I woke up in the middle of the night to a frightening sight. For those of you who have kids, notice how sometimes you'll wake up and find that they are just standing by your bed, staring at you while you sleep? I woke up to something like that, only much scarier. It was dark, and the silhouette I saw was adult-sized, and had wings and horns. A succubus was clearly violating Alice's rules about bothering me in my room. Either it was something important, or it was…
"Hey there, Luka-boy!"
Alma Elma.
"You scared me there, Alma Elma," I said grumpily. "Couldn't you have knocked?"
"That would have been a lot less fun," Alma Elma giggled.
"Is it close to morning?" I asked groggily.
"Nah, it's the middle of the night. I know you're tired, but don't worry, you'll be back to sleep soon enough. I was just in the mood for a late night snack."
"Really, Alma Elma? You know you're not supposed to do that."
"Which is exactly why I want to do it! Did you really think you were going to escape having to feed me? You do want me in your little group, don't you? There's a price."
"Oh the horror," I said, smiling. "Okay, climb on in and do your worst."
"If I did my worst, then you wouldn't be able to save the world," the succubus said, getting in under the covers with me. "Besides, I want to talk, assuming you can stay awake and coherent long enough."
"I'm always interested in talking to you," I replied. "What do you want to talk ab- gah!"
I knew what Alma Elma's tail felt like and it had devoured my penis, taking me by surprise. Next to her pussy, her tail was her most lethal sexual organ. Not only was it perfectly designed to massage, squeeze, and suck, with dozens of tiny soft ridges insde that gripped and tugged and rubbed against a man's entire length, but it could drain energy as effectively as her vagina.
"Since we're in private, I wanted to talk to you about that dream I had," Alma Elma answered. "So I've been led to understand that some of us on this world are getting false memories from our counterparts in other worlds?"
"I'm not sure 'false' is really a precise term for it," I replied. "When an event causes a world to split off from another, that other version of you who went a different way is still you, it's just that your consciousness has been split in half. So what happens is, chaosization causes the universes to start to bleed into each other, so the distinctness of your identity in this world gets mixed in with the other version of yourself in- oh my God!"
"While that answer was very informative," Alma Elma said, pausing her sudden switch from her tail to fellating me. "I'm a bit insulted that you could be that articulate while my tail was pleasuring you. More extreme measures are evidently called for."
She resumed the wonderful blow job, her mouth doing things I couldn't begin to describe or even identify. Alma Elma could completely overload a man's senses with the variety of sensations she could inflict with her mouth. I already couldn't remember what it was I had been talking about. She paused again after a minute or so.
"So you've done this alternate universe thing before," she said. "so basically I'm the same Alma Elma you knew in other universes?"
"Blabaugmetgrxl," I replied.
"I think you said yes?" Alma Elma asked. "Now you're not articulate at all. Let's try something a bit more gentle."
Was it sad that I had only had a few experiences with Alma Elma, yet knew the feel of nearly every inch of her body? Not that anyone could mistake those breasts hugging their dick for anything else. It felt wonderful, but it definitely dropped the intensity down a few notches, which enabled me to recover my train of thought.
"Yes," I gasped. "Different experiences and circumstances can change you, but yes, you are basically the same in every universe, because you all came from the same original Alma Elma. At least that's how Promestein explained it to me once."
"So you're saying that I'm just a variant, and not the original?" she asked, gently moving her breasts up and down, keeping it simple for once.
"That I don't know. What world was the original world? I guess it couldn't be this one since it's many centuries behind the one I came from. Apparently different universes move at different speeds through time."
"So that means I'm not even alive on that world you came from," Alma Elma mused. "So how come I'm getting memories from a deceased version of myself? Assuming it's the version of myself from the world you came from."
"That I'm not sure about," I admitted. "Alice hasn't had dreams so much as impressions. Same with Tamamo. Have you been getting those?"
"Not at all. The one dream has been it so far. I would have written it off as just a dream, especially after you told me it was something that happened to my other self. But for several hours after I woke up, it felt like a memory. Not a memory of a dream, but something that had actually happened to me. It was troubling."
"Are you planning to tell me what the dream was?" I asked. "You seem to be trying hard not to get to the point."
"First I need to find something out. So if you knew me for most of my life, that means you can predict my actions pretty well, right?"
"No one can predict what you do, Alma Elma."
"Good answer," she laughed, rewarding me with a big lick that nearly caused my toes to cramp, they curled so hard. "So what do you think I'm going to do to you next?"
"Um….. Go nuts on me with your mouth and make me come over and over?"
"Fun, but very predictable, and I don't do predictable."
"Screw me into oblivion?"
"If you mean kill you, very much my style, but I'm not so unpredictable as to do something insane. Besides, you're a nice guy. I don't kill nice guys. Or the last hope of the world."
"Foot job?"
"While I enjoy the acrobatics of switching to that position seamlessly, it's probably the least exciting thing I can do. I'd rather be accused of being predictable than boring."
I wracked my brain, trying to think of some way she could surprise me, given all I had experienced in my few sessions with Alma Elma. She had more ways to pleasure a man than any being I had ever known, and I'd known some pretty versatile beings.
"Aha!" I said triumphantly. "Succubus ceremony!"
"That's just dumb. Succubus ceremony is a combat move, and not even a good one. It's more about showing off than anything else. Hey, look how many parts of my body I can make you come with that you didn't even think about, and look how fast I can switch between them! It's more about psychology than an actual kill move. It makes my opponent despair of being able to withstand my pleasure attacks. It's lame for the bedroom."
"You're not going to swallow me in your tail, are you?"
"I already told you I won't kill you. There's unpredictable and then there's just doing random things for no reason."
"Well I assumed you'd spit me out."
"Now that's an interesting idea," Alma Elma conceded. "Might have to try that sometime. I mean, I've spit guys out only to devour them again. I can be a cruel bitch. But only towards men who are even crueler to women."
"I give up, then. Congratulations, I have no idea what you're about to do. I guess the only thing left would be to get up, leave the room, and leave me hanging without even telling me about your dream."
