[Luna POV]
Several hours after we left Beria, Tamamo spoke to me with a serious tone.
{Luna, I don’t remember exactly why, but you should be careful until the creep is dead.}
‘I understand, I will be vigilant.’
{That sets my mind at ease a bit. Now, any requests for what we do on the next full moon?}
‘I can’t think of anything at the moment besides just spending time next to you. Of course, we can do more if I time making a domain right, but we already agreed to hold off on doing that again for a while.’
{Then a night of cuddling it is.}
‘Fufufufu. I’m looking forward to it. I can already feel your tails wrapping around me.’
{I was about to say the same thing.}
As I was diving into my fantasies of me and Tamamo spending time together, someone started shaking me.
“Big sis, you’re losing focus of where you’re going again.” (Soleil)
“That hasn’t happened on a while.” (Luna)
“I thought you use a skill to help maintain your focus on what you’re doing?” (Velvet)
“I think I accidentally allocated it to double down on what I was thinking.” (Luna)
“You’ve been doing so good, big sis. Don’t start messing up now.” (Soleil)
“Right, and I just promised Tamamo to keep my vigilance up as well.” (Luna)
“Is something wrong?” (Ophidia)
“Not sure, all Tamamo said was to be careful until that mongrel is dead. I don’t know if that means he has prepared something for us when we get there or if he sent some people to confront us.” (Luna)
“How stupid is he? I mean he should know by now that two of us are S-rank adventurers.” (Velvet)
“From what I’ve seen of him through his divinations, he is like those two just with added delusions. Smart enough to manipulate things to go his way; but turns stupid and starts making mistakes when he gets angry enough. While I have been trying to make him angry by retaliating against him by pelting him with potions of greater hurting and an annoying curse, I didn’t think he would make a move this fast.” (Luna)
“Well, he can’t be that stupid if he’s managed to live as long as he has without other vampires killing him for blasphemy, especially if what Velvet has told me about how vampires see the Goddess is true.” (Soleil)
“Maybe I should up my retaliation a bit. What should I go with I wonder?” (Luna)
{Atmos told me she started joining in and is preparing cakes. Something about wanting in on the fun.}
‘That’s the Goddess of Mischief for you. Guess I can keep doing what I have been then. Will you give her my thanks?’
{Sure thing.}
“Did you decide on something?” (Ophidia)
“I don’t have to, Atmos is helping out now.” (Luna)
“I guess he’s going to break faster than you planned then.” (Velvet)
“I hope he doesn’t, I have something special planned for him that should push him over the edge.” (Luna)
“Still not going to tell us what it is?” (Soleil)
“All I’ll say is that he is going to experience pian that will make him wish he wasn’t immortal.” (Luna)
After that we walked for a few more hours then stopped for lunch. When that was done, we resumed our journey. Eventually we came to a spot on the road that went through a jungle.
“Even if this is a different jungle, I still feel nostalgic when seeing a sight like this.” (Ophidia)
“Can it really feel nostalgic if we can visit the jungle you lived in whenever we want?” (Luna)
“Yes?” Ophidia said questioningly.
“Does that really matter?” (Velvet)
“I guess not.” (Luna)
“Grrrr. I’ll say one thing, I prefer the last jungle we went through. What’s with all the bugs flying around?” (Soleil)
“Oh, that was my doing, the last time we went through a jungle, I had a lightning barrier surrounding us. Just give me a second and I’ll set one up.” (Luna)
I snapped my fingers, and we were all surrounded by an invisible field of lightning. The second I was finished setting up the barrier, I could hear little zaps as bugs started frying themselves of the barrier.
“Better?” (Luna)
“So much better.” (Soleil)
“So this is why those annoying things started leaving me alone after I joined you.” (Ophidia)
“Yep. I even added one to the mansion.” (Luna)
“Why not the entire island?” (Velvet)
“Not all bugs are pests. They might be annoying, but they are necessary in maintaining the island’s nature.” (Luna)
“I guess that’s fair.” (Velvet)
Just then some if the underbrush started rustling and we all stopped. I started preparing some magic when the thing that was in the underbrush moved out. It was a green and brown snake that was a lot smaller than Ophidia. It was slithering across the road when it stopped and turned to look at us. When its eyes met Ophidia’s, it started coming closer to us. It then let out a long, slow hiss.
