A few days later, I got word via a summoned messenger bird that the rest of the girls were coming back. We gathered our party and set to the castle basement. At the scheduled time, a rift into the Ethereal opened and they walked out.
Arista, Lakerta, Alloralla, Snowdrop, and... two dozen Centaur ladies. Two dozen very pregnant Centaur ladies.
I took a few seconds to add two plus two.
Noticing we were talking about her, the Lamia met our eyes and nodded.
The half-snake woman grinned. "I'll let Her Majesty explain." Both Elf and Centauress perked up. "Snow White, you're up."
Snowdrop widened her arms and shrugged, "What can I say, I'm going to be a daddy!"
Barbara squealed, "Oh, I'm so happy for you," then her gaze wandered to the Centauress's bountiful chest "... Wait, how?"
"Shapeshifting, of course," Apricot deadpanned.
"Yeah," Lily dismayed. "We can only turn into cats, but they can do all sorts of things."
Again, with her inferiority complex. Though Alloralla was also defeated and killed in combat, Lily surrendered. All the other Aspects had most of the Traits of the previous ones combined, but she was the oldest model in the series.
"Including growing a huge dick," filterless Apricot over-explained like a nature documentary narrator, with no hint of lewdness. "And balls to match."
Some of the Centaur ladies blushed. Barbara bit her lips and went tomato-red.
"They remained with you," Alloralla explained. "Only the physical effects, if any, remained."
"Apricot, Rose, and Snowdrop kept theirs," Arista completed. "Lily and I cured ours, Alloralla and ..."
"I'm still bald," Lakerta bemoaned.
"Oh, sorry," the mermaid grimaced.
"I would birth them on my own, but I can't," Snowdrop agreed. "'I had to go and conquer a tribe for myself and make a harem."
Snowdrop didn't have a womb. She was the last one in a long series of incarnations with random disabilities.
"About time someone got a harem," Alloralla stated, trying to gauge everyone's reaction.
"Yeah, because a certain someone didn't finish their quests," Snowdrop clopped the packed earth floor as she threw an accusing glare toward me.
Oh, the revival of the Unicorn King's Legacy. So that's what they were doing in the barbarian plains.
"First ones come out of the oven in less than a month," Snowdrop replied. "I wanted to have Kasumi and you nearby in case something went wrong."
"We'd be delighted to help and see our family grow," the [Saintess] said, then went over to Snowdrop's pregnant wives. "Ladies, may I check your babies' health and bless them?"
"Of course, your Holiness!" The lead wife nodded with a big grin. The others followed suit.
The Kitsune went to touch each of the Centaurs' bellies to use her magic. While the four-legged ladies made delighted sounds at having a prenatal checkup done by the third most important person in the Church worldwide, I focused back on Barbara. She was talking to Alloralla. It seemed they were past introductions and the fangirl questions about her being the former Queen of the Elven domain. She was already at...
"So, you all are Nethe's previous incarnations?"
"More or less," the pink-haired Elf bobbed her hand sideways. "We are... were..."
"Better start from the start," Apricot asserted as she approached the two. "Our species is [Living Divine Golems]."
"That's not the start," Alloralla protested. "But you are right. We all were Dragons once."
"Dragon [Archmages]," Apricot corrected.
"We worshiped the Broodmother and agreed to sacrifice our lives and bodies to rebuild and take over the former bodies of the Matriarch's incarnations."
"Along with their Status," Apricot added.
"Right. But to do that, we needed to fool the System. So, we joined together and crafted this ritual that would give us 99.9% of the memories and emotions of these bodies, leaving only our loyalty to the Broodmother and to our mission from our former selves," the pink-haired Elf continued.
"Why would you do that?" Barbara gasped.
"It was a gamble but to fight the Matriarch, we needed her power. And we figured she would hesitate to fight against her own previous incarnations."
"And we were right," Apricot intervened again.
"[Emperor] Percival, the Matriarch's current incarnation, refused to go against us," Alloralla continued. "He instead did the opposite. He fragmented his soul and split seven tiny shards, imbuing them with the full memories of his previous lives. Then he used [Saint Magic] to fuse these shards, erasing the tiny bit we left behind of our former draconic selves," Alloralla explained.
"That also bound us to her as servants."
"Do you miss being dragons?" Barbara asked with a hushed tone.
"Not at all," Apricot candidly admitted. "Can't miss what you can't remember."
