Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
April, x785.
Shortly after Alfonzo left the Seto family's living room, Sun turned to Lunar with excitement gleaming in her eyes.
"Hey, Lunar." Sun said energetically. "I heard you were caught in the rain. How 'bout we take a bath and get you all warmed up."
"Sure, Sun." Lunar replied with a smile. "A bath sounds nice right about now."
"Great!" Sun shouted happily as she jumped off the couch. Then, she grabbed Lunar by the arm and pulled her up, as well. "Come on let's go! Maki! Could you please prepare the bath for us?"
"As you wish, Miss Sun." Maki said, poking her head out from around a corner now that Alfonzo was gone.
"Hey, Sun, wait…" Gozaburo said weakly while raising his right hand in Sun's direction powerlessly. "Daddy wanted to… spend some time together…"
While Gozaburo looked completely heartbroken that Sun had left him so readily, Ren could only shake her head at Gozaburo's antics.
"You make it seem like you don't get to see her almost every day at the gild." Ren said in exasperation. "Anyway, can you believe how much Lunar has changed in the last four years?"
"Yeah, the brat finally grew up." Gozaburo said grumpily as he lowered his hand. "We really should thank her manager. Because I'm pretty sure Edomae had very little to do with it."
"*Sigh* As true as it may be, you really shouldn't say things like that, Dear." Ren said.
As Masa had told Alfonzo, Lunar's father does not show his care for his daughter outwardly. Instead, he shows his affection by buying her luxuries of all kinds. Especially after his wife, Lunar's mother passed away. As a result, due to his grief, he very rarely spent any quality time with her. And that was probably what led to Lunar's bratty personality. Well, part of it, anyway.
Meanwhile, Sun and Lunar were in the changing room of the mansion's large Japanese-style bathroom.
"So, what have you been up to since the last time I saw you, Lunar?" Sun asked excitedly. "That was a little over four years ago, right? At the East/West Merfolk Union meeting, I think."
"Yeah, Lunar replied with a nod. "Not long after that, I started my career as a songstress."
"A songstress? You mean a singer, right?" Sun asked while tilting her head cutely.
"Yeah." Lunar replied.
"That's so cool.!" Sun said happily while putting her clothes in the laundry basket. "But what made you want to do that?"
"After losing to you again at the Union Meeting's talent show, I became a professional singer to prove to everyone that I was a better singer than you." Lunar replied through gritted teeth.
"But why?" Sun asked, not really understanding Lunar's motive.
"*Sigh* I was jealous." Lunar replied, exhaling all the negativity she was feeling. "I would practice so hard for the talent show every year. Yet, you would win with whatever ridiculous song you sung. I just wanted to win against you."
"But Lunar, I…" Sun said, however, she was unable to finish.
"And at first, I felt like I did win." Lunar continued, her tone saddening as she spoke. "I had so many fans around the continent. So many people loved my songs. They loved 'Lunar.' But they only loved the Lunar they saw on stage, not 'the real Lunar'."
At this point, Lunar had stopped undressing, and Sun was just listening to her tell her story.
"And when I found out, it broke my heart." Lunar continued. "A boy about my age came to one of my shows. And after the performance was over, he came back stage to get my autograph. However, he happened to see me the way I was back then, throwing a tantrum because I didn't get my way. And he was horrified at what he saw."
"Oh, Lunar…" Sun said in a conciliatory tone.
"So, I decided that I would make him fall in love with me." Lunar said with a self-deprecating smile. "Yeah, that was my solution. Because he did not like the me that he saw that day, I wanted to make him fall in love with me so deeply that he would not be able to live without me."
However, to Sun's surprise, Lunar's expression suddenly morphed into a gentle, loving expression.
"But somehow, I was the one who fell in love." Lunar continued in an affectionate tone with a slight blush on her face. "And when I realized it, my reason for making him fall in love with me changed."
"Ooh~~~~~~!" Sun squealed excitedly. "And? How did it go? Tell me! Tell me!"
Giggling at her friend's enthusiasm, Lunar continued getting undressed.
"Well, it took almost two years." Lunar said with a happy smile. "But Nagasumi eventually told me that he loved me, too. And it was the happiest day of my life. Though, he still has to deal with the occasional death threat from Papa."
Hearing that, Sun's eyes sparkled brightly. Also, Lunar had finally finished getting undressed, so the two made their way into the bathroom.
"The only problem is that he doesn't know I'm a mermaid yet." Lunar said as she took a seat in front of one of the bathroom's showerheads.
"You haven't told him yet?" Sun asked while doing the same.
"No." Lunar replied, shaking her head as she reached for the faucet. "I'm too afraid. Afraid of how he'll react."
"Well, you need to tell him sooner or later." Sun said, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. "And the sooner the better, in my opinion."
At that moment, both young women turned on the showers they sat in front of at the same time. And as soon as the water hit her, Lunar's legs glowed for a moment before morphing into a yellow fish tail.
"Yeah, but what if he rejects me after knowing the truth?" Lunar asked, picking up a bottle of body wash.
"*Sigh* As sad as it sounds, then it means that the two of you just weren't meant to be." Sun said with a shake of her head. "Honestly, if you didn't tell me that you already had someone you were in love with, I would have suggested getting with Alfonzo."
"Huh?" Lunar exclaimed in confusion while snapping her head in Sun's direction. "But he's your fiancé. Are you saying… that… you would… have…"
Before she could finished her question, Lunar caught sight of Sun's legs, which were still legs despite being drenched, and faltered in her words.
"Lunar?" Sun asked, tilting her head in confusion. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"
Sun's question snapped Lunar back to her senses. Then, she glared at Sun fiercely.
