Bab 289: The Women of Asora
While Alex was busy training his Spirit and Alteration magics, back in his room the four princesses were in a fairly good mood after the night and morning they had, with a couple of them even humming in contentment.
"I never thought I'd be so happy with an arranged relationship..." Francesca muttered lowly, to which the other three rolled their eyes at her. They had tried explaining to her that she was misunderstanding their relationship with Alex, and there was no actual arrangement when it came to them; but for some reason she never believed them and stubbornly believed that there was no way one man could win over so manny processes without arrangements, at least before he took them to the bedroom. As they finished dressing and exited the bathroom, the four girls found themselves looking at a certain silver haired maid that had been waiting for them, along with Ingvild who waved and said,
"Hey Lili, it's nice to see you again, and it's a pleasure to meet the rest of you." After a quick round of introductions, Grayfia said,
"Liliana, Ingvild has something she wants to talk with you about. As for the three of you, I need you to all come with me." Though they were wondering what as up since Grayfia didn't say what was happening, Liliana eagerly went with Ingvild to catch up on what had been happening since she seen her last, before Ingvild asked,
''So you know what a peerage is right?" As they walked away Francesca and Altina looked nervous as Grayfia looked back at them with her stern expression, while Tracy flashed a confident smile. Less than thirty minutes later though they found themselves all on Grayfia's personal floating island, wearing maid outfits and lined up next to more than a dozen other maids. First was Eri, who was muttering something they couldn't understand while glaring at them slightly, then was Nyx who looked slightly annoyed as she wanted to go to Alex's island and see if he "needed" anything. The most surprising ones present however, was the former apostles Noint, Hearst, and a dozen other beautiful silver haired cool beauties. In front of them was Grayfia who walked up and down while scrutinizing them as if looking for faults in their attire, while following just behind her was the green haired mature dragon beauty, Venri. After joining them she had truly impressed Grayfia with her capabilities and professionalism as a maid and attendant, and had even proven herself to be quite powerful due to her draconic abilities, quickly becoming the silver haired woman's right hand; and if Grayfia had a peerage, she had no doubt that she would have chosen Venri as her queen. While she was scrutinizing the new maids, Tracy finally demanded,
"What is this?! I'm a princess, not a maid!" Though they didn't say anything, it was obvious from the way they were fidgeting next to her that Altina and Francesca thought the same way, to which Grayfia stated,
"You gave up your titles as princesses when you chose to follow Alex, and since at the moment you technically serve no real purpose in Asora, I decided to scout you into my maid squadron." Though they were more than a little insulted that Grayfia implied that there had to be a purpose to be with Alex, Tracy instead focused on the last thing Grayfia said, and asked hesitantly,
"Maid squadron?" Grayfia nodded, and explained,
"Here in Asora we have no standing military, instead we have peerages which are small elite groups that are handpicked by a 'King'. One example is Ravel over there, the women gathered around her are her peerage and will follow her into battle if the need arises, but until then they practice and hone their techniques while also simultaneously acting as maids within our home in Misty Manor and within the space-time orb. I plan to change that and establish a group of combatants that don't belong to a peerage, but will also serve as maids when not in conflict." Tracy and the other two were stupefied when they heard Grayfia's explanation as, though they may be trained to become bodyguards, they had never heard of "combat maids" before. Though it wouldn't effect Tracy that much since she loved fighting to begin with, Francesca had never truly fought before as she had only studied magic theory and practiced her spells in safety, while Altina was in the worst position of all, being completely unable to use magic and never even considering holding a sword.
As she watched the princesses try to process what she was telling them, a trace of a smile flashed across Grayfia's lips. This was just the first stage in her plan as she needed to build up a large force that was loyal solely to her lord and master, while she was also ensuring that no deadbeats gathered around him. Her final goal was to remake the devil servant house of Lucifuge, except this time their loyalty would belong exclusively towards Alex, and not the house of Lucifer. This was a conclusion she arrived at after a meeting that had taken place shortly after Alex declared his intentions to link all of of the worlds that they visited in the future, made up exclusively of all of the high class Devils within Asora. Their discussion was about how they wanted to proceed in the future with this new information, and how they would act regarding their own houses back in the underworld. Rias, Sona, and Seekvaira were all the heirs and future heads of their respective houses, and they specifically had intended to return to the DXD world eventually to properly take their place. This new information changed things though, as if Alex could really link all of the worlds they visited then there'd be no real need to move back to the underworld as they could run their houses from Asora.