Alma Elma stopped stimulating me. I had a feeling of dread that she might actually have decided to stop and leave. As horny as she'd made me, that would force me to stagger around the castle in the middle of the night, trying to find a monster to finish me.
"That's even crazier than killing you!" Alma Elma scolded me. "That would mean I don't get fed! What do you think I am, a lunatic?"
"Then I have no idea. You've got me at your mercy."
"Now those are words I love to hear," Alma Elma said, as she pulled the cover back over her head, sprang up, and then back down, engulfing my dick once again. But where? I knew every part of her. Clearly I was inside her. But nowhere I was familiar with. That only left…. Her tail extending out from under the covers was a clue.
"Alma Elma, are you…. Doing anal on me?!"
"Did the Alma Elma you knew never do this? That makes me happy. I like that you know me, but I want there to be some new things too."
My Alma Elma had long threatened to do it to me, or do things to my own butt, but I was so against my own butt being violated that I never asked a woman to let me violate hers. So it was something that rarely happened, because I never requested it. Nor did most monsters have an interest in it, because they couldn't absorb semen that way and most weren't into it. Succubi, however, could absorb semen from any orifice, so had no such inhibitions. I'd even once had a succubus feed on me with her belly button.
As with anything Alma Elma did, it was not ordinary. Her ass moved in waves as she slowly bobbed up and down, then when she got bored with that, I felt sucking motions. Finally, she squeezed hard, and that was the last straw. She giggled as I came inside her.
"You naughty boy, coming in my ass like that!" Alma Elma teased. "I didn't even get to taste it!"
Alma Elma got out of the bed and extended her hand to me. "You know just one isn't enough for me, so we're going to have to get cleaned up. Can't put you anywhere else after that. Think you can stand?"
It was only one orgasm, so I felt that I probably could. With Alma Elma's help, I got to my feet. She escorted me to the shower, where she turned on a dim magical light on the wall with a gesture. With another gesture she got the shower started. Show off. When she was satisfied with the temperature of the water, which she also heated using magic, she got under and beckoned me to enter.
I sighed in pleasure at the feel of the warm water. There were no water heaters in the castle, so all showers were cold unless one had magic to make it warm, as Alma Elma did. Alma Elma had never been a serious magic user, the kind who threw dark magic and fireballs around with abandon, but she was unparalleled in the use of sexual magic, having innovated dozens of spells. The rest of her magic studies had been simple quality of life spells, since Alma Elma treasured her small comforts.
Alma Elma quickly soaped herself up, then went to work on me. Since she was Alma Elma, it wasn't just cleaning. If it had been Cindy in the shower with me, I would have been thoroughly washed over every inch of my body and just "happen" to ejaculate several times because penises are dirty and require extra special attention, dontcha know? But there was nothing sexy about Cindy's washing. It just happened to feel good because she was so vigorous. Not to mention her bubbles, which came from her mouth, felt better than soap.
Alma Elma, on the other hand, was more interested in being sexy than getting me clean. Rather than roughly scrubbing me, she spread the soap over me with her soft hands, then proceeded to rub her soapy body against mine. I'm not easily humiliated. I've been happy to let females dominate me for my entire life, I've even let them belittle me in the process because they seemed to enjoy it. But it never bothered me. But something about coming from contact with Alma Elma's leg made me feel weak. Even if her lovely leg was slick and soapy.
"There you go, coming again where I can't taste it! And it's all mixed in with the soap!" Alma Elma said mockingly. "Well, if you like it that much, let me do it on purpose."
As if that hadn't been on purpose, I thought. She began concentrating on my penis, getting both hands very sudsy and using them both to slowly and thoroughly clean me down there. I sighed in pleasure and closed my eyes, leaning against the wall, since I could barely stand after two orgasms. I felt her breath against my neck.
"Your neck looks so tasty," she purred. "You know that succubi are related to vampires, right? I'd just love to sink my teeth into you right now."
Not one to deny her impulses, I felt Alma Elma's two sharp fangs penetrate the skin of my neck. Rather than cause pain(I was sure that would come later), it sent electric waves of pleasure through my entire body, causing me to buck as I came into her soapy hands. She sucked greedily on my neck as she continued to rub me. Was she drinking my blood?! I opened my eyes as she pulled away, wiping a small trickle of blood off the side of her mouth.
"I've always wanted to do that," she said proudly. "Don't worry, I didn't tap a vein or anything. I don't actually like the taste of blood."
I knew exactly what she was doing and I had an idea what the dream must have been about. Alma Elma was trying to prove to me, but more to herself, that she wasn't the person she saw in her dreams, by doing things my Alma Elma had never done. I decided to not bring it up just yet. Something that traumatic, she had to tell me about it when she was ready. I imagined I'd be asleep for hours before she actually got around to talking about it.
I gingerly touched where she'd bitten me. My own fingers contacting the small holes caused them to sting. I winced. Alma Elma, seeing my pain, licked the wounds, causing my brain to revert back to interpreting the wounds as pleasurable.
Alma Elma escorted me out of the shower after drying me, and gently led me back to the bed, joining me under the covers again.
"So, three orgasms, and I didn't get to taste any of them," she scolded me. "You really should work on having more self control."
"Are we going to talk about your dream or not?" I asked weakly.
"In good time. I still have to get my fill."
Her next move was predictable but also demonstrated that she was done playing around. I bucked and thrashed as she rapidly switched between her breasts, mouth, tail, armpits, feet, and vagina to make me come over and over, making sure to only have me ejaculate in places where it would feed her directly. She had always been in complete control of me. Of course, I knew that.
"Okay, now I'm feeling a little inadequate," she said. "I've made you come enough times to kill any other man and you are still awake."
"Maybe I'm just that curious to hear about your dream," I replied. "And why feel inadequate? Your training is part of how I became more difficult to kill that way."
"Not all that difficult," she chuckled. "I could still one shot you in several different ways. But it's always good to make it slightly less convenient for your enemies to end you. So… the dream."
