Divergence

[

"Can I have tomorrow off?"

"What."

"Tomorrow is my mistress's birthday."

"I don't control whether or not you come here."

"..."

"I'm going to teach you about magic."

"...Why? I can't use it!"

"Understand your opponent. Then you can-"

"What I understand is that I'm fucked. I can't touch you. And I'm not sure why you wouldn't just blow me away with a big spell I can't dodge."

"I don't care. You can leave if you want."

.

Aisha bit her lip. She was tempted to, but… fuck. She sensed that if she left here, she would be dying because of it at some point.

.

"Very good.

.

You can think of magic like an arrow, that originates from inside of you. Your soul is like an engine-"

"What's an engine?"

"-that is constantly pumping inside of you, taking magic from your surroundings, and releasing it outside of you with your unique "signature." attached.

.

You can cast spells is by holding the magic inside of you, similar to holding a deep breath. It's released out of you like an exhaling breath. This junction between "inhale" and "exhale" is when the magic is formed inside of you, and becomes a "spell." This spell is shaped magic, that flies because of the initial "breath."

.

When magic contacts your body, it doesn't actually pierce or damage you. It is simply pure energy, and when it touches your body, it imparts this "energy" into you. If your body cannot handle it, then it expels this energy in the form of a burn or a cut."

"What about the spell you've been using? It doesn't burn or cut. It just goes straight through me."

"That's for another time."

]

.

"...Aisha! Aisha!"

"Nnnnoooo… 5 more… hours… zzzz…..."

"So cute... I-I mean, get up!"

"Alright alright…"

.

Aisha grumbled and released her tight grip on Kua's midriff, nuzzling her chest one last time and sending a blush onto Kua's face.

.

"What time is it?" Aisha asked groggily. She didn't feel like she had slept much at all.

"Um… it's nighttime. Celeste should be back home by now."

Aisha whined adorably. "Just let me sleep here! You're warm, and the headpats are so nice…"

"W-wouldn't you like to cuddle with Celeste more?" Kua stammered.

"Mmmmm… Celeste's really squishy… But she doesn't give me headpats." Aisha pouted.

"Just ask her!"

.

Aisha didn't respond, instead mewing pitifully and rubbing her nose into Kua's tanned stomach.

.

"A-and… please get dressed!"

.

.

.

"You just… wear that all the time?" Aisha asked.

"Wear wha- EEK!" Kua screeched, as Aisha poked her in the exposed stomach.

"That skimpy outfit. You show off a lot of skin for someone who… is so shy." Aisha said, as Kua fumed silently.

"It's a traditional fighter's outfit." Kua huffed.

.

Aisha raised her eyebrow, looking at her clothes, which consisted of just a fur brassiere, booty shorts, and fur-lined boots. Kua visibly shivered in the night air, whether from Aisha's gaze or from the cold, she didn't know. Probably both.

.

"It looks like it wouldn't protect you from a light breeze."

"W-well, it doesn't. But it's traditional wear!"

"Whoever came up with it… must have been a really big pervert."

"He-!"

"Ah whatever. You can do what you want." Aisha interrupted, arriving at Celeste's apartment door.

.

She knocked on the door a couple times, humming to herself softly. The heard of hurried footsteps could be heard, followed by the unlatching of a door.

.

Celeste smiled at the sight of Aisha and Kua, wrapping Aisha in a loose hug.

.

"Welcome home! Kua, you can come in too if you want!" She offered.

"S-sorry, but uhh…"

"Come on! " Celeste insisted. "We never hang out!"

.

Kua let out a small, inaudible noise of resistance, before being pulled into Celeste's apartment by the arm. She was led to a nice sofa, where she tentatively took a seat, before Aisha jumped in her lap and rested her head on Kua's shoulder, inviting her to pat her head.

.

Kua frantically looked around, and at Celeste. Fear welled up in her heart, at what might happen if Celeste didn't approve. She let out a big sigh of relief, as Celeste smiled, and Kua lifted her arm to pet Aisha's head, stroking the soft fur tentatively. She smiled softly at the ecstatic expression on Aisha's face, her lips curled up slightly in a soft smile.

.

She yelped as she felt the sofa cushions shift, and a very soft body planted itself next to her, and Celeste laid her head on Kua's shoulder.

.

"W-W-WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" She screeched in surprise.

Celeste giggled. "What? You don't like it? Having two beautiful girls all… cuddled up to you?" She teased.

