Aki

Let’s just say we didn't end up just kissing. After I rolled myself off Lilyth panting I said:

‘You have no idea how much I needed that today.’

‘Happy to oblige,’ Lilyth smiled wickedly.

We quickly dressed and left the room. We only found Sav sitting in the corridor. There was a faint smile on her face and she wordlessly cast the spell on me.

‘I really need to teach you that one.’

‘Was it that obvious?’ I asked, blushing.

‘Thin walls,’ Sav shrugged. ‘There are many ways of stress relief.’

I was mortified, and judging by Lilyth's expression so was she.

‘Believe me, I’m not judging. Seen it all. I would be lying if I said I didn't have my share of stress fucks in less than discrete places.’

‘Where’s Caei?’ Lilyth asked, trying to change the subject.

‘With Ren. Trying to explain things to her. Let's just say your session of mutual stress relief wasn’t the only thing we overheard and we don't disagree with you. Though I think Caei thinks we should still help Kaede while we are here since at least she didn't want anything to do with the Yamaokas.’

‘Buuullllshieet,’ Lilyth retorted. ‘Per what Ren said, Kaede would still check in with the Yamaokas from time to time. Likely to get money.’

‘I think so too, but I didn't want to voice it to Caei in the current situation. Not without you two being here.’

‘But wouldn't that…’ I said but trailed off. ‘Kaede is just as bad as the rest of them, isn't she?’

‘Ren doesn't see it that way, but yes,’ Sav confirmed. ‘For the record, I am not against giving Ren a second chance, but the mission parameters really went from “help her” to “save her entire fucking extended family”.’

Since my head cleared a bit, I considered the issue again.

‘Yeah. She can come with us. It would feel wrong to leave her at this stage, and knowing that Kaede is in danger… I couldn't sleep at night if we left her. That's the line. If she disagrees… well… she is on her own.’

Then we heard Caeileera’s moan of pleasure.

‘Those walls really are thin,’ Lilyth said in an amused tone.

Caeileera

I entered the room Ren was in, desperately trying not to listen in on Lilyth and Aki. They needed as much privacy as I could afford them in these circumstances. Truth be told, I wished I could join them, but given I was part of the problem right now… it wouldn't be right. No. I would have to resolve the Ren situation, first.

She was lying face down on the bed crying her eyes out into a pillow.

I sat next to her and put my hand on her shoulder. She didn't react.

‘Ren,’ I said softly.

‘Leave me alone, you liar,’ she sobbed. ‘You and your friends hate me.’

‘I don’t,’ I said. ‘And they don’t either. But… you are putting us in a difficult spot. Helping you is one thing…’

‘But my family is a different thing?’

‘Yes. We didn't sign up to save them.’

‘But leaving them…’

‘It’s not an easy decision and one we can't force you to do. But… you can't force us… force me… to help them. Especially not Kojiro. The things he did… what Leera went through with him… no. He assumed that me liking sex meant I was always willing and…expected things. I didn't remember until… you mentioned wanting to help him. And… that's not the worst thing he did. Leera was lucky.'

‘I heard the rumours about him. I didn’t want to believe them, so I never asked Leera to confirm them. So… I really need to break contact with my family?’

‘If you want out… yes. If you want to stay with us… with me… yes. How do you imagine a meeting with them would go? Would they let us leave?’

‘No,’ she sighed. ‘I guess not.’

I took her hand into mine.

‘I understand how you feel. When I abandoned the Sanguine… when I broke my mask… it was a dice roll… but I don’t regret it.’

Sounds of Aki climaxing reached us through the wall, breaking the tension.

Ren laughed at that.

‘I would have never expected her to be this loud.’

‘She’s a fierce one,’ I smiled. ‘And I am happy she’s part of my life.’

‘I can see why.’

Ren’s expression grew cloudy.

‘It will be a bitter pill to swallow… but you guys are right. What was it that the Dread Queen said? That whether I return to life is an interesting question?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then I have the answer. Ren Yamaoka is dead. I am just Ren now.’

I took her hand into mine and squeezed it.

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‘Then welcome to your new life, Ren.’

She sat up and I hugged her. Then our lips met and nothing else mattered.

Aki

‘They sure are going at it,’ I laughed.

‘You don’t mind?’ Sav asked.

‘Weirdly enough, no… If it was Lilyth I would, but Caei…’

‘Same here,’ Lilyth said. ‘I don’t think Ren and Caei becoming “friends with benefits” was avoidable given the circumstances.

‘I just don’t want her in the bed with us,’ I confirmed.

‘You are a weird bunch,’ Sav chuckled. ‘But in a good way.

After a while, Caei and Ren emerged from their room. Lilyth quickly gave them a thumbs up to say we were okay with what just happened.

Caei sighed in relief.

‘Sorry… it just happened.’

‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘It was a long day for all of us. We discussed this and you and Ren having a thing on the side is okay with us. Just you know… not while the three of us are having alone time.’

Caei looked at Ren who said:

‘Fine with me…’ then it hit her. ‘Does this mean I can stay?’

‘Yes,’ I said and explained the conclusions we reached with Lilyth.

‘Thank you,’ Ren said. ‘Though… I don’t think looking for Kaede is right given the circumstances. It might cause…’

‘...You to want to go back,’ I finished for her. ‘Very well. Though… leaving her out to dry…’

‘I have a compromise,’ Caei said. ‘Let’s look for the River Goddess. If we see Kaede along the way… Ren doesn't have to meet her. We'll just know she’s safe.’

