There will be a Q&A session after this one, and hopefully you folks will have more questions that one person had during the last one. There will also be a poll attached to the session. One of which will stay up until the end of the third arc. Of course, I'll be explaining many things, so it may answer your questions anyways, but regardless, y'all are too quiet.
As always folks, thank you all for reading thus far. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to voice them.
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"Just made it," panted a voice near the great hall's doors, which belonged to a male Dragonock whose attire was now a ruffled, black and white tuxedo complete with a bow tie. Next to his person was a female in an equally ruffled tuxedo, as she was loathe to touch the dress which had been presented to her.
This female, whose name was Siuun, giggled at the other as he brushed the front of his outerwear, and bade the other to do the same to her own. Of which she complied, copying his actions upon her body, as her maddening gaze took in the world in front of her. These two, along with a few other stragglers, were then ushered into the hall as a pair of large skeletal behemoths slowly closed the door behind them.
"Siuun. San'yuu. You both are late." A voice spoke behind their persons, of which sounded a little disappointed in their tardiness to the party.
However, it was also very familiar to their ears, as it was apparent to the female who whirled around and pounced on the figure with a cry of, "Papa!" This then led to the reveal of an endarkened Kitsune, as he chuckled lightly and stroked the female's scaled head slowly. "I missed you, Papa."
"I missed you too, Siuun," cooed the other, whilst she giggled and buried her face into his chest fur.
"San'yuu?"
"Yes, My Lord High God." The male snapped to attention, and gave a detailed report of their actions, as well as the reveal of a pair of captured slavers which have been tossed into the dungeon and were awaiting his person.
"You both did well," his voice was slow, as his eyes spied the waddling body of Nox. Of whom stared with widened eyes at his father and a clinging Siuun. "Ah, yes. Siuun," the female Dragonock looked up into his eyes, then turned towards the small figure waddling towards their position, "this is Nox. He is my son, and your brother."
"Bruh-ther?" Her head cocked to one side, not understanding the word spoken to her.
"Yes. He is family, and is not food. Understand?" At his query, she nodded, still not understanding the word of "brother". However, he was not at all finished, as his eyes glowed a baleful crimson, which locked onto her own. "He is very precious to my person, so it is your job to guard him from harm. For if he end up with any serious injuries, you 'Papa' will be very, very displeased with you. Understand?"
Her head quickly bobbed up and down, knowing full well that the ire of her "Papa" was not one she would want to incur. Which then led to her releasing the grip of his person in order to squat down and crawl towards the now terrified hybrid, boy-child who looked about ready to cry aloud. However, he was lifted into the air by one of his father's tails, and deposited into the Kitsune's arms.
"Nox," the boy-child's attention turned towards the other, and away from a now frantic Siuun. Of whom relaxed once she noticed who had picked him up, "This is Siuun, your elder sister, and now your guardian. Understand?"
His son's head tilted to one side, as his ears twisted and twitched with curiosity. "She's family."
"Fam-lee?" Nox's tongue rolled the unfamiliar word around in his small maw, unsure of its contents, as his father slowly took him towards the long table with which he was deposited into the arms of his mother, Sarah. Whereas San'yuu slowly dragged the female Dragonock over towards the leftmost table, and sat their persons down nearest the table which held their Master, his family, friends, and servants.
Foods of meats, cheeses, fruits, and vegetables piled high upon platters of silver and gold made their way towards the tables. Each was held by a Skeleton, as Brutus was loathe to trust a decrepit mummy or zombie with bits of flesh falling into every nook and cranny where they walked. Instead, these Skeletons were used in place of such beings, as long as their bodies were picked clean of every foreign substances. For although these were immortals and gods of every walk of life, there was still a chance one or more could become ill from a piece of diseased flesh. Hence the reason for Skeletons.