She sighed and said nothing for awhile, holding me close in the bed. Another unpredictable move. Alma Elma had never cuddled me before. Alma Elma's standard operating procedure was to put men out cold and then disappear. She was really trying to convince herself of something.
"Is marriage really that traumatic for you?" I asked.
"Wow," Alma Elma breathed. "I guess you do know me well. Yeah, it was quite a nightmare. I dreamed that I was married. I mean, you told me I was, but I tried to tell myself you were joking, just trying to provke a reaction out of me. In the dream, I was doing…. Oh, this is so hard to say… domestic tasks. I was cooking dinner for him, cleaning up after him…. Please tell me what I did to deserve that horrible fate."
"You contracted a grave illness for which there is no cure," I said. "You fell in love. It was very late in your life. He actually outlived you by a few years. You got to experience what few monsters do. You grew old with the man you loved."
"Maybe I will eat you now. If being your friend is where this leads, I can't afford to let you live."
"I know you don't mean that," I said, only mostly sure that she didn't mean it. "You always have a choice. Alma Elma is never a victim of circumstances. Your viewpoint merely changed once you became comfortable with the idea that there were good men out there. If you don't ever want to get married, you don't have to. It's not your fate. It's a choice."
"Just one more question, then, before I let you pass back out," Alma Elma said. "What was she like, and in the ways she was different, how was she different?"
"You're asking about the Alma Elma I spent almost two centuries knowing?" I asked. Alma Elma nodded. "Well, when I first met her she was a lot more…. I don't want to say evil, but… she had a sadistic streak and she hated humans. No, that's not really accurate either. It's hard to know an Alma Elma. You hide behind a veil of flippancy, not letting anyone get close. I know why. I won't torture you with the psychological explanations. You know why already, you don't need me to embarrass you by spelling it out."
"There you go being articulate again," she said with a smile. "I'm going to have to render you senseless next time to restore my ego."
"I didn't like her… you, at first. We were definitely enemies. You see, on that world, the great disaster never happened. Humans and monsters hated each other. In my naïve way, I was trying to bring peace to the world, and you were standing in my way. I wasn't powerful then. You could have killed me anytime you wanted in our first two confrontations. I defeated you the third time, and you agreed to try things my way."
"Why do you think I didn't kill you?" she asked. "If I hated humans, and you were trying to ruin whatever agenda I had.. she had…. This is so confusing."
"Tell me about it," I chuckled. "You're a complicated person and I'm sure your reasons were complicated. I was a threat that you wanted eliminated, but the Monster Lord had taken a liking to me, so you wanted to make her stop liking me before you got rid of me. Something like that, anyway. You never fully explained your reasoning. But I also think part of it was that as bad as you can be sometimes, you can't bring yourself to kill someone you don't know for sure is a bad person. While you were my enemy, it seemed that you were searching for reasons to justify killing me. You wanted to prove that I was just like all the bad men you'd disposed of, tortured, or humiliated before. When you decided that I wasn't that person, you changed tacks. You decided you wanted to keep me instead as your possession. That's what the third confrontation was about. But I won, so…."
"Ah, now it all makes sense," she said. "I was an enemy of humanity, but I still had my basic moral compass, as thin and flimsy as it was. There are two lines I never cross. First, I never kill the innocent. Second, I never kill with pain. Death is punishment enough. Mental torture, that I'll do. But I can't stand screams. Well, that's not entirely true. Screams of ecstasy, those I love, screams of pain…. I can't bear to do that to anyone. The Great Disaster seems to be the event that made me a bit different from the version you knew. I was born in a world where humans and monsters weren't sworn enemies. In that environment, it enabled me to meet decent guys before I met you. The other Alma Elma, you would have been the first nice human she'd ever met. I can imagine how that would have warped me. Thank you for showing that other version of me a better way."
Alma Elma kissed me tenderly, and wrapped herself even more tightly around me, almost as if she was trying to top Alice's cuddling.
"Go to sleep, my brave Luka," she said softly. "Sleep well, knowing that I'll be with you until the end, and that I'll die to help you save this world if that's what it takes. I feel like I owe you, even though I've never done anything bad to you. Would that count as an impression from that other life? I guess it doesn't matter. She was me as much as I am me."
"Have I ever told you how wonderful it is to have you back, Alma Elma?" I asked drowsily.
"Every day," she replied reflexively. "Wait, I'm pretty sure that's the first time you've ever said that to me."
I didn't answer. I fell asleep.
"Wake up motherfuckers!"
I sat up abruptly in the bed, startled awake. Ilias.
"You know, I'm really beginning to miss the 'Oh brave Luka' thing," I said irritably.
I looked away from Ilias and out the window. It was morning, but early. Between the early wake up and Alma Elma's interruption of my sleep, I was going to be short on sleep. Today wasn't the day of the banquet, was it? No, I still had one day left to relax and recharge, assuming another succubus didn't come to take away my energy again.
"Luka, oh brave Luka," Ilias intoned. "Wake the fuck up!"
"You know, he really had a rough night," Alma Elma said, sitting up beside me. "Unless there's a crisis, let your hero sleep."
"Alma Elma, did you…?" Ilias asked. "Did you…. Stay with Luka last night?"
"What's it to you?" Alma Elma challenged Ilias. "I won't deny it. He's a nice guy. There's very little of myself that I haven't given to men. Cuddling a man to sleep is one of those rare things."
"Yeah, thus my shock!" Ilias replied. "Luka, you are downright dangerous! You change everyone around you."
"Hopefully for the better," I said. "So what can I do for you, Ilias?"
"For starters, you can kick out the succubus," the goddess suggested.
"I was already leaving," Alma Elma said, gesturing once to return her clothes to her body.
"I can cuddle too, you know," Ilias muttered at Alma Elma's back. "I swear, if she wasn't the most powerful member of our party I wouldn't be able to stand having her around. Move over, I'm getting in."
"Wait! Let me put some clothes on first!" I objected, reaching for my pants and unable to find them.
"Oh, stop being so annoying!" Ilias said, touching me chest with her palm and enlarging herself. "There, happy? Now move over!"
