"And what is this 'Land of Shadows'?"
"Well." That was a difficult question to answer. "To put it bluntly, it's a land of the dead. Where things refuse to truly die, all kinds of undead abominations wandering around, uncountable in numbers."
I had been sitting here with Meridia for awhile now. I hadn't even bothered to keep track of time as we merely talked. If she had a question I answered it to the best of my ability, throwing in some light teasing and stealing a kiss every now and then.
She didn't look too pleased with my explanation. "Scathach stopped them from spilling out into the mortal world. She conquered the land by pure might, guarding the gates for millennia."
"Scathach." Meridia allowed the name to pass her lips. "She spent her existence slaying undead?"
"More or less." There was more to her story, but she did stop the undead from leaking outside for over two thousand years. "It wasn't just that though, she was very famous for having slain gods."
Meridia raised an eyebrow at that. "Slain gods?"
"Yup." I excitedly explained. "Gods, demons, dragon, monsters. If anything walked into her domain without her permission, it met the end of her spear."
Her expression was hard to read, and I couldn't even begin to guess her current thoughts.
"And you trained under her?"
"Oh yes. She was a very….brutal teacher."
"I can imagine." Meridia said dryly. "It sounds like she was quite powerful for a mortal."
That was in fact high praise from Meridia. She only had the barest idea of what it meant to be a 'god' from my home. But being a god slayer is impressive nonetheless, even if they were lacking compared to herself.
"What about you, what've you been up to when I was gone?" I pretty much talked about my adventures until this point.
"I have been dealing with issues that come with my position." Meridia stated. "….I suppose I have ventured out every so often to keep watch over that dragonborn whom you call a friend. And that pitiful hovel you call a college."
"I heard you helped out when dragons attacked."
"I did nothing." She denied.
"Uh huh."
"I merely watched."
"Sure."
"Cease your foolishness." She huffed.
She doesn't want to admit she helped them out.
So cute.
"There's one way to quiet me~"
"Have you not had enough?" She looked at me with exasperation, but that faint pink still dusted her cheeks. Very quickly, she placed her lips on mine then pulled away.
She still had trouble initiating, though she didn't dislike our intimacy.
Still, I couldn't help but tease her. "Bribe accepted."
"You are ridiculous." She crossed her arms with another cute little huff.
It was getting very hard to not push her down right here, right now. Even if she accepted that large step, I didn't what that to be our first time together. I was going to make sure it was romantic, and let her experience it properly for the first time.
But I digress. It was hard to stop my thoughts from wandering when with her.
"What about Thorum?"
"Yes, your dragonborn friend." She pursed her lips. "He has many eyes on him, I couldn't overtly reveal myself. But he has yet to contract with any other higher power."
"How's he been?"
"Many of Akatosh's other children have been felled by his hand."
"That's good. The Archmage told me something similar."
"You worry for him?" She asked.
"Of course, he….is my first friend." I turned my gaze towards her. "After my mom died he was the first person I created a bond with, and you were the first person I developed feelings for."
"I see." She said quietly, an undiscernible expression on her face. "I shall….make sure no others interfere then."
How much has she done already? I had a feeling she had been making moves just so I wouldn't be upset that Thorum was harmed while I was away. The fact that she made an appearance at the College during the fight already said a lot.
"How'd you like to go meet Artoria?" I finally stood up from my spot, brushing off my pants.
"Right at this moment?" She seemed taken back.
"Why not?"
"There is…much to do, things I need to prepare…."
"Are….you nervous?" I looked at her in surprise.
She tensed up slightly. " I am a goddess, I do not get nervous!"
I raised an eyebrow at the way she said that. It was amusing at what actually got a reaction out of her. I wrapped my arms around her from behind. "Of course." I assured her. "You are my amazing, beautiful, wonderful, powerful, Goddess."
"There is no need to state the obvious." She clearly preened under my praise, which was all the cuter.
"And Artoria will see everything that I do in you." I could find the humor in the fact that I was coaxing the most powerful member of my 'harem' to meet the objectively weakest member, if we excluded Jinn. But, when had Meridia ever had to deal with these kinds of feelings before?
Nervousness?
What did that taste like?
Hell, something like 'love' was probably foreign to her as well. The way she became so unsure of herself sometimes, yet, I knew for a fact she could easily wage war, fight and destroy her enemies. To engage in battle that could facture the planet by accident.
I wouldn't be surprised if many of the entities in this world shared similar thoughts or rather the lack thereof.
They were so divorced from mortals that even if they allowed themselves to indulge in the 'world' there was still a huge disconnect from what their true feelings.
Well, thankfully Artoria shared a similar temperament when it comes to this kind of relationship. If it were Scathach, my poor Meridia would be eaten alive….perhaps in more ways than one.
"Hold hands?" I offered, holding it out for her.
"Hmph." She snorted, turning away. But her hand creeped over, sliding into mine.
"Ready?"
"Lets get this over with." She put on a face of nonchalance, but I could see through it.
Opening a new portal, she watched intently as we exited.
I knew not how 'much' she was brining with her, but I could more or less guess she knew the limits before something went wrong.
We appeared on a slightly snowy path, the courtyard of the College
Almost immediately, the space near us ruptured and a figure walked out. "Wilhelm, wonderful. I need –" The Archmage looked at me, then at Meridia. "I confused you for someone else, excuse me." He abruptly turned around and teleported away.
Well then.
Well, Meridia was quick to forgo that initial nervousness. She easily hid her emotions, something I attributed to her non-mortal nature. Her stride was confident, and her gaze alone scared away anything that may have wanted to approach
I head to resist the urge to get her to blush.