“Tch. Leave me alone you brat.” (Ophidia)
Ophidia got an intimidating gleam in her eyes and the snake stopped approaching us and slithered away.
“What was that all about?” (Soleil)
“An arrogant young one that though I would like to be his mate.” Ophidia said with disgust. “I have no need for that now that I serve master.”
“You do know that you can fall in love with someone if you want, right?” (Luna)
“I get that, but even I have standards master. That one is still far too weak for me to even consider him worthy of me and isn’t even close to what I would prefer in a mate.” (Ophidia)
“What do you prefer then?” (Velvet)
“I don’t know. My instincts tell me one thing, but the way that both master and the great one and you and Soleil are seems much more preferable.” (Ophidia)
“Then what do you think about Skadi?” (Luna)
“I don’t know. She is definitely strong enough for me to consider her, but she is also one of the only people I know beside all of you and the few that you have introduced me to.” (Ophidia)
“I guess that’s true.” (Luna)
“Not to mention that we don’t even know everything about Skadi either. For all we know, she could like men.” (Soleil)
‘Do you have any input on this topic, Tamamo?’
{Unfortunately, I don’t. These past few weeks have been the most I’ve ever interacted with Skadi.}
“Then we’ll just have to ask the next time we see her.” (Luna)
We continued on the jungle road for several more hours when something else happened. We were still quite a bit away from it, but I started to hear the sounds of fighting ahead of us.
“Something is going on up ahead.” (Luna)
“I hear it to. Do you think it’s people?” (Soleil)
“No. It’s something else. Sounds like and orc and something bigger.” (Luna)
“Is it in our way?” (Velvet)
“Not necessarily, but it is happening close to the road. We can take care of it before it can cause trouble for other people later or ignore it.” (Luna)
“Let’s go and see what is happening. If it goes right, I can even show you what I have learned.” (Ophidia)
“That’s Ophidia’s opinion, what about you two?” (Luna)
“Let’s check it out.” (Velvet)
“I’m curious to see what the orc is fighting.” (Soleil)
“Then a small detour it is.” (Luna)
We followed the sound and found a clearing close to the road. In the center was an orc that was on its last legs and a giant spider. The spider reminded me of the one in that one movie series about wizards. The second it came into view, the temperature of the air next to me started to rise.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.” (Soleil)
“Calm down Soleil.” (Luna)
“Must kill it. Spiders must die.” (Soleil)
“Velvet, help me.” (Luna)
Velvet reached out and brought Soleil into a hug. The temperature immediately started to return to normal.
“I forgot you hated spiders.” (Luna)
“I’m calm now.” (Soleil)
“We are going to stay like this until it’s dealt with.” (Velvet)
“Ok.” (Soleil)
I smiled at their antics. Turning to Ophidia I asked a question.
“Think you can kill it?” (Luna)
“Easily.” (Ophidia)
She left the spot we were standing in once the spider delivered the final blow to the orc. When the spider heard(?) Ophidia’s approach, it turned to face her. It let out a weird screech and shot some web at her. She dodged it with minimal movements then shot forward quickly. Just before she reached the spider, she started moving in a way that the momentum of her sprint carried into her punch. The second her fist made contact with the spider, its movements stopped. A second later it fell to the ground with greenish liquid spilling out of its eyes and mandibles.
“What exactly did you do?” (Luna)
“I hit it hard enough to turn its insides to mush but soft enough to make sure it doesn’t pop.” (Ophidia)
“I thought Grey only taught you the basics?” (Luna)
“He said that every brawler can do that.” (Ophidia)
“Well, I don’t know that many brawlers so I can’t deny that.” (Luna)
Since I didn’t have any need for spider materials, we left the dead spider and orc in the clearing and went back to the road. We continued on until we exited the jungle in the evening. We moved off to the side of the road a bit and set up camp. We didn’t say much and went to sleep while one person was on watch.
