Even Heroes Get a Break Now and Then

Back at the castle, Ilias and Sonya painfully began treating each other's, and then everyone else's, wounds.

"I'm afraid we're getting more patients in a minute or two," Alma Elma warned them. "The castle did collapse and it was all Tamamo and those two strangers could do to get everyone out in time."

"And evil Tamamo?" I asked.

Alma Elma paused and listened. I'd been so used to the fact that Alice and Ilias' telepathy didn't work that I'd forgotten that the Heavenly Knights could still use it.

"I'm not sure how much you know about how our telepathy works," Alma Elma said after a few moments. "But we can't communicate words. It's more impressions, so I could be wrong about this. Tamamo said she was…. A projection, I think, not the real person? It was confusing. But in any case, even if our Tamamo had succeeded in killing her, she wouldn't be dead. If that makes sense."

"See, you should have really cut loose on her!" Ilias said.

"I did!" I insisted. "But the level of power I can output seems dependent on my emotional state at the time. There can't be any doubts."

"More importantly, my uncle, Merlin, Nero and Neris?" Sonya asked.

"Tamamo says that Nero and Neris warped out on their own," Alma Elma reported. "And they took a lot of the prisoners with them. Tamamo made sure your uncle and those who stayed to fight the king of Grangold were safe as well. I think she said she got the king out, too. After beating him up."

"So Uncle Lazarus is fine?" Sonya asked hopefully.

"Looks like it. Tamamo actually beat up the king before coming to help us, so she was aware that they were in the sewers. Looks like Queen Sara was with them as well?"

"So everyone was saved?" I asked.

"I'm afraid I can't give you reassurance on that count," Alma Elma replied. "Everyone grabbed who they could in the time they had. Everyone we know is safe, but as for the prisoners…. I know Nero and Neris got some, but I'm not in communication with them. Only Tamamo, and she doesn't know how many they managed to get out."

"So did we win?" Alice asked.

"Tamamo thinks we did. She's going to check on the city's people after she delivers the wounded to us."

Speaking of the little red fox, Tamamo entered the Great Hall, which was usually the place I warped us to when I returned us, on foot, carrying Sara and one of the ninja kitsunes over each shoulder.

"I'd forgotten about the ninjas!" I exclaimed. "Did you get all of them out, Tamamo?"

"Except for Minamo here, who I had to go back for because she was too injured to make it out on her own, all the kitsunes left the castle on my orders," Tamamo replied.

"Wait, so their retreat was because of you?" Alice asked.

"Yep!" Tamamo chuckled. "They got fooled by that imposter, but once I touched their minds they recognized my authenticity immediately. I ordered them out, knowing they'd only be in danger if they remained. But this one here says she got beat up by a little blue lamia."

"And the other kitsunes just abandoned her?!" Alice asked.

"Have a care, Alice. I ordered them to leave her and assured them that I'd come back for her myself."

"Tamamo, I can't thank you enough," I said. "You really saved our asses in there."

"Well, a certain someone lit a fire under mine."

"I'm flattered, Tamamo."

"Why?" Tamamo laughed. "It had nothing to do with you. Alma Elma got me fired up. She came to visit me. If that flaky succubus cares enough to fight, how can I do less?"

"Well, I'm glad you're here, Tamamo," Alice said. "We'll need to have a meeting and discuss our next steps."

"I agree, but first you'll need to brief me on everything that's occurred so far. I'm late to the party."

"And then you can tell me what my mother is up to."

"I…. I can't say all that I know, Alice, I'm sorry. Even though she's wrong, I'm as personally loyal to her as I am to you. There are just certain trusts I can't betray. But her plans for the human kingdoms and why she was doing what she was doing? That I can share. For now, I need to go check on the city. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Are you joining us, Tamamo?" I asked.

"I haven't decided that yet. I have to think on that one. There are complications with your situation that might make my participation a distraction, and you already have enough of those. It just may be that I can do more good working alone. But if Alma Elma will actually take orders, I'd advise her to stay, if only because we need someone present who can communicate with me telepathically."

"I'll consider it," Alma Elma replied. "I hear the food is good here. And the food the food cooks is supposed to be great as well!"

I stared at her, confused.

"She's talking about you, Luka," Alice said. "Idiot."

"The food I cook is great as well as…. The food?" I asked.

"You ARE the food!" Sonya exclaimed. "And you also cook the food!"

"I cook myself?"

"Oh, poor Luka's head injuries must not have healed!" Ilias said, checking me.

"Something tells me he's always this dense," Alice muttered.

"Don't worry, I fully intend to explain things to him later on," Alma Elma laughed. "Very explicitly."

