She felt... calm, refreshed, dare she say good. There was nothing wrong with the world at a time like this, at least as it related to her- and for the first time, the worries of the world could stay far from her- because there was no reason to overthink. As easy, and as mundane as it may seem, her head was just... still. Thorn stayed behind, as expected, but Hina paused in the forest district's outskirts, near the main areas of Mir, and leaned on a tree, inspecting her arm as the skin there took on a greenish hue, growing somewhat sticky with thorn's sap... and then the flesh returned to a hue that did not inspire panic in one who didn't understand. On that front, at least, it was a success... so Hina yawned quietly and continued on.
To an extent, she still felt worried about Lily, though. Thorn claimed that she left people exactly as they'd be happiest- but great power inevitably leads to problems, strife, danger. This begged the question... why was Lily so obviously powerful, then? Hina paused in her walk, leaning calmly against a tree for another pause and rest, thinking for a time. What could the answer be, really? There was no way she could be happiest as somebody who would eventually end up hunted... unless, she believed she would? Could such a thing even be measured by Thorn, the fantasy versus the reality? After all, now that she was thinking clearly... well, that was a change brought about by her own mind, if Thorn was entirely truthful.
Sighing and shrugging, the badger girl slowly stopped, swaying a bit, leaning on a tree to her left. "Gods, I'm tired..." Not mentally, though- Hina's head swam softly with physical fatigue. Mentally, yes, she felt refreshed, and there was no physical pain whatsoever... but she was just, exhausted, so so... so very exhausted. How long had it been since she'd eaten three meals a day, or slept easily...? She wanted to go back, greet her father, and sleep for twelve days. This was not a fatigue of the mind or body either, but perhaps the soul that now felt it safe to rest and be calm in doing so,
"Tired..." She mumbled, resting her eyes there in the shade, yawning quietly, not bothering to cover her mouth. Shirt open, cleavage exposed, stockings squishing her thighs a bit... it was amusing, as outfits went, so how was it more protective than the armor on most of her enemies? Laughing quietly, she opened her eyes... and came face to face with Charlotte, who'd popped from the aether with a Cheshire grin to chill the bones of any. However... she seemed calm, not remotely domineering or sexual in the moment. In fact, even if her grin was large, it was almost more comical than anything else... soothing.
"How are you, Hina?" Asking gently, the monster girl stepped forward, bending and slowly scooping Hina up at the backs of her knees and from underneath her shoulder blades. Though the Fell Hero was caught off guard, she didn't resist, trusting the catgirl and too fatigued regardless, to do much. "You look rather tired, so I thought I'd come and get you."
"Were you spying...?" There was a note of innocent amusement in Hina's voice as Charlotte began to walk. The forest around them seemed to bleed away, and this young woman, this badger to finally achieve her peace, was only vaguely aware of the polished wooden walls, or the golden chandeliers, or the light fixtures that hummed with electricity like she hadn't seen in a long, long time- or so it felt like.
The click of a door, and the walls were covered with gorgeous and muted paintings, now. Charlotte was setting her... down, into a soft bed, and gently working Hina's shirt off of her shoulders. "Don't worry, I gave you privacy when it mattered, and lurked around the houses outside the forest until I heard you." The words... put her at ease, as Charlotte undid and removed Hina's shorts, stockings... bra, panties. There was no sexual intent, and Hina couldn't have handled more when this tired, so she only released a noise something like a purr and turned on her side, flicking her tail about slowly, giggling almost childishly as the length of furry appendage flicked up and over her thigh.
"Where are we, Lottie...?" She knew, of course, that Charlotte could not possibly mean her harm, but nonetheless, she had to wonder. Didn't she have somewhere to be, this evening? Slowly smiling, this time small and genuine, with no trace of anything but sincerity, the questioned woman sat down beside Hina, gently patting the badger girl's head, and leaned down, planting a decidedly sweet kiss at the crown of her head.
"Somewhere where time waits for us to be ready, and then ushers us out the door. Here, you can sleep easily, and you have my word that harm may not reach you, I, or anybody here. Need you one hour or one year, when you wake up, the outside world will be just as we left it... so, sleep. It's fine, to rest, Hina, for as long as you need~"
"Thank you, Lottie... if I weren't so tired I'd kiss you..."
"One for each of us," the other purred softly, leaning down and offering Hina's forehead a kiss, then her temple, nothing but gentle and warm. "Sleep well~"
---
"Geh-?!" Hina yelped with surprise, blinking rapidly. She remembered falling asleep, somewhere odd, and where there was genuine electricity... but now she was sitting in a soft, cushioned blue chair, clearly in the Mirian royalty's palace, with Charlotte standing idly by, her tail flicking slowly.
"How do you feel, Hina?" Voice innocent and gentle, the catgirl smiled quietly, slowly walking forward and getting to her knees, tipping Hina's chin down to make eye contact. "Rested?"
