Maia was just about to eat her dinner when, all of a sudden, she found herself standing in some sort of formal dining room, dressed in an elaborate noblewoman’s dress. And, casting her gaze about, she saw that Aira, Nia, and Katrina were standing next to her.
“You losers?” Katrina asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste. “Out of my sight. I’m not spending time with you here, even if this stupid party wants to force me to.”
“Likewise.” Nia said, glaring back at Katrina defiantly. “And, may I just say, you’re a pathetic little wretch of a woman who feels the need to pick on the weak to justify her own emptiness.”
“That’s unfair to the empty.” Aira said. “Katrina, you’re completely and utterly soulless, devoid of any redeeming qualities. I cannot name a single thing that would be made worse for your absence.”
“You’re lucky I can’t hurt you right now.” Katrina growled. “Keep talking big while this lasts, if I ever find a way to remember what happens here, you can bet you’ll be reaping dividends for this. Now scram.”
“No.” Nia said. “We’re going to stay right here. If you can’t stand to be around us, then you leave.”
Katrina gave them a murderous glare, but, to Maia’s shock, actually left.
“Um…what’s going on?” Maia asked. “Isn’t that going to be a huge problem later?”
“Don’t worry about it.” Aira chuckled, watching in satisfaction as Katrina stalked away. “This is…look, it’s complicated, but the long and the short of it is that nobody can hurt each other here and that nobody will remember any of this once it’s over. Katrina’s words are just empty threats. You see–”
She was cut off by the arrival of a tall blonde woman with red eyes and pointed ears barreling towards them and catching both Aira and Nia in a hug. “Aira, Nia…” She said, voice hitching slightly. “This won’t make sense, but…I’m sorry. I…” She trailed off as she noticed Maia, a look of hatred and disgust crossing her face as she let go of Aira and Nia and stormed over. “Katrina. Get out of my sight, now.”
“Um…sorry, who are you?” Aira asked, laying a hand on the woman’s arm. “And this isn’t Katrina. It’s a long story.”
The look of hatred on the woman’s face vanished. “Ah, right, right. I’m Jerry, I recently changed sex for Worship purposes.” She extended her hand to Maia and gave her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, my girl, Katrina’s done a lot of very bad things, and I fully intend to kill her the moment I have the opportunity.”
Maia tentatively shook Jerry’s hand. “I…see? Uh, apology accepted, she’s not exactly been kind to us either.”
Aira and Nia suddenly seemed to have some sort of epiphany, and they gave Jerry melancholic looks. “Oh.” Nia said. “Um…it’s okay, Jerry, you did your best. And…we understand, we’re postwar. We’ve lost track of time due to Katrina’s meddling, but it’s been at least fifty thousand years since then. You’ll probably see us soon, though; Katrina’s said that if we win her game this time, she’s going to make us fight in the battle for planes. Just…no revivals.”
Jerry visible recoiled at that. “You’re alive?!” She exclaimed. “I…I can’t…don’t worry. Help is on the way.”
Aira gave Jerry a sad smile. “You know you’ll just forget, right?”
Jerry shook her head emphatically. “No, we’ve found a way to remember. I’ll see to it that you make it back to us.”
“What do you mean make it back?” Maia blurted out. It took her a moment to realize she had spoken aloud, but when everyone turned to her, she decided to continue. “I mean…what even is any of this? I’m kind of freaking out here.”
“Please tell.” Another blonde woman with red eyes and pointed ears said dryly. She and three other women had walked up shortly after Jerry had arrived, but Maia hadn’t had much spare attention to pay them in the moment. “You did nearly knock Lia over back there.”
“Sorry.” Jerry said, giving them an apologetic look. “These are my old comrades from the war. I thought they had died when the Administrator who took over their universe conducted a purge for fun, but…evidently not.”
“I almost wish we had.” Nia sighed. “She’s used us as her playthings ever since.”
“Administrator? War?” Maia asked. “You’re talking about Katrina, right?”
“Oh. I didn’t realize you didn’t know yet. Odd that you’re here, then…” Jerry mused.
“Sorry, Maia. It’s…complicated.” Aira said. “Nia and I were from another universe before, but Katrina conquered the universe we were gods in, then destroyed everything in it while we watched. That’s what we were talking about when Katrina first revealed herself.” She turned back to Jerry and motioned at Maia. “Jerry, this is Maia, our latest champion. And, for you four, my name is Aira, and this is my sister Nia.”