As the core of the multi-universe web that he intended to create, Asora would become prime real estate and the most lucrative business partner in existence, as through it one could trade and acquire goods no one has ever even heard of or had access to before in their home world. While this meant Asora would naturally become the largest powerhouse in all of the universes, it also meant that there would be a surplus of those who were too greedy for their own good and want to get a finger in the pie, or claim it all for themselves. This led them to believe that they would need to build up a base of power both as a deterrent, and in preparation for their eventual return home. While Grayfia intended to resurrect the house of Lucifuge, Ingvild would also do the same with the house of leviathan, though it would primarily rule the music and idol industry of Asora, and even Vali was on the fence about resurrecting the house of Lucifer, as he surprisingly started thinking about his future recently. Vali's sudden change aside, several others were also planning to take drastic steps to secure more power, as both Ravel and Roygun planned to take over their families when they returned to the underworld.
Roygun was originally the heir to the Belphagor family of Devils back when she was the number two in the rating games, but after the scandal involving the king piece was exposed, along with the fact that Roygun herself used it, she was stripped of her heritage and became something akin to the black sheep of her family. Now, as she served the strongest Heavenly Dragon that ever lived and had even became a super devil, she intended to reclaim her her place as the future head of the Belphagor family in order to secure more power for her lord and lover. Ravel was of a similar mind, except she was the fourth child(even though Raiser died) and therefore her claim to become head of her family was slim to nonexistent to begin with. That was why she intended to train the hell out of her peerage and herself with her super devil form, and challenge her first brother Ruval to a rating game when they returned home. The desired result was that with so many large families directly serving Alex himself, none would be able to contend against them from the underworld.
Controversially the one house they intended to exclude from this, was the house of the Great King, Bael. Though Sairaorg was always looked down upon due to his nonexistent power of Destruction, he was still tolerated due to his immense strength and charisma, and the fact that he brought the house of Bael prestige as the 'Strongest Youth'. This started to change when he lost to Alex during the devil youth rating games, and then even more when Sairaorg lost during the Azazel cup. The house of Bael had started trying to restrict him due to this, as well as make plans on how to handle himself and his peerage, with specific intentions towards his pawn that was actually the Longinus sacred gear, Regulus Nemea. It was at this point that he finally cut ties and ran away from them to Asora, where he planned to build up his own house where the only thing a person would be judged on is their willing to improve themselves, and not things they couldn't control. Grayfia then shook her head lightly as Venri called her, and focused back on her new recruits as Tracy was saying,
"I don't mind fighting, in fact I would love to, but I'm not going to be a maid when I do it! As a former princess it's demeaning!" Grayfia frowned at her and asked,
"And who do you think I was before I was a maid?" Tracy was slightly taken aback before saying,
"How should I know?" Grayfia nodded as she expected that answer, and she replied,
"I was the queen of hell, and then I was turned into my husbands own servant and maid because of the nobles that were dissatisfied with me." As they heard this the trio of princesses were silent, as they suddenly realized that no matter if it was in terms of nobility or their current situation, Grayfia clearly outranked them. Then another voice spoke up,
"You think you have it bad? I'm a genuine goddess yet I'm just a slave maid now..." They turned to see Nyx staring off into the distance with melancholy, as she recalled when she was worshipped and actually treated like she deserved to be. Then another voice said,
"We weren't gods, but we were the direct subordinates of one, which would make us even higher ranked than your mortal royalty." This time they turned and saw Noint giving them a blank stare, along with Hearst and the other dozen former apostles that were with them. Though it took a while for the only surviving apostles to adapt to their new reality, they soon started taking to it in strides as the majority decided to either live on Tortus disguised as humans to see how they lived, or accepted Alex's offer to stay in Asora and live there peacefully. What Noint didn't expect was that after she shared her stories of learning about 'love' from Alex, several other female apostles decided that they'd like to learn as well, leading to her bringing them to Grayfia to apply as maids as well. With the realization that pretty much everyone around, with the exception of Eri, outranked them, the princess trio hung their heads and stayed silent as they listened to Grayfia speak, all arguments against becoming maids erased.