Author's Note:
Ahhhhhh coffee, such a wonderful thing.
Grey: Have a good rest?
It was passable. How have things gone since I went to sleep?
Grey: Good I guess. Tamamo almost used her divine judgement, but that's about it.
What did Beryl do?
Atmos: Sent his brother and Mordred to assassinated Luna, Soleil, and Ophidia.
I thought he was supposed to be smart.
Atmos: Luna's retaliation is working faster than we thought it would. It doesn't help that I joined in on the fun. He is so angry.
That'll do it alright.
Tamamo: You know, I wish I could remember more when I leave this place.
Sorry, but I can't allow that.
Tamamo: *Sigh*
Skadi: Lady Tamamo, can I ask something?
Tamamo: What is it?
Skadi: Why haven't you asked another god or goddess to send their Apostle to kill him? You have enough favors to do that.
Tamamo: ... I... Why did I not think of that?
Atmos: I had a hand in that. If you did that, Luna wouldn't have had enough motivation to level to this point as fast as she did. I mean, she would have reached this point eventually, but it would have taken a lot longer. I wanted her to get at least five tails rather quickly so that she could get her divine skills.
Tamamo: Why did you want that to happen?
Atmos: Do you want a serious answer or a selfish one?
Tamamo: Both?
Atmos: Serious: Luna has been extremely stressed due to holding herself back from more intimate contact with you. It wasn't good for her mental health if that went on for longer. Selfish answer: Now that she has five tails, I can enjoy the fluff even more.
Tamamo: I should have expected that.
Atmos: Well, it's not like I had to do much, you can be a bit scatter brained sometimes, so all I had to do was make sure the thought of asking someone else to help with this vampire problem of yours didn't cross your mind.
Tamamo: ... I don't know how I should react to that.
I think it's best if you just leave it at that.
[Luna POV]
Several hours after we left Beria, Tamamo spoke to me with a serious tone.
{Luna, I don’t remember exactly why, but you should be careful until the creep is dead.}
‘I understand, I will be vigilant.’
{That sets my mind at ease a bit. Now, any requests for what we do on the next full moon?}
‘I can’t think of anything at the moment besides just spending time next to you. Of course, we can do more if I time making a domain right, but we already agreed to hold off on doing that again for a while.’
{Then a night of cuddling it is.}
‘Fufufufu. I’m looking forward to it. I can already feel your tails wrapping around me.’
{I was about to say the same thing.}
As I was diving into my fantasies of me and Tamamo spending time together, someone started shaking me.
“Big sis, you’re losing focus of where you’re going again.” (Soleil)
“That hasn’t happened on a while.” (Luna)
“I thought you use a skill to help maintain your focus on what you’re doing?” (Velvet)
“I think I accidentally allocated it to double down on what I was thinking.” (Luna)
“You’ve been doing so good, big sis. Don’t start messing up now.” (Soleil)
“Right, and I just promised Tamamo to keep my vigilance up as well.” (Luna)
“Is something wrong?” (Ophidia)
“Not sure, all Tamamo said was to be careful until that mongrel is dead. I don’t know if that means he has prepared something for us when we get there or if he sent some people to confront us.” (Luna)
“How stupid is he? I mean he should know by now that two of us are S-rank adventurers.” (Velvet)
“From what I’ve seen of him through his divinations, he is like those two just with added delusions. Smart enough to manipulate things to go his way; but turns stupid and starts making mistakes when he gets angry enough. While I have been trying to make him angry by retaliating against him by pelting him with potions of greater hurting and an annoying curse, I didn’t think he would make a move this fast.” (Luna)
“Well, he can’t be that stupid if he’s managed to live as long as he has without other vampires killing him for blasphemy, especially if what Velvet has told me about how vampires see the Goddess is true.” (Soleil)
“Maybe I should up my retaliation a bit. What should I go with I wonder?” (Luna)
{Atmos told me she started joining in and is preparing cakes. Something about wanting in on the fun.}
‘That’s the Goddess of Mischief for you. Guess I can keep doing what I have been then. Will you give her my thanks?’