"Mn... yes," Our protagonist began to smile, nodding and flexing her fingers, silently thanking whatever responsible powers for the fact that she was clothed again. Even if waking up naked in public sounded arousing, this was no time for such a thing to actually take place. "Where did you take me?"
"I took you to the Hall of Exits, and from there to a strange hotel, frozen in time. One born of Wonderland can never be constrained to one place without outside intervention- so I took you to a peculiar complex where no time can pass, and let you nap without missing the time to greet your father. Eventually, you seemed near to waking, so I thought I'd cut out some of the walk for you." Her smile was still small and genuine, to a degree that Charlotte's inanely abnormal and somewhat disturbing blood might not have even existed within her body. "So here we are... and I'm sorry to be abrupt, but you were running late, and it's time in less than ten minutes. Do you need anything to eat quickly?"
"Hm?" Hina blinked, mildly surprised by the gentle care she was being shown, and slowly nodded, a rosy blush creeping into her cheeks. "U-Um, actually, please yes, I'm hungry," She murmured, blinking slowly and then again, again, again, rapidly. "Really, really hungry HOW long did I SLEEP?"
"A few days. Be right back with a snack!"
"Days?? Are you kidding?!" Before Hina could finish this thought, though, Charlotte was gone in a plume of blue smoke- but she was on Hina's right a half second later, offering a platter of small muffins and fruits and something that might have been a form of candy with something like a meek, almost smitten expression. "Hina, you hardly eat at all, you've gone underweight, we must fix this~" With her free hand, Charlotte poked at Hina's stomach slowly. She looked down, a bit self conscious suddenly- and it was true, sadly. Suddenly, she wished she was wearing something a whole lot more... modest. She could see, though, that Charlotte immediately felt bad.
"I'm sorry Hina, I didn't mean to insult you, I just meant that you need to get back to a healthier point for, as I said, health reasons. This isn't about your appearance. Are you okay with a magical change? I can cover you more...?"
"Eh? I mean, okay?" Confused to an extent, Hina blinked as her clothing vanished, leaving her naked in the hall for a split second. Before her eyes had even finished widening though, they were replaced by soft, warm leggings and a gray, braided sweater, combined with ankle-length boots to complete the basic white girl, or rather, no that's exactly what it is, look.
"Clothes are in your room, now here, take one or six of these~" Charlotte proffered the plate, and Hina slowly took a pair of muffins, nibbling, her eyes widening. They tasted like... coffee? Some sort of cross between a bitter vanilla mocha and extremely light matcha.
"What are these??"
"I made them for you with an herb from Underland. It's a bit like a drug, but it doesn't addle your mind- just tricks you, makes you taste the thing you love most, in that sense! So no matter what, it should be delicious~"
"It is... Charlotte, I love you, I do, but all this sweetness, doesn't seem like you. You're always in leather and beating ass, but now..." Hina trailed off. The Cheshire Catgirl was wearing a simple white blouse and dark pants, maybe jeans, with knee-high boots that were made from brown leather.
"Right now just isn't the time, Hina." Smiling, Charlotte took Hina's hand... and pushed it up, guiding Hina to nibble at the muffin, again. The taste combination sounded odd, when she put it into words mentally, but it was delicious, she'd be hard pressed to deny that. "You've been through so much, and it's not as if I can't recognize that you deserve some compassion, you know~?" Gently, she spun Hina round, as slowly as one might help a babe walk, her arms slowly wrapping around Hina's loosely-clothed waist, her lips gently pressing to her cheek.
"Don't worry, nothing is wrong~ and the other girls are asleep back in the room, so don't worry about that either. It's time you get walking- down this hall, take a right, third door on your left. That's where Aerendyl says he's going to bring your dad. Do you want to go alone? I could come with, but I feel like that may be sort of a personal moment, yes?" Her lips came back, pushing against Hina's neck, but the gesture felt fairly innocent, and with Hina nibbling her muffin like a young squirrel, the sight must have actually been quite comical from the outside.
"Come to think of it, my waist feels weirdly soft..."
"Lace panties," Charlotte nodded knowingly. "So, do you want me to come with you, or not?"
"I'll go alone, yes... but, thank you, Lottie, to the moon and back." Hina smiled, turned her head and pushed into a brief kiss, then walked off, nibbling her muffin until it was gone, then starting on the second. It didn't take long to reach the room she'd been directed to, but for some reason she hesitated at the door. With this, her family left Earth entirely, her father without a trace. It would like like a tragedy from the outside... though, not to sensei. No, he would know- and he would smile, Hina suspected. Perhaps, the man would enjoy a mug of tea one day, and smile outside, reminiscing on the students he lost, the man he once knew. Perhaps he would sip his tea, and Hina would slide into the seat beside him, tell him about something. Maybe, one day, his hair would run gray, and he would fade to dark knowing that he'd been exposed to something special. With luck... maybe she could even be there, to hold hands with the one who accepted her back, bought her clothes and treated her to a meal, respectfully. That... a sobering thought, for sure.
