Surrounded by the fragrance of stew, I am sitting in our hut’s dining room as I wait for Chie and Yuriko to exit our bedroom. A lot of things have happened during my stay here in the island and for me, these experiences make up my entirety as a person and as a man. The decisions that I have made and the lives I had taken to protect the women in my life were horrible deeds and thoughts if one were to honestly assess them but I do not regret anything. I can hear the pot rattling about as the sauce simmers down and from the scent coming from the stew, I determine that it is ready to eat.

Light enters the kitchen from the small window directly in front of the sink where the dishes are stored and it emphasizes the wooden features of our simple home. Though I call it our ‘home’, I am horribly aware of its existence as one of the emergency safe houses strategically placed around Izumo Island. Yuriko and Chie are the leaders of the Iron Maiden Squadron hailing from the Republic of Pantheon. Since the people born in Pantheon are unable to utilize mana, they rely on a magical device that stores mana around them, or something to that effect. I’m no expert in these matters but the power that the both of them displayed and the technology available to them puts them up there amongst the strongest people in the world.

I pour myself some stew and sat down at the table. I’m still trying to regain my memory but I’m only getting brief flashes that make no sense and it’s starting to frustrate me. In the corner of my eyes, I see a glimmer coming from my left hand, perched on the table. It’s a ring. It’s not particularly gorgeous but it isn’t ordinary either. I remove it from my left ring finger and examined it closely, checking the surface for any scratches or engravings that could lead me to my identity but I am left disappointed when I find nothing.

Suddenly placing her weight on me, Yuriko greets me. “Ara, Alphonse. What are you looking at?” She lies her head on my back as she hugs me from behind.

I hide the ring in my pocket and feigned ignorance. “It’s nothing, I was simply caught up in my thoughts.” I took a spoonful of the stew.

Silence surrounds us for a few moments with only the chirping birds and the soft breezes of the wind to comfort us.

“You know you don’t have to carry your burden alone, right?” She places her hand over mine and turns my head. My eyes meet hers.

“Yes…” I breathed in her scent as I touched my cheek with hers, holding her close with a one-armed embrace. “I know.”

I am suddenly attacked with a light peck on my other cheek. “You’re in your own world again, aren’t you, Captain? Mon mon?” Chie pouts for a second but breaks character as she dazzles us with a cheerful laugh. Chance!

I activated my runes and caught her unaware. I blinked to her side and grabbed her hand and spun her around like a dancer would spin his partner and swiftly pulled her close as I lowered her body into a dip, my lips dangerously close to hers.

I pulled my head back a little, clearly to her dismay. “Admit your defeat, Chi.”

Clearly getting frustrated, she pouts again. “This isn’t funny, Mon mon, you know…” she starts mouthing off again, to my entertainment.

Aware that Yuriko was silently watching us from the side, I made swift work out of Chie. I literally took her breath away as I plunged my tongue into her mouth, massaging her tongue with mine. She tried to fight back by going on the offensive but to no avail. I can feel her body going limp with ecstasy as she caresses my face with her hands. Noticing her exposed collarbone, I take advantage of this momentary lapse and gave it a light kiss. I can feel her shiver but that’s enough of that. Noticing that my punishment put her into a daze, I gently place her on an empty chair and proceeded to wash the dishes.

Yuriko stands up and starts helping me out. “That was pretty smooth, Alphonse. Were you such a player before?” She gives me a knowing smile.

Is ‘player’ another term for ‘sadist’ in their republic? I’m sure it means ‘cheater’ or something but I can’t be too insensitive about these things. Not wanting to appear stupid, I just casually shrugged and redirected the question to her. “You knew me before I lost my memories, yes? Can you at least tell me a little about myself?”

Again, silence fills in our surroundings for a few moments, save for Chi’s light panting. I guess my punishment was too severe after all.

“Alphonse, you were always surrounded by talented people and you seemed to be kind though you had this ‘lazy’ aura around you.  I guess you could say that you caught my interest as I was hiding around your academy as a cook.”

Rinsing the soap off the plates, I answered her. “Why the hell were you a cook when you are the head of an elite military unit?” I had more important questions to ask but this seems more pressing.

She simply smiles at me but the image of a hannya mask appears behind her. I guess I should drop it for now.

“Anyway, Alphonse, there is something that we have to tell you.” Pausing to replace the washed dishes into the cupboard, she calls on Chie who immediately snaps back to reality. Hey what do you know, Chie and Yuriko really do have a different atmosphere to them when they’re all serious. Is it weird that I find that attractive? Well whatever.

“Mon mon, we have been summoned back to the capital for an envoy with our great leader.”

“Chi is correct. We are re-assembling the rest of the squadron scattered around the island and we are immediately leaving for Pantheon. War is upon us, apparently.”