Our new friend nodded.

‘That could work, yes.’

‘And it will put my conscience at ease.’ I agreed. ‘And I want to see this River Goddess too. Like, I wonder… is she Irmen?’

Suddenly, there was a thunder crack and a woman said in a giggly voice.

‘Nope! Irmi has nothing to do with it.’

I looked around and saw an absolutely gorgeous elven woman sitting on the windowsill of our room. She wore a blue shirt and white jacket and trousers. Her hair was just like Lilyth’s used to be - short and looking like a cloud. There were lightning flashes in her piercing dark blue eyes.

‘Hi, beauties!’ she continued. ‘Sorry to interrupt you. I’m Nyx - the patron of this cute idiot over there.’

She pointed at Lilyth who looked paler than usual.

‘Lady Nyx,’ I began and wanted to kneel but the goddess stopped me.

‘Please, don’t. We really don't like the supplication thing. You can also drop the Lady stuff if you want. I don’t care.’

‘Yes… Nyx’ I said, feeling really uncomfortable.

‘You’ll get used to this while dealing with Irmi. Don’t force yourself right now.’

She jumped down from the windowsill, walked over to Lilyth, who I just noticed was absolutely terrified, and hugged her.

Oh gods, she is afraid of her own patron after the meeting with the Sun and the Madness. Can't say I blame her.

My girlfriend initially froze, but soon eased up and started crying. Eventually, she hugged Nyx back.

‘Don’t worry, pumpkin. It’s okay now. You and your friends are safe now. Everything is going to be a-ok.’ the goddess comforted her.

They just stood there for a few minutes.

When my girlfriend calmed down, Nyx slowly detached herself from her and indicated we should all sit around the table. There were only two chairs so Caei offered herself to bring one from the other room, but the goddess stopped her.

‘That’s sweet of you, Caeileera, but being the goddess of Air has its perks.’

A small cloud appeared in the room and Nyx sat on it cross-legged.

‘See?’ she laughed.

‘I must say, My Lady,’ Savri began,’ and, pardon the pun, but you are a breath of fresh air after our meetings with The Sun and Lady Madness.’

Nyx giggled.

‘This one always cracks me up. And I can't help but notice you omitting the honorific when referring to Ol’ Pulsar.’

‘He tried to kill me, so he can go fuck himself.’

‘Good. I think we are going to get along just fine, Master Sergeant.’

‘I’ve been wondering about something, Lady Nyx,’ Caei said. ‘Why does everyone refer to Savri by her rank? It doesn't strike me as something you gods would particularly care about.’

‘Because few things in the multiverse are as terrifying as a pissed-off Sergeant, sweetie.’

‘Just Savri or Sav will do, My Lady,’ the demoness said with a smile. ‘I’m off-duty now.’

‘You drop the “My Lady” nonsense, I drop the rank. Deal?’

‘Yes, L… Nyx.’

‘See? You can do this, Sav! I believe in you!’

‘Nyx… you mentioned having an educational project with Irmen…’ Lilyth said carefully.

‘Ah. That. It went pretty well I think. You may soon hear stories about a ship, likely with no survivors, that was beset by monsters shortly before entering port in Fal-Mel. The ship suffered heavy damage and no sign of the crew was found other than some acid-burnt bones.’

‘Those stories are exaggerated?’ Lilyth asked.

Nyx only smiled.

‘Those stories are exaggerated, right?’ Lilyth repeated.

‘If there is a survivor, the jury is still out on that one, they may be saying something about it being divine punishment,’ the goddess simply said.

‘So this educational project was, in fact, an object lesson?’ Savri asked, frowning.

‘Yup.’

‘What did they do?’ Lilyth asked with an edge in her voice.

‘Looted an old temple to Gin-ig.’

‘Ah,’ Lilyth sighed in relief. ‘Stupided themselves to death then.’

Yup. No sane person would do that.

‘Glad you understand,’ Nyx smiled. ‘Was worried about your reaction.’

‘Yesterday taught me a lot of humility. And well… even on Earth that messing with temples is looked down upon at best.’

‘Oh, gods,’ I heard Ren mutter.

I realised then that this was the first thing she said since Nyx appeared.

The goddess waved towards her.

‘Hi, Rennie,’ she said with a smile. ‘Don’t worry… I won’t hurt you. We reserve smiting for special cases. You’ve been a naughty girl, unfortunately not only in the fun way, but it's not too late for you to fix things. Stick with my idiot and her friends and you’ll be fine, assuming she doesn't make too much of a mess this time around.

‘Y-yes, Lady Nyx.’

The goddess leaned towards Ren and booped her on the nose.

‘Rooting for you, kid. Fingers crossed.’

Ren laughed nervously.

‘In fact… ‘

Nyx reached into the inside pocket of her jacket and took out a pendant. I noticed it was the same as Lilyth's.

‘This will let you contact me whenever you want. Consider this a sign of my patronage. Because, girl, you will need all the help you can get and that's what those are for.’

She handed the pendant over to Ren who put it on. The goddess then smiled and snapped her finger and a massive plate filled with multiple flatbreads wrapped around all sorts of vegetables and meat. They smelled positively divine and made my mouth water. The inn had no kitchen so all we had to eat were our rations. Along them, a bunch of those delicious sodas and some plates and glasses appeared.

‘Now!’ Nyx said with a great pomp. ‘Let’s celebrate! Who’s up for some tacos?