirk on
her face said all was forgiven.
“Yes my Queen~” Kyouko said and lifted Akemi’s chin into a kiss. For a kiss for forgiveness
it went on for far more than a few moments.
Ana snickered as she stepped out of the hug and watched Kyouko gently push Akemi up
against a tree to continue the kiss. Even Ana blushed as she watched, touching lips wistfully.
Kyouko had it down to an art form from what they had seen and experienced, her licking and
nibbling was something that could drive them crazy if done for long enough…
With a gasp Akemi broke the kiss and Kyouko held her up. While Akemi seemed stunned
and flushed, Kyouko looked pleased, like the wolf that got into the sheep pen. “Doing alright
there?”
Akemi had to hold her mouth for a moment and think. “I canf fee my mouf… Yee I forgif
you…”
Ana and Kyouko both smiled at that. “Me next~” Ana said and let out a squeak as Kyouko
moved quickly to put her right next to Akemi against that tree and give her a kiss just as long
as the one she gave Akemi.
Despite her best attempts to keep up with Kyouko she was quickly turned into putty under the
wolf’s hands, quite literally as she gently pinched and rubbed at Ana’s chest over her shirt.
With a stunned expression Ana blinked once air was returning to her lungs. “W-wow…” Ana
said and had to just catch her breath for a few moments.
Kyouko gently kissed their foreheads before standing back up fully. “Gods you two are
adorable… I can’t wait for that date~” With a heavy sigh Kyouko stretched out. “I’ll go help
out with some building, we can… continue this tonight~” With one final wink Kyouko
strutted off with her tail wagging in clear happiness.
“Our girlfriend is hot…” Ana muttered and snuggled up to Akemi. They both had slumped
down to sit against that tree. “Both of mine certainly are…” Ana said and soon had Akemi
pinned now as she moved to sit on Akemi’s lap while facing her.
“Agree- Eep! Cute dork…” Akemi said and wrapped her arms around Ana’s waist to pull her
close, it appeared their own break was not yet over as they had a kiss of their own, one that
was a bit slower paced and relaxing. They couldn’t yet make each other’s toes curl like
Kyouko could, but they would try their best.
For the longest time it felt like she was just floating, barely able to feel the sensation of cold
stone against her face, or the chains connecting her to the wall.
Things had progressively just gotten harder to remember, her memories fading to ashes day
after day, through unknown months or years of abuse. “Who am I? What am I?” She asked
herself as she cracked her eyes open, staring into the lantern that hung from the ceiling in the
hall outside her cell. “Gotta remember… my name is… got to escape…” The last dregs of her
will felt so weak even to her, her body no longer wishing to move from where she lay.
As she started to close her eyes again, finally just wishing to surrender to the world and
disappear, she felt her mind connect to something… or someone.
“I speak to all of my people, the downtrodden, those who suffer under the yoke of slavery,
Demi-human and Human alike. I am Divine Queen Akemi, and I am speaking to you on
behalf of the Queendom of Natura.” It was a bolt from the blue, her eyes snapping open as a
voice filtered into her head. That voice sounded so… kind, she was used to words of abuse
and slurs, yet this voice was more motherly than anything.
She couldn’t help but listen as the desire to surrender was pushed to the side for the moment,
finding herself hanging onto every word. “If this is just in my head… maybe I’m finally just
gone…” By the end of that speech that echoed in her head she felt herself quietly crying as
she tried to make a decision.
It was a simple choice… Deciding whether the voice in her head was her finally going
entirely insane, or if it was something she had wished for for so long, a sense of hope that had
long since vanished from her life.
With a strangled whimper she made her decision and sat up, her eyes opening wider as she
truly took in her surroundings again. “What else do I have to lose if I bet on this?” She knew
exactly what she had to lose, the chance of surviving if this remaining hope was just a
illusion of a broken mind. “If this was just a dream… I’ll let myself go… but…” clenching
her remaining teeth took all her strength as struggled to support herself against the wall.
“I… don’t want to die… I want to live… I want to be f-free…” She mumbled to herself and
clenched her hands, as if confirming her words to herself. She knew she didn’t want to die,
she wanted the chance to be happy again! Was freedom too much to ask for? The words she
had been given were sparking against the last ruined vestiges of her sanity, igniting into the
soothing fire that was hope. She wanted to find out if she would end up burned by those
flames, or they would free her.
Stumbling forward she clenched the bars of her cell and grit her teeth.
“Shut the fuck up animal, you just sit there until the Lord finds a buyer.” The girl glared at
that guard with all the hatred left in her heart, her long and matted tail flicking back and forth
to match her will.
“Just have patience… S-she said she’d contact us all, I need to survive until then… but…”
Taking a deep breath she continued to glare at him. “My name is… Klaris…” She quietly
complained.
The guard looked tempted to say something but just looked back at the papers on his table
with a shake of his head, as if he thought she was not worth the trouble.
In Klaris’s eyes was not the yawning pit of despair she had been shoved in, Her broken gaze
had been replaced by a fragile strength, the very same flame that had been ignited in her heart
was reflected in her eyes as she awaited her promised freedom.
“So I just need to help with this?” Kyouko asked as she kneaded a large mass of dough,
getting a rhythm for it as the others warmly watched while being occupied with their own
tasks.
They were back in Rory’s kitchen, except this time Ana had enlisted the whole family, minus
Lorelei, to help out.
“Exactly like that dear.” Rory told Kyouko before she turned back to her left as Hannyuu
chopped up the beef Akemi had brought them into thin slices. “Good job little one.”
“This is pretty fun Grandma Rory. Hey Mamas? Is it okay if I help here more?” Hannyuu
asked with a happy hum in her voice.
“Of course, as long as you listen to Rory I don’t mind.” Akemi said after getting a nod from
Kyouko and Ana. It was frankly adorable to Akemi to watch her daughter grow up so much
in just a few months, she was pushing her own boundaries of what she was comfortable with
and making friends.
As she pondered all of this and worked on her own kitchen task from Rory, Akemi felt a
connection snap into place in her head.
The first words of the message made Akemi drop all she was holding and stand up straight.
Without a word she rushed out of that kitchen and it’s comfortable chaos as she tried to make
sense of the words being sent into her head. “Arche calm down you’re going to be okay!”
“Are you doing alright Arche?” Hekkeran asked as Arche stood at the back of their party just
staring at the ground as the other parties scoured the grounds of the ruins they were to
investigate, like they should be doing.
“I’m… coping, lets just finish this and get back quickly, the quicker this gets done the better.”
Arche said and marched past them all, frustration written over her face.
“Arche… it isn’t too late to contact Akemi for help.” Roberdyck said as he followed behind
the group. “You know she would help-”
“I know dammit… I mean did you See that tree? We all know that was her, she has her own
issues right now. If… this doesn’t work I’ll message her, but for now I want to solve this
myself.” Arche said with a heavy sigh.
“Stubborn girl…” Imina mumbled to herself with a shake of her head, looking at Arche with
almost pity.
Arche was quiet even as they entered what appeared to be a tomb underneath a coffin full of
riches… it just screamed ‘too good to be true’ in everyone’s eyes, and yet everyone pressed
on. “Get your head on straight Arche… you need to get out of here and get your sisters,
everything else comes after that.” Arche told herself as the sound of explosions pulled her
out of her thoughts.
All parties in the group stopped after what felt like hours wandering darkened hallways to
listen. To their shock and fear a group of undead rounded the corner, floating a foot or so off
the ground and racing towards them at sprinting speed! When the fireballs that formed in
their hands started to be thrown they all began run in a panic.
“Elder Liches?! Just run!” Hekkeran shouted as they all sprinted as fast as they could,
rounding corners just in time to avoid the fireballs crisping them, though they could feel the
flames licking at their heels.
“Here! In here!” He yelled as he saw a door, yanking it open and urging everyone from
Foresight inside. At a certain point the other Worker parties had separated from them,
something they only noticed when they had all shut themselves into that dark side room. “For
fucks sake… its like we’re being… herded… Get out!” Hekkeran started to shout as a magic
circle at their feet came alive!
Unfortunately it was too late to avoid the teleportation trap, and they all were blinded by the
light as their surroundings shifted entirely.
Arche felt her heart pound in her chest as such a feeling of dread pooled in her stomach,
which only increased as the all noticed the gate at the other end of the closed off hallway.
“This places… it reminds me of somewhere I saw before. The Arena in Arswinter…”
“An… Arena?” Imina asked as they cautiously advanced, they had no choice as the slowly
opening gate was the only exit.
“We’re outside?” Hekkeran asked as they all looked around. They were clearly in an empty
coliseum, but the night sky was spread above them regardless of where they knew they
should be.
“We were teleported outside?” Arche asked and looked around, so far no one had arrived. “If
we’re outside then we can escape with fly mag-”
A young cry interrupted Arche’s words. Everyone’s heads snapped to one end of the arena,
just to see a small child leap down and land with a heavy stomp. The fall didn’t seem to hurt
them in the least.
“Tonight, our challengers are four foolish humans that have infiltrated the Great Tomb of
Nazarick! And against them, the master of the Great Tomb of Nazarick, the Supreme one, the
King of Death himself! Lord Ainz! Ooal! Gown!” The small blond elf child shouted into a
device, the sound echoing throughout the arena and even their bones.
As the gate on the other end opened Arche felt herself grow faint when her eyes met the
empty sockets of a skeleton unlike any other she had seen before.
The skeleton was strange enough in a black robe that looked fit more as garbs for nobility,
with a glowing red orb in his chest. The feeling she got from him felt like she was staring at
the face of death itself, even though he wasn’t armed in the least.
Her talent told her that he had no magic but… something felt very off with that assessment, If
anything this Ainz had the look of a Lich rather than a skeleton. The only skeletons she had
seen were mindless and shambling to greater or lesser degrees, while Liches were the only
undead she had encountered that had spoken with even a modicum of true intelligence.
Considering how he was dressed, and how that small elf was speaking about him… she
doubted he was a mindless undead even before he said a word.
“And as his cornerman, The overseer of all of us floor guardians, Lady Albedo!” When the
elf said that they focused on the woman walking directly behind the skeleton.
She was an alien beauty that defied reason from what Arche could tell, and yet the level of
magic he could sense from her was… beyond what humanity was capable of, certainly on the
level of her teacher, and perhaps beyond it! The only one she had sensed with more would be
Akemi. “Could this be what Akemi meant?”
“I’m sorry everyone… this was my problem but I dragged you all here…” Arche said and
clenched her staff tighter. A part of her mind already seemed to have given up as she
imagined all the ways she might see her friends killed quite soon, and how she herself might
die.
“What is this girl even saying?” Hekkeran asked in a comforting tone laced with his usual
level of sarcasm.
“We all chose to do this job together, we were not going to let you go off on your own.”
Roberdyck told her, the smile on his face seeming genuine, the confidence easing her mind
just a bit.
“Don’t let it worry you Arche, we’ll get through this together.” Imina said and turned to face
Ainz who had stopped away from them.
“It is probably pointless… but should we try to talk our way out of this?” Hekkeran said and
took a deep breath. That feeling of wrongness crept up on Arche again, making her step
forward next to Hekkeran.
“Please pardon our intrusion Master Ainz Ooal…” As Hekkeran stumbled on his words on
Ainz’s name Arche felt her panic rise, she could tell this was no time for mistakes!
“Ainz Ooal Gown.” The firm tone Ainz used sent chills down Arche’s spine as her mind
raced for a solution to the situation before they were all killed.
“Excuse me, Master Ainz Ooal Gown, we’d like to apologize for entering your tomb without
permission. If you can forgive us, we can offer an amount of gold worthy of such an act of
forgiveness.” Hekkeran said, his attempts at bluffing not even fooling Arche as she knew they
all didn’t keep much gold on them! They were also in a tomb that was full of riches!
“So you are That type of person… When a maggot appears in your food in your home, do
you mercifully let it escape instead of exterminating it like the pest it is?” Ainz told them and
seemed to think for a moment. “In that case the blame could be put on the fly who laid the
eggs. No, you are worse than maggots, you came of your own will to invade my domain in
your avarice.” Ainz told them, his voice containing not an ounce of mercy, nor scorn, like
they were entirely beneath his notice except as less than pests.
“No, there was actually a reason we had-” Hekkeran shut his mouth as Ainz held up one
skeletal hand.
“Stop! Do not lie and cause me further displeasure.” Ainz told them. That was the edge, the
line that was not to be crossed. Arche could feel herself as if she was on the edge of a cliff,
slowly being pushed down to fall into the abyss before.
Her eyes darted to Hekkeran as she saw his mouth open again. All she knew is that his next
words would decide their fate more than anything.
“What if we had- Urgh… A-Arche?!” Hekkeran said as he fell to one knee as the unexpected
hit to his gut nearly caused him to puke.
Arche had struck out with her staff before Hekkeran could doom them all with what she
knew he was about to say. Her thoughtless action, while it may have bought them another
moment, and perhaps some curiosity from Ainz, put her in the spotlight. She could tell the
rest of her team was shocked.
Now their fate was in her hands and she knew it… her mind slipped to her last hope. Arche
stepped forward and knelt down. “Please… forgive us Master Ainz Ooal Gown. M-may I
please have permission to explain our circumstances?” Arche pleaded, willing herself not to
stutter too much, and to speak her wishes clearly. It was not the time to fail!
Ainz seemed to consider it for a few moments, all while the woman behind him scoffed at her
not so quietly. “You may, speak quickly, I do not have time to suffer fools.” As he said that
Arche’s first thought was something that almost made her darkly laugh.
“I bet you have more than enough time to make fools suffer… Please let all this work…”
Arche thought and took a deep breath. “Thank you Master Ainz.” Setting her staff on the
ground she thought of what ever she could to reduce this monster’s ire.
Standing up straight she began. “Our group’s expedition was my responsibly that I asked
them to accompany me on… But my intention was not for money or riches, not for ourselves.
I am here to gain freedom for my Sisters who were taken… I was explicitly told to take this
job and bring them back a sufficient amount of money in return for my little sisters… they
are just children only five years old! Our ‘parents’ used them as… bargaining chips…” Arche
said and very quickly wiped her eyes as she felt her emotions wind up. Not a word she had
spoken had been a lie.
“T-they need me, we had no choice but to come if I was to get them back! Please… I ask for
your mercy Master Ainz.” Arche said and closed her head in a heavy bow. As the moments
ticked by she felt her hope evaporating.
She dared not peek up, but he hadn’t immediately laughed her off. “I sense no lie in your
words. The bond between family is a precious one… and yet it is due to the bonds of my own
family, my long gone comrades, the ones who built this home with me that my answer shall
be this.” Arche slowly looked up as Ainz stopped for a moment.
“I will grant you a death without suffering… Death is a mercy in the Great Tomb, if only you
knew.” His answer sent shock waves of despair through Arche’s body, causing her to crumple
fully to the ground.
She heard the sounds of her teammates moving behind her, as well as one of them shaking
her shoulder to get her up, just as she heard a slow set of footsteps approaching her, death
closing in on her. “M-may I ask… one question?” Arche asked and looked back up, almost
all hope gone from her eyes. Ainz was but a few meters away and her teammates had
gathered around her with their weapons drawn.
When Ainz stopped she dared to hope for just a bit more. “One question will be your parting
gift.”
This was it, the moment of truth for her, it was a card she didn’t wish to use, to not burden
her any further. “Do you know a women named Akemi?” Arche felt hope dissipating for the
final time as Ainz stood in silence.
“…How do you know that name? Why do you think she would help you or have any sway
over me?” Ainz seemed more annoyed than anything… but not at them surprisingly.
“We are personal friends of hers, we aided her in our last mission to help her across the
mountain range between the Empire and Dragon Kingdom. As we parted she gave us a token
of her favor and that if we found someone similar to her in power, that we should use her
name. If I may, you are using a ring to disguise your magical power right? Akemi had
something of the sort… it was the strongest magic I had ever felt…”
“You claim many things, but yes I do know her. If you are asking that I assume you can sense
magic, If so…” Ainz said and slid a ring off his finger.
Arche held her mouth with her hand and resisted the urge to vomit or pass out, possibly both
at once, as the torrent of Ainz’s magical power brought up memories of Akemi doing the
same. Her magic felt light, pure even, while Ainz’s felt oh so heavy and dark, like tar that
threatened to smother her soul itself into nothingness. “M-my apologizes…”
“Let me see this token.” He ordered and walked closer. Standing near such a mass of magical
power was very difficult for Arche until he put his ring back on. “I suppose without this on it
may make communication difficult.”
With shaky hands Arche removed the ring on her finger, only now realizing that she should
have used it to cast message to Akemi from the very start if at all possible. She placed the
ring on his open skeletal palm and lowered her head again. If it didn’t work… she hoped he
kept up his end of the bargain on a painless death. “Ureirika… Kuuderika… If I don’t make it
home please forgive me, please just live…” She thought and held her breath.
“[All Appraise Magical Item].” Ainz cast and examined the ring, deciding their fates in turn
for hopefully the better. “It does not appear you are lying. This is a one of her creations. You
did not use the Message spell attached to that item, why did you not call her from the very
start?” Ainz asked curiously and handed the ring back.
“I… didn’t want to burden her further if at all possible, that woman is always busy… she
doesn’t need me making things harder for her…” Arche said and seemed wistful.
“I suppose it is possible you found or bought that ring, but I am willing to entertain the
notion. Use that ring to message her, tell her to message me when you are done. Be quick
about it.” Ainz ordered her and took a step back from them.
“M-[Message].” Arche said as she activated her ring she slipped back on her finger.
“Akemi! W-we need your help! I need your help!” She shouted into the message as soon as it
connected.
“Arche calm down you’re going to be okay!” Akemi told her as she rushed out of that dining
hall and somewhere more private. “Calm down and tell me what is wrong, we’ll get you
through this.” Akemi tried to tell her as she could feel the girl’s dread through the spell.
“Y-you were right… those bastards took my sisters… They were used as hostages to get me to
take a job, we had to investigate some tomb and bring back the money from it… I-I think we
found the person you told us to avoid. He told me to contact you, and for you to contact him
to prove my story, It is all truth! I didn’t want to do any more jobs!” Arche cried into the
message.
Akemi felt her panic rise as she could only think of one person with a tomb and massive
amounts of magical power. “I know exactly who you mean… I have a plan, but I swear I am
having a Long talk with all of you when we are out!” Akemi shouted into the call as her
temper flared up along with her fear. “End the Message and I’ll call him. It is a Skeleton
named Ainz right?”
“Yes, he seemed to know you… P-please at least save my sisters…” With those last words the
spell ended. Taking a few deep breathes Akemi tried to calm herself down before continuing.
“[Message]. Ainz, I need you to please let them go…” Akemi said very carefully, the panic in
her voice likely clear.
“They invaded my home, by what logic should I allow them to leave? I admit I am getting
quite frustrated with you getting underfoot you know… At every step of my plans you seem to
interfere in some way.” Ainz’s tone just fed Akemi’s fear.
“She didn’t have a choice in it! She is just a girl trying to help her family! This is petty! I
know you might have a problem with me, but please just leave them out of it! This is not the
right thing to do, you know that…” Akemi nearly begged and collapsed against a tree and
tried to resist crying.
“I am Undead, you already know human morality is irrelevant to this, this is about the
principle of it! They invaded the home of my dear comrades like vermin!”
“I know you are Undead! That is why I’m trying to stop you from doing this! It is because
you are undead that you Should be reminded you used to be human! Your guild members
were human also! Their avatars might not have been, but they were humans with human
morality! Would they enjoy seeing you throw away who you are for this persona of death?!”
Akemi shouted out loud now, starling a few people, not that she noticed.
“How dare you…? How dare you try and use them against me! What would you even know?!
All I have is their memory and you would dare desecrate that? I should tear these humans
apart just for your inso-”
“I know enough to know that Nomura would not fucking want you to destroy who you used
to be! You know he wouldn’t also! If you don’t care what I think then think about him…
because I know he wouldn’t be able to look at you if you became the very thing he wished to
fight!” Akemi shouted and was surprised by the lack of response for several moments.
“So you Did know him more than everyone thought… Tell me now, what is your relation to
Touch Me? Why do you even know that name when I was the only one in the guild he told?”
Ainz asked in a far more calm down than Akemi expected.
Lowering her volume to match she replied. “Release them and I will tell you all about it, I
will answer any question you want to ask, on that you have my word.” Akemi said and
waited. While the conversation was going on her parallel processing passive tried to deduce
just where the Great Tomb even was in that world, as having visited only the inside didn’t
give her any answer.
“…Very well. Your information is worth more than the lives of these maggots… I will open a
Gate near you, you will walk in and take them away, and then you shall stay until I have
every answer I wish. If you are playing me for a fool…” The threat was there and Akemi
could do nothing about it.
Closing her eyes Akemi altered the settings of Natura to allow a Gate from Ainz to be
connected. In but a few moments that Gate appeared as a swirling black void.
“Akemi! What the hell is going on?!” Kyouko asked as her family ran up to her.
“There isn’t time to explain, Foresight will be coming through this Gate in a few moments,
keep them out of trouble and I’ll be back later, I’m not sure when, it is an emergency.” Akemi
told them and leapt through the Gate.
The air was instantly colder the moment her feet stepped on the dirt inside of the Tomb. It
was a floor she had yet to see, some sort of Arena. Akemi saw Foresight looking shell
shocked but still alive and with all limbs… something she was thankful for. As for Ainz… he
didn’t look happy, nor did Albedo and Shalltear who stood by his side. If they didn’t hate her
already, they likely did now…
Akemi turned back to Foresight and glared at them. “Go through the Gate and stay out of
trouble, I swear you are in for it as soon as I get back…” Akemi frostily declared and took a
deep breath. She held up a hand as Hekkeran started to speak, she just pointed at the Gate
until they started to leave.
“P-please be careful Akemi… I-I’m sorry…” Arche stuttered out as she left with her party.
That Gate fizzled shut as soon as Foresight left, leaving Akemi alone in that Arena
surrounded by Ainz’s NPCs that matched her in level as well as Ainz who was clearly
furious. “Follow me, you will explain Everything.” Ainz told her in a tone that brokered no
discussion.
With an anxious heart Akemi followed him from a distance, surrounded now literally by
NPCs that she knew were ready to try and strike her down if she so much as moved wrong,
she was placed firmly in the Threat category in their eyes. Both twins stood at her sides,
Shalltear she could tell was behind her, while Albedo was in front of her between her and
Ainz. She felt distinctly like a prisoner being escorted and it didn’t feel good…
Soon enough she was seated in a sort of meeting room that was filled with all the NPCs
Akemi knew of and then some. “Man you got to keep this many NPCs? I’m jealous, wish I
got to bring my Lillies.” Akemi said and tried to lighten the mood, but it was clear everyone
was not quite pleased with her. Likely they just knew Ainz wasn’t happy with her and that
was enough for them.
When her eyes met someone with the look of a Butler her gaze soften. “…Nii-sama? No…
you aren’t…” Akemi asked with a wistful and lonely look on her face.
“Akemi, back to the topic at hand. What do you know about Touch Me? Prove you know
him.” Ainz said and clenched his skeletal fists on the table.
“Fine… Straight to the point then. Atsuhisa Nomura, also known as Touch Me In game, he
was married to a woman named Kaede, she was our childhood friend, mostly his. They had a
daughter named Emi who got more of her mother’s brown hair rather than Nomura’s black.
She was utterly adorable and I wish I got to spend more time with her and him.” Akemi took
a few deep breathes.
“As for How I know all that when I know he kept very strict informational security? You
already know my dead name was Koichi, even if I wish you didn’t remember that name. My
full name was Atsuhisa Koichi before I changed it. Nomura… was not just my big brother, he
was… the best, more of a father than our father ever was. Ask any question you want.”
Akemi said and felt a smile spread across her face at the memories.
Ainz was quiet for a small while, as if absorbing that information. “I would be correct in my
assumption that the name of his daughter Emi was taken from your name of Akemi?” Ainz
asked in a strangely lonely voice.
“He did… She was born after I came out as a girl and took up the name of Akemi instead. It
was embarrassing of him to do but… I was touched he went as far as naming his baby girl
after part of my name. I hope they’re all doing okay…”
“I believe you… I have no choice. He told me he named his daughter after his baby sister.
Why did you keep your connection secret? He was… one of my dearest friends, and yet he
would only give small details about himself. You two never acted particularly close in game
either.”
“He had a good amount of enemies in the real world that would love to have a way to strike
out against him. we tried to keep our connection a secret so his enemies wouldn’t be my
enemies. We were both a bit famous in Yggdrasil in our own ways as you know, so there
were a lot of people who were after any scrap of information on him in real life just because
of the game.” Akemi said and flicked her tails nervously.
“Being a cop, as you know that wasn’t such a… good job. Sure he was paid a lot but he had
to sit on his hands and let the rich get away with whatever they wanted, all the corporations
stepping on people… He hated it enough that he wanted to at least stick to his ideals in game.
I still remember his stupid catch phrase, but I always try to live up to it also, I want to make
him proud. Saving someone in trouble-”
“”-Is just common sense.”” As they both finished the sentence they quietly laughed in their
memories of the man they both knew.
“So yeah… I’ve been Trying to keep you from doing anything too evil as much as I could
because… I think it is what Nomura would have tried to do. Here he would actually be able
to do something about injustice, he would have loved it… assuming his family could come
with, I know he wouldn’t leave them behind for anything. He is a wonderful dad, I wish you
could have seen how much Emi could bend him to her will, all it would take is her using the
puppy eyes and he would just melt.” Akemi said and laughed a bit more until a hiccuping sob
took over for a moment.
It took a few moments for her to collect herself. “Fuck… I miss him! He was the absolute
best brother! He was the only one who made my time in that world worth a damn! He helped
me become who I am, helped support me when I had no way of supporting myself, and was
the one to hold me when the doctors told me I’d be dead before I turned twenty…”
Ainz stood up for a moment. “Floor Guardians, you may leave us, she is no threat.” As
expected Albedo and Shalltear were quick to start to protest, and even one dressed in a red
stripped suit that gave Akemi the creeps.
“You would believe her so easily my Lord?” Albedo asked and just glared at Akemi like she
wished she could tear the Kitsune’s tails right off.
“Her not giving you this information right away is suspicious, she has done nothing but get in
your way!” Even Shalltear was ready to rip her to bits, which surprisingly hurt as Akemi
hoped she had made some sort of positive impression on them both…
“My Lord… No matter what information she claims to have her story is suspect and does not
preclude her from being a hindrance. I have some suggestions on what could be done with
her…” The pinstriped demon said and seemed to stare at her like he was dissecting her in his
mind, it sent absolute chills through Akemi and she knew then she would never get along
with that one in particular…
“Enough! She is no threat and shall be considered a friend of Nazarick! That is my word on
the matter! Sebas, I ask you that you stay.” Ainz said and watched the others file out.
“So you’re the sister of a Supreme Being? We gotta talk sometime!” Aura said as she
bounced out of the room with Mare follow behind her.
Akemi gave the twins a tired smile, and found Aura pleasant enough. “Of course, if you can
use Message then by all means you may contact me, though perhaps ask your father over
there first~” Akemi said and pointed at Ainz, her natural sass coming back into her voice.
“Well they are a breath of fresh air… Aura looks like she is fun, I wonder if she would be
friends with Hannyuu?”
Sebas had sat back down and was staring at her strangely, while Akemi stared at him right
back. “It is so weird… you kinda look like Nomura but… older. He did talk about you Sebas,
I’ve always been curious to know the NPC my brother created, especially now that you’re
all… alive.” Akemi seemed to calm down a bit after wiping her eyes again.
“I suppose I’ll start with a question that has plagued me for years now… Why did you reject
Touch Me’s offer to join our guild? We would have at least welcomed you as a guest as we
did for another sister of a member, strangely enough she was another girl called Akemi, small
world that…” Ainz said and leaned forward. “He was strangely upset when you did.”
“He was? He told me it wasn’t a big deal… I thought he hated me for a small while as he
wouldn’t message me back or take my calls for at least a week… he was surprisingly
sensitive.” Akemi looked away and folded her ears.
“I was already frail and useless in real life, I didn’t want to stay under his shadow in the game
also. Don’t get me wrong, I love him to death, he was and is the only person from that world
I considered my true family, him and his daughter, but I wanted my own identity, I didn’t
want to ride off his coat tails to get places. There was also the fact I wouldn’t let him bend on
his own principles. For me to get into the guild he would have had to bend the rules for my
benefit. You must be a participating and functional member of society… That was a bar I
could not pass, not when just standing up was agony and I was sick most days. I had enough
energy most days to get up in the morning, maybe eat something if I had anything, clean up,
and lay in my VR chair so I could escape the constant pain in Yggdrasil. It was even worse
once I was eventually bound to a wheelchair, my legs didn’t want to work right anymore…”
“So you would not join and put his mind at ease because he wanted to break the rules? We
would have understood and allowed it.” Ainz sounded just a bit frustrated with her at that
moment.
“There is that, and that I wouldn’t really… fit with the whole ‘Evil Villain’ Guild ascetic you
had going. Did you have any questions as well Sebas? In a way you are his child, so I
suppose that makes me your aunt?” Akemi joked and leaned back in her chair, using her tails
to stop her chair from falling.
“Perhaps at some time Lady Akemi, I need to think on this.” Sebas said and seemed to
contemplate the issue to himself while listening.
“Very well, you can message me if you ever feel like it also, you can come to Auntie Akemi
if you ever need some help~” Akemi said and looked back over at Ainz. “What about you
Skeletor? Any more questions?”
“Besides asking you to stop calling me that? I do actually… He Did tell me that he nearly
shot his father before, mind explaining that one?” Ainz asked and watched as Akemi leaned
forward with an excited grin.
“Ah yes… let me tell you about how my brave Nii-sama nearly shot our asshole of a dad for
me~ So… It was many years ago…”
With a sigh of utter exhaustion Akemi stepped out from the Gate that had been opened near
where she had been picked up from. Unsurprisingly it was dark out, she had been in the
Tomb for a far longer time than she thought. At a glance she knew her family was not at the
Tree, and so she took the portal back.
Nearly running to her home she opened up the door. “I am baaaaack… I’m tired…” Akemi
complained as she saw everyone sitting at the dinning table, though there was no food being
served.
“Mama!” Akemi opened her arms before she had even seen Hannyuu, catching the girl in her
arms and hugging her close. “Mama! I was so worried… why did you disappear?” Hannyuu
was near crying, and it was clear by the red in her eyes she had been earlier.
“I’m okay love, I’m okay, we all are. I’m sorry for worrying you all… Where is Arche and
the others?” Akemi asked Ana and Kyouko as they joined in that hug.
“They’re at that house you made for them, it seemed it was going to take a while, but we all
were worried you wouldn’t come back…” Ana said and seemed reluctant to let go.
“I’m okay, I’m quite sure Ainz will never hurt me now, in fact I think relations with Nazarick
will be a bit more smooth going forward. I suppose I hadn’t told you all either… My brother I
mentioned, Nomura? He was one of Ainz’s best friends back in the other world. I’m sorry all
of you… but I need to go talk to Foresight before the night is done… If I’m right I’ll be
bringing some more people, but I want to solve a problem before the night is through.”
Akemi said and felt Hannyuu tighten her grip.
“Do you need to do it right now though?” Kyouko asked with a heavy sigh.
“Arche’s sisters are likely in danger, so the sooner I save them the better. How about we set
up a bigger dinner with Foresight also? After I go tear their asses up for being stupid… I’ll be
back loves okay? I’m sorry Hannyuu…” Eventually the feline let go with a heavy whine, but
clung to Ana and Kyouko in return.
“Okay… be careful…” Hannyuu said and sniffled. It killed Akemi to have to leave the house
so soon after getting home, to see that look in her daughter’s eye and not be able to comfort
her yet was agony!
Stomping over to Foresight’s house she knocked as politely as she could. Taking a deep
breath Akemi put a hand on the door. “I’m respecting your privacy by knocking, but I’m
asserting my authority as the Queen by coming in anyway!” Akemi said and let the door snap
into pieces with a heavy push inward in the wrong direction the door was supposed to go.
“What the fuck Akemi?!” Hekkeran said as all of Foresight stood up. Akemi however was in
no mood at all.
“Oh good you’re all together that saves time. [Greater Teleportation].” Akemi said as her
spell encompassed all of Foresight and Akemi.
It was rather cold and dark where they landed, but the air was so still it made their own
heartbeats echo in their ears.
Akemi stared at the group of them with her star-like glowing blue eyes. None of them were
spared her disappointed gaze, not even Arche as Akemi’s aura slowly pressed on the area as
her face morphed in a strange fury. “You four are fucking DUMBASSES!” Akemi screamed
at them, the sound echoing for kilometers.
“Wait a minute, there are press-” Akemi cut Hekkeran off with a glare.
“Shut the fuck up! Do you KNOW how close you almost came to a fate Worse than death?!
I know you know better than to go into suspicious tombs for looted treasure!” By that point
they noticed that Akemi was crying, near sobbing as she sunk down to the floor with them. “I
would have never found out what happened to you… You’re all my friends and I would never
know that you would be tortured for who knows how many years!” Akemi would accept the
hug Arche offered and cry against the girl’s shoulder for a few minutes.
“Sorry… Hekkeran.” Akemi said and saw Hekkeran still attempting to talk. “You may
speak. I didn’t mean to use that skill but I guess my temper triggered it.”
“Akemi… I’m sorry all that happened, but we didn’t have a choice… I at least had to go in
there for my sisters sake!” Arche said as Akemi let go of her.
“Of course you had a choice! You could have messaged me before this got out of hand! You
know I would have come to help you in a heartbeat! You’re… dear to me Arche, I wish you
would have just relied on me first…” Akemi said and looked down, missing the faint blush
on Arche’s cheeks.
“I’m… sorry, I didn’t want to use you like that when you clearly have so much going on! I’m
an adult! I should be able to fix my own problems! I was going to take my sisters to your
country as soon as I could but my parents agreed to use them as collateral before I even got
back…” Arche admitted.
“That is what friends do though! They help each other! Now… me and you are going to
Arswinter and we’ll track down your sisters! We’re finishing this tonight!” Akemi declared
and stood up. “It has been a long day so lets just get this done… We can hug it out when your
sisters are safe, that is what matters.” Akemi said and gave Roberdyck, Imina, and even
Hekkeran a hug of their own.
“Where even are we?” Imina asked as Akemi opened up a Gate. “Why is it so cold here? I
mean it is pretty but…”
“We are on the top floor of Natura, it was the first place I thought of for somewhere to yell at
you idiots in private… it is quiet and no one is around for over a hundred kilometers to hear
me yell at you.” Akemi said and gestured for them to go in the portal. “Arche me and you are
going to Arswinter, and you three are going back where I grabbed you from. We’ll be having
dinner at my home, the family is expecting you.”
Imina went in after seeing the look in Akemi’s eyes, as did Roberdyck. Hekkeran stood near
the portal without going in. “Akemi, I think I could help with getting her sisters, I could at
least ask around for information, I know some people on the shadier side of things.”
Akemi appeared to think for a moment before grabbing him with a tail around his waist.
“Very interesting, but on consideration… Yeet!” Akemi yelled and very lightly tossed
Hekkeran through her Gate and closed it. “I feel better… glad I studied the ancient memes.
Now then, [Gate].” Akemi made yet another gate and held out a hand for Arche. “Lets go get
your sisters.” She held that hand tightly as Arche held her own. “Look at that, trying to get
me pregnant with Handholding again~” The blushing squeaks that came from Arche were
music to her ears. They both needed some fun moments after all that happened that day.
“You sure they can’t see us?” Arche asked as they flew above Arswinter, the night sky above
them not even needed as they were invisible to all but each other as they still held hands. The
guards had no clue they were there even when they talked.
“If they could see through a high level invisibility spell I’d have a lot more trouble in this
world… This spot should be good enough.” Akemi said and held up their joined hands.
“Don’t mind me, just need a little bit of this for the spell.” Akemi said and very lightly poked
Arche’s hand with the pointed end of a fingernail that had shifted for but a moment. A bead
of blood quickly began to form which Akemi wiped up with that same finger, the tiny wound
was gone before Arche could even say Ouche.
“This should focus the spell a bit more since I cannot narrow the search on based on race.
[Heavenly Web].” Akemi said and watched the blood on her finger tip fade away into dust, at
the same time several bright points were highlighted in her mind within the city. “There are
four results… Suppose two for your deadbeat parents and two for your sisters. Shall we?
Clearly the five year olds are the sisters so I have their location.” Akemi asked and pointed in
the direction she located them.
“I do not know how you get these spells but… Yes, lets get them somewhere safe, though I
long since stopped seeing those other two as my parents. After what they’ve done to my
sisters they can rot for all I care…”
“U-Urerika… what are we going to do?”
“I… don’t know Kuuderika… I hope… sister finds us…” The two twins laid next to each
other with their backs to each other on their sides, wrapped up together after they had
complained about being separated. It had been one scary thing after another since their
parents told those men to take them… At first they couldn’t believe that it was reality, as they
were told Arche would be coming back to take them away any day now.
“Do you… think she’ll look for us?” Kuuderika asked with a tiny sniffle. They had been tied
up together and kept in a cell for far too long, their tiny limbs hurting. It had started to look
hopeless as the hours turned into two days.
“Of course I would find you two.” They heard a wonderfully familiar voice outside of the
cell. Looking up they saw Arche on the other side of the bars fiddling with the lock. “I would
never leave you two behind, not for a minute… lets get out of here okay?” Arche said. She
had appeared out of nowhere once her invisibility had dropped.
In the other rooms… small sounds could be heard as Akemi likely rounded up her sister’s
captors like she said she would.
“There we go!” Arche said as the lock clicked open. With complete relief on her face Arche
carefully cut the girl’s bindings and braced herself for them jumping up to hug her tight.
“There we go you two… I’m not letting you go again!” Arche said and cried along with her
sisters as the two five year olds cried into her shirt.
The young twins jumped as a loud crash was heard in a room next door. “W-what was that
Sister?” Kuuderika asked with a whimper in her voice.
Lifting the both of them up into her arms Arche made her way out towards the door to the
next room where the noise came from. “Someone very very special to me.” Arche said with a
blush that was hard to see in the dark as she pushed open the door as best she could with her
hands full.
“Slaver! Trash!” Akemi shouted as she tossed men one by one from her tails and into the
center of the room. They all seemed to be alive and staring around, but they could barely
move and they were clearly made to be silent somehow. “Oh hey there! Arche you didn’t tell
me they’re so adorable~ Hello you two, you must be Kuuderika and Ureirika. My name is
Akemi, I’ve heard a lot about you from your sister.” Akemi said and knelt down near them as
Arche let them stand on their own. They thankfully seemed more curious than anything at her
fox features, their eyes sometimes following them as they flicked behind her.
“You did? Did you help out Sister with the bad men?” Kuuderika asked with a light sniffle.
Clearly the two had been through a lot… Akemi could see a few bruises on them but
hopefully that was the worst of it.
“[Widen Magic: Diagnosis All]. Good… Yes I gave you sister a small hand in rescuing you.”
Akemi said and carefully reached over to ruffle their hair, and was happy they didn’t flinch
away as that would have made her a bit sad… She gave Arche a smile and nod as well.
“[Message]. They’re alright, just some very light bruising and nothing else. Every time I use
that spell I fear what I’ll find…” Akemi told Arche through message and clicked her fingers.
“[Gate]. Well little ladies, we’re going to take you to your new home, you can stay with your
big sister forever~” Akemi said and smiled wide at the happy cheer the girls gave, clinging to
Arche once again.
From the tears in Arche’s eyes as she held the girls close and headed towards the portal
Akemi could tell the girls were well loved, it was the same look she found herself giving
Hannyuu. From Arche’s story Akemi could tell she was more of the girl’s mother than their
own mother was, and they would be all the better for it.
Once Arche and the twins went through the portal Akemi made to follow. At the very edge of
the portal Akemi dug her finger nails into her palms until she bled before turning around to
glare at the mass of at least fifteen men she had used Mass Hold Person on.
“You all make me sick… That you would even aid in selling anyone into slavery is
unforgivable, but children? Especially ones that young? If I had found anything that even
suggested other types of abuse… you wouldn’t be dying any time soon no matter how much
you wish you would.” Akemi shook her head with a sigh.
“The fact you were going to be sending those two into an auction tomorrow even if Arche
held up her end of the ‘deal’ you forced on her… No, slavers and thugs like all of you have
no place in this world. You are unfortunately not the worst sort of people I have ever seen,
those people are in a special kind of hell, you’ll get at least the mercy of being spared that.
Cut your own throats and die.” Akemi cast her Divine Edict and watched it pass through
those men and take hold.
With a snap of her fingers her hold on their bodies was broken, and they moved to carry out
their orders. Akemi moved through the portal to the sound of their bodies falling to the
ground and choking on their own blood.
As much as she wished she could not care about it… killing people would still always bother
her no matter what she tried to convince herself of. The fury that faded from her mind left in
it's wake a sense of regret, of feeling less... human.
Healing her hands wasn’t even a conscious thought, she wasn’t sure if hurting them in the
first place even was… All her loved ones were safe, and the children were safe, that is what
mattered at the end of the day. “Just keep going Akemi… Focus on the good.”
Chapter End Notes