It wasn't just her child form I was objecting to. Even though Ilias had done some inappropriate things with me, I didn't consider us to be in a sexual relationship. So her climbing into bed with me while I was naked made me uncomfortable regardless of her form. But I decided not to irritate her any further and moved over.
"Ooh, you're nice to snuggle with," the goddess giggled, her lovely blonde hair flowing out all over my torso as she laid her head in the crook of my shoulder. "There's no crisis. We can go back to sleep if you want soon. I just needed to talk for a minute. Something's been bothering me the past couple of days."
"Well, I'm a good listener," I said, deciding to just embrace the situation and stroking that lovely hair.
"Do you find me attractive, Luka?" she asked. "Oh, never mind, I know you do. I mean, who wouldn't?"
"Is that what you came here to ask me?"
"Not really. I'm just trying to make this about you when it's really all about me."
"I don't follow."
"When we had that big battle with Tamamo and Lilith," Ilias started. "And I came to your defense, even though I was completely overmatched. You're supposed to be my protector, but I was standing up to be yours."
"Are you mad at me or something? I did my best. And thanks to you, we made it out of there alive. What did you do to me, anyway?"
"Oh, just used your power better than you can," she scoffed. "Your power seems to have limits, but it's not actually limited at all. Your human mind limits it. Your power is like a wish machine with endless wishes, but you're too stupid to know what to wish for. It's like you have only three wishes, and you keep wishing for big booms and shields and that's about it."
"I have a few other tricks," I said defensively."I can heal people too. And make you big."
"Your lack of versatility aside, the issue you faced against Tamamo was an unnecessary limit on your capacity. You exhausted all but a small sliver of your power. So if you think of your power as the ability to grant yourself wishes, I basically took that last wish, wished for endless wishes, and poured it back into you."
"If you could do that, why not keep it yourself and defeat Tamamo and Lilith?"
"I'm not the true wielder of your power," she said. "I can only borrow it, and it won't respond to me the way it responds to you. Even if you gave it to me willingly."
"Why is that?"
"Because it's not just a part of you," Ilias explained. "It IS you. When you told me about how my counterpart kept on trying to steal your power, and actually succeeded once, it pointed me in the right direction. Every time I borrow a tiny amount to make myself big, I analyze it. You are the only one who can utilize it to its full potential. Even a goddess such as myself, even if I was at full power, I could only use a fraction of its capabilities. Although it would still be worth stealing, since even that fraction is more than I had, even at my peak."
"Why would I have this?" I asked. "It's a question I've had forever, but no one has ever even come close to an answer."
"You were chosen," Ilias said, caressing my chest. "That shouldn't be so surprising. You chose a successor back on your world for your power. Not a specific person, of course, but someone who would use it for good. Maybe that's what happened to you. You secured your power with a ring that no one evil could possibly use. Whoever entrusted that power to you, put you on a planet with no magic so that you couldn't use it unless you were called to save a world where it could be used."
"Now that's an interesting theory," I replied. "I'm much more comfortable with that than the idea that I'm some kind of god who decided to live as a human."
"Don't throw that idea in the dumpster just yet," Ilias cautioned. "We really have no idea how you got that power. There might not even be a satisfying explanation. Maybe you were just born with it by random chance. Or maybe it was just a way for you to gain power when you shouldn't have been able to, given the circumstances of your birth. The Luka I knew had power. But it wasn't your power. He was the son of one of my Seraphs, Lucifina, and so he inherited angelic powers."
"The Luka of this world was as well," I said. "So if your Luka had those powers, that means this Luka must have had them as well. So then why summon me? This world's Luka would have had formidable abilities of his own, once he developed them."
"That's another mystery," Ilias sighed. "Why did whoever summon you here decide that the Luka of this world needed to be replaced? Initially you thought it was because he was weak. But that's probably not the case. Maybe your experience? Or it could just be that your Ilias redirected you here because she knew you and had more confidence in you than some strange Luka that would be starting from scratch? I can definitely see myself doing something like that."
"I've been on a few mysterious quests, but nothing with more mysteries than this one."
"I hate not having my omniscience," Ilias sighed. "While I wasn't truly omniscient, there was a lot I could find out simply by scanning the world with my senses. Oh well, no sense crying over spilled milk. I did enough of that when I was alone in my room those first few nights. You've made me screw up my courage. Which is what I'm really here to talk about."
"Your courage?"
"When I came to your defense, I said something strange," Ilias replied. "Obviously I don't want you to die. If you die, I probably die. So risking my life to protect you is rational. It's in my interests. I get something out of it. But in the heat of the moment, I didn't say anything like that. I said, 'I'll fight you to my last breath before I let you kill Luka so horribly.' Why would I care how you die? Whether you die horribly, or in the throes of pleasure, you're still of no use to me. Why would the manner in which Tamamo planned to kill you matter to me?"
"Perhaps…. You're experiencing something called empathy?"
"You take that back!" Ilias said angrily.
I laughed, until I realized she really was upset. Wow, she's not joking. She's actually scared of what she's becoming, I thought. That could be dangerous. I remembered Ilias' behavior in the chapel, when the idea of monsters being true friends to her had caused her to snap back to her old form, as if she didn't want to be a good person and was terrified of the very idea.
"Ilias, you're not alien to caring," I said, choosing my words carefully. "I know how hard you took Lucfinia's death, and Micaela abandoning you. I know that when monsters oppressed humans, you fought a war to avenge them. Empathy is just caring, along with understanding how people feel. Now that you know what pain is, you wanted to protect me from it."
"I know what empathy is!" she said, but she seemed to be calming a bit, resuming her caressing of my chest. "You say you want me to be the Goddess the world needs when this is all over, but I don't know how effective I can be if I don't know who I'm becoming. The world isn't lollipops and rainbows, Luka. I should have been more patient with humanity, and less bigoted towards monsters. I see that now. But if I'm no longer that wrathful, close minded goddess, then who am I? Humanity doesn't handle shades of gray well. They need absolutes. They need to know that if they do right, they'll be rewarded, and if they do evil, they'll be punished."