Nom.
Muffin gone.
Knock.
Only once.
"Come in, Hina! I gotta respect that I can't be daddy, so let's get the real one in here!" The phrase was so offhanded and casual that Hina laughed, shaking her head quietly and entering the room, her hair dusting round her shoulders, healthy and clean and soft in all its two-toned glory.
"What the hell, Aerendyl~?"
"Respect women I must, acquire true daddy I also must!!" Nodding, Aerendyl laughed and turned, shirtless as always but oddly sweaty. Not the sort of sweat that appears broken for display, but rather a genuine one of hard work, matched by blonde curls hanging lank with sweat.
"Hina? You're rocking a new style for once, but, it looks nice. Why are you looking at me like that-?"
"You look like you've been working your ass off. What's got an angel so wound up~?"
"Oh..." Aerendyl actually... blushed? He seemed embarrassed! "Well, I've been flying in the skies for a long time, and slithering in the dark, it's nothing special. But I ended up playing with some beast-men children, they wanted to play tag, and I couldn't cheat... and then I forgot the time, and ran here so as not to be late... it just felt good to use my legs, instead of flying or teleporting." Aerendyl shrugged quietly, smiling. "Don't worry, I was just having fun, so it's nothing to worry about. Did your little trip go well?"
"It... did, thanks," Hina nodded, yawning. The details felt fuzzy, but perhaps that was a side effect of multiple days sleeping- SO WHY DID SHE FEEL TIRED AGAIN NOW?! Over sleeping bad...
"It did. So, what's the procedure here...?"
"There isn't one, really," Aerendyl murmured with a quiet smile, shrugging. "When you're ready, your father will die, peacefully, and painlessly, and be reincarnated here. I'm going to simply obliterate his brain- gone in tenth of a thousandth of a millionth of a second- no pain, out like a light. There will be some confusing autopsy results, yes, but it'll all work out in the end, don't you think?" He smiled, and though the content was a bit disturbing, Hina saw it in his eyes. An earnest desire to belief, and an honest oath without catch or strings that her father would not suffer during his final moments on Earth.
"If he's ready... I am, too."
"Then let me do it," Aerendyl murmured. "This is only going to take an instant- no need to close your eyes or anything..." There was a pause, and then Aerendyl planted his hand on the floor, eyes closing, voice pitching.
"By my power, as what I am and will be, bring forth the desired. By my honor and by my love for a friend, may his travels be safe, easy and silent as a sleeping lamb..." Aerendyl frowned, sweat beading his brow, an abnormal amount of effort emanating from him. "By the steel and starmetal from which my bones were forged, may his talents rise and his morals never waver... and by by oath to you, Hina... may there never be strife among the family again." With a simple flash, her father appeared, on his knees, recognizable as himself- but somehow wrong, in the same breath. He was himself, but just a bit younger, a bit stronger, his complexion a bit more fair and healthy. The more noticeable change, though, was his hair, ears and tail. White with black tips as if frosted, same going for the ears and thick, bushy tail. He was naked, but that didn't need paid any mind- Hina was, too, when she arrived here. Slowly, she stepped to him, pushing at his shoulder.
"Dad...? Aerendyl, he's like me, a beast-man...?"
"Yeah," The angel nodded, panting softly, and smiled in answer. "To keep the family resemblance. You look so different, Hina, but now when you two meet eyes, you can see each other in more ways than one. I hope he accepts it as well as you did- and for now, I'll get him some clothes and give you space." He said this bit with a wider smile and stood, leaving, as the summoned man himself began to stir, groaning quietly, his eyes blinking slowly open.
"Hina...?"
"Y-Yeah, dad..."
"Hina..." He leaned forward, slowly wrapping his arms around her. "It's good to see you... I love you, kid. Never doubt it... but I feel kind of weird...?"
---
My name is Aerendyl Farran, and I am the arch of gods. However, it's been a long life, I've led. Sometimes I find myself wondering if I can really keep going, forever. Growing as a person, but never nearing death, while any I get close to inevitably fall away, die.
So I thought to myself, maybe I'd step back some. Become... I don't know. A really powerful mage, perhaps? Some flashy wings, a decently strong angel? I sealed my powers of creation, though, and this can only be undone if it is truly for a good cause, with no selfishness involved, objectively based on lives saved in the process and how much those lives matter.
So today, I was able to play with children, entertain them, have FUN! Break a sweat, remember what it was like... back then, when I made the mistake of falling in love.
For now, I step down as the arch of gods. Who will come next remains to be seen, but I pray it never becomes that girl hugging her father on the floor. She deserves better, truly, and one day, she deserves to die- just not before she's ready.