A/N: Holy fuck most of that came out in one day… I think it is safe to say I’m back~
Before I knew it I wrote 8k+ words in one sitting!
I hope you all enjoyed that big reveal, I tried to leave some clues around for it but I’m
unsure if anyone caught them. I had a lot of fun with this chapter~ I hope it makes more
sense now why Akemi acts more familiar with Ainz and seems to know more about him
than she should.
Home Sweet Home
Chapter Summary
Some R&R is in order for the girls, and what better way than settling into their new
home?
Chapter Notes
A/N: Sorry this one took a while, I was annoyingly not feeling it… So if this chapter is a
bit more rough that is a bit of why. Depression spiral also did not help over the past few
weeks.
Akemi took a deep breath as she passed through her Gate, nearly ending up nose to nose with
Arche.
“S-Sorry, I was going to go back through and see if you were okay…” Arche said with a
blush and a few healthy steps back.
The Kitsune also was plenty flushed and cleared her throat, folding her hands behind her
back. “Yup, was just tying up loose ends. Now then, lets go get some dinner and then sleep…
I am exhausted…” Akemi said and left out of the broken door, not paying it any mind besides
flicking her tail at it, letting them see the broken pieces seem to reverse in time and fly back
together into a whole door.
“Wow! Sister can you do magic like that also?”
“Yeah can you?” Kuuderika and Ureirika asked with far more energy than any of them
expected them to have, but they were clearly happy to be with their sister again.
“I’m pretty good at magic, but Akemi is on another level from me. I’ll be sure to tell you all
about the journey we went on~” Arche said and smirked at Akemi when the Kitsune looked
back at her.
“Oi don’t tell them too many embarrassing things, I have many I could share right back~”
Akemi said and opened up her front door. “Honeys I’m home!” Akemi said and moved over
to hug her family as they nearly ran towards her.
In the back the pair of twins stared up at their older sister and the strange look she got on her
face, it was almost… a painful for just a moment before she just hugged the twins tighter.
“Arche! It is so good to see you again!” Ana said as she nearly bounced over to the mage and
almost pounced on her in a hug until she saw her arms were full. “Oh? Who are these
adorable munchkins? Your daughters?” Ana asked and smiled at the twins. “I’m Ana you
two, its nice to meet you.”
Arche seemed to choke for just a moment at that comment before laughing. “I missed you too
Ana. No these are my little sisters. This is Kuuderika and this is Ureirika. Do I look old
enough to be a mom to five year olds?” Arche asked sarcastically.
Kyouko got a thoughtful look for a moment. “Not impossible I suppose. I mean, I was…
rather young when I had Lorelei, but that was very different circumstances…” Kyouko said
and took a deep breath. “Nice to meet you two.” Kyouko said and smiled at the girls. All in
all they were utterly adorable after all.
“Shall we all eat? Hey girls, when was the last time you two ate?” Akemi asked as she took a
spot at the table after making more chairs for everyone. To no one’s surprise the twins would
only accept the chairs next to Arche.
“Um… pretty long ago…” Kuuderika said and held her stomach.
“Since they tied us up…” Ureirika added, prompting both their plates to be filled by a variety
of vegetables and slices of meat by Ana.
“No one goes hungry on my watch.” Ana declared and clicked her tongs together with a
proud smirk.
“True, she is a mother hen. Lets eat, it has been a long long day…” Akemi said as she dug
into her food.
As the others ate and made idle conversation, Kyouko paused and sipped at her water. “Is…
the food spicy for anyone else?” Kyouko asked as she stuck her tongue out, her eyes slowly
watering as the spice seemed to ramp up in her mouth.
“It tastes fine for me, only thing I had added that might get close to that is pepper from
Akemi.” Ana said and stared at Kyouko curiously.
It was then that Kyouko noticed the peaceful smile on Hannyuu’s face. “Dear… what did you
do?” She asked her feline daughter before sipping at her water more before pulling it back.
“Why is the Water spicy? Hannyuu… did you make even my water spicy?”
Hannyuu just smiled at her wolf mother. “Mama Kyouko… You all taught me to keep my
promises~”
Kyouko had to just sit for a moment before sighing. “Yup, I deserved that one…” Kyouko
said and continued eating her spicy food while holding onto the hope she would get used to
it. She did not.
Long after dinner, after all of Foresight, except for Arche, had returned home to get some
needed rest. The visit had turned into cozy chatter in the living room, with a fire crackling in
the fireplace, bathing them all in light and warmth as they decompressed from such a
stressful day.
“Hey Akemi? T-thank you for everything today. Honestly I thought I was about to die in
there. Instead of death I’m able to sit here with my sisters and… we can start a new life
together.” Arche said as she held her sisters close to her as they all sat on the couch. The two
young girls had long since fallen asleep and pinned Arche in place, their grip firm and
unrelenting.
“Arche, you know I’d be there to help you in a heart beat, I don’t leave people I care about to
die… Just please don’t piss off any incarnations of death again? Well, if you stay at Natura I
won’t have to worry about that…” Akemi said and leaned over to rest her head on Arche’s
shoulder. “You’re still alive, and I’m going to keep it that way.”
Arche bit her lip as she felt the warmth of Akemi against her. “This has to be a form of
torture…” Arche thought with a quiet sigh. “I’ll be more careful, though hopefully I won’t
ever end up in that type of situation again. So what now?”
“Now? You just live. I’ll show you all the tree and where you can stay sometime, just make
sure you go to the fortress and grab your citizenship bracelet from Emeril if you want to visit
any floor above the twentieth. If you all still want to live together as a party you’re welcome
to, or well… any of the floors you can choose from to build on. Food will be plentiful, and
eventually the community will be vibrant.” Akemi said as she relaxed. She avoided meeting
the eyes of the others in the room.
Kyouko had Hannyuu asleep on her lap and was nearly asleep herself while Ana was
watching fondly on the other side of the couch as Arche and Akemi traded shy glances with
one another. It was barely a conscious thought for Ana to lean her head on Arche’s other
shoulder from the other side of the girl, drawing Arche’s eyes to her as well. “Yup, you don’t
need to worry much anymore, none of those criminals can follow you to Natura, and security
is the best around. Any idea what you might want to do though?” Ana asked and stared into
Arche’s eyes from up close.
Arche settled for leaning her head back to look at the ceiling as both women’s eyes were just
too much for her heart to handle.
Akemi could hear Arche and Ana’s hearts beating loudly in their chests, just like her own. It
was slightly awkward, but comfortable for the three of them.
“For the future? I’m not sure. Sure I have magic, but I don’t think my skills as a Worker will
be very useful in Natura. For tonight though I should… get these two to bed.” Arche said and
carefully stood up, still carrying the sleepy twins in her arms. “I’ll talk to you more tomorrow
alright?” Arche said and started to head towards the front door.
Akemi look back and forth between the door and Arche and seemed conflicted. Looking over
at Kyouko though she saw her Mate whisper yelling at the other two.
“You two should go walk her home.” Kyouko quietly told them once Arche had cleared the
room. Akemi and Ana nodded and all but scrambled up to follow.
“Here, let us help you.” Akemi said and pulled open the door for the mage, as Arche had
trouble with her arms full.
“Heh, you act like those two will even let you go in their sleep, I think you’re stuck with
them for at least this night.” Ana said and walked next to Arche, her hands nervously playing
with her sleeves as she looked anywhere but Arche and Akemi.
As they moved through the sleepy settlement the three of them felt a comfortable silence
grow between them. Perhaps it was the peaceful atmosphere of the forest home, or the
whistle-like breathes of the little twins, but it made them reluctant to interrupt the moment.
It wasn’t until they stood outside of Foresight’s door that Akemi cleared her throat and Ana
fidgeted next to her. “Have a nice night Arche, we’ll get you settled in more tomorrow.”
Akemi said and opened her door for her.
“Yup, there is a nice spot I was exploring on the sixty eighth floor I’d love to show you, if
you wanted to find a spot to settle.” Ana said and blushed in the moonlight.
“Yeah… Thanks for everything you two. I’d be happy to look around, could be fun for us all
to explore right?” Arche said and started to head into the doorway.
Akemi nearly jumped and Ana did jump as they felt a soft and wet touch on their cheeks,
right before Arche moved back inside, bumping the door closed with her hip.
The two girls had to stand there for a few moments holding their cheeks and turning to look
at each other. “Did… Arche just kiss us? Neat.” Akemi said and cleared her throat, taking
Ana’s hand into her own for their own casual stroll back.
Ana just nodded for a moment, her brain seeming to have to reboot.
It took zero time from when she went back into the living room for Kyouko to smirk at them.
“Well well~ Get that kiss lady killers?” Kyouko asked, nearly laughing at the blush her
adorable Mates had. She had to hold in her giggling as Hannyuu cuddled on top of her fast
asleep, kneading her hands against her like an actual cat would do.
Ana was amused by it all and leaned on Akemi. “I think things will be okay, though we
should probably talk about… Arche some time I think…” Ana grasped Akemi’s hand and
leaned into her arms as the Kitsune pulled her close.
“That would be a good idea… Shall we go to bed?” Akemi asked and moved over to kiss
Kyouko’s forehead sweetly, not wanting to leave her out.
“Bed sounds good… But um… I don’t think our kitten will be letting us go?” Kyouko said
and oh so gently pet Hannyuu’s ears, provoking a rumbling purr in the girl’s sleep.
“She really acts more and more like a kitten like this… It is unfair how adorable she can be.
Well Kyouko, you know the rules, you have to bring her with you~ How about we all just
stay in my room for tonight? I could use some cuddling…” Akemi said and kissed Hannyuu’s
forehead as Kyouko stood up with their daughter.
“I’ll go move Lorelei into our bed then, I’ll meet you two in there~” Ana said and tiredly
stumbled off up the stairs.
It was a rough day but they all were alive… “I swear… I just want a week of relaxation
without anything crazy happening…” Kyouko playfully complained and lightly smacked her
tail against Akemi walking next to her.
“No arguments there… maybe if I could clone myself we could have some free time… Lets
get some sleep…” Akemi wrapped her tails around Kyouko in response, just soaking up the
comfortable atmosphere as they all settled into bed with the Hannyuu in center, not that they
could separate her from Kyouko in her sleep anyway.
A gentle knock at the door startled Rinna out of her chair. Looking between Lirina and
Emeril she had to wonder what it could be. The small spike of fear was always a thing Rinna
hated those days, any loud noise set her nerves alight in the worst possible way. There was at
least one person who could make her feel entirely safe though, and even could slip through
her guard far too easily.
“Could you get that Rinna dear? My hands are a bit occupied. I think it is your girlfriend.”
Emeril teased through the window in the wall between the Kitchen and Living room.
“S-she isn’t my girlfriend…” Rinna whimpered out in embarrassment, her cheeks red enough
to clash against her white hair and skin. Her embarrassment didn’t stop her from nearly
dashing to the door to open it. A rare smile emerged as she saw her best friend on the other
side. “Hey there H-hannyuu. Something going on?” Rinna asked and let her in.
Emeril just quietly laughed to herself in the kitchen, despite denying it, her daughter knew
exactly who she was talking about. It was hard not to tease the two of them, they were too
precious.
Her blush didn’t improve as Hannyuu pulled her into a hug. Normally she felt light panic at
even a hug from Emeril, something that was slowly improving the more she came to love the
woman as another mother, yet Hannyuu’s hugs always felt… warmer and more welcome.
After hugging her back she tried to will her cheeks to stop burning.
“Something like that~ Mama asked me to bring Mrs Emeril something, and I wanted to ask if
you wanted to come along today? We’re going to take a look at the place Mama made for us
at the top of the tree!”
“I heard my name? Good morning Hannyuu, I hope you and your mothers are doing well.”
Emeril said as she dried off her hands. Peeking from around her waist Lirina smiled wide at
Hannyuu before lunging forward for a hug that the feline was more than happy to return.
“Hey Lirina, hope you aren’t driving your mom crazy. Mama made a ring for you Mrs
Emeril, so you can contact her and stuff. There is also this thingy that Mama said was a
summoning crystal.” Hannyuu said and pulled out a glowing blue gem, as well as a wooden
ring.
“Oh? Well that would have been useful a while ago… Though I haven’t been sitting still, I
did end up learning Message, but this will be useful if I want to keep the mana. What kind of
summoning gem is this?” Emeril asked as she took both items but stared at the gem with
suspicion.
“Some sort of Angel Akemi called Dominion Authority, she said it is for emergencies if she
isn’t around to, in her words, ‘determine if a threat’s free trial of existence has expired’. I
don’t know what it means either but… anyway, could Rinna come with me? Did you want to
Rinna?” Hannyuu asked and rocked on her heels with a happy grin.
Emeril shook her head in exasperation. “I should be used to her being insane but… well,
maybe after a few hundred years I’ll get used to it. I’m alright with that as long as you protect
her, but I know you will.”
“Of course I will, we’ll be at a safe place anyway.” Hannyuu held out a hand to Rinna, not at
all minding how much the sheep girl was blushing.
“O-okay… It sounds fun.” Rinna said and took that hand after just a small hesitation. “I’ll be
back later you two.” Rinna said and ruffled Lirina’s hair, smiling at the tiny Kitsune that had
become dear to her.
“Mm! Have fun big sisters!” Lirina said and scampered back inside.
“Be safe you two, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” At that comment Hannyuu looked back
at her like she was just given a gift.
“So I guess that means kissing in the forest is okay?” Hannyuu said with a snicker, much to
Rinna’s quiet shock, her sheep ears folding down as she covered her red face. Eventually
Emeril just shook her head with a quiet laugh.
“You really are Akemi’s child… Well, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do At your age.” Emeril
clarified, just holding back her smile till the two ran off together, still hand in hand. “They’re
cute. They’re cute together.” It was never a boring day there in the least.
“Welcome back dear. Good morning Rinna, I was just about to go over how we’ll get to
where we’ll be staying.” Akemi said as the kids returned to their house. Akemi ruffled
Hannyuu’s hair, and applied a quick ear scratch as she held out a hand over Rinna. Rinna
recognized what Akemi was doing and nodded, looking down a bit and leaning into Akemi’s
hand, letting the Kitsune apply the same treatment.
“I’m so glad she is also getting less jumpy.” Akemi thought as she pulled out a small box.
“So, our home is not connected to the local teleportation network I set up, as I wanted to do
something… different for security. These look the same as the other identification bracelets,
and are more or less the same in function, but the core of them is made with minute amounts
of astral gold, some of what I have left as I don’t need a lot of these. That extra astral gold
lets me enchant these more, while also giving it a mana capacity enough to cast a very limited
version of my Gate spell.” Akemi said and passed them out to Hannyuu, Ana, and Kyouko.
“I have one set aside for Lorelei, but I think one of us will be with her most times so I can
give her her’s at a later date. This limited gate spell will only open a exit portal at the top of
our home, and it can take mana from the tree to recharge. You could be almost anywhere in
the world, and if it doesn’t have teleportation blockers you can return home if you need to.”
“Whoa… You have been busy Mama…” Hannyuu said as she pulled out a small knife she
had been given to carry. The others watched in surprise as Hannyuu was able to poke her
thumb with minimal hesitation, barely even wincing. By the time she had wiped the single
bead of blood on the bracelet the tiny wound had healed up. She lifted up her cloak that hung
off her shoulders and marveled at the magic she felt from it after it entered her body. “This
cloak is really something…”
“I tried my best in making it, took a while too. I had examined the enchantments on Gazef’s
armor when we met him, and his amulet is enchanted with at least Minor Regeneration. Your
cloak is enchanted with Major Regeneration, and made from better materials~” Akemi said,
smiling at her daughter as the others also finished marking their bracelets.
Once they were put on they shrunk down to fit their wrists making Ana marvel at such an
intricate detail on a small item.
“Besides me, you all should be the only ones who can get there as it is above the 101st floor
of the tree. I intend to summon some powerful guards that will fly around it like a fortress,
but that is for later. Shall we?” Akemi asked as she held up her own bracelet, opening a Gate
for them.
The air was frighteningly chilly as the Gate opened, treating them all to that view of the stars
that could stun a person. They stood upon a flat stone platform that stretched enough to fit a
building or two of it’s own. “This is the teleportation area, sorry if it is a bit cold.”
“You know, no matter how many times I’ve seen this view by now, I’m no where near getting
tired of it.” Kyouko said as she forced herself to look back down at her family.
“Good, because you’ll be seeing a lot of it~ Now then, shall I give you all the grand tour?”
Akemi asked and nearly pushed them towards a set of double doors. Predictably there was a
staircase that went down just a bit. “So, I gave this place a top down structure with ten floors
in total. This floor has to be my favorite, there is more than enough space for everyone to
have a bedroom or two if you wanted.” The lengthy hallways made several of them side eye
her.
“Mama… just how big is this place? How many bedrooms is all this?” Hannyuu asked as she
ran over to peek inside of a room. “How big is this Bedroom? There is just a window instead
of a wall! What if someone can see us up here?” Hannyuu asked and rushed inside.
“Ah that one is a tiny bit bigger, it is one of the master bedrooms, but all of them are decently
sized. You don’t need to worry, they work only one way. We can see out of those windows,
but people below cannot see inside, it looks like a flat wall to them.”
“I’m kind of surprised you didn’t make furniture yet. Just how big is each floor?” Ana asked
in amazement as she poked at a white, glowing, half sphere poking out of the wall near the
door. When she swiped her hand over it, as Akemi motioned for her to do, the ceiling was
gently lit up. A few more tests of it had Ana swiping different ways, and just as she hoped,
the lights changed with it.
“That one is my favorite setting, it reflects the night sky as it is above like the floors in the
tree do. Just swipe down on it to turn the lights off. The floors are about… a castle wide? I
made it so we won’t run out of space.”
“You still never answered how many bedrooms there are~ Planning on making the family
bigger?” Kyouko teased as she hugged her from behind, chuckling at Akemi turning a ruby
red and leaning back against her.
“There are… enough… I did say I want a big family…” Akemi mumbled, not at all moving
out of those arms. “I think I’ll let you all settled with a room of your own, I’m going to get
the next floor ready and get us some lunch.” With that excuse she vanished from Kyouko’s
grasp and out of the room without any of their eyes being able to track her.
“What the…? Well… I suppose it isn’t a problem if we each get our own room.” Kyouko said
and seemed just a bit grumpy at that vanishing act, but her grump didn’t last long as she
hugged Ana instead. “What about you dear? Did you want a big family?” Kyouko asked in a
whisper into Ana’s ear.
“M-maybe… I wouldn’t… mind it.” Ana said and had to look away from those intense gold
eyes.
Hannyuu just watched her moms continue their games with an amused sigh. “Lorelei, our
moms are being weird again…” Hannyuu swore she saw the corner of Lorelei’s mouth tilt up
for just a moment.
“Lets see… [Message]. Hello there Skeletor~” Akemi said with amusement as she moved
rapidly around a kitchen area, opening cabinets and shoving things from her inventory inside.
“Why are you calling me this time Akemi?” Ainz asked in a deep sigh. “I thought I asked you
to not call me that? Honestly…”
Akemi just snickered to herself as she kept busy putting things away. “Oh I just wanted to
chat? So… I never got to ask what you think of my tree, what did you think?” Akemi asked
and hummed to herself.
“Well, it was at least impressive, though now you cannot escape people calling you a
goddess, you realize this right? How did you even make that?”
“I… accepted that when I made it. Believe it or not I got to finally use my class unique skill
to make it, since it was impossible in Yggdrasil… Suck it shitty Devs~ It did attract the
attention of… someone who was a bit jumpy at what I was doing. Blah blah blah
assassination attempt, but after talking to them I could see their point. Moral of the story is
please be careful when doing anything big. I had forgotten to tell you in the… stress of
yesterday.” Akemi said in a worried tone.
“I appreciate the concern. On that note I suppose I’ll tell you ahead of time, but I shall be
starting a country as well so I would like to finalize the alliance we discussed previously. You
may thank the Emperor of the Baharuth Empire for the idea. I trust you have no objections?”
Ainz told her with a small bit of amusement and accusation.
“I can do that. What would I have a problem with? I threatened a King already and basically
told him to fuck off, I can’t well get angry at you for doing the same… I do have my
hypocritical moments but… as long as you aren’t doing things that would make Nii-sama
angry at you I won’t get in your way if I can help it. Hey Ainz… I want to find a way to
summon him, you wouldn’t happen to have any clue on how we got here would you?” Akemi
asked as she took a seat.
“I do not, one moment I was sitting in the throne room watching the time till the game’s shut
down near. When the timer ended and it was supposed to log me out I felt no change at all,
except for all of Nazarick’s NPCs suddenly coming alive like they always had been, they
noticed nothing strange about this either. Do you have any theories?” Ainz asked.
“I have at least a hunch that World Items are involved, but I’ll need more information. I have
a lead on a World Item that I’m going to attempt to get my hands on before I go very far from
home… last thing we all need is Downfall of Castle and Country being used on me after
all… Once I get some protection then I’ll be more free to explore and hopefully find more
World Items, maybe one of them can cross over between worlds.” Akemi said and leaned
back in her chair before she stood up.
Wandering into the large and empty kitchen, Akemi began to pull out ingredients for a simple
lunch as she chatted.
“A wise idea, though I am curious if this ‘Divinity’ you possess would act as protection
against World Items in their place. I’m surprised you have yet to ask to borrow one of
Nazarick’s.”
At that comment Akemi had to snicker to herself. “Because I’m not stupid. I’m not going to
ask for the impossible, especially after such a tense time yesterday. Sure, Nii-sama says to
help people in need, but even he knew there are limits on that. That information about my
Divinity would be useful to have, but that is a risk I am Not willing to take… I’ll just get one
myself and keep my loved ones home until we find the ones who brainwashed Shalltear.”
“I will take great joy in that information, as would Shalltear, but we have all the time in the
world I suppose expose the rats. I do not believe either of us are going to die of old age any
time ever. I’m glad you at least have some common sense…”
“Oi! What is that supposed to mean?! I might not be as careful as I should, or have the means
to have plan on top of plan on top of plan, but I do put some level of thought into my
actions…” Akemi said with several more barely mumbled complaints. “On an unrelated note,
I had a small favor to ask. It is nothing crazy, I swear, I just wanted to ask if you had anyone
that would be able to train Kyouko further in the sword? She wishes to improve and I can’t
really help her with actual skills…” Akemi admitted.
Ainz was scarily quiet for a while, contemplating her question. “I will ask Cocytus if he
would want to, I won’t make him. He has a warrior’s spirit, so I believe he will agree to train
her. In return I wish to set up something similar.”
Akemi made a noise of confusion. “Really? Training people is not my specialty, I hope you
realize that.”
“Oh it isn’t for training. You’ve met Aura and Mare, I wish for them to… make friends their
own age. They may be floor guardians, but they are still children, they should have some time
to be able to Be children.”
“Awww Bone Daddy looking out for his babies~ I could see if Hannyuu would be up for
meeting them, They both seemed friendly enough, as long as they don’t like to play too
rough…” It was then that she heard foot steps coming down the stairs far down the hall.
“Alright, lunch time, have a nice day, please don’t genocide any countries.”
“I’ll take it under advisement, have a good day… you damn furry.” With that Ainz ended the
message. Akemi stood there for a few moments with her eye twitching.
She noted that he had figured out a way to end Message spells on the receiving end and
thought about how he did so, while another part of her mind she pondered on her methods of
revenge. “Oh the prank war is on now…”
After a small lunch they were back on their tour. “So how come most of this place is so
empty? I figured you had already made furniture and all that.” Ana asked as she held Akemi’s
hand while Kyouko held Akemi’s other.
“I wanted it to be a blank slate for all of us. It isn’t just my home, so we can all choose out
furniture. The only thing I’ve added is some basics like food storage, water, and lighting. I
went ahead of cleaned out most of my inventory of some foods to fill up the pantry. The ninth
floor also has some living rooms, but like the others it is empty. Ahhh I want to just have
family nights sometimes, especially if we have m-more kids…” Akemi mumbled that last
part, but not quietly enough. “Of course you’d be invited also Rinna, you’re basically family
already.” Akemi said and smiled at the sweet sheep girl who walked next to Hannyuu as she
pushed her big sister along.
“T-thank you Q-queen Akem-” Akemi just stared at her until she looked away. “T-thank you
Miss Akemi…”
“But of course dear, if you ever need anything please just ask. Now, more storage is available
on the eighth floor we just left, including some deep freezers that will halt aging on things
placed in them like my inventory does, so we can stock up on meat without worry.” They had
exited yet another staircase and looked around at the seventh floor.
“More hallways? You know we’re going to get lost a lot, right Mom?” Hannyuu asked with a
worried glance.
“Well… things can be changed around, but most of these doors are bigger work shops that
can be used. It isn’t just for me, I want to set up an art workshop, if any of you wanted to try
your hand at it. It is always nice to have a hobby after all. I know it looks a bit hard to
remember, but once we add some decorations it will be easier to figure things out. This floor
is my favorite, so many possibilities~ I need the room for my experiments.”
At the very least the next floor below, the sixth floor, opened up into a much larger chamber.
“This is what will be the library, my favorite floor I think, I want to add all the books in my
inventory to it, and then I can work on translating them all for you, or I could teach you
Japanese writing. There are some more features but what I want to show you is on the fourth
floor.” Akemi said and smirked at their faces, especially Ana as she likely imagined just how
many books could fill the full sized library.
The fifth floor was large also and had one large metal door with a sign on it. ~Under
Construction <3~ It said, getting a chuckle out of at least Rinna. “This floor will be the vault
once I figure out a few more spells I want to use to secure it, until then it is rather bare.
Anyway, the fourth floor is the training floor! Certainly my favorite!” Akemi said and
stepped down the stairs. It had larger hallways and several wide doorways without doors,
giving them glimpses of training dummies, weapon racks and a room with strange rune
covered walls that shimmered.
“We have your melee training dummies and weapon racks which I’ll fill those up later with
my projects. We have a room to train magic, so feel free to use that if you want, it is meant to
contain spells up to tier eight. Any wide range spells still would not be wise to use in such an
enclosed space though.” Akemi trotted down the hall and stopped in front of one wide entry
ways. “There is even a gym with some weights I made. Kyouko if there is anything else you
might like in it I’m all ears.” Akemi wiggled said giant ears with a grin.
“Ooo… I like, is there somewhere to run?” Kyouko asked as her tail wagged, much to the
other’s amusement, It was nice whenever she acted like a puppy. “There is just so much to
explore~ I just need a sparring partner…” Kyouko looked at Akemi quite pointedly.
“I-I know I told you I would but… it isn’t like I have any techniques I can teach you, I don’t
even use a sword. I did you one better though, I might have gotten you a sparring partner that
is better than me in melee combat~ I hear they are pretty nice, I just have to wait to hear back
from Ainz on that.” At that news the others looked at her sceptically.
“Didn’t… you two nearly get close to fighting just yesterday? You aren’t worried at all?” Ana
asked with a look of serious concern. The big smile on Akemi’s face didn’t comfort her in the
least.
“Oh that? From the game we’re from you can lead an army against someone one day, drink
with them the next, and on the third nuke them as a prank. Life is too short to get caught up
on petty grudges.” Akemi sounded far too casual about it.
“Love… you’re an idiot.” Kyouko had to say what the others were thinking In that moment,
yet it just made Akemi grin at them.
“Yeah, but I’m you girl’s idiot, forever! I doubt he would want to kill the last direct link to
one of his best friends, especially since I want to get Nomura into this world one day if at all
possible. Hopefully that possibility keeps him on his best behavior as well…” Akemi shook
her head tiredly. “I’m not too worried, I had checked his NPC’s Karma values while I was
there, if it is who I think then they are more neutral and honorable. Oh yes, on that note,
Hannyuu, how would you like to play with the dark elf twins that Ainz is more or less the
father to, he specifically asked if I could set that up.”
Hannyuu just stared at her mother like she was crazy for a few seconds. “You want me to
play with some kids… from the evil tomb?” Hannyuu asked with folded ears, showing a rare
sense of fear.
“Oh I’ve seen the two of them, they aren’t scary. Mare is quiet boy and seems rather shy, and
Aura is pretty pleasant from what I’ve seen. I trust them enough to know they’ll listen to
Ainz’s orders… they are all rather fanatical about that, so it should be fine. Just think about it,
okay?” Akemi ruffled Hannyuu’s hair lovingly till the girl bapped her hand away with one of
her bubbly giggles.
“Now, the third floor is my favorite and I worked really hard planning this one down. I’ll
show that later though, you’ll find out why then~” Akemi said and led them down further.
“Mama… this is a lot of stairs…” Hannyuu complained as she gently pushed Lorelei’s
wheelchair down a small ramp that merged with the stairs so it would be completely
accessible for Lorelei or anyone who needed a wheelchair.
“Is it? I mean, it is good for you~ Eventually it will feel like nothing. If you really want it
though I suppose I can set up a mini teleporter system for inside the castle.” Akemi said with
just a slight pout to her lips, enough to get Hannyuu to snicker.
“Akemi dear… it is a lot of stairs, especially for us that are not the most physically fit…”
Ana said in support of the idea, already stretching out her legs.
“I know a few ways we can increase that stamina Ana~” Kyouko added as she wrapped her
arms around both her Mates.
“Mamas… please…” Hannyuu complained with a sour look on her face.
“What is wrong? I’m sure Kyouko was just talking about the running track on the first floor.”
Akemi said with a half guilty look.
“Running track?” two words that were enough to get Kyouko to perk up and wag her tail,
looking more like a puppy in that moment than the incredibly fit and tall wolf woman she
was.
“Behold! My favorite floor! It is twice the height as the others to make room for trees. Did
you think I wouldn’t have nature in this place? We can have a nice little garden, maybe farm
some food for ourselves. Personally I want to experiment with some fruit trees, maybe see if I
can make some from Earth’s past.” Akemi said, her own tails wagging.
“You’ve said almost every floor is your favorite floor you dork, but this is really impressive,
its like our own private forest.” Ana said and leaned her head on Akemi’s shoulder.
“I mean… I like all the floors, they each have their purpose, and gives us enough space for
who knows how many people to live, I want us to be nice and self sufficient up here in some
ways.” Akemi leaned into Ana and Kyouko as the two hugged her.
“People like Arche?” Hannyuu asked with a smug grin as she took in the sights. It was
similar to the forest in the Kingdom they had all gotten familiar with, expect different; It was
theirs, it was safe by design. There was a fake sky above them, yet it seemed completely
natural, it felt just as warm on her skin as the real sun.
Ana and Akemi both blushed at that. “M-maybe, but I doubt you want to be here for that
discussion…” Akemi told Hannyuu while looking away.
“You’re right, I really don’t… but if I have to prod you into confessing again I’d do it in a
heartbeat mamas~” Hannyuu teased and accepted the ruffling of her hair from both Ana and
Kyouko.
“You sure you want to pick that fight right now little one?” Akemi asked with a smirk,
looking between her daughter and Rinna, her underlying message more than understood
judging by the red faces the two kids shared.
“And with that… I gotta try it out!” Kyouko said and took off on a run through the miniature
woods and the rough path around the edges that was made.
“There she goes, and she forgot her workout shorts…” Ana said with a bit of a whine as her
and Akemi watched her run off into the distance.
“Yeah… but still, a good view- Oi!” Akemi let out a reflexive yelp as a tiny foot gently
kicked her ankle. “Sorry sorry…”
“At least wait till Lorelei, Rinna, and me aren’t in the area please? Bleh…” Hannyuu buried
her face in Rinna’s shoulder with an exaggerated shudder, at least until she was distracted by
something deeper in the small forest. “Want to go explore?”
A few heavy nods from Rinna was all the answer that was needed. “Please? Is it alright if we
take Lorelei?” Rinna answered, and turned a question to the adults.
Akemi and Ana smiled at them warmly at the care they showed as they carefully pushed
Lorelei along with them after Akemi gave them the okay. “Just be careful of rocks or holes,
the outer paths are more smooth.”
“You know Akemi… I think this floor is my favorite also, I can see why you saved it for
last… Haaa this is great~” Ana nearly moaned as she rested her chin on the cool tile while
the rest of her body rested in the pleasantly hot water of the bath.
It was a floor almost dedicated to relaxation, and Ana was tempted to scold Akemi for
something so outrageously extravagant, but the huge bath that was recessed in the ground
soothed that urge as well as her aching muscles.
From behind her she would feel two strong arms wrap around her as Kyouko rested her chin
on her shoulder. It was both comfortable and agonizingly arousing as Ana felt Kyouko’s
generous chest pressed into her back. That, combined with the breathes near her ear, and a
wandering hand that was gently pinching a nipple, it was quickly driving her nuts.
“Kyouko… N-not yet…”
Their tub was sectioned off by thin screens from another one that had occupants of it’s own.
“W-wait until later…” She barely kept her voice under a whisper, sighing in either frustration
or relief as Kyouko contented herself to just hold her. It was at the very least extremely
comfortable.
At the same time, on the other side of the screen, Akemi was quite unaware of the other two’s
shenanigans as she gently scrubbed Hannyuu’s hair, feeling quite amused as the sleepy
purring coming from her daughter. “Your hair is getting a bit long, did you want to still grow
it out more?” Akemi asked as she examined the very light pink strands with amusement, it
had started to reach Hannyuu’s upper back.
“Yup, I want it to be longer, maybe like your’s?” Hannyuu said and yawned. It had been a
rather long day for them all, and after they put Lorelei to bed and took Rinna home it had
been time to show them all the third floor in all it’s obscene extravagance before they passed
out. It was the perfect way to round out the day, just a relaxing bath and new warm beds.
“Okay, all dry. Did you still want to stay in a room of your own?” Akemi asked and tossed
the towel she used to dry Hannyuu’s head on top of that head, just to watch her daughter
giggle and flail to get it off.
“Mm, I think I can handle it Mama. the… nightmares have calmed down a bit, so even if I
wake up I might be able to get back to sleep. If nothing else I still have my ring.” Hannyuu
said and accepted the pajamas Akemi pulled out of her inventory.
“Maybe there is something that can help?” Akemi looked momentarily nervous as she
thought back. “When I was younger Nii-sama was the one who helped me fall asleep. It
wasn’t quite the same, but I would get nightmares about our parents and how my body just…
didn’t work right, or even feel right.” Akemi hugged her daughter and felt the girl settle down
from what ever memories were stirred.
“What did he do to help?” Hannyuu asked in a near whisper as she clung onto Akemi’s
bathrobe after putting on her pajamas.
“It sounds a bit silly now that I’m older but… after he stopped living at our parents I stole
and would wear one of his shirts. Sure, human senses aren’t nearly as effective as what I have
now, but still… he was associated with what little safety I had.” Akemi said with a bemused
look on her face. “Would something like that help? I’m still getting used to this sense of
smell but I can see why it is easier to be comforted by scents now.”
Hannyuu nodded and took a step back. “I’d like that I think… U-um… are all the rooms
soundproofed?” Her look of apprehension made Akemi look away.
“They are, you don’t need to worry about that. If you need to get in touch with me the doors
do allow in some noise up close, so you can knock at anytime. You also can just Message me
if you don’t feel like getting up.”
“Mm, I’ll meet you up there okay? I picked out a room earlier so I’ll get ready for bed. Have
a good bath Mama! This place is way too big…”
Akemi stifled a laugh as her daughter complained under her breath. “I’ll be in in a while. At
least you’ll be tired out from the stairs.” Once those foot steps disappeared up those many
stairs Akemi got a curious look on her face. “Now then…”
“K-kyouko please… What if Hannyuu hears?” Ana complained as quietly as she could as
Kyouko’s hands had begun to roam again.
“Hannyuu went to bed. I see you two are up to no good~” Akemi teased as she entered the
sectioned off pool sized bath area, standing above them outside of the water.
“Oh good to know~ Well I think that means it is just the three of us for quite some ways~”
Kyouko teased and nibbled at Ana’s ear playfully as she still hugged her from behind. “Are
you going to just watch? Or are you going to join us love?” She asked Akemi with a lick of
her lips.
It was then that Akemi noticed that both her girlfriend’s eyes were drawn to her still in her
bathrobe. “If you don’t feel comfortable Akemi, you don’t need to, we can look away.” Ana
said and shivered in Kyouko’s embrace.
From where she stood above the two of them in the pool Akemi could see far more than she
had anticipated. Her face felt like it would ignite as she observed both her lover’s bare skin,
wet and flushed from both the heat and each other’s company.
“N-no its fine, I’m… fine…” Akemi said and with some hesitation removed her bathrobe,
setting that aside on a bench before sitting down with her legs in the water.
While Ana was clearly shy, only taking quick peeks and getting equally as red, Kyouko
unabashedly took in the sights. “You’re both so beautiful.” As expected Kyouko’s words
seemed to make the other two girls curl into themselves. “So shy, it is adorable~ I still just
wish we had more time to ourselves…” Kyouko commented as she let go of Ana and floated
back in the water, catching both of them gazing at her chest.
“I… don’t think that is changing any time soon… Not that I don’t like this! I don’t look…
weird?” Slipping into the water, Akemi sunk down to her chin. “I… I do have a plan for
um… that date I want us to go on. Things have just been so damn busy lately…” Akemi
complained, her ears flicking as water droplets hit the thin fur there.
“Oh? I kind of want to be surprised, I bet it will be great~ Planning things out ahead of time
will help… I’d like to have a day and night with just us three…” Kyouko settled on the stone
shelf under the water around the edges, giving them a comfortable and shallow, place to sit.
Ana drifted over and let herself be settled into a position on half of Kyouko’s lap, sinking into
those arms and relaxing. Kyouko beckoned Akemi over, coaxing the Kitsune to also sit with
her. “I love you two… this is quite comfortable. This place, this home, is great.” Kyouko said
in a happy sigh, idly petting their hair as they all relaxed together.
“Seriously, a massive relaxation floor with multiple baths? An entire village could swim here
dear. Still, good job Akemi, this place is amazing… it feels like it can really be a good
home.” Ana said and kissed Akemi, both of them quite lazy in the affection, their energy
drained for the day.
“Mmm, luckily things worked out well. I just have some tasks to do before we can really
have some time to ourselves… Think Emeril would watch the kids for that date night? I feel
bad relying on her so much, poor lady has enough work I’ve dumped on her. I should offer
them rooms here, she is important to our family also, and we aren’t short on room.
Thoughts?” Akemi said and giggled at the light nibbling Kyouko did on the very tip of one of
her ears.
“We could make it up to her sometime, I wouldn’t mind watching her girls. Rinna and
Hannyuu can have a night to themselves and you can spoil Lirina like I know you do. I think
Emeril is onto you giving her those cookies. There is no harm in at least extending the
invitation, Emeril was, for a while, was the nearest thing to family I had. Just because my
family has expanded doesn’t mean I stopped caring about her after all.” Kyouko said and
closed her eyes.
“Giving those two more bonding time would be a nice idea, it would make them happy.
Lirina is so cute… I can’t say no to that little face.” After a few moments a thought seemed to
get stuck in her head as she lit up like a fire. “She makes me wonder w-what… having a kid
would be like, what they would look like…” Akemi looked away from the two of them as
they snuggled closer to her.
Neither Akemi or Ana missed the look on Kyouko’s face at that. “Well… who knows what
the future holds love, where there is a will there is a way~ But that will be for another night.”
Kyouko said and pinched both of their bottoms, seeming to enjoy the way they squeaked in
sync. “I certainly wouldn’t mind some little ones running around bugging their big sisters.”
“Yeah… we’ve come this far already, we have a lot of time ahead of us. As nice as cuddling
in the bath is let me finish washing up and we can tuck the kids in.” Akemi’s tails swayed
above the water as her mind wandered through thoughts of the future, unable to let go of that
feeling of longing in chest.
Akemi’s shirt was adorably over-sized on Hannyuu, as were the other two shirts she had
stolen from her other moms that she decided to wear all at once, replacing her pajama top.
“You know… I kind of figured you would wear them one at a time, aren’t you going to be too
hot?” Akemi asked as the three moms sat on the side of Hannyuu’s new bed as they tucked
their daughter in.
“If you need to you can come to any of our rooms, okay? We love you kiddo.” Kyouko said
and took her turn giving her a hug and giving their own reassurances.
“It is a bit colder here anyway, I’ll be fine with these. Love you also Mamas, sleep well.”
Hannyuu said and snuggled into the blankets. Despite the bravado she was showing it wasn’t
hard to see the underlying tension in her as her moms left the room and turned out the light,
letting their daughter hopefully sleep. A new place was always a lot to get used to, especially
with how big it was.
It was almost startling with how quiet the place could be as they huddled in the hallway.
“Well… how do we want to arrange things tonight? One of us should still stay with Lorelei of
course, did we all want to stay there?” Akemi asked and leaned on the wall. “I plan on just
sleeping tonight, I have some planning to do tomorrow… Emeril wanted my input on things
as well.”
“I’ll just stay with Lorelei tonight. You two don’t have too much fun~” Kyouko said and
claimed a quick kiss from each of them. “Love you two.”
When Kyouko stepped out of the embrace of Akemi’s tails, the Kitsune had to resist the urge
to pull her right back in, they all needed sleep after all. “Love you too, have a good rest,
we’re just across the hall.”
“Yup, if you end up wanting us to come join you you need only tell us.” Ana said and leaned
against Akemi, the sleepiness clear on her face as she made Akemi hold her up.
Of course that had to be responded to, and so Akemi just lifted Ana up with her tails entirely
in a fluffy princess carry.
“I can think of many ways That talent can be used… I better go before I’m tempted to carry
you both off and really get us exhausted for bed.” Kyouko teased, just enjoying the gibberish
that came out of both her lover’s mouths.
Slipping into Lorelei’s room she had to stop herself from returning to them, leaning back
against the door as the fire died down. “I swear that date cannot come soon enough…” With
that last thought she slipped into bed next to Lorelei, observing her still face as she slept
under the effects of Deep Slumber. “Hopefully the effects of that last the rest of the night. It
feels like the more she is responding while awake, the more she seems to get nightmares if we
don’t put her under…”
Kyouko sighed and snuggled closer to her daughter, lightly petting the crimson hair that was
oh so like her own, that used to match the fiery and energetic personality of her baby.
Clinging onto those memories Kyouko stayed close to her, praying that her daughter would
find her way out of the mental prison she had hid in to keep that last bit of her sanity.
“I love you Lorelei, rest well my child.” A few tears soaked Lorelei’s hair as her mother
settled down to join her in a hopefully peaceful rest.
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Sorry that one took a while again. If you caught the reference to Fate/Stay Night
Unlimited Bladeworks Abridged you get a cookie <3
By all means, please tell me what you thought in the comments, or any future
predictions~ Next chapter will be very important.
Awaken
Chapter Summary
A long anticipated reunion, and a final farewell.
Chapter Notes
A/N: So this is going to be a hard one for me to write… but I hope I do it justice. Sorry
it took some time to get this one out, I was second guessing myself like crazy, that and
distractions like FF14.
With a jolt down her spine she felt herself awaken, and in a single moment she regretted such
it. The only sounds she could let out were strangled gasps as her tongue didn’t wish to work
right.
“Oh… I’m still here…” She remembered she didn’t have a tongue, not since a few weeks
prior, though it was hard to keep track of time and dates. “I wish I could dream of Mama
more often… it feels like I’m actually there, so life like…” Lorelei thought and kept her eyes
closed, afraid of what she would see if she dared look. The scent in her nose reminded her of
just where she was, the iron smell just under her nose the latest reminder of the thick metal
collar around her neck, pinching the bruised skin there.
Her mind idly thought onto how that collar and chain might be latched. She was laying down
on a stone hard surface, and she guessed the chain had her stuck to it, but that would involve
opening her eyes to confirm that.
“Who am I fooling… I’m not getting out of here. Mama… won’t find me… Why can’t they
just finally kill me?” Lorelei thought as the last of that fight left her, the surrender to death far
too appealing after all that she had been through. Alas… her options for that were all but non-
existent, she couldn’t even bite her tongue.
With another pained whimper she brought her hand up to rub the sore spot on her cheek
where she was hit the night before.
At least she attempted to reach up. The lack of sensation caused her eyes to jolt open in a
panic. That same panic flooded her body as she finally felt the burning pain in the spots
where her arms should have been. The same feeling extended to her legs, or at least the very
harshly bandaged ends above her knees where her legs now ended.
“ITHURTSITHURTSITHURTSKILLME!” Her thoughts were just gibberish to herself as all