“Ah, Aira, Nia, these are my newest Higher Beings, Lia, Amelia, and Rose, as well as one of my older Higher Beings, Connie.” Jerry said, motioning at each of the other four women in turn.
“But we’re not Higher Beings, though?” Rose, a tall, incredibly well-endowed human, reminded Jerry.
Jerry frowned. “Sorry, I’m all out of sorts.” She said. “In my time, you are. Aira, Nia…war is on the horizon again. And…please, please, tell me you feel like you should be with these four for the party.”
“I feel like I should be with you.” Nia said.
“As do I.” Aira added. “Maia?”
Maia blinked. Now that she mentioned it, she felt a sort of tug, like she should be sticking with Lia and her group. “I do sort of feel like I should stick with these four, but…how did you know? And why does it matter?”
Jerry broke into a relieved smile. “It’s how the party works, you just sort of get a feeling about who you should be with. And it’s important because it means that you’re important in the upcoming conflict, and, hopefully, will be fighting for us. Aira, Nia, I know you won’t remember this after the party, but next time the battle for planes rolls around, and that should be any month now…we’re coming for you, okay? Just hang tight. It’s almost over.”
“But…Katrina…” Aira stammered. “She’ll never let us go.”
Jerry smiled darkly. “Oh, she will. Believe me, she will. I’ve wanted revenge on her for a long time, and now I have an excuse. I know exactly how to provoke her into giving you two up, and hopefully whatever plane Maia comes from as well. We’ll integrate you…not into my planes, the situation there is…strange, but we’ll get you settled with either Amy or our rising star, Kali. Whatever the case, we’ll make sure you and that plane are treated well.”
“But…what?” Maia said. “I’m still confused.”
Nia gave Jerry a shaky smile and placed a hand on Maia’s shoulder. “She says she’s going to get us out from underneath Katrina.” She explained. “And…well, believe me, life is a lot better with them.”
“Who’s this Katrina?” A tall, half-angel, half-demon woman said, walking up to jerry with an angel child in tow. “The name sounds familiar, but it’s not exactly uncommon.”
“Remember that Administrator who I told you wiped out a universe for fun? That’s her.” Jerry replied. “She has, apparently, kept two of the Higher Beings from that universe to use as playthings.”
The hybrid’s face hardened. “I see.” She said. “I assume you’re working on a plan?”
“I am.” Jerry replied, nodding at her and then the angel. “Aira, Nia, Maia, these are Lilith and Eve, our faction’s strongest at this point in time. They’ll be instrumental in getting you back.”
“Pleasure meeting you.” Lilith said. “And well done hanging in there.”
“Do you think you can tell what time they’re from?” Jerry asked. “I know Pandora’s talked about potentially being able to after the whole thing with your past self last party.”
Lilith paused, looking Maia, Aira, and Nia up and down. “Our time, if I had to guess.”
Jerry’s eyes gleamed. “Excellent.” She said. “I’ll begin making preparations the moment I get back. I know just how to bait her into giving up these three and the plane they’re from. I’m assuming it’s a small one, right?”
“Yeah.” Aira said. “She calls it a ‘junk’ plane, something she just uses to blow off steam. She hasn’t invested any Worship into it or anything, just told the two of us to do whatever we want to it.”
“What’s this about?” A human woman asked, another human and demon following close behind. “Are these new people friends of yours?”
“Sort of.” Lilith replied. “It seems like they’re going to be with us tonight, but they’re not from Jerry’s planes.”
“They’re essentially prisoners of war.” Jerry offered. “We’ll be mounting a rescue mission ASAP, but it’ll be some time before we have the opportunity. Aira, Nia, come with me, let’s go discuss details of your rescue with Amy. Maia, once again, sorry for the rough introduction, but if you’ve had interactions with Katrina, you can probably imagine why I reacted the way I did.”
“I have.” Maia confirmed. “Not many, but…I’ve seen enough of her to know that she’s probably done something to warrant that reaction.”
“Warrant that and much, much more.” Jerry said darkly. “She won’t be making it out of the coming conflicts alive, I guarantee it. But you don’t need to worry about that for now. For now, you just get to know the rest of these fine women, and have a nice evening.”
With that, Jerry left with Aira and Nia, leaving Maia alone with these unfamiliar women. And, the moment Jerry left, the tall, curvy woman…Rose, if Maia remembered right, walked over and offered a hand to shake. “This is your first party, right?” She asked.
“Um…yeah.” Maia said, grabbing the hand and gingerly shaking it. “Sorry, I’m a little overwhelmed right now.”