"Don't 'What's wrong?' me!" Lunar shouted. Then, she pointed at Sun's fleshy, smooth, somewhat muscular legs with a shaky finger. "Your legs, how are they still… legs? No, wait, that's a stupid question. You learned how to control your transformation? How? How did you do it?"
In response, Sun tilted her head in confusion for a moment. Then, after remembering the change in her body, she smacked the bottom of her right fist into her left palm with an expression of enlightenment on her face.
"Oh, that's right." Sun exclaimed. "I guess that means you're still a virgin, since you can't control your transformation yet, huh?"
Satisfied at her deduction, Sun picked up a bottle of body wash, squeezed some of its contents into her hands, and began to lather herself. Meanwhile, Lunar could only stare at Sun with her eyes and mouth wide open in both surprise and disbelief.
In fact, Lunar stayed stunned for so long that Sun had the time to finish washing and rinsing off.
"Lunar, is everything okay?" Sun asked in a concerned tone. "You're still only partially washed up. Do you need my help?"
Once again, Sun's question snapped Lunar out of her daze. And when it did, her face immediately reddened in embarrassment while she glared at Sun.
"Does that mean you've had…. Se-se-se-se-sex before?" Lunar stuttered out.
"Uh huh?" Sun replied with a smile and a nod. "Anyway, I'll help you get cleaned up. Then, we can get in the bath. We don't want you catching a cold, after all."
"There's no way a mermaid would catch a cold from something like this!" Lunar shouted, yet she did not refuse Sun's help. "But we have more important things to discuss!"
"We do?" Sun asked while lathering her hands.
"Uh, yeah~~~!" Lunar replied while rolling her eyes. "Like…"
Lunar paused and looked around the bathroom as if she were afraid that someone might be listening. Then, she continued in a small voice while her face reddened even further.
"How was it having se-se-sex?" Lunar asked in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper.
"It's great!" Sun exclaimed excitedly. "And it feels really good."
With that, Sun helped Lunar wash up before picking her up and carrying her to the bathtub. Meanwhile, Lunar continued to ask all sorts of questions about sex that Sun answered happily and without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo had finally returned to his mansion. However, instead of heading to his bedroom, he made his way to the living room, where he usually took care of any design work he had piled up. On top of that, he had told Riot and Bedlam what he was planning to do for Elicia on their birthday.
["Well, it's about damn time."] Riot said while nodding in approval. ["And you're going all out for this, just like she deserves."]
["*Sigh* I admit, this is pretty big."] Bedlam said while looking over the building plans Alfonzo showed them. ["But just how long will it take to build something like this?"]
"Two months, or so." Alfonzo replied. "Well, that's if I use you two to create the materials. Then, I'll have to inscribe all the sigils, dig the foundation at the bottom of the lake, and get the regular builders to do all the other work. So, yeah, two months should be enough."
["I see."] Bedlam replied with a nod. ["Well, at the very least, she'll be surprised. Though, if she died of a heart attack from the shock, I wouldn't be surprised, either."]
["Ignoring this idiot."] Riot cut in. ["What about the lake? How are you going to afford it?"]
"Hehehe…. Did you forget how much I charged Mermaid Heel for the training rooms?" Alfonzo asked with a chuckle. "If I add that to the money I have saved up, I should have enough to buy the whole thing."
["I guess you've been planning this for a lot longer than just these past two months, huh?"] Bedlam said with a smile. ["Well, I should expect nothing less from the man I was created from.']
"The only problem is that I can't build it here." Alfonzo said in a frustrated tone. "I'll have to build it somewhere else then transport it here in secret. *Sigh* But that will be damn near impossible. No one would be able to miss something like that floating through the sky. I mean, the sheer amount of magic power it would give off would attract even those who can't use [MPD]."
["Yeah, that could be a problem."] Bedlam replied while cupping his chin with his right hand.
["Too bad Mystogan isn't here."] Riot muttered absent-mindedly. ["He always put most of the guild to sleep every time he showed up. If the two of you worked together, I'm sure you could put the whole town to sleep just as easily."]
While Riot was only grumbling for the sake of it, Alfonzo's mind started whirling at ten miles a minute after hearing what he said.
"Riot, you're a fucking genius!" Alfonzo exclaimed in excitement.
["Fuck are you talking about, Dude?"] Riot asked in a confused tone.
["Indeed, you've even confused me, too." Bedlam added.
"I can just ask Mystogan to help with my plan." Alfonzo replied with a smile.
["Hey, dumbass, did you forget he's in Edolas?"] Riot asked in exasperation.
"Of course, I didn't." Alfonzo replied while rolling his eyes. "But it looks like the two of you forgot that I made a magic item that could open a small Anima that was big enough for only one or two people to cross."
With that, the light of realization lit up in both Alfonzo's [Armament Spirits'] eyes.
"Ahahahahaha!" Alfonzo started to laugh uproariously when his [Armament Spirits] started thinking along the same lines as he was. "I love it when a plan comes together. And if Mystogan accepts to help me with this, I should make him a [Soul Armament as well."
["And just how would that work?"] Bedlam asked curiously.
"Well, I'm sure I'd have to make quite a few adjustments." Alfonzo said. "But making it so that the [Soul Armament Embryo] only takes will and spiritual power to bond with its host shouldn't be so difficult. The real issue will be making it so that he can use magic. I guess I'll have to talk to Porlyusica about that. Since she's from Edolas, too."
Like that, Alfonzo, Riot, and Bedlam continued discussing Alfonzo's plans. However, they were forced to stop while Alfonzo scrambled to put all his blueprints away when he felt all the girls, other than Sun returning to the house.