Laura stirred in her bed with a little groan and turned, seeking the warmth of her lover. Her arm only found a cold, empty spot. The room was still dark, but then again, it always was. They kept the shutters closed to avoid awakening Liliene with a sunburn. When she opened her eyes and rubbed them, Laura realized she wasn’t just alone in bed; she was the sole person in the room. Nex and Liliene were nowhere to be seen. But she had an inkling about where her girlfriend was.
It was one of those rare mornings when she would have loved to laze around in bed, in her girlfriend's arms. Especially after yesterday. Heat flooded her cheeks as she recalled parts of their night. But lollygagging alone was pointless.
She wrapped the thin sheet around herself to cover her modesty and padded toward the window, looking like one of the philosophers of old. Minus the beard. A burst of cool morning air greeted her as soon as she opened it.
“Ah. Ah. Hya!”
One story below, down the narrow alley, Liliene drilled and panted like every morning since… yesterday. Such diligence. Still, the way she moved, how her long, blond hair followed after each movement in a delayed wave. Liliene was breathtaking. Laura rested her elbows against the frame and watched her in silence for a minute or two.
“Lili,” Laura finally called, giving her a demure smile. She held the sheet with one hand to keep it in place and waved with the other. “Good morning.”
“Ah. Laura,” she greeted back and stopped her morning training, sheathing her sword and planting it on the ground to rest some of her weight against it. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
“Yes. Though it would have been better to wake up with my girlfriend by my side,” she admonished without any real heat. Still, Liliene flinched.
“Sorry…”
“Where’s Nex?”
Liliene flinched harder. She wished Laura could stop asking all the right questions, for she would soon jump as high as the window.
“She told me we should join her at the conservatory after our breakfast. To get our licenses and start working for real. I was just waiting for you to wake up.”
Laura nodded. They had only passed yesterday, but it made sense to rush into action. The fate of Liliene’s mother rested on their shoulders, after all.
“Alright. Come eat breakfast with me?” she timidly asked.
“Hm. I’m coming.” Liliene grinned.
After a quick meal, the couple went to the conservatory to get their licenses. Laura didn’t fare any better with the stairs today.
Nex wasn’t inside as Liliene had expected; she was politely waiting for them in front of the building.
“My Lady, Miss Laura. Shall we?” she greeted them with a bow and led them into the conservatory. Nothing on Nex’s face or in her attitude betrayed the conversation they had last night.
“Nex. Good morning!” Laura greeted her with a warm smile like today was the best day of her life. In truth, it was probably yesterday, but the lingering memories, still fresh, made today a close second.
“Nex… Good-Good morning.”
Why was she suddenly a stuttering mess? Liliene had been too shocked to truly react to the rooftop’s revelations, but now, with some time to cool down and realize what they meant, she found even walking straight to be suddenly challenging. And no, she wasn’t just too gay to walk straight.
Her gaze followed Nex as she led them. Nex was nothing short of professional and impeccable. Somehow, it grated on Liliene. She wanted Nex to be as self-conscious as she was, to avoid her gaze, to blush, to stutter. A cool maid was also attractive but… Well, that was too much spiraling. Breaking Nex’s icy exterior would be a side objective. First, she would focus on the task at hand: planning their first real job.
No longer repurposed for the exam and without a nun to welcome them, the building looked considerably less religious. Though the gothic architecture still made a convincing argument otherwise. A giant map hung on a wall, a smaller one sat on a board, and clerks ran around carrying documents. Even early in the morning, it was full of life.
“So, how does this all work?” Liliene asked, studying the giant map on the wall. It had spots and drawings all over it.
“The size of each mark matches the estimated size of the ruin. This one, for example, would be very small,” Laura explained. “Think: no bigger than your home back then.” Laura lowered her voice, though she wasn’t sure why. Nobody listening would know what she meant. Maybe meeting Sylvia had made her paranoid.
“Triangles mark opened ruins; circles mark unopened or not fully explored yet. The color gradient, from green to red, is supposed to link to the danger level.”
“How do they determine it?”
“Trial and error, most likely,” Nex interjected.
Liliene studied the map for a moment, trying to find Laura’s village on it. She pointed to a small, red circle near the top of the map. “So, that’s home? Why are we red?”
“Yes,” Laura said, lowering Liliene’s finger to point directly above her village and not the shelter. “That’s my home.”
Red was probably Luna’s legacy, but Nex wasn’t trusting the walls not to have ears. She’d explain to her Lili later.
“So, how do you think we should proceed? We also need to make money. As you won’t take mine…” Liliene said, trying to hide her pout.
Laura looked over her shoulder at the extensive collection of books compiling known information about explored and partially explored ruins.
“I think it depends on how confident you feel. Something already opened but not fully explored yet would give us the best chance to find something. For… any goals. But there’s usually a reason why the people going in turn back.”