"The Dragon [Archmages] we once were sacrificed everything for the Broodmother. We took a new mantle, a new identity, a new life. But it was hollow. The Dragon Goddess, she..."
"She was batshit crazy. Completely bonkers."
Alloralla snorted a laugh, "Yes, thanks, Apricot. That she was."
"You're welcome," the [Assassin] smiled, content that she made her "sister" happy.
"She had no regard for any of Her children. She would sacrifice every dragon alive or dead to get her vengeance. With the feelings, memories, and sensibilities of our current selves, we felt it was wrong but the loyalty we kept drove us to fight. When Percival gifted us his soul, that changed."
"We became whole. We were reborn in Him. Her. It," Apricot rambled, getting more and more confused.
"Ah!" Barbara's eyes lit up. Figuratively. "So that's why Nethe said she's technically your boss."
"Not untrue. Also, that little book of yours can kick our ass even if we weren't subordinate to them," Apricot confessed.
"I can sense your concern," the Star Elf said as she grabbed Barbara's hand. "We are happy with our current selves. Almost all of us died with some regret. Living again gives us a chance to complete our tales. To write the last chapter of our stories."
"Yeah, we died some pretty shitty deaths," Apricot showed the first hint of emotion, regret.
"I didn't..." Barbara tried to stop the [Assassin] but Alloralla grasped the halfling's hand and shook her head. Let her speak, she meant.
"In chronological order, Lily there was decapitated by the King of Pekothas after she'd surrendered. I was blown up by the Second Demon King along with half a continent. After I killed him. Alloralla was crushed by a dragon in a cube of {Force} magic. Rosewise, who's not here, sacrificed most of her powers to revive Windemere after the black dragon King turned everyone into zombies. Lakerta sacrificed her life to break some curses after–mmff."
A slender hand gently cuffed the [Assassin]'s mouth.
"I'll continue," Alloralla said as she stopped Apricot from oversharing. "Lakerta completed her mission and moved on after a long and fulfilling life. Most people wouldn't think about moving on willingly, but to the Matriarch, death is not such a big loss. Then Arista decided she would give her life to put an enchantment over her beloved mermaid nation, which stands to this day, protecting the mermaids and her sister's bloodline. Finally, Snowdrop—"
"Got bored and offed herself before any of the Centaur Lords could woo her and find she had no—," Apricot said as she escaped the Elf's grasp but then stopped when she earned a stern glare.
"And there's just the seven of you?" Barbara inquired.
"Dragon [Archmages] don't grow on trees," as innocent as she was uncouth, Apricot replied in her flat tone as if that was the most obvious thing ever.
*
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While the Aspects were my former selves, they also weren't me. It was very obvious, considering how Apricot behaved. Without {Past Life Memory}, they remembered little of my past incarnations aside from what I used when living in their shoes. For Apricot, in particular, my knowledge and awareness counterbalanced the body's genetic disorder. Now, without those, she reverted to what I should've been, were I a normal person and not a reincarnator.
At least the restraints and ethics I displayed while living as Apricot remained deeply ingrained in her psyche. That and the love she felt for her family, that overwhelming feeling when everything else felt muted, spared her from truly becoming the princess of death. She had the perfect storm to become the world's most heartless and efficient killer, yet that spark of humanity kept the shadows at bay.
Barbara quickly recognized that and didn't take offense at the [Assassin]'s remarks.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Of course, they don't. I wonder how long it takes for a dragon to become an [Archmage]."
Apricot shook her head, "I couldn't answer, none of us remember our past lives as dragons."
And that was for the best, I remarked to myself. Mom knew what she was doing when she brought the Aspects into the fold.
"Probably thousands of years," Alloralla guessed. "Dragons have a hefty Exp penalty because of their size and innate power. And they need to rank up several times, then bounce back down and level up all over again when they evolve. And that was with a patron Goddess and accumulated knowledge."
"Any Dragons out there these days are fucked," Apricot remarked.
"Language," the [Queen] berated.
"Sorry."
"Anyway, I'm really happy everyone is here. I feel like I became part of a huge family," Barbara shared.
Apricot hugged the halfling with a grin from ear to ear. She then waved in the direction of Snowdrop's Centaur wives, "I'm going to become an aunt! Again! I love having nieces. Did I tell you about my niece Hazel? She was born just like me, then she became the country's best poet!"
