Another week passed, another week of boredom, this time without anything particularly happy to enjoy. Edenport had been depressing for Granberia. Despite the blockade having been ended for a year, the port town had still not completely recovered. To make matters worse, they'd had to bring in thousands of refugees from surrounding villages that had been destroyed in the war. Granberia was glad she had come, however. She would be sure to tell Luka and Alice how bad it was and ensure that a larger share of rebuilding resources made it to Edenport. She felt a twinge of guilt over the town's misery. She had been Alma Elma's ally. No, she hadn't directly supported the blockade herself. But she understood castle politics well enough to know that if she had opposed Alma Elma none of this would have happened. Alma Elma would never have had the nerve to go it alone. It was rare for one Knight to do something the other three opposed. Granberia's reluctant assent had been what set the whole thing in motion, causing her to feel a personal responsibility to insure that Edenberg was restored.
At the moment, however, Granberia and Sara found themselves in Port Natalia, in a bar, a mermaid bar specifically, having a drink. Neither drank alcohol very often, but the presence of a monster bar made them decide to go ahead and socialize. The trip to Port Natalia had been fairly easy. There was a teleportation hub available to get between Edenport and Port Natalia, but if Granberia had wanted to teleport she would have just done it herself. For the most part, the humans of the area didn't trust the magic, still preferring to travel in ships. Therefore, getting a ship wasn't nearly as challenging as it had been for Luka and Alice.
The bar also had a lot of men, for obvious reasons. Wherever there were mermaids, men were sure to go. Granberia was both relieved and somewhat embarrassed that no men hit on her. With mermaids around, she apparently didn't rate with this crowd. That is, until a rather hairy, obese slob of a man elbowed her out of the way while she was ordering a second drink. Granberia didn't protest. She simply elbowed him back harder, moving him out of the way instead. That resulted in him turning her around and cursing at her, the stench of a full night of drinking on his breath.
"I would suggest that you go home, drunkard," Granberia warned in a low, dangerous tone. The man responded by sucker punching her. That made her mad, which resulted in the fat man getting a punch in the mouth of his own, followed by Granberia personally tossing him outside. Actually, that had been fun. She thought that perhaps she should come to such places more often. Then she saw a mermaid at a table on her way back in and froze. The mermaid queen. The former mermaid queen, that is. This night might be about to get much more interesting, she thought.
Granberia calmly walked over to the table, the former queen staring at her with hate in her eyes the entire time. The Knight remained standing as she reached the table, the former queen calmly drinking as she stared.
"Did you have something to do with that man attacking me?" Granberia asked.
"I might have promised him some sexual favors if he bested you, yes," she said. "I knew he'd fail, which is fine, because I wanted no part of that slug. At least I got to enjoy you getting a bloody nose."
Granberia reached for her nose and found that it indeed was bleeding a little. How embarrassing. Real warriors had failed to draw blood on her. Luka himself had popped her in the nose during their first battle and not drawn blood. Sara, finally noticing that there was some tension in the bar, hurriedly moved over to where the Knight was standing.
"Granberia, are you all right? Did someone hit you?!" Sara said, wiping Granberia's nose with a napkin, compounding her embarrassment in front of the old queen, who was clearly enjoying this.
"You fought for the humans, and now you have a human friend, I see," the mermaid scoffed. "Pathetic."
"And you are a traitor!" Granberia shouted. "Be glad that I spared your life last we met! Being deposed was a light punishment for your betrayal!"
"As I recall, you were nearly beaten, barely able to stand when I was done with you! I've been dying for a rematch ever since!"
This was one of the things Granberia had not reported to Alice. She had of course reported that the Queen Mermaid had tried to lead an invasion of the port towns in this area, and that she had deposed her, but she had not given any further details and Alice had not asked. The fact was, as injured as she still was, she had barely been a match for a queen, and the mermaid queen was older and more powerful than most queens. She was so powerful that in another era she might have competed for the Monster Lord's throne had she been interested. Or at least been queen of the Southern Seas. But she was notoriously reclusive, understandably so given what she had been through. She hadn't been heard from in a century until she had decided to join up with Black Alice. Granberia had only spared her life because she felt pity for the queen. That, and Granberia hated killing, although she would never tell anyone that. She had a reputation to uphold.