she felt was lasting pain, more than she had felt in who knows how many years those bastards
had confined and hurt her in every way imaginable.
After several moments being unable to even breath from the agony she felt she pulled in all
the air she could and closed her eyes in her suffering.
“MAMA! It hurts! Mama!” A shrill cry filled the darkened room as Lorelei squirmed against
what ever was restraining her, panic fueling her limbs until she felt herself fall. Still wrapped
up in something she felt tears in her eyes as she struggled just to get herself free!
With a gasp what she recognized as a blanket was pulled off of her. She stared up at a face
that was both familiar and not at the same time. “Oh, my dreams are really creative…” She
thought and calmed down, her expression sinking back down. “How long do I get?” She had
to think to herself.
“Lorelei, you are okay, you’re safe now!” The Not-Mama told her and pulled her close. The
hint of growing panic in Lorelei’s chest was slowly snuffed out as the scent of the familiar
seeming woman tickled her nose and memories.
“Mama…” She mumbled and willed her arms to move around the woman, her mind not
wanting to believe anything she was seeing or smelling. The longing in her heart the scent
stirred made her remember all that she had lost, all the hopes she had discarded to stay sane
for one more day, until all that remained was just a vague feeling of existence that wouldn’t
stop as much as she wished it would.
“That’s right, do you… remember?” The worried tone of the question surprised her, there was
no way she could mistake that scent, it was the most familiar one in the world to her from her
first days till her last. It wasn’t quite the same anymore, there were several underlying scents
of other people and places with it, but the core of it was still painfully familiar.
“Mama… T-this is a dream… d-did I finally die?” She had to ask as she thought of her
situation. This was not the first time her mind had shown her visions of her mother and the
scenery that was around her, the people that cared for her mother. “Heh… this is just c-
cruel…” She spoke to herself, not even looking directly at the phantom that claimed to be her
mother.
“You are awake, you are alive, and you are safe Lorelei… My baby I…” The phantom had
tears to match Lorelei’s own.
A strangled laugh came from Lorelei’s throat before she even could realize it. “No… I-I
remember it… I shouldn’t be able to talk, they cut my tongue out. My… arms and legs, I
woke up and they were… gone, it isn’t possible they are back. None of this is real!” She
shouted as grief and justified anger flooded her body. “Why do I have to be the one to suffer
like this?! Why couldn’t I just stay dead?!” For so long she had wished to be away from it all,
and for a long while she had felt at least her mind go.
It was like being locked inside of a tiny house with just a window to look out of, she had kept
the curtains closed tight and stayed in the corner where nothing could hurt her, yet something
kept bringing her to peek out of the curtain despite the pain it brought to her heart.
For the longest time she had just wanted to be safe in her mother’s arms again, for so so
long… but that hope had long since shriveled up, until recently.
“It is real! Please! My baby… I’m so sorry… I c-couldn’t find you by myself, I know It is far
too late to fix the past, but I never stopped looking! I’ll never give up!” Kyouko all but
sobbed out as she held Lorelei out so she could look her in the eyes. “Not on you, never on
you…”
There was a spark of life again in Lorelei’s eyes, something that hadn’t been seen in quite
literally years. “Mama…” Seeing even a phantom of her mother crying hurt far more than she
thought it would, but the entire situation hurt her just as much, it was all just…
“Dearheart… could your mind make any of this up? Could it create my scent out of nothing?
You are out of that place, you never have to leave here if you do not wish to, just please…
come back to me?” Kyouko pleaded, holding her close.
Burrowing against Kyouko Lorelei let the familiar scent fill her mind, memories of warmer
days dug up one by one. The trip from the Slane Theocracy, how her mother would cry when
she thought she was asleep, and how wide she discovered the world was, but also how
disliked she was just because of what she is.
“H-how can… believe any of this? It hurts too much…” Lorelei felt herself shaking apart,
only held together by the warm, strong arms wrapped around her, filling her with a
previously familiar sense of safety.
“If you can’t believe your nose, I know I don’t deserve it anymore but… believe in me? I
love you, my precious Lorelei.” The words kept sending pain lancing through her heart,
inflicted on her by the weapon called Hope.
“Is it too much to… at least hope? Can I even still do that? Can I trust in someone enough for
that?” It was a lot to ask, to even dare to try. For what felt like a lifetime trust was just a
weapon turned against her, hope was a bitter lie, and the very idea of love was a poison that
just served to drag her further down under the water till she was crushed into nothing in it’s
absence.
“I… want to believe you…” Lorelei mumbled out, her nose tucked against Kyouko’s neck as
if her scent could drive out her fears and doubts like it had in the past. It was a step in the
right direction at least. “Can… Can we go outside?” It was a simple enough request, yet there
was a pleading in it, an unspoken admission she was too afraid to speak out loud.
“I don’t remember what the sky looks like, are the stars still the same since we last looked at
them together?” It wouldn’t be hard for Kyouko to guess her thoughts. Despite being unsure
if she was in a dream, the afterlife, or reality, she sunk into Kyouko’s arms regardless.
There was a warm feeling in her chest that she couldn’t control as she was held there in
strong and loving arms. “Please don’t be fake, I won’t be able to take it if it is fake. I want to
feel safe again like this so badly…” Safety had long since become a fiction in her mind, yet
there she was feeling a fraction of it yet again.
The walk through where ever they were hardly registered in Lorelei’s mind, just the warmth
of her mother(?) was enough to occupy her attention. The thing that snapped her out of her
stupor while being held was the frigid air that hit her like a truck.
“Welcome to the top of the world pup.” Kyouko sat down to lean against the wall of the
enclosed stairwell, putting Lorelei in front of her so she could protectively wrap around her in
a hug. It reminded them both of simpler days of them watching the stars together for hours,
usually when Lorelei had a nightmare and couldn’t fall asleep.
“Its beautiful.” Lorelei mumbled as she stared up into the extraordinarily clear night sky, with
how outside of a bulk of the atmosphere they may as well have been able to touch those stars.
She settled back against Kyouko, the cold wind blocked out by those loving arms. “Where
even are we?”
“We’re at the top of Akemi’s tree, this is a nice home she made for us all, likely the safest
place we can ever be.” Kyouko said and rested her chin between those tiny wolf ears. Lorelei
fit in that spot just as perfectly as she did when she was younger, and not just because she
hardly grew in those five years, being far smaller than a fourteen year old should be.
“Akemi… I… think I remember her from seeing things in my dreams I think, maybe I just…
wasn’t all there. What has all even happened? How long was I…?” She found she couldn’t
finish that sentence, her mind whirling to fill in the blanks.
“Do you remember the past few weeks at all? You’ve been…” Kyouko had to pause a
moment to choose her words. “Unresponsive since we rescued you. It has been about f-five
years since It happened…” They both knew that Kyouko wasn’t referring to when she was
rescued, yet it was hard for either of them to label it.
“I remember some of it… I remember a cat girl that was near me a lot, she’d talk to me all
the time but… it felt like I was underwater. There were some others… a human girl, and
another Demi-human that was really fluffy. Was it really… not a dream?” Lorelei nearly
whispered out in detachment.
“It wasn’t a dream, you are here, safe, with all of us. I have several people for you to meet in
the morning. That cat girl is named Hannyuu and well… I suppose now she’d be your little
sister. She has been excited to get to know you, the plan to rescue you was her idea even.
Recently I had met two… amazing women, and it’s now been a little while since I’ve taken
them as Mates. Things will be better now, just trust in us.” Kyouko said and hugged her tiny
daughter tightly.
“I want to… believe, to trust you…” Lorelei choked out as she seemed to just soak up the
affection she was overdue on, praying that it was not just a dream her mind had cooked up as
a last ditch effort to keep her sane.
“That is alright, take all the time you need, I’m not going anywhere. Just tell me when you
want to go inside, no rush.” Kyouko assured her, hugging Lorelei close.
Even with so many memories still fresh in her mind, so much hell she had seen, Lorelei felt
an inkling of contentedness right there on the roof under the night sky. “Even if this is a
dream, is that so bad? I’ll just stay in this dream… Mama is still Mama.”
Kyouko would never admit it, but she had gotten a bit stiff from the cold and hard ground
after at least an hour of them both staring at the stars, but she was happy as long as Lorelei
was there. “My baby, she is still here…” Kyouko thought, willing away any more tears down
as she tried to help Lorelei to her feet.
“Ow!” Lorelei yelped as her legs gave out under her like a newborn deer. Kyouko noticed
that the grip strength Lorelei was using was quite weak, and varying so much that she was
worried for her.
“I can carry you, it is fine. Piggyback?” Kyouko asked as she felt her mind slip back into the
role she had missed for five years, just being a mom. She smiled at the shy nod she got and
helped Lorelei onto her back, taking extra care to hold her up.
“Why… won’t my legs work right? My hands feel weak…” Lorelei sounded on the verge of
a panic attack as they stepped back into the hallway.
“I would be a bit surprised if they weren’t, that ring could only do so much to help.” Kyouko
said and brought them down to the kitchen.
“Ring?” With a curious noise Lorelei held the ring on her finger up to the light. Just as she
was about to pull it off Kyouko held her hand firm.
“W-wait before taking that off. It is a magic item, its… how we’ve been making sure you
would be healthy as much as we could. With that you don’t need to eat, drink, or sleep,
though you can if you wish. Akemi warned me that taking it off will have a backlash effect, is
best to just leave it on for now Dearheart.” Kyouko explained and carefully set her daughter
on a couch in a room just past what seemed to be a dining hall.
“O-okay… What is this place? You said it was… a safe home, but how? It is so big…”
Lorelei asked curiously, watching as Kyouko stacked firewood into the cozy fireplace the
couches faced, getting that started so they could both warm up properly.
“This is what Akemi has called the ‘Crown of the world’, and but I’m not sure she is sticking
with that name. We’re in the country of Natura.” At the sound of foot steps both wolves’s
ears stuck up, though a smile broke on Kyouko’s face. “Morning love… early morning for us
all isn’t it?” Kyouko asked as her eyes were drawn back to Lorelei as she looked between
Kyouko and the nine tailed Kitsune dressed in an over sized shirt that smelled distinctly of
Kyouko.
“K-kyouko? She is awake? You’re awake?” It appeared to take Lorelei a moment to notice
she was being addressed directly, and just quietly nodded, seeming too… overwhelmed to
speak. To the girl’s visible relief Akemi sat on the other couch. There was nothing but
kindness in Akemi’s smile though, and a gentle sort of affection that so often graced Lorelei’s
own mother’s face.
“She woke up last night, and we’ve been… catching up.” There was much that went unsaid
and Kyouko knew Akemi would be just as careful with Lorelei as she had Hannyuu.
“Everything alright love? You not sleep well?”
Akemi tilted her head and looked away. “I slept fine, maybe I just need less sleep these
days.” She tried to brush it off with a rather hollow sounding laugh. “Why do you ask?”
“You look like you got punched in both eyes? If you need to take a day off you know no one
is going to get upset.” Kyouko tried to tell Akemi, not liking the look on Akemi’s face as she
passed her hand over her eyes, making those circles disappear.
“I’m fine love, really I am.” Akemi smiled, but it looked almost forced. The fact Akemi just
hid the evidence didn’t make Kyouko feel any better.
“If… if you say so dear.” Kyouko said, fixing a look on her that displayed her clear worry, a
look that said ‘we’ll talk about this later’. Akemi looked away for a moment and seemed to
settle into the comfortable seat.
Her gave moved back to the pup that was still clinging to Kyouko’s side. “Well… It is a
pleasure to properly meet you Lorelei. I overheard some of the conversation at the end, this
place is ten floors, and it is just the family here. Unless someone can fly, and get in without
my perception catching them, then it is impossible for people to get in here because we are
floating above the the surface.” Akemi blinked for a moment. “I’m sorry, I got a bit too
excited there. I’ll be right back you two.”
Kyouko just watched as her Mate trudged off with the specter of sleep still nibbling at her
heels. “If I know her at all, then coffee will be coming.” Kyouko thought and gently held
Lorelei as the pup leaned against her. “She is a lot, but she is a wonderful person.” Lorelei
only gave a quiet whine from the back of her throat as she stayed snuggled up against her
mother. The only sounds were Akemi moving back in the kitchen and the clock that Akemi
had insisted on putting up that ticked along, giving the living room some background noise.
“I’m not used to keeping so much outside of my inventory, it took me a moment to remember
where I left the coffee thermos.” Akemi said with forced energy as she stumbled over,
holding out the tray in her hands.
“Thanks love.” Kyouko smiled warmly as she took a cup from that tray, inhaling deeply the
aroma of her pitch black coffee Akemi had gotten her throughly addicted to. Like her alcohol,
she preferred her coffee nice and strong, and Akemi had yet to forget even that small detail of
how she took her coffee. Before Akemi could fully pull away, Kyouko caught her eye.
It must have shown on Kyouko’s face, the look of adoration and inner joy that told Akemi
plenty about how she was feeling that morning. If their eyes meeting couldn't get that much
love through, Akemi leaning down to meet her lips for just a moment was more than enough.
With a flush to her face Akemi settled back into her arm chair with a cup of sweetened
coffee. “I think this will be a good day. You two just relax, I’ll try and finish up my business
down below as fast as I possibly can, this is a special day.” Akemi had looked off when she
first woke up, but that false cheer soon looked rather natural as the impact of Lorelei being
awake seemed to fully hit her.
Lorelei looked between Kyouko and the coffee, her nose twitching curiously. “M-mama?
What is that?” Lorelei asked her, looking unsure whether she liked the scent or not.
“It is called coffee, it is something from Akemi’s… lands. It is a drink that gives you energy
in the morning. Would you like to try some?” Kyouko asked and smiled at the interested nod
she got in reply.
Taking one of those extra cups on the tray, Kyouko poured a small amount of coffee for her
daughter to try.
Akemi nearly jumped up as she watched, but Kyouko was smart enough to hold the cup for
the girl.
Lorelei took a moment to taste it, her rather blank expression gaining just a hint of surprise.
With a shake of Lorelei’s head Kyouko removed the cup. “Its kind of bitter…”
“True, that is just how I like it. Here, this might help.” Kyouko topped the cup up with some
milk and sugar. Seeing Lorelei’s ears perk up brought a smile to her’s and Akemi’s face.
It was very slight, but seeing the quiet upturn of her mouth was enough to put her mother, and
someone who loved her like a mother, at ease, that things might work out alright.
The ceiling above was indeed accurate in reflecting the current time, the starry sky telling
Hannyuu that is was far too early for her to get up. After fighting to get to sleep for who
knows how long she had awoken in enough cold sweat that she had to shed all three of her
Mom shirts, much to her annoyance.
“Fuck… Those… Bastards…” She thought as she tried to turn those fearful emotions of her
nightmares into aggression she could use, letting it fuel the sit ups she was repeating as if she
could exercise away her demons.
After, much to her surprise, a few dozen repetitions she finally had to let herself flop against
the floor, her breathes coming in harsh gasps. Staring into the stars she tried to quell her
emotions, but felt them still bubble up to the surface. She swiped any escaped tears away and
took a few deeper breathes. “I’m not getting to sleep… I may as well explore.” She thought
with an feeling of resignation.
Moving to her bed she held up the three shirts she had been wearing. “Nope… new clothes it
is.” They were sadly too soaked in sweat to be worn, which meant she would to steal some
more. Holding up the shirts she still let the scents fill her with a sense of comfort. “I’m safe,
this place is safe. I’m eleven not five, I should be able to sleep in my own room without…
Dammit.” She bit her lip and tossed the shirts aside, moving to throw on a different shirt, a
pair of workout shorts, and her cloak. Sure, she couldn't’ wear the Mom shirts, but at least
she still had her beloved cloak.
The moment she opened her bedroom door the hallway filled with a very mellow light,
lighting things enough that she could see better, not that her night vision needed much aid.
“How much thought did Mama put into this place?” She thought as she made her way down
the stairs, her memory guiding her down to fourth floor.
The entire place smelt new, the lack of scent almost becoming a scent in itself. The polished
wood, despite what it was, gave off no odor of wood polish or even wood. Pulling a sword
off the weapon rack Hannyuu got a feel for it’s weight. It was a greatsword like Kyouko had
been training her to use, and thankfully it was starting to feel more normal to her to use.
With some effort she lifted the sword up into the air and swung it down at the strange training
dummy that was made of some sort of mostly clear jelly-like substance. Inside of it she could
see what she thought was meant to replicate bones. It certainly felt like bone as the blade cut
into the collarbone of the dummy, succeeding in giving it a crack to go along with the gash in
the artificial flesh.
“Come… on!” It took her much more effort to pull the sword out than to swing it. Taking a
few deep breathes she considered the sword in her hands, as well as the flow of magic from
her cloak to the blisters that had begun to form on her hands. With just a flicker of a thought
she felt that cloak flow around her like water, materializing into the feather light armor set
that made her feel even safer.
It didn’t seem to give her any extra strength, but it at least felt like it did. “Mama did say it
had something called Exp growth? Maybe I can train better with it.” It was a worth a shot, it
wasn’t hot or cold to be within it, so there wasn’t much downside to wearing it.
She soon lost herself in the repetition of her strikes, especially once she projected the faces
from her nightmares onto the dummy that seemed to regenerate after each hit. With one last
burst of energy and rage, Hannyuu found it in herself to swing that weighty sword up into the
neck of the dummy, nearly roaring as it’s head was cleaved off.
The wet smack of that dummy’s head hitting the floor snapped her out of her rush. A deep
breath soon reminded her of the limits of her stamina as she had to sit down and rest, her
armor turning back into a cloak on her back.
“That was good form dear. Those lessons with Kyouko seem to be paying off.” A familiar
voice said. Looking over her shoulder, Hannyuu smiled at Akemi tiredly. “Pretty early
morning dear. Sorry you had trouble sleeping…” Akemi sat down next to Hannyuu, putting
an arm around her daughter when the girl leaned against her.
“Morning Mama. Was it that easy to tell?” Hannyuu asked with a quiet sigh. She felt a purr
bubble up as Akemi’s fingers gently scratched along the base of her ears, filling her with that
familiar comfort.
“A bit, plus normally you hate getting up early, we’ve had to carry you out of bed more than
enough times to know that.” Akemi teased, her tails wrapping around Hannyuu
affectionately.
It was a cozy sort of silence between them, one built on their months of bonding that felt
more like years. “Mama? Will… these memories ever leave me alone?” Hannyuu asked, her
voice almost just a whisper.
Akemi just held her tighter and appeared stuck in trying to find the right words. “I… don’t
know dear, I think some memories we just have to endure, the past is done with, we can only
keep moving forward away from those painful parts in our lives. You’re a strong kid, I’m
proud of you.” Akemi herself looked a bit choked up by that point as well.
Looking over her shoulder she spotted an unfamiliar expression of doubt and fear on Akemi’s
face. It brought to her mind a host of questions, ones that she didn’t dare speak aloud.
“This place is really…” Lorelei started, trailing off as her eyes closed in delight at something
that at one point she tried to avoid like the plague, as kids sometimes do. Her ears twitched as
Kyouko gently scrubbed her scalp, washing her crimson hair with all the care in the world.
“Too big? Too fancy? Yeah, Akemi went a little bit far in her big project, but there really isn’t
anything wrong with it. How are you feeling?” Kyouko asked as she used one of the movable
shower heads in that massive bath house to rinse out her daughter’s hair.
“I still can’t put much strength in my arms and legs… will that get better?” Lorelei asked as
she examined her arms. In the bright light of that bath house she could see the difference in
skin tone between the pink tinge of her arms, and the whites of her shoulders. There was a
line on both arms that separated the two parts of new and old. Her legs were in a similar
situation. While she didn’t feel hungry at all, she still could easily feel her own ribs, and
those regrown limbs looked just as skinny as the rest of her.
“I’m sure they will, you have all the time in the world to get used to things again. Lets just
take things one day at a time. One thing that will help you though is eating plenty, even if that
ring makes you not have to eat, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t in your case. Ana makes a
great breakfast, I’m really excited for you to meet her.” Kyouko quietly hummed a song
under her breath, one that tickled the very edge of Lorelei’s childhood memories.
What felt like a tap on the head pulled Ana up from the depths of a deep sleep. Before she
nearly fell asleep again she noticed how cold the bed was. Looking over her shoulder she let
out a quiet sigh as she noted she was no longer being held by her beloved. A familiar feeling
hit her head then, like drop of water on her forehead. “Hello?”
“Good morning love, we have pretty exciting news this morning! Lorelei is awake! We’re
going to have a big family breakfast.” Akemi happily told Ana.
At the very least Ana knew why Akemi was up and about, and not still in bed. Once her brain
fully caught up to what Akemi said Ana sat up fast enough to toss the covers to the other side
of the bed. “Really?! Oh I hope she is okay, hope Kyouko is okay also… I’ll get started on
breakfast.”
“Oh don’t worry, I’m already working on breakfast.” Akemi sounded exceptionally cheerful
that morning. While it was a momentous occasion for the family, something about her cheer
rang false.
“Dear… you know there is a list I put in the kitchen when we unpacked? What is that list?”
Ana asked.
“Its um… I’m bad at r-reading still but… rules?” Akemi nearly whimpered, it was easy for
Ana to imagine those perky fox ears folding down, it was as cute of an image as it was to
making her feel guilty for bringing her fox down a peg unintentionally.
“That is right, rules for the kitchen. First on that list?”
“A-Akemi is not allowed to cook w-without supervision…” The whine in her voice was
downright adorable by that point, and it was all Ana could do to not rush down the stairs to
hug her, not without pants.
“Thats right, just hang tight Akemi, I’ll be down in a minute, lets make everyone a big
breakfast!” Ana felt like the day might be pretty good already. Throwing on a fresh pair of
leggings and a simple tunic shirt was quick, but finding it in the triad’s shared dresser Akemi
had made the day before was an entirely different story.
Soon enough she was bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen, leaping up at Akemi,
letting the woman catch her, spinning her around for a moment. Normally she was a bit
calmer but… seeing the pouting look on Akemi’s face was far more potent than hearing the
pout in her voice. “Morning Akemi.” Ana said against Akemi’s chest, feeling quite content to
just be hugged there.
“Morning love, I just got some French toast started but… then I realized that Lorelei
especially might need meat. I don’t know how to cook meat yet…” Akemi admitted with a
flick of her ears while letting go of her Mate.
“I’m not sure how hungry she’ll be, but nothing wrong with giving everyone a big breakfast.
Don’t worry, I’ll teach you~” It was a nice change of pace from the recent weeks of conflict.
“There you go dear, just sit tight.” Lorelei heard her mother say as she was set down with the
utmost gentleness into a chair. “At least I can still sit up, that doesn’t take too much strength.
That is a lot of food…” Lorelei thought as her eyes, and her nose, were drawn to the wide
breakfast spread on the table.
Just as her attention was taken by the scent of unfamiliar food, she noticed another person
walk into the room. A jolt of terror shot through her body as she recognized at least one scent
in that room. “You…” Lorelei stared at Hannyuu in a confused sort of fear.
“Me? I’m glad to see you up Lorelei, I’ve been… really excited to properly meet you. How
are you feeling?” Hannyuu asked as she picked a chair on the other side of the table, seeming
to know Lorelei might appreciate the space.
“I’m… awake I think. I’m just trying to figure out how things are now. This morning has
been a lot…” Lorelei mumbled and listened to Kyouko chat in the kitchen, thankfully still
within sight. With the way she would look over at Lorelei every few seconds Lorelei guessed
she shared that fear of being separated again.
“I… know what you mean, but this is very real. You’re safe here, we both are.” At the
questioning look Lorelei gave her Hannyuu poured herself a glass of milk from the pitcher on
the table. “I know what you’re thinking, you aren’t going crazy. I spent way too long trying
to figure out what I would say to you when you woke up, I mean, you don’t really know me
after all, and I was only told a lot about you.” Hannyuu sounded unsure of herself as she
sipped at her milk.
“You were there… weren’t you? I recognize your scent from somewhere, but there isn’t a lot
of places we could have met.” Lorelei asked and looked Hannyuu in the eye enough to see
the deep set pain that lurked underneath.
“I was but… We’re here, safe, with our parents, while those… demons are in their own
version of hell.” Hannyuu took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry… I don’t
remember you from in there, only from recently.”
“If I remember anything back then right… you were unconscious, I thought they had killed
you.”
“Nope. Come on, you know they weren’t kind enough for that.” Hannyuu half joked, looking
a bit put out even after forcing a smile.
“I know but… I couldn’t help it at the time after thinking that… I was jealous. I kept asking
myself why they didn’t just kill me already…” Lorelei mumbled and shook her head. Her
head shot up as she seemed to remember something. “Wait… Didn’t you knock someone’s
teeth out? I think I remembered that that happened with someone.”
Hannyuu’s ears perked up at that. “That entire time period is a bit… blurry to me, too many
knocks on the head, but I think I remember that. Yeah, I kicked a few teeth out of one of
those… you know what I mean, though…” A humorless laugh escaped from Hannyuu,
though it was overshadowed by distant look in her eye shrunk in on herself till she had gotten
a few deeper breathes in. “I think that was the time they took most of my own teeth, after I
did that, and I felt the knock on the head they gave me for weeks. Lets… drop all that for
now.” Hannyuu said and bit her lip.
Lorelei seemed more shell shocked than anything, just nodding along. None of it felt real
still. “Yeah…” Lorelei looked up from the table in time to see the three adults of the
household file in. Kyouko of course sat next to Lorelei, while Akemi and the human woman
sat on either side of Hannyuu.
Looking between Ana and Lorelei, Kyouko noticed the extra attention the lone human was
getting. “Lorelei, that is Anastashia. She is my Mate as well.” Kyouko said, looking a bit
more pointedly at her daughter, until Lorelei nodded and looked away. She had been away
from her mother for so long, but she still remembered some of Kyouko’s lessons on their
people. “So Akemi and Anastashia? Mama wants to spend her life with them?” Lorelei
thought curiously.
“I still don’t quite understand the whole Mate concept, rather than just girlfriend, or other
ways of saying it. You said it was more than girlfriend, but less than married?” Ana added,
looking like she was trying to solve a puzzle.
“In a sense that is how it is these days. All of the different tribes were scattered long before I
was born, and customs changed or died out with them. The concept of Mates is one that has
stayed in one form or another, but it is used pretty loosely, Marriage is a recent concept
among us. I wouldn’t worry about it too much Ana dear.” Kyouko smiled tiredly as she
reached over to pet Lorelei’s ears. After a moment of her stiffening Lorelei leaned into that
hand.
It was strangely quiet for a while, until at least one of their stomach’s growled. Lorelei just
knew it wasn’t her own. As expected from her mother her plate was quickly filled up with a
variety of meats, sausages, and eggs. “U-um… I’m not sure if I’m even hungry… and I can’t
really eat it myself.” Lorelei tried to lift a fork and found her hands shake as soon as she tried
to grab it.
“It isn’t a problem, it wouldn’t exactly be the first time I’ve fed you pup. Hey Akemi? Any
idea what is wrong with her hands?” Kyouko asked quietly as she held a bit of meat to her. At
the very least it tasted good to her atrophied taste buds.
While everyone busied themselves with breakfast Akemi seemed to be pondering the
situation. “I’ve read a few medical texts I had in my inventory, but I can’t always understand
them. All the muscles are restored, but from my diagnostic spell it had been over a year
since…” Akemi trailed off before her eyes were drawn to a low growl coming from Lorelei.
“Just say it… Since they chopped off my limbs so I’d be even More of a toy to them.” She
bluntly added, seeming surprisingly angry at the attempt at being tactfully.
Another quick and low growl came from Kyouko as she stared down at her daughter, an
unspoken conversation going on between mother and daughter. Akemi just looked guilty. “Its
okay Kyouko.” Her gaze turned back to Lorelei. “You don’t want me to tip toe around it
right?” At the nervous looking nod from Lorelei Akemi took a deep breath. “Your arms and
legs are fully healed but… it has been long enough that your brain will have to adapt to
having them back. With time, some exercise, and plenty of food you should physically
improve. That ring may satisfy immediate needs, but it can’t really add any weight to you,
which you really need. Eating with the ring on, even if you don’t have to, means most of
what you’ll eat can be kept by your body.” Akemi explained as gently as she could while still
giving her the needed information.
Lorelei absorbed that information with a stoic face, her eyes being drawn to Kyouko, her eyes
pleading for anything that could help her. The look from Kyouko told her that it was
unexplored territory for them all. “What the Fuck all happened these past few months?” was
all Lorelei could think as she felt her awareness reduce to eating each bite of food her mother
put in her face.
“Focus Akemi, Focus…” Akemi mumbled to herself as she held out her hands. On the edge
of a lake just a small ways away from the very edge of the twentieth floor, Akemi
manipulated her mana and the ground with the utmost care.
From seemingly nothing marble slabs formed over the ground, layering out a series of
pathways. It was a very morbid creation, but one that deserved as much effort as she could
spare with how necessary it was.
“Will you be ready here soon?” Emeril asked as she emerged from the teleportation platform
just down the path she had made. Akemi didn’t look up from her task as she let her magic
flow.
“I should be. This isn’t too difficult, just new compared to how I’m used to doing things.”
Akemi mumbled as finally the layout and structure of the graveyard was finished. “How is
Mara doing?” Akemi asked without turning around, her gaze watching the curved horizon of
the planet, the world below that felt so small now.
“She is… coping, people have pitched in to help her, making sure she isn’t alone too much.
She agreed it was time to finally lay her sister to rest, now that we’re settled. Thank you for
picking out such a nice spot for this, I think it will bring a little comfort to people.” Emeril
stood next to Akemi and surprised the Kitsune by reaching an arm out to pull the younger
woman into a hug.
Akemi didn’t resist the hug, and in fact seemed to melt into the comfort. “S-sorry, I should be
acting a bit more…” She was silenced by Emeril putting a hand on her head and ruffling her
hair.
“Act like you, that is what people are expecting, you don’t need to force yourself to act. Are
you… doing alright?” Emeril asked as she took a closer look at Akemi. The fact she could
tell there was a few illusions over the vastly more powerful Kitsune told her that it was an
uncharacteristically sloppy illusion, quite unlike Akemi. She couldn’t see through it, but she
could tell it was at least there.
“I’m fine, just trying to… move forward with everything, can’t stop.” Was what she said, but
the waver in her voice spoke just a hair louder. A few deep breathes later Akemi stepped
back. “There is some good news though, Lorelei woke up.” She said, her tails wiggling
behind her in excitement.
“Oh I am so glad… W-would I be able to visit to see her? Do you know if… she remembers
me? When she was much younger… Maiya and I would watch her for Kyouko sometimes.”
Emeril couldn’t hide the pain in her voice as she mentioned her beloved.
Akemi put a hand on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze. “I’m not sure if she does, but you
are Always welcome to visit. On that topic actually we wanted to know if you wanted to
move in up there? As your fluffiest child can attest there is more than enough space.” Akemi
offered as she moved to one grave plot to clear a hole out and make it as neat as possible, an
easy task with magic.
“That is a tempting offer, but I think I’ll decline, I like to be close to the others, in case they
need something. There is more children for the kids to play with, for the girls as well.”
Emeril noticed Akemi stop her movement for a few moments. “N-not to say you aren’t there
also-” Emeril stopped as Akemi shook her head.
“I know you didn’t mean it that way, though… you aren’t wrong. I really don’t know how to
be a leader, do I? Haa… sorry, I’m fine, I need to be here for Mara today.” Akemi said and
nervously paced around.
“You are doing as well as can be expected, I mean that truly. People are safe, fed, and their
lives overall are improving. Most of them would be dead right now if it wasn’t for you… I
would still be dead and my daughters wouldn’t have been far behind…” Emeril admitted and
stopped Akemi from pacing to get her to look her in the eye. “I meant what I said when I told
you you can come to me if you need to talk, I mean you are hardly older than Lirina,
someone has to Mother on you a bit~” Emeril teased, enjoying the pout she got in return.
“Hardly older? I’m exactly ten years older than the munchkin!” Akemi said with false
indignation. “Thanks… I have to figure some things out, I just… I feel- Mara is here.” And
like that the vulnerable expression on Akemi’s face vanished like she had shoved it back into
a box. “No fakeness, this isn’t the time for masks, Mara needs real empathy.” She told herself
as she spotted a cloaked girl with a raccoon tail stumbling down the freshly built road from
the teleportation circle.
No words need to be spoken yet, just the two Kitsunes pulling Mara into a comforting
embrace. The three knew what they were there for. Already Akemi felt Mara’s tears wetting
her shoulder, silent sobs already being fought down. “It will be alright Mara, I know saying
that does not make it so though. If there is anything I can do for you, you need only ask.”
Akemi offered.
Mara was silent for another minute until she stepped back from the two and forced a broken
smile that. Akemi felt her own heart crack at seeing it, the pain nearly physical. “I just…
Karis would want me to…” The expression morphed back to grief as the girl shook her head.
“T-there is a part of me that wants to f-follow her… but I know she wouldn’t want me to…”
Mara stuttered out before retreating back into Akemi and Emeril’s arms, their combined 13
tails wrapping around the girl as they let her sob out her sorrow.
“Thats right, you’ve been doing so well lately. I… know that grief is a long road that never
truly ends. Five years it has been since my Mate was ripped from me by the Theocracy, and I
know the ache may never go away, but the grief will become easier to bare with time. Let
yourself mourn, but do not let it consume you, rely on those around you if things are hard.”
Emeril told the girl, rubbing her back comfortingly.
A few heavy breathes and Mara lifted her head. “I’m… ready. It has to be done… At least
this is a beautiful spot for her to r-rest.” Mara said and looked around the newly built
graveyard, and the endless horizon past the edge of the floor.
Akemi moved over to the grave and prepared for one of the harder parts of that day. With as
much reverence as she could, she pulled Karis’s body from her inventory, still perfectly
preserved in the time locked inventory, as well as Emeril’s preservation spell.
The sight of her sister’s healed, yet soulless, body was enough to bring Mara nearly to her
knees, but she leaned on Emeril for a moment and bit her lip. Stumbling over to the open
grave she looked at her twin’s face in Akemi’s arms. As she placed a gentle kiss upon Karis’s
brow she shuddered, holding in further sobbing, mustering her strength. “Goodbye Karis, my
dear sister, you suffered too much in t-this world, we both did… We’ll meet again…
someday.” Mara took a few steps back and into Emeril’s arms.
With all the reverence in the world, Akemi lowered Karis into the grave, letting her gently
float the last few feet with silent magic till she rested at the bottom, on a slab of marble
Akemi conjured at the bottom.
A gentle glow came from beneath the grave as clear crystal wove it’s way around the body,
cocooning her gently within, not a speck of dirt upon her as she was perfectly entombed.
Mara’s lip split as she bit it, the trickle of blood running down her chin not noticed by the
young woman as dirt finally obscured the inside of that grave, leaving yet flat dirt on the top.
In utter silence words were carved onto a marble slab Akemi formed atop the grave. Mara
smiled bitterly at seeing her sister’s name engraved there, their shared time of birth, to that
horrid day that Mara would never forget for as long as she lived. “Goodbye Karis, I love
you…”
Akemi and Emeril let Mara have all the time she needed, until she was ready to go and rest.
Emeril looked at Akemi, right before a message connected to her.
“I’ll take her to her home, get some food in her. You make sure to get some rest as well,
alright? I’ll be around later to see Lorelei if you’ll have me, though I’ll need help to get up to
your inconvenient home.” Emeril told her as she helped Mara walk in a straight line towards
the teleport circle.
“I’ll be alright, I just need to take care of some things first. We’ll show you how to get up
there later. Give the kids some hugs for me.” Akemi smiled at Emeril, though it felt fake even
to Akemi. When Emeril and Mara vanished in a flash of light the smile fell from Akemi’s
face, her face contorting into a grimace.
In silence she prepared several more graves, seven in total, as well as the bodies of seven
women from her inventory. “I’m… so sorry…” With no one around to hear her, she finally
felt her own sobs slip free even as she lowered each woman into a grave and entombed them
just the same as Karis.
The repetitive nature of using Create Item over and over again let Akemi relax just a bit, as
she conjured and cloned outfits by the hundreds within a warehouse she had made to store
supplied for the upcoming influx of refugees. “Wow I really am not running out of mana, this
tree is great for that at least. That should be enough clothes for now though…” She thought
as she placed her work aside into crates.
The time spent thinking helped her sort through the large meeting she was in not an hour
prior with Emeril and several others Emeril had tapped to help with running things. It was
thanks to that unofficial council that organized building had begun, especially as architecture
knowledge was highly needed. Alas, housing was just one thing in the pile of problems that
had to be sorted through before Natura could be fully up and running.
Walking out of that warehouse near several taller buildings she had made she looked around.
Seeing several citizens stop to stare at her she waved and smiled like she knew they wanted.
The influx of whispers in the back of her head brought her no comfort as she spotted several
with folded hands.
She moved to an empty plot of land she had marked out next to other multistory buildings.
“Okay… Let my mana flow…” she mumbled to herself as she held out a hand. Her perfect
recall traced the path her mana would take during her tier spells, such as Create Fortress, and
generated a new spell formula.
Mana converted into matter on a large scale was what those spells could be boiled down to,
once she realized that it was just a matter of going off the ‘prefab’ structures she could make
with the spell and getting creative with it.
The buildings that she created next to each other were five stories tall and each had
something that set them apart, such as an inner courtyard, to balconies, mostly decided on her
whim. “I did say I wouldn’t create their housing… but I guess I decided to pull in a lot more
people that need immediate care.” She had been busy for a few hours setting up housing,
creating supplies and food for even more people. The only consolation she had that day is
finding out just how much mana her tree of life could give her. “Is this the part where I
should laugh about unlimited power? I should be careful to not suck up too much from the
planet, no more than the tree can generate.” She would rather not be almost assassinated
again after all.
After a few hours of her work that day she felt her mana still hovering over full, a pleasant
surprise. Mentally though she felt like she ran a marathon that day. For the moment she
contented herself by walking the newly laid streets, most materials for which were created by
her, and admiring the buildings that had already been constructed. She laid out plenty of
plans and materials for the new country, but she left so much to the experts. Seeing small
gardens and farms being planted all around these new homes brought a smile to her face, it
was just as she intended, for no one to go hungry there.
She hadn’t expected to see a tiny sheep girl wandering the streets. Rinna was looking
anywhere but forward as she walked straight towards Akemi. As adorable as it would be for
the girl to flail after running into her, Akemi knew the girl didn’t need the stress. “Rinna? Is
everything alright?” She called out, almost wincing as Rinna all but jumped in her skin. The
sheep girl let out a breath she was holding when she saw Akemi, walking up to the trusted
adult.
“I… Miss Emeril asked me to get a bag of flour from the… um… supply place people made
on this side of the portal. I just a little lost…” Rinna admitted, looking on the cusp of tears as
several others walking on the street looked over at them.
“Would you like me to help you?” Akemi asked and observed the girl’s nervous behavior
with worry.
“Y-you don’t need to do that, I’ll find it eventually, you shouldn’t w-waste your time with
m-” The look Akemi gave her made her pause.
“Rinna dear, you aren’t a waste of time. You are family, and not just because you and
Hannyuu are joined at the hip~ I’ll take you to the food stores, it is absolutely no trouble at
all.” Akemi held out a hand like she had seen Emeril do for the girl. When Rinna grabbed her
hand it reminded Akemi that the girl was almost always holding someone’s hand, so it must
be important to her, especially with the strength the girl gripped.
It was thankfully not a long walk to the unmarked building Akemi had built, a small
warehouse that food was sorted into. “Shall we?”
“You don’t need to come with me Your Maj- Miss Akemi… I should be able to get home
from here.” Rinna mumbled and let go of Akemi’s hand.
“I’d like to make sure you get home safely, plus I have to get Emeril and Lirina also for
dinner.” At those words Rinna looked away.
“Mm, I’ll get the flour, I don’t want to slow you all down…” Rinna mumbled and rushed into
the storehouse. Akemi watched the doorway worriedly.
It took several minutes for the girl to rush out with a sack in her arms weighing her down.
She half yelped as Akemi lifted it out of her shaky arms.
“Y-you don’t need to carry it Miss Akemi!” Seeing the sheep girl looking strangely scared
worried Akemi further.
“Dear, it is alright, I can lift a hundred of me, let me carry this for you. You know you are
included in that dinner invitation, right?” Akemi asked as they walked, once again grasping
the girl’s hand. At the girl’s silence Akemi quietly sighed. “You are of course included when I
talk about Emeril’s family. You may not have known Emeril for long, but I can tell she thinks
of you as her daughter just the same as little Lirina.” When Akemi looked down at the girl it
was hard to see with her looking at the ground, but Akemi caught a few tears falling to the
ground silently.
Without a word Akemi brought them off the street and to a bench in front of the pond. “Here,
lets take a minute.” Akemi gently told her, seeing Rinna shut down further was… distressing
to say the least, but she knew that the girl had went through a lot in just a few weeks.
“I l-love Miss Emeril also just… I miss my parents so much! I don’t to replace them, or
forget them…” Rinna eventually opened up as Akemi just kept her company, letting the girl
squeeze her hand for comfort, to show she was there for her.
“Little one, Rinna dear, you don’t need to replace anyone in your heart.” As Rinna’s crying
turned into quiet shaking sobs she leaned on Akemi, trusting her enough for the comfort.
Hugging the sheep girl seemed to stifle those cries a bit once Rinna opted to just hug her
directly. Idly petting that fluffy hair Akemi rubbed her back with gentle sounds of comfort.
“I’m sure Emeril understands that it is hard to accept someone so deeply into your life so
soon, but that love is there for you even if you decide you won’t see her as a mother, she’ll
care for you either way. Do you think it odd that Hannyuu has three moms?” Akemi asked
and waited as that sobbing slowed.
“N-no, shes… told me about how she met you three… How can Hannyuu still s-smile after
all that? She went through worse than me and I can… I can barely get out of bed. What point
was there in s-surviving? Why did you or Emeril save me?” Rinna mumbled the last bit, but
it was heard by Akemi all the same.
Pulling the girl closer Akemi wrapped her tails around her as well. “Little one… If I’ve
learned anything from my time in this world, it is that everyone’s tragedies are unique, there
is no scale or measure to decide who suffered more. We just have to all support each other,
Hannyuu certainly wants to support you.” Akemi rested her chin on her head between those
horns and waited for the shaking to stop. “Just try and take things one day at a time, do not be
afraid to lean on others for help. You survived, That is the point, you are precious to so many,
myself included. I hope one day you’ll see yourself the way I’ve seen that Hannyuu sees you.
Lean on each other, and us adults.” Akemi comforted. Something struck her as odd in the
way the girl had phrased her last question that made her want answers from Emeril.
With how tightly Rinna hugged her around the neck, Akemi correctly deduced that she would
be carrying the girl for the moment, not that she minded. Holding that bag of flour up by a
tail Akemi stood up with the girl being as small as she could. “I-I’m sorry Miss Akemi…”
Rinna mumbled out against Akemi’s neck, the shaking from the girl mostly soothed.
“There is nothing to forgive Rinna, now lets get you back home so we can have dinner. Not
sure if Emeril told you or not, but today is a special day.” Akemi said with cheer in her voice.
“Hmm? D-did something happen?” Rinna peeked her face out to look up at Akemi cautiously
while she walked.
“You certainly could say that~ So I woke up this morning and I found I was not the first one
up-” by the time they reached Emeril’s house, Akemi got to witness Rinna’s depressed
expression morph to one of surprise and excitement as she heard of Lorelei’s anticipated
recovery.
Lorelei watched the doorway warily as she sat on one of the living room couches, for she
smelled three scents that were familiar to some part of her mind. She felt it tease at the very
edge of her memories, of days long gone that she wasn’t sure she didn’t just imagine.
Emeril looked nearly exactly like Lorelei remembered her, once she saw her the dots
connected to her scent quickly. The only difference was Emeril’s longer hair and the strange
battered look in her eye, as if she was having to force herself to stay in one piece. “Just like
the other girls, did they get out also?” Lorelei thought as she added that to the list of
questions to ask her mother and her mates.
Lirina was harder to pin down, but she remembered that energy of that small Kit that could
never be contained. She was glad to see that hadn’t changed, even if she was much bigger
than she remembered.
She couldn’t quite pin the name down on the curly haired girl with sheep horns that followed
Emeril into the room. Her scent though tickled her senses, it was incredibly familiar from
very recently, she could smell the girl’s grass-like scent in several places in her new giant
home.
“Miss E-Emeril, It feels like it has been longer than five years.” Lorelei mumbled knowing
that most in that room could hear her quiet voice. Truthfully her throat hurt from her possibly
years of silence.
The shortest of them was quick to spot her, and appeared to take extra time to check her
scent. “Big sister Lorelei?” Lirina asked as her single fluffy tail wiggled back and forth. “Big
sister!” Lorelei called out in a mix of joy and sorrow, her eyes filled with tears. As she ran
forward towards Lorelei Emeril attempted to pull her back.
“Wait Lirina!” It was too slow as Lirina ran into Lorelei, all but pouncing on her to bury her
head against the older girl. “I’m sorry Lorelei I didn’t expect her to-” Emeril’s worries were
interrupted by a very quiet laugh coming from the wolf girl. She didn’t know what she had
expected from Lorelei, and so was surprised as Lirina was hugged right back, with all the
weak strength Lorelei could muster.
“I missed you too ‘rina. Have you been being g-good for your mom?” Lorelei asked as her
laugh became teary half way through. “You’ve grown a lot, haven’t you?”
“Of course I have! Mostly…” Lirina mumbled with her face muffled against Lorelei’s cloak
she had wrapped around her.
Emeril took a seat in the couch across from Lorelei and Kyouko who just watched fondly for
the moment. “She says that after hiding my shoes just this morning. Well, hard to stop the
urge to prank, even I get that on occasion.” Emeril joked and smirked at Kyouko.
“These days I’m the target of most of your pranks, as rare as they.” Kyouko rolled her eyes
and idly scratched Lorelei’s ears, the girl not likely to separate from her any time soon.
Lorelei peeked out at Rinna who stood behind Emeril, eventually sitting next to the Kitsune
on the opposite couch. “I remember you I think, my memories of… how ever long it has been
since I was s-saved are really blurry, but you were there with Hannyuu and me a lot.” How
Lorelei talked told Kyouko that Lorelei was still unsure about her state of existence.
“Its nice to finally meet you then Lorelei, I’m R-Rinna.” As she introduced herself properly
she looked away from those piercing amber eyes that now stared right into her own emerald
ones, no longer staring into space like a corpse. It was a huge improvement, but her gaze
must have surprised the sheep girl in it’s intensity.
“You too, this has been… an interesting day.” Lorelei seemed rather tired as she then leaned
on Kyouko, accepting Lirina half climbing on her lap like she was still the toddler Kit Lorelei
remembered her as. Those hazy memories of all but declaring herself Lirina’s big sister,
especially as she noticed their parents were strangely close at the time.
It was strange to her, Lorelei knew she should feel a bit more panicked at so many people, at
being in a new location, especially when she wasn’t sure yet what was even real or not.
“Maybe I’m just going to be numb forever… this is nice though, I missed them.” She thought
and relaxed into those familiar arms and scents.
So much of her memory was made up of scents, it told her more than her eyes ever did, just a
single moment near her mother’s was enough to relax her with that promise of safety. She
only hoped none of this vanished like smoke in the morning, assuming she would ever wish
to sleep again. Looking down at her ring Lorelei thought for a moment. “I suppose for now I
don’t need to try and sleep. If It turns out this is a dream I may as well make the most of it.”
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Sorry for the delay all! I hope this chapter lived up to your expectations, it was
harder than I thought to get into Lorelei’s head. By all means please share your thoughts
in the comments, I like to reply to each one of you.
Skill Issue
Chapter Summary
At long last Akemi could put into motion her plan to save her people in Re-estize
Kingdom, and be done with that cesspool of corruption.
Later, Akemi finally gets to have her own adventurer and stretch the limits of what she
could do while having some fun along the way with a threat hanging over her that would
sound more like a reward to her big ears by the minute.
Chapter Notes
“Sorry you have to push me Hannyuu… hopefully I can just walk around soon enough.”
Lorelei said with folded ears, not looking back at Hannyuu pushing her wheelchair, or more
like keeping it from rolling off as they advanced downstairs.
“It is no trouble, really. So how did you like the cookies?” Hannyuu’s tail waved back and
forth as they continued on. If it was a few weeks before that she doubted she would be able to
move Lorelei very far in her chair, but it felt far easier now. Rinna and Lirina followed right
behind them, both observing the new sisters.
“They were great, I can’t remember the last time I had cookies.” Lorelei said and seemed to
comb through her memory till she shook her head with a sigh.
“Well, I’ll make them for you any time you want. Gods I hate how many stairs Mama
added…” Hannyuu quietly complained as they arrived at the third floor. “Mama Kyouko
already show you this floor Lorelei?”
She ignored the strange look Lorelei gave her as Lorelei looked ahead. “Yeah, this morning, I
should be able to at least wash myself if I can sit down.”
Stepping out into the dressing area, Rinna hung back. Hannyuu looked at her in concern. “If
you want Rinna, there is a separate changing room, and some individual ones. This bath is
just the main one, the one right next door is smaller and you’d have it to yourself. The wall
between them is thin enough so we can all still talk.” Hannyuu offered and pulled out a stack
of towels.
Rinna froze in that entry way, appearing to think on it. “I’ll… stay, just don’t stare.” The
sheep girl said and chose an empty shelf for her things, not looking at any of them.
Surprisingly it was Lorelei who turned to her. “Rinna, I think just about everyone here knows
the kind of shit we’ve all been exposed to. None of us are going to stare at you like those
monsters, if you want I’ll even wear a blindfold.” Lorelei said with a tired smile, surprising
the others.
Hannyuu nodded turned towards the others. “Agreed, I wouldn’t want you to be anything but
comfortable.”
“You don’t need to go that far! I’ll be fine, I promise, I appreciate the thought…” Rinna said
and took a deep breath. “So… what do you think the adults are talking about?” The sheep girl
asked while everyone continued. Thankfully she seemed to calm down as everyone went
about their business.
“Knowing them all? Probably flirting or something.” Hannyuu said with a quiet laugh. The
head tilt she got from Lirina, and the look of disbelief from Lorelei made that laugh turn far
more loud. “I swear… the three were such messes around each other… I had to watch them
dance around and around for weeks…”
“I could see that, I’m still not… sure how I feel about any of it. So how did my mom meet
the others?” Lorelei asked and accepted the help that was offered, finding at the very least she
could trust those three. It was hard especially not to trust and enjoy the company of adorable
Lirina after all.
“Oh have I got a story for you~” Hannyuu channeled her inner Akemi as she began her grand
retelling, and took another step onto making gossip an actual class.
A minute after all the kids had left to go bathe, the adults were still quietly sitting around the
dinning room table, drinks having been passed out. “This has been a day…” Akemi mumbled
and took a large sip of her small glass.
“Yeah… but that isn’t all that is on your mind, is it? You never grab the whiskey.” Kyouko
pointed out and traded a glance with Ana and Emeril. When Akemi just shrugged and looked
into her glass she sighed.
“Dear… I’ve seen that something has been eating at you since this morning… Kyouko told
me you were having trouble sleeping also. If she saw bags under your eyes, just how long
have you been having sleep issues?” Ana asked worriedly, reaching over to put her hand over
Akemi’s.
Akemi’s ears folded as it was pointed out. It was clear to her the reason Kyouko got the kids
to leave for a while. “Just… stressed is all, there is so much I have to do and it feels like I
have no time to do it all.”
Emeril nodded. “I thought it might be something like that. You are moving fast and not
having time to process things that happen, Its happened to me before in my long years. I
cannot help with whatever specifically is bothering you, but there are some tricks I found for
managing my time well, I can share those with you.”
That was enough for Akemi’s head to lift and stare at her. “Please? The n-nightmares I can’t
really help, but if I can do more in each day that would help.”
“Nightmares? Love, will you talk to us?” Kyouko asked before Akemi could shift the subject
further.
Akemi’s ears folded back down as she looked away. “You remember how I said… that my
memory is perfect now? That isn’t always a good thing.” When she started to shake, they
knew they had finally touched on something. With her Mates moving on either side Akemi
finally leaned into their embrace. “Every time I close my eyes… I see the face of someone I
killed who might not have deserved it. I went from a pathetic existence as a skeleton to
someone who can kill almost without a thought if I felt they deserved it.”
She curled in on herself even more, moving to sip from her glass, before it was pushed away
from her by her Mates. “I… also remember every time I’ve cast my Diagnosis spells, it all
just… adds up in my head.”
“Have you considered using Deep Slumber on yourself?” Ana asked.
“I h-have but… I can’t, of all people I can’t… I’m not sure it would even affect me, I’ve
never tried to turn off my immunity to mind spells. There is also the fact I’m a bit… scared of
not being able to respond if something happens, sure I might sleep a bit, but eight hours is a
long time for something to go wrong.” Akemi flopped her head onto the table with a heavy
groan.
“Akemi, you need to learn to trust in some other people, like me, things aren’t going to fall
apart just because you get some sleep. Like you’ve said, we’re a small settlement for now,
there aren’t too many time sensitive things to do.” Emeril reached over to ruffle that ebony
hair.
“Maybe, I’ll try to get some sleep tonight.” Akemi’s lips curled up as her head lifted,
grabbing her whiskey again. “Tomorrow though I have some things that need doing. I’ll get
our people back and settled, and then I need to have a talk with Drau.” Akemi threw back her
glass… and predictably forgot that it was whiskey as she coughed, her glass being moved
away from her for her own safety.
“Dork… leave the whiskey to me~” Kyouko teased, leaning down while Akemi recovered,
her mouth hovering over one of those pointed fox ears… right before gently biting down on
it. When Akemi stiffened Kyouko knew she found a nice weak point. “Oh I’m remembering
that for later my dear~” Kyouko thought with delight.
“Kyouko! Y-you can’t just do that… alone…” Ana half scolded before leaning in to give a
light nibble to that other ear. Neither of them could do any real damage to it, and by how
Akemi was squirming in her seat they knew her ears would be fun to tease.
“P-please mercy…” Akemi mumbled with her face bright red.
Emeril held back a snort at seeing the ‘all powerful’ nine tailed goddess brought low by two
mortals nibbling at her ears, while acting her own age for once.
“Fine fine… but that date really cannot come soon enough~” Kyouko let go of that ear,
resting her chin on her Mate and relaxing.
“A-agreed.” Ana said with a nod, though she looked far less confident and more shy.
“I want that date also… Once I get that world item I’ll feel safe enough to take you guys
where I want our date to be… I figured we may as well explore and have a nice day in town
where no one will know us. For that the Argland Council States will be an excellent location,
it will also maybe let me pass a message to them and set up a meeting. I don’t want to add
any work that day but… I need to start promoting Natura to other countries, and they are a
good start. The vast majority of that day should be just having fun till we get back.” Akemi
relaxed against her Mates, her expression loosening into a content smile. “I also… g-got that
strength restriction item finished…” Akemi admitted as she turned red.
“Oho? That was fast~ I can’t wait to test it out, a shame I can’t collar you all the time, though
I think I’d need like for Ana also.” Kyouko’s words had an immediate effect or causing both
Akemi and Ana to spit out wordless babble, quite like how she intended to leave them come
the night of their date. “You two are just adorable… aren’t they Emeril? I didn’t think
someone could be more of a bottom than you~”
Emeril lifted her glass of mead and covered her own red cheeks. “Damn you Kyouko… keep
me out of your games you horny wolf…” Emeril complained, though her tails swaying
behind her told a different story.
“We’ll see if you still feel that way in a few weeks~” Kyouko laughed to herself as she
observed everyone in that room, clear happiness on her face, more than they had ever seen.
“I’m just… so glad she is finally awake, even if it feels like I have to get to know my own
daughter again she is… still her. Sorry if she is a bit blunt like earlier… I think she gets that
from me.”
“Dear, she is lovely, it is fine. Honestly I was unsure how she would react, but I’m here for
you two with what ever I can do.” Akemi answered and sniffed the air. “Oh?”
Soon enough they heard foot steps coming up the stairs, along with some quiet chatting.
Lirina was the first one to bound into the room, diving towards Emeril with bubbly giggles
like the energetic kit she was. It was a good way to lighten the mood now that the topic of the
conversation had arrived.
Akemi though had a strange look on her face as she watched Emeril and Lirina. Hannyuu was
the one first to see it, smirking and shaking her head. “I suppose getting used to dealing with
smaller kids will be useful, I bet there will be some here this time next year.” She whispered
to Rinna who had to hold in her own giggles.
Alas with her fox ears, as well as perception stats, that small conversation registered into
Akemi’s brain. Her look of longing stopped as she turned to look at Hannyuu with a blush on
her face. Yet she couldn’t exactly call them out on it… “She is probably right…” Nipping
that train of thought in the bud she put the alcohol away.
“I think you might be right Hannyuu… I had more than enough trouble chasing Lirina around
when she was just a toddler…” Lorelei said with an amused sigh.
The adults had to pretend to not hear that, as they had no defense against it…
“How are we looking Emeril?” Akemi asked with her eyes closed, her senses spread out
throughout all her summons as well as subtly moving her mana into the Leyline. “This
should work, it is taking longer than I thought to spread my influence though.” She thought
as a faint glow began to trail along the ground outside the tree off into the distance.
“We have housing enough for those you said would be coming, clothes for all of them as
well. I know you mostly have medical care covered, and I’ve distributed those wands you
gave me around so it isn’t all on you. As for food… We are doing quite well for fruits and
vegetables, as for meat though we’ll barely manage, at the rate we’re rationing it we have
maybe a week left. Much of it depends on the make up of the refugees today, some of our
people can eat meat.” Emeril said and observed her Queen at work with magic. “What spell
even is that?”
“I should have tested this spell as a way to get some meat, but time has been limited… It is
safe though. I’ll teleport them a dozen or so at a time so we can get them squared away. I’m
anticipating a lot of them needing medical care and help moving so if we can have a few
dozen people standing by to stabilize and tend to them It will go smoother. Make sure each of
them gets a blanket also. This is going to take a while I’m afraid…” Akemi said and tried to
relax.
“As for what the spell Is? It isn’t a tier spell, I’m trying something… different. Examining the
spell formula for Greater Teleportation has let me change a few things about it.” Akemi said
in a conspiratorial tone.
“The things you can do with magic I swear. I’ll go do so, give me a couple minutes to get
everyone organized.” Emeril hurried off to the crowds standing around the main square, most
waiting there with crates of supplies next to them. The entire place was thankfully not far
from all the extra housing she had made for those that would be stable enough for it.
Akemi took a look around at the organized chaos and smiled. [Maximize Widen Magic:
Heavenly Web], [Widen Magic: Chain Telepathy].” Akemi felt her spell trail through the
Leyline, following its path to connect to all she could sense that were either Demi-humans or
had Slave as a job class, as well as several other smaller criteria so as to not miss anyone.
“The day has come, I have heard your prayers and wishes and they will not go unanswered. I
have spoken to most of you these past few days, and now it is time for me to fulfill those
hopes. This will take a bit of time, so please do not draw attention to yourself until you are
pulled through my spell. Your fellow citizens are standing by to aid you, you will be safe.”
Akemi warned as she felt over two thousand connections pulse against her mind.
Compared to scanning the masses in the army she destroyed the strain was still rather large,
yet manageable for now.
“Prepare yourself Emeril, I’ll be pulling the first group momentarily.” Akemi closed her eyes
once again and unconsciously spread her tails out in her focus. Mentally sorting through
those in the scope of her spells she prioritized the ones most vulnerable as best she could tell
by both stats and her summons she had tracking the more worrying cases.
“Now come to me…” And with a silent activation of her outer system spell she felt the first
dozen souls be pulled through the Leylines near instantly, as teleportation is meant to be.
Klaris thanked the Gods, or more specifically one Goddess in particular now, that the voice
she heard in her head days prior was not her going insane as far as she knew, she was going
to be leaving her prison soon enough or die trying.
For the moment she stared at the ground with a defeated aura about her while being led
through the painfully familiar dungeons of the nobles who kept her. She knew not where she
was, just that they could afford a rare slave that they barely dared to harm, and their sense of
danger was now lacking…
“Yes, give me this one last chance at this my Goddess…” She thought with near glee. Her
chains rattled as her arms were kept in front of her. She was thankful that they transported her
that way now, ever since they thought her broken.
After a quick and painful wash and dry with magic the guard pulled her upstairs to another
horribly familiar area, the only area upstairs she was ever brought, the Noble Lord’s
bedroom. This time though it would turn out far differently. The thought of it sent an exciting
shiver up her spine.
Soon she was shoved into that room, landing all but on her face on the floor in front of a pair
of slippers. “Oh good, well if it isn’t my favorite pet. So much to do these days with that fool
of a King, at least we understand each other, right Pet?” The Nobleman asked with a grin that
made Klaris want to rip his throat out as he pulled the chain at the collar on her neck
upwards, forcing her to stand.
She hardly came up to his shoulders even at fifteen, and she laid the blame for her lack of
growth entirely on him.
The years she had spent there though taught her several things at least. One of those things
was the art of patience, on waiting for just the right opportunity at the right moment while
playing her part. “Yes Master…” if the bastard had any wisdom he would have seen the fire
in her eyes that she couldn’t disguise that matched not the dead tone of her voice.
A week ago that had been her voice and her thoughts, defeat and the desire for death flowed
through her like water, but now? There was just one thing she wanted to make flow. She
would get her freedom, she would rip it from her captor’s hands if she had to.
She let herself be dragged to her feet and all but tossed onto the bed, all of which by then was
per usual. “I hope the Goddess is watching, but even if I die I’m taking him with me!” She
thought and looked away from the man as he shed the robe he was in.
With him crawling on top of her for the last time she let him attach her chained hands to the
top of the bed and bit her lip. After the few years she had been there, he had long since
stopped seeing her as a threat, he just liked to keep her chained for his own amusement.
“M-master…” She forced out a whimper, playing her part for the moment, even as she felt
like puking at the amorous voice she put on. “These past years were hard, but… I found
something about you that I’ve grown to l-love.” She looked away and saw him pause his
advances as she played the part she needed to play.
“Oh? Are the chains finally to your enjoyment? Maybe it is time to move you to be a bigger
cage… you have been a good pet after all. What is it about me that has you entranced?”
She felt like vomiting at his words as well as his hands she felt crawl over her, yet she only
craved one thing…
Looking up into his eyes she stared deep into them. “Yes… I would love… your death.”
Mentally she braced herself as she prepared to put her all into a previously tried strategy. “I
spent months weakening these chains, we’ll see if it helped!” She growled and pulled against
those chains. “[Ability Boost]! [Physical Boost]!” The sound of stressed metal snapping was
music to her ears, though not as much as her ‘master’s’ screams as she flipped them over.
“Guards! Guards help m-” The only sounds after that were coughs as Klaris bite down on his
neck with all the force her Marital Art gave her in that moment. With a sickening tear she
tore the flesh of his neck wide open, reveling in the crimson that splashed over her naked
body, that filled her mouth.
It was almost as sweet as she imagined as she felt that blood overflow from her mouth before
she let go of the man, hovering over him to stare into his eyes. “I will… cherish the lessons I
learned here, How to play my role, how to craft a plan, and the patience to carry it out. Most
of all… I’ll always remember the taste of victory that will only feel sweeter the longer you
rot in the ground. Cling to the rest of your life you don’t deserve, and know that this ‘pet’
finally won.” As she heard the guards trying to unlock the door she felt a tingle in her spine
that she had a feeling was what she waited for.
She sat up and grinned an oh so bloody grin while staring into the man’s quickly dimming
eyes. “If only I could teach you those same lessons, but we’re both out of time.” Just as that
door was opened her vision went white after feeling like her spine was pulled downwards.
The last image those guards saw of her as they came in was her bare body covered in the
blood of their lord, while around her mouth was the same, the smug grin on her crimson
painted face something that they would remember for the rest of their lives. Her case would
be just one that day as slaves around that capital vanished.
The sun was exceptionally bright on her eyes as she stood up from her kneeling position on
the stone beneath her. Looking up… she smiled, the feeling of victory flowing through her
veins.
She hardly heard the Demi-human women that ran up to her, but accepted the towel from
them all the same. Her eyes searched around for a moment, heedless of the direction of those
women till she spotted her.
“My Goddess…” She mumbled to herself and seemed to bask in the comforting aura that
flowed off the surprisingly short fox eared woman. The presence she felt from her though did
not match her stature at all in it’s heavy intensity. Lowering her head in a bow to her she
finally stood up, not seeming to care about things such as nudity, but would start wiping away
the blood all the same.
“We’ll get you cleaned, clothed, and fed over here dear.” A taller wolf woman said and
ushered Klaris towards what appeared to be boxes of supplies, as well as multiple small tents.
“Welcome to Natura.”
Klaris seemed rather… calm for a now free slave, taking her towel and cleaning off the blood
coating her as best she could. “Glad to be here, oh so glad…” It was the first real bit of
emotion to come from here voice that they had heard. “Dammit… It isn’t coming out of my
fur.”
“There will be a shower in your room, don’t you worry, in the meantime there is a wash basin
in the tent behind me, you can change in there also. My name is Venora, If you need anything
you need only find me.” The wolf woman said and push a stack of clothes in the smaller
woman’s hands.
“Thank you, I… was not expecting things to be so organized here. Who all will I be sharing
the room with? If I have to share a room with a guy I think I’d rather sleep in a tree…” She
sighed and entered the tent to start to scrub the blood out of her tail and hair. After throwing
on the clothes she was given she followed Venora as she walked away. “My name is Klaris.”
“It is wonderful to meet you Klaris. Natura is… rather new for a country, but you won’t find
a people more understanding of your circumstances than us. The vast majority of our small
population were former slaves, but now… we all have the chance to build a life for
ourselves.” As they walked towards another group of people that were sat among benches
resting their feet Venora looked back at her.
“I suppose this a perfect time to explain to all of you further how things are set up for you.
While they are not large, the rooms you will be given are more akin to small homes. For
those that wish to stay alone each unit has a separate bedroom, bathroom, and a small sitting
room with a kitchen.” Those around Klaris looked just as confused and unsure as she felt,
though that gave way to ease once she looked back at her Goddess. That warm aura was a
salve to her wounded soul. “Keep moving forward Klaris… Don’t look back.”
“Now that I have the first group of you I’ll take you to your new homes. Has everyone been
healed? Queen Akemi did provide me with a wand of cure wounds for those who need it. I
bet you’re all exhausted so I won’t talk your ear off, just come to me if you have anything
you need.” Venora said and looked at each former slave there, so many injured hearts and
minds. “If you just need to talk… I’ve been in your shoes, I know how stressful and worrying
this can be, but you Are free. You are not alone, reach out to me or your neighbors, you can
start a new chapter in your lives. Now then, follow along and I’ll get you settled in and fed.”
It was enough to bring a smile to Klaris’s face as she followed along, it was… nice to finally
have some peace, no armed guards hovering over her every move, the sun shining on her
head, and comfortable clothes that felt like the finest silk after so many months or years
naked. “No surprise I’m hungry though, I don’t think a few mouthfuls of blood are a very
good meal…” It would all take some getting used to, but for once she felt like she had
options, as well as hope.
“Catch me! Catch me!” Lirina shouted with bubbly giggles as she dashed through the forests
of the first floor. Running behind her were the twins Ureirika and Kuuderika who were just as
excited.
From a distance Hannyuu and Lorelei watched the younger kids play tag. Hannyuu had an
amused smile on her face, while Lorelei seemed deeper in thought.
“Want out of the chair? It is a bit early for lunch, but Mama Ana did pack some snacks for the
kids and us.” Hannyuu said and set a picnic basket down, setting out the blanket in the soft
grass.
Without answering Lorelei carefully slid herself out of that chair and nearly fell on her face if
Hannyuu hadn’t helped ease her down. “I’m fine.” She sighed out and laid back.
Hannyuu laid down next to her and seemed content to let the cool Autumn breeze wash over
her.
Lorelei looked over at the younger feline and pondered. “How come… you don’t ask about
things?” She asked as her wolf ears folded down.
“Because I know that questions can hurt, I’m not going to make you think about the past as
much as I can. If you want to talk about anything I’m right here though.” Hannyuu said and
let the silence grow between them, till they were both just listening to the kids play. “It is nice
here, seeing the kids get to just… be kids.”
Lorelei snorted and turned to her. “You aren’t all that much older than Lirina, aren’t you still
a kid yourself?”
“It certainly feels like I’m a lot older than I am, and you’re still a kid too then. After being
treated like less than a person for years, less than a pet even, I can’t exactly go back to being
a kid.”
“True… true, neither of us can I suppose. I guess I’m almost considered an adult, even if
Mom doesn’t want to see that… I think she still sees me like I was Lirina’s age. Thanks for
not treating me weird…” Lorelei said and bumped their shoes together as they laid there.
“I can tell you don’t want people tip toeing around things, there really is no putting any kind
of pretty packaging on what we’ve been through after all. You don’t need to thank me, we’re
family now.” Hannyuu said with a caring smile.
Lorelei stared at her for a few moments. “I guess you’re right, as weird as it is to think
about.” At the look Hannyuu gave her she chuckled. “It isn’t you, it is… I… don’t think I can
see those two as mothers also, not right away, maybe not ever. I respect them and can tell
they make Mom happy but…”
“I think I can understand that, though I had a bit more time to get used to it. I met Mama
Akemi and Ana at around the same time and the two were already making eyes at each other
before Akemi became Mama Akemi.” Hannyuu snorted and twirled a stray faint pink hair
around a finger.
With a twitch of Lorelei’s ears the feline could tell Lorelei heard her. “I met Kyouko the day
after her group and now all our group had a rough night… Mama didn’t really want to give
me all the details but I’ve gotten some of them from hearing people. Her and Mama Kyouko
were freeing slave caravans… something went wrong that required Akemi to revive a lot of
people at once.”
“She can… revive the dead?” Lorelei asked and looked at Hannyuu strangely.
“Yup, she is really good at magic, one of the best in the world. She is… strong isn’t the right
word, I’ve only seen her actually get hurt once and that was… from one of the strongest in
the world when she was already tired from making this entire place.”
“Wait… this place? But the sky is right up there? Mass revival sounds really impressive
though… She had mentioned she was from another world?” Lorelei asked in disbelief.
“We are in what Mama called her tree of life, I think we should both look at it from the
outside eventually, but there are 101 floors in the entire place. The sun up there? That is just a
ceiling that Mama made to reflect the sky! It’s true, she is from a different world, the same
one that those six great gods supposedly came from. She’s shown me memories of that old
world… it looked worse than this one. Mama is… complicated as a person, but she is kind. I
think she should tell you about all some of this though, I know she wants to get to know you
more, just like I do.” Hannyuu closed her eyes again, not catching the widening of Lorelei’s
eyes.
She also didn’t see the hand reaching over to ruffle that light pink hair until the girl had to
flail to free herself, setting Lorelei to snickering. “I’ll ask her sometime, when she isn’t busy
with her crazy magic. Hey Hannyuu?”
Hannyuu’s carmine eyes looked towards Lorelei as she tilted her head.
“Yup, you are just as much of a little sister as Lirina. I might not know about accepting more
moms but… Mama sees you as a daughter, so yeah, we’re family… little sister.” Lorelei’s
toothy grin was matched by Hannyuu’s, as was the warm feeling in both their chests.
Their chests were soon filled though by something else as first the twins all but leapt onto
Hannyuu’s chest, making the cat flail for a moment before settling down. “Dorks! How about
this?!” Hannyuu soon was cackling and tickling the excitable five year olds.
As for Lirina… she had laid on top of Lorelei much more calmly, hugging the wolf. When
Lorelei’s arms weakly wrapped around the girl her fluffy tail wagged back and forth. “I
missed you big sister Lorelei, I’m glad you’re back…”
Lorelei tried to speak but felt a lump in her throat complicate it. “Yeah kid… I missed you
too, I’m not going anywhere.” Lorelei ignored the tears staining the front of her shirt, while
likewise Lirina ignored the tears wetting her hair.
“I think they’ve getting along.” Arche said as she watched from a distance with an amused
smile, while next to her Ana and Kyouko relaxed.
“Me too, I’m really glad for that. It is pretty adorable… how are you doing though Arche?
Fitting in?” Ana asked as she sat between Arche and Kyouko.
“It has taken some getting used to but… for now the rest of the team has decided to stick
together, so we’ve all started to pitch in on a house at that spot you showed us up at floor
sixty eight. It is really nice and quiet… though a bit too quiet.”
Ana nodded at that. “Akemi is still working on getting some wildlife into this place… I feel
like if she tried she could make some wildlife, I wouldn’t be surprised if she could create life
at will.”
“Eh, I mean I’ve created life~” Kyouko said with a smug grin, leaning her head on Ana’s as
her tail tried to wag behind her.
With a roll of her eyes and a fond smile Ana leaned right back. “True, but that wasn’t what I
meant and you know it dork… Okay, I’ll be back, I’m going to go shove a sandwich into
Akemi’s face while she is working, we all know she won’t take a break if we don’t make
her…” Ana lifted her own picnic basket and grabbed a sandwich from within.
“Okay, give her a kiss for me~ I’ll keep Arche company.” Kyouko said and winked at the
mage.
“What ever she says, I’m sorry Arche…” With that Ana retreated, leaving the two behind.
“Well, I don’t think she’ll mind if I set things up for our own picnic.” Kyouko said, setting
out a blanket for them and ushering Arche over to it.
“You seem to be in a good mood today.” Arche noted and leaned back on her hands.
“Honestly, things are going quite well lately, it feels odd. Lorelei is up and about, she is
getting along with Hannyuu and it is adorable, and we’ll soon be entirely finished with the
Re-estize Kingdom… Then the healing begins.”
“They do seem to be getting along, It is nice of them to play with my sisters also. They’ve
even made some friends already down here. They’ve already gotten attached to the rest of my
team, the real little masters of the house. Well, what house is there for now… mostly we have
our camping tents, but soon enough.” Arche said and poured herself a cup of tea.
“If you need any help feel free to give me a call, I’ve gotten pretty good at carrying logs at
least. If you talk to Emeril she’ll set you up with some people who know carpentry.” Kyouko
looked out and saw the kids up and running again. “Though I do have to wonder~” Kyouko
turned to smirk at Arche with mischief twinkling in her eyes.
“We might have to do that… Roberdyck might have overstated how much carpentry
experience he had.” At that tone Arche looked at her suspiciously. “I guess? Something
wrong?”
Behind her Kyouko’s tail began to wag in her clear amusement. “So… when do you plan to
ask out my Mates?” Seeing Arche go statue stiff and as just as red as Hannyuu’s eyes was
quite amusing to her.
After a few seconds of meaningless babble Arche finally calmed down enough to get out a
few words. “W-what?! What do you mean?!”
Kyouko reached over to pat the girl’s head until the head was brushed away. “Oh I can
recognize a maiden in love, though it was already pretty obvious to well… everyone. Don’t
get me wrong, I’m not mad or anything, we’re not exclusive as long as things are discussed
first.”
“I just… I expected… is it really that o-obvious? If it is that obvious did… you three
discuss… me?” Arche asked with clear hesitation in her voice, though she looked like she
wanted to take back that question right away.
Kyouko just rolled her eyes playfully and laid back on the blanket. “Your name might have
come up. All I’ll say is… don’t be afraid to take big steps, don’t leave things unsaid or you
will regret it forever.”
Arche was silent for a few minutes, enough to worry Kyouko, but before she could say
anything Arche let out a groan of frustration. “I’ll… think about it… I’m not a spur of the
moment type of person. Do… do you think I’d even be able to make them h-happy… like
you do?”
“No, you can’t.” Kyouko looked at her with a content smile on her face, putting a hand on her
arm before Arche could retreat. “You have to make them happy like You can. We each can
give them something different, we all bring something unique to this crazy relationship after
all.”
The mage settled down after that, looking into her lap before laying back with a heavy sigh.
“Thank you…”
“You don’t need to thank me, really. Welcome back dear~” Kyouko tilted her head up,
smiling up at Ana as she stood over her.
“Thank you, you two have a good talk or something?” Ana asked as she settled down on the
blanket and began to unpack the basket.
“You could say that, Kyouko was just giving some… good advice. Is Akemi doing alright?
Not running out of Mana? She has been channeling that spell for a few hours now…” Arche
said and accepted her lunch.
“She told me she is doing fine, that her mana is refilling nearly as fast as it is draining. This
tree really did her some good I think. I still made her eat that sandwich bite by bite, she could
at least spare the attention to eat it if I held it out… She is such a dork.” Ana said with an
amused sigh.
Arche just observed for the moment, letting herself relax. “This is nice, I could get used to
this.”
“[Message]. Hey Malina, it is Akemi. I have a special offer for you~” Akemi said as she sat
back onto a bench, letting the mental exhaustion drain off of her. After getting done
communicating with, checking on, healing, and teleporting over two thousand people her
mental battery was hovering over zero. Thankfully her mana was already back to full, which
she guessed was due to being in direct proximity to her mana battery of a tree.
“By the great gods you scared the life out of me Akemi!” Malina shouted through the
message, nearly sending Akemi falling off her bench. “No contact for weeks, chaos going on
through the capital, and just… Sorry, how are you dear?” Malina calmed down, the care
coming back into her voice once the sudden anger faded.
“It has been incredibly busy I’m so sorry… I didn’t mean to leave you high and dry, just…
Well, I didn’t really call to complain to you, I wanted to ask if you would want to move here? I
have the housing and food for all my people, but I need hands that can help watch over some
of our more vulnerable souls. It would also be a nice change in scenery for you~ If you
wanted you could open up an Inn or restaurant… There is no shortage of places here with
great views for you.” Akemi accepted a plate from Ana as the others sat around her quietly,
waiting for her message to finish.
“Where even are you? I’m not sure I have to money to set up somewhere entirely new… I get
by but this place isn’t exactly pulling in riches.”
“I’m sure you’ve seen that giant tree in the distance? That. That is Natura, my newly formed
country. As for money and buildings, I will personally make you a place here, after how you
helped me you deserve at least that much. The only cost is my mana which recently has felt…
near limitless.”
“That was you?! I should have guessed… I don’t have much attachment to E-Rantel, it was
just where I ended up, maybe a change of location wouldn’t be too bad. Your government
can’t be worse than our fool of King’s…” The contempt in Malina’s voice was clear, and
Akemi could not blame her in the least.
“Agreed, I just finished getting my people out of there, and now I can cut ties with the entire
wreck of a country. They are just rotting from within… I don’t give that country more than a
few years before something destroys it, so I’d feel better if you come here before that
happened. Hmm… wouldn’t be a bad idea to poach some people from the Kingdom in that
case. So anything I could do to help make the move easier?”
“Supplies, a decent sized building, and fair rent rates for the land. Besides that perhaps some
help moving? It would be a long journey that these older bones cannot make…” Malina
sounded bone tired, enough that Akemi for once wondered just how old the woman was.
“The land will be your’s, there is far more than enough space, we Need people to be taking up
space. I can teleport you here with just a few thoughts, so travel isn’t a worry.” Akemi sat up
with a smile, her ears perking right up.
“Oh no she has an idea… I’ve seen that look before.” Kyouko joked and poked at Akemi’s
cheek till her hand was bapped away.
“Better idea. You get supplies, a nice big building, the land you are on is yours in perpetuity,
but instead of an Inn you open up and help run an Orphanage. There are… a heart breaking
amount of children that we’ve yet to reunite with their parents if they even still live. In the
meantime they need people to care for them. Someone else can be in charge of minding them
more if you wished, there are people that can aid you in it if you’d rather just keep them fed
and housed.” Akemi offered as her tails wiggled behind her.
Malina was curiously silent for a long while, enough that Akemi thought the connection had
dropped. “I’ll do it… I still remember when you brought in Hannyuu. If there are more
children that have been… I’ll do my best to help give them some normalcy, even if it is just
giving them a roof over their heads and warm food in their bellies. Give me a few days to
pack things up okay? How do I get there?”
“I’ll message you a few days from now, when you are ready I’ll teleport over there and store
your stuff away in my inventory… don’t ask for an explanation it is complicated, and then
we’ll take you back to your new home. You can take the time to explore the many floors
within Natura and pick a spot. It won’t matter if it is a bit distant from the main settlements as
I’ve set up a large teleportation network throughout every floor.” Akemi leaned against her
Mates with a happy smile.
“That sounds like a plan, three days and I’ll be ready, once I get rid of the last few patrons
and get things packed.”
“I’m so happy you’ll be joining us! I’ll keep it a surprise for Hannyuu, I bet she’ll have a hug
for you when you get here. See you soon!” With that Akemi let the connection drop. “Ahh
yes~ Malina will be coming here, I convinced her to set up an Orphanage.”
“So who exactly is she?” Kyouko asked curiously, her tail wagging at her Mate’s happy
mood. A genuine smile on Akemi’s face had sadly become a far too rare a thing for Kyouko’s
liking.
“She runs an Inn in E-Rantel, she was the first person I really got to sit and talk to in this
world. I suppose when she gets here there will need to be some catching up to do with her.
Don’t tell Hannyuu yet though, I want it to be a surprise, she is rather fond of the lady also.
She helped me the night I found Hannyuu, helped get me through the night after I got her into
bed, and got me through my own breakdown from witnessing it… not to mention my first
time killing someone.” Akemi sighed and leaned her head on Kyouko’s shoulder, her smile
coming back when she felt a kiss get pressed into her hair.
“She acts like she is tough but inside she is a softy, really nice to talk to. She’ll be good for
the kids.” Ana added and leaned on Akemi in turn, getting her own kiss.
“So just like you and Akemi? Hmm… think Lorelei and Hannyuu would want little
siblings?” Kyouko asked, seeming to delight in getting her Mates flustered.
“I-I mean… I think they would? I’ve thought about it a lot… It was a big regret of my last
life… that it was impossible for me. So y-yeah I want kids but I think you already guessed
that…” Akemi shyly admitted.
“Oh believe me we know, though I wouldn’t mind kids either. What ever happens happens…
It would be nice to introduce some grandkids as babies to my parents. I’d like to take
Hannyuu and Lorelei to see them as well of course.” Ana said.
“You did add all that space in the home, I would love to hear some little feet running down
the halls. We’ll have to see what happens in the future, but… mating season is just around the
corner, so…” Kyouko teased as her Mates sat up straight.
“W-wait, Emeril wasn’t kidding about the whole ‘mating season’ thing? What does that…
entail? Is it just a cultural thing?” Akemi asked with clear disbelief and embarrassment.
“Oh she wasn’t kidding~ I know humans have their own cycle, but most Demi-humans have
more of a mating cycle where we are more… needy. It can be a bit distressing the first time,
though normally by the time you are nineteen you’ve gotten used to it as a fact of life. So for
you… It might be a bit intense since you are also more mature, but it can be good fun. The
past few years Emeril and me would help each other through that event, but mating season
varies per Demi-human species.” Kyouko grinned at Akemi and reached over to play with
one of those tall fox ears. “Luckily enough, wolf Demi-humans and similar types, like
Kitsunes, have it happen at roughly the same time.”
“O-Oh… I guess that is what Emeril meant by being careful… using shape shifting during
that time?” Akemi asked and shrunk in on herself, Ana didn’t look much better.
“Yup, we’ve only done that outside of mating season as neither of us wanted more children at
the time, not when we were just having fun. During that time that is The time Demi-humans
are most likely to be able to get pregnant. It can come as a shock if you aren’t careful.”
Kyouko looked away and seemed to get a bit more serious. “Don’t get me wrong, I love
Lorelei with all my heart and soul, but it wasn’t a happy conception. It was my first mating
season… wasn’t really any older than Hannyuu. This was when I was still in the tribe I was
born in before it was scattered by the Theocracy… one bastard in the tribe, who was banished
soon after, took advantage of my… inexperience and surprise at the whole thing.” Kyouko’s
face took on more of a snarl as she shared that bit of her story.
“Oh… I’m sorry Kyouko…” Akemi said and leaned back over to hug her Mate. On the other
side Ana moved over to join in that hug.
“It is… well, something like that leaves scars as I’m sure thousands here can attest, but it was
nearly fifteen years ago and I’ve been able to move on as best I can. It was a bit hard raising
Lorelei that young but…” The smile that broke out over Kyouko’s face was full of the purest
love. “While it was a bad event that started it, Lorelei stole my heart in those first few
moments holding her. Now I certainly wouldn’t recommend having kids that young but it was
just how it happened.” Kyouko ruffled the other two’s hair and sighed.
“We should probably warn Hannyuu if she is getting to that age. Never though I’d be having
to have That kind of talk with a kid of my own but I guess that is parenthood. As for this
year… I-if… it happened I would not be upset, I’m all for a big family.” Akemi finally
admitted, flushed to her ears.
“I wouldn’t really mind either, I didn’t think I’d have much of a chance for having kids of my
own when I figured out I just like women. I’m not really part of the whole mating season
but… if it is anything like what we’ve already done then color me curious…” Ana admitted.
“Well then… If it hasn’t started for either of us before our date then we’ll try out that shape-
shifting, and see how it goes?” Kyouko asked and looked up at the artificial sky.
“Agreed… Well, motivation for our date to be done sooner rather than later… In that vein of
thought, I need to message Drau to discuss some things, set up a meeting. “[Message]. Good
afternoon Drau, hope you are doing well.”
“Oh? Surprised me there. I am doing quite well, as busy as it has been things have been truly
working out well here. Not that I don’t enjoy our conversations, but did you need
something?” Drau asked and sounded busy, not that it was surprising in the least.
“I’d like to request a meeting to discuss some things, but mostly the World Item you
mentioned. Before I can really proceed with nearly any of my plans I will need to acquire it,
especially with the likelihood of the Theocracy having one. Before they think to strike I need
a defense against them. I’d also like you to meet Lorelei now that she is awake as well.”
“Very well, That… is something that does take priority. I may not have seen them used but
Great Grandfather has told me about the terrible power they possess… The Theocracy will
most certainly break contact with my country at a minimum once they figured out we have
made an alliance, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to have me assassinated. I’ll free up
the next few hours for us, you may come as soon as you are ready.” Draudillon told Akemi
will all seriousness.
“I’ll be there within the hour, I’ll bring some snacks for this meeting. Oh, I should bring my
Minister of Civilian Affairs, she should be kept up to date on things. See you soon. Remind
me to get you a body guard that can handle what ever the Theocracy might throw at you.”
Akemi sighed and let the message drop. “This is going to be a long day… Alright girls, lets
gather up the kids and Emeril, we’re going to see Drau.”
“Yes ‘my Queen’ I’ll get Emeril~” Ana said in a teasing voice, hopping up to find the older
Kitsune.
“Careful there love, lest we have to put you in the dungeon~” Kyouko taunted, putting her
arms around the human and enjoying the adorable reactions.
“A very interesting mental image, Ana in chains… Has a nice appeal. I mean, I’m pretty sure
you two talked about tying me up after all, fair is fair. Okay, lets get moving my dear Mates.”
What got the two smaller women moving though was a playful slap on the rear from Kyouko,
much to the wolf’s amusement.
Stepping out of the shimmering blue and white gate the citizens were almost not shocked
anymore as Akemi and her family appeared. Lorelei was still in her wheelchair but looked
around in curiosity, her nose sniffing away at all the new scents and sights.
Surprisingly they found Minister Dahl standing in front of the castle doors. “Good, you’re
here. Her Majesty is waiting in the usual meeting room Queen Akemi.” Dahl said with a
smooth bow. It came as no surprise to them that he was used to dealing with royalty other
than his own Queen.
“I guess I am technically royalty now… can’t wait to tell Nii-sama about that one day~”
Akemi thought with no small amount of amusement. “Sounds appropriate.” It was a familiar
walking path through the castle, most of which gave Akemi a smile and even a bow. Whether
it was from her Tree feat, her new status as a Queen, being courted by their Queen, or just
saving the Kingdom Akemi knew not, but she enjoyed the popularity all the same.
“Good afternoon Drau, hope things have been going well.” Akemi said as she walked
through the door Dahl opened for them. Sitting across from the Dragon-kin Akemi couldn’t
help but admire the Queen, and not just for her beautiful looks, but her Queenly disposition
and poise. There was much and more she could learn from her she knew.
“Believe it or not your tense Message was the most interesting thing to happen all day.” Drau
said and pushed a small platter with a tea set over.
“My apologizes my Queen, but there are a lot of details and unseen things that go into
making sure this country runs smoothly, it will get easier the more things are rebuilt. If it
helps, your popularity with the citizenry couldn’t be higher.” Dahl said and made for the
door, leaving their party with the Queen alone, along with her handmaiden Hilda who stood
against the wall waiting.
“Yes yes, I’ve only been ruling for several decades, I’m quite aware.” Drau said scathingly at
her adviser before he left. Her eyes were much warmer as she turned back to Akemi and her
family. “Welcome all of you, it is wonderful to see you again. As for you two, it is a pleasure
to meet you two finally, I am Draudillon Oriculus, Queen of the Dragon Kingdom.” Her eyes
turned towards Lorelei and Emeril for their introductions.
“I-Its nice to meet you also, I’m Lorelei.” Lorelei said in a subdued voice, looking unsure
being around so many people she didn’t know that day. The proud look she got from Kyouko
set her more at ease at least.
“I am Emeril, Akemi’s appointed Minister of Civilian affairs, I believe I’ll have a lot of
contact with your country in the future.” Emeril smiled at the Queen and bowed her head.
“It is a pleasure to meet you both, I look forward to working with you. Remind me to set you
up with Dahl Emeril so we can begin working out the finer details of our cooperation. Will it
be fine for her to negotiate on your behalf today Akemi?” The Queen asked.
“Emeril has my full confidence, for matters of state if I’m not around her word is as my
own.” Akemi grinned at Emeril. The others stared at her for a moment, while Emeril bowed
her head with a light flush to her cheeks, that was a lot of trust Akemi had handed her.
“So Akemi, I had mentioned the World Item buried below the city? The entrance is within the
castle. There used to be more of them but they had been sealed up centuries ago. The
entrance in the castle was also sealed up a few decades ago at my command but not nearly as
solidly, I doubt that would be an issue for you either way.” Drau sipped at her tea, resting her
chin elegantly on her palm.
Pouring herself some tea Akemi ran through the possibilities. “And you have no idea what
World Item it could be? But there Is one there yes?” Akemi asked with clear excitement.
“That is what I just said. There are no records on what it might be, but Great Grandfather said
he felt it down there, and I trust his judgment on that at least. I do have one request for you if
you go down there. Please see what shape this ‘lost city’ is in, if it is still solid I would quite
like to have it available as an underground shelter.”
“I can do that, not a problem at all. Oh I’m going down there, I haven’t felt this excited in a
while~ Well… not since growing the biggest tree in existence. Sadly I can’t even guess what
item it is till I see it. There are so many different ones and even more that were never even
found. I’ve personally used three of them, one was able to entirely change the world within
the game for a few months. The second one was a Lance that could entirely destroy a target
without fail, at the cost of it also destroying me. As for the third… there is a reason my main
weapon ended up rather famous.” It may as well have been a holiday for Akemi as her gamer
instincts made themselves known.
“Well then, if you are so eager far be it from me to get in your way. I could send some of our
soldiers down with you if it may help?” Drau looked at Akemi’s girlfriends, as if to ask them
if this was how Akemi always was. The nod she got back slightly frustrated her, but also
seeing the excitement on the adorable Kitsune’s face was endearing all the same.
“If what is down there is something I can’t destroy in moments it is likely far too high level
compared what I’ve seen humans max out at. There would also be the chance they would get
caught in the crossfire. I’ll be fine down there myself, I should be able to stay in contact if
you wish.”
“Dear, this better not be you posturing to look nice, I’ll cry if you get hurt again, Hannyuu
will cry also.” Ana tried to reason.
“Yeah Akemi, last time we let you run off like this you came back to us covered in blood and
unconscious. Please just accept the help? Or even let me come?” Kyouko pleaded with an
edge in her voice. Lorelei looked between the adults, confused by the sudden tension.
“Everyone it will be fine! I wasn’t expecting the assassination attempt because I was all but
in space, but I’m going into this place expecting a fight! Hannyuu could also tell you that
once I had some time to get my bearings and got Ex Oblivion out that I destroyed my attacker
almost entirely. I’ve since noticed that I’ve been gaining more strength… and I have no other
chances to test what I can really do with all this new power flowing in me.”
Her mates stared at her for a moment, the tension just building between them all. “The only
way I can test what I can do is if I can go all out, if this place will be like I think it is then
things from Yggdrasil will be there… So likely level fifty through eighty guards.” Akemi
took a deep sigh. “Kyouko, you nearly died against someone just a few levels above you. I
love you and I’m Not going to put you at risk like that in fights you do not stand a chance of
winning!”
Kyouko’s hackles raised at that. “I’m not that weak! I can get stronger! I’ve been fighting for
years longer than you and your ‘game’!” Kyouko paused after her outburst and sighed.
“Sorry…”
Akemi’s ears folded as she looked away. “I know I don’t have much actual true combat
experience, not like you do, but my base combat abilities are monstrous for this world. I’ll be
honest, if I was more destruction inclined I could likely could utterly annihilate any country
on this planet within a week just by raining meteors down, possibly quicker with my Divinity
actually helping me now. Things like me could be down there that are just as strong.”
Reaching over Akemi grasped Kyouko and Ana’s hands. “I’m not saying you are weak… for
this world you are on the stronger side. You are level twenty now, and the Re-Estize’s
strongest Gazef, ignoring Evileye, is level twenty nine. Anything a player might have set up
as a guard could more than likely kill him faster than swatting a fly. I’m not saying these
things to be cruel, I’m saying them because it is true and I love you too much to risk you like
that. The last thing I want to ever do is have to revive any of you.” Akemi sighed and looked
down, not wanting to look at the potential hurt on her lover’s face.
“Is there anything you can that can assure them things would go well? Perhaps that mirror so
they could watch?” Drau added, seeming to come out of her shock from witnesses the trio
actually disagreeing for once.
“I’d accept that mirror, at the very least we wouldn’t have to guess how she is doing.” Ana
squeezed Akemi’s hand back and looked at Kyouko in concern.
“…I want to get stronger… I want to be able to stand beside my Mate in battle… that is
where I Should be! I can’t stop you from going, just… be careful, if you get so much as a
scratch I will chain you to the damn bed.” Kyouko added with a tired smirk.
That thankfully got Akemi to calm down, only to get her excited once again. “I-I-I… That is
a bit of a tall order but I can certainly try. If anything near my level is there I doubt I can
avoid taking any damage at all. Here.” Akemi pulled out her mirror of viewing from her
inventory and set it on the table. “I do have things to back up my confidence though… I
tested it on the ninety ninth floor, I’ve figured out how to infuse some of this Divinity into
one of my unique skills, improving that skill by magnitudes~ I don’t want to spoil it too
much though if I have to use it.”
“So you agree to those terms?” Kyouko asked with all the seriousness in the world, brushing
past Akemi’s boasting.
“Fine, If I get hurt at all I’ll let you do that… You have the mirror now so if you can see me
get hit while I’m moving faster than sound you’ll get me as your prize.” Akemi twirled a hair
around her finger with a deep flush to her face.
“Mamas…” Hannyuu groaned while smacking her forehead into the table, her ears flattened
with her exasperation. After a bit of apology petting she perked up again.
“Sorry Hannyuu, sorry Lorelei…” Kyouko and Akemi both said while looking properly
apologetic.
“For?” Lorelei asked while raising her eyebrow. All three moms looked properly chastised.
“““For talking about those things in front of you two…””” All three said. With the daughters
appeased they turned back to Drau, ignoring the look of suspicion from both the teens.
“So, if that is settled, I’ll take you to the entrance and you can deal with what ever is down
there at your leisure.” Drau finished her tea and stood up.
Akemi followed along with an eager pep in her step, her excitement at finally getting to test
her limits clear to all of them.
The others followed them down the older hallways till it became downright ancient. The hall
walls had turned into rough stone and only the floor was smoothed out. Even with it being
smoothed it was still rough on Lorelei as she sat in her chair that hit every bump. Magical
lights were placed in alcove’s in the wall that lit their way, helping them avoid the worst
irregularities in the floor. It was like that till they came to a metal wall that covered the entire
tunnel, letting not even air through.
“Here it is, I had this sealed up maybe fifty years ago? It was after the last expedition was
given up as lost after disappearing down there for two weeks, I wasn’t about to risk anymore
of my people.” Drau said and looked bitter at that, seeming to take the loss of those explorers
personally.
“I’ll see if I can find any remains and bring them back up. Well, a barrier like this really is
nothing. Please stand back~” Akemi said and waited for the others to get out of the blast
zone. Walking forward she placed a hand on the barrier. “[Tremor Sense]. Maybe about a foot
of metal?” Akemi said and stepped back a few steps, holding up her hands. “Lets see… If I
set the area of effect manually, and I borrow the spell formula for this…”
Akemi talked to herself as mentally she sorted through the hundreds of spells she knew,
dissecting them for what she needed. A green outline appeared from her hands and seemed to
form a hollow cube that phased through that wall. In a green flash that metal disintegrated to
particles even finer than sand!
“What in the world was that? That was a damn useful spell…” Ana asked in excitement, all
but bouncing over.
“I manually grabbed the area I needed to get rid of and borrowed the spell formula for
Disintegration. I’ve gotten better at using my magic how I want if I remember the way my
mana flows and pick apart the spell formulas in them.” Akemi’s tail wagged as she went full
nerd.
“That sounds really useful… something separate from Tier magic and Wild magic? I suppose
some races do have intrinsic magics unique to their race but…” Drau seemed confused but
interested in the details but shook her head. “Well, the way is open, be safe down there,
alright? I think your girlfriends might actually tie you up otherwise.” Drau joked.
“Oh that would probably happen either way eventually, I’ll be as careful as I can. In that
vein…” In a flash of blue light Akemi’s armored battle robes were equipped, and she pulled
her weapon out of her inventory. She stared at her weapon strangely and adjusted her grip.
“Huh, it is being weird today… I’ll have to look into that later.”
“What do you mean weird?” Kyouko asked with a worried glance at the ominous looking
weapon.
“It is hard to explain but… it is sort of like your weapon now, I almost feel a consciousness
from it? Not entirely but enough that I’m slightly worried. This was just meant to be a strong
weapon back in Yggdrasil made from what was known as the only consumable World Item, it
wasn’t a growing weapon like I made your’s Kyouko. Something to think about later. Watch
me on the mirror okay loves?” Akemi said and rested her weapon on her shoulder before
leaning forward to receive a kiss from her Mates, while Hannyuu hugged her around her
middle. She at least got a smile and look of worry from Lorelei, though Akemi didn’t feel
like she would get a hug yet even if Lorelei could properly stand up on her own to do so.
“Don’t you get hurt Mama…” She mumbled and leaned into the hand ruffling her hair, a purr
appearing in her throat.
“I won’t, I’ll get that world item and explore this dungeon~ I feel like a Player again. I’m
going to have some fun, Love you all.” Akemi said and forced herself to continue down the
path where there were no lights.
It was a strangely long hallway without change, her tremor sense spell helping her find her
way through the darkness that not even her night vision would properly see through. When
the path began to curve down Akemi felt herself finally get excited, a grin on her face.
“I suppose before I get to any danger I should prepare myself, I don’t want to be made a
liar…” She thought and closed her eyes to focus as she walked. It was the useful part of her
Parallel Thought Processing passive, being able to focus on both walking with Tremor Sense
and sorting through possible buffs.
“Now then… Wow…” Soon that path opened up impossibly wide. It was dark besides
several magical lights that still existed. “[Morning Sun].” She fired her spell at the top of the
massive cavern she was in, and stared in awe at the ash covered city. The ash had turned into
a solid layer over the buildings, preserving it in time, but it was identifiable as a city
nonetheless.
The problem though was she couldn’t sense the World Item in that area. “There is a deeper
area I think, well, guess it is time to explore.” She thought and wandered into the city proper.
Her mood withered as she looked inside one building to find a lump on the ground. Wiping
away the hardened ash she was not surprised to find bones. “How long have all of you been
stuck down here? I should make sure they get a proper burial, even if it is hundreds of years
too late.”
It was sobering, to see just how much destruction the volcano had done. “[God’s Eye].”
Closing her eyes she formed a small floating orb that soon vanished from the visible
spectrum of light. She stood there with her eyes closed as her divination magic made it’s way
through the dead city.
She stood there for nearly an hour and began to worry the tales were wrong. Deep under the
largest building she could find, it’s purpose long since forgotten, she felt a tunnel open up. It
was far brighter down there, and unnaturally clean!
Bricks of marble led further down till the floor became solid. In front of the eye created by
her spell stood a massive golden gate that she could see had several magical protections. The
lights brightened as she saw two creatures appear, both appearing as armored knights though
she could not guess the spells that formed them somehow. “Roughly level fifty? No wonder
their expeditions failed if they got that far.” She thought and began to pull the eye back, but
not before one of the knights seemed to notice her divination and rushed forward with a
spear.
“Anti-divination defenses? I should have known- FUCK, Ow that hurt you asshole!” She
complained as the spell was forcefully ended by that spear, the damage being transmitted past
her High Tier Damage immunity that should have blocked a level fifty attack. She sighed and
let her passive regeneration take care of the relatively minor damage that was mostly internal.
“[Greater Teleportation].” She cast and set herself on that marble path leading towards those
gates. “I’m certain this place was controlled by Players. As long as it isn’t on the level of
Nazarick I should be fine. Well… fate favors the bold.” She thought and held her weapon up
as she saw that gate. “[Complete Vision], [Absorption], [Infinity Wall].” She cast just in time
for those guards to charge at her.
Blocking that spear head with her weapon she grinned as it chipped the metal and then cut
through the shaft, right before dividing the guard in half vertically. She was thankful there
was no blood as the construct vanished, the empty armor clanging to the ground before that
vanished just as suddenly as it appeared.
“No one home?” She asked just as she tilted her head to dodge the spear attempting to kill
her. “May as well just dodge them, sure they can’t hurt me at level fifty, but lets not worry the
girls… but… that bed tying… No Akemi! Stop being so gay for five minutes!” As she scolded
herself she dodged the strikes before sliding past the other haunted armor to leave it in
several pieces behind her.
“[Maximize Magic: Force Explosion].” She cast at that large gate, yet her eyes widened as it
barely dented the thing. With a shrug she held Ex Oblivion with both hands and began
swinging. She was oh so tempted to collect those pieces of gold that fell off the ground along
with the gate, but there would be time to loot later.
Past the gate she had to give credit to what ever guild had this place, it was impressive in it’s
scale and beauty. Like above there was an underground city, but unlike there there was not a
hint of ash touching any of the buildings in the micro city. Buildings were still lit up, and all
of it was spotless, like the place was ready for it’s master’s to return.
“I guess only the guild base got dragged to this world? It has to be tied to world items.” She
told herself as her ears perked up. “That likely means any guild that had a world item and
stored it in their base was likely pulled like Nazarick was… I guess anything connected to
that base would be pulled as well. Was Ainz the exception due to him having a World Item on
hand?” She pondered as she wandered the main street.
The entire cavern was quite large, easily over two kilometers in height and a good few
kilometers wide. If she had to guess the guild there had turned a dungeon they conquered into
their home like several guilds had.
Internally she was delighting over the clearly Player made areas so lovingly maintained, it
made her wish to explore all of it, but she knew she had a task to do first. At the end of the
street was a large entrance hall to the castle that dominated the ‘skyline’ of the place.
“Found you.” Deep inside of that Hall Akemi sensed the powerful energy of a World Item,
unmistakable to those who have held one in that world, or been in their presence.
She stopped at the entrance of that guild head quarters and paused. “Better refresh buffs.
[Extended Magic: Absorption], [Maximize Magic: Bless of Magic Caster], [Complete
Vision], [Draconic Power], [False Data: Life], [Widen Magic: Field of Force], [Lights of
Valhalla], [Indomitability], [Maximize Magic: Infinity Wall], [Maximize Magic: Magic
Boost], [Extended Magic: Dividing Edge], [Extended Magic: Magic Ward: Fire], [Extended
Magic: Magic Ward: Acid], [See Through], [Veil of Moon], [Maximize Extended Magic:
Protection from Arrows], [Body of Effulgent Aquamarine]. Fucking hell…” After catching
her breath for a moment she looked out at the mini city.
The cave walls were unnatural in their smoothness, as if this entire place was just replaced by
the entire guild base. The edges of the city had lit up, the light covering the perimeter from
her spell Lights of Valhalla, and Akemi could feel her divine magic be empowered from
them.
With a deep breath Akemi advanced into that base, her every sense on the lookout for any
traps. All things considered it was a small guild base, likely a low level guild that got lucky
finding a World Item and kept it secret between very few people.
It was surprising to her that there was very little in the way of defenses, up until three Lion
headed Chimera’s attacked that were level eighty. It was a bit more exciting for Akemi as she
dodged the repeated strikes of the claws, as well as the snaps of the snake head tail of them.
She was being very careful to not allow them to touch her, knowing that they could get past
her damage nullification. “[Maximize Magic: Chain Dragon Lightning]!” She shouted as she
pointed one of her tails at the beasts, letting her tail be the casting conduit, letting loose the
lightning bolts that jumped between those beasts.
While that was not enough to kill them by far, it was enough to damage them and temporarily
stun two of them as they failed the check against the status ailment of electrified. Leaping at
the opening Akemi removed the lion heads from the rest of the bodies and dodged the snake
heads that still lived, till she cut those off in time to block the claws of the last Chimera that
avoided the stun. “They must be a low level guild if this is the strongest they’ve sent at me,
any bigger guild would have at least one max level NPC to throw at intruders.” With just one
Chimera to distract her she countered it’s claws with the enchanted edge of her blade and
destroyed even those, right before eight of her nine tails impaled it from all sides, the gaping
wounds pouring blood when she withdrew them leaving them dead on the spot.
With those likely generated NPC guards dead she continued closer to the item. Like any guild
of worth, they seemed to keep any riches in a separate vault that should be well guarded. As
she stopped in front of the wall sized vault door she raised an eye brow. “They could have at
least disguised it. At least they didn’t neglect security here.” Akemi mumbled to herself.
Without looking away from the vault she held up Ex Oblivion vertically, bracing it with both
arms as a sword clashed against it with far more force than the Chimera’s claws before.
Before she had time to get a better look at her attacker, she dashed back into that large hall
she came from away from the door and braced herself. “Maximize Magic: Prismatic Ba-” Her
spell was cut off as a wave of nuclear fire swept down those halls from the silently cast spell.
“Okay more than one attacker, capable of ninth tier magic, one had enough strength with that
sword to make me work for it.” Akemi thought and silently cast Cure All to end the nasty
side effects of Nuclear Blast. “Well done, you all are stronger than anything I’ve found here
yet.” Akemi said and kept her back to the seemingly empty hall, her Pseudo-Omniscience
told her that four pairs of eyes were watching her, and her own eyes told her the same
moments later.
“You took that nearly point blank and nary a scratch on you. Finally! I was tired of spending
eternity with these ones…” The voice was coming from a blond woman with spiraling horns
and a trident-like staff. The black skimpy clothes on her left little doubt in Akemi’s mind
what her creator was going for with the Succubus, though Akemi didn’t dislike the long and
mostly bare legs on her.
“Not only that, you blocked my blade without looking at me, even with my perception
blocking on.” An androgynous voice came from a figure in black chainmail who pointed
their blade at her.
A towering hulk of armor soon joined them from one of the other halls. “Oho, I thought I
heard something different. Welcome worthy challenger!” The man was entirely encased in
thick armor and he was nearly three meters tall. If Akemi had to guess he had some giant
blood in him. His giant shield made her think he was some sort of paladin, likely their healer.
“I have a few tricks up my sleeve, just like I know that there is a fourth one of you around the
corner behind me. I assume by you calling me a challenger that you wished for someone to
come? Could we chat first?” Akemi asked as her tails were kept defensively behind her,
almost like they were snakes ready to strike.
“Damn, she is perceptive. Well lady, I suppose there is plenty of time for some questions, as
long as you know what will happen regardless of what is said.” A woman nearly hissed as
she came around the corner, facing Akemi with a spear. Unlike the rest she had just leather
armor on.
One thing she could notice on all of them was their gear: only their weapons were of Divine
Class, if she had to guess their armor was auto generated just like most of what made them
them. She had examined each one’s statistics enough that she could tell it was a suboptimal
build that Yggdrasil would use to give players a base NPC to fiddle with.
“So… how long have you all been trapped down here? Never thought to go top side? You
would have to have been here for at least…”
“At least 800 years? Correct… as much as I hate that fact. Sure as an NPC I don’t feel hunger
or the like, but boredom… boredom strikes all equally. Eight hundred years down here with
these three.” The succubus woman in black said as she all but straddled her staff as she
examined Akemi.
“That is entirely fair, that sounds horrible… Well, I can’t say what staying here with your
other guards is like.” Akemi said with a shake of her head. “What Guild even is this? What
are your names?”
“Honestly? We don’t know, this place is quite barren as you can see, if there is anything it is
in the vault. We were made and ordered to guard the vault entrance… then our creator just
vanished.” The spear wielder slumped in clear sadness. “He didn’t name us before he left. We
have 800 years of boredom to work off, so If it is all the same to you I hope you can put up a
nice fight.” The spear wielder sounded quite excited for it.
Akemi shrugged. “I expected that, well, it has been a while since I had a fight that could
actually test my limits with both sides at full strength.” Akemi said and grinned, her stance
lowering, poised to strike the first one that moved or to jolt forward herself. “Their shitty
generated builds aside and their weak gear, they Are still level one hundred NPCs, no taking
chances.” Akemi told herself before striking to her left as the one that initially tried to sneak
up on her swung their sword, their weapons clashing in another sparking clash.
She was thanking everything that she had decided to buff herself before entering as that
signaled the others to launch forward into the melee. It was far too small of an arena for them
throwing strikes that could turn normal buildings to dust. Each strike send deafening booms
through the miniature city.
They traded small strikes that tested the other’s reflexes, their speed and strength ramping up
very quickly as Akemi found she could mostly keep up with the extra angles of attack using
her tails and her Parallel Thought Processing passive to keep track of things even if it quickly
began to hurt her brain..
Akemi grunted as the giant with a shield and a great axe rammed her hard enough to launch
her back down the hall. Her eyes darted about as she flipped in mid air during those
milliseconds to brush aside that spear with Ex Oblivion, but was unable to cut through the
shaft like the weak monster at the gate.
“[Mist of Super Acid]!” As their caster shouted that Akemi bolted behind her to outrun the
corrosive mist of the tenth tier spell, knowing that if she kept trying to fight in such an
enclosed space she would end up hurt. She could tell they were following her quickly, with
the assassin NPC able to nearly match her in speed.
In a chase that felt like minutes, but was in reality only mere moments, Akemi latched onto
the roof of a two story building outside of that guild headquarters and found the others had
spread out around here. “They might be auto generated, but they do work well together,
reminds me of how my Lilys could fight when they had the chance.”
In a burst of speed Akemi appeared in front of the mage, the natural first target, her blade at
the very least cracking the wood on her staff, while the stab that followed was barely dodged,
the blade nicking the Succubus Mage’s shoulder.
As Akemi landed first blood she was nicked in kind by the Spearwoman in her side.
“Dammit all!” Akemi shouted as she got some distance.
“You upset about a little scratch like that? Awww do you need some salve for your wound?
Want me to kiss you better?” The Succubus mage asked with a saucy grin.
“No… but now I lost a bet with my Mates. Well… getting tied to the bed doesn’t sound too
bad being honest.” Akemi admitted with a blush, finding that it was indeed hard to not be her
gay self for even five minutes.
“Damn, very nice~ Also, [Void Lance].” The mage shouted just as a beam of pure darkness
shot from her hand at Akemi at several times the speed of sound.
There was not time to truly cast a spell from tier magic, as even silent spells required
chanting it within your own head. While she couldn’t directly counter it, she still was able to
tank it onto her defensive enchantments. All in all it was very minor damage from the tenth
tier typeless damage attack. It did take a chunk of mana to block it, but she had more than
enough mana regeneration to pay the cost.
Akemi held out her own hand at the mage and altered her spell a tad. The usual pillar of light
of Brilliant Radiance that went from the ground up instead came out towards the group
horizontally at twice it’s normal width without the incantation warning them at all. She felt
the spell touch at least two of them, giving her some amusement.
“[False Data: Mana]? Just how much mana do you even have to make it that big?” The mage
asked as she appeared again holding an arm that lightly smoked. It appeared her dodge was
just a bit too late to avoid it entirely.
Before Akemi could respond she took a chance to invoke Time Stop silently. As she
expected… no cash shop items or fancy gear for those NPCs meant only the Mage seemed
immune to her spell. Luckily Akemi was not going after the Mage.
Before that Mage could interfere Akemi jumped behind her, and hence behind the Assassin
that had attempted to sneak up on her once again. Even though Akemi knew she couldn’t do
damage to her targets during Time Stop… it didn’t mean she couldn’t be in a great position.
“Dammit no!” She heard the mage shout as she stabbed Ex Oblivion into the Assassin’s chest
from behind, or she was prepared to as no amount of force would let her stab him during the
spell. With but a thought she let the Time Stop fade just as the mage futilely flung chain
lighting at Akemi.
Her blade was quickly in and out as she opened a new hole in the Assassin who seemed to
hang onto life by their instincts pulling them to the side, the blade missing their heart by
several hairs.
Akemi let him retreat as she countered the blow of the Paladin who rushed at her, soon
regretting getting into a contest of strength as she was set sliding over that roof and over to
the next one. “[Holy Lance]!” The Paladin shouted and fired his own beam of light at her. For
that beam she let it hit her, filling her with a fresh feeling of strength.
Running directly through the beam that could only heal her she placed her palm on the
Paladin’s shield. “[Implosion]!” She shouted as she dodged the swipe at her head from the
sword of the Paladin’s.
Taking a few steps back she noticed that she had succeeded in bringing blood to the Paladin’s
lips, with it dripping from his helmet as he caught his breath. “You are tanky. I’ll give it as a
freebie, Divine magic of all types heals me.” Akemi said and grinned at the growl she got
from their tank.
From above she blocked a stab from that spear, rapidly stabbing up at her attacker in return as
they both stood upon the same roof, their weapons mere blurs in the air that let out a
cacophony of metal meeting metal. For Akemi it was much more difficult, her tails having to
be used to aid in countering the faster spear strikes. “[Force Explosion]!” She shouted and
pushed the Spearwoman away into the next building.
“You fight very well, this has been the most fun I’ve had in years!” The spear lady said as she
pulled herself out of the wall and stood near her teammates. “You aren’t giving it your all, are
you?” She asked in accusation despite the fun she claimed to be having.
“I’m at heart a magic caster, and you’ve mostly stopped me from casting my spells. I confess
though that I do have some more tricks up my sleeve I wanted to try.” She admitted.
The Mage snorted and leaned on her staff. “So you’re using us to experiment?”
Akemi’s ears flattened for a moment as she shrugged. “In a sense, the world above has nearly
no one of our level, so getting to stretch my wings feels nice… I don’t want to end it too
soon. I’m already going to get it from my Mates anyway for getting hit after all. This form is
not the most suitable for fighting multiple people at the same level as myself sadly.”
“Stop toying around and fight us!” The Assassin finally shouted as they threw a hail of
knives Akemi was forced to dodge. When those knives began to dart after her Akemi knew
she pissed them all off.
With those knives all around her and more than likely poisoned Akemi braced herself as she
landed in the street. “[Gravity Crush]!” She cast, wincing as gravity increased for herself, but
even more so for her surroundings. The buildings closest to her cracked and were flattened in
nanoseconds, as were the knives that ended up buried deep in the compacted ground.
“You made your damn point! I’ve been wanting to test in live combat something I had
thought of it so I guess this is the perfect place for it.” Akemi said as her fur stood on end.
Even that deep underground, she could still feel her connection to the tree quite strongly,
feeding her mana. Dipping deeper into the tree, and hence the Leyline, Akemi began to pull
in far more mana than her natural maximum state.
“Finally! Show us something good!” The Mage shouted, though she winced as she felt the
tremendous amount of mana that Akemi was using, enough that her Mana Essence spell all
but broke past a certain point. “How in the hell are you just making mana?! That isn’t even
fair!”
“Life isn’t fair! You wanted to see my best, so that is what you get! [Skill: Nine Tailed
Manifestation: Divine Right Invocation.] She let that overflow of mana fill her down to the
last cell as her physical self transformed into something else entirely.
It was almost painful for her as that mass of divine energy didn’t just manifest around her in
her modified skill, it changed her body itself. “Normally this skill is entirely different, but
I’ve taken liberties with it using the recent growth in my abilities. You’re the first people
to get to see this.” Akemi’s voice boomed through that small city as she lit up the entire
cavern like the sun. It was hard for her not to when she took up nearly a fifth of it as her form
shifted into that of a white fox that was glowing to a near eye melting degree of massive
proportions. On inspection she was almost entirely made of divine energy and put a heavy
pressure on the area that even those level one hundred NPCs could feel below.
“What kind of cheat skill is that?! Bullshit!” The Mage shouted right as she was pulled away
from the building she was standing on by the Spearwoman, right before that house was all
but consumed by a tail moving faster than sound and impaling it.
“Sounds like a skill issue. Watch out for my everything.” Akemi warned as the rest of her
tails joined in trying to impale them, crushing houses in her wake.
In the exploding houses, it was first the Assassin who was caught in the crossfire. With their
footing destroyed out from under them, a tail swiped them from the side, searing them
momentarily in the divine energy and stunning them with concussive force, right before said
force carried them in the far cavern wall at speeds that left a sonic boom. From a distance the
others could see a crater, as well as gold particles coming off the figure there till they faded
away like dust entirely.
“Dammit! Everyone behind me!” The Paladin shouted as the Mage and Spearwoman landed
behind his large shield. Akemi was quite impressed as that shield tanked a tail stabbing at it
with minimal push back, yet being so close began to sear his skin under his armor. “S-shit
move!” He told the others as that shield began to crack in the middle.
The Spearwoman and Mage barely moved aside when the Paladin’s shield cracked, and in
less than a heartbeat he was turned to dust as well as that tail impaled him and scattered him
to the wind.
The Mage’s agility was not up to snuff as she nearly was caught by a tail, sending her
tumbling down and holding her side. “Ow shit! [Infinity Wall], [Wall of Void]!” A personal
defense on her person fueled by her mana, and a wall of pure darkness manifesting in a orb
around her. She didn’t need to know where things were coming from as several points on her
barrier were impacted at once. To her distress that darkness seemed to almost burn away, the
magic unraveling just like moments later she herself did. “Fu-” Before she could get her last
word out, three of those tails finished crushing her and her barrier to dust, the impact to her
Infinity wall eating through her depleted energy supplies in half a moment.
“I’ll admit, I’m damn impressed. This has been the most fun I’ve had in these long years…”
The Spearwoman said as she stood atop one the remaining houses catching her breath.
“I’m glad you’re happy, I have absolutely nothing against you four, I’ve had fun as well.
Your long guard is over, you can rest now.” Akemi told her as those tails came back and
flared out behind her, all but blinding in her radiance, looking every bit the goddess she had
embraced being.
“So it is…” The Spearwoman said as she watch Akemi’s mouth open and the divine energy
emitting from her tails to be driven into an orb in front of her. She closed her eyes as a
blinding beam that dwarfed the horizontal Brilliant Radiance Akemi had cast earlier flew
towards her near instantly.
In a bright flash the building and area she was standing on were erased in a wave of light.
Akemi felt no more presences around her, no peering eyes of NPCs watching. Pulling in that
divine energy was far more difficult than pulling it out in that skill. “Fuck ow ow ow…”
Akemi thought as all that energy compressed back down into the size of a person, and then
Akemi herself stepped out of that light while covered in a few burns under her armor, though
some peeked out on her limbs and face.
Collapsing to her knees she clutched at her chest with panting breathes. Getting that valuable
oxygen that felt absolutely wonderful as the downsides of that modified skill made
themselves known. “I guess I can’t breath well during it… makes sense if I’m not a physical
creature anymore… Gods they are all worried I’m sure. [Message]. Loves I’m fine I promise
you-”
“Akemi you reckless fucking idiot! Are you alright? What even was that?!” Kyouko asked,
making Akemi hold her ear despite it being a mental message.
“It was me giving a fight my all was what it was… That technique is still in a testing phase,
but I messed with one of my unique skills to combine with my Divinity, pretty cool right?”
Akemi asked, her clear attempt to divert the topic doomed to failure.
“Oh it was amazing, it was downright hot watching you fight, BUT you still were injured… In
the future, I get you for a night. It will be just you, Ana, me, your collar, and a ton of silk rope
for a night of ‘punishment’” Akemi gulped at that statement from her Mate, her cheeks
flushing at just the thought.
“Fine… I can endure it! Bring it on!” She declared as she stood up on shaky legs.
“We’ll see about that my love~ That last attack you did… we felt that all the way up here.
Please never use that near an actual city?”
Looking out at the destruction Akemi stood slack jawed. Her final blast had to have
annihilated a good fifth of that small city. “I won’t, that attack is really dangerous… I mean
this entire form requires me to tap into the Leyline, so the further away from the tree the
harder that will be. I think that had to be on the level of a Super Tier spell with the amount of
Mana I used.”
“Will you be coming back up here soon?” Kyouko asked with the worry creeping back into
her voice.
Akemi rubbed her head as a headache began to form. Thankfully the painful burns over her
body quickly began to heal, while the cut on her side was long since healed and the robe
repaired. “Not quite yet, I still need to get into that vault and get the item. I’d also like to see
if I can fix this city back up and loot it, see what valuable stuff other players left~”
“Really? Like a looter?” Kyouko sounded more amused than judgmental.
Akemi just filled that empty space with her laughter as she made her way back to that initial
vault, taking her time to catch her breath as she walked. This time though she kept her guard
up… she did not fancy any more assassination attempts. “To the victor go the spoils my sexy
wolf you! Now, let me crack this vault and see what this World Item is!”
She felt like a kid at Christmas morning as she imbued her blade with more power and began
to carve through that vault door like nutrient paste fresh from the tube. “[Widen Magic: Cure
Disease], [Widen Maximize Magic: Disarm Trap].” A cloud of gas was dispersed before it
could even exit the vault, while the clicking of dozens of traps made Akemi blink.
It wasn’t abnormal for security as far as she was considered, they were protecting a World
Item after all, the only thing more valuable would be a Guild Item if only for the Guild itself.
With all due caution she stepped into that vault, there she spotted a pedestal that stood out
above all the other piles of treasures and shorter display cases.
The potent and dense magic hung in the air as Akemi approached the World Item. On the
stand sat a silver ring that was inlaid by a solid ring of emerald, carved with care to appear as
leaves in the ring. “[All Appraise Magic Item]. Legion is it? Never heard of this one. The
items effects are…” Picking up that ring Akemi felt pride fill her, as well as hope at what she
could do with it. “Oh I can’t wait to use you!”
Chapter End Notes
A/N: Wow that chapter went on longer than I thought, but I had a damn good writing
day, nearly 7k done in one day! As well as editing till 0137… I do so hope you all
enjoyed this one, I had fun writing it!
I think I should clarify before it is asked about: The skill she used was not how it was in
Yggdrasil. In the game it was more akin to what the 9 tailed fox in Naruto looked like,
and roughly 80 meters tall, with strength closer to a lesser raid boss, enough to hold off a
few players maybe, but not kill them easily. This form has been upgraded by her
combining it with her Divinity, being closer to a quarter of a kilometer in size and made
of divine energy, making physical attacks not very effective. Positive karma attacks and
divine energy have the chance to heal her, while she is closer to immune to negative
karma and negative energy, so the best people that would have a chance against her like
that (and as her regular size) would be those closer to neutral. Cocytus and Sebas would
be the guardians that would have the best chance against her in that form, though her
strength is closer to a high tier raid boss.
As for those NPCs, if they were properly geared with optimal builds she would have had
a much harder time. These NPCs we're almost entirely game generated with bare
minimum builds like when Ainz uses Perfect Warrior. Her surviving a close to point
blank Nuclear Blast is rather simple, that won't one shot or damage much any level 100
Player or NPC, it is still just a T9 spell that is incredibly flashy.
This was meant to show her horizontal growth with these new skills. Despite being at
level 100, she has found a way to get some new strength that is outside of the bare bones
class system of that world. Part of the story is Akemi and even Ainz stopping thinking
of that world as a game, to disconnect themselves from gamer thinking and the systems
they know.
Next chapter we shall return to our regularly scheduled Gay AF programing.