"I guess you'll have to figure that out, the same way humans do," I said. "You're just getting a start on that several million years late."
"But some humans never figure out who they are."
"You've got more time than most," I replied.
"You know, if you didn't go, you could help me figure it out," she suggested.
"I don't know if that's in my hands."
"But if it is?"
"If it is," I sighed. "I'll stick around. To help you. To help everyone."
"Thank you, Luka," Ilias said, squeezing me tightly as she snuggled into me. "I want you to serve me forever."
"I didn't say I would serve you."
"Be quiet. Go back to sleep," Ilias commanded. "My brave, brave Luka."
The day of the banquet had arrived, and it was an all day affair. Celebrating the end of a war is a cathartic experience. During wars, all plans are on hold, both individual and national. As soon as a war ends, everyone tries to figure out what normalcy is. The thing is, it's never quite the same as normalcy before the war. For the elite, the advantage of getting everyone together to dine and celebrate is that they can begin looking towards that hopeful future, to define what the new normal will look like.
The Queen of Grand Noah apologized for the "meager" offerings, which were far superior in quantity, if not in quality(Okay, I'm bragging here) of what I offered in the pocket castle. The food was a great deal fancier, however, featuring courses that I couldn't even begin to understand how to prepare. I'm a meat and potatoes guy. I'm extremely good at what I do, but I'm not going to be making soufflé, or a chicken parmesan with a red wine vinaigrette.
The assemblage was stunning. All of the human monarchs, as well the queen ant, were present. Several important intellectuals who advised them were also present, although no one I recognized other than Mephisto. Looking over at Sara at the royal table, I could tell she would rather be with us, but as Sabasa's queen, even if she was just a figurehead, she had to sit and have talks with the other royals.
However, the seated portion of the banquest was not terribly long, only twelve courses, lasting four hours. There was a time in my younger years when I would have been impatient to leave, but I'd had many such diplomatic dinners since then, and this one was actually less interminable than some I'd been to. As a general rule, in case you ever get into my line of work, the more important the banquet, the more efficient and to the point things will be. If it's not terribly important, you'll be sitting around watching people schmooze and trying to be interested in the empty platitudes they say for the bulk of the day. But there were no shallow speeches at this banquet. Everyone spoke plainly and from the heart, including me. I was proud to say that even my speech was pretty good. It helped that Alice wrote it for me.
After the seated portion of the banquet had ended, I took the opportunity to socialize, and also to get a feel for where things were going for the formerly warring kingdoms.
"Your friend Tamamo is truly a wonder," the King of Grangold said. It was a little difficult to follow him, since his voice echoed and his head glowed, and there were no facial expressions or lips to read. "She restored my sanity with her magic, but it appears that the alterations to my physical body are permanent."
"I can teach you some transformation magic," Mephisto said, sidling up to us with a drink. "You have become very powerful, your majesty. Most humans would be unable to perform these spells, but you have the capability."
"Transformation magic?" the king asked. "I'm sorry, I don't know anything about that. Would that enable me to change myself back to the way I was?"
"Yes and no," Mephisto answered. "When a monster like myself takes a form other than their true form, the change is real. But it is never permanent and requires some effort to maintain. You will always revert to your new form. I'm afraid this is now your true form. The magic that transformed you is near god level. It cannot be undone except by someone at that power level."
If I'd remembered the King of Grangold's appearance well enough, I probably could have changed him back myself. Alas, it had been a long time and I'd never had any emotional attachment to him. Or perhaps I couldn't, since I wouldn't be restoring his true form, since that true form had been altered. He hadn't merely been disfigured or wounded. He had become a completely different being.
As if reading my mind, which given her magical abilities wouldn't have surprised me, Mephisto took me aside.
"Your power is really quite something," Mephisto said. "As I discussed before, I'd like to help you develop it. I fear that the threats we are facing are far greater than anything you've ever faced before."
"Someone else once tried," I informed her. "And although she helped me a little, I'm afraid I'm a pretty terrible student. Magic is really complicated."
"Perhaps your previous teacher took the wrong approach. I realize this is a party, so it's not an appropriate place for a lesson, but let me just leave you with a question, and a thought. What is the most complex magic that you can do?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "Teleportation? I recently learned how to do that."
"Teleportation is not complicated," she said, fully going into teacher mode. "Here is your first lesson. There are two things that make magic difficult. The first you are painfully familiar with: complexity. A magic user cannot do that which she can't understand. But the second is power. There are many humans who know more about magic than even the most powerful monsters. But they do not have the capacity to cast spells of great power. You have the opposite problem. You are insanely powerful, but lack the intellectual capacity."
"I hear that a lot, and…. Thank you for that."
"But that is not the end of the story, young…. Er… old Luka," she continued. "The most complex magic you perform isn't teleportation. It's transformation."
"Transformation? When do I…? Ohhhh..."
"With your currently sealed friends," Mephisto said, nodding knowingly. "That is an incredibly complex spell, although requiring only moderate power, and yet you do it with a simple thought, simply because you wish it to be so and can envision the end result in your mind. That is very unusual magic, in that it skips all of the steps in between. To wield magic in the conventional sense, first you must know what you wish to do. Second, you must know to the tiniest detail how it all works. To use an example, if I wanted to conjure an apple pie, I would need to know how to make an apple pie. Almost all skilled magic users who conjure food are also skilled cooks. Given your skill at cooking, you could be the most famous food conjurer in the world."
"That could come in handy if our money runs low," I said.
"The third step is to generate the raw power. The fourth Is to mold that power. You do things in a completely different order, even skipping over steps. It's not wrong. It's how your power functions. First you must grab hold of it. Then you basically make a wish, and if your intentions and imagination are clear enough, you get what you want."
"So even though I know zilch about transformation magic, I can make Alice into…. Alice. But only in form. She doesn't have her magic."
"Yes, because you don't have any familiarity with her magic," Mephisto explained. "And you certainly do not have any familiarity with the goddess' magic, which is far beyond the Monster Lord's. Your human limitations will always limit your power's versatility. I see no way around that. But you can certainly learn to do a lot more than you do now. Most importantly, you can generate far more power than you do now. One of the things I'd like to ascertain is why you limit yourself subconsciously. I can see the power within you. You should have been able to obliterate one thousand Tamamo's with ease. Is it reluctance to kill?"