Showing remarkable self control, Alma Elma didn't attack me that night, mainly on Mephisto's advice. Since my recovery from critical ecstasy at Lilith's hands had been artificial, there was no way to know how safe it was for a succubus of Alma Elma's power level to use me. She would either have to play with other men in the castle, or wait a full day for me to recover. When Alma Elma heard there were Yamatai men present, it was as if I was forgotten. Alma Elma intended to feast while I slept. And sleep I did. I was sure that my power had completely healed me, but as with healing from holy magic it took a lot out of me. I slept like the dead for nearly twenty four hours. I was sure many of my companions would also be out for quite some time.

I will say, however, that when I finally awakened, I'd never felt better. Sonya had ministered to me as I slept, something which I only knew because I remembered awakening a couple of times to find her in my bed using magic on me. Despite my power, I must have missed a spot somewhere and still had lingering injuries that the adrenaline had masked. I still wasn't entirely clear how I self healed. Much like my invocation of massive amounts of power when I was angry, the inward use of my power to heal myself was a barely conscious reflex that I couldn't simply perform at will.

I walked the hallways saying hello to various people and asking how they were doing. The population of the castle had become quite diverse, with humans, monsters, and even an angel calling it their temporary residence. Plus we had Nuruko, and I still wasn't sure what she was. Nor could she tell me. We also had Hild, who was artificial.

I decided to head to the gym to work out. I also wanted to check on Nanabi and find out if she had had a chance to see Tamamo. Those ninja kitsunes had not been the only ones fooled by a fake Tamamo, although I guess the Monster World version of her wasn't really fake.

I never made it to the gym. The Yuki-Onna that I'd seen outside who had lingered and stared at me after Alice's lecture intercepted me and pulled me into a private room. I had this sudden feeling of incredible, soul crushing coldness wrap around my body. I didn't know much about Yuki-Onnas, but I did know they were very dangerous, and I did not know this particular Yuki-Onna. I was brought face to face with her and I noticed that I'd been grabbed by her hair and robes, which she could apparently control like limbs.

"Hey, you're not supposed to just grab me like that!" I protested. "You have to be gentle!"

"I can do that," she purred. "I'm Oyuki, by the way."

"Of course you are."

Her hair began disrobing me, gently, which was good because my wardrobe was getting thin and I didn't want to go shopping. The initial shock of the cold became more tolerable the longer she held me. I imagined it worked much like Granberia's heat in that it couldn't hurt you if she didn't want it to.

Nevertheless, I noticed that there was no contact with her skin. She was holding me up with her hair and robe only. Her hair wrapped up the base of my penis, while the robe covered the head. It was very cold, but also very soft.

"This pleasure won't be as intense as what you're used to," Oyuki explained. "Coldness slows down your bodily processes, so it will take you longer to ejaculate. But as long as I keep you away from my body, my cold can't injure you. Just enjoy the sensations. It will feel quite unique."

The soft fabric and her hair moved around my penis, stimulating it in various ways, changing up the motions and tightness so that I wouldn't get a chance to get used to any one technique. The cold actually began to feel good, providing unique sensations as promised. It seemed as if every monster race could do at least one thing that no other could do.

It was a slow process,but since Oyuki was used to having to work hard for her semen, she was patient. I was becoming less patient, however. Occasionally my skin would briefly touch her skin under her robe and I'd shiver, not just from the cold, but from how her body felt. I desperately wanted to feel what it would be like to actually be inside her.

"Please," I begged. "Pleasure me with your body."

"You're awfully impatient," she replied. "I'm doing all the work here. Just relax."

And that's when I became very inconsiderate, much to my shame. I let my lust get the better of my good judgment.

"The Monster Lord said you have to do what I request!" I challenged her. "And I want to feel you!"

Actually, Alice never said that. In my defense, I wasn't lying. I'd simply misheard her when she said that monsters needed to be gentle with me. I had interpreted that to mean that I decided what constituted gentle. It was wrong of me to put Oyuki in that position, however, as I was actually asking her to be LESS gentle.

"You do not know what you ask," Oyuki said uncertainly. "You are strong, to be sure, but…."

"Yes, I'm strong! So let me feel you! Finish me with your body!"

Instead of doing what I asked, she gently laid me on the bed and released me. Great. Now I'd have to go find another monster, preferably one who really liked cold meat.

"I will do as you ask," Oyuki said. "But first, you must hear my story. You must understand why what you ask is difficult for me."

Difficult? Yuki-Onnas were notoriously merciless predators. Now she had my attention. My better instincts took over and I felt slightly ashamed at my behavior. I was always a sucker for monsters with stories about why they weren't as ruthless as their stereotypes.

"Go on," I urged.

"I once took great pleasure in draining men to death and casting them aside," Oyuki said. "Like many monsters, especially monsters living in the wild, I didn't see men as people, just food. Since they enjoyed my cold, I felt no guilt. I was simply giving them what they begged for. Just as you have begged me."

"I'm sorry, Oyuki," I said sincerely. "I just got…"

"Lustful? I know. When you're being pleasured by hair and fabric, it's not the same as a woman's body. Even mine. Think nothing of it. You couldn't know of my trauma."