Barbara hugged back, then dutifully listened to Apricot's tale.
*
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Thankfully, Centaurs from the plains were acclimated to bivouacking under the stars since birth. Snowdrop's harem took one of the grassy valleys and set up camp there. In no way we would find accommodations for the huge horse ladies in Halfling town.
Barbara went on her rounds, meeting the Halflings, hearing their concerns, offering secondhand advice, and lending my and the Aspects' help whenever we could.
At night, we gathered to do one experiment we never could. Did {Mana Wellsprings} stack? We had four of them. Everyone sat down and cranked on their Mana auras.
They stacked, additively. The very air hummed with power as the Valley was dipped in more Mana than ever. Every living creature in range of all four {Mana Wellsprings} quintupled their MP generation. Excess MP was then siphoned into the Wellsprings for the caster but three of them deposited their MP into [Kel'Caldor's True Phylactery] buried in the Ruins of Aquilonia. I used my share of the excess MP and also what was put in the magical urn toward Curse-breaking.
It didn't put a dent toward breaking it but it was a good experiment. If we could gather more casters as Percival did, those pesky Curses could go away faster, maybe in a few days instead of years.
We ended our little test and retired for the day. The Aspects used the unfinished rooms in the castle, while Snowdrop slept next to her wives. Odd. That was a Quest mom would never bother finishing.
While the Aspects had all the Status, memories, knowledge, and emotions of my previous incarnations, they didn't have precise memories of Earth or the {Past Life Memory} Perk. But our conversation earlier affected me more than me.
Sitting on her bed, with the ridiculously big book floating in front of her, Barbara studied. She wasn't calm like before. Something troubled her. She then pulled the covers shut and pushed the [Lost Sage's Encyclopedia] aside.
"Nethe?"
"Will you grow bored of this life too?"
I pried a little deeper into our master-familiar bond. She was fearful, worried, and a bit heartbroken. I grew ribbons and walked on them, jumping down from the desk, across the bedroom, and on the bed. A final bound put me on her lap.
"Tomorrow we depart for Crawcolt."
Barbara didn't buy it. Her mind was elsewhere, "That's not the matter. I... never mind."
Her heart rate rose a little. I unsummoned mom's book.
Perhaps I should consider either lifting the curse on [King] Himmel or taking Barbara to grind some levels and invest in her Mental Attributes.
She put me on her lap, "Would you stay with me?"
I wouldn't let her read the raw stories in mom's book for two reasons. One, it contained my raw, unfiltered thoughts, and two, it mentioned Loki. So far, no mortal in this world had knowledge of Him and I intended to keep it this way.
Barbara cracked a smile, a ray of sunshine piercing the dark clouds of her worries, "Sure. I want to know more about Hazel the [Poet]. Apricot spoke so fondly of her!"
I used {Suppress Curse} and let Barbara have an hour of quality time with my true self before bedtime. Mostly telling stories of the past, and answering the girl's questions.
*
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> MDW: if you haven't yet read Catherine 2.0, the following section contains spoilers for that story.
*
Earth. I kid not. The USA. Wyoming.
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A young woman with wavy red hair sat in front of a computer. It didn't have any social network open but a lot of windows displayed financial data. Her fingers blurred as they tapped a colorful keyboard branded "Bloomberg", making a lot of stock trades with breakneck speed.
Then another young woman, with straight dark brown hair but the spitting image of the first barged into the room. The ginger girl quickly terminated most of her positions and set conservative stop-loss orders on the rest. If her sister was entering her room, unannounced and in such haste, something was about to happen. She just hoped nothing crawled up from hell to come after them this time.
"SIS!" the brunette shouted.
The redhead spun on her chair. "What's the matter, Catherine?"
"THIS!" The excited college freshman shoved a flier in her sister's face.
It was the print of an online ad for a test trial of new technology. A brief inspection revealed it was the world's first full-dive Virtual Reality Pod. It had finally arrived, she remarked. After decades heralding such things in fiction, from Tron to The Matrix and a stack of fiction books so tall it would reach the fifth floor from the ground, were they ever put in physical print, someone finally managed to make it real.
She guessed it was just a matter of time. Glancing back at her Bloomberg trading rig, she wondered if she could day trade even faster if she eschewed the limitations of the flesh.
"Did you see, Cathy? It'll be used for an MMO!" Catherine tapped the flier. "They are looking for test volunteers. What do you think?"