"Now then, as members of the maid squadron there are three specific areas I will instruct you on in order to properly carry out your duties, housework such as cooking, cleaning and organizing, combat with specific course in hand to hand and magic, and finally how to maximize performance in bed." There was stunned silence as Grayfia listed off what she would be teaching them, before Nyx uttered,
"Per-performance in bed?! Are you insane?!" Grayfia shrugged at her shout, and explained,
"As maids who serve our master I believe it is not a matter of time before every single maid enters his bed, do you think I'm mistaken in this Nyx?" Though Nyx tried say yes, she couldn't dismiss what Grayfia said since it made sense. Grayfia nodded and continued,
"Since it is related I'm also placing a rule, relations with our master aren't prohibited but, even if you don't desire him, relations with those outside the household are. I will not have a person within our house that is loyal to someone else, is that clear?" Every woman nodded at the somewhat understandable, yet unreasonable order, earning a smile from Grayfia as she officially began their instruction.
***
Not too far from Grayfia's floating island where she planned to train and house her combat maid squadron, another silver haired beauty that was dressed in a metallic armored dress was staring at the fifty similar looking women in front of her, all of which had silver hair, blue eyes, and were all dressed in their own metallic battle dresses with dual scimitars available. They were more of the surviving apostles that used to serve Ehito, but after hearing her talk about it they decided to take Rosswiess's offer and become the new Valkyries of Asora. Though she was incredibly nervous, Rossweisse didn't let it show as she stated,
"Welcome all of you to your first lesson to become the future Valkyries of Asora! As you may already know I am Rossweisse and I'll be your teacher, as well as the squadron leader! Before we begin the first magic lessons are there any questions?" Though each apostle had been programmed to blindly follow orders, they had spent their time until now being taught about the importance of self expression and free will, so after hearing Rossweisse ask for questions one of them raised her hand, and when Rossweisse gave her permission to speak she asked in a monotone voice,
"Why are we learning magic? We are all already proficient in it, and are more powerful with it alone than nearly ever resident of the world." At her question several other apostles nodded in agreement while others just looked towards Rossweisse curiously as if waiting for her answer. As all of the apostles used to have what could be considered a "hive" mind, they had basically shared and stored each of their memories and experiences over the course of thousands of years, meaning no one had the experience in both magic and sword play that they did. As she already knew this, instead of saying anything Rossweisse simply held out her hand with her palm pointed towards the open space beyond the floating island, and proceeded to casually summon spell after spell in front of them. First was the magic that human magicians used, then the magic specific to the fairies, then Norse, Greek, Egyptian, then that of the more eastern nations. As she displayed the powerful spells one after another, the apostles were growing wide eyed as they realized that each spell seemed to have a different origin, which influenced its effects a bit. As she finished her display with a monstrous demonic magic attack, Rossweisse then turned back towards them and stated,
"While it is true that you may not need to learn about Tortus's magic, that does not mean that it'll be adequate against possible foes in the future. Each branch of magic has subtle differences that could mean the difference in victory or defeat in a fight. I intend to teach you the different kinds of magics that we know, and possible ways to improve your use of Tortus magic." As she finished speaking Rossweisse held her hand with the palm up, and a magic circle made up of complex formulas started forming before becoming a palm sized fire. What shocked the apostles was that it was magic based on Tortus's system, except Rossweisse hadn't used chants, scrolls, or an artifact. Ever since they had arrived in Tortus Rossweisse had been studying any books on magic that had been brought back, as well as learning from Cattleya during the time she was their captive. When she wasn't studying tomes or challenging labyrinths, Rossweisse was instead researching ways to improve onto the magic she learned to use easier. Similar to Anne, she intended to write down her findings and publish them in Tortus for future generations to read and learn from. After the second display one of the former apostles said,
"Please teach us." Rossweisse nodded as launched into her lesson, using the same notes she prepared for when she'd teach magic to Grayfia's maid squadron.
***
Meanwhile several miles away on another floating island with well over a hundred cats and even a giant statue of one, in a small Japanese style cottage tucked within the trees, a certain black haired cat girl was sprawled out on her futon, still asleep. Laying next to her was a white haired infant that also had cat ears, who looked up curiously at her aunty's twitching ears before cooing "Nya!", and reaching up to grab one.