On the flip side, they’d have no guarantee of finding a way into an unopened ruin.
In the end, they settled for finding an unopened one, at some distance from the capital so it wouldn’t be crowded. They just had to sort through reports from past teams. They ended up with a pile of documents in front of them.
“Undead swarm?” Liliene was reading through her pile.
“Nope,” Nex answered, putting that one on the discarded pile. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
“Giant spiders?”
“Ah!” Laura curled up and shivered.
“I take it that’s a no.”
“Goblins?”
“Do they say how many?”
“A lot.”
Nex shrugged and took it. The ‘maybe’ pile had to start somewhere.
“Why are they all infested by something?” Liliene asked.
“Because we’re browsing the unopened ruins,” Nex answered.
That was a fair point.
“Also, human activities tend to push wildlife away,” Laura interjected. “The safer the surface is…”
Liliene recalled the tunnel back at her second home. Sure, there were suspicious noises at times, but never a flood of monsters. And the bats were friendly enough.
After hours of going through their options, they had three candidates.
“Goblins, a bunch of lesser devils, or a Myu Dragon,” Nex said, patting the very thin pile.
“Are we seriously considering a dragon?”
“Myu don’t fly, don’t breathe fire. They’re overgrown lizards living in caves,” Nex explained. “Against one, I’m confident I’d win.”
“Oh? It’s not every day I meet people confident enough to take on a dragon.”
Behind the three of them stood a woman, her age hard to determine. Her long, black hair was gathered in a ponytail, and her face was the picture of serene confidence. Her features were particularly unfamiliar to Liliene, like the way the woman’s eyes appeared narrower than most. Her voice, while not masculine per se, was still low for a woman.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. My name is Kaori,” she said, giving them a polite bow. “I’m a teacher at the Conservatory.”
“Nice to meet you.” Laura scrambled to her feet and tried to match Kaori's bow. “I’m Laura. This is Liliene and Nex.”
Kaori looked at Nex and nodded, then her gaze turned to Liliene. When she took in Liliene's smiling face, she flinched. Before she could understand why, for a fraction of a second, she was that teenage girl again, curled up and crying in a corridor littered with her friends’ corpses.
“Hi!” Liliene innocently greeted her.
Kaori forced a smile to ease her spirit. “Prospective students, right? Honestly, I’d suggest taking on something easier. If you must choose from your earlier list, I’d take the goblins; they’re the lesser evil.” She took a few steps back and gave them another polite bow. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I hope to see you all in my class this year.”
She left as quickly as she had appeared.
“That was weird,” Liliene said, frowning. It had been the first time someone had reacted like that to her. She checked on her necklace just in case, but from what she could see, it was set to blue today.
“She had a point,” Nex said, cutting through her thoughts. “Goblins are individually weak. Maybe it’s our best choice regarding Miss Laura’s safety.”
But Nex knew it wouldn’t be easy for Liliene. Goblins were persistent, nasty creatures, and worse, they were intelligent. She had struggled to kill wolves. How would she react this time?
They gathered and noted down the necessary information: the location, the rough map left behind by previous teams, and the potential traps. Then, they left to prepare.
Laura stayed behind to study more. Liliene had wanted to stay with her, as the very idea of spending the day separated from her lover was frustrating. Especially today, especially after their night together. That’s exactly why she had left. Otherwise, she would have tried to hug and cuddle Laura all afternoon. And probably succeeded at that.
Besides, Liliene could hardly keep still. For a few days now, ever since moving to the capital, she had felt more and more energetic. She was growing stronger and faster, as when she had reached the roof the previous night.
While Nex went away to shop and make the necessary preparations, she resolved to take her sword and drill once more. She didn’t have Laura’s wits; she wasn’t as confident or knowledgeable as Nex; all she had was her versatility, an asset she had barely explored until now. Not that she could train her blood magic in an alley in broad daylight.
For hours, she moved her sword until her arms burned, until—
“My. If it isn’t baby Liliene. What a coincidence.”
Behind Liliene, in the narrow, dirty alley behind the inn, stood a girl wearing a simple white summer dress, her pink hair stirring in the gentle wind. With her hands behind her back and body tilted to the side, she was the picture of innocence.
“Lascivia? What are you doing here?”
“Just call me Sylvia. Or you can call me Aunty. I was just passing by. Care for a walk, dear?”
Liliene turned around to look at the wall at the other end of the alley and the manhole cover. That was a peculiar place to pass by and a weird coincidence.
Liliene went back to retrieve her parasol and joined Sylvia. On her way back, she looked everywhere, hoping to see Nex and dreading seeing Laura. Sylvia slipped her arm under Liliene’s, and they started walking with no destination in mind.