Anticipation and Introductions
Chapter Summary
A few members of the family have trouble sleeping, leading to several interesting
conversations. Feelings finally come to a head and bud, while the long awaited date
between the trio begins, overshadowed by the promises of a wonderful night to come.
Chapter Notes
I'm sorry in advance for the long chapter... I am really bad at keeping chapters to a
manageable length x.x
With the World Item securely in her grasp, Akemi gazed at the rest of the room. “So this is
where all the nice things are~ I guess those load-outs must be from the Players that quit.”
Akemi said and looked at the twelve armor sets. It was all rather colorful to her as a mix of
metal, leather, and gem encrusted robes sat on manikins.
In their hands were an equal number of weapons, from staffs, to knives, to even a great axe.
What really grabbed her attention was what was in the hands of the manikin in the center.
“No doubt, I hit the damn jackpot with this place.” Akemi said as she careful examined all
the things in the room for traps, finding at least a few that she failed to disarm, and attempted
those until they were gone, and at last lifted the large knife from the dummy’s hands. “So this
was their Guild Item. Seems to be made out of Apoithkarah, nice.” She said and examined
the curved blade in her hands, finding that the blue crystal fit well with the inferno rubies that
sat within the spine of the blade.
She could already feel the magic contained within them, being second only to world items in
the amount of magic in them, their data level. “You are coming with me~”
It was fun for her, cataloging and storing each piece of armor and weapons in her inventory,
including some extra weapons that were in display cases off to the side. To her great delight
she found several small piles of metal bars. “Prismatic metals! Fuck yes!” It was the best
kind of loot she could have found, at least enough to make a few sets of equipment for her
family. With the amount she had she could easily set up her scrying room as well.
Potions, a few minor cash shop items, Yggdrasil gold coins, and various magic items such
as… “Unlimited milk jug?” Akemi’s smile brightened and she clasped her hands together in
prayer. “Oh merciful loot gods you have shown me your generosity and my faith is
renewed~” If it was as she thought it would at least be useful for baking or when there was no
milk to be had, but she bet fresh milk would still be tastier. “Would Hannyuu like milk?”
Taking a pause her ears perked up. “Is… Is that racist of me?” She had to ponder that
question as she shoved any loot of any value into her inventory with as much delight as a
motherly Kitsune in an orphanage ready to adopt the whole place.
Walking out of that vault she pulled the Guild Item back out. As she expected this was one of
the only times a window still popped up for her. “Lets see, admin access to this place? Lets
fix things up for Drau.” She mumbled as she paid the requisite gold to repair the vault door
from what was in the vault, and funneled an even larger chunk to repair the micro city she
had all but nuked.
On top of that dagger being a Guild Weapon, it was quite strong as a knife! She just imagined
what one of her Lilys could do with it! That brought her back to the World Item and the
thought of how much she wanted to use it.
She let herself wander back into that empty city and explore those buildings, most of which
seemed to be individual guild member’s private rooms. “I’m sorry all for looting but… I
can’t just leave this stuff lying around, I’ll give some of it to Drau I promise. Would giving
Bahgram a new great axe make him not glare at me?”
“Another milk jug, some juices.” Her eyes widened as she opened a large metal door. “A time
lock meat storage? Maybe I can get that up into Drau’s castle? I will take this meat though.”
It was enough to buy her a few days to fix the meat situation in Natura.
“Well then, lets get back, I’m tired…” With that she invoked the spell formula for Greater
Teleportation, feeling the veil of reality bend and pull her from one point to another. The
feeling was a bit different than just using the spell, enough to make her think about the
implications of teleportation.
She stumbled back as Hannyuu ran into her, hugging her as tightly as her little arms could
hug. “Mama stop nearly dying!” She whined with a surprising amount of frustration in her
voice, only matched by her stressed sobs.
As her family, and even Drau, surrounded and hugged her Akemi flushed. “I tried my best
not to get hurt, you all saw it! I was barely injured, I’m alright I swear…” Akemi said and
basked in that comfort around her, even Lorelei had pushed herself over to grab her hand.
It… was home to her, these people, they Were her home.
Once they were all appeased that she wouldn’t keel over dead, they sat back down at the
meeting table. Pulling out Legion, Akemi slipped it on her finger.
“So… what is it and what does it do?” Hannyuu asked with clear excitement in her voice.
Akemi’s smug smirk did not help any of them.
“It is called Legion, and apparently it was what made those NPCs I was fighting. I’d guess
that the last guild member activated it before quiting, setting them up to guard that vault for
over 800 years… Time scales between cross world teleportation events is strange…” Akemi
said and held it up to the light.
The others stared at her, intensely, waiting for her to further explain. “It lets me summon four
NPCs at level one hundred, and I know exactly the NPCs I want to remake.” Akemi’s tails
wagged behind her in innocent joy.
“Those Lilys you mentioned before?” Ana asked as she pulled Akemi’s hand over so she
could examine the ring more closely.
“Yup! I have to figure out if I can pull their data between worlds with it, but if it can? I’ll be
able to let you meet the four who I treated as the closest things I ever got to children in that
life. I guess you two will be getting even more siblings.” Akemi’s ears flickered as Kyouko
reached over to scratch one while she grinned at Hannyuu and Lorelei.
“You mean besides the ones that will probably end up coming next year after the next few
months?” Kyouko asked with a smirk, barely keeping it quiet enough, lest she get bonked by
their daughters.
Of course, just as Akemi was unable to not be gay for five minutes, Kyouko was unable to
not be a horny wolf for five minutes. “Y-yeah that… anyway, having four more fighters that
are max level will make me feel a lot better about defense, least until I can train you all up to
max level somehow also. We still need to schedule your training session with Cocytus later
Kyouko.” Akemi leaned back in her seat to relax, looking still exhausted.
“So Mama… what are they like?” Hannyuu asked as she tried to imagine what NPCs were
like.
“Well, back in the game they didn’t move or do much, I just had wrote up their personalities
and history to amuse myself. If I bring them here though they’ll come to life like I wish they
would have. Kizuna is a Rabbit Demi-human that is a very nimble monk. Noriko is a dog
Demi-human, well, more of a puppy with how small she is, she is an assassin. Nazuna is my
stout paladin Stoat, a type of little weasel. For the last of the four there is Emiko, my adorable
little ferret spell sword, otherwise known as a cat-snake, fluffy danger noodle, and source of
socks going missing.” Akemi looked ecstatic at remembering them and the prospect of
actually bringing them to life.
“They sound rather adorable, but are they as strong as you? What are they like personality-
wise?” Ana asked.
“All four are level one hundred like me, and if they teamed up could probably take me on as
I’ve made them to be a complete team even if I’m not around. If I’m not leading them then
Nazuna is in charge. They weren’t really alive back then, so any back story I put in was just
for fun… I’ll find out how they really are as much as you all. If it transfers what should be
their personalities I’ll let you find that out yourself, they’re all little darlings. I confess I
might have lost track of some of their details, but if I can just pull their character data
somehow it should be fine.”
“New big sisters~ It will be fun to get to know them. Maybe they can keep you from putting
yourself into more danger…” Hannyuu let out a sigh by the end, boring a hole in Akemi’s
head with her stare that Akemi tried in vain to not look at.
“I have to do what I have to do. I don’t really want to risk people important to me, but having
more high level people will be nice, until I can power level you all up as much as I can. I’d be
lying if I said the Theocracy didn’t worry me at all.”
“I’d call you arrogant if they didn’t worry you, they worry even the Dragon Lords due to
their Godkin and the many artifacts they have. In all likelihood they possess their own World
Class Items from their ‘Six Great Gods’.” Drau added as she stood up. “I need to get back to
work, more papers to approve and I still need to go visit the medical centers to cheer people
up. Oh yes, do you think you could help with that? You said healing was your forte and all.”
Akemi’s ears perked up and she reached into her inventory. “This is a wand of cure middle
wounds, it was one of a bunch I had made in preparation for teleporting so many refugees to
Natura. With that nearly anyone can use it to heal, and if it runs out of charges at some point I
can recharge it if you just send me a message. I have repaired the underground area and it
should be fine to explore, when I can I’ll bring some of the stuff I found to you.”
After accepting that wand Drau idly rolled the thing in her hands as she headed to the door.
“Have a nice day all of you, it was a pleasure to see you again. Oh, Akemi, we really do need
to set up that next date at some point~” Drau said with a mischievous grin and narrowed
eyes, giving her almost the look of a snake staring at a rabbit.
The way Akemi froze up solidified that mental image in all their mind’s. “Y-yeah…” When
the Queen was gone Akemi cast her out of system Gate spell while holding her flushed
cheeks.
“…I give it till the end of the next date before she is trying to ride your cute face.” Kyouko
said after the silence had stretched on. The mortified look from Akemi was all the reward she
needed though, and even Ana was blushing.
“”Mama!”” Both the teens in the room shouted in exasperation at their mothers.
From then Kyouko endured her scolding with folded ears all the way back to their home.
Akemi rested her head on her pillow and tried to let sleep take her, but the visions behind the
veil of sleep kept her almost afraid to try. For the moment she contented herself with thinking
up new spells and gazing at Ana’s peacefully sleeping face. Akemi felt a smile form without
a thought as Ana’s quiet whistling breathes centered her mind, stirring her heart. Reaching
over Akemi gently brushed a few stray hairs out of Ana’s closed eyes. “Strange, I didn’t think
I would ever get to love, but I do… I love them.” It was an admission in her head that slightly
scared her, the depths she knew she would go to keep her loved ones safe.
While she wished Kyouko was there with them also to cuddle in bed, she knew that Lorelei
needed her far more in that sensitive period of time.
When Ana rolled over and faced away from her, Akemi scooted over to cuddle against her
Mate, resting an arm under the pillow for them and another over Ana’s waist. “Snuggling is
really the best…” Akemi thought as she placed a single innocent kiss on her Mate’s neck
before relaxing into her. When Ana squirmed back against her in her sleep Akemi smiled
with contentment, loving how it felt to have Ana in her arms, surrounded by such warmth and
her Mate’s scent.
There was so much in their world to hate, but also so much that she loved, such as her
children, future children, and her Mates. It was a thought that still brought a blush to her
cheeks. With her current relationships with two different women, and possible relationships
with two more women, it was impossible for her to feel anything less than loved.
She had all but gotten used to her new body, even comfortable in it, it felt like her entirely.
Compared to her last life it was magnitudes better, considering all the times she had
considered ending her previous life even before she had started to truly die, mostly due to the
physical and emotional pain of having to exist in a biologically male body.
Her mind brought her back to the conversation the previous day that still both made her
flustered, and filled her with a ecstatic warmth. “Within a few months I might end up
pregnant…” It was both scary and exciting in equal measure, yet she wanted it just as much
as she wanted it in her last life, but now it was actually a very real possibility. “Hannyuu and
Lorelei deserve some adorable baby siblings I think. Ahh that would be so precious…” She
felt her mind dimming and finally drift off with her thoughts still stuck on the idea of tiny
babies with fluffy tails with red and brown hair.
For them she would even endure the three in the morning zoomies they are likely to have…
In that same night another girl sat on her cot, her mind filled with possibilities of love.
“Having trouble sleeping Arche?” She heard her leader asked in a near whisper so as to not
awaken all the other people sleeping in the large camping tent while their home was being
built. Arche looked down at the twins that cuddled together on their own cot fast asleep.
It had taken a few days before the girls were content not sharing her own cot, as per usual
though they insisted on sharing a cot with each other.
“Just… thinking about things. Can I ask you something Hekkeran?” Arche asked and stood
up, wandering to the tent exit.
“Sure. good idea, lets talk outside.” He said and followed her out.
Arche kept walking to the edge of the area they had claimed. It was a wonderful night on
their floor, even if the lack of wildlife made it feel empty. The stars on the ceiling far above
reflected the actual stars off in the near infinite distance, while the moon shined down upon
their in progress home close to the edge of a low cliff over the lake.
The waterfall nearby filled the silence enough for it to not be too still. It truly was all the Ana
told them it would be.
“So… how did you ask out Imina?” Arche asked with a heavy breath. “I’ll… admit that I like
Akemi and Ana, m-maybe even love them. Kyouko gave me some encouragement and advice
and I want to p-properly ask the two of them out.”
“You’ve never asked anyone out.” It was a statement, not a question, as even Hekkeran knew
before her magic casting days the girl was sheltered, and she was inexperienced in such
things like relationships. “Well, I’m not sure either of us ever asked each other honestly, it
just kind of happened one night, we fell in more together after a nice night that I’ll spare you
the details of.” He said with a quiet chuckle.
“Good, because I don’t want to hear about someone who is basically an older brother and an
older sister and their sex life… I’m not That innocent.” Arche rolled her eyes and sat down
on that cliff, kicking her legs to funnel her nervous energy. “Well… not that I wouldn’t want
to with them… Even Kyouko is hot. I can see what those two see in her as a person though,
besides physically.” Arche pulled her legs up and whined into her thighs while Hekkeran held
back his humor as he watched Arche melt in frustration.
“Just talk to them tomorrow, get them into one place, and tell them both how you feel. You
can’t know what will happen until you do. Now go get some sleep so you don’t end up
looking like you’re dying when you’re telling them to sandwich you in their- Ow OW!
Really? A rock?!” He shouted as a small rock painfully impacted him in the side of the head.
Arche’s pouty and blushing face was all the reason that was likely needed. The pout and his
grumbling soon turned into quiet and content laughs.
“Okay, lets see…” Akemi held out her hand as she knelt in the dirt on the bottom floor of
their home, her fingers sinking into the dirt as she moved her mana into the soil. The soil very
lightly glowed for a solid minute before tiny sprouts began to emerge from the ground.
Once they emerged it did not take long for small red vines to form and get thicker, right up
until it began to rapidly wither. Akemi sighed and hung her head before turning to look at the
stairs. In movements faster than the average eye could see Akemi had dashed back up the
stairs.
“Careful there dear.” Akemi said as she lifted Lorelei up from where her face nearly impacted
the stairs. “Are you alright?” she asked and helped her sit.
“Y-yeah, I was just going to relax in that forest floor below.” Lorelei asked and inspected her
shaking arms.
“Can’t sleep? Here, is it okay for me to take you down there?” Akemi asked as she watched
Lorelei’s face morph from several different emotions for a moment.
“I wanted to get down there on my own… I’m tired of being stuck in that chair. I don’t want
to be carried. Can… you help me walk down there?” Lorelei asked with folded ears, her
expression unreadable by Akemi.
“If that is what you want I can do that.” Akemi said and helped Lorelei to her feet, supporting
her to ensure she wouldn’t fall right back down, internally wincing at the pained look on
Lorelei’s face. “Just please be careful, give yourself time to heal.”
“My body is healed, I just need to… f-fuck… need to get used to walking again.” Lorelei
whimpered as they took the stairs one painful step at a time. Lorelei was entirely focused on
that goal, and Akemi didn’t have it in her to stop her, she just wanted to keep her from getting
hurt.
It was easy to see the traits Lorelei shared with her mother, that bravery and determination
Akemi was so used to seeing in the wolf woman, as well as the clear frustration she was
feeling. It was almost unthinkable that Lorelei had been entirely unresponsive just a few days
prior.
Once they were at the bottom floor Akemi led her over to a bench she had set up nearby,
setting her down so she could pant while holding her eyes shut in clear pain.
“Don’t… Heal it, I’m fine…” Lorelei grumbled when Akemi began to quietly cast magic,
interrupting her. “So… what are you doing up so early? I couldn’t force myself to sleep, and
if I don’t have to with this ring then I don’t want to.” She didn’t open her eyes just yet, letting
the pain slowly fade as she relaxed.
“Just couldn’t sle-” Akemi took a deep breath of her own and looked away. “Just some
nightmares. I figured rather than trying to get back to sleep I’d try and solve the country’s
meat problem. I had spell ideas crawling in my head anyway.”
“Is that what that is?” Lorelei asked and pointed to a shriveled up red vine that hung on the
ground a few feet away like a sad noodle.
“That was… my first attempt at growing something to fix it. I wanted to try and grow
something similar enough to meat that it could be used by all the meat eaters of the country
till we get some agriculture and animals going right. Maybe tomorrow I’ll just teleport a
bunch of deer from the the Re-Estize Kingdom on a bunch of floors, let them go wild for a
while.” Akemi’s ears perked up as she looked at that vine strangely. “Oh gods maybe I
shouldn’t make that… nearly made a tentacle plant, I could see that going terribly wrong…”
“Hmm? What do you mean? Would it be poisonous?” Lorelei asked and seemed to look at
Akemi strangely. “I-if you don’t mind me asking, what were your nightmares about? You
don’t have to answer.”
“Maybe? I doubt it, I just meant there are way too many… stories and ideas about things like
that back in my world. You don’t want to know about those…” Akemi looked at Lorelei right
back, letting the small wolf see the tired look in the Kitsune’s eyes. “Please try and keep this
to yourself, I don’t want to worry Kyouko and Ana too much.”
Taking a deep breath Akemi looked away from Lorelei. “I’ve only been here for a few
months and… I’ve realized I’ve had to k-kill so many people since then, so many I just…
butchered. I close my eyes and see so many I couldn’t save, I can’t help but think if there
were better ways to do things. Suddenly being a ruler is also a lot of pressure. I never
intended to end up in a position like this but… I couldn’t stand still as people were bought
and sold, abused, murdered.” A heavy sigh filled the air as Akemi tried to calm herself, to
ignore the emotions that threatened to fill her throat.
“I’m sorry… I didn’t know that, I guess we all have our share of scars huh?” Akemi
mentioning her world again made Lorelei’s ears perk up. “You had mentioned that before…
so you aren’t from this world, does that mean there are Kitsune like Miss Emeril in your
world?” She asked as her tail, much to Akemi’s amusement, had begun to wag just a bit. It
was a clear change of subject, but Lorelei seemed to not want to press the topic, sensing how
quickly Akemi’s emotions had shifted. It was another layer of mystery that had begun vanish
from Akemi the longer Lorelei interacted with her.
“Oh no, there were only humans, it was rather boring… I wasn’t a Kitsune there at all. Unlike
what my current body suggests, I’m not over 900, I was nineteen when I… died in that world.
That is still weird to think about.” Akemi said and relaxed against that bench, closing her
eyes and making the ceiling go back to accurately reflecting the night sky, rather than the sun
she was using to test plants.
“You died there? How? Sorry… That was a bit insensitive.” Lorelei’s ears perked as a
thought seemed to enter her head. “If you’re nineteen, how old is Ana?”
“It is fine, I’m not upset about being dead there, for a long time I had… wanted to die, my
body and life hurt too much. My health wasn’t good in that world, I was going to die sooner
rather than later. The only one who will probably miss me there is my brother.” Akemi took a
deep breath and turned to look at Lorelei. “Ana? She is sixteen. We’re aware that there is a bit
of an age gap between the three of us but… we’re happy, that is what matters.”
“I’m… I guess I’ll be blunt, I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to see you two as other moms.” At
the slightly hurt look from Akemi Lorelei sighed. “It isn’t anything against you two just…
whether Mama wants to realize it our not, time passed. I’m not nine anymore… Even if a
chunk of my childhood was stolen, getting free can’t turn back time. In less than a year I’ll be
fifteen, I’m nearly an adult.” coming from her that surprised the Kitsune.
Lorelei seemed to have to take a few breathes to calm herself. “As long as Mama is happy I
don’t mind, she deserves some happiness, but there is less of an age gap between You, Ana,
and Me, compared to you two and my Mom. So far… I like you two. You did save me, got
me back to Mama, and have been nothing but nice to me. I’m taking Hannyuu as a sister
though.” At the end Lorelei teasingly smirked, a look that Akemi recognized on Kyouko so
much.
It got Akemi to giggle at least. “That is fair I suppose, though you can’t stop us from caring
about you, and we do. Hannyuu has her own way of sneaking into people’s hearts that I
cannot even fathom, you were already claimed as a big sister by her before you two even got
to properly meet.” Akemi smiled at her kindly, feeling motherly love for her regardless.
“So… what all was that other world like? Where did this part of you come from?” Lorelei
asked and gestured to all of Akemi.
“You mean this body? In the world of Yggdrasil this was the avatar of my character. While in
my real life I was just sick and in pain almost always. I think… it would be easier to show
you some memories directly. It is from a spell, may I?” Akemi asked. When she received a
nod Akemi closed her eyes and relaxed. “[Transfer Memory].”
“Akemi! Buy me ten seconds!” A man in a suit of white and gold armor shouted and jumped
away from the massive three headed dog he had been clashing with, his sword more than a
match for the beast’s claws.
“Got it!” Akemi had a harder time in comparison blocking the paws trying to smash or cut
her tiny body, yet the results of her swipes with Ex Oblivion couldn’t be disregarded. Several
glowing cuts appeared over that monster as it kept up with the Kitsune dashing around it, if
barely.
Akemi leaned back and felt like she would feel pain at any moment, not that pain was a sense
Yggdrasil would transmit, as those claws barely missed her head.
Behind her that armored man held up his sword into the air while the glow around it only
intensified as the seconds ticked by. “Now!”
“[Maximize Magic: Dominate Nature], [Greater Teleportation]!” Before she vanished behind
the armored man Akemi let massive vines crawl up that giant hound and hold it in place. At
the rate it ripped and clawed at the vines it would only hold for mere moments, but that was
enough time as the warrior swung his sword down from that same distance away.
“[World Break]!” Faster than the visual data could be transferred to either of their senses, the
monster was divided by a glowing white line right down the middle. Of course there was no
blood as it dispersed into shadow effects, but the sense of victory was no less real. “Good
work Akemi. Nice, we got a pet drop.”
“You too ‘Touch Me’. Well that was fun for a wandering boss, not really up to snuff
compared to raids we’ve been in, but we we’re a bit over leveled for this little guy. It has a
pet drop?” Akemi asked in excitement as she bounced over to see Touch Me holding up a
small leash.
When he let the leash fall like he was walking a dog, a tiny three headed dog appeared in a
collar, connected to the leash in his hands. “You want it? I think it is more your style.” He
said and dismissed the pet, handing the leash over.
“Awwww, it is precious… Thanks Nii-s- Touch Me. I’ll have to think of a name for it~”
Akemi said and summoned the Mini-Cerberus pet, picking it up to hold it. It seemed to only
wag it’s tail and bark in a repeating pattern every minute or so, but it was cute all the same.
“Let me just… there is no one around so [Greater Information Blockade]. There, we should
be safe.”
Touch Me stared at her for a moment when she slipped up, but shook his head. “I’m glad you
like it. So did you eat like you said you would when you got home?” He asked with folded
arms.
Even if Akemi’s character couldn’t show many expressions, he had long since learned how to
pick up her quietness as admissions of guilt well before they played Yggdrasil.
“N-no… I was too tired when I got home. Nearly got rained on getting inside, so I had to try
and run.” Akemi quietly admitted and sat on a nearby rock, holding the puppy in her arms up
to look at it.
“Akemi… well, I guess there wasn’t much of a choice, but you really can’t neglect yourself.
Remember our deal, part of living alone is taking care of yourself without me bugging you
about it.” He scolded like the older brother he was.
“Sorry, I was near passing out when I got in, I had just went straight to bed. I hate… this
stupid broken body.” Akemi complained under her breath.
“I know Akemi, I know… I’m always going to worry about you though, you’re my baby
sister, it is my job. I know it probably hurts right now outside of the game, but you need to go
eat and get some sleep. I need to get some sleep also… I don’t need Kaede drop kicking me
out of my chair.” He joked and pat her head to the limits the game would allow him. “I love
you little sis, just take care of yourself, please?”
As expected a smile broke through Akemi’s gloom as his words filled her chest with warmth
entirely unconnected to the conditions ravaging her frail body. “Love you too, Nii-sama. I’ll
go and do that, I’m tired anyway… last time I fell asleep in this chair my neck hated me for a
few days. Tell Kaede and Emi hi for me if you can.” Akemi said and stood up, her hand
hovering over the log-out button.
“I will, talk to you tomorrow Akemi.” She let him log out first before sighing. With
reluctance she hit the button and felt her senses get pulled out of that body that felt more at
home than her own.
She clenched her eyes shut and clenched her teeth as her senses returned to her, her body’s
degrading condition reminding her of reality. She forced herself up and onto her shaky legs
while she tried not to look at herself, or think about how skeletal she looked as she reached
into a cabinet to grab a tube of nutrient paste and her triple filtered water bottle. She sat
herself down at her tiny kitchen table and prepared herself for that particular battle.
Forcing the disgusting paste down was more of a chore than anything, that applied to eating
in general those days, but she didn’t want to make her brother upset so she just washed it
down as much as she could with water. “I don’t care how much they say it is supposed to take
like steak, that is Not steak taste…” Sure she could barely remember what a steak tasted like
from her privileged childhood, but it wasn’t that!
Leaning back Akemi placed a tiny hand on her chest, while also ignoring her brain reminding
her of her boyish chest, she tried to count the beats of her heart to calm herself. In the past
she used to do such things to climb out of her panic attacks and remind herself she was alive,
but that day she couldn’t help but wish for something else. “Please… Just stop.” she told
herself and tried to hold back the tears.
When her eyes drifted to a delivery box that had begun to collect dust after sitting for several
months she pulled herself up to vanish into her room. Yet even still she couldn’t help but
dwell on the contents of that box, the rope she ordered as much as she scolded herself for it.
“Just endure Akemi… you can’t do that to Nii-sama, just wait for your turn, this body has to
fail sometime… right?” As she laid in bed she shivered with the weight of the emotions that
sat in her chest.
“I… didn’t mean to show that much of that memory. This body I’m in now is just something
that was fake from the game. That world was just an escape for me and millions of others,
what happened in there had no bearing on reality. I am all too happy to be in this body
though, I didn’t match my old one at all… to say nothing of it’s health problems.” Akemi told
Lorelei who sat with her hands in her lap seeming to take in what she saw.
“I wasn’t expecting that… a world of pretend sounds nice. I’m… sorry you had to live like
that.” Lorelei’s ears folded.
“It was just how it was. At least this time around I have the ability to change things, to fix so
much that is wrong with the world.” Akemi leaned back and sighed.
“Kind of like how you’ve been freeing slaves?” Lorelei asked and seemed to slip into thought
for a moment. “Could… you tell me about the night you found me?”
“Yes, I will burn slavery out by the roots where I see it. The slavers in the Re-Estize kingdom
are almost all either dead, or wishing they were.” At the last question though Akemi shrunk
down. “It was… a rough night for everyone, but we’re all alive, we have you back, and you
are more sane than… any of those fuckers are probably now.” Akemi shrugged.
Lorelei was quiet for a few minutes as they relaxed there, seeming to absorb that information.
“I hope you gave them hell…” She all but growled out.
“They’re still seeing hell as far as I know. I had to… out-source the… their punishment, I was
not qualified to inflict all that they deserved.”
“They’re still alive?” Lorelei asked in an anxious voice, looking at Akemi with apprehension.
“If you can call their state ‘being alive’. Kyouko got some revenge for you, and she would
know more about the things they are experiencing daily than me. They won’t be bothering
anyone ever again.” Akemi looked away as her hands tightened. “Watch the nails Akemi…”
She told herself and forced her hands open to not puncture her skin again.
“Maybe I’ll ask her… I don’t want to think about them though, not yet… S-so, can you tell
me about this plant you are trying to make?” Lorelei asked, changing the topic for both of
their sake.
Akemi’s ears perked up as she pointed back at that plant, a trickle of mana silently extending
to it and revitalizing it. “Meat Vine, Getting all the animal raising up and going will take
months at least, as will teleporting tons of animals onto each floor, that and it would take
from other people living off the land elsewhere. I can grow all the food any of us ever need,
except meat… I happen to like meat, even if I can’t stand to eat some types of it now…”
That got her a strange look. “What do you mean? Too much bloodshed?” Lorelei asked in
light concern.
“Well, some of that, but that is just blood in general now. No, after meeting Rinna I got rid of
every bit of lamb from my inventory. I just couldn’t serve that after getting to know that
sweet cinnamon bun, lest she feel any less than welcomed in our home.”
“I guess it would be hard to eat lamb in front of her… she is really sweet.” Lorelei admitted,
a pensive smile spreading over her face.
Akemi said nothing but watched the wolf girl with a smile on her lips. “I wonder if those
three will take after their moms?” As long as her kids, of which she already counted Rinna
among, were happy, then she was happy. “Precious beans…”
“Okay Ana, just focus on that feeling and your mental image, let your mana create what you
want to see.” Arche stood behind Ana with a hand on her shoulder as they occupied the
training room, the fleshy dummy appearing untouched, besides the scorch marks on the wall.
“Let my mana convert into static… [Lightning]!” Ana shouted as she pointed a finger at the
dummy. Unlike the dozen other attempts that morning, the spell channeled her mana into a
narrow bolt of lightning that crossed the minuscule distance in an instant, scorching the
training dummy, burning a hole in it’s chest before it sealed itself up and repaired.
Before she had time to celebrate Ana fell onto one knee panting. “Okay… mana
consumption… I need more mana…” While the failed attempts only used small amounts of
mana, actually casting the spell was a sudden drop in her very modest sized mana pool.
Arche carefully pulled Ana up and over to the bench off to the side, shoving a waterskin into
her hands. “Easy there, just ride out the mana drop.” When Ana stopped gasping like a fish
Arche noticed she had her arm around Ana’s shoulders from helping her walk… yet Ana
placing her hand on Arche’s own kept her from taking it back.
Eventually the two just leaned on each other in mutual relaxation. “Good work Ana, you cast
your first third tier spell.” Ana said with genuine cheer in her voice.
“Couldn’t have… done it… without you.” Ana said and leaned into Arche, not at all seeming
concerned about the arm wrapped around her. It felt quite nice, but it also sent her heart into a
frenzy. “Arche actually has some muscle, nice and warm…” She thought as she all but
cuddled against the older girl.
Arche tightened her arm just a bit as they relaxed. A few weeks ago she knew she would have
felt horribly guilty from not just fantasizing about someone’s girlfriend, but to even hug her
like she was doing. “The only one of the three of us who hasn’t had a near death scare
recently is her…” She was at least thankful for that, that Ana was spared any close calls. The
thought of Ana dying was physically painful, just as much as it was hearing how Akemi of all
people got hurt.
“Just go with it? Well Kyouko… I hope you’re right.” She thought with an internal sigh. She
had faced down hundreds of terrifying monsters, and nearly been killed by several of them,
yet she felt more nervous in that moment than any of those times. “Hey Ana?”
“Hmm? Something wrong?” Ana asked as she tilted her head up at the slightly taller woman.
Arche was rather cutely flushed, her eyes staring into Ana’s own, and occasionally drifting
further down to her cute pink lips.
“Its noth- Haa… one moment, I need to send a message.” Arche mumbled to herself as she
held up the ring she got from Akemi, nearly losing her nerve from Ana being so close. “Hey
Akemi? Could you come down to the training room?” Arche asked and rested her head back
on the bench.
“Huh? Oh that works out well, the rest of us were all coming down to that floor anyway, I’ll
be there in a moment.” Akemi told her, not getting a response as the message dropped.
“Hmm… Arche is being weird. I’m going to move on ahead, she wanted me to meet her in
the training room with Ana.” Akemi said as she set Hannyuu down from the mass of tails she
had tangled the girl in while they went down the stairs after her daughter had once again
protested the stairs as well as the pain in her muscles from her work outs that week.
“Ooo, we’ll give you three some space Mama.” Hannyuu said with a massive grin on her
face, like she had guessed a big secret. Kyouko shared that look and kissed the top of
Akemi’s head.
“We’ll be down there soon enough.” Kyouko said and refused to meet Akemi’s eyes, lest she
read her mind.
Only Lorelei looked as confused as Akemi, but the wolf girl was soon engrossed in getting
herself down the stairs, forgoing the wheel chair again in favor of slowly making her way
down with Kyouko and Hannyuu’s assistance.
“If you say so you two, I’ll meet you there.” Akemi said and in less than the blink of an eye
vanished, only a gust of wind marking her passage. She was gone too quick to see the
absolutely smug grin on both her Mate’s face, as well as her daughter’s.
“Well Hannyuu, I think you’re getting your wish.” Kyouko teased.
“About time…” Hannyuu complained, but her amused giggle betrayed how she really felt.
Reappearing at the doorway of the magical training room Akemi had sensed the pair were in,
Akemi poked her head inside. “You called?”
It was a rather cozy scene, seeing Arche holding an arm around Ana while flushed in the
face, with Ana appearing just as unsure of herself, yet all the same she had snuggled closer.
Even Akemi wasn’t blind to the mood of the room, and took a nervous seat on the other side
of Arche, peering at the human curiously, her tails betraying her nerves as they wagged back
and forth off to her sides. It was impossible to not be wrapped in floof being near Akemi,
something they had all accepted long ago.
She waited patiently as Arche seemed to gather up her courage and grasp both of their hands
after removing her arm from Ana’s shoulders. “Yeah…” squeezing both of their hands Arche
took a heavy breath. It felt strangely serious to Akemi, making her own heart pound in her
chest.
“Is she going to?” The thought send her heart racing as Akemi remembered all the shared
moments on their journey, all the growing and learning, right until the anti-climactic parting.
Akemi had been rather sure Arche intended to say something entirely different to her at their
farewell, and after that she felt that hope fade.
When Arche had contacted her about being in Nazarick she felt like she would tear apart the
world, or even Ainz to save her. She more or less knew how she felt about Arche, the equal
lengths she would go to to help her as her current Mates.
“I’m really kicking myself for waiting this long. It wasn’t a long journey, but it was the most
memorable time I’ve had as a Worker. Seeing you all in the morning, the fireside banter, and
growing a bit myself. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize Akemi you were just
a girl like us, not some being on a higher plane that mere mortals couldn’t fathom, setting
aside being technically a goddess. You were just a fluffy and dorky mom.”
Arche squeezed Ana’s hand next and turned to her. “I wasn’t sure how to feel about you at
first, but I realized quickly that you were way too adorable for the job to be a trap. Both you
and Hannyuu soaked up my teachings like a sponge, it has been great seeing you both get
stronger. The effort you would always put into practice from what I taught you was inspiring.
even if you didn’t start off with any major advantages, how much effort you would put into
anything you do made me… admire you.”
With Ana and Akemi both blushing to their ears and seeming short of words Arche pressed
her advantage. “I had to wait and be sure it was right to even feel this way, that I wasn’t
crossing lines just for my own selfish desires.” Arche had to pause to take a few more
breathes, squeezing their hands tightly. “I… like you both, I want to say l-love, but I need to
be sure I know what that… truly means. What I do know is that I want to be with you two, I
w-want what you three have, to mean as much to you as you two do to me.” Arche finally
finished, leaving a small silence as the other two girls absorbed that confession.
As Arche looked down Ana and Akemi looked at each other with smiles spreading over their
faces. Ana took the initiative to lift Arche’s chin with a gentle hand, turning the girl towards
her. Akemi felt warm in a ecstatic way as she watched the two kiss, her tails swaying behind
her as of course once the two humans broke for air Akemi turned Arche her way.
It felt… extraordinarily satisfying, the feel of her lips against Arche’s, the heavy breathes that
were shared as Akemi took her time to really get her answer across. When they both needed
air Akemi grinned, her tails wiggling everywhere. “I was wondering if that would ever
happen… I’d be happy to date you.” Akemi admitted with barely contained glee.
“A-as you could tell by the kiss… I want to also.” Ana had to stop to giggle with clear glee.
“Oh my… now it will be even more interesting to tell my parents. Let alone telling them I’m
gay, telling them I have three girlfriends? Well, I’m sure they’ll love all of you.” For the
moment the three were content to squeeze together, arms wrapped around each other, and
tails in Akemi’s case.
Three others happened to peek into the room right in time to hear that confession, as well as
witness those kisses. Kyouko carefully pulled both girls back from the doorway, holding her
laugh in. From what she saw Hannyuu was internally squeaking in both amusement and
delight. The fact Akemi didn’t hear any of them said a lot about how engrossed she was into
Ana and Arche.
Kyouko helped Lorelei slowly towards the other room. The smaller wolf kept looking up at
Kyouko’s face in slight worry, yet she found a smile on Kyouko’s face instead. “You’re…
happy your Mates kissed someone else Mom?” She asked with a confused tilt of her head.
“Considering I’ve been waiting for that to happen for weeks? The fact she did it the day after
I told her to was nice, I guess she just needed a little push. Lorelei, as long as they are happy
I’ll be happy, as long as it isn’t behind anyone’s backs and there is love for me also.”
“I mean… it took weeks of me pushing you three together…” Hannyuu had to chime in
smugly even as she grabbed the light dumbbell weights she had been using for a few
sessions.
“Yeah yeah yeah, for someone who doesn’t like her moms getting loveydovey in her
presence, you sure enjoy flaunting your role in it.” Kyouko teased right back as she helped
Lorelei sit on a bench. “We’ll start nice and easy, just to get your muscle mass back.”
“Well, as long as you four are happy, it doesn’t mean I want to hear about the details.”
Hannyuu grunted as she began to focus on her workout.
Kyouko watched for a moment, a feeling of pride swelling in her chest at how Hannyuu
didn’t even need guidance or prompting for her workout, she knew what to do and was doing
it of her own volition. “As if you didn’t already claim Arche as a Mom well before today. Is
Drau going to be next?”
“Depends on Mama Akemi I suppose, at the very least I really respect Queen Draudillon. I
won’t pressure Mama or anything.”
“Drau seems like the type to take decisive action, I mean she did already kiss Akemi at the
end of their date, so you’ll probably get your wish.” Kyouko said.
“Well, as long as everyone is happy. I like it when the family grows, I mean, I already even
have a big sister~” Hannyuu smiled at Lorelei, her tail wiggling about in clear happiness.
It was enough to bring a smile to Lorelei’s face, even as she strained to push her foot back
against Kyouko’s hand as she did her own workout, her aim being to gently gain muscle mass
to make up for what she lost. “Damn right little sis.”
Kyouko smiled at the two, her heart warmed by her two daughters properly bonding like they
hoped.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay Lorelei? We can reschedule.” Kyouko said as Lorelei watched
from her chair in Emeril’s home.
“I’ll be okay, you go have a nice date Mom. I have Hannyuu, Rinna, and Lirina, they’re good
at helping me through… the worst of it. If I don’t sleep I’ll be fine.” Lorelei said and
scratched Lirina’s ears as the tiny Kitsune occupied her lap, her wiggling tail fluffing in
Lorelei’s face.
“I have a gift for you also Lorelei, here.” Akemi said and held out a gold and wood ring. “It
is made with some of the core wood of the tree, and small amounts of Astral gold. As for
what it does… I made sure your’s had at least thirty charges of Fly per day, and considering
each cast lasts to a max of a half hour, you can spend most of the day floating around. It will
be easier on your body than the chair and well… Hannyuu can teach you how fun flying is. It
can be used on others also if you four wanted to play flying tag.” Akemi said excitedly. “I’m
sorry it took me this long to get that idea, it could have saved some pain for you.”
Lorelei looked in awe at the ring, slipping it and grinning. “Thanks Akemi, I’ll give that a try.
I really don’t like this chair…” She grumbled, her ears folded down.
“I don’t blame you, I hate them also… spent way too much time in them last life.” Akemi
shook her head and leaned on Kyouko’s shoulder.
“We’ll be fine Mamas, go on your date, you’ve been planning it forever.” Hannyuu said and
began to lightly push them towards the door.
“I’ll take good care of the kids, you all have fun. When you get back Akemi I’ll have a lot of
paperwork for you to sign~” Emeril added that last bit with a sadistic grin.
“J-joy… I really need to figure out how to clone myself, maybe I can make illusionary clones
stick around long enough to do paperwork for me?” As Akemi mumbled that, her head
sinking down into thought, Ana and Kyouko pushed her out of the door. “Bye you two! We
love you! We’ll be back in the morning!” Akemi said before the door closed.
“Now before you get another idea Akemi, you said we’re going to to the Argland Council
states? A bit of a far date.” Ana noted.
“True, but I already gotten my summons there so we can just teleport. Now while I want to
drop a message off there and make contact if at all possible, the main reason we’re there is to
have fun. Sorry if I’m mixing business and pleasure, it was just to get both done at once
while I’m there. If things go well I might get to have a chat with their council.” Akemi said
and all but skipped down the street, for once heedless of how she looked to the citizens.
It was nice for her Mates to see her acting genuinely happy, especially with how dour she had
been the past few days. “And then after that date… we’ll have the home entirely to
ourselves~ just… don’t expect to sleep for quite some time.” Kyouko teased, her hands
gently cupping both her Mate’s cheeks, lovingly running a thumb over their lips for just a
moment.
Both girls all but froze up, yet leaned into that hand all the same. “Y-yeah, oh my… yeah this
will be a night.” Akemi muttered as she tried to will the blush off her cheeks. “That will be in
the back of my head all day I think.”
“Agreed, well… it will be fun at the very least. I’m looking forward to getting c-closer to you
two.” Ana said, standing with her two taller Mates.
“It will be a fun time, don’t you worry. Now then, lets just enjoy the day okay?” Kyouko put
an arm around both of them and looked free of her burdens for once.
“Right right, well I think I’ll disguise myself a little for this. If people see nine tails as all but
godly then I want us to not stand out so much. [Illusionary Cloak].” As Akemi cast her spell
her ebony hair was dyed a nice golden wheat blond. Her eyes staying their usual blue, though
without the glowing effects that had become permanent. The most important part to change
were her tails, of which only six remained, now blond with white tips.
“And yet you still will stand out being gorgeous, not that I mind.” Kyouko teased, lightly
caressing one of Akemi’s tails.
“Well, I think we’ll all turn some eyes no matter what. You two ready?” She asked as she
moved her mana in preparation, her destination already centered in her mind. After getting
nods from them Akemi snapped her fingers, summoning a silent gate.
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be spears?” Akemi mumbled sarcastically as the first thing she
saw as they stepped out of the gate were two spears pointed at them. “Would you mind
lowering those gentlemen?” Akemi asked as she stood in front of her Mates. Thankfully once
the surprise wore off, those two guards lowered their weapons.
Looking at the two guards it became clear, or at least likely they were not human, as their
helmets had extra extensions to protect demi-human ears that likely protruded. “Apologies
Ma’am, we were not expecting any sudden… arrivals. May I ask where you three hail from?”
The guard asked, his guard lowering once they could see it was just three women in more
casual garments than traveling the road would suggest. The teleportation solved that mystery
either way.
It was then that Akemi looked behind her to point to the tree that even from so far away
speared the sky like a needle, yet visible all the same. “We are residents of the Queendom of
Natura, though it is quite the distance away, south of the Dragon Kingdom.”
The guard stared at her from under his helmet, his suspicious eyes peering out of the slits.
“Natura? Never heard of it. What are you here for?”
“That is not surprising, we’re a fledgling nation after all. As for what we’re doing, I am to
deliver a letter for your ruling council on behalf of my Queen. Besides that we’re also here to
just spend a nice day.”
“That is… a bit above my pay grade. Would you mind following me for a few moments? I’ll
take you to my captain.” The guard admitted and looked at his partner who just nodded back,
silently seeming to tell him he could cover his post.
Akemi as well looked back at her Mates and smiled at them. “I’ll be right back you two, I’ll
take care of this and then I we can get on with our date.” Akemi winked at the girls before
following the guard into a side door connected to the portcullis walls.
Ana leaned into Kyouko, all but snuggling under the arm wrapped around her shoulders.
“So, a date?” The remaining guard asked, seeming curious yet awkward.
“Mhm, it is hard to find the time, but I’ve been looking forward to having a nice date with
my Mates.” Kyouko added, her eyes meeting the slitted eyes under the helmet. She might
have looked calm, but her excitement was clear by the tail wagging behind her.
Nodding a few times the guard seemed to become more relaxed. “Aye, welcome to the city of
Dr’avanka. Mates eh? I’d recommend Mother Madaline’s, tis a popular destination for
romantic visits. It is right down the main road, it has a sign out front.” The guard told them,
lifting the visor on his helmet to give them a smile. “Took my own Mate there for our
anniversary last month and he loved it.” The Wolf man said, looking more relaxed now.
“Put your helmet back on Je’vin, before you catch flies.” The first guard emerged from the
door he went in earlier, shaking his head in amusement. “Careful, he’s liable to talk your ear
off about his Mate.”
“Don’t be jealous Sir, I’m sure you’ll get lucky one of these days.” The second guard, named
Jev’in, teased right back. He cleared his throat and put his visor back on at the harsh look
from his superior.
“Yeah yeah… Excuse me ladies.” He turned back to the girls as Akemi followed him out,
taking her spot under Kyouko’s arm again. “Your letter has been received and will be
forwarded to the Council if the contents are deemed relevant. They are only recently back in
session so it may take a while. I’ll try and get you and answer by the end of the day.”
“That is understandable, we’ll be around the city for the day either way.” Akemi said, her
tails unconsciously wrapping around her Mates.
“You ladies have a nice day.”
“Thank you~” Akemi said and grabbed her Mate’s hands, intertwining their fingers as they
headed down main street. “Now then… It is a bit early for dinner, so shall we browse the
market?” She asked and pointedly ignored a few curious looks the trio got as they walked.
“That sounds like fun to me, maybe there are some interesting magical items.” Ana was all
for it, her eyes darting around excitedly. It was such a colorful area, the streets were lined on
the edges with red bricks, while people of all kinds walked with purpose down the streets.
There was a snake women making her way through town while chatting with a woman with
the abdomen of a large spider. There was a larger mix of races of Demi-humans than they had
ever seen, even back home.
Akemi had a feeling several of them were marked in the Adventurer’s guild in some
countries as monsters to be killed, yet here they were living peacefully. It gave Akemi hope
that her country could work out.
It was not hard to find the market, they just had to follow the biggest crowds till they
stumbled upon rows upon rows of stands and stalls selling things ranging from meat on a
stick, to expensive jewels that were kept in a sealed case. There were several actual shops
that surrounded that large plaza, but the market in the center appeared to be where most of
the browsing happened.
Looking up Akemi noticed Kyouko’s eyes darting around at the crowds of people nervously.
Lightly squeezing her hand she got her attention. “It is fine love, public order seems rather
good here, and I have all our weapons in my inventory.” Akemi swung their arms excitedly.
“That and you have at least six of your own weapons on hand if need be?” Ana asked with a
smirk. Akemi could only shrug her shoulders at that point.
“All my skills are how they usually are, so I may as well be able to react and turn them into
dust before someone even can think about touching us. Ooo, this place has some trinkets.”
Akemi said and scampered over to a stall with all the energy of a five year old, her eyes
lighting up at the eclectic collection on display.
“See something that caught your eye?” Kyouko asked as her and Ana rejoined her, holding
hands themselves now.
“Welcome Ma’am. Please, browse my wares, only the finest in magical items from lands all
around.” A kind looking merchant asked, her feline ears twitching as she looked between the
three women.
“I do love finding unique items, some of my favorites have the silliest effects.” Akemi said,
peering at each item, her eyes momentarily glowing once again unknowingly as she
examined the mana flowing in each one, analyzing what it might do.
“You like niche items? Most snap up the spell wands as quick as I get them, but some of them
have been here for a few months. One off items that some of my contacts wanted me to check
the market on. Here, this one can amplify your voice depending on how much mana you put
in it.” She said, offering up what appeared to be a rolled up thick piece of paper. Looking
inside the cone of it though Akemi could appreciate the magical circuits that were engraved.
Holding it it was less delicate than it seemed, and would be easy enough to produce in the
right workshop. When Akemi went to go talk into it Ana snatched it away. “Whoa there love,
that sounds like a bad idea for you… lets not destroy everyone’s ear drums you know?”
For a moment Akemi pouted at her Mate before shrugging. “True, mana control gets harder
the more of it you have, and I’d rather not get arrested for blowing people’s shops up with
sound…” Akemi said in a pout, her ears folding rather adorably.
“Oh, oh yes I suppose a six tailed Kitsune would have more mana than the average magic
user. How about this, it is a magical light that can leave lingering images in the air.” The
merchant excitedly said as she pulled out what looked to Akemi like a marker.
She drew on the space in front of her in midair, glowing red letters appearing that seemed to
last. “The mana consumption is not very good so it didn’t turn out to be very popular, but for
someone with mana to spare it could be useful.”
“That is fascinating indeed~ I guess I’ll take that one, I could think of a few ideas for it. How
much?”
“Aye, that will be three silver.” The merchant said, her face entirely unreadable, clearly she
had been in the game for a long time.
As Akemi nodded and pulled out her coin purse Kyouko held her arm down, looking at the
merchant with a slightly stern look. “Two silver.”
“Two silver and seven copper.” The merchant eye Kyouko with almost gleeful enjoyment.
“Two silver and two copper.” Kyouko met her eyes with a stern look that seemed to make the
feline woman sweat under the collar… or just blush.
“Fine fine, Two silver and two coppers.” The merchant said and accepted the coinage Akemi
handed her, her six tails wagging behind her as she examined that object like an eager child.
Looking between the three of them it was clear that it was more than just friends going out to
have fun.
“Thank you, have a nice day alright?” Akemi said and all but pranced off, if her Mates
weren’t holding her arms to keep her from doing just that.
“Take care~ Have fun you three.”
“So was that the only thing you saw you liked?” Ana asked as she held that pen object and
wrote in the air. “Wow… that uses a gross amount of mana for a few letters…”
“I saw a few things, and I memorized the magical circuits in them, so I can reproduce them if
I wanted to. That would be pretty mean though if I didn’t buy at least one thing.”
“Yeah please be nice to the poor merchant you two…” Ana said with a roll of her eyes and a
squeeze of their hands, her now in the middle of them.
“I was wonderfully nice, it is called bartering.” Kyouko defended, a light pout on her lips that
didn’t last as her girls grinned at her.
“She didn’t seem scared, if anything she seemed turned on, It was pretty amusing.” Akemi
added.
“I have that way with women, as you might have noticed. Well… I suppose I’ll get to show
you two that later.” Kyouko’s tail wagged behind her as she noticed her Mates get quiet and
red in the face, yet they held her hand tight all the same.
“T-that you will… Anyway…” Akemi cleared her throat and turned to face them. “Shall we
go get that dinner?” The others stared at her for a moment with enough love that it made her
freeze in place.
“It is nice, you finally smiling naturally again.” Kyouko said and put an arm around Akemi,
tucking her against her side while she did the same to Ana. They noticed Akemi make a few
sounds they hadn’t before, almost like purring for a few moments, little chirping sounds at
the back of her throat that she noticed rather soon, putting a hand over her mouth.
“Agreed, we need to get you some more days off. I miss this, it is like when we first met, no
giant task hanging above our heads, we can just live a little. That was fucking adorable
Akemi… you didn’t tell us you could purr.” Ana added, her hand getting a bit too
adventurous, grazing Kyouko’s rear a few times as Kyouko wrapped her arms around the two
of them.
A low growl came from Kyouko that made them both shiver. It wasn’t an angry growl at all,
it sounded like more of a promise for later when they would be Kyouko’s for the night. “A-
alright… lets have a nice dinner, and Then you can go crazy love.” Akemi teased, her hand
wrapping around Kyouko to hold Ana’s. “I didn’t either… must be a fox thing.”
Kyouko taking a quick nip at her big ears made her heart jump in her chest as Kyouko’s arm
only held her tighter. “Oh tonight is going to be fun, and I can’t wait to show you~” Kyouko’s
tail wagged behind her in clear delight.
“The architecture here is really nice, this city was planned out well in advance.” Akemi noted
down as they stood in a line outside the restaurant they had been told about. They did sadly
have to try and ignore a few glares, strangely enough most of them were at Ana who was
held between both her partners protectively.
Just as sadly the glares from Kyouko did little to get the glares to stop, but they did see
several Demi-humans doing the staring. Kyouko nearly turned around to give them a piece of
her mind when Akemi just shook her head. Akemi herself though turned to look into the eyes
of those few people, her eyes momentarily glowing again as she waved a tail innocently.
That innocent swish sent the subtle spell into them without a hair out of place. Immediately
they were blinking at them and holding their heads. It didn’t take long after that for them to
walk away thankfully.
“What was that?” Ana asked as she looked around nervously, but thankfully the glares had
stopped, the other patrons not seeming to mind her.
“I might specialize in flashy spells, but sometimes subtle illusions can work wonders. They’ll
only be seeing double for a few minutes, a minor headache will be the most they’ll get.”
Akemi said under her breath, barely enough for her Mates’ ears to catch.
It was not that much longer until they were first in line. “Akemi, party of three.” Akemi said
to the man at the counter they ended up in front of.
To the man’s credit he only looked at the three of them for a few moments before leading
them into the crowded dining room. “Right this way ladies.”
While almost every table was taken it still felt inviting as happy conversations quietly took
place. While there were plenty of couples, Akemi didn’t see anyone like them, making her
wonder if Polyamory was more rare than she thought among Demi-humans. As for Demi-
humans they made up the majority of the customers within, only one or two humans were
within Akemi’s sight, or sense of smell.
Thankfully they only turned a few heads as they walked in, with Kyouko in the center
leading the three on her arms. Even in the city Kyouko still kept her Wyrm leather vest on
under a nice overcoat, leaving her abs open to the air just as she liked it.
It was amusing to Ana and Akemi how Kyouko was oblivious to the glances and blushes of
several men and women looking specifically at her and how she was dressed. At least one
waitress retreated into the kitchen red in the face, yet the light hearted giggling from there
was more amusing than anything.
“I hope these seats will be to your liking ladies. Could I get you something to drink? Perhaps
some appetizers? We currently are serving something special, steak bites with cheese,
breaded and baked.” The waiter said and passed out three menus.
“Hmm, So they have ample supply of paper here, very nice. Oh, I’ll take a serving of those,
that sounds quite nice. I’ll take a glass of mead to drink as well.” Akemi said and looked at
her Mates. “You two?”
“I’ll pass for now, I’m sure I’ll be full regardless, you know I don’t have a large appetite.”
Ana said and began to browse the menu. “I will take a glass of this wine for now.”
“I’ll take a share of those steak bites also and… Hmm…” Kyouko’s ears folded cutely as she
thought it through. “I’ll try this ‘Lamia Layout’, I’ll see if it is as strong as it says. Thank you
kindly.” Kyouko looked exceptionally excited that night, though her Mates could easily tell
why.
“I’ll return shortly.” With that they were were left alone, besides the throngs of people at
other tables, some of which glanced their way. A few were looking in awe at Kyouko and
Akemi, while a few were sadly glaring at Ana like they had outside.
Akemi turned to stare into the soul of those that were trying to intimidate her girlfriend, a
pressure akin to bloodlust filling the place until those hooligans looked away. “I swear people
need to keep their glares to themselves. Sorry love, I’ll try and get them to mind their
business, I’ll magic these bastards again if I must…”
“Don’t worry about it too much, I’m not going to let them ruin this for me. This place is
rather nice all things considered. It was rather bare-bones in the Burnt Offering when Kyouko
and me went there, but this place isn’t recovering from a war so it will be interesting to see
what they have to offer.” Ana said, recovering from the glare quickly as she felt feet graze her
leg, from both of her girlfriends if she had to guess.
For the moment they flipped through their menus and we’re lost in thoughts. Kyouko had
already decided what she wanted and closed her menu, observing her loves with a content
smile.
The little expressions Ana would make as she looked through the menu, to the way Akemi’s
tails wiggled around to match her mood, each time Akemi saw something she was curious
about those tails would stop for just a moment before wiggling with renewed vigor. “They’re
fucking adorable…” Kyouko thought, biting her lip at the heavy feeling of love in her chest.
“Here you are ladies.” The waiter said as he came back with a hefty tray. With their drinks in
front of them and their appetizers as well, the waiter pulled out a small pad of paper and
pencil. “Have you decided on your main course? If you need more time it is no trouble.”
With their orders soon in and the waiter vanishing they finally could touch what he brought.
“Wow… That is strong, ‘Layout’ is putting it lightly… I recommend eating before drinking
much, or it will hit you hard. I’m looking at you Ana dear.” Kyouko said, pointing at Ana
starting to sip at her wine.
With an embarrassed squeak Ana set her glass down. “Okay… Could I try one of those
then?” Ana asked, her hand snaking over towards her girlfriends’ steak bites.
“Oh? What happened to not having a big appetite? Of course dear~” Akemi teased, letting
Ana take one of her plate. “We might not want to drink too much and all anyway, there is still
more to our date after all, including getting h-home.” Akemi mumbled that last bit, her face
flushing as she sipped her mead.
“Just you wait you two~” Kyouko said, simply sipping her drink with the most smug of grins.
“These are pretty good!” She said as she snacked on the steak bites, her tail wagging behind
her as much as it could, with her back to the seat it was harder to do so though.
It was… nice, them all getting to just relax, to talk about simpler things without the weight of
the world pressing down on them. For so long there was always one more thing on the
horizon ready to test them, one more trouble to plan for.
Sniffing the breaded meat for a moment Akemi popped it into her mouth. Her eyes widened
as she felt an actual bite of tender steak meld wonderfully with the sharp cheese, filling her
nose and mouth with it’s presence.
She didn’t even notice that she closed her eyes to enjoy her food until she saw her girlfriend’s
smiling at her when she opened them again. “What? These are really good… Dozens of times
better than nutrient paste in a tube that is supposed to taste like steak.”
“Nothing~ Just glad you’re enjoying it. You’re sense of taste that much better?” Kyouko
asked.
“Magnitudes better. First time I tasted something when I arrived I about died of joy.” Akemi
said with a tail wag, her mind for once calm, her demons quiet. “Love you two.”
It had been a wonderful day so far, a nice dinner and date, with a night dedicated to
deepening their bonds. Leaving Mother Madaline’s and walking where they wished was quite
nice.
Their bellies were full of delicious food that Ana had pledged to try and replicate. Akemi
having to be broken out of a trance at the first bite of actual steak she got, the umami flavor
overwhelming her still inexperienced taste buds. “So damn good…”
“I know what you mean, I didn’t know boar could be that tender, it is always so tough when I
try and work with it.” Ana added with a lazy smile.
“It was really tasty, I think meat is just something I’ll never tire from eating, I might need to
learn how to dry age things and join you in the kitchen.” Kyouko licked her lips. “Well… It
will be my third favorite thing to eat after tonight I bet~” Kyouko couldn’t help herself,
smirking at her girlfriends who had to take a moment to what she meant.
The evening had just begun, the sun just beginning to set and bringing a thrilling chill in the
air that nipped at what skin they had bare quite pleasantly, it was nothing that Kyouko’s
occasional lewd comments couldn’t warm up though.
As per the rules of the world, just like there is some good in the bad, there is some bad in the
good, or so Akemi determined as they walked. She had sensed several presences that made
her sigh in light annoyance.
“Everything well Akemi? Want me to tone it down? If it is making you two uncomfortable
you can tell me.” Kyouko asked as the three of them held hands between them.
“The comments are f-fine, you’re doing a fine job trying to rile us up before we even get
home.” Akemi shook the blush from her cheeks. “Don’t react, but we’re being followed. It
isn’t the guards so I wish to know why, lets turn down here.” Akemi said, carefully guiding
them down an alley she had a summon scout, one of dozens she had flying around the
country.
The steps behind them grew louder until several Demi-human men stepped inside, stopping
at the entrance as Akemi stood facing them. Her tails were whipping back and forth in her
displeasure, while Kyouko was cracking her knuckles. “You five, you were the ones glaring
at us at the restaurant, and you were outside of it. Any reason why you are so fixated on us?”
Akemi asked in a warning tone.
There were a total of five men that seemed more unsure of themselves now. Looking at them
they didn’t have the look of hardened criminals, and Akemi could tell after she scanned them
that their Karmas were neutral at worst.
“We’re not here for you two, we’re here for Her.” A Demi-human wolf stood in the front of
the pack, glaring past Akemi and Kyouko, and at Ana directly.
“Tough shit, I think you better walk away, I’m not letting you near my Mates.” Kyouko
growled at them while Akemi glared at them, her eyes glowing a light blue as the illusion
over them began to fail due to the intensity of her growing ire.
“Why do you even care about her? We’ve done nothing to you, we’re just out here to have a
nice date which you have been steadily making harder and harder. Is it because we’re
women? Or because it isn’t two people?” Akemi demanded, her foot tapping to show her
displeasure, just as much as those tails.
The man seemed confused for a moment. “I don’t give a shit about either of those, date who
you want. What I’m confused about is why the fuck you would lower yourself to getting so
close to a human? Do you know how much destruction they’ve caused? How many lives
have been ruined?” He nearly shouted at her, his face turning into a snarl even as Akemi and
Kyouko hid Ana behind them.
“Lowerin- You sound just as bad as the fuckers in the Theocracy.” Kyouko yelled right back,
her hand grasping at air as she instinctively grasped at her sheath, forgetting it was in
Akemi’s inventory.
To their surprise Ana pushed past her Mates and glare right back. “Really? You’re going to
equate me with everything bad about humanity? I’ll be the first to admit we’re flawed, every
race is flawed in some way. You might have your grudges but I haven’t done anything to
you!”
The men looked like they wanted to rush her, but the increased pressure from Akemi behind
her, as well as her tails angling forward like spears ready to thrust at them kept them in place.
“Where were you when humanity was enslaving us and killing our families?! All we want is
a place to call our own and yet humans think they can walk through here like they own the
place?”
Looking past their anger the three women could see the hurt that those men had buried deeply
inside themselves. “Why should humans get to walk around our city, imitate being someone’s
mate when humans took away so many of our own! We can’t stop humans from being in the
city, or our country, but you’re going to pretend you can be someone’s Mate? To pretend to
be part of our culture that was stolen from us by humans for so long?” Another man had said,
his cat ears having folded down halfway through his rant.
Each of those men may very well have been dressed in good clothes, but they carried
themselves with the same guarded look that the girls had seen their citizens have. Their
bodies healed, but the mental and physical scars remained, still open and festering.
The girls could see the situation a bit more clearly. Stepping forward Akemi shook her head.
“You might have valid grudges against humanity itself, but does that justify blaming every
human you see? You don’t know us, but we’re very familiar with that side of humanity. One
thing I’ve learned though is that those scars are not unique to any one race, I’ve seen just as
many human slaves, rescued just as many, no one has any less right to their sorrow than any
other. Where we-” Akemi was cut off as all the men turned around to look at a new arrival.
“There you three are. What is- Really you five again? How many times do we have to warn
you about harassing people? I told you next time you’d be arrest-” The guard from the gate,
Je’vin, said in a disappointed voice as he glared at the men. He was interrupted in turn by
Akemi clearing her throat.
“Please, I’d like to say a few things first. We can resolve this peacefully. Where were you
enslaved? I ask because where I am from we have a large population of former slaves that
number now in the thousands. Rather than opening up old scars let me see if I can help you.”
Akemi said, her arms unfolding and her tails lowering as her voice took on a gentler tone.
She could recognize justified, if wrongly aimed, grudges and pain after so long with her
people. If they were putting that anger towards their actual tormentors Akemi would have
even sided with them. The men looked a bit more meek at her words, staring at her for a few
more moments.
“We’re from Re-Estize, before they destroyed our village and kidnapped us. I escaped but…
my Mate was separated from me. If she was sold then…” The man sounded bereft of all hope
as his ears folded.
“She may still be alive, you can’t just… give up hope like that. My daughter was missing for
five years, only recently did I get her back.” Kyouko said as she stepped forward to join
Akemi.
“If you’re from Re-Estize every slave that was alive there was recently rescued. If you give
me her name I can try to find her for you in Natura. This offer is open to all of you five. If
you give me names, including your own, I can attempt find them. No family deserves to be
separated like that.” Akemi offered, a gentle smile forming on her face.
Je’vin seemed to just watch for the moment as the situation deescalated, his held breath being
let out in a sigh.
Those men had a look of confusion, interest, and disbelief mixed on their faces. “If… you
somehow could find them… Where did you say you are from?” The wolf man asked.
The feline man stared at them in suspicion. “I’ve never heard of Natura, where the hell is
that? How would you rescue that many people?”
“The Divine Queendom of Natura, we’re a fledgling nation that recently established
ourselves. As for where we are… Look over there, what do you see?” Akemi said, pointing
off into the distance as even this far away the tree of life still divided the sky in two far past
the horizon.
“That thing? Dunno what it is, it just started to appear one day. Did your… Queendom do that
or something?” The feline asked, his tail whipping back and forth.
“Yes, it was done by our ruler, Divine Queen Akemi, a nine tailed Kitsune that broke the
chains of those in Re-Estize. It is a giant tree that is even bigger up close, I’m honestly
surprised I can even see it from here. Even if you don’t quite believe us, there is no harm in at
least giving us names to try and help. I help out around the settlement and I’ve met so many
people. If words are not enough let me try and prove my words, that I am not like the humans
you hate.” Ana said, stepping forward, baring the brunt of the glares, though those began to
soften at her words.
Luckily their gazes were on Ana and not Akemi as Akemi stared at Ana in shock and
embarrassment, barely remembering she was there not as a Queen, and had created no alias.
A sigh from the wolf demi-human was heard, those glares ceasing as he stared with such
fragile hope, such deep pain that it was difficult to remain angry at them despite their
unacceptable behavior. “Very well, I’ll write them down. Even knowing what happened to
them would be some closure. My name is Da’rius.” With that the wolf man searched his
person for paper, looking frustrated as he came up short.
Thankfully Je’vin was still there, tapping him on the shoulder to hand over a paper pad and a
primitive pencil.
While Ana dealt with that her Mates just watched with fondness and pride as the shortest
among them fearlessly approached the ones who not ten minutes before were screaming at
her in hatred.
Je’vin was watching careful for those men to try anything, but to his clear surprise Ana
gathered that information, it soon being clear that the danger had passed.
A look and a smile from Ana showed things would be okay, and so Je’vin moved aside as he
let those men go. Letting the women walk out of that alley first he let out a deep breath. “I
was worried there for a moment, they’ve already been arrested a few times for harassing
humans. I hope they take your words to heart.”
“They aren’t bad or evil or anything, just… hurt, I’d rather try and help that instead of getting
angry at being blamed for other people’s deeds. Did you just happen to pass by? I’m thankful
for the help all the same.” Ana said and squeezed her girlfriend’s hands in relief.
“As much as I’d love to say I was just in the right place at the right time, I was sent to find
you as your letter was successfully delivered. It was verified as far as I was told, and I was
asked to bring you to the council chambers as soon as possible.”
Akemi nodded. “That works out perfectly. It will work to make the introductions for our
country. Please, lead the way.” Akemi said a smile blooming on her face as they followed the
guard. “Sorry you two, once we get this out of the way we have the rest of the night. Was it
alright, mixing business and pleasure a bit?” Akemi asked worriedly.
Two squeezes on her hands were her answer. “It is completely fine, besides the night is still
young. I know how hard you’ve been working on all this.” Kyouko said, smiling down at the
Kitsune.
“Indeed, I know it is rare for you to get a day to yourself at this point. This has been a nice
date, barring the last twenty minutes or so.” Ana wrapped herself around Akemi’s arm,
provoking a blush on the Kitsune’s face as she surely felt her arm squish against Ana’s chest.
Je’vin was pointedly looking forward, only clearing his throat as they arrived in front of a
grand building that dwarfed the ones they had seen so far. It’s scale was on par with some of
the hallways in the Dragon Kingdom, except the hallways were wide enough for two dragons
to walk side by side comfortably. There were no actual doors into the building, just a large
roofed open air area with guards. Those guards were staring at them nervously.
“Huh? Did you three do something?” Je’vin asked as they arrived at the entrance. A guard
quickly rushed from inside to stand in front of them.
“Honored Envoys, please follow me, I shall guide you to the Councilors.” His face was hard
to see under his helmet, but he smelled like a wolf as well. He placed a hand on Je’vin’s
shoulder and patted it. “Head on back to the gate Je’vin, I have it from here, orders from the
top.” He quietly told his fellow guard.
“Very well, I still have a few hours in my shift either way.” Je’vin said and faced the three
women. “It was lovely to meet you three, you take care. Good luck.” With that out of the way
he marched back out of the area, nodding at their waves.
The guard that now led them was strangely tense, but almost cautiously respectful. “Is
everything alright?” Akemi asked with a tilt of her head.
The guard barely turned his head and nodded. “I was just told to treat you three with the
utmost importance. Besides that… when the Councilors, including the three dragon
councilors in attendance, tell you to treat someone as important then- Ah we’re here, best of
luck.” He said, opening a normal sized door right next to a massive dragon sized door.
Akemi just had to blink at that strange behavior. “Well… That was a thing- That is right!”
Akemi perked up as they moved into another hallway leading to a massive chamber.
“What is what?” Ana asked.