“We all were at our first party.” Rose laughed. “Why don’t we go grab a table and we can all introduce ourselves? We can get food after you’re a bit more settled.”
“Sure, I guess.” Maia said slowly. “But…what is this place?”
“I’ll send a body to go look for a table.” Lilith said, another body sort of…sloughing off of her before walking away. “As for this place, it’s hard to explain. It’s…well, consider it to be outside of normal reality. People here are from different times and different universes, but broadly speaking you can consider them to be some of the most important people in existence. Yes, you included.”
Maia frowned. That absolutely did not seem right. “But I’m…what did Katrina call it…a Lesser Being. That doesn’t sound important.”
One of the women in Rose’s group…Connie, Maia thought, gasped. “That’s a slur, she was just trying to make you mad. Just because you’re not a Higher Being or Administrator doesn’t mean you’re somehow lesser.”
“Higher Being? Administrator?” Maia asked, bewildered. “And if there are Higher Beings, doesn’t that mean the rest are lesser, or…lower, by definition?”
“No.” Connie said firmly. “It’s a catch-all term used to refer to a specific category of being that wields power beyond mortal means, such as gods. And while Higher Beings are stronger and are much, much harder to permanently kill, by no means are we inherently better or more valuable than mortals. About half of all Higher Beings were mortal at one point, and at the very basest of levels our souls are no different from that of mortals.”
That didn’t sound very convincing to Maia. “That sounds like others are less to me.” She replied. “I’m not equal to the goddesses, and I can’t imagine being their equal.”
“We’ll probably end up making you a Higher Being once we rescue you.” Lilith said. “It seems prudent, given what’s coming.”
“What’s…coming?” Maia asked hesitantly, pointedly ignoring the first thing Lilith had said.
“War between Administrators.” Eve said bluntly. “The three factions are probably going to end up embroiled in another war, like the kind that originally led Katrina to have control over those goddesses. It’s going to be very, very ugly, but, hopefully, in the end our faction will come out on top and we can go about making some reforms.”
“I still don’t know what an Administrator is.” Maia said. “Is that what Katrina is?”
“Yes.” Eve said. “You can consider them to be the chief god. Anyway, we’ve found a table, wanna go?”
Maia frowned. “Didn’t Lilith go do that?” She pointed out.
“We’re the same person.” Eve said. “It’s complicated. We share our senses, and, at the end of the day, our memory. If you say something to any of us, you say it to all of us.”
“Any? Are there more?”
“Five of us, in total.” Lilith replied. “Myself, Eve, Mae, Nuwa, and Pandora.”
“I see.” Maia said. It was strange, and something she had never seen on a person, but not something that was completely unheard of.
Lilith raised an eyebrow. “No further questions?” She asked. “People are usually more surprised.”
“I’ve seen similar before.” Maia replied. “Or, at least, I’m pretty sure something similar was happening; it was a monster so I couldn’t exactly ask.”
“You’ll have to tell us all about your life.” Lilith said, motioning for the others to follow as she began to walk away. “I’m really curious to know what life is like outside of our faction.”
As they walked, the others began to chat, and Maia stayed quiet and listened, trying to get a feel for the others. By and large they sounded…big and important; it seemed they were all either Higher Beings or soon to become Higher Beings, and they each had their own vital tasks they were doing.
The three who had come last were apparently working on integrating their home plane with other planes, the four who had come with Jerry were leaders of a nation in the midst of a grand war, and the other two were helping oversee the creation of a new world. By comparison Maia was…little more than a glorified game piece. The goddesses obviously didn’t see her that way, but Katrina definitely did, and Maia didn’t really have any agency aside from the order in which she’d go about curing places.
Eventually, they reached a table that had the body Lilith had made earlier sitting at it. Lilith sort of melded back into the body she had left, and everyone else took seats. Unsure of where to go Maia ended up sitting down next to Lilith, and, when she had, Rose began to talk.
“Okay, since Maia’s new here, I think the rest of us should introduce ourselves and give a little explanation about our lives and what we’re about.” She said. “I’ll start; I’m Rose, Lia’s wife. I was formerly a man named Reuben before I was reincarnated into their time, and we’re currently in the process of making an empire of sorts. We’re gearing up for war with the other planes in our universe because the gods want us to expand, but we’re focusing on our home plane at the moment before we go elsewhere.”
“I should probably go next, then.” Lia said. “I’m Lia, and I’m the ruler of our nation. I delegate more than actually lead at the moment, but I’m doing my best to learn so I can be more active.”
