After fishing Fukushi out of the bath, we all took time to dry off before casually lounging near the fireplace with our hair up in towels. Minus Riko, who had the privilege of pixie style hair. Unfairness abounded.
Really, it was as distracting as could be. Daniella hadn’t chosen to put anything on. Because of that, Hanada had chosen to do the same, just to compete for skin contact or something. As such, I wasn’t given a chance to put anything on, either. Just a towel around my midsection. So we lounged with Riko dressed in a sturdy, oversized shirt-like thing that served as pajamas and Fukushi completely put together in her castle knight’s uniform.
Just me and the girls, two of whom had almost fused their skin onto my biceps.
Shame the conversation wasn’t as pleasant as their company.
“So, about the broader problem…” Daniella somehow managed to not sound at all different despite her state of undress. Really unfair how unflappable she could be.
“I was afraid there’d be more to this. So, how bad is it?” Riko asked seriously despite her heavily reddened cheeks.
There was a moment of silence as everyone else tried to decide who would be explaining the obvious implications for the heroine. It was me. I was chosen.
“Well, Duke Andreas isn’t a solitary actor. He has his own goals, but at a minimum, he’s undoubtedly a member of a broader faction. Every other member of that faction is going to be trying to get as much as they can out of whatever situation comes up.”
“I think we can largely expect the bigger fish to fight one another over the scraps that tumble from Andreas’ table with the family head out of the picture,” Fukushi posited with a nonchalant shrug.
I just considered things from whatever angles I could manage based on past experience with fantasy politics. “Only if Andreas is the leader of the faction after King Euclid.”
I got blank stares in return.
“Well, to put it mildly, when you cut the head from a snake, the body dies? But in this case, that assumes you’ve actually cut the head off. If there is another person involved with equal or greater power to control those underlings, there could be a bigger, more coordinated retribution to come. They may recover more quickly than expected.”
Fukushi frowned at me. “What’s a ‘snake,’ though?”
Of all the words to not translate well, that wasn’t one I’d expected.
Nobody replied to Fukushi’s question, though. It wasn’t the point of what I was talking about, and everyone got the general gist I’d been going for.
Riko looked most concerned. “You’re the biggest threat, right? And you’re planning to go out and help fix the city tomorrow. Be careful they don’t come after you.”
“Yeah, I figured.” I smiled at her happily. I liked that she was worried about me. “I’ll be safe, but we should probably keep a good rotation of this group watching over the other heroes to make sure nobody goes mysteriously missing. In particular, I’m concerned that our Prophet Hero will get snatched up by the church.”
Daniella stiffened beside me, squeezing my arm in a death grip that would’ve cut off circulation if I’d been any less sturdy. I made note of the reaction, mentally deciding it could wait for a moment.
It was Fukushi who again responded with a curious tone. “Why is that a problem? The Prophet Hero is always well cared for within the Grand Cathedral. It’s never been an issue before.”
“That’s going to be a similar issue to the heroes being passed around to try to breed more bloodlines. He’ll be a prisoner, and they’ll never let him return to our world.”
“Of course they wouldn’t. The Prophet is always the one to predict when the next calamity will arrive, warning the Kings and Queens to prepare a summoning ritual.”
I gave her a long, weary sigh. “And what will the church do if I decide to bring us all home?”
“I understand, but why not let him stay? This world will need him.”
I turned to Riko instead, trying a different tactic. “What will your parents think if you’re gone forever? Your friends?”
Fukushi caught on immediately. “Ah. Forgive me. That was deeply inconsiderate. He probably has his own loved ones.”
Riko smoothly stepped in from there, before I could say another word. “I spoke with Amano-san. He’s got a wife and three kids back home.”
The whole room went silent. Everyone reached a silent agreement to protect the guy I dubbed ‘Not a Weeb’ from being abducted by the church.
“And what about you?” I turned to Daniella, raising an eyebrow at her death grip. “Why are you so scared of the church?”
She hesitated, her face slightly pale. “I try to avoid their scrutiny at all costs. My eternal youth trick is considered apostasy. I’d be sentenced to a pretty brutal execution. Queen Verienne keeps my secret pretty well guarded, but she’s away right now.”
“Eternal youth trick?” Riko asked, curious.
“Can we agree not to keep secrets between those in this room?” I gave Daniella a curious look, and she offered a small nod in return.
Then I glanced around at the others for their confirmations before filling in the explanation.
