Ithnaa

“Where are we anyway?” Sora asked as I moved over to one of the bookshelves and started reading through the titles.

“One of many safehouses I have hidden across the Network. This one is under a mountain on an unnamed volcanic world.” I pulled a leather-bound manuscript off the shelf and leafed through it. Satisfied, I handed it back to Sora and continued searching.

“That’s some serious super villain vibes,” they commented as they started looking through the book.

“Is it? I hadn’t noticed,” I chuckled as I handed another grimoire back to them. “That one is bound with centaur leather. His name was Daniel.”

“Oh? What did Daniel do to you?” they asked as they started stacking the books on top of Talis’s armor in their arms.

“He wouldn’t share his spells.” I grabbed a pair of grimoires off the shelf this time and handed them both to Sora.

“Sounds like an asshole. Definitely deserved it. What about these?”

“Fox leather.” They glared at me, and I laughed. “It’s artificial. They’re third edition copies of the originals. I wouldn’t use them to cast anything directly, but the spell descriptions should be accurate enough.”

“I should smite you. That’s a thing I can do now, and I’m pretty sure what you just said was blasphemy.”

“Absolutely, you should.” I kissed them as I placed another three books on the growing pile. “I will, however, remind you that there’s no food allowed in my study, and the nearest source of it is twelve light-years away. So, unless you want to eat paper for the rest of your life, maybe wait until we get back?”

“I could always use more fiber…” they trailed off, pretending to consider their options.

“Did I mention I poisoned all the books?” I joked.

“No,” they laughed. “Why would you do that?”

“In case the adorable kitsune I was sleeping with killed me and tried to survive by eating them?”

“Adorable?” they asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Dangerously adorable,” I amended. “Sorry, sweetie, but even as a paladin of Kai, you’re still my adorable little fox.” They mocked a biting motion towards me, and I poked them in the forehead, teleporting us both back to their bedroom aboard the Fury. “How long until we reach Paradise?”

“It shouldn’t be more than a few hours, assuming there are no complications.”

“Alright, let’s gather up Thea and Samira so that we can go over the plan one last time.” I turned to leave, but as I did, the door to the room slammed shut and locked. Then I felt the hum of the ship’s engines slow.

“Minor complication.” I felt cold metal on my neck as Sora pushed themself against my back. “I might have understated the urge to smite you earlier, and it’s only gotten stronger since. If I don’t do something about it soon, then I’m actually going to try to kill you.” I was about to say that it felt like they already were, when they pushed the dagger up under my chin. “Don’t say anything. You’ll only make things worse for yourself.”

They ran their teeth over the base of my neck before biting down hard enough to break the skin. I flinched, which caused the dagger to cut into me.

“Relax, it’s almost over,” they purred before biting down again, this time channeling mana into it. I cringed at the pain, and Sora lowered the dagger to take a step back.

“Is that going to happen often?” I asked as I rubbed at the bite. It wasn’t bleeding, but I could feel the scar already starting to form. Likely a result of the smite spell they had used.

“Yeah, sorry about that. I think it’s a paladin thing.” They gave me a sheepish smile. “I figured you’d enjoy that more than getting stabbed in the back.”

“Well, you’re not wrong,” I responded absently as I conjured a mirror to inspect the scar. It was right at the base of my neck, and very clearly a bite mark. Hiding it would be difficult, but I didn’t think that was going to be a problem. “I kind of like it…”

“You would,” they chuckled as they stepped forward to run a finger over the scar. “It does look good on you, but do me a favor, and try to avoid blasphemy in the future. I really didn’t like how that felt.”

“Sure, I'll be more careful.” I put the mirror away and looked over at them. “What exactly does Kai consider blasphemy?”

“I have no idea. Maybe we can ask Talis when he eventually shows up to get his armor.”

“Why not just ask Kai herself?”

“I think I’ve had enough of dealing with divinity for a while. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to spend the next couple of weeks avoiding people who can kill me with a stray thought.”

“Unusual stance for a paladin, but fair enough.” I pulled them into a kiss before letting them go. “Now, can you go get Samira and have her meet us in the living area with Thea?”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk about, and why I stopped the ship.” They gave me a sheepish, almost pleading look. “Thea finally fell asleep for the first time since she got back on the ship around half an hour ago, and I’m pretty sure Sami is about fifteen minutes from lying down herself. This has obviously been hard on them, and I don’t think jumping into the next adventure is what they need right now. Let’s take a few days, or maybe a week, to just not be in mortal danger. Then we can go fuck up Paradise.”

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“That might add some complications, but we can make it work. What should we do in the meantime?”

They smiled as they took a step back towards the bed. “I do feel kind of bad about the whole smiting you thing. Maybe you could help alleviate some of that guilt.”