"NYAAA!" Kuroka cried as she jumped from the pain of one of her ears being grabbed and pulled on, while behind her she heard a "Nyahahahaha!", as Mia continued laughing at her expense. Kuroka glared at her with narrowed eyes, before saying,
"Oh, you think that's funny do ya~nya? Take this!" She then jumped at Mia and started tickling her adorable niece, sending her into another for of giggles that spread to Kuroka as she played with the infant. After several minutes of messing around that left Mia still laughing, Kuroka picked her up and said,
"Ok that's enough now~Nya, let's go find your mommy~." Without even putting on a stitch of clothing to cover her nakedness, Kuroka took Mia and headed out to one of the only other rooms in the cottage, the kitchen. There she found Koneko surrounded by several plates of breakfast foods, and even of fish that had been caught from the nearby pond. The second she saw her Kuroka said,
"If you keep eating so much Shirone you're gonna get fat." As she said this Kuroka poked the side of Koneko's belly, before putting Mai down and helping herself to some of the food. Koneko just glared at her older sister before saying,
"...I'm not going to get fat, rather, shouldn't you put on some clothes big sis? I don't want you to teach Mai bad habits..." Kuroka looked up at her and smirked, before saying while standing,
"Nya~ no ones gonna see me like this anyways since no guys besides Alex are allowed here, and besides, this horny little kitty needs to be prepared for whenever her beast of a master visits~" As she said this Kuroka turned around and started wiggling her butt towards Koneko, who just gave her big sister a deadpan stare while Mai laughed at her aunty's behavior.
"NYA!" Kuroka suddenly cried out while covering and rubbing her butt, where a welt was already forming from whatever Koneko flicked at her. This time it was her turn to glare as she turned her gaze toward Koneko, before saying,
"Nya~ it looks like I need to teach you a lesson Shirone." Koneko had a trace of a smirk on her face at the declaration, as if taunting Kuroka into action before the latter suddenly jumped and pounced on her, dragging her little sister to the floor where they began to wrestle while Mai cheered. After several minutes of rolling around and wrestling, the pair of sisters were laying spread out on the ground panting while Mai was caught between laughing, and babbling in baby speak at the two, causing them to all erupt in laughter for several more minutes. When they finished laughing, Koneko stood and retrieved her own white kimono from where Kuroka tossed it after removing it, and put it back on as she sat down to continue her meal while Kuroka sat opposite of her. The two then properly ate their breakfast, while Mai played with a toy since Koneko fed her before making her own food, before moving into anther room to talk.
Though they weren't supposed to spend too much time in the space-time orb with the babies, Koneko had come with Mai the night before so that they could spend time with Kuroka, while also asking a few questions regarding the labyrinths. After giving birth she had focused mostly on recovering and basic workouts to get back in shape, but now she intended to go and challenge a few labyrinths before they left Tortus in order to strengthen herself, though the hardest thing about it was that she's need to leave Mai behind. What Koneko wanted from Kuroka was advice about which labyrinths she should challenge for the Age of Gods magics, and what she should be prepared for when she did so. Kuroka's advice was to focus on the Raisen Great Canyon, the Sunken Ruins of Melusine, and the Divine Mountain to acquire Gravity, Regeneration, and Spirit magic respectively.
As a front line strength based fighter, Gravity magic would be a great boon for both fighting and training, while Regeneration magic would make her akin to a self healing tank. The Spirit magic however was due to the fact that all nekomata had the ability to use touki, which allowed them to manipulate and damage the internal energies and even the soul of their opponent(though obviously they can't destroy the soul), which was exceptionally similar to the abilities granted by Spirit magic. After giving her a bit more advice about what to expect from each labyrinth, it was time for Koneko and Mai to leave, which made the latter extremely fussy as she didn't want to leave her favorite aunty. As the mother daughter duo left, Kuroka sprawled out in the middle of the floor as she contemplated going back to sleep for the day, but then an orange and black calico entered through the open window, and walked up to Kuroka before affectionately nudging her with its head. As it did so a series of images flashed across Kuroka's consciousness, prompting her to crack an eye before saying,
"Alright alright, let's go." She then got up and grabbed a long gown before leaving the cottage, as the cat followed happily as if it knew what she was doing. Kuroka walked until she arrived in front of the large cat statue and looked up at its face, or more accurately the dot that hovered in front of it that was smaller than a marble. Though it was nearly impossible to see if you weren't proactively looking for it, it appeared to be like a tiny black hole that just hovered in place, and never moved. Kuroka took a deep breath as she summoned her Spatial magic, before the entire floating island was sucked inside of the hole, and an illusion of it appeared in the same place.