I smiled at the Japanese girl. “Daniella’s something of an energy vampire. She’s drawn to how both Fukushi and I have nearly inexhaustible energy reserves. She uses it to stay young.”
“Huh,” Riko began. Then she frowned, “So how old are you?”
“Four hundred-ish, I think.”
Daniella’s response had Riko choking, and Hanada muttered something like, “old hag,” under her breath.
“And that doesn’t bother you, Lilin?”
I could only smile and shrug. Not that I was going to let the cat out of the bag—that I was the oldest in the room by a factor that could only be measured in exponents. “Not at all.”
“While we’re sharing secrets…” Fukushi had that predatory, eager look in her eyes, “you’ve got plenty of those to spill, Lady Mage Heroine.”
Uh oh.
I let my thoughts speed up to come up with a sneaky strategy to get out of answering, and landed on veiled truth as the best option. For some reason, an outright lie just felt… wrong.
“I can’t say much. There are consequences for sharing some things, and I promise I will share everything eventually, but I can’t do it safely right now. I’m sorry, but please wait.”
There, polite and concise. As straightforward as any refusal to comment could’ve been.
So why are they all giving me suspicious stares?
Riko got that sly, hyper-intellectual look in her eyes at that point, which had me wanting to shiver, despite myself. Then, she hit a certain nail on the head a little too solidly. “One question, then. Is Daniella really the oldest person in the room right now?”
I couldn’t help it. I smirked. It was stupid, and could’ve given me away, but right after the reveal of one method for a mortal to stay young, I had a bit of cover for that question. Just had to hope no deities were paying too much attention to the mounting evidence against me.
That thought sobered me like a bucket of ice water over the head, and I almost wiped away the smirk, suddenly wary of just how much I was pushing the boundaries of my cover story in such a short time. “I’m eternally sixteen!” I beamed happily. Riko probably caught the flicker of doubt in my eyes, but there wasn’t much I could do. I so badly wanted to be open and honest, but I couldn’t risk fighting all the poorly-named-world’s gods at once.
I had zero doubts they would come together to remove me from their game board, rather than allow a loose deity to roam around without being bound by their shitty playtime treaties. For several reasons, I was struggling to keep a low profile and act within rough limitations. I needed to firmly ingrain a mental warning to remind me of the stakes of the game I was playing.
Daniella’s hand laid on mine as she snuggled in closer, one of her long tresses stroking my cheek comfortingly. Hanada, not one to be outdone, pulled my right hand between her legs and sandwiched it between her thighs. I blushed a full crimson, looking up to see Riko’s expression turning from pity to something more scandalized.
“Well, with the talk aside, I should be going to patrol the castle and keep out any problematic intruders. Eileen, please remember to use caution while out in the city tomorrow. You may leave the defense of your peers in my hands, barring any unforeseen circumstances.” Fukushi stood, leaving the plush red armchair behind as she strode for the exit from the private residences.
On her way out, I quickly called after her, “Be prepared for my return tomorrow afternoon. I think I owe you some attention. It would be a less appealing hunt if you exhausted yourself beforehand.”
She blushed until her ears burned bright red, but I caught the ghost of a smile on her lips as her hips swayed out the door.
“Really, must you flirt with her right in front of us?” Daniella chuckled coyly, no intensity in her reprimand.
“Whatever do you mean? You both know who will be my company tonight, don’t you?”
At that, Daniella peered around me to get a look at Hanada, who was sitting bolt upright and stiff as a corpse. “I wonder how she tastes…”
I glanced up as movement caught my eye. “Riko? Joining us?”
“No, thank you. As I’ve said before, you need to earn my affections first. I will instead be happy in the knowledge that something beautiful will be blossoming tonight.” With that, the Japanese woman made her own way to the door and took her leave.
“Hanada-san? Are you certain you don’t wish to let go? I will have to do unthinkable things to you if you insist on being so possessive.” My voice had a sensual purr, and speaking into her ear had her pressed even closer to my arm.
“I’m… okay with that.” Her voice was quiet and a bit higher pitched than I usually heard from her.
“I hope she can keep up.” Daniella grinned, then took a playful nip at my earlobe.
“Well, I’ll certainly take this over battling a magic storm any night. Where are we headed, High Mage Archaelyn?”
She was all too eager to respond. “If one of the others had stuck around, I’d have said my bed was too small. With just the three of us, I think we can manage… if we get very, very comfortable with one another.”
“I somehow don’t think we’ll have any problems there,” I mused happily.