"Definitely," I answered. "I've done it before. But I had to be in an emotional state where my inhibitions against killing were overriden by my rage. Even then, I only did it if I had no plausible way to win a battle against my opponent without killing them."
"So your limits are in fact subconscious. Interesting. I wonder if that is why you've been entrusted with this power? If the situation were not so dire, I would want you to remain limited for all of our sakes. But Tamamo is not going to be the most dangerous foe you face. If you cannot defeat her, we are truly lost."
"My ears hear my name being spoken," Tamamo laughed, joining Mephisto and me.
"Not you, Tamamo, the other Tamamo," I told her.
"I thought as much," Tamamo replied. "Mephisto, may I have a moment with Luka?"
"Of course, Heavenly Knight," Mephisto said, bowing and taking her leave.
"I'm really embarrassed about my behavior back at the Fox Shrine," Tamamo said. "I think bailing you out of trouble makes up for it, though, wouldn't you agree?"
"Of course," I said, getting quite a sense of nostalgia talking to Tamamo in her sealed form.
"I never imagined I'd ever come face to face with another version of me," Tamamo said, frowning. "She was as cruel as I was during the Great Monster Wars."
"Crueler," I said. "She came from a world in which monsters dominate humans today and never have to worry about Ilias intervening. There's no check on her. She's drunk with power."
"Well, I'm as gentle as a feather now in comparison, but I remember those days," Tamamo said. "I've never eaten people. My sisters, though….."
I knew that as nice as Tamamo seemed, there was still a hard edge there, with some thoughtlessness thrown in. Her first husband had brought her a long way, and I'd brought her the rest of the way during the time we'd known each other. Or perhaps not. I was judging this Tamamo based on the Tamamo I'd known before coexistence. Coexistence was already most of the way here in this world, so this Tamamo would have had a different experience, at least in the last thirty years.
"Tamamo…." I started, then trailed off, not sure what to say.
"Ah, we have history, don't we, Luka?" she asked. "I wish I could remember something specific. When I see your face, I start to tear up. Alice told me you and Tamamo were married on your world."
"Yes," I said. "Unsealed Tamamo, that is."
"Oh really? You lucky boy, you…" Tamamo laughed. "But Alice also made it crystal clear that you married her first. There was a warning in her tone."
"That doesn't surprise me," I chuckled nervously.
"I know what you want from me, Luka. I know you want me to join you and help you save the world. But there are a few reasons that I can't do that. The first is that your situation has already become complicated. You don't need two wives on your journey. You've got enough problems with one wife and all the women in love with you in that castle."
"No one's really in love with me," I said nervously. "I mean, maybe Sonya, but that's about it."
"Uh huh," Tamamo said, a dubious expression on her face. "You have no idea how much trouble you're in, and you're too damn old to be so naïve. So that's one reason I can't join you right now. The second is your leadership structure. As in, there isn't one. I'm used to being in charge behind the scenes, with the Monster Lord as the true leader, but recognizing my wisdom and experience in most cases. But Alice already serves that role to you. You're nominally in charge because Alice can't be the leader, but she's clearly steering you where she wants you to go."
"I steer myself," I whined.
"Your knowledge gives you an advantage, so yes, you do use that knowledge to gain a better sense of where you're going, and she is wise enough to defer to your superior knowledge when appropriate. My point is that I don't really serve a purpose in that structure. The final reason I'm not joining you yet is because my counterpart is still out there, and she's going to be very troublesome. I need to track her and contain her as best I can. I need to keep her away from you, most importantly. If I'm bedeviling her wherever she turns up, she won't have time to seek you out."
"I really miss you, Tamamo," I said. "it's good to see you. I really hope I get to see more of you."
"I feel the same way, Luka," Tamamo said, getting on her tiptoes kissing me on the cheek. "Ever since I met you, I can't stop thinking about you. I know it sounds corny, but it's true. It's also a very bad sign. I'm not supposed to know you. Things are breaking down. Slowly, but surely. I'll try to keep the really annoying enemies off your back while you do your work. And who knows? If we save the world, maybe I'll celebrate with you by giving you nine moons."
"How about twenty-four?"
"Save the world and you can have a thousand moons," she laughed.
"The best motivation possible."
"I am actually joining Luka-boy here," Alma Elma interjected.
"Really?" Tamamo said, disbelieving. "That's very unlike you, Alma Elma. I'm not sure I recognize this new you."
"Oh, I haven't changed a bit," Alma Elma laughed. "I'm not following anyone's orders. I'll help when I think it's a good idea, and go off on my own when I think that's a good idea. What you said about keeping powerful opponents off his back is good strategy. I still have a score to settle with those sisters. I'll try to never be gone long, Luka. Besides, you're way too tasty to stay away from for long. I'm going to need a lot of energy and you have it."
"Now it makes more sense!" Tamamo laughed. "I'd probably have the same view, if his situation wasn't so complicated. That's obviously not a problem for you, however."
"Not in the slightset," Alma Elma said, sipping her wine. "Those are other people problems. Oh, I see a queen approaching, Luka. Try not to end up marrying her tonight. Just think of me, and all you'll be missing out on if you let her snare you."
Alma Elma and Tamamo beat a hasty retreat as I turned to see which monarch they were speaking of. It was the Queen of Grand Noah. I sagged in relief. She had only once back in my world kidded about marrying me, since I'd saved her and most of her people. Back then, while I was into older women, the idea of marrying someone her age seemed absurd to me, and Alice had hastily pulled me away in any case. The queen had told me later that she had only been kidding. Although if I'd taken her seriously, she would have found it impossible to refuse given what she owed me. So did that mean she was actually kidding, or totally not kidding? Regardless, I looked at her with new eyes. One's perspective on the desirability of older women changes a lot as you age. And she looked devastatingly beautiful that night.