“I’m Amelia, lover of these three, and the one who made the system the Swarm uses and reincarnated Lia.” The blonde sitting next to Lia said. “My emotions were all messed up due to some errors in system construction that Jerry and the gods made, and I’m still getting used to having normal emotions, so take that as you will.”
“And I’m Connie, last of our little polycule.” The other human with them said. “I work as Goddess of Commerce in our universe. It’s not a particularly exciting job, so I’m afraid there’s not much more to say.”
There was a brief silence, then the demon from the last group that had arrived spoke. “I’m Maven, I’m married to these two and work as the Appointed of Dungeons, which means that I handle work for the Goddess of Dungeons in the mortal realm. In practice, though, I share my Appointed duties with these two.”
“I’m Ellie.” The redheaded human said. “Appointed of Life and Death, otherwise…basically the same as what Maven said.”
“And I’m Tess.” The blonde said. “Appointed of Fortune, and other than the fact that I used to be a guy…nothing else particularly special about me.”
“Well, you already know the bit about me and Lilith.” Eve said. “She’s the main personality, as much as she might claim we’re all equal or whatever. I work as our plane’s Queen of Monsters, I provide a common enemy for people to fight to help keep them sharp without the need for constant infighting.”
Lilith sighed. “And I personally work as a sort of international police to help ensure plane integration goes smoothly and that nobody commits any sort of genocide or something ever again.”
And that just left Maia. “Um…I’m Maia, and I’m also at war with the rest of my world.” She said. “Katrina’s spread a sort of virus that makes everyone act like her, and she made it so the only way to cure it was to turn people from humans into monster girls, because that’d make Aira and Nia upset. I’m still, um…coming to grips with everything, but I’m going to do my best to win against her.
“I was a hunter named Michael before this, I lived in a village next to the most dangerous place in our world. It’s been a bit of a shock going to the rest of the world, because everything is so…tame in comparison, but at least my time near the Deepwood has prepared me for the fight.”
“How’s that going?” Tess asked. “Are you confident in your victory or are things dicey?”
“Well, we haven’t really started the war proper, but…I think it’s all going to depend on how much Katrina intervenes. If she does basically nothing, and I know that won’t happen, then there’s simply no way for us to lose. If she really wanted to she could end us at any time, but this is some sort of game for her, and I don’t think she’d just ‘cheat’ like that, it wouldn’t be fun for her.”
“Even I wouldn’t have considered doing something like that, and I was incapable of feeling a lot of feelings before.” Amelia said. “She sounds like a real piece of work.”
“She’s the person Jerry hates most.” Connie said. “If Jerry gets his…her hands on Katrina, then you can guarantee that Katrina won’t be making it out alive.”
“Do you have a system or anything?” Maven asked. “Or is all magic done without systems?”
“A system?” Maia asked. “What do you mean?”
“A construct put in place by the gods that helps enable people to use magic.” Tess said. “Usually, everyone has access to the system and it helps guide your growth.”
“Nothing like that, I don’t think.” Maia said. “People need to use magic tomes to cast magic unless they spend a long time learning a spell.”
“Definitely systemless, though maybe there’s a proto-system in place via those tomes?” Connie mused.
“Systems are a thing our faction does, right?” Ellie asked. “What does Katrina’s faction use?”
“They generally use what they call ‘cultivation’.” Connie explained. “It’s another way of internalizing Mana, and it’s usually done with the aid of a bunch of medicines and items synthesized from monster materials and plants rich in Mana. Unlike systems, it’s a very individual sort of thing, and the result is usually that there are very few people with high cultivation.
“As people progress through the ‘stages’ of cultivation, they grow stronger and stronger, and someone even one major step of cultivation above someone else is basically untouchable. The methods to cultivate are kept secretive and competition for resources is fierce, so the worlds are very cutthroat.”
“To be honest, I don’t see the appeal.” Eve said. “At the highest end of things there’s only a medium to small difference in power between system users and cultivators, and in the lower ends of things you have way less people that actually have any sort of strength.”
“I think that might be the point.” Maia said. “Katrina is all about power and trampling over those weaker than you. It sounds like the kind of world she would love, where the strong get to do whatever they want with the weak and no one would dare to say anything to stop them.”
“But how would they protect themselves in the case of a war with other factions?” Maven asked. “I’m not super familiar with Administrator politics, but their faction isn’t well-liked, right?”