Within the hole was a pocket dimension several tens of miles wide, and populated by at least a dozen floating islands that were homes to several hundred cats. The most bizarre thing however was that a fair amount of these cats looked incredibly different than normal, being several times larger or possessing more bestial traits and extra appendages, such as an extra set of legs. Despite this none of the cats seemed to be disturbed in the slightest, and instead turned towards the newest floating island to appear where their master and creator appeared. Upon arriving in her pocket dimension Kuroka Immediately flew to each and every island to visit with its inhabitants, as well as to pay respects to the large statues at each one. As she saw the results of her experiments with Alteration, Evolution and Spirit magics, a conflicting sense of pride and sadness surged within her as they surrounded her for attention. Though they all seemed pleased with the results, all of them becoming stronger, faster, or smarter, she still felt a little guilty for using them to practice on. After petting each of them and giving a few some treats, Kuroka returned to the island she started on and sat down on the yoga mat in front of the giant statue, before saying,
"I think I'll work on Time today..." She then directed her Spatial magic at a nearby potted plant, that blinked out of existence before reappearing on the ground right in front of her. As she settled into a more comfortable position, Kuroka then focused her intent on the potted plant, except instead of using Regeneration magic to reverse its aging she was trying to do the opposite. She sat there channeling her magic into it for well over an hour, before the plant finally started growing at a just barely noticeable rate.
***
Outside of the space-time orb, and several miles away from the city, across several mountain ranges, was a large lake that was surrounded by several large and decorative buildings, some even shaped similarly to castles. In the largest one towards the top, one could see a large window where a young woman was looking down on everything from her office, which smelled pleasantly of pine and old books. She had bob-style cut hair and glasses, and if one looked closely enough they could see her trying to hold back tears as she took in everything below her.
"It's finally open, my school..." She murmured to herself, as she tried to fight yet another wave of tears that threatened to spill over, even though she had been repeating this cycle ever since the school opened a week prior. For years her main goal had been to create a rating games school without discrimination, one where any child of any background could go and learn from, and for years she had been the laughing stock of the majority of the underworld for trying to do so. The girl didn't think on that and the humiliation she suffered from them though, as it would simply spoil the moment, instead she mentally ran down the list of those who supported her, those who aided her in her dream even as others called her naive and foolish. Of those however, the one she wanted to thank most was her beloved, Alex.
Her dream had originally been to create a small rating game school, soon however it became a dream to create an entire academy that taught all subjects, and that anyone from any world could attend. Even now she was making plans to incorporate subjects specific to certain worlds, such as Tortus or earths world history and so on, and even utilizing space orbs to expand the school without encroaching on the surrounding wildlife. Of course the most important thing about the academy was that the children of Asora could have fun and enjoy themselves, without worrying about the same things there parents might have. Though there were several devil, fallen angel, and youkai children that attended the academy; the majority of the students now consisted of the Dagon and rabbitmen tribes that had migrated to Asora, turning less than a hundred students into several hundred, not counting the adults that were also taking side classes to learn how to speak Japanese and about modern living.
Many of the parents had already noted that their children looked far happier than when they lived in Tortus as they played with their new friends, as they all no longer had the old concerns of potential enslavement, monster or pirate/bandit attacks, and the threat of the previously never ending war. Now instead their children were happily attending school, and playing games with others of their age, such as the blitzball that Alex introduced to them a while back. Even at that moment Sona could see several of the children playing the new game within a giant sphere of water just above the lakes surface, with the non-Dagon children using artifacts that had been developed to allow easy under water breathing.
Though she could have left it at that and create a safe academic environment for the children, Sona had yet again taken it a step further and had dorms built for children of all ages, separating them in ages groups of elementary, middle, high, and college ages. Though the middle school up dorms were to help them gain a form of independence from their parents, they and the elementary dorms were also planned to function as an orphanage if the need should arise, ensuring that any future orphans were able to have a place to live, along with provided necessities and easy access to school. The main reason this arrangement could work however was due to the fact that Asora had access to a ridiculous amount of resources for its small population, which would only increase from here on out.
At the moment the only foreseeable problem with running the academy was ensuring that there was enough teaching staff for all of the classes and subjects she wanted to introduce. Sona had already taken the first step for this however, as the majority of her peerage was to act as teachers within the school, as well as a few others she had scouted such as some of the Grigori, Aiko, and surprisingly some of the former apostles. When they had heard about the interest Sona had in teaching Tortus's history, as well as several other points such as monsters, geography, magic and ect; several of them had come to volunteer themselves to write it down, and then even going a step further to become teachers themselves in her academy. With this Sona felt she had a good start, but as they stayed in each world she intended to personally spend some time exploring each of them to scout those who were interested in teaching at her school, having no doubt in finding people who would be interested due to the fact that they in turn would be able to learn about other worlds. Sona's train of thought as she imagined the future of the academy was suddenly brought to a halt when there was the sound of someone knocking on the door. She quickly fixed herself and sat at her desk before calmly saying,
"Enter." The door opened and Sona relaxed a little as her ever reliable 'queen' Tsubaki entered, before saying,
"Pardon the intrusion, but I have a list of a few minor issues that need to be addressed." Sona sighed, but there was a trace of a smile on her lips as she heard what Tsubaki wanted.