The older twin raised an eyebrow. "Are you really thinking of hooking yourself to this sensory deprivation pod to play games while being fed via IV drip? What about Anthony?"
Catherine smiled mischievously, "Of course, I wouldn't abandon my baby! I was thinking of volunteering with you! Don't you want to go to another world? Even if it's just virtual..."
Cathy glared in silence until Catherine's smile wilted.
"Have you forgotten what Shinji and Alice told us about their trips to other worlds? Of how 'wonderful'," Cathy drawled and air quoted, oozing sarcasm, "their experiences were?"
"Is that a no?" Catherine made a cute pose.
Her sister/clone, a reincarnated wall street banker deadpanned, "Hard no."
Catherine fidgeted and looked at the relatively empty room, with lots of space. "Well, guess I'll need someone else to put in the pod I ordered. I really want to play this game. They say it will be the most realistic MMO ever. And the pod will have a time dilation experience! You'll play for days in the game while only a few hours pass in the real world."
"Wait, go back a bit. You did what?" The redhead signaled to stop with a flat palm.
"I bought one VR pod. With my own money. My pay. From the foundation. They are delivering it tomorrow. No refunds."
"No refunds," Cathy repeated.
"It was rather expensive..."
Cathy sputtered into a fit of laughter. They could probably buy a dozen such pods with their combined pocket money.
"That's fine! Money is not the issue. Neither of us is hooking our brains to this machine. If it can connect sensory and motor data both ways, it can read our minds."
"But..."
"Did you watch Sword Art Online?"
"No. Is it the anime with the guy with spiky hair and black clothes?"
Cathy stopped to think. Did it have a guy with spiky hair and black clothes? "Yes. It's on Netflix. Go watch it."
"Can I then..."
Cathy interrupted her. "No. you cannot hire someone to fry their brains on experimental stuff. Think of the lawsuit. I still didn't move most of our money to an offshore trust. We are vulnerable. And Anthony still has a lot of settlement money from his father to collect."
Catherine sighed. Her twin sister held her shoulder and softened her tone.
"If it's bought, then it's bought. I won't make you return it," Cathy extended an olive branch. "We'll ship it to New Jersey. Since it's one of the first machines of its kind, it will probably appreciate in value. We might resell it in a decade or two at a profit for some collectors. Let Esmeralda know it's going to arrive there."
Their house in Wyoming wasn't small but all rooms were accounted for. While Cathy thought if they would need to repurpose a room at their New Jersey mansion, Catherine produced another flier.
"They are also doing regular, boring, VR glasses and sensory gloves. I knew you would reject the pod so I ordered one for each of us. We can use the home theater room and stow them after we're done playing. It does not have the time dilation, though."
Cathy stared at the innocent grin on her sister's face, and her resolve melted. "You really want to play this game," she remarked. "What's it called?"
"Loki Online."
*
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Some temporary Divine Realm in Yznarian.
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Several Gods gathered. Galbarar, Yznera, Queltphion, Rabhorktaar, and Vukdon. The others might as well have given up on the world, immersed in their own realms. The five deities sat around a featureless table in the featureless dimension.
"Bundeus and Wyxnos are forever gone from this World," Galbarar declared. "The Usurper made sure of it."
"I thought Bundeus was already gone for good," Rabhorktaar said.
"Wyxnos spent the last two thousand years of exile healing his soul and gave him the Divine Core back," Vukdon remarked. "He breached the gauntlet and stole information from Earth to make it happen."
"Yes, he breached the gauntlet he was tasked with maintaining, the traitor," Queltphion spat. "And now demons pour into our world like ant nymphs after the rain."
"Is it even our world still?" Yznera lamented. "The Matriarch became the dominant religion now."
"Can't blame her," Vukdon rubbed his beard. "She won it."
"What good will it make?" Queltphion scoffed, "The Demons already lay siege to the last two Kingdoms they hadn't corrupted in the Scorched Continent. They are harvesting souls by the tens of thousands every year. Soon, they will spill over the whole world."
"Three Demon Lords roam that continent," someone remarked.
"Yes, that's true," Yznera remarked with a startle.
"Wait, who said that?" Rabhorktaar poignantly inquired.
Loki started to cackle. "Some Gods you are. Jerking off for two thousand years, blinded and isolated in your little fantasy islands. I hope you enjoyed your fun."