“The Platinum Dragon Lord, from my research he is one of the councilors here, he might
have warned them about if anyone from Natura appears. I can see why they are nervous.”
Akemi noted as they finally arrived. It was truly a dragon sized chamber. There were larger
paths on either side that led up to massive platforms where three dragons laid patiently.
In the center of the room was a small podium, likely to address the line up of various races
that were on a semi-circle table around that podium. It was all set up to talk to each other or
to host a discussion with someone else. “A smart setup, they even took all the races into
account.”
All of them looked rather nervous, except for a Kitsune that was seated closer to the middle
of the semi-circle, looking at her in curious surprise. From what Akemi could see and sense
she was a five tailed Kitsune, and taller than Emeril to boot. Akemi found her ash grey hair
and blue highlights to be a rather pretty combination.
“Welcome honored guests to the Argland Council States.” The Kitsune Councilor said,
seeming to speak for the group, likely due to also being a Kitsune.
“Thank you for the kind welcome and prompt response, I apologize if it was sudden.” Akemi
said and stood in front of Ana and Kyouko. “My name is Akemi, and these two here are my
Mates, Kyouko and Ana.” Akemi said turning a hand to her Mates in turn, smiling at them to
ease their clear nervousness.
“Akemi? You do not look like the report we received informed us. I am Councilor Kaguya,
within this country I represent our kind as our elected leader, as do the others for their
respective races.” Kaguya said as she looked at Akemi with thinly veiled suspicion in her
eyes.
“My apologies, I nearly forgot about my illusions.” Akemi said as she dispelled her illusions
with but a thought. Her long hair was instantly reverted back from Blond to a deep black,
while her sapphire eyes glowed with her divinity. It was then that the weight of her aura
pressed on the area for just a moment before Akemi pulled it back in.
She saw Kaguya all but jump, nearly standing and with her fur on end. “I… See, the report
was indeed a-accurate.” She said and appeared to have trouble getting her professional
demeanor back.
“What is this? Did you try to infiltrate our chambers?” A man with wolf ears on his head, as
well as a scar, asked her seeming ready for a fight. The other Councilors barely registered his
words as they recovered from that momentary exposure to her aura and leaking mana that she
wrestled back under control. The only one staring at him was the Dragons and Kaguya.
Kaguya looked ready to snap at the man, while the dragons all but sighed.
“Not in the least, I had just wanted to get a first impression without all of the… craziness my
true self would likely cause. It isn’t often I get treated normally anymore.” Akemi had to sigh
herself as she stepped up to stand at the podium, her nine tails spread out behind her
majestically.
“Understandable, I sense no ill intent. What did you think of your time here? I am
known as the Blue Sky Dragon Lord, Suveria Myronsilk.” The gargantuan azure dragon
on the platform in the back of the hall asked, his voice rumbling through he area, enough that
Akemi could feel it in her bones.
“It was… a lovely time honestly. The city felt welcoming, warm, and inclusive. It does give
me hope for my own domain’s goals, inclusively and equality among races. This place is a
stark improvement compared to my time in the Re-Estize Kingdom. My mates and myself
had a lovely time on our date around the city.” Akemi said, smiling back at her Mates with
clear love.
That got several eyebrows raised, but more simple approving nods. “Allow me to formally
introduce myself; I am Akemi Natura, of the Divine Queendom of Natura. We are but a
fledgling country nestled to the south of the Dragon Kingdom.”
“Yes, Tsaindorcus Vaision informed us of the possibility of you arriving, it is rare for
that individual to note someone for us ahead of time. He told us of the… creation you
have made that can be seen from such a distance. How was it that you two came into
contact?” Surveria asked in barely hidden confusion.
“Well… it is a bit of a story, though it began with him trying to assassinate me, he gave me
the hardest fight I’ve had since my arrival.” Her words got a noisy reaction from a few of the
councilors, and especially wary looks from the dragons.
“So, are you here for revenge? I assure you that Tsaindorcus prefers to act on his own
accord.” One of the other dragons spoke up. “I am the Diamond Dragon Lord,
Omnaadsence Iculvuls.” Compared to his compatriot of azure, this dragon was closer to
snow white with scales that refracted the light around him. It fittingly reminded Akemi of
diamond dust in the snowy mountain peaks she had visited on the way to the Dragon
Kingdom, a journey that already felt so long ago.
“Not at all, I’ve forgiven the attempt. While I do hold several more… aggressive feelings for
him, those are more for hurting my daughter, even if it was by accident.” Akemi all but
growled the last bit, relaxing only when Ana and Kyouko put a hand on her shoulder. Letting
out a breath Akemi cleared her throat. “No, I can understand where he was coming from
when he explained it, I’m not unreasonable. A giant tree started sprouting and siphoning up
obscene amounts of mana and didn’t seem like it was stopping, so it could have been seen as
a world ending threat like he thought. I can also understand his actions once I knew about his
and the dragon race’s… tragic history with Players.” Akemi said, casually dropping that
bombshell that put the dragons even further on guard.
“So, you are a Pah-layer… This explains much. What was your goal in coming here?”
Suveria asked her, being one of the few who seemed to know what she was talking about.
Akemi could see who knew just by the looks of befuddlement in comparison to shock and…
fear in a few others, mostly the races she knew were longer lived. Her fellow Kitsune looked
ready to run. “Please, I mean no harm. I’m just here to make my introductions as the Queen
of my realm, to make things more official. All of my country fits within that giant tree.”
“What of the Dark Scale Dragon Lord, Queen Draudillon? It is near her border, yes?”
“It is, right on the border between her and the Beastman tribes. I treat races equally, including
stopping armies from treating people like livestock, so I struck a deal with her that included
me ending that terrible war for her that had already consumed an untold number of lives.”
Akemi said, looking away at the last moment.
“What she fails to mention is Queen Draudillon is trying to wrangle her into a political
marriage, and winning.” Kyouko said, teasingly poking Akemi’s puffed up cheeks as she
pouted.
That got at least a few smirks and chuckles from some councilors, the mystery falling away
from Akemi just a bit, even for those that knew what a danger Players were.
“Besides that… I’m just opening contact to make way for future discussions here. I am
extremely pleased with what I’ve seen here, and I would really enjoy meeting more of my kin
as well.” Akemi said as her ears perked up. “Speaking of… Minister Kaguya?”
The tall Kitsune nearly jumped from her seat being address, gaining her strange looks as the
normally stoic and professional woman looked torn between awe and fear. “Y-yes Queen
Akemi?”
“Would it be permissible to contact you about that? If at all possible I’d like to find a doctor
that is knowledgeable about Kitsunes. As well I would really enjoy getting to know more
about your country and people.” Akemi smiled brightly, a real smile that openly displayed
her enjoyment and amusement. It was a strangely innocent smile on a woman that should be
old and powerful.
At the same time those who knew what Players were knew they were mysterious and
unpredictably powerful. Several beings in that room were alive for many instances of Players
and suspected Players arriving to their world by unknown means.
Kaguya stared at her for a few more moments, and taking just a few more calming breathes.
“That is acceptable. I know a few of my people would be up to the task. If at all possible, I
would likewise like to see your country with my own eyes as well.”
“That is entirely fine, I’ll make further arrangements soon through Message. It has truly been
a pleasure meeting you all today, as was seeing a glimpse of your beautiful country and it’s
people, it gives me hope for the future.” Akemi meant every word of it, it had been a
wonderful day, and she felt genuine excitement well up in her at meeting more Kitsunes.
“Very well, may our paths cross again under peaceful skies. Would you like an escort?”
Suveria asked, a puff of blue flames following his words as he lightly bowed his head.
Akemi likewise did the same. “There is no need, I arrived by teleportation and will leave with
the same. Take care everyone. [Gate].” As they left through that portal Akemi swore she
could hear several held breathes being released.
They were back in familiar surroundings. After such long day Akemi seemed exhausted, as
did Ana. The only one who didn’t seem tired was smiling at them like a wolf among sheep.
“Well then… That was a fun day. A nice date… nice food, and now… I’ll show you a nice
night~” Kyouko said as she leaned down to give the two a few quick yet hungry kisses.
Both of their faces flushed as the tension drained, only to be ratcheted back up in a way that
that made their insides flip in anticipation. “I-Indeed… Where to first?” Ana asked as she
snuggled under Kyouko’s arm, Akemi soon doing the same her other arm, hugging it to her
breasts.
“Our first stop… a nice bath sounds lovely, we have the home to ourselves for the night, just
us three, and I vote we make the most of it. Shall we?”
Chapter End Notes
Sorry that took a while to write, had a bad mental spiral for a few weeks, but I’m
starting to recover a little. The motivation to finish this chapter brought to you by the
folks at the Grand library of Ashurbanipal discord~ a lovely and chaotic bunch.
Next chapter will not be entirely plot relevant by design so it can be skipped if desired, it
is the culmination of a lot of teasing and will be on the spicy side <3
In the future lewd scenes might be sprinkled throughout, but I’ll put a warning in the
chapters themselves about the same.
It… might take longer to write, me and lewd stuff don’t work well together being on the
Ace spectrum, I just don’t usually care for the stuff myself.
I hope to see you all again soon~