{Sure thing.}
“Did you decide on something?” (Ophidia)
“I don’t have to, Atmos is helping out now.” (Luna)
“I guess he’s going to break faster than you planned then.” (Velvet)
“I hope he doesn’t, I have something special planned for him that should push him over the edge.” (Luna)
“Still not going to tell us what it is?” (Soleil)
“All I’ll say is that he is going to experience pian that will make him wish he wasn’t immortal.” (Luna)
After that we walked for a few more hours then stopped for lunch. When that was done, we resumed our journey. Eventually we came to a spot on the road that went through a jungle.
“Even if this is a different jungle, I still feel nostalgic when seeing a sight like this.” (Ophidia)
“Can it really feel nostalgic if we can visit the jungle you lived in whenever we want?” (Luna)
“Yes?” Ophidia said questioningly.
“Does that really matter?” (Velvet)
“I guess not.” (Luna)
“Grrrr. I’ll say one thing, I prefer the last jungle we went through. What’s with all the bugs flying around?” (Soleil)
“Oh, that was my doing, the last time we went through a jungle, I had a lightning barrier surrounding us. Just give me a second and I’ll set one up.” (Luna)
I snapped my fingers, and we were all surrounded by an invisible field of lightning. The second I was finished setting up the barrier, I could hear little zaps as bugs started frying themselves of the barrier.
“Better?” (Luna)
“So much better.” (Soleil)
“So this is why those annoying things started leaving me alone after I joined you.” (Ophidia)
“Yep. I even added one to the mansion.” (Luna)
“Why not the entire island?” (Velvet)
“Not all bugs are pests. They might be annoying, but they are necessary in maintaining the island’s nature.” (Luna)
“I guess that’s fair.” (Velvet)
Just then some if the underbrush started rustling and we all stopped. I started preparing some magic when the thing that was in the underbrush moved out. It was a green and brown snake that was a lot smaller than Ophidia. It was slithering across the road when it stopped and turned to look at us. When its eyes met Ophidia’s, it started coming closer to us. It then let out a long, slow hiss.
“Tch. Leave me alone you brat.” (Ophidia)
Ophidia got an intimidating gleam in her eyes and the snake stopped approaching us and slithered away.
“What was that all about?” (Soleil)
“An arrogant young one that though I would like to be his mate.” Ophidia said with disgust. “I have no need for that now that I serve master.”
“You do know that you can fall in love with someone if you want, right?” (Luna)
“I get that, but even I have standards master. That one is still far too weak for me to even consider him worthy of me and isn’t even close to what I would prefer in a mate.” (Ophidia)
“What do you prefer then?” (Velvet)
“I don’t know. My instincts tell me one thing, but the way that both master and the great one and you and Soleil are seems much more preferable.” (Ophidia)
“Then what do you think about Skadi?” (Luna)
“I don’t know. She is definitely strong enough for me to consider her, but she is also one of the only people I know beside all of you and the few that you have introduced me to.” (Ophidia)
“I guess that’s true.” (Luna)
“Not to mention that we don’t even know everything about Skadi either. For all we know, she could like men.” (Soleil)
‘Do you have any input on this topic, Tamamo?’
{Unfortunately, I don’t. These past few weeks have been the most I’ve ever interacted with Skadi.}
“Then we’ll just have to ask the next time we see her.” (Luna)
We continued on the jungle road for several more hours when something else happened. We were still quite a bit away from it, but I started to hear the sounds of fighting ahead of us.