"I-I-I-I" Kua stammered.

.

Celeste just laughed and shushed Kua's stammering, grabbing her arm and nuzzling into her muscular frame, tracing her tattoos. Kua babbled incoherently, the amazoness unable to move any of her limbs, as she felt herself heat up, both from embarrassment and the body heat of the two girls currently cuddling her.

.

"You know," Celeste said, resting her chin on Kua's shoulder. "I never knew Aisha loved headpats so much."

"I-I-didn't know either."

"You know what else I didn't know..." She grinned mischievously. "I didn't know you got so adorable when you're flustered. You should talk more often!"

"I-I-know. I… I hear that a lot."

.

Celeste smiled and pat Kua's head, eliciting a small "Hey!"

"We want you to talk because we liiiike you." Celeste teased, with a friendly smile.

.

Kua just blushed, opting to not say anything. She scratched the top of Aisha's head, eliciting a small groan of pleasure from the girl, followed by a satisfied yawn.

.

"It's getting late." Celeste sang. "We should go to bed."

"I should be going."

"Why not join us? The bed is big!"

"Ah!- no! No no-no-no.-Um-I should begoingIhavetocleantheapartment!" Kua stammered, shaking her head vigorously.

.

Celeste just laughed as Kua hurriedly ran out the front door, tripping on the doorframe. She went to go hug Aisha, but the girl was fast asleep.

.

She giggled. (What a sleepy girl! Oh well, I guess I can give her her surprise when she wakes up.)

.

.

.

Aisha looked down at her hands, at the ornate, glossy black necklace that Celeste pushed into her hands.

.

"What's this?"

"Well, you didn't look like you didn't know what to do with the onyx that Ifrit gifted you." Celeste explained. "So… I got it made into an amulet! Try it on!"

.

Aisha looked at the amulet with a sour expression. She didn't want to play into the false god's stupid game… but Celeste looked so happy. She couldn't… let her down.

.

She put on the amulet, and as soon as the gem touched her chest, she felt an overwhelming power flow through her body like electricity, flowing into her arms and legs. Her muscles spasmed, unused to the incredible power, her legs giving out under her. Arcs of black mana flew throughout her body, giving her body a dull glow.

.

"Whoa! Are you ok?" Celeste asked.

"Y-yeah. It's just… augh..."

.

Aisha looked at her hand in amazement, flexing her fingers and feeling the power coursing through them.

.

"What was in that amulet?" She asked. "I feel… powerful."

"I don't know. Onyx are really rare. People don't really know what they're used for. All they know is that they hold incredible power."

.

Aisha's breathing slowly returned to normal as she regained control over her limbs.

.

"Hahh… Hahh… Hah… "

.

Aisha looked at Celeste, a determined expression on her face.

"I want to do a contract."

.

.

.

Aisha hefted her crossbow, feeling the power of the onyx entering her body. She took a bolt from her bag excitedly, feeling the weight of the steel in her hand, excited to see how much more powerful...

.

"What am I doing?" She groaned.

"Hm?"

"More physical power… is not what I'm having a problem with." Aisha muttered. "And I can't-I can't use this with a crossbow!"

"Um… then what... do you need?"

"..."

"Oh, right."

.

Aisha sighed, slipping the onyx off her neck. For a moment, she had gotten so excited… but… this thing couldn't help her. She was disappointed in herself. She had… gotten her hopes up so easily, over a stupid necklace.

.

"You should have it." Aisha muttered. "You can make better use of it than me."

"I can't do that! He said- oop!" Celeste held both of her hands over her mouth, stopping herself.

.

Aisha looked at Celeste with an incredulous expression.

"...He said?"

"I-uhhh… I didn't say anything!"

"Who told you to give this to me?"

"I can't say!"

.

Aisha clenched the amulet in her fist angrily.

.

"Damnit!" She yelled. "I can't believe… that damn… false god..."

"Hey, you can't say that!"

"I don't care!" She snapped. "I don't know why you worship some guy in his bedsheets!"

.

Celeste stepped back, hurt and shocked, holding a hand up to her agape mouth.

.

"Don't give me that." Aisha muttered. "You don't care that much."

"It still hurts." Celeste said quietly.

"...Sorry." Aisha said curtly.

.

As Aisha trudged off, Celeste could tell that the girl was not sorry.

.

.

.

