POV Aron Brightcloud

The nightmare had ended. Now aware of what was going on, it was easy to leave my dreamworld. Everything originated from me, I was in control all along. The nightmare had hidden that fact and manipulated me into believing that everything was real. I had instinctively restrained myself and only reacted with the options I would have had in the real world.

With a thought I willed myself out of it. Opening my eyes, I had arrived in reality again. The hedges with their green lush leaves seemed especially beautiful in the evening sun.

“Hey, sleepyhead, finally awake?”

Sephiroth’s alluring voice sounded close to me. Was there a connection between her and the mysterious woman in my soul? The heat and color of the flames the woman had used showed a clear demonic lineage. I needed to ask her some pointed questions.

She was unable to lie to me. I would quickly find out the truth. Full of anticipation, I turned my head.

“I-” Something had been placed on my head. Turning pushed it out of balance. It slipped to the side and landed accurately on my trousers.

A sudden cold spread through my lower parts. Water! Someone had placed a cup of water on my head while I was asleep! All my calculating thoughts vanished, replaced by anger. I knew immediately who the perpetrator was. Only one person had the boldness to trick her master and loved to make fun of me. Sephiroth, that little minx! She would pay for it!

It didn’t help that she had arrived right next to me while I was distracted and purred into my right ear.

“Oh my, what has happened here? I thought you were more mature than that. Wetting yourself while sleeping. It might be best to change. Your mother would be very surprised to see you like this.”

The previous events completely forgotten, I tried to catch the little vixen.

With a cheerful laugh, she ran away. Leading me into the trainings area. What then followed was a surreal game of tag. I tried to get my hands on her while she threw swords, shields and training axes at me to slow me down.

Trying to catch someone who threw the entire inventory of a training facility at you wasn’t a simple task. At some point I had forgotten about my initial anger. It felt very liberating to forget everything and try to catch the woman in front of me. I didn’t realize it, but at some point I had start to smile.

“Oh, you missed again, my master.” Sephiroth goaded me while standing behind a dummy. She looked gorgeous, sweat dripping down her left eyebrow, she smiled at me with her foxy smile. Her clothes were a little misplaced because of all the running, letting me see more of her slim and alluring body then usual. The important parts were still covered but the additional skin was enough to distract me for a second.

Because of that, I was too slow to evade the wooden sword that came flying the next second. Another bruise! With the pain my urge to catch her rekindled, the game continued.

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POV Sephiroth

She looked with affection at the sitting form of Aron. He was spent. The game had been fun. She had felt Aron’s eyes every now and then roaming over her body. Sephiroth knew that her clothes had started to show more than publicly accepted, but she had left it like that on purpose. Slowly embedding the game with additional tension. Stopping him from thinking clearly, he should only focus on her.

Sephiroth was very happy with the outcome. Aron quickly forgot everything, simply trying to catch her while drinking in her beauty. Slowly the hunt turned into a fun game. This closed the mental distance between them significantly. During the second part of the game she saw a carefree smile on his face. He had forgotten the down weighting thoughts and simply revealed in the challenge to catch her. For once he was a sixteen year old youth with no baggage attached.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

At the end she moved closer to him and put on a pure and innocent smile.

“Please forgive my little prank, I simply wanted you to relax a little. You were always so focused on training during the last week. You know, you should also have fun sometimes! As payment, I will give you a great massage. You will feel like new afterwards! So please, don’t be angry anymore, okay?”

Aron was completely defenseless against her pouting and innocent eyes.

“Okay… I will forget about it. But next time it won’t end so easily, do you understand?”

Sephiroth quickly nodded and moved behind her charge.

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POV Aron Brightcloud

Her slim hands made their way over my body, kneading my every muscle carefully. I could smell her unique scent as she leaned closely into my body, fully focused on her task.

The game we played had been fun. I couldn’t refrain from smiling lightly. Now that I thought about it, it had been the first time since long that I had stopped doing anything target oriented and had simply enjoyed myself. I felt great and full of energy. I really had needed a break.

A lot had happened in the immediate past. I had participated in a war, died, got abducted, my soul got forcefully invaded by an evil existence, had to survive a showdown between two titans, saved a prince, got exorcised, ate another soul, got a new body, had to find my bearing in a new world and survived the latest attempt of having taken over my soul.

Yes, Sephiroth was right, I really had needed a breather. Thanks to her, I felt much better now. The bruises didn’t count; I got them daily. In addition, Sephiroth was a tidy sadist. She always cleaned up afterwards. The pain should vanish soon.

Not long later I got my confirmation. Under Sephiroth’s professional hands the pain quickly lessened. Absently I breathed in more of her relaxing scent, letting me unwind even more. I didn’t realize it, but in my mind her beautiful body had appeared again, letting me watch her a second time.

With every joke and graceful motion of her angel like body, my thought process towards her changed. I still hadn’t realized it, but step by step I was being led astray. My once iron walls crumbling under her gentle assault.

“See Aron, now you are like new. I think it is time to clean yourself up before you meet your family for dinner.”

The sun had mostly vanished from view. I needed to change clothes, my mother was very strict about the appearance at dinner. Not wanting to lose any more time we swiftly moved towards my chambers.

I lay in the bathtub and enjoyed my bath. Only then did the whole nightmarish event resurface, and with it my thoughts about Sephiroth’s role in it. Could she really be connected to the mysterious entity that had come to my rescue?

I remembered her attitude after I had woken up, there was no difference. She seemed happy to see me. No, it couldn’t have been Sephiroth. I should not think in such paranoid directions. If she had been the person behind me, she would have seen my soul. That would have shocked her much too much. I need to be more trusting of my close friends and servants.

Theoreticly I knew that I simply could ask her directly and I would know without a doubt. But it felt strangely invasive and something in me stopped me from doing it.

Thinking back to how meticulously she had massaged my body, I had felt the care in her movements. I shouldn’t be so strict with her anymore. I would still try to find out her true identity, but I shouldn’t be too suspicious towards her.

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POV Sephiroth

Sitting on Aron’s bed she gracefully let herself fall back, landing with her head nicely on top of his pillow. Now that she had subverted Aron’s initial suspicion it was time to think about all the things she had seen in his soul. She grinned in anticipation when she thought about all the mysteries. She looked forward to slowly peel of every single secret that he had in that handsome head of his, leaf by leaf, until his whole soul lay bare before her.