"I am willing to give you your rematch at any time!" Granberia yelled. "But do not think that you fight for your throne! That is not in my power to return to you. The Monster Lord has already recognized El as the legitimate queen."
"I am thrilled that my daughter is the queen," the mermaid responded. "I had grown tired of the burden of royalty anyway. This is not about that. This is about you and me."
"Then let us go outside and settle this!" Granberia exclaimed, angry but also excited. This would be a fight worthy of her, although she had little doubt of the outcome. The mermaid queen was strong, but she had only seemed to be a match for the Knight because she had been wounded and should not have been out of bed, much less teleporting to and fro putting out fires that Black Alice had started.
Sara didn't like it at all, but knew better than to try to stop Granberia from having a duel. The three women moved outdoors. The bar was located right at the water's edge, near a dock. The queen concentrated for a moment and a large trident came out of the water and into her hand. Granberia drew her sword.
The queen struck first, twirling her trident before thrusting it at Granberia. Granberia deflected the blow and countered, striking the queen in the right shoulder. The queen attempted a few more attacks in that vein, each time either missing or being parried, and Granberia's counters always hit, although the queen's defenses were at least sound enough that she could not strike a serious blow just yet. Still, the queen was shocked at the ease with which the Knight struck her and seemed to be having doubts.
"Why do you love the humans so!?" the queen yelled, pausing the battle. "Do you think they can ever be trusted? That they will not turn on us?"
"I have heard these arguments from monsters about humans, and humans about monsters, and recently both humans and monsters against angels," Granberia replied. "I am not naïve. Nor do I particularly 'love' any race. I simply do not see reason to initiate fighting when there is no cause. I see no reason to hate those who have not tried to harm me or those I care about. Much has changed since humans mistreated you. You apparently come into the port now. You have seen for yourself. Why do you hold onto this old hatred in the face of this new world?"
"Because I know it will not last!" the queen countered. "You are young! You have not seen the grand sweep of history as I have! There was just a war against a common enemy. Do you think these good feelings will last? Humans always need someone to hate. We monsters are superior to them. For that reason they will always fear us."
"We have often given them good reason to fear us. Sometimes with justification, other times without. I have learned much in the last year. The most important thing I have learned is the power of hope. The power of faith that people can be good if given an opportunity. If not backed into corners. When I say 'people', I mean monsters and humans alike. Ilias sought to drive a wedge between us. She fostered hatred at every opportunity. This led monsters to force themselves upon the humans in order to thrive and to reproduce. But Ilias is gone! On some level, I understand why so many of you joined Black Alice. She seemed to be holding the strong hand. How could one defeat a goddess? Yet we did! There is no force in this world anymore, acting with purpose to stoke the hatred! We must at least give the world a chance to be better!"
Sara was moved by Granberia's speech. She had no idea the Knight had had it in her. Neither did Granberia. Luka must have had quite an effect on me, she thought.
"You call me a traitor," the queen said. "Yet I love my daughter. She, like you, wants to believe that this peace can hold. Therefore I have made no moves to disrupt that peace. I simply wanted to take your measure because I held a grudge against you. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps my daughter is right. Forgive me if I remain skeptical, however. I have a long memory and I have seen such fragile peace before. Mark my words, something will happen to break it!"
"If that day comes, I stand with my people, as you do," Granberia said, sheathing her sword. "I will be your ally in that exigency. I only ask that you do the same. If you know your history, you know that the monster race will not be passive in the face of human aggression. My hope is not blind foolishness."
"Hmph," the queen said, and with a loud splash leaped into the water.
Sara believed that she had witnessed something extraordinary. "Wow, Granberia! You were amazing!"
"Hardly," Granberia replied. "I simply was not myself the last time I faced her in combat. She only came close to defeating me because I had been severely injured when I faced her. That confession is for your ears only! Tell no one!"
"I won't, honest! But that's not what I was talking about. I didn't know you believed that strongly in coexistence."
"I didn't always believe that way," Granberia said. "You could say that Luka pounded some sense into me. Although what truly convinced me was how much he believed in it and how hard he fought for it. As well as the example he set. You yourself are a fine example, Sara. You talked me into sparing your own kidnappers when first I met you."
"That was the second time you met me, but thank you, that means so much to me."
"I've learned that you humans at your best are better than any monster," Granberia said. "As beings of dark magic, we tend to give in to our desires for revenge. I couldn't understand why you would throw yourself in front of the one who had kidnapped you. I thought you a fool. After spending more time with Luka, I think I understand now."