A Long Night for Three
Chapter Summary
The long night of anticipation comes to fruition for the trio as they get closer than they
ever have before.
Chapter Notes
I know not everyone is into lewd scenes, this chapter is for the most part able to be
skipped if you aren’t into that, I tried to not add much plot relevant stuff for that reason.
If you Are interested in fluffy lesbian shenanigans, read on.
Akemi had the slightest suspicion, a hunch even, that Kyouko might have been ‘hungry’ like
the wolf. Kyouko’s kisses felt almost aggressive as she kissed each of her Mates hard enough
it felt like their lips would bruise, yet it was delightful in it’s own way.
Despite the aggressive kisses and nibbling she would lovingly apply to the napes of their
necks or ears, or rather because of them, Akemi felt herself getting more and more excited.
They’d agreed to give Kyouko near full rein to give them ‘the works’, as Kyouko herself
would call it;, before Kyouko could even fully strip them down, it felt like she had already
left dozens of marks on both of her Mates.
“K-kyouko~ We aren’t going anywhere, we have plenty of time.” Akemi laughed to herself
and hugged Kyouko back as Kyouko hugged the both of them tightly, all three of them barely
in their small-clothes.
“I knoooow, you’re right… Let's get a nice bath and then we can head back up.” Kyouko
took a few deep breaths and kissed the top of their heads. Her affections became less hurried
as she undressed them with utmost care the rest of the ways.
The way Kyouko’s fingers trailed over Akemi’s skin left a trail of fire over her body that sent
shivers through her in the most pleasant way. Akemi clung onto Kyouko’s arm, pressing her
petite chest against it as they headed out of the changing room and into the bath proper.
It was a rushed washing for the three of them; they’d separated for it, lest hands stray and
Kyouko get even more frisky right there in the main bath. That wasn’t to say that eyes didn’t
drift around, and Akemi even found herself shyly taking peeks at her two Mate’s lovely
forms.
Ana was still quite adorable and smaller than her in most ways, but she was very beautiful all
the same to her Mates. Akemi felt her heart race looking at either of them, only half her brain
paying attention to actually taking a bath, with the rest memorizing the curves of her lovers to
the finest detail whilst knowing she would get to remember them forever thanks to her
passives. “Normally I almost dislike this skill, but this helps make up for it I guess.”
Kyouko was hot, and to Akemi and Ana that was simplifying it far too much. From her tall
form that towered over both of the younger women by at least thirty five centimeters each, to
her incredibly defined abs that were oh so fun to look at and touch. Kyouko’s chest also was
the largest among the three, not that that was hard to achieve with neither Ana nor Akemi
being very large in that department.
“It is okay if I’m nervous?” Akemi asked with a twitching ear, joining the others in the
soothingly hot bath, not that she needed any help warming up. She leaned up against Kyouko
just as Ana had taken Kyouko’s other side, both of them nearly purring as Kyouko wrapped
an arm around them.
“That sounds normal if it is your first time, or even if it wasn’t, there is no shame in that.”
Kyouko looked down at Akemi under her arm and appeared quite serious. “If you don’t want
to go through with tonight, you don’t have to. Listen, if I ever go too far please tell me; I
don’t want to do anything to you that you don’t want done.” Kyouko said and rubbed their
backs, leaning down to give both of them a surprisingly chaste kiss.
Akemi could only nod as she internalized those words, reminding herself there was nothing
to fear, not from Kyouko. “So far I’m fine, I’ll let you know if I ever want to stop.”
“I trust you. I l-like this…” Ana mumbled, burrowing against Kyouko as she felt the hand
around her shoulder trail over her body, making her jump when those fingers brushed her
ribs.
“Ticklish? Adorable… you’re both way too adorable for my heart to take.” Kyouko bit her lip
and hugged them all the tighter. “We might need a Gate back to the room, or I might have to
take you on each flight of stairs…” Her ears folded down as her Mates were unsure if the
‘threat’ was a joke or just a bad idea…
They were already clean, and Akemi certainly felt excited in more ways than one. “I can do
that, I think stairs would suck right now…” Akemi’s quiet whine displayed her distress at that
prospect far more effectively.
Ana stood up to grab a towel, seeming in a hurry despite her clear nervousness. Of course the
other two felt those emotions as well, and were quick to dry off and slip bathrobes on, til
Akemi remembered that she could have used a drying spell. “[Gate].” Akemi took a deep
breath and stepped into the portal.
As expected Kyouko went right back to nibbling at her neck as soon as they were out of the
portal and into the main bedroom proper, til Akemi’s robe was half off of her shoulder. Even
with Kyouko distracting her Akemi was able to toss a few logs in the fire with her tails and
set them alight; even with Parallel Thought Processing, that was a challenge!
“A-ah! Kyouko…” Akemi whined under her breath in a way that sounded animalistic, and
yet it sent a spike of excitement through both her Mates.
“So… you get that item done? I love you, but I don’t fancy my fingers being pinched off.”
Kyouko leaned down to give another hungry kiss before backing off to let Akemi answer. In
the meantime she also gave Ana some kisses, placing yet more hickeys on her fragile
collarbone.
“I d-did…” Akemi seemed nervous as she pulled out a thin red collar with a blue gem
embedded in it. It appeared stretchy enough to not get in the way of anything, yet Kyouko
would be able to note the metal loop dangling off the front of it, right under the gemstone, as
if something could be attached. She held it out to Kyouko and looked away, her face aflame
and ears folded. It appeared to take all of Akemi’s nerve to say., “I… w-want you to put it on
me.”
Despite the strangeness of it to most, Kyouko found nothing strange about it, not with all she
had done in the past in a similar vein. With exceptional care and near reverence Kyouko
picked up that collar, unclasped it, and placed it around Akemi’s slender neck. In but a
moment of that collar flashing Akemi felt somehow softer.
“W-wow… that feels weird…” Akemi mumbled as she moved her body, eventually taking
Kyouko’s hand with extreme nervousness. With the utmost care she squeezed Kyouko’s hand
slowly, until she was squeezing as hard as she could without any visible pain on Kyouko’s
part. “It worked; my strength is about what you would expect from my size, and I guess that
includes some of my defense.”
“Is that why it is easier to squeeze and grope you?” Kyouko asked as her hand reached back
to very lightly squish Akemi’s plentiful rear, eliciting an adorable squeak from the Kitsune
even through the bath robe.
“It is… my natural toughness isn’t resisting you. My skills should still be working, and I have
all my magic, but I cannot take this collar off myself, not easily.” Akemi looked up into
Kyouko’s eyes with hesitation.
Kyouko’s eyes widened as she seemed to realize something. “That is… a lot of trust. If
you’re sure about it, before we go further… safe words, you two.”
“Safe word?” Ana asked in confusion as she hugged Akemi from behind, though the shy look
on her face was a cue that she at least had an idea about it.
Akemi, on the other hand, was bright red. “I thought that was more for… actually getting tied
up? I guess mango would work… that fruit doesn’t exist here.”
“You aren’t wrong, but that is more… advanced, lets teach you the basics tonight. They are
useful to have in general, like I said, I want to take care of you two tonight.” Kyouko very
lightly pulled on that collar with a finger, getting Akemi to follow her along towards the bed
where Ana followed as well. With a grin Kyouko turned around, leaned down to squeeze Ana
against her breasts, clearly enjoying making the two flustered.
With a quiet snicker Ana lifted her face out of Kyouko’s cleavage enough to speak. “I guess
mine can be Acid Splash, a very unsexy spell…” Ana said and took a few deep breaths, her
chin resting on those soft breasts.
“Very good you two. Now… may I?” Kyouko asked as she let go of Ana, reaching down to
grasp the loose sash that kept Ana’s robe on.
“Y-yes, you two can do what… you want.” Ana mumbled, her ears burning nearly as brightly
as the fireplace that filled the place with a warm light.
Akemi took a place behind Ana and grazed her hands over those thin shoulders while she saw
Kyouko pulling the sash off, leaving the robe loose. Akemi’s breath hitched as she slid that
robe off Ana’s shoulders, immediately kissing the nape of Ana’s neck.
Kyouko tenderly lifted Ana’s chin up and stared into those meadow green eyes she had
grown to love so much. It was an incredibly tender kiss coming from Kyouko, the gentle
meeting of lips passing on emotions that didn’t need to be said.
Akemi let her hands roam over Ana, hugging her from behind and just letting her instincts
guide her. Akemi’s heart beat felt just as fast as Ana’s as Akemi brushed her thumb over the
peaks of her Mate’s petite chest and felt Ana’s heartbeat through her flushed skin. Ana just
felt nice to Akemi, pleasantly hot like a bath; it just made her want to run her hands over her
Mate forever.
“ This is… going to be a long night. ” Akemi thought as she felt her stomach tighten in
anticipation.
It was unsurprising to her that the sight of Kyouko’s tender kiss turning becoming more
dominating was rather stimulating in multiple ways for Akemi. With Ana and Kyouko
pressed against each other, it was rather easy to reach behind Kyouko and press against the
base of Kyouko’s wagging tail.
“So cute~ That spot sensitive?” Akemi asked while resting her chin on Ana’s shoulder.
Kyouko visibly shivered at the touch, growling into the kiss as it had a clear effect on her.
With a wet pop Akemi’s Mates finally separated, leaving Ana a panting mess.
“It is indeed… I’ll be sure to show you very shortly.” Kyouko added, brushing her nose
against Ana’s, and then Akemi’s. It was rather sweet all things considered, though Akemi
could see how Kyouko’s pupils were blown wide open as her nose picked up every scent
from the room.
Akemi knew that Kyouko was turned on because her own nose could smell the heady scent
of arousal from the three girls as Kyouko started to herd them towards the bed. It was like the
lovely scents of her Mates had an extra undertone that helped put her deeper into a frisky
mood.
“Say Akemi, you try what I taught you last time? You give touching yourself another try?”
Kyouko asked as she stepped back and let her robe drop to the ground. Ana and Akemi both
had to stop themselves from staring at Kyouko’s near perfect body. From her long toned legs,
to her strong upper arms that could lift them with ease.
She was well muscled in a way that did nothing to detract from her femininity and beauty.
Both the younger women couldn’t help but peek at the trimmed red puff of pubic hair that
seemed to be damp already. It took all of Akemi’s brain to shake her head in response to the
question she was asked.
“Hmm? Like what you see you two? I guess the bath makes it hard to see. Look all you wish,
and you can touch all you wish as well. Well, Akemi? I think a lesson is in order.” Kyouko
said and slipped past them, climbing on the bed, clearly taking her time pointing her rear at
them, her delight in stunning her Mates clear.
“I um… I h-haven’t… A lesson on…?” Akemi shrunk back slightly in her bathrobe, the only
one yet to have shed that last layer.
Ana followed Kyouko on the bed, seeming to understand something Akemi didn’t. “It will be
fine Akemi, you just have to trust us.” Ana’s face looked almost… hungry as she cuddled up
to Kyouko and into an arm.
“A lesson on how to make yourself feel good. I find your lack of experience in that adorable,
but it will be even more adorable to see your expressions when you cum. Come here, dear~”
Kyouko sat up and folded her legs, patting her lap.
Akemi felt her feet move before she even meant to, being drawn to the bed where she
hesitated for a few more moments. “Haa… fuck it.” Akemi removed the sash on her bathrobe
and let it fall to the ground. After a moment of thought she looked back at her mass of fluffy
tails and focused. With a small wave of magic those nine tails were reduced to one. “There; I
think they might get in the way of our fun otherwise.”
Now it was the other two’s turn to see Akemi in her most natural state, outside of glimpses in
the bath where Akemi tended to cover herself as best she could. She knew modesty was not
needed that night in the bedchamber.
Akemi climbed over the bed and after some urging took a seat on Kyouko’s lap, being pulled
back against her Mate’s body. It was an incredibly comfortable position, she had to admit.
Kyouko was incredibly warm, and their bare skin touching had continued to drive her crazy.
“Relax love, neither of us will ever hurt you. Do you trust us?” Kyouko asked as she wrapped
her arms around Akemi, resting her chin on her head.
Ana took a more direct approach in reassuring Akemi, crawling over on all fours to lean in
for a kiss, conveying so much love with just a simple kiss that quickly grew into a more
heavy one. After sucking on Akemi’s bottom lip for a few moments until a little moan
slipped out of Akemi, Ana sat back. “We love you, we just want to help you feel nice. I didn’t
used to do it much myself, but you want to know something?” Ana’s flushed face leaned in
towards the two of them, an embarrassed smile on her face. “W-when I do, I imagine you t-
two.” Ana admitted and leaned into Kyouko’s hand as the wolf gently cupped her face.
“Oh my~ Well, lets help make some of your fantasies come true tonight love.” Kyouko cooed
and let her other hand begin to trail down Akemi’s body. “Akemi love, can we touch you?”
Akemi took a deep breath and leaned back against Kyouko, cushioning her head against
Kyouko’s chest comfortably. “You m-may; I trust you both entirely.” Her heart fluttered as
Kyouko’s hand crept downwards, cresting her pubic mound. Her hips were held down by
Kyouko as a finger was dragged through her slit, lingering over her clitoral hood for a few
feather light strokes with just the tip of her finger.
“Eep! K-Kyouko…” Akemi shivered as just the light touching sent jolts up her spine.
“Please…”
“Please what dear?” Kyouko teased, nibbling at a fox ear as she teased the outer edges of
Akemi, not touching her directly anymore.
“Please, you two just… touch me…” Akemi’s eyes were wide as she squeezed Kyouko’s
arms.
“Oh but dear, that isn’t what this lesson is about. Here, let me help you~” Kyouko gently
unclasped Akemi’s hand from her arm, placing her hand over Akemi’s and guiding her down
towards her own wetness. “We’re going to teach you how to enjoy your own body first
tonight. We have a lot of time to enjoy ourselves, and I intend to use every minute of it.”
Next her gaze turned to Ana who sat in front of Akemi. “Isn’t that right, Ana dear? Why
don’t you give Akemi a demonstration?”
Ana instantly stiffenedd up, her breathing shaking for a moment as she leaned back on one
hand. Her shyness was clear to see as she looked away from them as she spread her legs. “O-
okay…” Ana let her other hand trail over her chest first, creeping past her hips and stroking
her fingers over her mound, taking two fingers to spread herself more, and her middle finger
to draw out and rub her clit in gentle circles. “This is… embarrassing… being watched…”
Ana mumbled, yet she visibly became more excited, her little whimpers easily reaching both
her girlfriend’s sensitive ears.
“And yet you seem to be enjoying being watched~ You can follow her example, Akemi.”
Kyouko said and let go of Akemi’s hand, reaching up to lightly tease the tips of her small
breasts, just seeming to enjoy Akemi’s squeaks of pleasure.
Akemi’s ears flickered up and down as she copied Ana, whimpering as she spread herself
before touching where Kyouko had before, teasing the sensitive nub there out of hiding as
she watched Ana quietly moan.
Kyouko continued to nibble at Akemi’s ear and enjoy the sight of both her loves pleasuring
themselves—s. Something Akemi could clearly feel as those affectionate rubs to her breasts
turned into light pinching that added a spark of pain to her pleasure, which mixed
surprisingly well as she got more comfortable with herself.
“Fuck…” Akemi’s ears flicked up and down and she leaned back into Kyouko’s breasts more
just as she slowly slipped a finger inside of herself. “That is…!” It felt almost electric to her,
her digit rubbing over the nerves inside herself. “It feels… good…” Akemi mumbled, her
eyes moving between Ana and the way her Mate was teasing two fingers inside of herself,
and her own fun as she explored her own body in a way she wished had had the courage to
earlier.
Kyouko had the best seat of all, getting to see Ana’s facial expressions twist in pleasure as
she worked herself up more and more, and get to see over Akemi’s shoulders as her adorable
Kitsune played with herself for the first time. How she had went that long in this world
without attempting it Kyouko could only guess, but she learned not to underestimate the
effects of dysphoria from her time since meeting Akemi, truly meeting her and knowing her
past.
Akemi rubbed her wet fingers together for a moment, engrossed in the sensation. With a
heavy breath she moved both hands down. While she felt around for the best spots inside
herself to press the tip of her fingers into, her other hand tried to rub her clit just like Kyouko
had done the first time. “This is…” Akemi moaned as she finally felt like she did when
Kyouko had first done this on her, the tingling down her spine, like a spring being pulled taut.
“A-ana… come here?” Akemi pleaded, her toes curling as her fingers plunged into herself,
raking along her upper walls where she felt, while her other hand continued to circle her clit
till she was all but whimpering.
Ana’s face had steadily gotten flushed, and her breathes came in huffs. She leaned forward,
placing a hand in front of her to balance while keeping her other hand still playing with her
clit. The two girls leaned closer, their lips meeting just a few moments before they began to
shake, their cries muffled for a moment before they broke apart.
Kyouko showed Akemi what she had meant earlier as one of her hands reached between
them now that Akemi was leaning forward, pressing her fingers at the base of Akemi’s tail
and very lightly massaging it. The effect was instantaneous as Akemi’s orgasm intensified for
just a bit longer
Akemi felt like her brain was melting as the ecstasy of release filled her body from head to
toe. Their tongues played around each other, and Akemi was sure their teeth hit each other a
few times, yet both of them were too occupied to give a damn.
Kyouko ran her hands over both of their bodies as Akemi collapsed backwards against her,
while Ana moved the little it needed to land against Akemi’s breasts, nuzzling them as she
relaxed, the three of them in one big cuddle for the moment.
“Good girls~” Akemi felt a smile spread on her face at those words, and leaned into the hand
that now ran through her hair. Ana as well leaned into a hand, only squeaking for a moment
when that hand moved down to cup and squeeze her rear, moving back up to lightly scratch
her scalp, filling her with a contented calm.
It was still for at least the moment, mostly due to the two smallest needing to catch their
breath and loosen the tension in their bodies. “Well… that was educational… Love you
both.” Akemi snuggled into them, her singular tail waving back and forth against the three of
them from where it stuck out to the side to avoid being compressed against Kyouko.
“Was? Oh, my fluffy love, the night is still young. You seem recovered, Ana~” Kyouko
kissed both of their foreheads before helping Akemi lay down on the bed next to her on an
actual pillow, letting Kyouko move around once again.
“Mostly, I’m not done for tonight.” Ana admitted, sitting back up and letting Akemi relax and
watch the two of them.
“Don’t let me stop you two… I just need a few minutes…” Akemi replied lazily, resting on
her side, watching as Kyouko crawled forward till Ana fell on her back.
“Is this okay Ana?” Kyouko asked as she hovered over top of Ana, treating her Mate
delicately as her lips stayed an inch above Ana’s own, their breathes mixing for the few
moments it took for Ana’s mind to process the question.
“Y-yes! You can… do what you want dear, I’m okay.” Ana gulped, right before Kyouko
licked her neck, making her jolt with an adorable squeak. She was pinned down as Kyouko
peppered her neck with kisses and bites both. To Ana’s delight and trepidation Kyouko began
kissing a line down her body, leaving a damp trail that the air turned into pockets of coolness
against her burning skin.
A kiss to her navel and Kyouko’s tongue dipping into her belly button made Ana squirm and
giggle, yet it sent her heart pounding. Kyouko was so close, Ana could already feel her breath
on her sensitive and wet folds. “K-Kyouko…”
Akemi could hear Ana’s heart beat from that small distance away, hammering away like a
hummingbird. It only got louder as Kyouko lowered her tongue down, lapping away at Ana
teasingly slow. Kyouko growled in delight as she felt a hand in her hair, the unintentional
pulling only turning her on more.
“Please don’t f-fucking… stop!” Ana yelped, her hips bucking against Kyouko’s mouth. It
was all incredibly hot to watch from Akemi’s point of view, and it was certainly getting her
going again. That ‘itch’ grew ever more familiar, enough that her hand had reached down to
tease herself before she knew it.
While holding Ana’s hips down Kyouko lifted her head up, giving just one last lick of Ana’s
slickened pussy before turning to look at Akemi. “Feeling recovered?”
“Kyoukooooo…” Ana whined, her half lidded eyes filled with lust. “I was… really close…”
She whimpered before she looked at Akemi also.
“Why don’t you come have a seat Akemi? I’m sure it is a throne fit for a Queen~” Kyouko
teased, removing a hand to gesture to Ana’s adorably pouting face.
“Eh? U-um… should I?” Akemi asked as she looked between Ana and Kyouko, hesitating
yet clearly enjoying the moment.
Ana broke through her indecision and stared at her. “Akemi… Come over here? I’ve never
done this but… I’ll give it my best.” Ana couldn’t get any more pleading, and not because
she had been close to an orgasm that had her breathless.
Akemi crawled over on the bed, her sense of modesty hanging on by a thread as she knelt
over Ana. Looking over her shoulder at the calm, almost proud, look from Kyouko gave her
the last push she needed. “E-excuse me…” She mumbled before lowering herself over Ana’s
face. Thankfully Ana took care in guiding Akemi down, avoiding a potentially amusing
encounter of a butt to face kind.
That Kitsune tail was soon wiggling around, brushing the back of Kyouko’s head a few times
as Akemi felt Ana’s tongue begin to explore her in the most intimate of ways. “O-oh! That
is…” Akemi’s ears folded as she shuddered.
Underneath her, Ana’s tongue would normally have been more dextrous, but Kyouko had
returned to work and was turning her brain into a fuzzy mess.
From the feeling of their slick and bare skin against each other, to the smell of sex that Akemi
would now forever associate with that night, and especially to the sounds coming from all of
them, all of it was overwhelming and all-encompassing to Akemi’s senses.
With her hips being held by Ana, and Ana’s increasingly frantic lapping on her clit, Akemi
felt herself getting close to that sweet peak yet again, feeling as if fire had begun pooling in
her belly. Judging by that same frantic energy, Ana also was getting close, her hips still trying
to buck against her will. “Ana! A-almost!” Akemi gasped, having to brace herself forward on
the bed to not collapse fully on her Mate.
It felt quick to Akemi, but nearly an hour had already passed since the bath robes had been
discarded.
Unseen by the two of them, Kyouko moved one of her hands between her own legs, not
breaking contact with Ana as her tongue repeatedly delved into her depths, her experience
being felt by Ana firsthand till it felt like static had filled her body, and her breaths only came
in huffs.
Akemi felt as if all that heat had released, spreading through her body out from her lower
abdomen. “Fuck! Ana!” she howled, her body jolting as her climax steadily started to fade,
the continued licking making her squirm. “A-ana stop… sensitive…” Akemi panted in
overstimulation, relaxing as the tongue playing with her nub ceased, right in time for Akemi
to move off her and hear Ana cry out in pleasure.
“Haa! K-Kyouko!” Ana writhed under Kyouko’s vastly more skilled affections. Her tongue
had been buried deep, till she could feel Ana’s walls start to squeeze down, from there
alternating between licking and putting gentle suction on Ana’s clit.
The results were enlightening to Ana, to put it mildly. Ana’s breathy moans turned into
nonsensical babble after but a few moments.
Akemi had laid down next to Ana, nearly falling off her to let the stars fade from her vision.
“Adorable…” She mumbled as she saw Ana’s face shift between pleasure and exhaustion
repeatedly till she was laying just as boneless as Akemi was.
Kyouko’s orgasm was more subdued, her body stiffening and her back arching. “Mmmm…
love you two…” Kyouko said as she sat up to free her other hand, her fingers teasing all the
right spots in herself that Kyouko knew how to play just right, riding out the feeling of her
climax.
“Love you too…” Both Ana and Akemi mumbled out as they in turned cuddled up against
Kyouko, right under her arms as she laid back on the bed. It seemed to take all of the two’s
energy to move that small distance.
Kyouko admired the sheen of sweat on both her lover’s bodies as they all recovered. Words
didn’t need to be spoken for the moment, they all were just happy to bask in the warmth of
each other.
Looking like the wolf who got into the sheep pen, Kyouko just gently ran her hands over
their bodies, stopping at their heads to lightly scratch and run her fingers through their hair.
For Akemi it eventually turned into her ears being scratched at the base.
“Mmm… no wonder Hannyuu likes getting her ears scratched, feels nice…” Akemi
mumbled sleepily, the singular tail she was displaying waving back and forth, making a
gentle thump each time it hit the bed.
“So… time for round three?” Kyouko teased, just hugging them to her as she felt blissful and
closer than ever to them.
“I think I’m good for the night… You both tired me out a lot. I’m only human, you know?”
Ana mumbled with closed eyes, a content smile on her face.
“I’m tapped, sleepy…” Akemi nuzzled her face against Kyouko, coincidentally against one
of her breasts, not that either of them minded.
“See? That is exactly why cardio is important~ Don’t worry, I’ll take you two on some runs
in the morning.” Kyouko teased with a sigh. “I know you’re both tired but I think we could
also use some water, food, and another bath.” Kyouko tried to move her girls, but found them
quite stuck there.
“Fiiine… [Mass Clean]. We can take an actual bath in the morning… I have food and drink
in my inventory.” Akemi mumbled, not even opening her eyes to cast her spell.
Kyouko couldn’t help but soak in the moment for a few more minutes, not wanting it to end
just yet. “We’re… you going to get them? You’re both dorks…” Eventually she had to ask
that.
“That… involves moving… but I suppose I can…” Akemi grumbled, causing Ana to giggle
against Kyouko’s side. With far more effort than it should reasonably have taken, Akemi sat
herself up with a pouty whine in the back of her throat. “[Create Item].” She summoned a
large bowl and pulled out a selection of fruits. “Ana… gotta get up and eat something.”
Akemi poked at Ana where she still laid, poking until Ana’s giggling turned into laughter.
“Cute~”
“I’m up…” She grumbled, though her smile broke her grumpy facade. It was then that Akemi
noted in the dim light yet again how beautiful her Mates’ nude forms were, bringing a fresh
flush to her cheeks. Seeing them like that would never get tiring for her, each time was a
fresh portrait that was carved in her memory, a treat.
“Really dear? My tongue was in you, I think we’re past the point of modesty you fluff ball.”
Ana teased, leaning over for a quick kiss, nabbing some fruit while she was there.
The shy mumbling from Akemi was just adorable, especially when Akemi noted that she
could taste herself from that kiss.
“I could think of several things I could put in you both~” Kyouko just had to add, the smirk
on her face not going away any time soon, not at the embarrassed pout she got from them.
It was nice and quiet for the moment as they fulfilled their respective needs before settling
back into bed. The fire in the fireplace had dimmed as they climbed back in, nice and snug
under the blankets.
Kyouko went right back to cuddling the two of them. “Night you two, love you. Want me to
take the collar off?” Kyouko asked, fiddling with said collar for a moment.
“You can leave it on for the night, I almost forgot it was on, I can properly feel hugs like this.
Night night, love you both also.” Akemi was on the verge of passing out in what felt like, and
quite possibly was, the safest spot in the world.
“Love you both too, I’ll make us a nice breakfast… assuming I can walk straight by then.”
Ana got nice and cozy nestled up on Kyouko, claiming an arm as a pillow.
“I mean… If Akemi uses that shape shifting magic on me… I could make you two unsteady
on your feet for a few days~” Kyouko teased, kissing the top of the head of both her Mates, a
content growl barely reaching their ears as they got comfortable.
“You’re incorrigible love… maybe t-tomorrow…” Akemi mumbled, surprising herself in

how appealing that sounded. “That is a problem for future me… or a reward.”
Chapter End Notes
That chapter… was hard as hell for me to write, if it is odd please be gentle. I’m like
90% Ace so it doesn’t interest me as much, let alone ever caring to do such things…
The main reason for the delay several issues, the biggest being mental health due to my
healthcare system fucking up and delaying important medication by literal weeks. It
turns out hormone imbalance can really mess with your mood. Next chapter might be
slow as now I have to adjust the opposite way again.
There is also the fact Armored Core 6 came out the other day and I’ve already put in All
the hours on it, enough to beat it 3 times to get all 3 endings. It took a long while and a
LOT of raging, but I eventually got good, as is the way with Fromsoft games. Feed the
Fire…
Special Thanks to my bf for proofreading this chapter as I have no confidence in sex

scenes, as well as the Great Library of Ashurbanipal Discord and the delightful people
there!
Chaos in Tiny Packages
Chapter Summary
A nice family morning, for a day filled with chaos (and cuddles).
Chapter Notes
Welcome everyone! Thanks for sticking with this story for so long, I appreciate it more
than you know~ Hopefully this fluffy chapter treats you well <3 Likely next time I
won’t segregate lewd scenes, and likely will only mention if a chapter has any at the
beginning.
It was an enjoyable way to fully wake up, just letting near scalding water run down her body
with the shower head above her as she sat on the plastic shower stool, courtesy of create item.
“Well… That was some night…” Akemi thought as a smile broke on her face just thinking
about it. She had felt so loved, it was crazy to think where she had been less than a year
before. The sex was also nice, she had to admit. “Huh… I had full blown sex now, Go me.”
She thought as she ran the cherry scented shampoo through her hair.
It had been a test of what she could duplicate with create item, but she was able to duplicate
the different bottles she had bought from Ainz for the simple price of saving his wands a spell
charge by resurrecting some Lizard men. “They were pretty nice, I should visit them again…
when I have free time.” Free time was just something she hardly had any of anymore between
her own important activities like researching how her new world worked, to going down to
heal her people and bless their fields they had started. Running the country wasn’t any easier
as she was having to learn on the fly from Emeril’s limit experience.
It was a process that would take possibly years, helping her people truly heal, and it would
involve finding a lot more separated family members. “I wonder how much of a baby boom
there will be by next year?”
That day though was already going to be packed in a good way. “Finally… I can summon
them~” Akemi mumbled to herself as she looked at the ring on her finger, legion. Her
adorable Lilys would soon arrive~ She just hoped they would get along with her kids in this
world.
“Room for two more?” She heard the familiar voice of Kyouko ask.
Looking over her shoulder Akemi felt, yet again, embarrassed and excited in equal measure
seeing her Mates in the buff. Modesty was out the window for them by that point. Kyouko
was carrying Ana, who still seemed half asleep, in her arms with ease.
“P-plenty.” It wasn’t as big as the main bath that dominated most of a lower floor, but the one
connected to her bedroom had enough space for more than three people. “Just going to have
to take some time to wash my tails.” Akemi had finished her hair and was already running
her fingers through a water logged tail as best she could.
It was quite amusing, seeing the normally fluffy tails turned into wet noodles. “Sure, let me
wash up first. Love, it is time to wake up, we have to pick up the kids before they drive
Emeril insane.” Kyouko said with such clear amusement. “I can’t keep carrying you and
shower at the same time.”
“… Dun want to walk… The girls are well behaved…” After a few more moments she
opened her eyes more and groaned under her breath. “Hmm… thought I’d be more sore…
You can put me down, I guess…” Ana’s smirk showed she was teasing, though she was a
little unsteady on her feet at first.
“You didn’t exactly take a pounding yet, some oral isn’t going to make you really sore. If you
want, next time I can be more rough, if you can take it~” Kyouko noted and took the stool
next to Akemi, cleaning herself off.
It didn’t escape her notice the glances she would get from her Mates, though she looked
plenty herself. It was rather amusing the squeak she could get with a stray butt pinch here and
there.
“Of yeah, could you remove the collar before we leave? I do not need to explain to anyone
why I have it…” Akemi noted as she moved onto her second tail as her Mates started on one
themselves.
“Not a problem love. No wonder you take an hour in the bathroom sometimes… I guess the
clean spell is useful, but nothing beats a nice hot shower sometimes.”
“Clean also doesn’t leave them smelling like cherries and other nice things. Thanks you two.”
“Anytime dear. So after we get the kids, what plans are there for today? I’m going to help
Granny’s kitchen some today and see what Emeril needs done.” Ana asked.
Kyouko seemed to enjoy running her fingers through the wet fur as much as Akemi seemed
to. “Going to head down and start to train some recruits and do some training myself. We
can’t always rely on you for everything, especially not every little problem that might pop up,
some people to keep order will help things along.”
“Great ideas, both of you. Once we get the girls I think it will be time to finally use this
World Item, I’ll explain more about that when we get our daughters home. Besides that? I
need to do some paperwork Emeril has insisted I get on top of… She helped make me a little
office on the first floor for now. Its time I get into really trying to run this country now that I
can read and write… One of the first projects I want to work on is an education system.
Besides that I need to do some research on a few things before the day is done.” Akemi
finally finished her last tail and shook the water out of her floof.
“Ack! Akemi!” Ana whined as all that water had to go somewhere, giving Ana and Kyouko
another shower with nine tails worth of water.
“Ah, s-sorry… I’m used to showering alone. Thanks for the help you two, I’ll try and get
started on breakfast- Ana it is fine I promise!” Akemi held her hands up in defense as Ana
pouted at her.
“Well… you have been improving, you’re learning well, just please don’t destroy the
kitchen?” Ana smiled to soften the blow, finding way too much amusement in teasing a
Goddess.
“I’ll try my best~ Though maybe I’ll try and get breakfast set up and we can grab the kids
before eating.”
“That is a good idea, lets do that.” Ana finished washing and began to dry.
After spending time drying, nearly longer than the other two, Akemi eventually caved and
used a drying spell.
“That shampoo really does help, so fluffy~” Kyouko noted as she pet over one tail as they
walked through the first floor. The sun was up and people were already awake and about.
“Right? I picked the right race for sure, wouldn’t change a thing if I could create my
character again.” Akemi was in a cheerful mood for once, some of the gloom she had been
stuck with had seemed to fade for the time being.
“Not even to make your boobs bigger?” Kyouko teased, poking her in the side. Ana snorted
in amusement before she looked down at her own chest with a frown.
“I’m kidding you two, you’re perfect the way you are. I mean that truly.” Kyouko said as she
moved over between Akemi and Ana, wrapping an arm around their shoulders, giving them a
quick nuzzle to their hair as they walked.
None of them paid any mind to the few stares they got, especially Akemi, who tried to ignore
the few who had begun to pray as she passed, giving them a small wave and tired smile.
“I swear… they better not build a shrine or something, I already get weird enough dreams
from prayers…” Akemi mumbled once they had passed by those people and deeper into the
woods where Emeril had chosen to set up a home.
“Do you get those often? Also, they are already building a church, I must have forgotten to
tell you.” Ana said as she bumped hips against Kyouko with a content smile.
“Oh all the time, most nights now… I keep dreaming of people I haven’t seen before also. I
would remember if I saw them. Either I’m reaching out or my name is spreading really fast.
A church? Really?” Akemi knocked on Emeril’s door as they arrived, her ears folded at the
news.
It was a cute cottage Akemi and Kyouko had helped her build, giving them plenty of space,
and Emeril had wasted no timing turning it into a home.
“Morning you three… have a nice date? Also, yes, there is a church being built. They went
through the proper channels to get a nice spot closer to the central plaza, I approved it
myself.” Emeril’s grin was adorably mischievous. “Come on in.”
The home already smelled like a home, warm and welcoming. “You look pretty tired,
something happen?” Ana asked.
“Oh, just the kids didn’t want to go to bed… turns out neither Hannyuu or Lorelei can tell
Lirina No. They weren’t bad or anything, just took a while to get them all to go to bed.”
Emeril clarified as she sat down at the kitchen table with a tired sigh.
“Well… At least they are acting like kids for once. Thanks for watching them, there aren’t
many people we trust enough for that.” Kyouko said, ruffling the older Kitsune’s hair until
her hand was brushed away.
The sound of feet was the warning they got as Hannyuu arrived, all but leaping at the trio to
hug them in turn. “Hey Mamas!” Hannyuu all but yelled, heedless of how early it was in the
morning, and purred against them happily.
“Morning dear, have fun? Where is Lorelei?” Akemi asked as she gave those cat ears a few
scratches, if only to see Hannyuu tilt her head into them adorably.
“Oh it was fun. Sorry for staying up so late Auntie Emeril… Rinna and I were having fun.”
Hannyuu scratched her cheek and looked away shyly.
“I’ve been upgraded to Auntie now? I can accept this.” Emeril shrugged with a smile, it was
hard to stay even mildly annoyed with Hannyuu. “Thanks for getting Rinna to come out of
her shell. She still asleep?”
“Yup, so is Lirina and big sis, I think deep slumber is still on her. Hannyuu said and took
turns hugging her moms yet again, seeming extra affectionate with the night away from
home.
It was just nice for Akemi seeing her have such an energetic smile on her face. “You’re truly
growing up well.” Akemi thought, unable to not smile seeing her daughter in such a good
mood. “That is fine, I can dispel the effects. I’d say we could carry her, but I don’t think she
would take kindly to waking up somewhere different.”
“Probably not, I get the same sometimes, isn’t very fun. At least big sis seemed to like
flying.” Hannyuu said and just giggled as Kyouko scooped her up like a princess, though she
technically was one. In her tallest Mom’s arms she went limp and got comfortable.
“Remind me to try out a high speed flying spell I’ve been thinking up later. I’ll go wake our
sleepy wolf, maybe we should have brought some bacon to bribe her?” Akemi thought aloud
as she headed down the hall as Emeril waved her along.
“It was pretty adorable, Lorelei was playing with Lirina so much that the little one didn’t
even get up to run at three in the morning. Lorelei kept floating off the ground and tickling
Lirina before going back to the ceiling. That ring was a good idea.” Emeril told them as
Kyouko and Ana sat down to wait.
“Auntie… are you telling embarrassing stories about me?” Lorelei asked as she, as expected
from what they heard from the night before, floated down the hall in such a lazy way it was
hard to imagine she was awake. None of them knew it was even possible to fly so
lethargically! “I swear, I’m going back to bed after breakfast…” She mumbled grumpily.
With a small green flash from her ring, Hannyuu floated out of Kyouko’s arms to join her
sister in the air.
“You’re welcome to do so dork, we can do your physical therapy later today if you want.”
Kyouko said and hugged her daughter as she floated over despite her grumpy words, they
knew she was just sleepy still.
“So I’m auntie with you also pup? I guess that is fine. It was nice to see you again Lorelei.
You all take care, okay? I’m going to see if Rinna and Lirina are ready to get up so I can
make breakfast. I’m sure the smell of bacon will wake Lirina up, but the fruit Rinna likes
doesn’t make the house smell as nice, so that won’t work unless I wave it under her nose.”
Emeril said as she stood up with a stretch, her tails stretching out behind her. “Thankfully
feeding someone who can only eat fruits and veggies is easy here.”
“Thanks Auntie, it was nice to see you all again, really it was…” Lorelei said, floating over
to give Emeril a hug, much to her surprise. They had given her the space she wanted; it was
rare still when she hugged anyone besides Kyouko or Hannyuu.
Akemi shook her head in exasperation, just smiling at the peaceful scene. “I’ll meet you all
up top, going to take care of a few chores quickly before then, I’ll still help cook.” Akemi
told them as she headed to the door.
As the rest headed to the door they heard a few more foot steps come down the hall. “T-
thanks for last night Hannyuu, Lorelei, I had fun. Maybe we can play later?” Rinna asked as
the sleepy sheep poked her head around the corner.
Hannyuu’s smile just got brighter as she zoomed over to give Rinna a quick hug, one of the
few who could get away with it without Rinna flinching. “Sounds nice! I’ll come over around
lunch time.”
The rest of the room could only look at them warmly as they finally acted their age. “Not
going to join in?” Kyouko asked as Lorelei floated a few inches off the ground.
“I might join them to make sure they don’t get in any trouble. Getting some air would be a
good idea, and flying is nice.” Lorelei mentioned with her hands resting behind her head as
she waited patiently. The ear scratches Kyouko applied while they waited didn’t make her tail
wag at all, at least she would never admit it.
Placing a hand in the soil Akemi drew from her mana pool. “[Widen Extended Magic:
Blessed Harvest]. That should do it for today.” Akemi mumbled to herself after applying her
blessing to the last of the orchards for the day. It would eventually be automatic with the tree,
but for now doing it every few days would work wonders.
She flew back over to the first floor settlement that had become more of a small town now as
yet more buildings went up by the day. As Akemi expected, Granny Rory was already up for
the day in her kitchen. “Morning Granny, I have some deliveries.” Akemi said as she landed,
making her way inside after spotting the older wolf demi-human. “Just you this morning?”
“Oh, your majesty, good morning. I appreciate it.” Rory said with a smirk, knowing very well
how much she could tease her Queen just by using a proper title. “My assistants should arrive
soon enough, I let them at a cask of ale I had tucked away not long ago.”
The extra fluffed tails, the pouting cheeks, and her folded ears gave Rory all the reaction she
wanted, amusing her to no end. “I found something in my exploration the other day that you
might like~ Also more meat.” Akemi looked around the back of the kitchen, specifically at
the spot that had been kept empty like she asked.
By all rights the solid walk in freezer shouldn’t have fit in her inventory, yet it was drawn
right out. Akemi set that down and made sure the the connection to it and the mana network
was functional. “There we go, found a time lock freezer. It doesn’t actually freeze things
besides cooling them off, but when you close the door time won’t pass in it.” Akemi noted as
she opened it up and began to pull out and hang up large hunks of meat. Some of it looked far
different than beef.
“What kind of meat is that? Also… what would happen if someone was put in there?” Rory
asked with a touch of worry on her face.
“That? Lets see… Flame Wyrm, Frost Dragon, and a few other big creatures. No need to
worry, there is a fail-safe inside to where it won’t activate if someone living is inside, I
checked the enchantments myself.” Akemi noted and passed a cleaning spell over herself and
the area.
“Dragons? That is… I’ve never cooked that before. Were they…?”
“Hmm? Oh, Oh! No no no, they weren’t intelligent. Where I originally come from there were
a lot more beasties like those than here. Dragon is a delicacy, I’m not going to hog all that to
myself. Just make sure you eat also, okay? Your hips still bothering you?” Akemi asked as
she made her way back to Rory.
“Oh not too much these days, it is much easier working here, I can take a break when I need
to. I’ve felt younger than I have in years, I won’t let some hip pain get in my way.” Rory said
and accepted the hug from Akemi.
“Well, may as well help you a bit. [Cure all], [Resist Pain]. I can’t really cure issues related
to… age, but I can help with some pain. Thank you, for all you do here.” Akemi told Rory
with a cheerful smile.
“Oh, I’m just doing what I love, thank you for your concern. You seem to be in a chipper
mood this morning~ Something good happen?” Rory asked as she saw Akemi turn bright red,
it was far too fun to tease the Kitsune.
“Oh um… just a good day yesterday is all, feeling happy this morning.”
“Nothing to do with a nice date? Don’t worry, I bet I can drag some details out from Ana
later.” Rory’s smug look didn’t help.
“Does everyone know about our date?! Um… [Greater Teleportation]!” In a flash Akemi
disappeared, leaving Rory to roar with laughter for a few moments.
“Ana… Granny Rory is being meaaaan…” Akemi playfully whined as she climbed down to
the kitchen, joining the others as they all helped with breakfast.
“How so? If it is teasing, you’re just adorably fun to tease so it is hard not to.” Ana noted
without looking up from her frying pan.
“Did you gossip there? You did didn’t you?” Akemi grumbled as she resisted the urge to hug
Ana from behind, it would be a bad idea to distract someone from a hot pan.
“Hmm… Probably, we talk a lot while I’m there, it passes the time. Granny is good at getting
details out of me when I’m distracted.”
“That doesn’t surprise me… Well, if anyone likes to gossip it is probably her. Love that lady
though.” Akemi’s mock frustrated faded away as she basked in the cozy atmosphere. It was
just nice. “This is really family…” It brought a smile to her face while she pulled several
large red fruits from her inventory.
“Granny is an absolute delight. There was one time- What in the world are those and why do
I feel magic from them?” Ana asked as she looked over at Akemi as she cut into the fruits,
chopping the double fist sized fruits into bite sized pieces.
“Hmm? Fruit from the tree, It tasted good when I tried it, and it has to be good for you.”
Akemi’s tails wagged back and forth as she filled a bowl, popping a piece into her mouth
occasionally.
“The tree, This tree? Where in the world does the fruit even grow from? The branches are in
the heavens!” Ana looked at Akemi in surprise.
“We’re in a floating castle thing above a giant tree nearly in space. Mama Ana, why are you
surprised? Didn’t we decide it is better for us to not question what she does anymore?
Common sense is dead.” Hannyuu said while making literally making biscuits.
“Agreed, Common sense died long ago, it is buried in that hole in the ground where that
Eight fingers base used to be.” Kyouko just had to pile on.
“Hmm? What happened there?” Lorelei asked as she helped ferry things to the kitchen table
in the other room, still floating with the fly spell.
“Akemi nuked it. I’m not sure what a nuke even is, but she used something called Nuclear
Mine. There is a massive hole in the ground there now. It was terrifying, but admittedly fun
to see.” Kyouko helped dig the hole deeper for Akemi.
Akemi’s ears folded in embarrassment as she focused on her chopping. “I make you gifts and
you bully me, why must you bully me?” Akemi playfully whined to the other’s laughter, soon
being unable to stop herself from joining in.
Akemi felt her heart melt seeing her entire family happily eating and chatting, It was a nice
start to the day.
“This fruit is weird, tasty, but weird…” Hannyuu said as she stared at a piece of it for a while
before eating it.
“They could probably be used as mana potions on their own. If those aren’t super healthy or
make you stronger I’d be very surprised. There is a chamber in the heart of the tree where
they grow, along with some smaller pockets of them.”
“They taste good at least, a bit tingly to eat. What are you going to use them for? They seem
useful.” Ana asked as she played with the rest of her eggs, just relaxing like everyone else.
“I want to research what properties it has once I concentrate the juices. It might just be the
key to something I’ve been trying to puzzle out. I’ve been reading the science books I have in
the library to try and actually do research right.” Akemi nibbled at her bacon as she
explained.
“What are you trying to figure out? Something special?” Kyouko asked.
“It’s a secret~ I don’t want to get hopes up if it doesn’t pan out. It will be a surprise~”
“Boo… Well, I bet it will be fine.” Hannyuu said after finishing her food and draining her
glass of milk. As she relaxed the others noted she had begun fiddling with that glass, it being
pushed ever closer to the edge of the table…
She almost seemed in a trace as it neared the edge. “Oi Hannyuu? What are you doing?”
Akemi asked in both concern and amusement.
“Hmm? Ah! Sorry, a force of habit, you know?” Hannyuu explained as she smiled at Akemi.
There was still a bit of a wild look in Hannyuu’s eyes as her blown out pupils looked back to
the glass. Before they knew it the glass was bapped off the table before Hannyuu could snap
out of it.
“Hannyuuuu…” Akemi sounded both exasperated and amused in equal measure. “Silly
kitten, I swear…” Akemi extended a tail, vanishing the shards of glass back into mana and
summoning a new one in front of her daughter. It was moments like that that made Akemi see
just how cat-like her daughter was the more out-going she became.
“S-sorry… not sure what got into me.” Hannyuu was blushing in embarrassment at the
‘accident’.
“A cat. A cat got into you, at birth. You’re a kitten doing kitten things.” Lorelei chimed in
with an affectionate smile.
“You aren’t that much older, ‘pup’.” Hannyuu shot back, staring her big sister down.
It was surprisingly tense as the two did this, the parents watching on in confusion.
The tension was broken as the two started to laugh. “Oi, I’ll be an adult next year, where is
the respect for your big sister? You wound me…” Lorelei held a hand over her heart as the
parents just blinked.
“Wholesome. Love you all.” Akemi mumbled, just smiling lovely at them, at her family.
After breakfast they were yet again called back to the kitchen table. “So, like I had talked
about, this ring called Legion will let me summon my NPCs hopefully. Assuming it works
out fine, I’d like you all to get to know them, they would be family, as while they weren’t
truly lifelike back then… I still considered them my children, even if the guild teased me
about it.” Akemi told them as she examined the ring in the light and it’s four red gemstones.
“I’ll be honest, I’ll have to meet them first, but if you made them I’m sure they are lovely.”
Kyouko said as she ruffled Lorelei’s hair until her hand was pushed away.
“So I’ll get more sisters? That is fine by me, maybe they have some stories they can share
about you. If they make you happy then I have nothing against it.” Hannyuu said as her mind
whirled with possibilities.
“Awww, I’ll be happy to meet them. Well, that will be four more grandkids to introduce to
my parents eventually.” Ana snickered at the thought.
“No opinion really. I’ll meet them though.” Lorelei and looked up at Kyouko who frowned at
her. “What? I’m still just getting my bearings from putting my mind back together.” That was
enough to get Kyouko to look away guiltily. “Mom… that wasn’t anything again you, any of
you. You all found me and kept me alive till I woke up.” Lorelei said and leaned into a hug
from Kyouko.
“Thank you, all of you. I’ll be showing them around for a lot of the day and getting them up
to date. If you see us you’re free to come say hello, I’ll be bringing them home at some point.
Love you all, thanks for being fine with this… It means more than you know.” Akemi loved
her family, and hoped it would be fine getting bigger by four people without much in the way
to prepare.
“This family is going to get even bigger by this time next year, isn’t?” Akemi thought with
amusement.
Akemi took her time walking to her destination just to enjoy the little things she had
forgotten for so long. Once she stepped out from under the tree the wind picked up, blowing
her hair with a the chill of early fall. While she hoped her Lilys wouldn’t end up as crazy as
half of Ainz’s NPCs, she had confidence they would be fine, she didn’t make their back
stories evil in the slightest after all. At the same time she didn’t remember their back stories
fully after she made them…
It just felt nice, being among nature again, even outside of a forest. It finally felt peaceful in
that region, there was new hope in the air stretching from the Dragon Kingdom, all the way
to her own corner of the map. The thought of what she had to do to achieve that peace made
her flinch at the memory, as did the fact she needed to continue to investigate the beast tribes
for any people they might have trafficked out of those lands. “There is no way they kept all
the humans they kidnapped in that one group. Dammit… I’ll need to check in on that.”
Akemi knew it needed to happen, that she would have to kill more.
With a heavy sigh Akemi pushed those thoughts away. “This is a good day, cheer up Akemi!
Welcome your kids with a smile.” She stopped a few kilometers away, enough that she could
grasp the scale of her tree properly. She wanted it to be something for the girls to marvel at at
the moment of reveal.
“Good enough. [Illusionary World].” Akemi cast as she edited the visible skyline for the area
she was in, making it appear as night time for now, the perfect way to provide shock and awe.
“It needs something… more. [Dominate Nature]. Perfect.” Akemi truly felt it was perfect in
that dome of night she had made, the ground now covered in flowers that glowed white,
giving her all the light she needed.
Akemi took a deep breath and held up the hand Legion rested on, her focus reaching into
Legion and the ocean of power she could feel contained within. As expected she could make
no sense of the spell formula that was built into that World Item, not yet at least. If the spell
formula for Nuclear Blast was basically a more complex Fireball with extra debuffs, then
what appeared in legion, and surely other World Items, would be as complex as an actual
nuclear bomb.
She reached her hand out, as if grasping something beyond her view, and filled her mind with
what she remembered of her NPCs. From their data sheets, and all that made them them, she
attempted to pull it all. “I feel it, the connection is there. So this world still shares a
connection to Yggdrasil in some way, I’ll have to keep that in mind. There you four are…” It
was surprisingly difficult, reaching through the connection; it felt as if she was trying to reach
her hand through a keyhole, yet she still felt her reach expand enough to grasp something.
“My children from across the rift, I call you to my side once again, Awaken… Legion!” She
shouted as that World Item fully activated, that hole opening up wider and allowing her to
grasp what she desired, and pull it through to her new reality.
She feared opening her eyes as the light slowly faded. It felt successful, and she felt four
presences there with her now. Cracking open her eyes, she beheld four small figures kneeling
on the ground in front of her.
Her heart lurched as they began to move. Looking down into their eyes Akemi felt her own
fill with tears. “Nazuna, Emiko, Kizuna, Noriko. Welcome, my children.” Akemi said, barely
getting her words out before her throat closed in emotion.
Nazuna and her bright blue eyes contrasting beautifully with her darker skin, those same eyes
filled with determination and resolve. Her short black hair barely touching the nape of her
neck. Her stoutest Stoat, her Paladin.
Noriko, her green eyes and brown hair reminding her strangely of Ana a bit, if Ana had been
turned into a puppy. Her tan skin was just a few shades lighter than her hair due to her
healthy time in the sun according to her lore. Already she saw Emiko’s dog tail wagging
behind her slowly, her nose flaring and catching all the new scents. Her stealthy puppy, an
absolute cinnamon bun of a Ninja.
Kizuna, her bunny ears twitching at every noise as she clenched her fists, testing her body
already. Her white hair, skin, and red eyes staring up into Akemi’s own as emotion began to
show, likely all of their senses catching back up to them. Her bunny monk of destruction and
cuddles.
And finally, last in the line was the Cat-snake Emiko, her hair a mix of black and brown, with
tanner skin over her amber eyes like a mask. Cool and collected as Akemi expected. Her
master of both spell and sword, the Spell-Sword Ferret.
“Lady Akemi?” “Mama?” “Mom?” “How?” The four of them asked almost in sync, right
before Akemi was tackled off her feet by the four of them. Akemi sat up to hug them all in
her arms, her tears dripping onto them, not that any of them gave a damn as they hugged each
other tightly.
It took several minutes before any of the Lilys were willing to separate from Akemi, not a dry
eye among them. “Welcome, my beautiful Lilys. You aren’t dreaming, or imaging things, I’m
right here.” Akemi said as she raised their chins up to look into their soulful eyes.
The girls all looked to Nazuna, the one Akemi had appointed their party leader in the past.
Nazuna had to take a few breathes herself to calm down. “Lady A-Akemi… M-Mother, We
had heard you had… died. We thought we would never see you again. We’ve overjoyed
but… confused. How?” Nazuna asked, wiping the tears from her ears.
Akemi pulled a cloth handkerchief from her inventory, taking the time first to wipe those
tears away, already starting to give them the affection they deserved. “That is a very long
story. We’re not in Yggdrasil anymore, but you are right in the fact that… I had died. I used
Longinus in Yggdrasil and was wiped from existence… or I was supposed to be. Then I
coincidentally died in real life at the time.”
“Real life?” Emiko asked, her head tilting in confusion.
“That is… an even longer explanation. First, here you four.” Akemi said as she pulled out
four sets of outfits. “I couldn’t really summon you here with any of your equipment I’m
afraid. If you want any of these changed I can.”
Akemi stood back up and let the girls actually get dressed before it got awkward and ruined
the nice moment. “So, I’ve been a bit busy here in this world, I’ve made a nice home here…
and gathered people to protect, and a family.” Akemi looked away with a blush.
“Family? Is Touch Me here?” Kizuna asked curiously, as she stretched in her simple shorts,
T-shirt, and shoes. The clothes were nothing fancy for now.
Akemi’s ears folded with a sigh. “No, though I’d like to get him here one day. I met some
nice ladies here, taken them as Mates even. You also have two sisters now.” Akemi admitted.
“Sisters? Yay!” Noriko all but shouted, nearly running around the area as she sniffed the
strange scents.
“Yup, I’ll introduce you to the family tonight, unless we run across them during the day. So in
this world things haven’t been… perfect, but I’ve done my best to make it better. I made a
home for my scattered people, for victims of slavery and those that just want peace; would
you like to see it?” Akemi asked, her grin growing as she stood up straight.
It was a rhetorical question of course, but the four nodded anyway. With a grand, and entirely
unnecessary, wave of her hand that veil of night vanished away like mist in the wind.
The night turned into bright day, and behind Akemi, dominating the entire view, the tree of
divine proportions went straight into the sky further than the eye of most could follow. “I do
really miss the guild though, so I wanted to memorialize them in an eternal way. Welcome
my dear Lilys, to the Divine Queendom of Natura.”
Walking closer to the tree it was just impossible to fully grasp the scale of the thing, the solid
parts looked like a flat wall due to it’s size. “This place hasn’t been around long, but I’d like
to really get this country going before anything tries to muck it up. There are 101 floors in
total, and our home is above the 101st floor in a separate structure. Here, you can get there
with these whenever wish. With how they work now you can get home with it’s gate
function, and when you wish to leave it acts as an entry point to the rest of the tree’s
teleportation network.”
The Lilys examined those fancy bracelets, finding them fitting quite comfortably. “Thanks
Mom! I can’t wait to explore!” Noriko said, her excitement clear, her desire to run off only
matched by her desire to stay close to the mother she missed so dearly.
They finally reached an area that looked like a gate house that was wide open. Staying in
front of it two Demi-humans stood in leather armor with spears. “Oh you two, I’m sorry I
forgot to summon somethings to guard the gate. Nothing should approach here thanks to the
big angels, you don’t need to feel responsible for it.” Akemi said with a smile, looking just a
bit saddened as the two guards stiffened up.
“My apologizes your Majesty, this is what we know how to do. Would it still be permissible
to guard the gate ourselves?” The wolf man asked with a bowed head.
“If it means that much then it is fine, I appreciate you taking the initiative.” Akemi said and
looked off to the side of the gate. “Anyone attempt to climb those?”
“Your Majesty… that thing is meant to be a joke yes?” He asked with amusement.
“Mother? What is that? Isn’t it just a staircase?” Nazuna asked curiously.

