A huge bowl of Ramen with all the good toppings and additives like Chashu Pork, spring onions, mushrooms, and some good Jueyan chilies imported from Liyue to give the Ramen a good spicy kick filled my belly with a delightful warmth that touched my very soul... No seriously, when I was full and in complete comfort I could feel my aura or in other words my soul regenerating and recovering from the strain of the new goddess I picked up earlier.
Alright, Yae. That's enough Fried Tofu." I scolded the priestess who gave me a side-eyed glare with her pink eyes having a harsh glowing glare in them as she snapped back.
"Fried Tofu is meant to be eaten as it is made Jake Bariss. To leave, as it is being made fresh and hot is a most egregious loss to the world." She spoke as though a zealot trying to convert me to some cult making me roll my eyes.
I dryly retorted. "I regenerated my aura... I don't want to be the one to explain to Ei that her reunion with her sister was pushed back because you decided to treat this place as an all-you-can-eat buffet."
Yae's face pinched as she sniffed and she said in a drawl as she laid her face on her elegantly. "Well well well... The little disciple is rather spicy isn't he. Do you get some joy in bullying this hapless priestess?"
And I said with zero shame. "Bullying a kitsune is a man's dream because of how smug they are."
I grinned as one of her tails tried to swat me from under her illusion magic and I just dipped my head down to avoid the tail as I took a drink of water while giving her an unrepentant grin.
But I almost choked on my drink as I heard Guizhong mutter in my soul. "Oh dearie... He is seducing another one, first those two and then Cloud Retainer's adopted daughter, will his grasp know no bounds?"
My face twitched hearing that and Yae's head turned slightly as she asked with a knowing foxy smile. "Oh so the little Dust goddess said something didn't she? What did she say?" She asked curiously at the end.
I got the last laugh in with Miko's face going stiff as I with zero shame said. "Oh saying how we are sounding like an old couple already. But anyway let's get going." I said to clear things up as a small blush crossed Yae's face while I was putting down a small stack of Mora to pay for our food.
-
Heading back to the palace was a more serious and somber thing as we entered and we passed by the guards who were well used to our presence at this point. Once we got to the main hall where Ei was doing her meditation with Shenhe sitting beside her doing her own meditation both of them in unison opened their eyes with Ei's eyes being filled with the glowing power of lightning.
Which meant that Ei herself was in control of the puppet's body. "Jake, Miko. Your training has ended early... Or did Miko drag you off to get Fried Tofu and skip out on the days remaining training?" Ei spoke with Yae's face going cross as she huffed.
But the pink-haired miko of the Narukami Shrine just took a step aside as I took a deep breath as I walked up towards Ei who raised an eyebrow as I came up to her and then sat down in front of her with Miko following behind me while leaving a good bit of space behind her.
"Master... No, Ei. I have something extremely important to speak with you about." I started and she raised an eyebrow and waved her hand as though to say 'get on with it' with her sitting more comfortably with her legs being crossed around one another with her arms pushed under her large breasts.
After a moment I started speaking. "You know of the Dust Goddess Guizhong within my soul. You know that is her and how she is recovering her soul's essence within my own." Ei slowly nodded with a small dark look crossing her eyes and I knew what her dark thought was.
She was jealous of Guizhong surviving and getting another chance, unlike Makoto who died during the events of Khanreiah's bullshit.
Knowing I had Ei's attention I continued speaking. "While I was training in the Great Narukami Shrine, I realized that the Narukami Tree itself had a soul residing within it, and that soul was a mirror image of your own as she was unconsciously trying to devour parts of my soul like how Guizhong is healing herself using my aura."
As Ei's eyes went dull as thoughts raced within her mind, I did it. I flooded Makoto's soul with my aura like a magical adrenaline shot and as a Schnee glyph formed in between our sitting forms. The great Electro Archon, the very Raiden Shogun and a divine soul taking over a puppet body actually cried as her eyes met her twin sister Makoto's surprised almost matching purple eyes.
"Makoto... Is that you?" Ei whispered as a shaky hand went forth and cupped her sister's face and Makoto's face turned soft as she likewise lifted a hand from her blanket-covered form and I turned away as she was still naked under the Adepti seal blanket made from Ghuizhong magical power.
A soft voice was Ei's answer as Makoto answered gently as she pointed between Ei's breasts. "Yes, my dear sister... It is myself, and I see you kept my sword with your own soul inside of it."
Makoto then looked at me and said. "Thank you, young man. For helping me and bringing me to speak with my sister again. I don't know how long this will last but I cannot thank you enough for letting me have another moment with my sister."
And without a word, Ei grabbed Makoto with her pulling the soul made manifest in reality into a deep hug as a loud wail from the normally so taciturn Raiden Shogun making my own nose burn slightly at the raw emotion coming from Ei.
The woman who prided herself so much on her mental stability and keeping a calm heart no matter the situation. She broke down like a bomb going off in a frozen lake with all her repressed and hidden emotions flooding outwards in a tidal wave of as she held her sister in her arms and bawled into her chest.