"I'm not completely human, and my kidnappers brought out some more of the monster in me," Sara corrected. "Speaking of which, it's been about a week. Are you hungry again? Should we maybe go find someone to take back to our hotel?"
Granberia chuckled at that. "I've seen no men here who interest me. But if you're hungry, we can possibly find someone acceptable."
"No! I'm fine!" Sara insisted, flushing red. "I don't experience the cravings that way. I'm pretty sure I don't actually have to have semen like you do. After all, I grew up never needing it. I just… maybe… wanted to do something with you tonight."
"Oh?" Granberia said, arching an eyebrow. "Where is it written that we must have a man to help us get in the mood? For me, the battle has already done that. If my eloquence has done that for you, let us waste no further time. Let us retire to our room!"
Giggling, Sara took Granberia's hand and they practically sprinted back to their hotel.
"My client demands 100% of all future earnings. She will not accept a penny less. If you don't agree to that, we go to court."
A week had passed, and I had blessedly had no further dreams involving Six Ancestors. That did not mean all was rosy. There was still the matter of this lawsuit. I had hoped to settle, and the lawyer I'd hired had advised us to settle on the basis that the game may have indeed defamed Promestein, given how much conjecture it had included, as well as a final battle with her that had never taken place. It would have been possible, even likely, to defend the book in court, as long as we could prove that it wasn't a work of fiction. That part troubled me. If it's a work of fiction, how can it slander anyone? But then we got into issues of using a real person in a work of fiction without her permission, which would entitle her to a portion of the earnings. The good news, our attorney informed us, was that there was no realistic possibility of Promestein getting 100% of my share of the royalties, unless a jury was convinced that my work had been malicious. That would be hard to prove, since if her side maintained that it was a work of fiction, then there was no way to demonstrate that the two of us had ever had reason to hate each other. He estimated that we were probably looking at 50%. Left undecided was whether to insist that the work was about real events, and how to prove it. Alice made a point of being in the room in her true form.
"How can she receive 100%!?" Alice argued, not fully understanding how this procedure worked. I resolved that she should probably not be present in the actual courtroom, where such outbursts had consequences. "She didn't do any of the work! Luka worked so hard telling his story!"
"A story he improperly profited from by defaming my client," Promestein's attorney replied. Promestein was not present. Which was good, because then Alice might have been arrested for assault. Not that any prison cell would be able to hold her given that getting back to her own world was as simple as wishing it so.
"Everything in that book was true! The game had some embellishments, certainly, but the game defamed everyone, including me! It even made Luka appear more idiotic than he was! It portrayed me as a rapist! We're not suing!"
"That's because unlike my client, you are benefitting richly from the intellectual property in question," he replied. "My client could ask that both the game and the book be discontinued. She's not doing that."
"Because she wants money to do illicit research," I muttered.
"I see no further reason to continue this discussion," the attorney said. "My client maintains that your work is entirely a product of your fevered imagination and that you told the story, and represented it as real events, in order to destroy her reputation. Since its publication, she's had trouble finding work in her field. She has suffered substantial monetary damage due to your fabrications, while you have profited immensely. You think 100% is unreasonable, but let me tell you, with a sympathetic enough jury, the punitive damages would end you."
My lawyer finally spoke up. "So you came here to basically offer my client no concessions whatsoever? Why have you wasted our time?"
"Perhaps I wasn't clear," Promestein's attorney replied. "If you settle, she won't seek punitive damages, nor will she seek the profits you've already received, much of which I understand has been spent. If we do go to court, she'll be looking to take you for everything you have."
"We're not going to submit to any of that!" Alice raged. "We'll see you in court! And what do you mean, 'fabrication'. You really think Luka made all that up?"
"It doesn't matter what I think, ma'am, but speaking personally, yes, I do believe it's a fabrication. Elves, monsters, angels,magic… There's a reason it's called fantasy."
"Ummm. Hello? Lamia right in front of you!" Alice said, getting out of her chair and raising herself to stand at least two feet taller than the man.
"A very impressive costume, ma'am," he said, closing his briefcase and walking out. "I'm sure they loved it at Gamercon."