It was not difficult to find Aisha, as Celeste heard the very loud sound of a tree being felled. She ran over to the source of the noise, to find Aisha, ready to punch a hole in another trunk.

.

"What's wrong, Aisha?" Celeste asked.

"Nothing's going right.." She said, lowly.

"..."

"I've hit my peak. I can't get any stronger."

"The amulet-"

"This amulet doesn't make me any more powerful. I just tested it. Lifting weights and running doesn't make a noticeable difference."

"You could still make it to platinum!" Celeste insisted.

"And then what!?" Aisha wheeled around, clenching her fists. "What happens… after platinum?"

"I... " Celeste was speechless.

.

Aisha sat down on a felled tree, looking downcast. She threw her sword on the ground and brought her legs up to her chest, hugging them. Celeste sat down next to her.

.

"You know, when I first started adventuring, I wanted to be diamond too. " Celeste started, fingering her metallic tinted necklace. "It was really exciting… On my first platinum contract… It was a fire elemental raid. With a ton of people. Vigil and Amir were there.

.

I… I… I saw someone… get… hit, and he burned, and we tried to save him, but we just couldn't put the fire out… So we had to take him to the church, while he was on fire, and he just… screamed the entire time. And I couldn't do anything, I couldn't heal him, I couldn't… protect him, or anything…

.

Everytime I see one of you get hit, I just think about… how, if you got hurt… Even though I know it's just wolves, and I know you can do it."

"...I don't… know…" Aisha started, quietly.

"I'm just trying to say… that sometimes… it's not worth it."

"It's worth it for me. There's nothing that I want other than that."

.

Celeste's expression grew angry, and she stood up abruptly, dusting off the back of her dress.

.

"Well then fine! You don't want anything else!? Go on your suicide missions! See what I care!"

.

Celeste huffed and stormed off, leaving Aisha in the middle of the forest. Aisha raised an eyebrow in confusion.

.

(What was that all about? Did I… say something wrong?)

.

Aisha decided that the best course of action would to be to chase after her. She got up from her fallen log, ready to start running, when the ground underneath her erupted with vines, wrapping around her feet and arms.

.

A silhouette appeared from the trees, approaching her menaching. Aisha palmed the onyx amulet in her hands. Maybe… it would be of use now.

.

The silhouette became clearer, revealing a green-skinned, green-haired woman, covered only in a few leaves and vines on her breasts and crotch.

.

"Damn humes! " She hissed. "Our lands weren't good enough for you? Now you have to take our forests too?? I'll show you the wrath of the fey!"

"I'm not a hume." Aisha said in a low voice.

"I've heard that many times now! It's not going to work!" The woman snarled.

.

Aisha saw the woman's hands glow with green magic, and sighed, ripping through the vines with ease and uncovering her ears, pointed and furry. The woman's magic dimmed a little, but she didn't drop her arms.

.

"...Are those real?.. If they're real… then you should be able to speak with the elderwood!"

"Dryad's can't speak with the wood." Aisha muttered. "What are you talking about?"

.

The dryad walked over uncertainly, tugging on Aisha's ears with purple, leaf-tipped fingers.

.

"Ow!"

"Sorry."

.

The vines binding Aisha's feet disappeared, and the dryad stepped back apologetically.

.

"Sorry. I felt… one of my trees being cut down. Not even… cut. The death was slow. And brutal. So much like a hume." She said, sadly. "Dammit! They must have gotten away!"

.

Aisha decided to not tell the woman that she was responsible for the death of her precious trees, but nonetheless…

"Why are you sure it wasn't me?" Aisha asked.

.

The woman laughed.

"Of course it wasn't you. You're a fey. A good person. Not like those damn humes."

"...They seem more similar than different."

"Ha! Look at the humes killing themselves, over their damn politics! How disgraceful. Do you see the fey doing that?"

"...Back at home, Vayura weren't allowed in our village. They didn't condone it… but one day, when someone came back, claiming to have killed one… there was a celebration."

"What are you trying to say?" The woman asked, suspiciously. "Are you… some sort of... traitor?"

"I have no allegiance to fey, or humes." Aisha sighed. "I prefer to judge people as individuals."

.

The woman shifted uncomfortably. "Um… well, of course! I just… Ah… let's… get off this topic."

.

Aisha took a breath out of her nose and remembered what she was doing before… the strange woman assaulted her.

.

"Ah, goddammit." Aisha muttered.

"Um… what's wrong?"

"I said something and made my... friend mad. I was going to go find out, until..."