I grabbed them by the neck and teleported both of us about a half a meter above the bed, falling on top of them. “Now, that sounds like something I could do.”

~~~~~

The week of relaxation turned out to be needed by everyone, myself included. During that time, I helped Thea contract with Sora. They still hadn't managed to learn any new spells, and their mana was pushing the limits of what they could maintain. Bleeding some off to Thea was an easy solution.

Besides, I still had a contract with both Leila and Suriel—their sister having made one with the satyr before leaving for Akresh. We were hoping that my contract with the two siblings would only be until they got back to the rest of the Radiant Theocracy. At that point, Ashaiya, their older sister, would be able to set them up with whatever she was doing to stay on the mortal plane.

But none of that could happen until we got their ship off of Paradise, and they wanted Samira to check over the repairs they had paid for. Which meant we actually needed to get on the station in the first place, and the port control was being stubborn.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know a Captain Virra. If you want to dock, then I need to know who’s expecting you,” the air-headed elven woman explained for the third time.

Thea pushed her way to the front of the bridge so that she could speak into the microphone. “What about Captain Ayumi? She knows us.”

“There is no Captain Ayumi, and at this point you’re clearly just making up names.”

“She means Captain Aoyama,” Sora corrected as they moved her out of the way. “She’ll vouch for us.”

“Isn’t that what I said?”

The elf sighed. “Look, it’s obvious that you just want to get aboard, but I’m warning you now that faking a connection to one of the pirate queens isn’t the way to do it. If you want, I can put you in contact with Captain Nora’s crew. She just inherited a couple dozen lancer docks that she’s probably looking to rent out. Trust me, you’re much better off dealing with her than you are getting on Captain Aoyama's bad side.”

Sora gave me a concerned look, but I didn’t quite have the context to understand what it meant. So, I let them speak. “Please, just put us down in one of Captain Aoyama’s docks.”

“Alright, it’s your funeral.” The elf interacted with a screen that we couldn’t see before pleading with us one last time. “Seriously, could I at least send you to Captain Penn’s territory? He’ll probably just kill you and be done with it. Captain Aoyama isn’t nearly that merciful.”

“You heard them,” I interjected. “We’ll deal with any potential fallout ourselves.”

“Fine. Captain Aoyama has two free hangars large enough for your ship. I’ll put you down in the one on the furthest edge of her territory. You’ll probably only have a few hours until she finds out.”

“Actually, put us down in the central-most,” Sora insisted. “And while you’re at it, alert her directly that Captain Virra’s crew has arrived back on Paradise.”

~~~~~

We came in for a landing around half an hour later. By the time Thea, Sora, and I were walking down the ramp, there was a very impatient looking vampire waiting for us surrounded by a half-dozen bound demons.

“Where is Virra?”

I took a step forward. “She’s somewhat preoccupied at the moment, but we’re authorized to act on her behalf.”

Captain Aoyama scanned our group before finally settling on Thea and shaking her head in obvious disappointment. “Am I to assume she was killed by Mother?”

“How did you know?” Thea asked in a pained whisper.

“Your pact. You still reek of her magic, but it’s clear that you’re being provided mana by the kitsune standing beside you. Sora, I presume?”

“That’s right,” they confirmed. “So, the cat is out of the bag. What now?”

“First, explain what your intentions were, because whatever plan you had come up with clearly wasn’t well thought out.”

“We wanted to recruit a fleet to avenge Bryce,” Thea explained. “We were kind of hoping that her name still carried enough weight to get away with it.”

“Avenge? Not Rescue? You must be aware that Mother doesn’t often allow her victims to remain dead.”

“Yeah, avenge,” Thea said shakily. “She didn’t want us going after her, so she chose to go to Tess’s afterlife. Mother won’t be able to bring her back, and neither will we.”

“Gods are far too arrogant, and Tess is more arrogant than most.” Aoyama shook her head. “Mother is among the few beings in this galaxy that predates divinity itself. Underestimate her at your own peril.”

“You don’t think Tess is going to be able to protect Bryce?” Thea asked.

“I think Mother is far too clever to let something as insignificant as a goddess stand in her way.”

“Careful,” Sora warned. “You’re getting awfully close to blasphemy.”

“I wouldn’t dream of insulting the mighty trickster in the presence of her paladin. I was merely suggesting that your captain may not be as lost as you fear she is. Please, forgive me if it came across as anything else.”

“Well, I no longer feel the urge to kill you coming on, so you’re probably fine.” Sora seemed to relax after the apology and I made a mental note to try that next time.

“Wait, let’s get back to the part where Bryce might not be dead forever,” Thea interrupted. “You’re saying that Mother might still be able to resurrect her even from Tess’s afterlife?”

“I’m saying that if anybody could find a way to bypass the wards around the goddess of magic’s afterlife, it’s her. However, I’ve seen what Mother does to her prisoners, and if you truly care about your captain, then you’ll pray she stays dead.”

The room went deathly still, and after a few moments of silence, I tried to bring the conversation back to the issue at hand. “It doesn’t sound like you’re refusing to help us. What’s your play here?”

“Ithnaa, right?” she asked, and I nodded. “Your captain went to great lengths to get you back. I hope you appreciate her efforts.”

“Of course I do, but you didn’t answer my question. What are you planning?”

“Captain Virra’s death was an unfortunate tragedy, but one we might yet be able to capitalize on.” Thea tensed at that, but Aoyama either didn’t notice or didn’t care. “You see, she may not have been formally recognized as being on the council, but she was technically a member when she was killed. Because the one who killed her doesn’t qualify to take her seat, it must remain open until she’s avenged.”

“That sounds like decent motivation for an up-and-coming pirate,” Sora pointed out. “Is it enough for us to start recruiting?”

“Possibly, but there’s a complication.” The captain frowned. “Nora claimed the kill on Leon while you were gone, and with no one to challenge her, she was given his seat on the council.”

“That seems like more than just a complication. I assume you have a solution in mind?” I asked, and Aoyama nodded toward Sora.

“I do, and they’re standing right there.”