"What do you want, trickster?" Galbarar hedged.
"I'm offering you an easy out," Loki replied. "Surrender your Divine Cores, keep the sparks for all I care. If you do, I'll take you to Midgard and let you either return to your old lives or be reborn anew. I'm going to take this avatar out of this world anyway, for some time."
"And what if we don't?" Yznera asked, wary.
Loki grinned, shrugged, and showed both of his palms, empty. "Then you stay here and miss out on an easy way out of what's coming. I'm here just to offer you a ride. I can't allow you to go to Midgard with your Divine Cores. That would be more trouble than letting a drunk Thor lose in Midgard."
"What will you do with our Cores?" Vukdon asked.
"Rebuild the moon," Loki replied straight away. "Which you should be working on but no. Let's just party like we're in college again. The professor is gone, anyway."
Yznera reached into her bosom and pulled a golden orb. "Here you go, trickster. If it is to rebuild Sylvis, I take your offer. Let me be reborn on Earth in a good family."
Loki's face became serious. The Jotunn wasn't expecting someone to agree. "Yznera, this I vow. Your Core's energies will be used to rebuild the moon and nothing else. And you'll be born into a happy, stable family. You and your new parents will have my blessing.
"Yznera... Patricia," Galbarar reached out.
Yznera dodged. "I know what I am doing, George. It's over."
Galbarar looked away. Queltphion vanished as he departed from that realm. Rabhorktaar clicked his tongue.
Vukdon stood. "Do you mind having a sibling? A twin brother?"
Patricia surrendered her Core to Loki and beamed a relieved smile. "No. I would love to."
"Then it is settled. To Midgard with you two," Loki took the two golden orbs, snapped his finger, and killed the two former Gods. Their bodies dissolved as their souls became bright sparks, which he too collected. "Goodbye, Rabhorktaar, Galbarar. I hope you don't regret this. But I know you will."
Loki vanished.
*
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Urdarbrunn, Asgard.
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After delivering the Cores to a very weary fairy, part of the deal with the former Yznarian Gods, Loki cautiously approached one of the most sacred places in all creation. Even the Trickster wouldn't dare mess with the ladies in that most hallowed hall by Yggdrasil's trunk. Several women in silken strap dresses and tunics. Almost none of them were Aesir by birth, and almost all races were represented among them. Despite that, Gods knew better than to belittle the lowest among them.
"He approaches, sisters," one of their leaders said.
The Jotunn God bowed, "My humble greetings to the Nornir."
"We see you, Loki, adopted son of the All-Father, son of Frigga," the eldest among them replied. "You may approach."
He walked into the hall, where the three fate spinners threaded the nine realms' and many others' Fate.
"Thank you, Urðr."
The other two lead sisters watched his every move. Skuld was clearly interested, while Verðandi kept herself busy with the many threads she incessantly spun.
"I brought you tribute," Loki declared. "I know we are no longer allowed to descend upon Midgard, so here."
He waved his hand, producing three chests out of nowhere. Inside, several books and comics from Earth he had obtained through trade with mortals. Also, some cosmetics and perfume. Most of the Nornir women kept to their duties but they were clearly interested in the contents.
"Your tribute was accepted," Urðr declared.
"I also brought two stray supplicants to be returned to Midgard. They already earned the Karma necessary for the boon," he produced the two sparks.
"I'll take them," Skuld approached and took the sparks of the former Yznarian deities. "And make sure they get the life they deserve."
"State your request," Urðr continued.
"One of your favored. I need to know if she'll ever be taken into the Demon World."
"That's a thread that hasn't yet been even spun, much less measured, Trickster," Skuld replied.
Loki nodded and pondered his next words, "Indeed it is as you say, honored Skuld; however, it is a thread in the same Samsara as a current one. Surely your sight can make such a prediction."
"You should know better than to tempt Fate, Loki," Verðandi finally broke her silence.
"What are your intentions?" Urðr inquired.
"I need to know if that is a possibility, so I can prepare a champion for what's coming."
"The answer is yes," Skuld said after leaving the two sparks with Verðandi. "She will be taken by the Demons."
Loki allowed a small smile into his face.
"You don't have long to prepare," Verðandi added. "Already centuries have passed in that world."
Loki bowed again. "Thank you for your time, honored Nornir. I will make sure you are entertained."
"You are dismissed," Urðr said. "Go with our blessings."