"Hero Luka!" the queen gushed. "You really pulled it off. Words cannot express my gratitude for your deeds."
I tensed for a moment, then felt stupid. The queen noticed.
"Don't worry, Luka," she laughed. "I'm human. You have a queen's gratitude. But if you have been so conditioned by your monster friends to see gratitude as transactional…."
"No!" I hastily exclaimed. "It's not that at all!"
"What I was about to say, was if you did regard gratitude as transactional, a queen's gratitude is worth a great deal in practical terms. There is little you could ask that I wouldn't give you."
"Um…." Maybe I was conditioned. I was starting to get visions in my head. The queen didn't miss that either.
"I mean favors," she said. "Of a PRACTICAL nature. Funding from my treasury, jobs for your friends, any assistance my kingdom can offer in your quest."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!"I said. "I guess I have been around monsters too long."
"Think nothing of it," she assured me. "Although after you finished your mission, should you wish to settle in Grand Noah, it would be customary for the queen to offer her hand in marriage to the hero who saved her kingdom."
I spilled my drink, fortunately on myself instead of the queen. I was glad it was water. The queen gave an earthy laugh.
"I'm so sorry!" the queen cackled. "You should see your face! Oh, Luka, I'm just kidding. The circles you run in are too rarified even for me. Even if I did want your hand in marriage, I couldn't compete with a goddess."
If I'd had a second drink, I would have spilled that one as well. That queen was a real kidder. Wait, she wasn't kidding. Her face was serious.
"Ilias? No, that's not the nature of our relationship."
"Of course it isn't," the queen said. "I'm just seeing things from my narrow perspective. If saving my kingdom would justify offering my hand in marriage, then what does saving the entire world get you from the goddess who regards it as her kingdom?"
That was a troubling thought. Was my situation really that complicated? Tamamo seemed to think so, and she probably knew of even further complications that I wasn't yet aware of.
"Do you need to go change?" the queen asked.
"Oh, no, it's just water," I assured her.
"Then if I may be serious," the queen said. "This war may be over, but the battle still goes on."
"We've won the war, but the battle continues?" I asked. "Isn't that backwards?"
"Normally, yes, but these are strange times. We have thwarted the Monster Lord's plans, but she is far from defeated. She will not simply give up. I suspect that she wanted to make us destroy each other. Now she is likely to take a more direct hand. I hope that we can count on your support when she makes her move."
"Of course," I said. "On the condition that I handle it my way. I have a suspicion about her, and I don't want to play right into her hands."
"Really?" the queen said, raising an eyebrow. "You are more sophisticated than you seem. Are you telling me that you think there is more to what's going on than meets the eye?"
"I'm certain of that, I just can't be sure of precisely what she's up to."
"Well, good luck, hero Luka," the queen said. "And if there's anything you need…. ANYTHING…"
I gulped. The queen gave me a mischevious smile and wandered off to mingle. She had to be kidding, right?
Deciding to get back into my comfort zone, I sought out Sonya, who was enjoying herself thoroughly.
"We did it, Luka!" she said excitedly. "We're awesome, aren't we?"
"I can honestly say I've never had a better team," I replied. "And you're one of the most important members of that team."
"You don't have to patronize me, Luka," Sonya said, her expression changing. "I know my limitations. Against Tamamo and Lilith, I was a nonentity. I nearly got myself killed against that angel. But I'm coming to terms with that. This is a team, right? I should concentrate on what I'm good at."
"Healing?" I asked.
"Holy magic in general," she confirmed. "Ilias is going to work with me. Mephisto said she can help as well. She can't cast holy spells, but she has studied them. Most importantly, I'm here to give you moral support, and to keep you tethered to reality. I overheard a little of your conversation with the queen. You really don't know how to function in human circles anymore. You need a fellow human to confide in. Well, that's me, one hundred percent human!"
"Thank you, Sonya," I said. "Are you doing all right? We didn't talk during those three days of downtime."
"I'm coming to terms with a lot of things," Sonya replied, looking downcast. "Seeing what Nero and Neris really looked like…. Luka, be honest with me. You've been on other worlds. Does Luka always end up with Alice?"
"On every world I've been to," I said reluctantly. "Yes. But none of those worlds had a Sonya, so you don't know for sure. And the Luka of this world didn't go on an adventure with Alice, as he did on every other world. So when he comes back…."
"You don't have to try to comfort me, Luka," Sonya said. "If it's a certainty, something that happens no matter how coincidental the circumstances have to be, it's going to happen here, too. The only chance I have is if somehow you both can stay. Do you think that's possible, Luka? Goddess, I feel so pathetic just thinking that. The only chance I have to get a Luka is if there are two. Hell, I probably don't even have a chance then. I can't compete with a goddess."
"Why is everyone saying that? Ilias loves me, sure, but not that way!"
"Wow," Sonya breathed. "You are really fucking stupid."
I was speechless. And utterly screwed. I had intended to talk to Alice next, but decided that the safest place in the world to be was around someone who I knew for a fact had no interest in me.
"Promestein, aren't you enjoying the party?" I asked. Promestein was sitting at a table looking at notes.
"I'm ecstatic," she answered, the disinterest in her voice obvious.
"Why did you come?" I asked. "You could have stayed in the lab if you want to keep on studying those notes."
"You keep telling me I need to eat more. Besides, Ilias ordered me to come."
"Oh," I said. No wonder Promestein had been seated next to Ilias at our table.
"Promestein, do you think Ilias is in love with me?" I asked.
"I don't know, nor do I care."
"Thanks for your help, Promestein. Enjoy the party."
"Luka, wait," she said, finally looking at me. "I don't mean to be rude, it's just that these notes are so far beyond me, and I'm irrationally thinking that I can understand them if only I stare and think at them hard enough."
"They must really be complicated if you can't decipher them."
"You can't even imagine. You know what, I'm putting them away for now and I'm going to make an effort to enjoy this party. And when it's over, I'm going to take a long nap. Maybe being refreshed will help."
"Now that's the super genius I know and love," I said.
"You love me?" Promestein asked.