"Ok, bring it here, I'll take a look at them."
***
On the outskirts of the main city of Asora two figures were staring at each other intensely with their swords drawn, each waiting for the other to make the first move. There was a sudden crunch, and then both figures disappeared as they rushed the other, immediately followed by the clang of metal colliding. As their swords locked the two tried pushing on the other for the chance to break through the other's guard, but with no such luck they separated before moving onto the next attack. The two traded blows for the better part of an hour as they tirelessly tried to get the better of the other, leaving their surroundings devastated as they cut through all of the rocks and trees around them, until finally right as they tried to execute their final attack,
GONNNNGGGGG
"Times up!" Suzu excitedly cried from the sidelines as she put own her bag of chips, causing both Kiba and Shizuku to freeze in their tracks, before adopting wry smiles and sheathing their weapons.
"Thank you for the spar." Shizuku said seriously as she bowed to Kiba, which he returned and replied,
"No, I should be thanking you. Until you came along it was difficult to find someone who could really push me further in the mastery of the sword, and speed. It'll be a bit lonely when you all return to earth." Shizuku smiled before thanking Kiba once more, as his girlfriend Tosca quickly ran over and started fussing over his sweaty state, leaving her and Suzu to walk back towards the city alone. As they walked Suzu said,
"Suzu still doesn't understand why Shizu-Shizu and Kiba didn't just use the space-time orbs like we normally do, or your other abilities and your new Gravity magic?" Shizuku smiled wryly and replied,
"It's was because this was just a light spar for the night, and I don't want to make the next couple days longer than they have to be." As she said the last part a trace of melancholy and sadness crept into Shizuku's voice, which Suzu immediately understood as a similar expression formed on her face. In just a couple days they were going home, where they would wait until it was time for Alex to move on from Tortus. It was a surreal feeling, as from their viewpoint it had already been nearly two years since they were forcefully brought to Tortus, the result of using the training rooms and space-time orbs so much. As she thought about seeing her family again, a bit of mild panic crept into Suzu's heart, as he hesitantly asked,
"Do you think they'll be happy to see us again Shizuku?" Shizuku stopped suddenly, as she could tell Suzu was being serious from the fact she hadn't used a nickname, and wasn't speaking in third person. It was obvious Suzu was referring to the fact that they could all use magic, and weren't the same after entering real combat, even sometimes against other people. For Suzu and Shizuku in particular there was the added fact that neither were actually human anymore. She was silent for a second, before saying,
"I think they will be, no matter what. They are our parents, and must miss us considerably regardless of what we've had to do to survive. If the alternative was that none of us ever came home, I think they would understand." Suzu was silent for a second as she took this in, before letting out a sigh of relief and saying,
"Thank you Shizu-Shizu, Suzu feels better now!" With the atmosphere turning lighthearted once more the two continued their walk home, until Suzu added,
"So how will you take being away from hubby for so long Shizu-Shizu?" As she asked this a mischievous look crept into Suzu's eyes as she waited for Shizuku's answer. The girl in question shrugged, and replied,
"I will miss him until we meet up, yeah, but compared to the lifespan we're looking at to be together, it won't be that long." Surprisingly her words were met with a "tut tut tut", as Suzu stated,
"You say that now Shizu-Shizu, but how long before you really "miss" hubby, not just emotionally, but physically?" As understanding dawned on her Shizuku's face turned beet red, as she retorted,
"I got along well before we did it, I'll manage going a few months without it!" She then stormed off while intending to leave Suzu behind, who quickly caught up with her while saying,
"No no, that's no good Shizu-Shizu, I mean that's gonna be a long time to deal with the "emptiness" you know! Suzu has even already taken precautions and prepared for her loneliness!" As she finished speaking Suzu summoned something from her personal storage, that revealed itself to be a large toy to be used by oneself in bed. When she saw it Shizuku's face turned even redder, and she demanded,
"What are you doing with that Suzu?! Where did you even get such a thing?!" Suzu puffed out her chest proudly, and explained,
"Suzu got it from Kir-chin(Kiryuu), who secretly made it to be an exact match of hubby's. Suzu got it so that she'll never forget the feeling of hubby inside her, you should get one too!" When she heard that Shizuku suddenly realized that the toy looked strangely familiar, and now knew why. As she processed this she suddenly found herself not as against the idea if it was supposed to be like Alex was still with her, but when she noticed the perverted look on Suzu's face, meaning she probably intended for them to use them together, Shizuku immediately shook her head and declared while storming off,
"No way, no how! I'll never use one of those!" Suzu looked crestfallen at Shizuku's refusal, and quickly chased after her to try and convince her otherwise, while Kiba and Tosca both had incredulous expressions from having accidentally witnessed everything.