In any case, the Ageless watched as food was placed upon two separate plates of crystal in front of his wife and child, and helped Sarah feed Nox a small bit of the foods given to them. This action, coupled with the loud chewings of his son, quieted the madness of his mind as a slow smile crept into his lips. Of which led to Azazel, whose expression was a mixture of a pout and desire, as she wished to feed the hybrid child herself.
In this, the Ageless relented in her desire to feed him tidbits, as she was family after all. However, it was interesting to watch as his offspring's eyes widened when he was placed into the girl-child-who-was-not-a-child's arms as she attempted to feed him. After a short while of constantly trying to feed Nox, he relented in accepting the small morsels of food. Of which led to his acceptance of her presence, whilst the parents smiled and clasped their hands together in a joyful silence.
*
Some time passes by, and the feast crawls towards a close. However, this is not the end of the turn, as now comes the Ball portion of the party, whilst the rest of the foods were placed upon a long table nearest the doors leading to the kitchens. It was her that the Kitsune found himself sitting upon a high-back chair with an audience of small children, as he regaled them with a story of his past. Albeit with less darkness, of course.
"...The human in question was now surrounded by my person and Brutus's Undead horde, and bowed and scraped towards us in an effort to curry favour. For you see, children, it desired to live, and would even sell its own mother in order to continue to do so.
"Of which led to my Lich to utter the words of..."
"For whom doth the bell tolls?" cried out one of the children, as the Ageless nodded with a joyful grin.
"It tolls for thee," of which ended in laughter, as his paws tickled the belly of his son, Nox. This then sparked more laughter which came from the surrounding children, as the God leapt from his chair in order to playfully stalk the rest of the younglings. For once he began, the rest leapt away from their positions as he gave chase. All the while, Siuun noticed the small bodies running about the hall, and desired to give chase, but was held back due to the choker about her neck which tightened when she was too far from San'yuu.
This was so, as she held more instincts than intelligence in her mind, and always seemed to chase after anything that moves. However, those that were caught in her clawed hands would always die, as she would see them as nothing more than food. Thus, she was collared every time she was out in public, and the male Dragonock was her assigned keeper.
On the other side of the great hall, however, stood a couple of groups of beings. One of which congratulated Denna on her becoming of age, whilst a few pitied her openly for becoming the apprentice of one such as their God King. This caused her to cock her head towards her right shoulder, and question as to why they would pity her person for such a venture.
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"Because he's a Lord of Chaos," whispered one of their number. Of whom was a young, male Minotaur whose horns were only half grown, "Those people are always insane." Of which led to his large eyes to drift over towards the Ageless, who was now running away from the children. For a few of their number had found out how soft his tail-fur was, and desired to snuggle into it. What is more, those that had already latched onto the appendages had fallen asleep, and would not wake up no matter how much movement he caused.
This is not to say they had died, as their small bodies snored softly whilst their heads snuggled into the fur. Instead, they were simply far too comfortable and had found a great place to nap. Of which led to the rest of the children to desire such a restful place, and began to chase the Kitsune because of this small revelation.
"Look at him. That ain't natural, you know?" Continued the young minotaur, but stopped as a large hand smacked the back of his skull. Of which led to him sprawling out onto the ground, whilst the offender, a half-Ogre, half-Orc, rubbed her hand slowly.
Yes. This being was indeed a female, if only by the tiny bows in her hair and the strange, red and white polka-dotted dress about her. The rest of her body, however, was covered in muscles, and not an ounce of fat could be seen. Of which meant her chest, which should be a pair of mounds full of fat was now removed to make way for a large pair of pectoral muscles.
The skin of this creature was somewhere in between the colour of spoilt milk, and poisonous green, as her parents held such coloured pigments in their own flesh. While her body was that of an emphasis of her Ogre heritage, her face held the tusks and beady eyes of the Orcs. Many would believe her to be nothing more than a brute, as she just demonstrated, but she was far more intelligent than that. For she was a Shaman, which tended to be far more intelligent than the rest of her people
"Idiot," she grumbled whilst nearly all stepped away from her, "What? You all should know our Lord High God is rarely, if ever, insane." This then led to her to gain a particularly confused look about her features, as all gawked at her person with open mouths. "What?" The female growled at them all, not at all pleased to be the object of interest.