“Something is going on up ahead.” (Luna)
“I hear it to. Do you think it’s people?” (Soleil)
“No. It’s something else. Sounds like and orc and something bigger.” (Luna)
“Is it in our way?” (Velvet)
“Not necessarily, but it is happening close to the road. We can take care of it before it can cause trouble for other people later or ignore it.” (Luna)
“Let’s go and see what is happening. If it goes right, I can even show you what I have learned.” (Ophidia)
“That’s Ophidia’s opinion, what about you two?” (Luna)
“Let’s check it out.” (Velvet)
“I’m curious to see what the orc is fighting.” (Soleil)
“Then a small detour it is.” (Luna)
We followed the sound and found a clearing close to the road. In the center was an orc that was on its last legs and a giant spider. The spider reminded me of the one in that one movie series about wizards. The second it came into view, the temperature of the air next to me started to rise.
“Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.” (Soleil)
“Calm down Soleil.” (Luna)
“Must kill it. Spiders must die.” (Soleil)
“Velvet, help me.” (Luna)
Velvet reached out and brought Soleil into a hug. The temperature immediately started to return to normal.
“I forgot you hated spiders.” (Luna)
“I’m calm now.” (Soleil)
“We are going to stay like this until it’s dealt with.” (Velvet)
“Ok.” (Soleil)
I smiled at their antics. Turning to Ophidia I asked a question.
“Think you can kill it?” (Luna)
“Easily.” (Ophidia)
She left the spot we were standing in once the spider delivered the final blow to the orc. When the spider heard(?) Ophidia’s approach, it turned to face her. It let out a weird screech and shot some web at her. She dodged it with minimal movements then shot forward quickly. Just before she reached the spider, she started moving in a way that the momentum of her sprint carried into her punch. The second her fist made contact with the spider, its movements stopped. A second later it fell to the ground with greenish liquid spilling out of its eyes and mandibles.
“What exactly did you do?” (Luna)
“I hit it hard enough to turn its insides to mush but soft enough to make sure it doesn’t pop.” (Ophidia)
“I thought Grey only taught you the basics?” (Luna)
“He said that every brawler can do that.” (Ophidia)
“Well, I don’t know that many brawlers so I can’t deny that.” (Luna)
Since I didn’t have any need for spider materials, we left the dead spider and orc in the clearing and went back to the road. We continued on until we exited the jungle in the evening. We moved off to the side of the road a bit and set up camp. We didn’t say much and went to sleep while one person was on watch.
Author's Note:
Ahhhhhh coffee, such a wonderful thing.
Grey: Have a good rest?
It was passable. How have things gone since I went to sleep?
Grey: Good I guess. Tamamo almost used her divine judgement, but that's about it.
What did Beryl do?
Atmos: Sent his brother and Mordred to assassinated Luna, Soleil, and Ophidia.
I thought he was supposed to be smart.
Atmos: Luna's retaliation is working faster than we thought it would. It doesn't help that I joined in on the fun. He is so angry.
That'll do it alright.
Tamamo: You know, I wish I could remember more when I leave this place.
Sorry, but I can't allow that.
Tamamo: *Sigh*
Skadi: Lady Tamamo, can I ask something?
Tamamo: What is it?
Skadi: Why haven't you asked another god or goddess to send their Apostle to kill him? You have enough favors to do that.
Tamamo: ... I... Why did I not think of that?
Atmos: I had a hand in that. If you did that, Luna wouldn't have had enough motivation to level to this point as fast as she did. I mean, she would have reached this point eventually, but it would have taken a lot longer. I wanted her to get at least five tails rather quickly so that she could get her divine skills.
Tamamo: Why did you want that to happen?
Atmos: Do you want a serious answer or a selfish one?
Tamamo: Both?
Atmos: Serious: Luna has been extremely stressed due to holding herself back from more intimate contact with you. It wasn't good for her mental health if that went on for longer. Selfish answer: Now that she has five tails, I can enjoy the fluff even more.
Tamamo: I should have expected that.
Atmos: Well, it's not like I had to do much, you can be a bit scatter brained sometimes, so all I had to do was make sure the thought of asking someone else to help with this vampire problem of yours didn't cross your mind.
Tamamo: ... I don't know how I should react to that.
I think it's best if you just leave it at that.