She seemed to lead me more than I her as she lightly pulled me in certain directions. I was assuming she knew where Artoria was as she was navigating with extreme ease.
I shouldn't have been surprised when we made it to the cafeteria.
The scene with Artoria having her cheeks stuffed, lidden with surprise at our entrance. It was another memory I would cherish for the remainder of my existence.
Rin also looked up, sitting right next to her with a stack of books nearby and one cracked open.
Perhaps I was imagining it, but Meridia's grip on my hand just got the teeniest bit tighter.
The awkward silence.
Thankfully, there were no there people in this room.
"Yo." I finally decided to speak.
"Hey." Rin said without much thought.
I was the one to lead Meridia towards the table, sitting opposite them two.
Artoria and Meridia never stopped staring at one another.
After a few more moments of silence, my cute knight spoke up. "I'm Artoria Pendragon, it's a pleasure to meet you." While I had yet to introduce her to Meridia, I'm sure she could take a very close guess, with my hand holding hers and everything.
"Meridia." My cute goddess said plainly. "It is….a pleasure for me as well."
Again, another awkward silence filled the table.
"Well, this is nice." I decided to fill it this time. "A table filled with people I care about." I turned towards the black-haired magus. "And Rin."
"Fuck you, Schweinorg." Her remark lacked any kind of scathing notions as I saw a small smile quirk on her face.
"Careful, you're going to make my girls jealous." I winked towards Meridia and Artoria, both of which shared a very similar expression.
Artoria ducked her head, trying her best to even her expression. "I admit, I have had thoughts on how this would go, but I find myself without the correct words."
Meridia shifted her expression slightly, almost as if agreeing. "I had just recently found out about Wilhelm's other paramours. I am too not sure how to handle this."
"Do you.....dislike my presence?" Artoria asked.
"I had given him permission." Meridia pursed her lips. "You are....beyond adequate as far as my standards are concerned."
"Oh." Artoria quietly responded. "I...thank you for the compliment?" There was another brief silence, awkwardness filled the table again. "Mayhaps we should have a conversation on how to proceed from here?"
"I would like that very much." Meridia nodded.
They both got up, moving towards the far corner, a silent agreement for them to gain some privacy.
I didn't feel offended in the slightest, I knew there was some things they needed to speak between themselves. If I couldn't even have this small amount of trust in them, I had no business having a harem.
"Damn, I wanted to hear everything." Rin bit on a spin in her mouth before stabbing it down into a bowl.
"I'm sure you can coax something out of Artoria later." I rolled my eyes. "Besides, they need to sort some stuff out in private."
Rin grunted in response. "I could barely get anything out of her form the other night." She gave me a narrowed look. "Makes me think something did happen."
"Nah, we literally just slept together. Clothes didn't even fully come off." I admitted. Though I did explore quite a bit of her body. Definitely not the last time I have that butt in my hands.
"For a devil, you're really boring."
"Believe me, I had to thoroughly restrain myself. Have you seen that ass of hers? And those legs? Artoria hides them really well."
"I know! I keep telling her to show her legs off more, get something that makes her butt look good." Rin sighed.
I couldn't help but picture the scene of Rin forcing her to try on different kinds of clothes. My thoughts only broken by them glancing back at me, Artoria saying something with a clear blush on her face and Meridia looking surprised.
I shook my head with a small smile. "So how've you been?"
"Good." She said plainly. "After you disappeared, me and Saber got settled. I've attended a couple classes and looked through the library."
"Huh, how long was I gone for?"
"Little over a day."
"Oh, longer than I expected." I muttered. "Any branch of magic here catch your interest?"
"I thought their Alchemy and Enchanting looked interesting."
"You mean you thought you could make a lot of money off it?" I grinned.
She flushed slightly. "It's a practical path to study."
"I'm just teasing you." I replied. "It is a good thing to study. I've barely touched them, admittedly, I wish I had spent a bit more in the past. But if you get good, then I can just come to you with any needs."
"Hmph." She crossed her arms. "You're not getting any discounts."
"Of course, I always pay for quality." I winked, much to her further embarrassment.
She really wasn't used to praise.
She was about to respond when suddenly our attention was pulled back to my two girls further away. A golden light filled the room, a familiar blade held in Artoria's hands.
"Wow, didn't think she would show that off so soon." I whistled.
Excalibur was truly a beautiful weapon to behold.
"I never get tired of seeing it." Rin let herself slump down into her plan, arm propping her head up.
"What about you, Shorty?"
"Who're you calling short!?" She snapped her head at me, glaring intently before calming down. "And what do you mean?"
"Talking about relationships." I clarified. "Got any boy you're interested in. Or girls, either is fine and I'm sure Zelretch would love more grandchildren to dote on." I gave her another big grin. "Anyone here get the courage to talk to you yet?"
Again, her cheeks flared red. It was a bit too easy to tease her sometimes. "What's it to you?"
"I have no ulterior motive. I'm just genuinely curious and wondering if you've found someone you're interested in."
"I don't have anyone." She grumbled, laying her head on the table.
"Don't get depressed, Skyrim's large and even outside of here there are an infinite amount of worlds out there. If you really want someone. You are a beautiful and intelligent young woman, I have no doubts you could find someone if you truly wanted to."
The look she gave me was a mix of embarrassment and genuine thanks. She didn't voice it, but I think she wanted to hear those words.
I just propped my head up, watching my two girls interact for the first time, a feeling of contentment filling my heart.
****
Artoria and Meridia meet, they're going to hash out how to handle the relationship. Stuff starts happening again next chapter, so fluff is put back on standby for now.
Anyways, if you want to read 5 chapters ahead or support me, visit my patreon. Just did another Interlude from Artoria' POV.