I had seen Alice angry before, but never like this. Not that this was the worst thing that had ever happened to her. It was just the worst thing that had happened to her that she couldn't punch. She made dark references to angel liver again. What was with her obsession with angel liver? We returned home in an instant. Ever since I'd been bonded to her in my apartment, she could bring me back to her world simply by being in contact with me and wishing it, like Dorothy in Oz. It was as easy as teleporting within her own world now, so we went directly from the middle of a crowded street in Orlando to our room in the castle. While I was generally pretty lax about the issue of how much the people of my world should know(I'd told all in a book, after all), I wasn't really keen on startling people and possibly causing traffic accidents by disappearing suddenly. I decided now was not the time to bring that up with Alice. Given that she'd walked outside still in lamia form, which caused much less of a reaction than I feared it might, it was probably better that we left quickly.
I held her and soothed her, which seemed to calm her down a little. She must have still been angry, however, because she wrapped me in her tail, something she had not done in months, and threw me onto the bed, and engaged in some very rough sex. That out of her system, she apologized to me and asked me if it had been good for me. I didn't tell her that it had triggered me a little. I'd probably have more nightmares tonight. She seemed to know that I was holding something back from her, however.
"I'm sorry, darling, I know you won't say it, but I can see that was tough for you," she said. "Oh dammit, no matter how much I try to change I'll always be a monster! I'm so sorry that I relapsed just then!"
"Alice, it's you," I insisted. "You could never hurt me that way. I admit, that's not the way I'd prefer to do it, but I understand that it wasn't about me. You were angry."
"Maybe I could do something for you more gently? Perhaps your favorite?"
She was referring to a blowjob, which was my favorite only for now. She had so many amazing ways to pleasure me that I developed a new favorite every few months But it was true that lately I'd been most excited about her oral techniques. Yet something about being devoured by a monster after being thrown down and taken by a monster didn't seem like it would help. She proved she was indeed learning, however.
"What if I suck you in my human form? I've never done that, before."
Actually, she'd never had any kind of sex with me in her human form. Not even a hug or a kiss. She tended to be grumpy in that form because it made her a little uncomfortable. Walking, for those who aren't used to it, is a pain in the ass. She nevertheless made it look easy, but she assured me that it required a lot of concentration to avoid falling flat on her face. In addition, she hated being short. Further, having sex in her human form wasn't something that she was interested in because it limited her abilities. She still had that monster magic, but her anatomy was merely… human. No foot long tongue, no vagina that she could control in ways impossible to even imagine, no tail. She couldn't even decently use her hair in human form, yet another skill which she introduced me to after we married. But maybe that was the point. Maybe I needed a human touch. I had never thought of asking her for that.
"I think I'd like that," I responded. She smiled and slid down my chest, kissing it as she went. When she put it in her mouth, it felt so different. It was like having another woman suck me. Her monster tongue was longer and rougher, and she could do virtually anything she wanted to with it, usually coaxing an orgasm per minute if she wanted it to be quick. Doing this in her human form, she was adorably clumsy, even scraping her teeth against me from time to time. She tried deep throating me and gagged, which caused her to stop and laugh. That would never happen in her lamia form. Snakes do not gag. That didn't stop her from trying several more times. Trying to deep throat is often more stimulating than succeeding at it, and she was rewarded for her efforts with a powerful orgasm which she eagerly swallowed.
"Was that actually good?" she asked, moving back up to hold me, still in her human form.
"It was amazing," I said.
"You're not just saying that? I couldn't do any of my best tricks."
"It was good because you did it for me," I said. "You really did make me feel better."
With that, she wrapped her legs around me and held me close as I drifted off to sleep. It was only the early afternoon.
I woke up towards evening and headed for my combat lessons. I'd had four combat lessons and four magic lessons in the last week. Both had gone pretty well. Gabriella was an excellent teacher, although she was starting to believe that perhaps the more technical aspects of magic were beyond me. Remember how I said I'd conjured iron? Yeah, that wasn't iron. It had been some weird alloy, not even fit to make a butter knife. Of course, Gabriella had given me the precise composition of the metal by licking it. She did this to illustrate that if I only used my imagination to conjure, I would only get something that somewhat resembled what I desired. She had me try to conjure my favorite food as an example. I tried to keep it simple, creating a vanilla cupcake. She told me to eat it. It was horrible. She then summoned one herself and invited me to try it. It was delicious. When she told me what mental feats it had taken to get it right, I despaired of ever being able to repeat it. First I had to know that it required butter, eggs, flour, etc., but I also had to know what those organic compounds were made of, and you get the idea. Conjuration is hard! And it was the first type of magic she was trying to teach me!
