***The Eternal Palace***

***Celes***

We reappear in my personal laboratory and I waste no time, guiding Angrod directly to one of the tables with my alchemy equipment.

“Look! This is my newest creation!” I reach out for one of the vials and present it to him.

Instead of recognizing my outstanding work, he only furrows his forehead, studying the green liquid inside the vial with more than just a little reservation.

Finally, he licks his lips and comes up with a diplomatic reply. “Ah, that's a cool green goo. Does it glow in the dark?”

He smiles, but I can tell that he has no idea as to what I created. His expression is practically screaming: ‘Why do you always assume that I can immediately recognize the effects of your drugs? The only thing I know for sure is that this is quite obviously no chocolate.’

I sigh, lamenting the fact that Angrod’s genius doesn’t extend to my own field of research. We would have so much more to talk about if our interests would overlap just a little bit more. Then again, it’s probably for the best this way.

“Mh... It doesn't glow!” I correct him. “But it forcibly anchors a soul to the body by synchronizing the cell's...”

I notice his absent gaze and stop my explanation.

He immediately snaps back to attention. “You were saying?”

I press my lips together, displeased, but I continue anyway. It was my mistake for mentioning cells. For some reason, Angrod has an aversion to any fields of research that are even remotely connected to medicine.

Better to get directly to the point, or he falls asleep right here and now. “For biological illiterates: It makes our soul’s aura more resistant to the attacks of the Calamity’s minions! I analysed the remains of those creatures and-”

“Wait!” Angrod interrupts. “Didn’t they evaporate after we killed them?”

I roll my eyes. “I had the air-filtration system taken apart and-”

His face twists in disgust. “So we breathed them in?”

“If you would let me speak, we would be done with the explanations already!” I reprimand him, losing my cool. “Of course, we breathed their remains. But don’t worry. Everything I looked at was inert.”

Where was I? “And as I said. I analysed their remains and studied Warden’s records of past encounters with them. I found the reason why they are able to ignore a god’s aura and there is a way to counteract that. It isn’t perfect, but at least this should give someone enough time to run away and call for help. If we introduce it to everyone, keeping the Crystal City under our control will be much easier.” I offer the vial to him. “Drink!”

A few drops of sweat form on his forehead. “This stuff is already tested, right?”

I freeze up, realizing that I forgot a crucial step in verifying the potion’s effect. But I am certain of its effect. I am Order. There is no way that I made a mistake while creating it. “Are you not trusting me?” I stare him down, trying my hardest to intimidate him. “I already took the potion and nothing happened to me. To truly test it, we would first have to find some of the Calamity’s servants.”

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“No. No. I mean, yes, of course! I trust my wife,” he quickly corrects himself. “It's just that this green goo doesn't exactly look tasty.” He takes the vial and studies it against the ceiling’s light.

I turn back to my experiment, intending to grab the research notes. Our people will have to mass-produce the stuff.

“Celes? It's moving... is that normal?”

Turning back to him, I notice that his eyes are wide and that he is now holding the vial with only two fingers. As if it were dangerous…

Eventually, I will have to re-evaluate my opinion of Angrod. Maybe his feelings towards medicine aren’t rooted in disinterest but in a genuine phobia? If so, he conceals it well, but it could be.

He hisses when the green goo gathers at the top of the vial, defying gravity. “Now it's trying to open the plug!”

Angrod turns to me – a hint of accusation in his eyes.

“That's normal,” I try to calm him down. “The potion is a modified slime. I manipulated it to act as a symbiont. Just swallow it and don't chew!”

“I am not doing this! Never. I will never swallow something that's still alive!” Angrod protests like a little child.

“You eat people,” I remind him and take the vial. “Say, ‘aah.’ ”

“No.” He shakes his head. “I eat only dead things. Never something that can still creep and crawl around inside my belly.”

I quickly jump at him and twist his wrist while using my tail to hold onto his ankle. Ignoring his protests, I slowly force him down to the ground and mount him with a wrestling move. “Don't be such a little kid! You just have to swallow a slime! There isn't even a needle this time!”

“Needle!?” He starts squirming beneath me, giving his best imitation of an eel.

Somehow, he manages to get a hand free and grabs my little pinky.

I yell in pain when he twists it. In order to avoid more pain, I get off of him.

He quickly scrambles back to his feet while I check on my finger.

Looking up, I show him the broken finger, making it clear that the fight is on!

His eyes wander to the door, but I step to the side, blocking his escape route. “You know… this room is airtight and everything is made out of Mana Crystal… and the usage of pathways is locked to my aura’s signature,” I explain in a sultry voice. “And you, are a naughty boy.”

***The Eternal Palace***

***Angrod***

I have been humiliated! She forced that thing down my throat! I wish I could puke it up! Curse her! I will never again enter a closed room without an escape route!

Celes is sitting on top of me with the empty vial in her hand, massaging my throat with her left hand while covering my mouth with her right one. “Don't puke! If you do, this whole procedure will have to be repeated!”

Once she is sure that the thing went down, she finally lets go of me.

“I need to reincarnate. This memory has to be discarded at all costs!” I try to wriggle out from under her but she hugs me. “You can't do that! This is a treatment that affects only the body!”

“F- Fine! It’s already down, so you have to make up for this awful experience!” I complain, and then I have suddenly an idea. Could this be a chance?

“How?” Celes eyes me suspiciously, then looks at her broken finger.

I quickly wave my hand, incanting a healing spell to take care of the blemish before she can make a fuss over it. “You have to follow one of my wishes!”

“If it's not too strange. I guess it won't hurt?” She crosses her arms, looking at me expectantly.

I force her to get off of me and usher her out of the accursed laboratory. Once outside, I teleport both of us to our Woodhouse.

We appear in the bedroom and I quickly run for the wardrobe which covers the whole wall. Ninety-nine percent of the wall belongs to Celes, but I have a few small compartments to the left side… let’s not mention that I enchanted my own lockers with spacial magic which makes them much larger on the inside than the outside. If Celes knew, she would want me to do hers too and she already has enough clothes as it is.

It takes only a few seconds to find the kinky undergarment which I napped from that brothel.

Hehehe. Mwhahaha! She will die of shame!

Oh, and I have to stop myself from drooling.

I have to put on a straight face when I present it to her, no matter how embarrassing it might be.

Turning around, I look Celes straight in the eyes. “Put this on and dance for me!”

Celes just looks at the thing in my hands and turns red.