***
Anne leaned back in her chair, and raised her arms above her head to stretch them after spending so long writing her appeal. Though she was still working on her book of useful herbs and plants in Tortus, currently she was working on something else exclusively for Asora, an emergency response team. When she originally died her goal for her new life didn't involve the competition that they were put in, but instead she wanted to help people who needed it when she saw them. It was this that drove her to help the people who initially spurned her in her previous world, to the point where they even eventually worshipped her as a goddess due to her actions. Now, in Asora, she intended to create an emergency response team whose main goals and actions would be to protect and provide aid to those who needed it in the world's they planned to visit. Typically this would just be in the form of them going to places with sick or injured, such as the aftermath of a natural disaster, and using her Sky Dragon Slayer magic to heal them.
Another function of the emergency response team, an idea courtesy of Alex, was to protect, and heal those who may get caught up in their fights in the future. Similarly to the fight with Noint when they first met, they may have to fight in a populous area with hundreds, or even thousands of people nearby, except they may not be able to prepare to contain the effects of the fight like with Noint. When she brought this idea to Alex, he surprisingly supported her; however he said that she would need to put together everything herself, including gathering members and discussing things such as supplies with the heads of each faction, Barakiel, Yasaka, Gabriel, and Serafall. Undaunted in the slightest, she had spent the entire day working on rough draft of her intentions and hopes for the group, as well as possibilities for cooperation from them if needed. She then looked at a clock, and was surprised to see what time it was.
"I better get home, it'll be dinner time soon." Anne then cleaned up the miscellaneous things around her new office, before putting the draft of her appeal into a folder to go over again later. She then waited only long enough to change back into her usual clothes, and was finally on her way home from the hospital. Like Asia, Valerie, and Kaori, she too was now working at the hospital to heal those who came in, though thankfully there wasn't too many people there, and she was even given her own office with an amazing view. After making sure she wasn't forgetting anything, Anne left the hospital and started making her way to Misty Manor, where she soon ran into Gabriel surprisingly.
"Hey Gabriel!" Anne called out, getting the attention of the beautiful angel, who was holding onto a baby carrier as well.
"Hello Anne, are you heading home as well?" Anne nodded before turning her attention to Edith, and started talking in baby speak to her. Edith giggled at the attention and excitedly babbled back to her from her carrier, before Anne asked,
"It must be hard carrying her back like this, why don't you fly or teleport instead?" Gabriel looked at Edith and smiled lovingly as she said,
"Because she likes seeing all of the interesting places and people when we walk, and I'm not sure about flying with her just yet. Besides, the carrier isn't that heavy so I don't mind." Anne nodded at her explanation to show she was listening as she continued giving Edith attention, before ultimately offering to carry her instead since they were both going home. As she took the carrier, Anne offered her folder to Gabriel and asked,
"Can I get your opinion really quick? I'm planning to show this to the four of you, but I want to make sure it's alright before I do. Sorry if it's not well made, it's been a while since I did any real paperwork." Gabriel took the offered folder and started reading what she put together while Anne continued playing with Edith, though she glanced at Gabriel nervously every few seconds. Eventually Gabriel said,
"It looks like a really good idea, though there a few areas that I'd work on. You'd definitely get the support of several angels for it." Anne was surprised at Gabriel's praise, and asked,
"Really? I thought most everyone here would be interested in keeping their heads down." Gabriel nodded slowly before saying,
"I can understand why you might think that, but you have to recall that almost everyone in Asora was affected by the three way war in our world for centuries, but then when that finally ended they had to live in fear of the terrorists that didn't want peace. Plus as you're well aware, the newer residents had their own issues that made Asora seem like heaven. While I wouldn't assume that the majority would want to help out with this, I'm willing to bet a fair amount of people would be willing to help those who are suffering in similar ways they had." When she heard what Gabriel said a sense of relief spread through Anne that someone else thought her idea of creating an emergency response team would be a good idea. The two chatted happily as they made their way back to the manor, where they found Alex waiting for them with a picnic basket of all things in his hands.