“It’s the combat power of the Higher Beings, Administrators, and most powerful mortals that act as a deterrent.” Connie said. “They don’t necessarily have to win, they just have to make it so anyone fighting with them would be weak enough for the other factions to pick them off.”
“That doesn’t seem right.” Maia says. “I don’t know her well, but I have a hard time thinking Katrina would accept a scenario in which she wouldn’t have a chance in a war.”
“It’s not her choice.” Amelia said smugly. “She can’t exactly outcompete us without knowing how to build better stuff, and I doubt she does.”
“I think it’s more that their faction has been left behind in terms of size.” Connie said. “They were always the smallest, and they’ve gained very, very few new members since the war. Their best can go toe to toe with our best, and are often even better, but the numbers of their best generally remain static, and us and the other faction have gradually increased the number of our best.”
“That doesn’t mean they won’t be a threat in the upcoming war, though.” Lilith said darkly. “We were apparently given the worst odds of winning the war, so we got a head start. I think it’s likely that they’ve been holding back to an extent, and their…gifts will be much more…confrontational than ours.”
Lilith sighed, shaking her head. “But that’s not a pleasant subject, why don’t we go get some food and discuss what we’ll do for the rest of the evening? Maia, since it’s your first time here, why don’t you come with me and I can explain how things work?”
“Um…okay.” Maia said.
Everyone began to get up and disperse, and as Lilith rose a duplicate of her body remained in the chair. “I’m just saving our spot.” She explained. “This is pretty easy for me, so I take care of it for us.”
“This is…easy?” Maia asked, standing up and following as Lilith and Eve began to walk away. “That seems like a very complicated spell. That…is a spell, right?”
“Not a spell as such, it’s more of a…feature of my biology.” Lilith replied. “I’m pretty far from normal, even as far as magical beings go.”
“Oh.” Maia said. “So…um, you said you were going to teach me about how things work here?”
“Yeah.” Eve said. “So, people here are from all sorts of different times. We’re reasonably sure that the time I’m from is the present, but there’s still like a twenty percent chance that as far as this place is concerned there is no present. This probably won’t mean a whole lot for you, other than that your rescue won’t be like, fifty years from now, but if you hear people talking about time, that’s what they mean.”
“When are the others from? Do we know?” Maia asked.
“The exact time difference fluctuates every party, but Tess and her wives are from roughly fifty years ago, and Lia and her wives are from two to three years ago.” Lilith supplied. “Like I mentioned to Jerry earlier, I think you’re from roughly the same time as me, give or take a year or two, so those times should be accurate for you.”
“How are they in your time? Do they grow old? I know monster girls don’t but…”
“Anyone with enough Mana doesn’t age past their physical prime.” Eve said. “Do all your monster girls not age?”
“Yeah.” Maia confirmed.
“Very interesting. I’m sure Jerry and Pandora will be interested to hear it.” Eve replied. “But, back on the subject of the party, it tries to group people together who ‘should be’ together, even if it’s not necessarily what we would want. For example, our wife Kali, main Administrator of our planes, is off with Jerry this time around. But, for Lilith and I in particular, it’s always been roughly this group, give or take a couple of people. You’re probably going to end up in the same boat.”
“How do you know? And what do you mean ‘main’ Administrator? Can there be more than one?”
They reached a series of tables filled with plates of food. “Grab one of the empty plates and some silverware and take however much you want.” Lilith instructed. “You’ll find the stuff you’re looking for eventually, and it won’t run out, so feel free to be greedy. But, as for your questions, we don’t know know, but I would bet on you being with us. The general circumstances around you fit and it would be strange to have you with us now and not later.
“I could tell you almost for sure if you’re willing to let me read your soul and Mana, but honestly that’s probably more trouble than it’s worth. We’ll read you once we rescue you. And, as for Administrators, normally there can be only one per universe. I’m a ‘sub-Administrator’ which has some Administrator power, and is usually used as a somewhat temporary position for training new Administrators before they get universes of their own, but we’re not looking to change things unless we can figure out a way for me to be a full Administrator alongside my wife.”
Maia stared at Lilith. She was…almost Katrina’s equal? Her attitude couldn’t be more different. But, now that she was thinking about it, if Lilith was part Administrator, she might have a more conclusive answer to the Higher Being question from earlier. “What do you think about Higher and Lesser Beings?” Maia asked tentatively. “Do you agree with, uh…Connie, I think it was? You just mentioned reading souls, so I assume you would be able to know.”