.

The dryad froze and held up her hands defensively.

.

"I-I'm so sorry! I... I uh..."

.

Aisha just ignored her, and started to walk back to the capital. She could finish the stupid contract later.

.

"Wait!"

"Ugh... what is it now?"

"I… I'm sorry. You should… take this."

.

The dryad reached into the ground, pulling out something and presenting it to Aisha.

.

"........This is a piece of wood."

"It's a piece of me! It's the best wood in the forest! Much better than the flimsy, hume created crap that they use to kill each other. It's enchanted."

"So what, this is like… your hair?"

"Um… Kind of. Every tree in this forest is connected by the roots. I'm just… the spirit of this forest. To kill me, you'd have to kill all the trees in the forest… Look, I know you high fey like to use bows, so I'm giving this to you, ok! As an apology!"

.

Aisha tentatively took the glowing piece of wood and nodded, taking off.

.

.

.

Aisha sighed and knocked on Celeste's door, setting down the "gift" that the dryad had given her. The sun had set on the way back, the streets now lit with bright, harsh lights.

.

The door opened a crack and a bright blue eye appeared in the gap in the doorframe

"What took you so long?" Celeste demanded.

"I got… attacked on the way back."

.

The eye narrowed. Aisha sensed that she should have probably worded that better.

.

"Do you have anything to say?" Celeste asked.

"Um… I'm sorry?" She offered meekly.

"Sorry for what!?"

"I..." Aisha trailed off. "I don't know!"

"Hmph!"

.

Aisha jumped back as the door was closed in her face. She crouched down and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

.

(I don't know what she wants me to do! What am I…?)

.

She took a seat against the hard concrete of the building, leaning her head back against the white stone and closing her eyes.

.

(Should I knock and try again?)

.

(Ugh. It's too much trouble. I don't want to.)

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Aisha's eyes shot wide open. Did she really not even like Celeste enough to… knock on the door a second time?

.

"This is stupid." She muttered.

.

.

.

Luan felt his blood pressure rising, just from the sight of the stupid fey girl. He angrily polished a glass as he gave her a dirty stare. It wasn't even as if he could talk to anybody else, since they were the only two people in the guild, at this accursed hour.

.

"Can I get a ginger ale?" Aisha asked.

"No."

"..."

.

After a full minute of silence, Luan took a bottle of ginger ale from behind the counter, and threw it at Aisha from across the hall. Miraculously, the bottle flew true, and Aisha caught it.

.

"Used to be a soldier? Adventurer?" Aisha asked.

"I'm not talking to you."

.

Aisha didn't bother trying to press the man for further conversation. She took a few coins from her purse and threw them lazily at the receptionist, decidedly not flying true, and scattering coins all over the floor.

.

"Hey! What the hell!?"

.

Aisha almost laughed, as the clerk ducked behind his counter and started picking up coins. She leaned back in her chair, supporting the back of her neck with her hands and tilting the chair back. She took her little adventurer's plate out, fingering the shiny gold object.

.

What to do, what to do...

.

Her eyes were drawn to the chunk of wood that was sitting next to her. Enchanted wood, huh… She ran her hands over the surface. It was almost perfectly smooth, like a piece of flesh, but it was firm to the touch. She lifted her crossbow up onto the table for reference. It looked to be made out of some crappy wood that was already splintering at the ends.

.

She would have to replace the thing eventually, so she might as well try to make use of the dryad's gift. It was nighttime though, so she probably wouldn't be able to find someone until the next day.

.

Thoughts of the next day brought her mind to… her sleeping conditions. Should she ask the amazon, or the armored girl, or the ranger? They were all very nice to cuddle with. Maybe not as soft as Celeste, but each girl had a certain… quality to them that made sleeping with them really nice.

.

She cringed at the thought. She didn't know why, but she felt as if Celeste would get really mad at her if she tried to sleep with her friends when she had just kicked her out of the house.

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Aisha was so cold... she wrapped her scarf around her protectively. The scarf that mistress gave her…

.

She slammed her fist on the table. That was right. She was here so that she could return to mistress. She had gotten sidetracked trying to satiate her lust for headpats and cuddles. She bit her lip bitterly. What was she thinking!? How much time had she lost… just chasing after Celeste and her friends… begging for hugs like a child. Getting caught up in a schoolgirl's romance problems. Dammit!

.

Aisha picked up her crossbow and stormed out of the guild, determined.