So I said that it was going well and none of that sounded so good, right? I did much better at invocation. She'd not planned on teaching me invocation so soon, because it was a much more complicated school of magic than conjuration, at least simple conjuration. Conjuration was such a broad school because it involved the creation of the simplest substances up to the most complex organisms. Nothing was more complex than creating a living thing, and even the greatest conjurers in history had only ever created one that could exist for minutes. And let's just say it couldn't sing an opera. Invocation on the other hand, started out at moderate difficulty, but only got so much more difficult after that. She told me that my power blasts were a form of invocation. She taught me to do more things with them, things which I picked up surprisingly quickly to her great pleasure. My most impressive feat had involved her throwing a jar of marbles up in the air and me sending a stream of bolts at them that hit each one, vaporizing them before they hit the ground, and hitting nothing else.
Combat class had gone even better. Nanabi, touched and chastened by my giving aid to Cindy, had dropped her grudge and the two were getting along so much better. They really hadn't had any good reason to dislike each other, but Nanabi told me that the threat of being washed against her will had angered her. Foxes, it turns out, do not like water, much like cats. They lick themselves clean, which I guess explains the somewhat rough tongue. It was the epitome of monsterness that Nanabi would have not minded terribly if Cindy had violated her when she had won. But washing, that was beyond the pale!
As for Cindy's winning ways, that had come to an end as well. Once Nanabi had seen a way to beat Cindy, she began doing it regularly. Cindy had become a good sport, however. She really did want to get better and the two were no longer trying to claim victors' rights over each other. I was a different case. I was losing more often than I was winning, and I still had yet to beat Cindy, who now owned a 6-0 record over me. She knew well enough to ask if she could wash me, but Salamander spared me from letting her down by saying that she didn't need to see every sparring session turn into group sex. Because of course Nanabi wanted in as well. She had seven tentacle tails to try out on me and wanted to find out which one was my favorite. So far, I'd experienced none thanks to Salamander's intervention when Nanabi defeated me. The cause of those defeats was usually Seven Moons, which since Alice no longer prohibited pleasure attacks on me, was her go to in our sparring sessions. Without Alice there to cut the magic off, they finished me every time. And yes, apparently that didn't count as a magic attack for some reason. At least when she was able to use it. A couple of times I defeated her before she could. My record against Nanabi? 3-2.
So that doesn't really sound great either, does it? Perhaps not. What made it great for me was that my relationship with both Cindy and Nanabi, and their relationship with each other, were improving. Nanabi's combat skills were improving the most. She'd always been able to utilize all seven tails for her finishing pleasure attack, but for physical attacks it had always been difficult for her, although in our first battle in the treasure cave I hadn't been able to tell, what with being nearly bludgeoned into submission.
Salamander not only had great skill as a teacher, but also was skilled at promoting camaraderie among us, and best of all, she didn't need to do it by making us all hate her as some combat instructors would have. I could see why she inspired such devotion in Granberia, and also understood why Granberia was so good. I had only trained with Salamander for a few hours. Granberia had trained with her for years!
This latest class would be a shining moment for me. It was finally the day when Lucy didn't snatch the football from me. I know it's a spoiler, but I'm so excited to tell the story! All right, it's more of a summary. Remember how Salamander had me do an insane number of reps of cursed sword techniques? Well, as soon as our seventh battle opened, I hit Cindy with Thunder Thrust. Salamander did not judge it a critical hit, so the battle continued. I circled Cindy, looking for an opening, barely avoiding her charges as usual, but getting pretty good at slapping her hands with my sword when she failed to knock me down and tried to grab me instead. I got all the way around to her backside, where she did exactly what I thought she'd do. Instead of turning around, she bumped me. It achieved her desired result, knocking me down, but I rolled under her, sprang up in front of her and hit her with Demon Decapitation. Salamander declared me the winner! Yes! Yes! Victory is mine! I am the greatest warrior who ever lived! The ladies found my celebration absolutely hilarious. Salamander thought it was so funny she ordered me to do 500 reps of the move I had just used, declaring that it was fast enough to satisfy her, but still sloppy.
The best news of all was no nightmares. It would be my last happy day for quite some time.