“What were you doing at the ruin yesterday? Do you want to enter the Conservatory?” Liliene asked, unsure how to break the ice.
Sylvia laughed. “What for? No. It was merely espionage.” Sylvia seemed to search for her words for a moment. “Is my little Nex serving you well?”
The question made Liliene falter for a step. “Yes. I wouldn’t be here today without her. Just…”
“Is something troubling you?” Sylvia’s voice was gentle as the breeze, her smile less so.
“No. What was Nex like? When she was younger?” Liliene changed the subject. “You promised to tell me.” She tried matching the conspiratorial tone.
“Hm…” she pondered cutely. “Eager?” Sylvia answered, tilting her head. “She followed Theresa everywhere, hoping to be her next maiden.” Sylvia sniffled, but for some reason, Liliene didn’t buy it. “After I breastfed her with love, she abandoned me to chase another woman’s skirt.”
That was so much unnecessary information. “But… What about her real mother?”
Sylvia stopped and smiled wryly. For a moment, her eyes seemed lost in the distance. “There’s no love in her. Truly, my blood must have skipped her. She gave Nex to me soon after she was born and… We never saw her again.”
“Oh…” Nex was a little bit like her, Liliene thought. She had never known her birth mother. Then who was her Luna? Sylvia or Theresa? “You said she wanted to be a maiden? What is it?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation toward something less grim.
“One of Theresa’s lovers. Or… almost anyway.” She shrugged.
“Eh?” Plural? Liliene stopped dead in her tracks.
Sylvia scoffed. “Why are you surprised? Theresa didn’t reach that level of greatness by feeding off a single person.”
Liliene tilted her head. “But what about my dad? Wasn’t he mad, or jealous?”
Sylvia skipped a few paces ahead and twirled once. “Dear, you think he had a choice?”
“I don’t know? Yes?”
Sylvia only gave a wry smile and stood on her toes to pat Liliene’s head. “Oh, you sweet summer child.” She giggled, and Liliene had to admit the sound was pretty. “But he had his conditions. You know men, they think it doesn’t count if it’s between girls.”
Do they? Liliene and Laura were a couple, and she was pretty sure it counted.
“I don’t really know… No.” The more she learned about her parents, the less she was convinced she wanted to know. But she was curious, and a very resilient cat. “But they were married, right? What was he like?”
“He was an idealist, your father. She met him when he was a young man hoping to change the world, though their relationship lasted for decades. From curiosity to courtship, to…” She let out a weary sigh; somehow, for a brief instant, she sounded like Nex. “Her greatest mistake, really.”
“Why?” Liliene looked firmly at the ground, her head low. “Is it… because of me? Because I was born?”
“Dear, no,” Sylvia said, gently caressing Liliene’s cheek. For once, her face looked sincere. “Never say that.”
After a gentle brush of her thumb against Liliene’s skin, she linked their arms again to continue their stroll. “Without Theresa, your father would never have achieved his foolish goal. Live next to humans? Play by their rules?” She scoffed. “Look where that led us. Thousands of deaths and no place to call our own anymore.”
“Do you resent humans?” Liliene vividly remembered how Sylvia had addressed her Laura; she still wasn’t over that, even if Sylvia had apologized for it. “Are you… after revenge?”
“Resent? Revenge? Dear. Would you resent bees for invading your kitchen just because you left the windows open and the honey on the table?”
Liliene frowned, picturing the bizarre image. “I certainly wouldn’t be happy.”
“Yes, but that would be your own fault. I’m all for leaving the window open. You just have to make sure the number of bees around is… manageable. And preferably neatly kept in hives.”
Seeing Liliene’s confused expression, Sylvia gave her a warm smile and patted her head again. To Liliene, the experience was conflicting. It looked like she was being patted by a girl younger than her, yet it felt reassuring, motherly even.
The experience didn’t last, as Sylvia’s gaze locked on something in the distance; her expression turned feral, feline. She leaned next to Liliene’s ear. “My cute Nex is only a little bit succubus, unlike me. But after all those years, the maiden-in-waiting must be famished.”
“Eh?” She had no time to ponder Sylvia’s words as a voice interrupted them.
“Lili?”
Liliene turned to her girlfriend’s voice, putting some distance between her and Sylvia immediately.
Sylvia gave them a refined curtsy. “As I said the other day. Next time, I’ll host you all properly. Then, have a good day.”
“Lili, are you okay?”
Laura’s worried voice made a beeline to Liliene’s heart. Liliene couldn’t parse why, but within the warmth, she felt the first hint of guilt sprouting.
“Hm. We just talked, really.”
Laura let out a breath of relief. “What about?”
Liliene hummed. That had been a weird conversation. She took her girlfriend’s hand in hers and started walking toward their inn. “My mom. Theresa, I mean. Then… bees?”