It was indeed a staircase, normal looking for the most part, if a bit of a narrow walking space.
There was a singular sign above it. ~Snake Way, climb at your own risk~
“I have to do something Kitsune like on occasion. It is meant to be a joke, but it Does lead to
higher floors.” Akemi boasted.
“Your Majesty, isn’t that a security risk?” The guard dared ask, stiffening at the glare from
the four small Demi-human girls.
“Easy you four, no scaring people.” Akemi said, ruffling their hair playfully. “I said it leads
to higher floors~ I never said anyone would ever get up there. It is incredibly long, for most it
would take days if not weeks to walk up it all, and it only get skinnier the higher you go. Past
a certain point it will start retracting stairs behind them till they have to sprint up the stairs.
There is no need to worry, I made it so no one will die even if they fall with an automatically
applied feather-fall spell~” Akemi clarified, ignoring the looks she was getting.
“Emiko, Kizuna, Noriko, I think our mother has taken being a Kitsune too far.” Nazuna said
and ignored Akemi’s pout at them.
“My own children turned against me… Well, shall I show you more? We might find Ana at
the kitchen, we’ll get you some lunch as well.” Akemi said and led the four NPCs like
ducklings down the street, just enjoying them marveling over every sight and scent around.
The girls at least waved to most of those waving at them, easing worries as they went. “So,
you are technically princesses now, so don’t be surprised if you are referred to as that.” It was
at that moment they entered the massive kitchen Rory had built where already many people
were enjoying some home cooking.
“Oh hello Your majesty~” Akemi heard a voice that in all other circumstances she would
love, and heard plenty of the night before.
“Ana, my dear Mate… why?” Akemi asked as she approached the kitchen window.
“Because it is fun to tease you? And if anyone gets to tease you it is me? Are these the ones
you mentioned? It is nice to meet you four, I’m Ana.” Ana seemed to have way too much
fun, her grin nice and wide as she plated up more food. “You all hungry?”
“We are, her Ma-” Nazuna looked at Akemi for a moment, and at the pout she was already
doing when Nazuna was about to call her Her Majesty or something of the sort. “Mother
summoned us not long ago, we’re getting our bearings still. Some food sounds wonderful,
I’m not used to being hungry…” Nazuna admitted.
She made for a good spokeswoman for the Lilys, the pleasant and responsible face that the
more silly members could hide behind.
It didn’t take too long before plates of food were sent out. “Thanks for dropping off all that
meat love, people have been loving it.” Ana said as she peered at the Lilys more. “It is lovely
to meet you four, we’ll get to know each other more tonight.” Ana said as a hissing pot called
for her attention.
“She is a bit busy, we can bug her later. Shall we?” Akemi asked as she brought them over to
an empty table. It felt nice to sit in that place and feel the life that had begun to fill the hall,
her people being able to be at ease.
“She seems really nice, how did you two meet?” Kizuna asked as she nibbled at a platter of
prepared vegetables, Ana successfully noting that Kizuna wouldn’t be a meat eater.
“Well you know how it goes, Girl meets Girl, Girl finds Girl being dragged into genocide
crimes, Girl and Girl fight for justice and break down a slave trade, and finally Girl and Girl
get incredibly gay together with another Girl who has abs to die for. It has been a very
eventful time since I arrived.” Akemi’s tails waved behind her as she enjoyed her frost
dragon steak, still warm but raw, cut into thin slices like sashimi.
“She certainly knows how to cook.” Noriko noted as she peered around that hall, meeting the
eyes of several observers. “Is it normal to be watched so much? We aren’t all that different.”
“It is more you are sitting at my table. I try and stay around my citizens as much as I can, but
so many insist on treating me way too highly. While I am a… goddess in the technical sense,
It doesn’t mean I want to be worshiped. I can’t just tell them they can’t though, I’d rather not
interfere with people’s religions. I won’t forbid religions, assuming they don’t commit evil or
encourage it, but nor will I promote any of them.” Akemi said and booped Noriko’s nose
when she got closer.
“So… how was everyone after… I died?” She just had to ask, though she saw her Lily’s
moods sink down.
“Well, we didn’t see much except for the Guild Leader entering your quarters and talking at
us about you. She called you an idiot a few times but she was… upset to say the least. They
had grabbed us from your quarters and had us stay at a party.” Nazuna said as she set her fork
down.
“It was in your honor, right before everything went… maybe we were also dead? Everything
just went dark, I couldn’t think, couldn’t move, or anything at all.” Emiko added, her mood
dropping despite the tasty food.
“Must have been from Yggdrasil being shut down… I’m s-sorry you had to go through all
that. Well, all of us are here now, we have a chance to actually build a life, I certainly am
ecstatic I get to have you in mine again. You are all so much more adorable being able to talk
and move on your own.”
Akemi just admired the cute blush on all of their faces as they all got to experience that cozy
atmosphere.
“This is… amazing mother, just…” Nazuna had trouble grasping just the vastness of what
she saw. The sky so high up was entirely unobstructed, letting them see the myriad stars with
clarity even though it was technically the day time.
“I know right? It is everything that I planned and more. I think I can see the Theocracy from
here. If I could find the right buff for my eyes I could probably see faces.” Akemi noted as
they all stood or sat on the edge of the 101st floor.
It was one of Akemi’s favorite spots, there was always more to look at. From the stars far
above, to the planet so far down below, it was magic in it’s effect on the Lilys.
“I think the family should be back by now, ready to meet them?” Akemi asked as she stood
up. It might have been a bit dangerous for most, hanging their feet over a 150 kilometer drop,
but in no way were those five normal.
“Yup! I want to see those sisters!” Noriko said as she hung onto Emiko and Nazuna who
could only smile at her energy.
“If you say they are our new mothers and sisters, then that is what they are Mother.” Nazuna
said, though her tiny stoat ears betrayed her nervousness as they flattened.
Akemi scratched those for a moment, enjoying that tiny smile that was brought to Nazuna’s
face. Being able to just give them affection like that was just… “I wish I could have done this
a long time ago.” Holding up her bracelet Akemi activated it, a golden Gate opening up next
to her. “This is what I was talking about, it will bring you to the roof.”
Following their Mother through the portal they would progressively get more nervous once
they were down the stairs. “I’ll get you bedrooms before the end of tonight, you four okay?”
Akemi asked as she stopped in her path.
“Just… this is an overwhelming day. Would it be alright if we shared a bedroom?” Kizuna

asked, leaning into the hugs of the other three.
“Not a problem, you can sleep however you wish. Ages from NPCs and even myself
technically are a bit… thrown off by the world hopping, especially for you four. If we want to
go by treating the time I created you as your birthday, you would be like five, and that isn’t
quite accurate in reality and how you four are. We’ll just say fifteen or sixteen? I’m not sure
if those bodies will really grow much…” Akemi slipped into her own head as she thought
about those annoying semantics.
“I’m not complaining. So… where is everyone?” Kizuna asked as she stopped. They were
still in the halls, getting ready to head down a floor when they heard at least one pair of feet.
“Come on big sis! I know you can fly faster than that!” Hannyuu complained as she all but
rushed down the stairs with Lorelei floating behind her at a more controlled pace.
One pair of carmine cat eyes stared at the four new Demi-humans standing in front of her
near her mother. They were a bit taller in relation to herself, but looked friendly enough.
“Awww… these are the daughters you mentioned? You both are just too adorable!” Noriko
said as she zoomed over to Hannyuu with speed only those of higher levels could see, only
stopping from hugging Hannyuu when Akemi had followed and grabbed the back of her
shirt.
“Easy there pup, please do not tackle your sister into a wall.” Akemi asked and let go of
Noriko who had begun quietly whining with her ears folded.
It was enough to get Hannyuu to start giggling. “Nice to meet you four, I’m Hannyuu. I guess
we’re sisters now? I suppose I’m collecting big sisters at this rate.” Hannyuu noted.
“Just like you tend to collect Moms? You’ll be happy to know Arche and her sisters accepted
my offer to come move in with us.” Akemi informed her.
“Exactly~ Yay! The twins are really adorable. It will be nice to see Mama Arche more.”
Hannyuu said and finally opened her arms to accept Noriko’s hug that Noriko had patiently
been waiting for.
Noriko just appeared to act like an older forever puppy… her tail wagging a mile a minute.
“Hmm…”
“What’s wrong Akemi?” Ana asked as she clung to Akemi’s arm affectionately.
“I’m just wondering, Kyouko isn’t back yet?” Akemi asked, her ears folding down with a
quiet whine.
“I’m sure she is around, probably passing on her wisdom to those guards in training she
mentioned.
“If you don’t need to be revived then you can keep running!” Kyouko shouted to the various
Demi-humans running behind her. She wasn’t sadistic enough to make them run all the way
around the tree, but a good twenty kilometer run should be more than possible!
As expected it was a lot of some of her new recruits. “To be fair to them, a lot of them are
getting back into shape or getting healthy…” She had to tell herself, slowing her pace to give
them a break. “Once we’re back we’ll be good for today, you all made a good start.” It was
enough to make them perk up at least.
It was a nice and diverse group, with even some humans thrown in. Judging by a few of the
looks thrown her way by some guys and unsurprisingly more than a few girls, she had an idea
why they were there. Those that were there for dumb reasons would get weeded out by her
harsh training. “First the stick, then the carrot. Lets get them into shape~”
With far too much energy Kyouko began to gain speed with the entrance to the first floor now
within sight. “Sprint this last bit! Lets see your speed!” She pretended to not hear dry heaving
behind her as her feet pounded the dirt.
“Wow most of that group is no where near ready… Taffy and the others can easily keep up
with my long runs, but they can’t guard the entire place.” Kyouko half complained as she
cleaned herself up from her workout before dinner.
“This is Kyouko?” Nazuna asked curiously as she sat on the center of one of the couches.
“Hey, Mom? Nice.” Noriko said as she leaned on Nazuna, giving Akemi a thumbs up.
“Behave yourself Noriko…” Emiko said as she leaned on Nazuna’s other side. Kizuna had all
but fallen asleep laid over all the other Lily’s laps.
It didn’t take long for everyone to see how extremely cuddly the four of them were together,
though it was honestly adorable.
Akemi had been racking her brain for most of the day trying to remember their backstories
properly. “I can remember almost everything as long as I had vague memories, yet why is
this information flushed away?!”
With a heavy sigh Akemi shrugged. “Oh I’m very lucky~ The fact I found multiple lovely
women who can put up with me, or put up with the fact I’m with multiple women, is
amazing.” Akemi said and kissed Ana’s cheek as her Mate sat on the couch next to her. When
Kyouko sat down next to her and all but stared Akemi gave her a kiss as well. “Dork.”
“Yeah, but I’m you two’s dork. So Nazuna, Emiko, Kizuna, and Noriko? Nice to meet you
four. I’m Kyouko, these two’s Mate.” Kyouko said, wrapping her arms around her loves,
barely reaching over both Akemi and Ana’s shoulders with one arm.
“We’re happy to meet you as well. I think we’ll get along well.” Nazuna said scratched
Kizuna’s ears. “So, Mother, is there any tasks you need us to do? It certainly has been a while
since you sent us out on a mission.”
“A mission? Oh you mean the gathering quests I sent you on way back when… not right
now, I didn’t bring you here so you could be a tools or weapons or anything. I’ll likely need
help with things though, I can’t be everywhere at once. This world’s power ceiling is a bit…
low, all things considered, so not a lot will so much as touch you, especially if I can get some
good gear.” Akemi said and mentally combed through her items.
“Would… we be free to explore? It would be nice to get familiar with the area.” Emiko
asked, finally looking sleepy after such an overwhelming day.
“You’re considered adults by this world’s standards, at least with the ages I had set you as,
you are free to do what you want. If you even wanted to you could wander the world, though
I would like to spend some time with my long lost daughters.” Akemi’s smile was warm as
she looked at the Lilys, as well as Hannyuu and Lorelei.
“This can be talked about at the dinner table, I already finished it a while ago, now that we’re
all here.” Ana said and jumped up, looking more in her element, the home maker she
appeared to love being.
It was a lovely idea to them all, enough that Kizuna sat up without opening her eyes. “Food?”
“This has been a day… is any of this real? Are you three real?” Kizuna asked as she flopped
back on the feather spot bed they had been given.
A floor that was filled with baths, along with a posh one connected to their bedroom, it was
matched in grandiose to the massive feather soft bed that took up a good portion of the room.
Kizuna smiled as she felt one of the other Lilys crawl up and lay on her. It felt quite
wonderful, finally feeling like real people. “I didn’t know how much we were really
missing… compared to our previous existence. That bath is deceptively cozy.”
“I like to think it is real. Let me check.” Emiko said as she finished drying off her hair,
crawling over to press her lips to Kizuna’s own. “Yup, quite real, I hope. Either way, this is
amazing. Emiko said, squeaking in amusement as Noriko crawled over and began to gently
push her over and lick her cheek. “Leaning into the dog in you?”
“Maaaybe. I’m just so happy today!” Noriko cheered, her tail wagging as Nazuna joined
them.
“We can tell, I think we all are. I’m glad we can actually touch now, or feel anything… I
believe this is going to be a nice life here, we got lucky. Lets make sure Mother never regrets
bringing us here. For now lets get some sleep.” Nazuna said as she cuddled up to the others,
in her underwear. The blankets just felt far too nice on her bare skin, already nice and warm
from the others.
“Hmm… Sleeping all you want? We can finally have some… other activities, you know?”
Kizuna asked with a smirk.
“Maybe tomorrow… or the morning, I’m tired…” Nazuna said, her tough persona melting
away as she felt the others snuggle around her. “Night you three, love you.”
“Love you all too, we’ll explore tomorrow.” Kizuna said, burying her nose against Emiko’s
warm neck, her cuddling spot claimed.
“Night night, lets have some more fun tomorrow. Maybe we can get to know our new
siblings? It sure didn’t take long for Mom to get kids.” Emiko’s snark cutting through the
silence as the lights dimmed, the stars being displayed on the ceiling perfectly.
“With how she treated us, I’m not surprised she would get kids so soon, she only talked about
wanting us to be ‘real’ most days, at least we can be that for her now. So…” Noriko’s voice
carried through the room and the cozy atmosphere. “How about our ‘Mom’ Kyouko? Mama
sure knows how to pick em~ Ow…” a light bonk was heard as the dog girl was pulled deeper
into the snuggling. “Fine I’ll behave, love you three.”
Elsewhere Akemi laid away like she had been for the past half hour. “There is just something
about those four I had added in for fun… but what was it?! This is going to drive me
crazy…”
Chapter End Notes
Like always I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if you want to leave feedback or the
like please do~ It always feels like something is missing from my writing but I cannot
put my finger on it...
The “Lilys” are a group of four NPCs Akemi had made when she was younger based on
what she envisioned as a perfect team at max level, while at the same time their cute
appearances being a close 2nd in her effort into them.
While not exactly true ‘sisters’, especially considering the unique and non-sisterly bonds
between them, they all think of Akemi as their mother and respect her to an extreme
degree.
Akemi was just thankful Natura let her use 400 of the NPC levels they were alloted for
the entire guild, though it was on the condition that others could send them on missions
or as party members.
Noriko
(Apparent) Age: 16
Dog Demi-human
Main Job Archetype: Ninja/Assassin
4”10/147 Cm
A rather adorable Dog girl with brown hair cut to her upper back, bright green eyes, and
tan skin. Outside of combat she is friendly and an all around sweetie.
In serious moments where lives are on the line, she is entirely serious, her switch
flipping from a forever puppy to a blood hound that can take her enemies heads before
they even sense her if they are caught unprepared.
She is incredibly useful as a secret guard, for VIP assassination, or as an infiltrator.
Nazuna
(Apparent) Age: 15
Stoat Demi-human (A member of the weasel family, look them up, they are adorably
vicious and take down rabbits 10 times their size)
Main Job Archetype: Paladin/Tank
4”9/145 Cm
Nazuna is the responsible member of the Lilys, the leader of the four when Akemi is not
around. She has light blue, nearly violet eyes and darker skin. Her hair is as black as
Akemi’s and is a nice contrast to her eyes.
She is strong willed and strong of body, able to withstand heavy attacks that the other
Lilys just can’t tank as well. Her spell repertoire is made up entirely of divine attacks,
defenses, and healing magic that align with her Paladin type jobs.
Even when off duty she is the most serious, yet not to the point of being uptight. While
in combat she is an effective leader for the Lilys, taking their strengths into account in
forming her plans with ruthless efficiency.
Kizuna
(Apparent) Age: 15
Rabbit Demi-human
Main Job Archetype: Monk/Hand to Hand Combat
4”7/140 Cm (Not counting bunny ears)
Her most striking feature is her eyes that are a bright crimson that can unnerve most
people, while her pale skin, and flowing white hair make her appear almost other-
worldly in her beauty.
Kizuna is the ‘little darling’ of the four, the quietest one that the others dote on
whenever possible. She is the second most likely to just start cuddling with whoever is
available, being very physically affectionate with loved ones. Only Noriko beats her in
the cuddly category.
In combat she is just as deadly as the others, her hands turning into tiny weapons. One
of her favorite abilities as a monk is Quivering Palm to destroy her opponents from the
inside. Of all the Lilys she is the second fastest, with only Noriko out pacing her by a
small margin.
Emiko
(Apparent) Age: 16
Ferret Demi-human
Main Job Archetype: Spell Sword/ Adaptable Fighting.
4”11/150 Cm
The contrast in her naturally black and brown hair gives her a unique look that draws
eyes to her. Her amber eyes appear to look down on her opponents whether she wants
them to or not, while the tan patch on her face over her eyes adds a hint of mystery to
her.
Emiko is the second in charge, as well as the second mostly responsible member. As the
tallest she tends to try and look after the others as much as she can, while also flaunting
her height over them. She is calm and collected, not losing her cool if she can help it.
Being specialized in attack magic as well as the short sword, she is deadly in both long
range and short range. In close range she has the advantage of her race’s unnatural
flexibility, being able to bend backwards nearly in half or twist at strange angles without
pain. Naturally the other Lilys find other uses for her flexibility.
First Impressions are the Worst
Chapter Summary
How are you supposed to act when meeting a country that wants you dead?
Chapter Notes
10/1 Upper Earth Month
Kyouko took a deep breath and sat on the large trunk she had just been carrying. “How do
you already have so much stuff Arche?” Kyouko asked with a quiet laugh.
“Well, I would help around town with my magic and people would thank me with things they
had made a lot of times… Or I traded labor for if I needed something made, like those
trunks.”
“Yeah, I can smell that it still is freshly made. You got to love fresh wood smell, even if it is
better in the forest with the trees still alive.” Kyouko’s smile turn down as she looked at
Hekkeran who was snickering in the corner where he had been packing a few things as well.
“Ahhh… fresh wood smell… H-hey now, no need to glare at me like that…” Hekkeran held
his hand up as Kyouko stared down at him. With a blink that glare was gone and Kyouko was
just holding in her own laugh.
“Fine fine, I walked into that one. This home is pretty nice also, I can feel a lot of hard work
was put into it.”
“It isn’t quite finished, but we can live in it now and get out of the tents. Your castle is nicer
anyway.” Hekkeran said.
“Maybe, but you all worked on this place by hand. How come you didn’t ask Akemi to help
you? I know she has been focusing on other things, but you’re friends, she would make the
time.” Kyouko lifted another large trunk with ease, setting it near the door with the other.
“It was more fun to just make it ourselves, feels more like home. It is going to way too quiet
without the twins.” Hekkeran actually sounded disappointed about it, they all knew he
enjoyed acting like the fun uncle or big brother.
“You act like you’ll never see them again, you can’t escape them so easily. Hell, you can’t
escape me that easily ‘big brother’.” Arche laughed to herself as she packed more clothes
into her luggage. “Speaking of Akemi, where is she today?”
“Queen Draudillon needed her for something, called her really early. Probably some politics
stuff.” Kyouko did have to think on what could have made Akemi move so fast to leave her
breakfast half finished. At least she had the foresight to pack some extra breakfast for Drau.
“So… We have three days till the Theocracy’s envoy arrives? What would you like me to
do?” Akemi asked as she sat across from Drau at the meeting table.
“Well, I doubt they will be happy that I’ve ‘betrayed humanity’ or what ever nonsense they’ll
spew when they hear about all of this. I’m not too worried about it, but… they can be
unpredictable.” Drau admitted as she nibbled at the breakfast Akemi had thoughtfully
brought her.
“Personally, If they send their stronger assassins, I don’t believe I’d be able to stop them, they
have some monsters under their control if the rumors are to be believed.” Bahgram looked
like he was swallowing nails in admitting that.
“That isn’t any fault of your’s General Bahgram. You can’t be everywhere at once, and you
are the strongest in our military in close range.” Minister Dahl turned to Akemi. “Would you
perhaps have time to guard my Queen? This would give you two more time together…”
“Dahl… she is a Queen also, I don’t think she has the time to stay here guarding me, we’re
all quite busy.” Drau stared at her Minister with exhaustion.
“Sadly I really can’t be here that much yet… I’m trying to solve a few things, and have some
experiments to run for that.” Akemi saw Drau look away at her answer and felt her heart sink.
“Drau, that isn’t me saying I’d ever let you get assassinated. I have a great idea~ Wait one
moment please.” Akemi said as she closed her eyes.
If Drau had to guess she was casting Message, but to who?
“Okay, [Noriko].” Akemi held out her hand to the side, the ring on her finger glowing. In a
flash an adorable girl appeared and all but jumped on Akemi. Akemi was just giggling as the
girl licked her cheek a few times, the bushy tail behind her wagging. “Easy there.” Akemi
said and ruffled the girl’s hair.
“Who is this Akemi?” Drau just had to ask, if nothing else the girl was quite adorable,
enough to make even Drau want to dote on her a bit, not that she would admit it.
“I suppose I haven’t introduced you all yet. This is Noriko, one of my NPCs I summoned
from Yggdrasil with the World Item I had acquired.” Akemi moved over to scratch a dog ear
till Noriko was tilting her head. “While for the most she is as much of a silly puppy as she
seems, she is a highly skilled Ninja, I can think of no one better to guard you against sneaky
threats.” Akemi’s words made Noriko puff up with pride, her hands on her hips.
“I’m an excellent Ninja~ No one will get past- Hmm?” Noriko’s nose sniffed and her eyes
darted to Bahgram who had pulled out some beef jerky.
Bahgram, for his part looked a bit embarrassed. “Its been busy this morning, I didn’t have
time for breakfast. Hmm…” With a shrug he held out a piece of jerky. “Did you want some?”
Noriko first looked at Akemi who nodded, prompting her to all but zoom over there. Noriko
accepted the Jerky with an ecstatic grin, a ball of sunshine in a room of tense people. Turning
back to the rest of the table she tried to look just a bit more dignified. “Thank you~ Ahem…
I’m Noriko, one of Moth- Queen Akemi’s Lilys, and I can promise no one will get close to
hurting you.” It was then that Noriko’s grin took on a more… dark look. “They’ll have to get
through me first without losing their head~” A blink later and that menacing aura was gone.
They all had to stare at her for a moment, only Akemi not really being phased. “Great, glad
that is settled~ Listen to Drau while you’re here, alright? I trust you dear.” Akemi told Noriko
and went back to scratching her ears.
“Well… this will be a thing. If Akemi trusts you with my safety, I trust you.”
Akemi blinked as she remembered something. “I’ll get you more gear soon enough, but this
dagger should be near the gear you used to have.” Akemi said and pulled out a weapon that
made all but her own and Noriko’s breath catch. It was a large dagger, nearly a short sword in
length. “This is Sunflare, I found it in the ruined city I found Legion in. It is the guild weapon
of who ever owned that guild base. I’ve checked and you should be able to use it just fine, It
has some great stats and enchantments, but I won’t bore you with the technical details.”
Akemi said and pulled out two small wands and a ring.
“All this?” Noriko asked as she tested the grip of her dagger, spinning it around fast enough
that Bahgram stopped trying to follow it.
“Yup, that is a wand of Cure Medium wounds, the other is Cure All, that way if you or any of
you get hurt, poisoned, diseased or what not you can last until I get there. Just a precaution, I
trust you Pup. This is a ring of sustenance, I got it back yesterday, while I’m giving you that
I’m not telling you to work twenty four hours until whenever. If you wanted to you could
swap out with the other Lilys or I could for a while. Is that too much? I could summon
something instead.” Akemi asked, petting Noriko’s ears when she got close before she even
realized it.
“Got it Mom~ You said the bracelet could bring me back here if I go home?”
“Indeed, this is just a precaution, you should be good to go back when you need to. You’ll be
going to cuddle the others, aren’t you?” Akemi asked with a snort.
Noriko’s tail wagged as she looked down with a silly grin that couldn’t be contained on her
face.
“Yup, you are adorable. I shall leave our fair Queen Draudillon in your capable hands,
Noriko.”
“Oh so now I’m Queen Draudillon? Interesting~ Divine Queen Akemi.” Drau felt vindicated
as Akemi’s ears folded.
“It was a joke Drau~ Anyway… I have some errands to run, papers to sign, and maybe even
some screaming into the void as a treat. Take care everyone.”
“Bye Mom!” Noriko let out a tiny whine as Akemi removed her hand from her head.
“Farewell Akemi, I’ll make sure to tell Noriko plenty of embarrassing stories~” Drau just had
to tease right as Akemi teleported away.
A little while earlier…
“Easy, easy, you’re doing great.” Nazuna said as she held Lorelei up as gently as she could
while Lorelei practiced working her legs. It was still a long process, but she had steadily been
getting more confident, more stable.
“Haa… screw… relearning how to walk right. At least it hurts less and less.” Lorelei
grumbled, her ears folding down with every step.
They had all selected a nice clearing in one of the many forests among the floors for their
lounging spot. While Nazuna helped Lorelei work on her physical therapy, Hannyuu watched
and hummed.
The other three Lilys were sat off under the next tree in a cozy looking pile. Kizuna was
sprawled over their laps and enjoying the gentle petting over her long ears. “Comfortable?”
Hannyuu asked.
“Very, the weather is nice, I got comfortable people to lounge on… Its a good day.” Kizuna
quietly mumbled, leaning into some scratching Emiko had begun at the base of her ears.
Hannyuu observed for a few moments more. “You four have been really close since you got
here, just cuddly?” Hannyuu asked, a smirk on her lips.
“What do you mean? I mean, that was how we were created, but at the same time that is just
how we are, we’re happy about it. There is the fact we can also hug now, it is quite nice.”
Emiko added, reaching over to scratch Noriko’s ear as well.
“Among other things…” Kizuna just couldn’t resist adding, Hannyuu’s eyes upon her in an
instant. Peeking open an eye, Kizuna just sighed at the look on her new sister’s face. “What
are you trying to get at? Trying to ask if we get into more frisky things?”
Hannyuu’s face reddened quickly as she cleared her throat. “Wasn’t really what I was going
for but now I Am a tiny bit curious about that…”
“Little sis, don’t you complain every time your moms get kissy?” Lorelei asked as she sat
down next to Hannyuu. She looked exhausted, It likely didn’t help that she had finally shed
the ring of sustenance she had been lent. Her energy was now decided by the food she had to
eat and sleep she managed to get. Sleep wasn’t too difficult with Deep Slumber at least.
“That is different, no child wants to hear about their parent’s antics…” Hannyuu defended,
pouting at Lorelei till her big sister began playfully poking her in the side till she was
giggling and squirming on the spot.
“Fine fine. The four of us have always been together, physically and romantically. Now that
we’re in this world we can fully express and enjoy that.” Nazuna clarified as she sat down
with the other three, smirking as Kizuna made sure to wiggle her way over so she was laying
over the three of them.
“But… aren’t you sisters?” Hannyuu had to ask the question, and looked away at the looks
she got.
“I suppose you might be able to say that, not that we really see it that way. We just happen to
have the same creator, the same mother. If people want to take that to mean we’re sisters then
that is on them.” Nazuna clarified.
“I don’t care even if we were, I’m just going to enjoy my time to the fullest.” Noriko said and
kissed the two Lilys she could reach, Nazuna sadly being the one out of reach.
“Well, that clarifies a few things, it is not my business anyway. Good for you four.” Hannyuu
said with a shrug. “I’m just happy I now have five big sisters~” And she truly did look happy.
They all looked over at Noriko as the girl sat up straight. “Ah, Mom is calling me.
I’lltalktoyoualllaterbye!” After that word salad Noriko vanished on the spot.
“Well then… I wonder what Mama is getting up to now?” Hannyuu had to ask, she had a
strange feeling in her gut. “I’m sure it will be fine…”
Akemi felt her eye twitch in annoyance as she stared at the cock in front of her. It had already
been two hours of attempts, but this was her first success in her efforts, if it could even be
called a success. The less said about the other ‘attempts’ the better…
“Where did I go wrong?” She had to ask, sighing as the two headed cock fought with itself.
“Stop that…” Akemi complained, pushing the heads of the rooster apart and applying cure
light wounds to them, not paying any mind as they attempted to peck at her hands.
Two hours of experiments in creation magic for that. “All I wanted to do… was conjure up
some animals for my citizen’s dinner… This is going to take a while…” It was the first
attempt where something living had been made that also wasn’t a plant, but there was a
reason [Create Item] and [Greater Create Item] couldn’t duplicate living things.
“Forcefully breaking the mold on that front is not going to be easy…” It was an entirely
untapped boundary for her, actually attempting to use her divine abilities more outside of the
tier system. “Maybe if I talk to Drau her knowledge of wild magic might be similar?”
She dismissed that option right away. “I can’t just run off to interrogate my… what ever her
and I are… I can do this!” She thought as she picked that disorientated rooster up and placed
it into the generously sized pen she had prepared. “Well… just because you’re a little bit off
doesn’t mean I can just dispose of you. You’re my first near success, as such you deserve a
name. I dub thee Sir Nugget!” She felt she might be going insane as she cackled to herself
On the 95th floor Akemi had set up her research ‘lab’ away from prying eyes, strangely none
of her loved ones wondered about the wisdom of leaving Akemi unsupervised.
“Well, since that was a dud, option two. Work this time Meat vine!” Akemi complained as
she pulled out a small seed from her inventory. Over at a small patch of farmland that Akemi
fenced off, she tucked the seed under the dirt and began to pour in her mana ever so slowly.
“Easy Akemi, Easssy…” At the very least it was good practice for controlling her mana
outside of tier spells.
What she Didn’t want to happen was for the thing to grow too fast, as it appeared to burn
through the nutrients in the soil incredibly quickly if she wasn’t replacing them through
magic nearly as fast.
It was a very narrow vine, something Akemi hadn’t been going for. “So far so good
mostly…” When she felt the growth begin to slow she stopped interfering.
She stared at that vine for few moments, observing the mana flow within until it had settled.
From there she tested it’s weight and other factors before cutting it off at the root.
“Hmm… Looks like meat, not a lot of it but…” The cross section of the thing looked like a
very lean cut of meat in coloration and texture. “Yup… this is a tentacle, what in the world
am I doing with my life?” It was something she asked herself far too much those days.
As she picked out the seeds from that vine she pondered if it was worth that much effort. It
was progress compared to the last experiments. “It is getting thicker and thicker, and it isn’t
withering half the time, lets try some selective breeding next time.” Akemi could almost
reread the books on plants she had read in her head, her passive putting in miles of work in
remembering information from those books.
“Experiment number three.” Akemi’s tails spread out as she closed her eyes, her entire focus
looking inward. After teleporting masses of people from the Re-Estize Kingdom, a question
had popped into Akemi’s head; Could she teleport things other than people? Or if it was too
dangerous to even use that ability she developed. “I don’t think there is another who can do
that, but I just grabbed people from a distance…” She knew further testing was needed.
Her mana sunk deep into the Leyline, following along those paths she had traced the last time
she used that spell, till she was closer to her target. “Okay, outer-system search… there you
are Deer~” Akemi held up her hand and snapped her fingers. With the same strange feeling
the others had gone through, the poor deer that emerged flailed in panic.
“Its okay! Its okay Shhh…” Akemi said as the rather small deer looked around in clear fear.
It was too unsteady on it’s feet to run away, but Akemi felt it finally calming down. “You are
just a kid, aren’t you? I didn’t sense any other deer around you, maybe you just separated
from your mom?” Akemi pondered to herself as she let the deer get curious enough to get a
bit closer and sniff at her.
Akemi had to admit that it was quite adorable… yet she couldn’t base feeding her people on
animals that aren’t cute. “This was a success at least. Should I even try that other idea? I’ll
save it for later…” She knew the perfect test subject for teleporting someone from
somewhere else, to a destination that is not near her, as well as what limits it might have. “It
took less mana to teleport this deer at least. Not suitable for mass usage yet.” While she had
teleported her people, she did that in small groups at a time, giving herself enough time to
refill on mana from the tree, the efficiency was still astronomically bad.
“It feels like I’m the cusp of something incredible, I just need to keep trying to grasp it!
Hmm?” Akemi’s ears perked up as she felt a Message ping against her head. “Paperwork?
I’m going to judge by your silence you’re… angry with me?” Akemi quietly meeped as she
could Feel Emeril on the other end.
“Not angry, disappointed.” And if That didn’t hurt like a sledgehammer to the chest. “Come
do your paperwork, I’m not a secretary.” It certainly sounded like actual anger, but Akemi
knew it could very quickly turn into fury at that rate.
“I’m coming don’t worry, I was trying to solve the meat problem… I wish there were two or
three of me…” Akemi whined.
“Be careful what you wish for, if there were more than one of you, one or more of you would
be collared by Kyouko before even you could react.”
“That… doesn’t sound like a terrible id- I mean… I’ll be down there soon, just putting my
experiments away. I can already tell keeping Nuggets from pecking himself to death is going
to be a challenge…” Akemi turned to look at said two headed rooster.
“Nugget?”
“Change of plans, I’m going to show you my two headed cock!”
“I’m sorry, What?!”
“Hey Dahl, how are you?” Akemi asked as she stumbled upon the minister within the halls
Draudillon’s castle.
“I’m doing well, quite busy, but at least it is from dealing with people’s recovery rather than a
war.” Dahl sounded far less stressed than the first time Akemi met him. “You are here for Her
Majesty?”
“I am, I’m going to sit in on her meeting with the Theocracy envoy, that way perhaps a
discussion can be mediated. I already know the Theocracy is going to be opposed to me and
Natura on principle. Maybe one day I can convince them that there is a middle ground
between genocide on either side…”
“Good luck with that, you have surprised me before. Her Majesty is in the meeting room in
preparation. Would you like me to escort you?” Dahl asked.
“No need, I know the way. Has Noriko been behaving herself?” Akemi asked as she met the
eyes of several people who had looked over at her while passing by. It was honestly
refreshing for Akemi, finding people that were just happy she was around and not worshiping
her. The only other place she found that was at home.
“Your guard? Oh she already has Her Majesty’s staff and guards wrapped around her finger,
even the Queen has been taken by her.” Dahl sounded more amused than anything. “The
simple things baked goods can do to endear people to you…”
“That doesn’t surprise me… I’ll talk to you later.” Akemi said and set off down the hall, her
ears perking up at every quiet conversation she tried to not listen in on.
From outside the door Akemi could hear quiet giggling that put a grin on her face. “Having
fun you two?” Akemi asked, letting herself in.
It was honestly adorable, the way Noriko had bonded with Drau, enough that Drau had let
Noriko use her lap as a pillow and appeared to also be feeding her snacks from the bowl on
the table.
“Oh, Akemi! Yes, actually, I might just need to adopt your guard.” Drau said as she scratched
Noriko’s ears. The girl seemed entirely in her happy place as she cuddled there.
“Why am I not surprised? Well, she is quite adorable, I can’t blame you. Been enjoying
yourself Noriko? Any trouble?”
Noriko sat up with a start as if breaking out of a trance. “Ah! Mama! S-sorry. Things are well,
no threats have appeared, and I’ve been doing nightly patrols for anything out of the ordinary.
Everyone here is so nice to me~” Noriko said as her tail wagged.
“It is hard to resist the puppy eyes Drau, I know it well. I’m glad you two are bonding and
having fun. Honestly Noriko, you’re winning hearts and minds~ The best way to help change
people’s mind about Demi-humans. The power of cuteness is supreme!” Akemi chuckled to
herself as she sat down across from them. “Who knows Noriko, Drau might end up your m-
mom also one day…” Akemi’s teasing facade broke the moment she stared into Drau’s eyes,
turning back into a shy mess.
“Oho? We need that second date at some point~ But for today… It is sadly business. How
about you sit on that end of the table and go invisible or something, I kind of want to surprise
the envoy, this can be your chance to make contact and a strong impression. Oh yes, if you
would like tea, it is still fresh, and the pastries are freshly baked.” Drau offered.
“Good idea, if I tried to contact them myself they probably would just try and kill me… Haa I
should attempt to keep an open mind towards them, maybe I can change their minds one
day.” Akemi poured herself a cup of tea, though it was likely in bad etiquette in some way,
and sat on the end she was directed to. Her eyes were glued on the door as she leaned back
into that chair, her tails bracing behind her.
“I’m… doubtful about that. Are you aware of their history? Actually… are you aware of
humanity’s place in the world?” Drau asked and stared at Akemi until she stopped misusing
the furniture.
“Kind of? The 6 players that started them arrived 600 years ago and spread tier magic,
correct? While the Demon ‘Gods’ destroyed a ton of countries 200 years ago?”
“Yes, but that is just part of things. Before they arrived humanity was nearly extinct.” That at
least got Akemi to stare at her in shock. “Humanity was entire on the back foot, and they
gave us some breathing room, and Tier magic even gave us the means to fight back to a
degree. It is no longer just humanity that has tier magic, that long since spread to likely all
races, so we’re being pushed back again slowly. Outside of this pocket of countries… I
wouldn’t be surprised if there were no other human countries. At best they might be there…
being farmed as livestock or kept as slaves.” Drau’s clenching fists made her mood clear on
that topic.
“So each side is pushing back against the other… Yeah, I need to at the very least understand
their side more… each side right now seems to be trying to enslave or genocide the other and
it cannot go on. Everyone is just sowing and harvesting blood and suffering. I’ve seen the
Demi-human side clearly, at least the ones In local countries I know of, so now I have a
chance to learn more of the human perspective.” Akemi took a deep breath and sighed.
“Before you ask, I Am having my summons investigate the south east, I’m trying to find the
citizens that are still missing, I know they didn’t keep all of their captured humans in that
main army.” Akemi’s ears twitched as she heard footsteps. “They are coming I think, I smell
unfamiliar people. Noriko, make sure to hide yourself also, be ready just in case. [Perfect
Unknowable].” With that, her and Noriko blinked out of existence in Drau’s view.
“Well, may as well look like I was working.” Drau mumbled, shuffling her papers in front of
her. She tensed as the door was opened, clearly dreading this meeting to a degree, quickly
relaxing to not show her feelings, that mask of a Queen slipping back on.
“Your Majesty, I bring the envoy from the Slane Theocracy.” Dahl introduced, holding the
door open for a woman and two men in heavy armor, their weapons not on their person,
thankfully that bit of protocol was being followed.
The woman gave Drau a polite bow, as was expected for most to approach a Queen. “It is a
pleasure to see you again Your Majesty, thank you for seeing us on such short notice.” The
envoy put a hand on the chair in front of Drau and waited for a nod from Drau before taking a
seat.
“It is no trouble Ambassador Zemira. Things have been improving, as such my work load is
slowly lightening. I hope things have been equally agreeable for yourself.” Draudillon rang a
bell next to her, seeming to call Hilda into the room who then poured the envoy and her two
guards tea from a fresh pot.
All things considered, the envoy seemed quite pleasant, though there was clear stress weaved
in with her body language. “Thank you. As for why we’re here, a section of the Holocaust
Scripture will be available to aid you. Our apologies for being unable to act as quick as we
would like. We would also like to discuss the fortress they appear to have made in the south.
It is a development that has the Cardinals concerned.”
“I thank you for the kind offer, I’m pleased to inform you that that conflict is at an end for the
foreseeable future. Most thankfully, the main host of the Beastmen Warband were annihilated
entirely, and the three major cities they held retaken.” Draudillon had no fake smile on her
face, she smiled in joy at how well things had turned out. There was still much to do, and
more citizens to rescue, but things were stable.
That seemed to get Zemira’s attention. “Several weeks ago, there was a light coming from the
direction of your Kingdom, and several days later that construct had begun to grow rapidly.
We were worried we would get here and find things worse off.” That confirmed to Akemi
that her Scry blocking in the area was working as intended if they couldn’t see clearly.
“If the threat from the Beastmen is resolved, may I ask a few questions? We are quite curious
about how ever you might have resolved it. Did you decide to activate wild magic to deal
with them? If so I’m glad the Kingdom still stands.” Zemira sounded legitimately curious and
relieved, though the mystery still had her on edge.
“Ah yes, that light was from the spell our recent ally had used, it was what destroyed the
Warband that had begun advancing deeper into the Kingdom. That tree is not a threat, it is a
bastion that guards us from further attack, It also makes for a lovely view. Alas my wild
magic was not suitable for such a task, not without enormous sacrifice.” Draudillon sipped at
her tea with a content smile on her face.
Zemira’s eyebrow raised, but she did not seem nearly as surprised as as Drau expected. “If
wild magic was not used, what spell would cause such wide destruction? Our last estimates
had placed their army at over 150 thousand strong, what magic could deal with them in one
fell swoop?” There was the clear crux of her worry, any normal spell wouldn’t do anywhere
near that amount of damage.
“It was a divine spell well beyond my limited understanding, but I was able to witness it
myself. Our benefactor told me it was a Super Tier spell called Trumpet of the Rapture, and
the effects certainly spoke for themselves. In the south she called that construct a Tree of
Life.” Drau smiled far more naturally since then.
It left Zemira momentarily speechless, looking as if she was reassessing everything. “Would
it be possible for you to tell us more about this ‘ally’? They claimed that it was the magic of
the Gods? This is not possible.”
“Her name is Akemi, I actually happened to be in a meeting with her before you arrived. We
came to a suitable arrangement for all parties involved.”
Akemi’s ears perked up as she sipped at her tea. She could get what Drau was getting at.
“[Message]. Noriko, stay invisible near enough to Draudillon, I don’t trust them.”
“You were? I would be most curious to meet them and make my greetings. We must have just
missed her… I assume?” Zemira asked, appearing both nervous and confused to Drau’s eyes.
To Akemi’s inexperienced eyes only the momentary stutter told Akemi the woman was
unsure, her body language betraying nothing.
“But of course, she has been in this room the entire time, did you not notice her?” Drau
seemed to take far too much joy in pointing that out.
Akemi took that as her signal to disable her spell, allowing herself to be perceived. She kept
quiet and sipped her tea, her nine tails waving behind her calmly. “Hopefully my acting skills
are getting better, that is a scary glare.”
It was a tense few moments before Zemira took a deep breath and gestured to her guards to
relax. “This is your ally Draudillon? This is quite unexpected, I would have thought your
experience with Demi-humans with the Beastmen would dissuade you from working with
them.”
“Demi-humans is just a term grouping everything non-human with intelligence together for
the most part. She is most certainly not one of the Beastmen, and is a proven ally.”
Draudillon smiled at Akemi and relaxed in her chair.
“Thank you Queen Draudillon. Greetings Ambassador Zemira, I am Divine Queen Akemi, as
you can see I am a Kitsune. I represent the Divine Queendom of Natura. It is a pleasure to
meet you.” It was easy to tell from the narrowing of Zemira’s gaze at her that she took
exception to likely everything Akemi said.
“… Likewise. Pray, would you tell me about your encounter with the Beastmen, it was
claimed you used the magic of the gods and I would be negligent in my duties if I didn’t
attempt to find the truth of these claims.” Zemira’s tea seemed long forgotten as she forced on
a business smile. Akemi could tell her even talking to Akemi was a challenge, what with the
feeling of fury and disgust coming from her and her guards.
The fact she could hide her true feelings that much spoke volumes of Zemira’s experience as
an Ambassador.
“Is that what you call it? If you are meaning to ask if I used Super Tier magic, then yes, that
is part of my skill set. Trumpet of the Rapture is useful for dealing with those deemed evil,
such as partaking in enslaving and butchering people. Divine judgment was applied, and they
were found wanting.” Akemi sipped at her tea, partly to be able to close her eyes for a
moment and compose herself.
“At least that is something we can agree on. The Beastmen’s intentions for humanity were
sick in the extreme, Enslaving humanity is indeed evil.”
“The enslaving of any person is abhorrent. You could say I’ve made it one of my life’s
missions to root out the evil practice. I’ve made great strides at the very least in the Re-estize
Kingdom, its a shame they are paralyzed by internal gridlock.” Akemi said, emphasizing the
term people, countering Zamira’s quiet admission of bias.
“Indeed, I’m quite thankful to have met you Queen Akemi. We’ve made great strides in
building a more permanent partnership between our respective nations. Now we have the
time and space to rebuild our lives properly.” Draudillon was genuinely happy, as well as
more relaxed around the Envoy due to the two overpowered beings on her side in the room
with her.
It was then that Zemira made her first mistake. “Queen Draudillon, I recognize you and your
Kingdom were in a desperate situation, but have you turned your back on the humanity in
you?” The polite smile was gone from her face.
Akemi had to sigh at that. “And so it begins, why must people try and divide things like that?
People are people, we all just want what is best for our loved ones.” Akemi was genuinely
disappointed that it was quickly getting to that point. She would be lying if she said she had
much hope an envoy of the Theocracy would be reasonable to her, but it was still sad.
“Speaking of… In defense of my own loved ones and my people, I ask that you tell the group
you have currently approaching my Queendom to turn around.” Akemi looked over at Drau
and the surprise in her eyes. There was also plenty of that on Zemira’s face, likely from the
fact that Akemi was aware of things so far away without visibly scrying.
Zemira’s glare sharpened as she looked between Drau and Akemi. “Unfortunately the
Theocracy does not deal with Demi-humans, nor do we recognize lands claimed by them.”
Zemira seemed to dismiss Akemi from mind, turning back to Drau. “They are already
encroaching on your lands in the south, how long do you think they will be satisfied with a
patch of land. You’ll end up no better than if the Beastmen succeeded in their grim designs.”
“Well, Ambassador Zemira, Akemi and the Divine Queendom have proven through word and
deed steadfast allies that already have aided us. We have ceded a section of land to the south
to her, as was our agreement made After the Beastmen were already dealt with. Queen Akemi
made no attempt to hold the means of our salvation hostage and instead freed us from having
an executioner’s axe over our necks.”
Draudillon took a heavy breath as she stared into Zemira’s eyes. “That is something that,
despite the tributes we have paid in exchange for protection for over two decades, the
Theocracy has failed to do.”
“I believe you entirely misunderstand me Ambassador, I have no need to expand my borders.