"Hello Gabriel, hi there Edith!" After giving Gabriel a kiss and giving Edith attention, to which she excitedly babbled and cooed at seeing her father, Alex turned towards Anne and said,
"Mind if I steal you away for the night?" A smile spread on Anne's face at the invitation, even as her heart started beating a little faster since it was obvious what a night with Alex would lead to. After parting with Gabriel and a saddened Edith, the duo disappeared as Alex took her to Tortus, and then to a cliff overlooking the ocean as the sun dipped cover to the horizon.
"Wow..." Anne exclaimed as she took in the sight, while Alex spread a blanket behind her and started pulling things out of the basket, with a grin spreading on his face as he did so as he watched Anne admire the scenery around them. Once he was done they sat down and started digging into their dinner, a meal a bit more extravagant than a normal picnic, before they then watched the final slivers of the sun disappear as they fed each other grapes. Neither one said a single thing, until Alex finally said,
"Thank you Anne..." Anne looked confused as she didn't recall doing anything to be thanked for, to which Alex explained,
"Thank you, for calling out for help that day." Though she was still momentarily confused, realization suddenly dawned on her as Anne realized Alex was referring to the day they first met, and the day they died. She recalled how heroic he seemed that day, not even flinching as a gun was pointed at him, and as he tried to talk the would be thief down even though he could of just ignored her cries for help like so many others had. But as she recalled this day, a feeling of sadness and melancholy crept up as she thought about how she'd never see her family again, even though she had decided to leave her old life behind her. Anne was shaken from her thoughts as Alex continued,
"If I hadn't died that day, then I probably would have just gone on through my mundane life, never really achieving anything significant. Everything I've experienced, and done, meeting all of these people, becoming so powerful, it was all because I heard someone cry for help that day and didn't keep my nose down. It was because of you." Anne took in a shaky deep breath as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill, and a series of complicated feelings rose in her. Though she had spent the last twenty years looking forward to meeting the man who had died for her, who had tried to save her, there was also a seed of doubt as she had blamed herself for getting another person killed. Before she could find a way to calm herself or respond to what Alex was saying to her, he then gave her another shock as he summoned a small simple golden band, and offered it to her while saying,
"Anne, will you marry me?" It felt as if all of her mental functions had ceased as she looked at the golden ring in Alex's hand, and registered the question he had asked her. Eventually all she managed was a simple,
"...really?" Alex nodded and stated,
"Yes. After Edith and Mai were born I've been thinking a bit about how I'm living my life, and realized that the way I'm doing things isn't good enough. Even with me being involved with so many women, a few of which I'm technically officially engaged to, I haven't yet taken that final step. I want you to be the first I take it with Anne." As Alex spoke Anne felt the tears start spilling as she hesitantly took the ring, and slipped it on her finger, before stating,
"Yes... YES!" She then rushed into Alex's arms and wrapped her own around him as he embraced her in turn, before glancing once more at the ring she now wore. It was simple golden band, devoid of any decorations and jewels, but Anne didn't think of any of that as its meaning meant more than anything else.
As the sun finally disappeared the two dropped onto the blanket below them, still in each other's embrace, as their lips found each other and they started kissing passionately under the slowly appearing stars. Though she was still emotional, it wasn't long before the tears in Anne's eyes were replaced with a type of heat, and she began trying to remove the clothes of her new fiancé, before doing the same to herself. Bereft of their clothing, Alex rolled her over so that he was pinning her down, and slowly he shifted his hips until he began entering her hot and steamy hole. Anne gasped at the large and familiar intrusion as Alex slowly continued until he reached her deepest places, casing her to twitch slightly as he pressed up against her womb. Alex then slowly started pulling out, before reentering her at a steady pace. The two slowly moved their bodies in a sensual rhythm as they made love under the stars, until they finally reached a release, and Anne felt the warmth inside of her spreading. Not wanting to turn the romantic night into one of mindless fucking, like usual, Alex started slowly pulling out of Anne, but she quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and whispered in his ear,
"No. You put a ring on my finger, now I want a baby in my belly. Keep going." Alex was surprised at her insistence, but was more than happy to keep going, making sure that her request was met.
(A.N. I know all of you want the next world already, and I'm just letting you know that I'm only planning a few more chapters until then.)
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
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Harry_Dresden Thanks for reading!
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