“Don’t call yourself or anyone else a Lesser Being ever again.” Eve said. “And yes, we agree. We were mortal too until a few years ago, and, as far as we can tell, there is no difference in intelligence, emotion, or anything else important between Higher Beings and mortals. The main difference is the ability to use what we call Worship, and how hard it is to kill them. Honestly, I don’t know where the term Higher Being came from, I think it’s because most Higher Beings perform the duties of gods and similar beings, but I can see why you’d get the impression that mortals are lesser.
“To be honest, there probably is a valid argument to be made that there is a qualitative difference between mortals and Higher Beings, but we prefer not to think of it in that way. People are people, and just because we can do more that doesn’t mean we’re any better. We have a responsibility to make our people as happy and safe as we can, and that’s all it means.”
Maia sighed. “I wish Katrina felt the same. Then I wouldn’t have to…well, do any of this.”
“We’ll get you out of there.” Eve said. “Just hold tight.”
“If you say so. Um…I think this is all I’m going to eat, is there anything else I should know about this party or should I meet you back at the table?”
“Just that you’re perfectly safe here.” Lilith said. “No one can actually hurt you in any lasting way, the party stops people from doing that. And most people, aside from our little group, won’t remember anything that happens, so if you want to go yell at Katrina or something, feel free. She won’t be able to remember any of this until long after we have you out of her grasp. Just don’t tell her about our plans to rescue you on the off chance that she does somehow find a way to remember within a year or two.”
“Alright.” Maia said, giving her a nod then heading back towards the tables. As she approached, she was able to catch a snippet of the conversation they were having.
“Sounds like her motives are a bit purer, though.” Lia was saying. “Like…some sort of virus she’s trying to cure or something?”
“Yes, assuming you’re talking about me.” Maia said, taking a seat next to Lilith’s empty body. “It…removes inhibitions, and makes it so people are unable to see right from wrong. People will do literally anything they think they can get away with, and they’re really, really forward about propositioning people or even…forcing themselves on them, it’s chaos.”
“Sounds like a normal one of her planes, at least from what I’ve heard.” Connie said. “Aside from being overly sexual, that is. I don’t know them so I can’t say for sure, but I’d wager Katrina did that bit to mess with Aira and Nia.”
“That seems…probable.” Maia said. “Katrina said something about the cure method being their ‘barely disguised fetishes’, and they said that Aira only likes women and Nia prefers nonhumans over human so…seems about right?”
“Disgusting behavior from her.” Lilith said, returning and taking the place of the body she had left behind, with Eve sitting next to her. “Real petty stuff. You’d think it’d get old after…however long she’s been tormenting them, though. Either they’d break or she’d get bored.”
“They can’t break, they said she resets their mental states so that they can’t give into despair or go insane.” Maia replied. “And it seems she takes breaks of a few hundred years between sessions, judging by the timeline I’ve heard.”
“Even better.” Eve said dryly. “Each time I hear about her I hate her more and more.”
“As do I.” Maia said. “I can tell by the way she talks that she thinks nothing of the lives of the people of my world. We hold value to her only as entertainment.”
“Well, that’s just about the exact opposite of our perspective.” Lilith replied. “You’ll see, once we rescue you.”
Maia nodded shyly, then began to eat. “So, um…after dinner, what do we do then? Just talk?”
“There are activities we can go and do.” Lia said. “Do you have anything in particular you like to do for fun or sport?”
“Um…does hunting count?” Maia asked. “It’s what I’m best at.”
“There’ll be some sort of hunting simulator if we look.” Lilith replied. “You could lead us all on a hunt in an exact replica of your old environment if that sounds exciting.”
“Aren’t you all…Higher Beings or whatever?” Maia pointed out. “I don’t think hunting stuff that I can handle will be very stimulating for you.”
“Don’t worry about that, we can adjust the parameters as need be.” Lilith replied. “We can all get brought to your level, you can get brought to ours, and everything in-between. If you’ve ever wanted to, say, do a hunt with the world’s best or something, then this is your opportunity. Obviously we’re not your world’s best, but I think we’d scratch the same itch.”
“Um…yeah, let’s do that.” Maia said. “I’ll think about what I want it to be like.”
With their course decided, the group ended up just chatting while they ate. Maia often had to stop and ask for clarification on things, and it was interesting to hear about life from people outside of her home plane. She found herself relaxing more and more, and was already thinking about what kinds of hunts she could take these people on. She had been a bit scared at first but…it was shaping up to be a good night.