You might be able to tell by the size of my tree, but we are not lacking in room to grow. The
Divine Queendom of Natura is, while a nation in it’s infancy, a place for all who desire peace.
The majority of our residents are survivors of slavery, demi-human and human alike. I
certainly hold nothing against humanity, one of my Mates is even human.”
Akemi looked at Zemira sternly, taking a deep breath. “Alas, we do not require your
recognition, or your permission for anything. Allow me to state some facts; Fact one, Natura
is here to stay. Fact two, we do not discriminate based on race, religion, or other
characteristics. Fact three, I have more than enough power to defend my country even on my
own.”
It was then that Akemi’s Celestial Aura leaked out in her quiet anger, drawing all eyes to her
“I would much prefer peaceful relations with my neighbors, despite the fact a large portion of
my people have been abused, killed, or enslaved by the Theocracy.”
Likely by the fact it was confirmed that Akemi destroyed such a large army, Zemira didn’t
dare disagree at that time. “The very name of your country gives insult, you dare to sully the
gods by claiming to be among them? It is ridiculous on it’s face.”
“To be fair, I didn’t personally name the country, I find it a bit too grandiose, but the people
wanted it. I don’t care to declare myself a goddess, I prefer to let my actions speak for
themselves.”
Akemi set her cup down and leaned forward, her aura vanishing, taking the pressure off the
others. “I have learned of the history of this region, I can understand the animosity between
the races. Humanity was truly backed into a corner, so it is even expected that hate would
spawn from that. What is needed now is the capacity to work together and grow beyond petty
constraints such as race.” Akemi poured herself more tea to sip at, letting her words sink in.
“I really must insist you stop your soldiers from attempting to penetrate my borders. If you
wish to work together for the sake of the world, or begin peaceful diplomatic relations, I
would suggest sending an envoy instead. The guards of my border will not take kindly to
armed soldiers attempting to invade, even through invisibility.” In her minds eye she could
see through the eyes of one of her Seraphim as it stared down a mass of perhaps thirty troops
in enchanted cloaks. While they seemed enchanted for invisibility it didn’t fool a level 90
Angel’s eyes in the least, or Akemi’s.
Zemira must have received a message as she held a hand to her ear. Her eyes darted back to
Akemi for a moment, nearly snarling before giving it up with a quiet sigh. “Very well, you’ve
made your point. We will be watching, as likewise we do not trust such a country. One day
you’ll pay for your blasphemy against the gods.” Zemira stood up, looking back at
Draudillon. “Queen Draudillon, this sadly does throw any agreements into question, we shall
be touch. I shall relay what was discussed to the Cardinals.” Zemira said, her guards all but
sneering at Akemi, exiting without even a ‘by your leave’. The level of respect at the start of
the conversation compared to the end was drastically different.
With such a tense meeting both of them let out a breath they were holding. “Well… That is
set in stone, now lets hope I don’t get assassinated… Trade will surely suffer with the
Theocracy, but so be it.”
“That is what we’re all here for, like hell I’m letting them do anything. Thankfully that force
backed off, they seemed to not want to try their luck against my own angels, a smart move.”
Akemi moved around to Draudillon’s side of the table, wrapping Draudillon in a gentle hug
from behind, resting her chin on Draudillon’s head.
“Thank you… I don’t know entirely what will happen next, but I’m feeling a good deal more
confident. You really go far for a neighbor that cannot yet do much for you. The scales are
not equal, so I am unsure why you would go so far.” Draudillon must have been too caught in
her own head as she barely noticed Akemi withdraw her arms that had been giving her such
warmth before.
She gave an uncharacteristically adorable squeak as Akemi then straddled her lap, pressing
their foreheads together. Draudillon could all but count what looked like sparkling stars in
Akemi’s glowing eyes from that distance, it was hypnotizing to look at.
“What do you mean Why? Whether you realize it or not, I care about you; not as a queen, but
just as You. I’m not going to hang you out to dry… not when I’m starting to actually like you
back…” Akemi’s blush that close was almost lethal levels of adorable in Drau’s eyes.
“A cute face and personality like that with such a sexy body is just cheating…” Draudillon
thought as she pressed her forehead back, smiling at the Kitsune. “Good, I’m quite fond of
you as well~ May I?” Draudillon asked, leaning in closer till her lips hovered right over
Akemi’s own.
“Y-you may.” Akemi felt her heart speed up as their lips met. Kissing was such an interesting
thing Akemi never knew she would enjoy till she arrived in that world. She had thought it
almost gross until she was able to try it.
Akemi had steadily gotten more skilled, at the very least being able to return the affection as
Draudillon took her time mapping out Akemi’s mouth with her tongue, overwhelming the
inexperienced Goddess with her own decades of experience.
Time began to lose meaning as they closed their eyes, breaths coming in quiet huffs that
mixed together. Akemi wrapped her arms around Draudillon’s neck when she felt one hand
on her own back, and the other hand rubbing on Akemi’s generous butt, eventually rubbing
the base of those nine fluffy tails till Akemi moaned into her mouth, trembling against
Draudillon.
Breaking that kiss Draudillon would smile sweetly at Akemi as she sat there dumbstruck for
a few moments. “That tail sure is sensitive~ I’ll remember that.”
Off to the side they both heard a throat being cleared. “Um… do I still need to be here? I’m
supposed to be guarding Drau but…” And like that the mood was ruined. Akemi flushed nice
and red and climbed off Draudillon’s lap.
“S-sorry Noriko… we got a bit carried away.” Akemi took a few deep breaths before
reaching into her inventory. “Before I forget. Even if technically you aren’t a citizen yet,
you’re more than trusted to come over for dinner or what not. That thing can open the
passageway to our home, you are welcome there when you want. Noriko can tell you all
about what it can do. I suppose this is a nice time to ask if… you might want to have a nice
dinner date at my place sometime? Nothing stressful, just a nice dinner under the stars?”
Akemi played with her hair as she took shy glances at Draudillon, at her stunning Dragon
Queen.
Draudillon watched her for a moment before giggling in amusement. “I would love to. Thank
you for backing me up at this meeting, truly.”
“Y-you’re welcome… Anyway, I’m going to go take care of paperwork before it stacks up
too tightly. Take care you two. I’ll try and figure out how to make you a specific guard
Draudillon, till then you can rely on Noriko and the other Lilys. Keep up the good work
Noriko dear~” With that last bit she vanished on the spot.
It was back to just Draudillon and Noriko in the room now that the dog girl was visible. It
was strangely quiet until they looked at each other. “Lets go do some paperwork in my actual
office, the chair is more comfortable, you can rest your head on my lap again if you wish.” It
was amusing to Draudillon how quickly that offer made Noriko jump up and smile. She
really did seem like an innocent puppy in those pleasant moments.
It was also just as stress relieving to get to shower her in affection like a puppy.
Back in her own office Akemi plopped down on her conjured modern office chair, like the
one she had back on Earth. “Welcome back Akemi, you have fun?” The voice of Emeril was
enough to make Akemi jump, literally, her head impacting the stone and making a minor
crack. “Oh dear… sorry. Hey Akemi? You have a little something…” Emeril gestured to her
entire face.
Akemi wiped a finger over her mouth and found it was a pretty red. “Ah, Draudillon must
have worn lipstick… Thanks for pointing that out. It was a productive meeting.”
“Mhm, I can imagine, what with the lipstick kisses on you. All jokes aside, the Theocracy
envoy give you any trouble?” Emeril was sat at her own desk on the other side of the room,
the two sharing the space.
“Well, The envoy was exactly as hostile as I imagined she would be. A small group of what I
assume are their special forces attempted to go through the border under invisibility while I
was in that meeting, can you believe the nerve?” Akemi complained, pulling out a pen and
getting to work on her To-Do pile.
“They did? Are we still okay? There are a lot of people here that are absolutely traumatized
by some of their forces. The further away the Theocracy stays the better…” Emeril seemed
more angry than anything, angry and visibly depressed.
Akemi wanted to ask what was wrong, but she knew well by now Emeril’s past, words
wouldn’t help much. “We’re entirely safe here, they ran away from my Seraphim when their
weak invisibility was seen through. They really seemed to think weak people could get past a
level 90 angel… I’ll keep an eye out for anything funny from them.”
Emeril was quiet for a while, enough that Akemi was worried. Looking over she saw Emeril
staring at the papers in front of her, but her hands weren’t moving.
Standing up she moved over towards Emeril, noting that she didn’t even look up. Reaching
down Akemi placed a hand over Emeril’s own, breaking her from that trance and getting her
to relax. “Sorry… I’m just one of many who hate the Theocracy. They’ve taken so much
from us, from me… five years, five long years without Maiya. You’re only nineteen, frankly
still almost a baby to me… but I’m over four hundred years old, 5 years feels like
yesterday…” Emeril took a deep breath and turned her hand over to clench Akemi’s own.
“I’m sorry… You don’t need to-” She was surprised when Akemi hugged her instead.
“I know that… words can’t do much for you, but if there is anything I can do, please tell me?
You listen to me rant and give me pep talks all the time, the least I can do is do the same.
You’re strong, you’ve gone through more than I can even imagine. Being honest… I see you
as my best friend, or the mom I wish I had gotten, though I’m a bit old for that now. I’m
always here for you, early in the morning or even late at night. Even if it is just to talk, you
know how fast I can get somewhere. Come.”
Akemi help get Emeril onto her feet, guiding her over to the couch Akemi had added to the
room for a potential napping space. When the two sat down Emeril allowed herself to lean
against Akemi, eventually leaning turned into letting herself get hugged as Akemi heard the
quietest of crying and a wetness on her shoulder. “I’m sorry…” Emeril sounded a tiny bit
better to Akemi’s ears.
“There is nothing to be sorry about, we’re all people in the end. You’ve seen me break down
more than enough times.”
“True, true. Then, thank you, I think I need some time. It just… gets like this sometimes. The
Theocracy is a sore subject, it reminds so many of us, reminds Me of all the losses we’ve
faced.” She took a few deep breathes to calm herself further. “I can’t have Maiya back, but I
can at least take comfort in watching the child we had together grow up healthy. Speaking
of…” She wiped her eyes and separated from Akemi, neither of them knew how long they
had stayed like that but it had begun to get near sunset.
“If I hurry I can play with the girls some before I settle them down for dinner. Have a nice
night Akemi, thanks.” Emeril looked a little better, though her eyes were still swollen.
“Any time Emeril, go be super mom.” Akemi smiled and laid back on the couch. “Is there
anything I can even do for her? Would that even work?” Akemi swiped through the air and as
she expected no menu appeared. “How the fuck would I even use it without a menu? Another
time then…” Akemi grumbled as she got ready to head home herself.
It was oh so nice to have a place she could call home, and it finally smelled like a home, no
longer a scentless space they could put their stuff. “Geez… I never realized just how
important smell is to non-humans till I got here. No wonder dogs would sniff everything.” It
was a nice scent, of meals past and present, of loved ones sitting around and enjoying each
other’s company.
“I’m home!” Akemi declared as she entered the kitchen. It was strangely quiet, yet the scents
were still fresh. On the stove a pot was even stewing away.
Her ears perked up as she heard foot steps upstairs. “Of course I need to find someone and
they aren’t near any nature. Well, they aren’t down in the garden floor at least.” The voices
became clearer as she went back up to the bedrooms.
The sound of laughter rang out, followed by two pairs of small feet running down the hall.
She saw Kuuderika and Ureirika zooming down the halls. “Hi!” “Welcome home!” They
shouted before jumping at her at full speed. Akemi felt a smile bloom on her face at the sight.
Falling back just enough to cushion the kids, she let herself fall on her back. “Oh no you’ve
defeated me…” Akemi closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.
By the barely held laughter her ‘playing dead’ was more hilarious than anything. Either way
she found both twins jumping near her. “We found Miss Akemi!” “We captured her!”
Akemi laid there, her ears twitching as she recognized the foot steps. Following the kids.
“I see I see, good work you two!” Hannyuu said, ruffling the two smaller kid’s hair. “Going
to keep laying there Mom?”
“I’m too defeated, they already captured me, those are the rules.” Akemi barely held in her
own giggling at the innocent mischief, it was warming after such a day.
“Well, if those are the rules…” Hannyuu then sat on Akemi with a proud smirk.
“You two… are getting too fast…” Arche complained as she came around the corner with
Ana. “Think I could take up… some cardio with you Ana? Kyouko mind helping me with
that also?” Arche smirked at the scene as the three kids had begun to just sit on their captured
Kitsune. “Having fun?”
“Maaaaybe. What is more fun though is…” With a grin Akemi’s tails grabbed the three kids
by the waist, lifting them up gently. “And now, I have captured you~” Akemi said and leaned
in to both Ana and Arche, accepting a kiss from each. “You all moved in?”
“I am, the twins wanted a room together so we set them up in the one next to mine.” Arche
hid her blush as the twins looked at the three of them.
“So you’re Big Sister Arche’s girlfriend also?” the twins asked as they were held quite
comfortably in fluffy tails, and Hannyuu had predictably gone limp like a cat.
The blunt question was more amusing than embarrassing to Akemi, though it being pointed
out seemed to do more damage to Arche. “Yup~ Your sister is a lovely woman.” Akemi said
and put an arm around Ana and Arche’s shoulders. “Want help with dinner? Or for me to
finish making it? You know, I could try and cook dinner sometime…” Akemi’s ears folded at
the skeptical look from Ana.
“I love you and Kyouko a ton, but right now neither of you can really cook things made for
more than one person, not by yourselves.” Ana kissed her cheek to take the bite from her
words, though Akemi didn’t take it personally either way.
“Harsh, but fair. That is harsh but fair… Fine then, I’ll go set the table, Kyouko should be
back soon enough. Where is Lorelei?”
“She followed Kyouko for today, give herself more of a chance to stretch her legs. I think she
is finally getting steadier on her feet.” As the conversation carried on Akemi just took a deep
breath.
“Savor the little things in life. This… This is a good home. Lets keep it that way.” It was a
promise she intended to keep to herself… No Theocracy will get near them as long as she
lived.
Chapter End Notes
That chapter flowed pretty well for me! I had added a few things I hadn’t intended to
add but that happens often. Glad you are all liking the fluff <3
I appreciate all comments and hope if you made it this far you're enjoying things :D
Also if you see any typos feel free to say something, I don't have a beta and somethings
I miss things in my editing passes.
Plots, Schemes, Tentacles, and Dryads.
Chapter Summary
The Theocracy learns of the events at their Ambassador's meeting with Draudillion,
while Akemi experiments in multiple ways.
The shadow of the Theocracy creeps closer towards one of the last bastions of Demi-
humans in their borders, starting them on a path of no return.
Chapter Notes
I'm sorry this update took so long to do! To be honest I was going through one mental
spiral after another these near three months, and it has been hard to get the will to write,
but I finally got this chapter done!
I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season!
Warning for a few paragraphs of sexual content early on.
“Ambassador Zemira, on the subject the Dragon Kingdom and their situation, please give
your report.” Raymond said as he folded his hands in front of him.
“Honored Cardinals, Pontifex Maximus, I beg your forgiveness, things are worse than we
feared.” Zemira knelt on the ground in front of a half circle table where the six Cardinals and
the appointed head of the Theocracy sat, patiently listening to her testimony.
“Explain. Is it linked to the Angel that the Windflower Scripture encountered?”
“Yes. During my meeting with Queen Draudillon I learned that the entire Beastmen army in
the Dragon Kingdom was wiped out, likely to the last, as were all the Beastmen in the
occupied territories and cities.”
Zemira took a deep breath. “Alas, they appear occupied by a different and more sly creature.
While I was sitting in the meeting room I was… introduced to their ‘savior’, a Kitsune that
was skilled enough to sit in the meeting with the Queen, my guards, and myself without so
much as being noticed.”
“A Kitsune… Who were they? How many tails did she have?” Raymond asked, leaning
forward in interest and concern.
“She said her name was Akemi and she was a nine tailed Kitsune. She had an aura of some
sort, it was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. From her words she was connected with the angel
the Windflower scouts reported.” Zemira visibly shivered as she remembered the events.
“And what did this Kitsune wish for? In your opinion, is she a threat?” Raymond asked,
though he likely knew very well just how much of a threat Kitsunes could be.
“Undoubtedly. She claimed to have used the magic of the gods… a blasphemous wretch,
going so far as to call herself the Divine Queen of Natura. That appears to be what that tree
is, a nest of blasphemy filled with Demi-humans.” Zemira appeared more furious than
anyone.
“Calm yourself Ambassador. You seem exceptionally troubled by this development.”
“My apologies, I had foolishly thought that after so many years of working together that
Queen Draudillon would have seen the folly of trusting Demi-humans, on turning her back
on humanity.” Zemira finally let out a disappointed sigh.
“It is understandable to be disappointed, though this is not unexpected. After so many years
under threat any thread of hope can seem promising, the consequences of that hope put aside
to worry about in the future. We’re assigning you two weeks of leave, take your mind off
current events and rest. If you are needed before then you shall be informed. You are
dismissed.” Raymond said, sounding surprisingly understanding.
Zemira nodded and stood. “Thank you Honored Cardinals, Pontifex Maximus. Excuse me.”
The group of seven watched until the door was securely closed behind her.
Raymond sighed and looked at the other six. “Thoughts? This is troubling indeed. If this
Kitsune is connected to that angel… Cardinal Dominic, tell us about the angel your scouts
encountered.”
“The testimony from my scouts was mixed, but none of them had ever seen such an angel
before. So far our records have found nothing matching the description we were given,
though we have yet to search through the entire archive.
“It’s presence though appears to have left an impression on my operatives, they cannot
describe how it felt to be around it other than heavy.” Cardinal Dominic said and set aside the
field reports he was given. “I’ll continue my search in the records. In the meantime, she does
not appear to be moving from her current domain.”
It was not news that comforted any of them in the least. Dominic let out a silent sigh. “An
angel that does not appear in our records, and unless it is a bluff is likely at least as powerful
as Dominion Authority. What are our first records of this ‘Akemi’?”
Zinedine, the Cardinal of Water, stood up before the other six. “The Clearwater Scripture has
been keeping track of the disturbances left in her wake. It appears as if she appeared suddenly
within the Re-Estize Kingdom. Ever since she has emerged she has caused chaos within the
realm, I am thankful she appears to have abandoned that Kingdom, though I put forth she is
in league with this ‘Ainz Ooal Gown’ that the Empire has begun assisting.
“While it is certainly relieving that the threat to the Dragon Kingdom from the Beastmen is
eased, I must share the worry of our Ambassador about what this ‘Divine Queendom’ might
intend.”
“I believe the likelihood is high that she may be connected with the Kitsunes hidden within
our borders. I believe beginning the search for the survivors of that den again would be to our
benefit.” Berenice, the Cardinal of Fire, added. “If it is desired, I can reallocate my forces for
the search, though this will slow our progress in our campaign against the elven country.”
“No, Berenice, if we slow down on that front we may lose our hard won foothold. At the very
least a major portion of the Holocaust Scripture would be too much for the front line to bear.
Maximilian.”
Raymond turned to look at the Cardinal of Darkness. “In the attack on the Kitsune settlement
to the south, a large portion of them did escape, as did their strongest member. As there is a
confirmed seven tails among them, I believe it would be best to deploy a portion of the Black
Scripture along with a minor contingent of our ground troops to encircle them.”
“Very well, I shall select the members for this task force within the day. I do have some
concerns though… Forgive me for saying so, but I suspect this ‘Akemi’ may be similar with
how the Demon Gods arrived, or… similar to how the Six Great Gods appeared.” Maximilian
braced himself, and was justified as Yvon, The Cardinal of Light, stood up with an
uncharacteristically venomous glare.
“Cardinal Maximilian, that is Blasphemy of the highest order. While we do not know from
where she arrived from, and while she is undeniably powerful, to put her on the same level as
the Six Divines is unthinkable.” Yvon looked at Raymond as he held a hand up.
“Cardinal Yvon, please calm yourself. I wish to keep all possibilities open as to her origin.
That being said… Maximilian, I know the loss of Lady Kaire is still fresh, but we may have
need for Downfall of Castle and Country. Please see if you can find anyone from among our
ranks that is compatible with the sacred artifact.” Raymond sighed heavily as the stress from
the day already began to increase.
“I shall begin the search at once, though there is a possibility it may fail if she possesses
something similar in strength. If nothing else, those Kitsunes may prove useful leverage
against this nine tails. What scheme might they be plotting though?”
———

“K-Kyouko please…” Akemi whimpered, her nails digging into into the marble of the
bathroom counter. Her suppressed whimpers echoed through the large master bathroom,
along with other slick sounds.
“Please what my love?” Kyouko sounded supremely smug as she dragged a trimmed nail
down Akemi’s bare spine till she was scratching the base of those nine fluffy tails.
“P-P-Please let me cum…” Akemi let out a yelp as three of those fingers returned
downwards, plunging inside of her rapidly as she was kept bent over that counter by her
Mate.
With a shudder and a muffled cry, Kyouko felt Akemi cum around her fingers soon after.
Those fingers moved slower and slower, curling upwards to tease those points inside that
turned Akemi into a moaning mess. Kyouko let Akemi ride out her climax till she was limp
and panting with just Kyouko holding her naked form up against the counter.
“Good girl~ So what do you have going on for the day?” Kyouko asked as she tenderly
caressed Akemi’s plush rear before giving it a light slap. With that she got off of her Mate
and redressed herself.
“I knew that might happen if we took a shower together… Not that I’m complaining. We
might have ruined the point of a shower though… [Clean].” Akemi mumbled that last bit as
she put on the clothes she had set aside while keeping her legs from shaking too much. A
quick spell got the smell of their fun off both of their bodies.
“Uncollar me?” She looked away as Kyouko reached for the choker that restrained her
strength.
The look on Kyouko’s face was as smug as it was loving. Hooking a finger on that collar she
leaned in close. “What is the magic word dear?”
Akemi’s ears folded as she huffed grumpily. “P-please?” Akemi leaned into the hand that was
placed on her cheek, turning her head to accept the kiss. The choker came off with a pop and
she felt her strength return.
“Love you~ So, plans? I have some new recruits to train later. I found a very promising girl
that wanted to become a guard or something similar. Her skills are rough around the edges,
but there is a lot of potential in her. She has a will of iron, I remember that she was one of
those you teleported in, the one covered in blood.”
“I’m going to be helping Malina welcome her new arrivals. She has been getting more
excited by the day, so I think she’ll be a good mother figure to a portion of the country’s
orphans… there are way too many of them.” Akemi’s ears folded as she straightened out her
clothes. “After that I’ll finally put my meat vines into full production, I finally got their
genetics stable, and got them thick enough to be worth the effort.”
“I mean, that will be helpful, while they don’t taste the best, it is food.” Kyouko opened the
door for them and stretched out. “That was a great way to start the day. A shame Ana had to
leave so earlier… I might need to nab her during lunch, if she wants of course~”
“We could always wait till tonight and maybe… focus on her together?” Akemi’s cheeks
turned red at her own suggestion. It had been over two weeks and yet she still was not used to
the fact that sex was now a regular part of their relationship, not that she disliked it in the
least, far from it.
“That is a wonderful idea my love~ Maybe I should finally show you two how to use that
shape shifting? I’d wager we have a month or less till mating season after all.” Kyouko’s
smirk was nearly contagious as she smiled at Akemi.
“You are insatiable… B-but yes we might be able to do that soon… Better to figure that out
now. Okay… I have to go now, I love you dear!” Akemi leaned up to give her Mate another
kiss.
“See you tonight, love you also.” Kyouko sighed contently as Akemi vanished in a burst of
teleportation. “…Love these girls.”
——
“Akemi! Thank you for your help with this. This place really is beautiful, smells a lot better
than E-Rantel also.” Malina said as she tucked a towel under the front of the kitchen counter.
“Oh so even humans can smell the difference? What struck me first before I even saw E-
Rantel was the smell… Nature, trees, and forests smell so much nicer, right? Get over here~”
Akemi all but bounced over to pull Malina into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here~ The
kids are going to love you.”
“So how many kids is it? I’ve looked through the place and every, but are all the beds going
to be used?” Malina asked.
Akemi took a deep breath and sighed. “There are sadly a lot of orphans here, so it will be
packed from the start. To be fair to them all we’ve picked them at random while keeping
siblings and family together. On the bright side, so many in the community have taken in and
adopted more kids, meaning there are a lot less orphans than we started with.
“Eventually I want them all in smaller orphanages like this to get more individual care and
attention, or adopted, instead of having to make it up as we go along in a large barracks I had
made. None of it is good for them.
“It will be a bit easier once schooling also can be set up. With food being easier to obtain, the
kids won’t have to work so soon, and we can get them an education. All these kids deserve
better… they deserve to be able to be kids, they’ve been through too much.” Akemi’s ears
folded as her smile disappeared, soon replaced by determination.
“Did… I come at a bad time? Am I too early?” They both heard a quiet voice ask from the
doorway.
“Oh, it is you Haru. You are right on time, Feo will be bringing the kids sometime soon, we
were just discussing the housing plans for them all. How are you? You excited?” Akemi
asked the rabbit Demi-human woman that entered.
“I’m rather excited, they’re all good kids. Greetings Malina, we’ll be working together here.
Nice to meet you, I’m Haru.”
Malina stared at her in confusion before shaking the hand that was offered. “Forgive me, for a
moment I thought you were one of the… It will be great to work together.”
Haru’s smile took the bite out of her sigh. “Yeah, I know I’m small. We Rabbits are by our
nature smaller than most other Demi-humans. Our kids are even smaller so it even’s out, litter
births and what not.” Compared to Akemi, she was perhaps half a foot shorter, with light
blond hair and green eyes that peered around excitedly.
“Well, lets work together and get the kids settled. They can’t be any worse than my Inn
patrons in E-Rantel. I had to get a deal going with a carpenter to regularly deliver a new table
for each one that would get broken.” Malina sounded so incredibly tired, and none of them
could blame her.
“I sure hope the kids won’t be breaking your tables here, I’m still learning how to take care of
kids myself.” Akemi shrugged, her mind turning towards seemingly inevitable babies…
“Ah she is in Mom land, it might be a while.” Haru joked as she pointed at Akemi’s happy
and silly smile as she appeared stuck in the fantasies in her head. “Sadly I can’t relate, that
isn’t possible for me, so it will be nice to be working here.” Haru’s smile became strained in
admitting that.
Akemi’s head snapped over and looked apologetic. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to drag up any
negative memories.” Akemi said and rubbed her forearm nervously.
“Its fine my Quee- A-Akemi, just an old wound from home, the rabbits are a bit… insistent
on having kids, so if you are unable to…” Despite her normally cheerful demeanor Haru’s
rabbit ears folded down against her will. It came as no surprise when Akemi gently hugged
the shorter woman.
“Believe it or not… while I’m not really free to explain it, I can relate, I know that pain.”
Akemi’s ears folded as she looked torn between something as Haru looked at her with sad
curiosity.
“Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter if more people know, I’m trying to be more honest with my
people. In my previous life I had that issue, I’m a bit new to this world. Not being able to
have kids in my past life really didn’t help anything.” Akemi looked away as she admitted
that.
Malina’s eyes widened. “So That is why you didn’t even know what an adventurer was when
I met you!”
“Wait… so you aren’t an ancient Kitsune? I’m very confused…” Haru admitted and took a
seat.
“I’ll just say that while I’m no where near as old as people think, but my power is very very
real.” Akemi gestured to the everything around her. “I also mean everything I’ve said about
keeping this place safe- They are here. Lets talk later Haru, maybe I can figure out a way to
help you.” Akemi’s ears perked up and her tails began to wag as she exited the building.
Children ranging from near infants to early teens began to appear at the teleportation node not
far from the orphanage. As she was spotted the kids waved at Akemi, some even beginning to
sprint towards her. When they didn’t stop gaining speed Akemi had to take care to absorb the
impact enough that the kids wouldn’t get hurt from running into the equivalent of a steel wall.
This was soon intensified by more of them piling on top of her as both her laugh, and the
kid’s laughs filled the area.
“I think this will work well Haru.” Malina said and leaned on the door frame with a smile on
her face.
“Mm, I think I’m going to like it here. I’ll make sure the bedrooms are ready, want to start on
lunch for them? I’ll help.” Haru watched, seeing those kids finally have smiles on their faces,
something they deserved, that Haru would do her best to keep there.
“I’ll show you why I was more known for my cooking than my Inn keeping.”
“She isn’t joking, her cooking is far better than mine ever will be!” Akemi shouted from
underneath the children that had piled on top of her. No matter how many she gently pulled
off herself with her tails they just kept it up till she just gave up…
———
“How does your body feel Maple?” Akemi asked as she walked through the first floor with a
girl shorter than even Hannyuu, yet the vines and flowers coming from the girl revealed her
as a plant-type being. Her clothes appears to just be made of leaves and flowers, like a tiny
dress.
“I feel great master, once I did some sunbathing I felt perfectly energized. So I’ll be assisting
your rule?” The Dryad named Maple asked.
“I have to admit… I thought they would be bigger than this. Oh well, they’ll grow.” When
Akemi first came up with the idea of mass creating some Dryad summons to help out around
Natura she assumed they would look a bit different. She had even gone through the magical
formulas within the spell to summon them, tweaking what she could within reason.
“Well, I guess them being tiny instead of stereotypical big boobed onee-chan type dryads
changes nothing about how they can help. They are short, so I should leave some stools out
for them though.” Akemi was caught in thought as she listened to Maple, dividing her
attention between things.
“I would request you and your sisters do not use that term for me, it is rather… taboo with
my people, understandably so. I do not mind what ever it is besides the term ‘master’.”
Akemi couldn’t help but ruffle her new assistant’s fluffy red ‘hair’ as they made their way
down the street.
“Yes my Goddess.” The near instant reply made Akemi’s tails nearly flop to the ground.
“I walked into that one I suppose. Lets go introduce you, you can brief your sisters later.”
Approaching the temporary government headquarters Akemi held the door open for her new
minion and wondered just how long of a meeting she was in for.
Despite slowly getting used to her position, it still took a moment for Akemi to gather herself
before entering the large meeting room.
Within she saw the ministers she had recently appointed to assist with specific projects,
Emeril and the staff she was still assembling, and Nazuna of the Lilys to represent her
particular ‘faction’.
“Good afternoon everyone, please, take a seat.” Akemi said as the others stood up when she
entered. It was stress for Akemi to try and adopt the bearings of nobility, measuring each step
before sitting into the large chair at the head of the table.
“I am not cut out for this!” She wanted to whine, she wanted to let her ears fold, but she
knew she had a responsibility now. “Welcome everyone, today I have with me someone new
to help out.” Akemi gestured to the tiny girl next to her.
“Greetings, I am Maple, I represent her Goddess’s Dryads.” Maple gave a curtsy to the group
and took a step back.
“Minister Emeril, my Dryads are under your command, they are all capable and ready to
help. Maple here can communicate with her sisters through the tree as needed, so you’ll have
more hands available to you.” Akemi said.
Emeril blinked in surprise but nodded. Her gaze turned towards Maple and inclined her head.
“Wonderful to meet you, I look forward to working together. After this meeting we can come
to an arranged to distribute work. Hopefully like this no one has to burn themselves out.”
Emeril said.
Akemi took a moment to really look at Emeril, and saw the way her shoulders hunched,
while there was an illusion under her eyes that she could see through when she paid attention.
“Dark circles? I really am working her too hard…” Akemi thought and shuffled the papers
in front of her.
“Agreed, I want you putting in no more than eight hours max a day, most things can wait if
they have to. That goes for all of you, take time to live your life.” Akemi took a moment to
look at the documents in her hand, it appearing to be family registers, matching up to newly
registered addresses.
Parceling out land in different floors and keeping things organized on who owns what would
be a long term challenge. The best way they’ve figured out how to section things off is tiny
beacon pegs to put on each corner of a properly.
It was another invention Akemi had made, with it forming a very minor barrier around the
property that alerts a person if they stepped in someone’s property if it isn’t theirs. That was
all it did so it was quite light on the mana network thankfully.
“Now for something new I’ve been working on.” Akemi said and pulled from her inventory a
large platter of steaming bites of food of what looked like meat, and smelled like it as well.
“You’ve been learning… cooking Your Majesty?” Emeril asked curiously, taking one of
those bites using the toothpicks provided. “Quite tasty though.”
“Alas Ana cooked these… I’m still a novice in the kitchen. No, what I gave you isn’t truly
meat, not in the traditional sense. It came from a plant I’ve been breeding, this is my current
solution to the meat problem in the country. It takes just about the same, and it contains
similar nutrients so our carnivore citizens can live from it.” Akemi looked extra proud of
herself as she pulled out several burlap sacks.
“These are the seeds for that plant, I’d like it to be distributed to those who wish to grow it. It
should grow just the same as anything else around here, enough that people should be able to
sustain themselves from some farming on their property.”
“It will be done. Maple? Could you and your sisters help me with that? We can work together
to divide these up to hand out. This should help massively… I won’t lie, some of those who
can only eat meat were getting quite worried about the food supply.” Emeril smiled and
poured herself some tea from the tray in the center of the table.
“Of course Minister, we’re at your command.” Maple said, looking pleased at being given
her first task.
“Oh yes, I’ve given floor 72 to the Dryads, as likely more will be created. Hopefully we can
get some immigration once I do some… advertising in places. My next group to free is the
slaves in the Theocracy.” Akemi took a deep breath as she saw most of the others tense up.
“I know that the theocracy is a… touchy subject, but let me assure you all we are entirely safe
within Nature. Now that I have a counter measure against them, I am doubtful they have
much that can counter me, or even my Lilys I introduced to you before.” Akemi stood up and
began to quietly pace.
“I am not underestimating the Theocracy, I’d be a fool to… the Re-estize Kingdom is a mess
and is the bottom of the barrel in power in human dominant countries from my
understanding, so I know the Theocracy is an entirely different beast.
“I don’t know exactly the fighting strength of the Theocracy, but in our home territory I am
confident they cannot touch us. The closer we are to our tree the stronger I am.”
Most of them appeared to relax once she assured them of safety, though Emeril still appeared
nervous. “Your Majesty, please be careful of them, they can be especially cruel, and I
wouldn’t be surprised if they attempted to take hostages. Will your previous method of
rescuing people work?”
Akemi’s ears finally folded as she appeared less sure. “Likely not with the same efficiency.
Re-estize had no magical defenses or infrastructure, but I’ve confirmed personally that the
Theocracy’s defenses are more robust. Until I refine the spell I used, it will be far harder to
extend my influence through the leylines under them to attempt my mass teleportation.”
“You don’t need to worry, I intend to deal with them if I can. I cannot go scorched earth, but
if I deem it necessary I believe that with the assistance of my Lilys we could accomplish a
decapitation strike. With their leadership destroyed they would be easier to manage. I don’t
wish to destabilize our neighbor, yet at the same time… our people deserve justice for those
that were wronged…” Akemi’s teeth were bared for a moment, the smallest amount of her
aura slipping from her control as she remembered the horror stories she had heard from her
people about the infamous country of the ‘Gods’.
“I trust your decision Your Majesty.” Emeril said, though likely nothing would wipe the look
of worry and distant sorrow from her face.
Akemi held in a sigh, seeing first hand the after effects of the Theocracy’s cruelty. “Not all
scars are visible, and not all wounds ever truly heal…”
————
Even with training equipment, Akemi winced at the bruises she felt forming. Unlike the four
nameless NPCs underground, training with her Lilys was magnitudes harder. “Just like that
you four!” Akemi said as her conjured training naginata clashed with Nazuna’s equal quality
shield and sword, their blows resounding through the area explosively at speeds faster than
most eyes could follow.
Unlike those NPCs she fought, she knew her Lily’s builds exactly, and knew how much they
complemented each other in both those builds and fighting styles. Knowing this, and being
the one who made them, didn’t make it any easier to fight all four of them at once!
Akemi had to stay on the move as the other three took opportunities to get the drop on
Akemi. She could hold off one or two well enough, but three was pushing it as her body
could attest. At three of the Lilys she could counter perhaps 70 percent of the blows coming
her way by using her tails, but Noriko being thrown into the mix meant some blows could
sneak past her guard far more often than was comfortable, striking with blunted knives at her
sensitive sides and back.
Of course Akemi was getting better at holding them off as time went on, her brain starting to
adapt to controlling so many angles of attack by using her tails more efficiently. She had
begun to give as good as she got, a tail sneaking past guards when they least expected it,
though without her tails being sharp enough to cause true damage besides bruises.
Blocking a heavy palm strike from Kizuna with her forearm send her skidding backwards
several meters and wincing. “I’m still not quite used to pain in this body… I’m glad I have
people I can spar with though, I was feeling rusty!”
“You didn’t want to train with any of Ainz’s people?” Nazuna asked as she parried a flurry of
blows from Akemi, her focus never waning even as several blows finally slipped past her
guard, Akemi leaving some bruises of her own.
“I don’t trust them enough for- Ow! For that! I trust you four with my life, I know our spar
won’t turn into a sudden battle to the death!” Akemi ducked her head under a bolt of lighting
shot from Emiko off to her side. “I at least know we all can survive the spells we throw!
Speaking of… I’ve been working on a new spell. Hold!” Akemi told them, their spar coming
to a stop at the signal.
“A new spell? What is it mom?” Emiko asked, trotting up to Akemi while slightly out of
breath. Even Akemi had a sheen of sweat on her from the high speed spar.
“Well… I’d prefer to show you, I haven’t put a name to it yet, I just constructed the spell
formula based on Nuclear Blast and adjusted the mana flow. It isn’t yet a formal spell that
can be shared properly without direct mana manipulation. Once I have that done I’d be happy
to share it. As you have the highest defense Nazuna, could you help me with this test? Just
use all your buffs on your shield.”
“You know mom… just because we can take as much damage as you, doesn’t mean it feels
good, not all of us are masochists.” Noriko said with a giggle, her gaze drifting to Kizuna.
“Oh har har Noriko, says the one who flinches at a punch.” Kizuna replied, a smirk on her
face as she looked away.
“That is fine mom, I have enough skills I won’t die or anything. “[Divine Bulwark], [Holy
Wall], [Damage Resistance: Blunt], [Damage Resistance: Fire]. Okay, I’m ready!” Nazuna
said as she hopped back several meters, making sure there was just forest. “This is going to
hurt I bet…”
“I mean, at worst it might hit like a tenth tier spell, so it certainly wouldn’t be fatal for anyone
here.” Akemi said as she let her training naginata dissolve back into mana. Akemi crouched
into a position that was similar to Kizuna’s ready stance. “I wonder if I’d be able to enchant
this into a glove for you Kizuna, that could be useful… I’ve seen items that can store spells
now. Here I go!” Akemi said as she rushed forward.
To the average person, Akemi wouldn’t even be able to be seen at the speed she crossed those
few meters at, she stopped less than a meter away with her hand held back. With high speed
most wouldn’t expect from a magic caster Akemi thrust her palm out.
The sonic boom of her passing was just the prelude of an even louder event.
The gathering of mana in her cupped palm alerted those magically inclined to the incoming
deafening blast right as her palm strike impacted Nazuna’s shield. The area behind Nazuna
was all but vaporized, the land torn apart, while Nazuna was sent flying backwards ahead of
that concussive wave, her back tearing apart trees before they could be burned in nuclear fire.
“Holy fuck that hurt… I am not made for that spell… Nazuna!” Akemi mumbled as she
wordlessly teleported to where Nazuna was.
Nazuna laid among crushed trees, looking to be in pain until healing spells were cast on her.
“Mom… never use that on me again…” Nazuna grumbled, tossing aside the ruined training
shield she had buffed, and a shallow wound on her chest knitting healing rapidly.
“I’m sorry Nazuna! I didn’t expect it to be that powerful…” Akemi looked guilty as she
reached out to help Nazuna up.
“Mom!” Nazuna’s shout finally got Akemi to pay attention to her own hand, finding a
charred stump where her wrist ended.
Akemi took a deep breath as the adrenaline quickly started to fade away. “Ow fucking shit!”
She shouted as her regeneration already began to work at healing her. “Nope nope nope Ow!
[Heal Major Wound]!” Akemi sighed in relief as her hand grew back in moments rather than
minutes.
“Never use that again please…” Nazuna pleaded, finally accepting the help back up.
“Yeah it needs a lot of work… I am not suited for that spell I think, my body isn’t as tough as
your’s and Kizuna’s… If I could get this into an item it would be perfect for her.” Akemi said
as she flexed her regenerated hand. “Glad I didn’t put Legion on this hand. Well, I don’t think
World Items are destroyed by spells like that.”
“What even was that spell mama?” Kizuna asked as the other Lilys arrived. Noriko looked
almost terrified as she rubbed her ears, while Emiko and Kizuna looked excited.
“I wanted to come up with a better use for Nuclear Blast… so I thought I’d try and treat it
like a shaped charge at close range… Sure it is effective, but not if it can take out my own
hand . “Sorry for that hurting so much Nazuna dear…” Akemi sounded genuinely guilty,
hugging her tightly.
“Its okay Mom, I did say you could try it on me, being a sturdy tank is my job. I hope you
can make that more user friendly though.”
Akemi’s mind looked to be running through possibilities as they all began to walk back to
where they started. “I have some ideas for that now, thanks for helping me test that.”
“Sure mom, I will hold onto that as a favor though.” Nazuna said with the most smug look
Akemi had ever seen. It told Akemi that she had ever intention of using that favor in the
future, likely in a way with terrible but hilarious consequences.
————
“Ow… ow…” Lorelei whined with each step towards the teleporter, the basket in her arms
only adding weight to her legs. “Why did I volunteer for this?” Lorelei wondered aloud.
Walking had steadily gotten easier the more she was on her feet, but still, her legs would get
sore the day after… and hence they were almost always sore. It hurt, but she could mostly
walk again. Her stride became easier as the pain faded to the back of her mind.
Activating the teleporter Lorelei was warped down to the first floor, and then another
activation brought her to the northern end of that floor near the gate. With a diameter of forty
kilometers those teleportation points were absolutely essential for the population.
Next to the gate out of the tree, there was a large stone building that Lorelei suspected Akemi
had created, otherwise construction would have taken too long. As she expected she saw her
mom off to the side of the building in a field that had been cleared of trees.
Standing across from her was another girl that was a few inches taller than herself. As she
approached she noted the two’s sudden high speed fight with blunt training swords, or she
assumed they were training swords…
From where she stood off to the side, Lorelei could tell her mother was taking it easy on the
girl, parrying her blows and rewarding the attempt with almost gentle strikes at the openings
she would see in the girl’s stance.
As she waited for the duo to be done, Lorelei laid out a large blanket from the basket next to
Kyouko’s bag and sat down with a relieved sigh. Her eyes were drawn back to the girl her
mom was fighting.
Like herself, the girl wasn’t human, and appeared to be some sort of feline Demi-human. She
had white hair like Rinna, but seemed far more fierce than the meek sheep girl, not that that
was a tall bar.
As fond as she was of Rinna, she wasn’t exactly good in a fight. “Now this girl, she seems to
know her way around a sword.” It wasn’t often that her mom looked that stern while training
someone. The fact that she had taken the girl to train her one and one was proof to Lorelei
that the girl had talent.
Lorelei didn’t even notice her eyes drifting around the girl a bit, not until the pair stopped
sparring and looked towards her. It was just a small observation, and didn’t reach the level of
bringing a flush to her face, but it was something she had to mull over later.
“Is it lunch time already pup?” Kyouko asked as she sat down with a cool smile on her face,
looking not even out of breath.
On the other hand the feline girl that Lorelei wanted to say was named Klaris was out of
breath and had a sheen of sweat as she lifted her arms behind her head. Lorelei recognized it
as a way to help promote deep breathing. “Mom really put her through the ringer…”
“Mm, Ana set aside lunch for us before she left this morning. She was going to bring it
herself, but I offered, I figured it would be a good chance to stretch my legs more.” Lorelei
reached into the basket, pulling out half of a cold sandwich from a wide selection.
Taking a bite Lorelei couldn’t help but close her eyes a bit, still marveling over the taste of
actual food. “Funny how meat and cheese can taste so good still.”
“Ana used some meat vine for it? I suppose Akemi left plenty in the fridge, so it may as well
get eaten.” Kyouko turned to Klaris who had begun to walk away. “Oi! Get back here!” She
called.
Those black and white striped ears perked up as Klaris made her way back over. “There is
plenty here, have some lunch.” Kyouko said as she pulled a towel from her bag, tossing it
over Klaris’s head with a muffled laugh.
“Thanks Ma’am. Your Mate made these?” Klaris asked as she helped herself, looking
appreciative after wiping herself off and grabbing a sandwich. Her gaze turned to Lorelei. “I
don’t think we’ve gotten to meet yet. You must be Lorelei right? I’m Klaris, your mom has
been teaching me the sword. Are you going to be joining us?”
Lorelei’s ears folded as she shrugged. “Not yet, I still have to get muscle mass back. I’m…
unsure if I’d even want to fight.” Lorelei watched Kyouko out of the corner of her eye,
expecting at least a frown.
Against her expectations she felt her hair get ruffled until she had to push the hand away.
“And that is your choice to make, if you want to find something else to do we’ll all support
you. I know you might still be unsure about Akemi and Ana but… they do want to get to
know you, and if you ask them for help they will make the time.”
Lorelei looked down at her food and turned that thought over in her head. Out of the corner
of her eyes she saw that her mother’s bag had fallen over, a book poking out of it.
Reaching out for it she made an unexpected find. “Secrets of the Arcana… Isn’t this that
beginner’s magic book?” Lorelei asked as she flipped through the tome.
Kyouko of all people flushed and looked away. “Yeah… I wanted to see if I could expand my
skill set, but I don’t have much mana, but It can’t hurt to learn some of the basics. If you want
you can look at it, just keep my bookmark in there.”
By the time Lorelei had even processed those words she had begun to read through the first
page, not noticing her tail very slowly wagging.
Kyouko watched fondly for a moment before turning to Klaris. “You’re stance with a sword
is getting better, and I can tell you are keeping up with the diet I had given you.”
“Mhm, I was already pretty strong before I got… captured.” Klaris flinched for a moment,
her eyes going cold until she let out a breath. “I think I am nearly back to where I was. I got
treated probably gentler than others, the now dead bastard thought I was a rarity, didn’t want
to mark his prize too much.”
Klaris’s casual statements of a horrific period of her life struck the other two enough they had
to look up from what they were doing.
Lorelei was the one that broke the silence after a few tense moments. “How are you able to…
Talk casually about it? I don’t like people circling the topic, so I tend to be blunt, but it is
hard for me to even approach what memories I can recall…”
Klaris shrugged and set her sandwich down. “Like a lot of the others, I feel like something
broke in me during that time… even killing my captor didn’t bother me, if anything… I took
pleasure in it.”
“I wouldn’t say that anything broke, some people just deserve to die by your hand, and that is
okay.” Kyouko actually looked deep in thought for a moment before quietly laughing.
“That is probably not the most responsible thing to say as a parent… I don’t enjoy killing
people, but I’ve taken some joy in the deaths of certain people that deserved to feel my
blade.” Kyouko’s eyes took on a sharp, or even dangerous, glint.
“What I’m saying is you aren’t broken, you’re just still being reforged, you get to decide
what you hammer yourself into. That goes for both of you.” Kyouko laid back to watch the
fake sky above.
“I guess even you can say some wise things sometimes, Mom.” Lorelei had a grin on her face
as she laid back also, lunch now sitting heavy in her, making her sleepy. She ignored the
indignant huff from her mother and just relaxed in the cool fall breeze. “Such a nice
change… I’m glad I woke up.”
———————
11/1 Middle Earth Month
“Hurry up Takara! I think I heard It this way! Why did you have to toss the ball that hard?” A
young Kitsune boy dashed through the thick woods of his home with practiced ease, his eyes
darting around.
“Wait up Hisoka! Why did you smack it that hard then?! If we don’t find it I’m telling!” A
fellow one tailed Kitsune girl followed behind him, taking noticeably more effort to navigate
unfamiliar territory.
The sound of foot steps stopped ahead of her, but she could at least pinpoint the last point she
heard them. She emerged in a very small clearing in the tree line, just a small section of trees
more spread out than the rest of the dense forest. “All because he just Had to use his tails to
hit the ball…” It was creepily quiet.
Once that thought got to her head she felt something cold in her gut, a sense of foreboding
strong enough to make her want to run. She felt like prey, but she couldn’t just leave her
friend behind.
One step at a time led her further in, until she saw first a shoe on the ground, and then the
foot it belonged to. It was incredibly dark past the tree line, but she could see the vague
outline of Hisoka on the ground.
“Hisoka!” She ran over worriedly, assuming he had tripped hard, it wouldn’t have been the
first time. Part of her mind noted the subtle magical field she stepped through, the boundary
outside their village her parents told her to never go past.
The sight she beheld wouldn’t even have time to imprint as a memory as she felt a sudden
tightness around her neck.
A pair of strong arms held her tight, a hand also over her mouth. “I’m sorry child, may your
next life be kinder.” She heard a woman whisper in her ears, right before she heard a horrid
cracking sound that seemed to echo throughout her entire body.
It took her half a moment to realize she couldn't feel her body besides a fading pain in her
neck. “Wha- What is going… on… Mama… I’m scared… p-please…”
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Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/23340424.

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6/23 Lower Wind Month

“Oh well, what is one gold piece out of a few million.

Chapter End Notes

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! Enjoy!

T/W: Sexism, gore.

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6/24 Lower Wind Month

“I wish I knew… but I am not complaining.”

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading! Enjoy!

T/W: Sexism, gore.

A/N: Thanks everyone for all the favorites and follows

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6/24 Lower Wind Month

Chapter End Notes

Please review if you liked it! Stay safe everyone.

11/7/22 Did more clean up and hopefully it is a bit more readable.

6/28 Lower Wind Month

7/3 Upper Fire Month

7/19 Upper Fire Month

8/3 Middle Fire Month

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8/3 Middle Fire Month

8/4 Middle Fire Month

Chapter End Notes

Further edited 11/17. Holy fuck I had left a lot of errors…

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8/4 Middle Fire Month

8/5 Middle Fire Month

Added more and did more cleanup 4/30/2023

8/5 Middle Fire Month

“S-sorry? Let me fix this up...”

Chapter End Notes

8/5 Middle Fire Month

Chapter End Notes

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8/5 Middle Fire Month

“I see… So much of Lorelei in Hannyuu, though my Lorelei is older by now. I… I need to at

Chapter End Notes

Updated on 11/18/22, minor edits.

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8/5 Middle Fire Month

8/6 Middle Fire Month

“Akemi… Is randomly calling me going to be a regular thing? I Am busier than it might

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8/7 Middle Fire Month

Akemi smiled and zoomed off in the direction of the adventurers.

“She is our Shorty, that is all that matters.” Gagaran stated.

Chapter End Notes

The first steps are taken on a new journey.

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8/8 Middle Fire Month

8/9 Middle Fire Month

“I’m Ana, a pleasure.” Ana said and gave a tiny curtsy.

“Welcome to Arwintar Ma’am.”

Chapter End Notes

A/N: Greetings everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

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8/9 Middle Fire Month

Chapter End Notes