"You can talk," mumbled one of their number, then wished it hadn't.
For this female exploded with rage, "What? You think just because I'm half an Ogre and half an Orc means I should be an idiot? Gods, what the hell is wrong with you lot?" With these rhetorical queries, she stormed off whilst another male peeled away in order to run after her person.
Whereas the other group, which was not congratulating the Vampire, was merely a gaggle of older females. Of whom were each a mother to one of the children which were now nestled into the Kitsune's tails. Many of them, which included both Azazel and Sarah, simply talked amongst the others over the gossips of their respected Pantheons. All the while, glancing towards the Ageless as he slowly made his way towards the high-back chair he had been sitting upon before the children had fallen asleep.
*
Sometime later, when most of the children had awoken, did the music for the Ball began. Of which was led by Brutus with a slow dance with his daughter, before parting with her so that others may try their luck with dancing with the Vampire. However, many of these beings did not stand much of a chance, as she had a particular taste in her partners, and desired the company of females more so than males.
No. Such a thing was not disallowed, as the world of Terra was more open-minded about such things. Even if many others did not much care for such actions, they could do very little. Unfortunately, many others would go out of their way to promote their ways of male and female only, but were always quashed almost as immediately as they began. The only time they were not quashed was if they were the last heir to some legacy, and their family desired a child to pass it onto, in the case of their immediate offspring failing to produce a suitable heir in their young life.
However, in the case of Brutus and his daughter, he did not care in the least as to who she shared her bedroom with. For he is Undead, and they live for as long as they desire to. Especially now that they had a god who was among their number.
At that time, Denna was dancing with a Elven maiden of a prestigious House. For they were long time friends, and suspected bedfellows. Unlike many other Elven Houses, this one had multiple children, and were okay with their relationship. Especially after the fact that this Elf had multiple siblings, and was not at all the first born child.
Of course, this came as quite a shock to many of the males who desired her person, as she cupped the other's head and kissed her in full view of everyone. To which the Kitsune laughed uproariously at the sight of the mix of emotions drifting within the air above their heads.
"I win the bet, Brutus," he called out to his servant. Of whom grumbled and held up a gold Disc, which was then given over to his daughter with a sigh.
"Papa? What did he mean by 'bet'?" She glared dangerously at the four-armed skeleton before her. Of whom rubbed the back of his neck with his left primary, clawed hand slowly.
"We betted whether or not you would break out of your shell by the end of the party, little Vampire," grinned the Ageless, as he held a sleepy Nox in his arms, "And now you've gained a gold Disc for allowing my person to win."
"And what would you have given me if I didn't?"
"Less of a hellish training," he grinned as the female shivered, "Come. There is still much to do, and I desire to spin a tale of my past to you all."
Upon these words, nearly everyone stopped what they were doing in order to pull out seats from anywhere they could. For the stories of their God King were entertaining for those of a young age, but rewritten so many times, many didn't know which one was the truth. Hence the reason for excitement, as his words were the supposed truth of his history.
Once he noted such actions, his mind groaned which caused his wife, Sarah, to grin at his mistake. "You dug your own grave in this one, hon."
"I know, I know," his left paw waved at her person, whilst a gilded throne was placed in front of the fire. For all others were placed around such an area in order to gain the most experience out of the tale. "Me and my big mouth, huh?" his voice was light, as he sat down upon the throne. Whereby many of the smaller children noted this, and either climbed into his lap or nestled into the tail-fur which poked out from the back.
"But what to speak of?" His head tilted backwards until the top rested against the back of the chair. "Oh! I know," the Kitsune's head snapped forwards, as he grinned into the fire before him, "How about...?"
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AN2: How's that for a cliffhanger? XD