Woah woah woah! This is too much to process all at once! I take a seat and turned towards Yuriko. “What do you mean war is coming?”

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With sincerity in her eyes, she nods at me. “The Queen of Valiante has called upon her allies to wage war on Anthedon who has apparently harmed her…..lover.” At this, she averts her eyes from mine. Weird.

“Alright, when do we leave, Chi, Yuriko?” I feel knots forming in my stomach and I’m more than against the idea of going to war but I can’t just leave them be.

“No, Alphonse. Chi and I are going to war. You are going elsewhere.” Yuriko’s stern voice shocks me.

Chi nods at her Captain and then turns to me. “You have a different directive from ours Mon mon, sorry.” She gives me a kind of a sorry smile that you give to people who got their pizza taken or something.

“What? Directive? Who gave me a directive?” Pointing at myself, I demonstrate my confusion by waving my arms like an angry idiot. This is done to give more emphasis to my shock.

The door suddenly opens from behind me and a gush of wind enters the room and stops at my side, with a blade pointed at my throat. Was that magic?

“I did.” Snarled the source of blade. She has this melodic sort of dreamy gravelly voice that seemed to fit her demeanor and aura. I carefully looked towards her and noticed that the ‘voice’ had long, white hair and red irises that could only be described as bewitching.

““General Isara, M’aam!””

The strongest soldier and her most trusted lieutenant are standing in attention, saluting with utmost respect towards this Isara who still has her blade pointed to my neck. She smells like white plum. Wait, what am I thinking?!

She sheathes her blade, “At ease.” And proceeds to sit herself from across of me.

“I have heard about you, ‘Alphonse’ and I must thank you for saving Chie and Captain Yuriko, though they needed no saving.” She takes off her cape to reveal her toned, curvaceous body as she traces her slim, white arms with her hands.  

She smirks and then bows her head for a second. “I must apologize for pointing my weapon at you but I had always wanted to cross swords with a disciple of Belle. I heard that your runes were pretty good though they weren’t up to her level yet.”

“The name is familiar but I know of no one –“ but she raises her hand.

“Yes, I am aware of your predicament. Anyway, to the main point.” She looks at me and I nod at her, signifying my readiness and attention.

She lightly clears her throat. “I need you to suppress a syndicate down in the south. They kidnap beast men and sell them into slavery. Lethal force is authorized.”

“While I am against the idea of slavery, why though? Are they some sort of important military asset or something? I won’t do anything unless it was to protect Yuriko or Chie. Maybe even you, Isara.”

Momentarily caught by surprise, Isara laughs. “Ha. You have balls, Alphonse. I like that. No, it isn’t like that. Yuriko requested for your participation. I could easily wipe out the syndicate with our Orbital Positron Cannon but doing so would warrant the anger of the beast race.” She pauses, “I had heard that a certain doctor specializing in the study of the mind resided in that region. Maybe you can get him to help you out.”

“I see. What about Yuriko and Chie?” Suppressing that syndicate in exchange for help with my memories may seem like an extremely daunting task but I have no choice. I have no leads at the moment.

“These two will be going with me to Valiante. We have a war to fight. It is likely that you will not see each other for a while so make your farewells now.”

I look at Chie and Yuriko and smiled at them. We are being separated as fast as we were put together by some unknown power but I can feel that this was a predetermined path that I was bound to take. These women are a part of me as much as I am a part of them. Though it pains me to admit it, they have become my important comrades whom I will protect to the best of my abili –

Irritated, Isara interrupts my monologue. “This is taking too long!” She adopts a high-pitched voice, seemingly mocking me. “Bye Wife Number 1. Bye Wife Number 2!” Wait, Wife 1 and 2? “Selphie, warp this fucker.”

Warp?!

Before I could voice my protest, Chi handed me a heavy rucksack and gave me a swift kiss. Not wanting to lose, Yuriko hands me something soft and gives me a sweet kiss in the lips as light started to surround my body. Before nausea could even hit me, I gave Isara one final look as I nodded at her and I gave her an earnest smile. Her cheeks reddened momentarily. I guess the nausea affects everyone?

As fast as I was thrust into this troublesome situation, I find myself surrounded by sand that seemed to stretch into eternity on all fronts. Placing my rucksack down, I feel a soft sensation from my right hand.

“Oh yeah. Yuriko handed me something before I left!”

I opened my hand and inside it was –

“Panties?!”

What. the. hell.

I sigh to myself and fell to my knees.

“This is going to be a troublesome journey, isn’t it.”

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Author's Notes

Hey everyone!   I hope you liked the chapter.  What did you think of our recent developments? Maybe enough for you to write a  short review or so as a reply in this thread? Whatever works! If you have any questions or things you want clarified, kindly post them here and I will do my best to reply to everyone. Thanks for staying with me until now!

Alizoned.