"Figure of speech," I said hurriedly, making a quick getaway. The fact is, I had loved her counterpart, a very long time ago. Not as a lover, even though Promestein was sometimes that, but as a…. I'm not sure, now that I think about it. A project?
"Excuse me, hero Luka," A man said, approaching me now that I was not speaking with anyone once again. "This might seem a strange question, but do you like older women?"
"You're one of the queen's advisors, aren't you?" I asked.
"Why yes, I am, Phillip's the name, pleased to meet you," he said enthusiastically. "She won't broach the question herself, but she does not have an heir, and this concerns the people of Grand Noah…."
"Oh Luka!" Sara said, snatching me away. "Looks like the hero needs a rescue."
"Thank you for that, Sara," I said gratefully. "I'm pretty sure the queen herself was kidding, but he definitely was not."
"No he was not," she confirmed. "She's not getting you, though. You are all mine, hero. How does the title King of Sabasa suit you?"
"Ack!" I choked.
"You are so fun to mess with!" Sara laughed. "Unless you really do want to be king of Sabasa. It's strictly ceremonial, so you wouldn't have to do anything arduous. The castle is posh, you'd have a succubus wife… andddd… I'll shut up now."
Was this any way to show gratitude towards the great hero? I thought. Everyone's messing with me today!
As if on cue, the Queen Ant approached me.
"I have not had a chance to properly make your acquaintance," Queen Ant said. "You cannot imagine my gratitude. You freed my children."
"It was really a team effort," I said uncomfortably.
"Perhaps, but as the male of the team, you are owed things that I cannot give to the others. While I cannot offer my hand in marriage as the human queens do, know that there is little I or my children would not do for you."
"Are we speaking practically here, or….?"
"You can take that however you wish," the queen ant said, slowly dipping a cherry into her mouth.
"I see. You know, I think I'm tired, I'm going to go back to the Monster Lord's pocket castle…"
"Wait," the queen said, grabbing my arm. "Please pardon me. I thought you accustomed to the ways of monsters. It appears I have embarrassed you. So allow me to present a gift, both of gratitude, and as an apology for making you uncomfortable."
The queen presented me with a small piece of candy.
"Ant candy?" I asked. "Why thank you. You know, I never took the opportunity to try this. Alice tells me it's incredible."
"There is no better candy in the world," the ant queen said proudly. "Go ahead, try it."
I put the piece of candy in my mouth. Despite its hard shell, it was easy to bite into and soft inside. Once the piece of candy broke open, the sweet flavor flooded my mouth. I'd never tasted a sweet so delicious.
"That's incredible!" I said. "Thank you so much for that! It really brightened up my night!"
"I said that there were certain rewards that I can only give to you," the queen said. "This is not one of them. As we speak, my children are delivering thousands of these to the pocket castle. Share them with all who assisted you in saving my children. You are not obligated to accept any other gifts from me. Just know that should you wish, there is little that we would deny you. That goes for me, and every one of my children."
"Thank you, your majesty, and I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable in turn. I'm afraid that even after all my years associating primarily with monsters, there's still a bit of a culture gap."
"Think nothing of it," the queen said, flashing me an intoxicating smile. "But if I may ask one favor… I've heard that you have been to other universes. Perhaps you 'd share stories about other versions of me one day?"
"If I get the opportunity, I definitely will," I said, shaking her hand, which created another awkward situation, since she had six of them.
"You look tired," Alice said. "All that rest you got, and you're already pooped?"
"Just realizing I have problems I didn't even think about," I replied. "So it's a little exhausting."
"What kind of problems?"
"Realizing that I don't truly fit in among either humans or monsters anymore."
"Join the club," Alice said. "being isolated when I was young warped my perspective. But if you're tired and want to talk about it, I'm done eating."
"Really?"
"I know, hard to believe, right?" Alice laughed. "Ilias is eating me under the table. Look at her. She's still sitting there stuffing food into that tiny face. She can't even disengage her jaw like I can to get more food in. That is going to be one fat little angel before too l-"
"Esteemed representatives of the world and party members of the hero!" A booming female voice said.
"Is that-?" Alice asked, looking around frantically.
"I apologize for interrupting your merriment," the voice continued.
"Who is that?!" the queen of Grand Noah exclaimed. The banquet hall had gone silent, everyone trying to find the source of the voice.
The silence turned into near panic when what I could only assume was Alice's mother teleported into the hall. No, not teleportation. That was too dangerous for a monster indoors. A projection, then?
"To all those gathered here," the Monster Lord continued. "I am the Monster Lord, Alipheese the Fifteenth."
"Mother!?" Alice cried.
"An illusion," Mephisto said. "Not even a projection."
"Allow me to congratulate you humans on settling your quarrels with one another. However, I have come with news of greater import. Today, I formally declare war on all of humankind. This will be a war of total genocide. Not a single human will be spared."
"That's insane!" Alice yelled. "We can't survive without humans! The genocide you commit will be against your own kind as well!"
"You've lost your mind, Alipheese," Ilias said.
"I assure you, I am perfectly sane," the Monster Lord replied.
"You already destroyed countless lives!" the queen of Grand Noah shouted. "Isn't that enough for you?"
"Not even close," the Monster Lord said coldly. "The fires of war shall rage until humanity is wiped out."
"But why?!" Sonya cried. "This makes no sense! You need us!"
"There's no point explaining my reasons to humans," the Monster Lord said, turning her baleful attention to Sonya. "You need only know that this war shall bring about your end."
"Damn you, Alipheese!" Ilias raged. "I will not let you do this! We're coming for you, bitch!"
"Enjoy the short life you have left to you," Alipheese chuckled, laughing evilly as she disappeared.
I turned to Alice. Alice could not have been more distraught.
"What is she doing?!" Alice cried, this time crying actual tears. "She must be under manipulation, like the other monarchs! I mean, we know an Ancestor was behind it. She must be controlling my mother, too!"
"Maybe," I said listlessly. Or else…. She was determined to fulfill the same destiny every version of Alice's mother met. But this time not for coexistence, but to save the universe by adhering to the correct history?