"Trauma?" I asked, now definitely interested. And feeling more guilty about my thoughtlessness than ever.

"There was a man," Oyuki said. "Two years ago. He was a would-be hero who was traveling to Yamatai, but didn't know about the tunnel, so he was walking up the mountain at the point where it's most easily traversable. Are you familiar with it?"

"I am," I said. I'd actually gone to Yamatai with Alice that way on our first adventure. I'd been worried about not having mountain climbing equipment, but Alice and I had met an old Yamatai man who appeared to have none and wasn't tired at all. He just looked like he'd been out for a stroll. He assured us that all we had to do was walk up and walk down, that the slope was gentle in that part of the range. What he hadn't told us, not out of maliciousness or neglect, but simply because he assumed we knew, was that at night it got really cold up there, and so I almost died of hypothermia. We were supposed to camp at the base and head up in the morning. But neither of us had known any better. I was a Florida man, after all!

"That route is a wonderful place to hunt," Oyuki continued. "It was used by travelers, although most traveled in groups to protect themselves. This man, being a solo hero, traveled alone. Now as you know, hero today means something different than it did when Ilias was with us, before the Great Disaster."

"Yes, no one could get baptized. So all men were delicious."

"Not all men," she gently corrected me. "Some are diseased, or have grown old and stale. Not that one such as me can be choosy. But this man was delicious, exceptionally so. I was amazed that he'd made it as far as he did, as his smell incited not just me, but many other monsters in the area. Once I'd reached him, the others backed off."

"Was there a fight?"

"Not much of one," Oyuki answered. "The man was not native to Yamatai and had never been to the region before. He was foolishly ascending the mountain at night, and was already weakened by the cold."

That sure sounded familiar. I'd been saved by Alice that night.

"My cold quickly immobilized him," she continued. "He never even landed a single blow. His death was assured from the moment I wrapped him in my arms. And yet…. He didn't die. I raped him mercilessly. I had never been so vicious towards a man before. I didn't hate him. He was simply delicious and he was holding out despite my best efforts to end him. I did things to him I had never done to a man before, simply because I had time. I have never eaten so well before or since. I left him for dead, unconscious in the freezing cold. I hadn't managed to kill him, but I knew the cold would claim him before dawn."

"And that's when you started feeling guilty about attacking men?"

"Not at all," she chuckled ruefully. "I went back to my hunting ground the next night after sleeping beautifully during the day. His body was still out there, as I'd expected. But you see, I can easily detect warmth. It's part of how I hunt. His body was still warm. You see, during the day, the mountains in Yamatai warm substantially. If he had survived the night, he would warm up during the day, although if he didn't get off of the mountain, he'd freeze to death the second night for certain. So I retrieved him and brought him to my home."

"Isn't your home super cold, though? Wouldn't he just die there?"

"All Yuki-Onnas have a small cottage next to their home," Oyuki explained. "It is difficult for us to successfully mate, so we must keep a man fed and warm for a period of time while we try to conceive. When we choose to mate, that is. I had not chosen to mate with him. I was intrigued by his survival, his toughness."

"He was already winning your heart?"

"You have heard this kind of story before, I see," Oyuki laughed. "But we are not at that part yet.I had no feelings of mercy for him whatsoever. He was simply the most delicious man I had ever raped, and he was still fresh, so to speak. I realized that it would be a waste to simply leave him out there to die. Instead, I would take him to my mating cottage, nurse him back to health, and then use him as my food for as long as he could endure it."

"But you said it was a familiar story, so that means you did eventually fall in love with him, didn't you? He changed you."

"For a true hero such as yourself, this is a familiar story, is it not? It did not happen right away. When his body had regained its warmth in my cottage, he tried to escape. When I heard the banging next door, I went over there and subdued him again, heedless of what he could endure, quite content to kill him. But once again, he did not die. And so the process repeated, over and over. I was ecstatic. It meant I didn't need to hunt for awhile. Slowly, I realized that this man had become a valuable possession. I became more careful. While I knew he could take a lot, I didn't want to risk throwing away something so valuable. So our sessions became shorter and less vigorous. As a result, he was able to speak to me during my feedings."

"What did he say?"

"Oh, nothing profound," Oyuki chuckled. "One reason that we monsters have so long dehumanized men is that they aren't very good at conversation while we do what we do. 'Gah!' 'More!' 'Oh my Goddess!' When you only communicate with them by raping them, they don't seem to be very intelligent, and certainly not articulate. But gradually he grew stronger and had actual conversations with me. I'm going to tell you a secret about us monsters, although I'm sure one with your experience already knows it. We may be monsters, but we are also women. A man that sees us as precious, that loves us despite our flaws, that makes us feel desirable and beautiful….. in our own way, we are as weak as they are. Making us feel wanted is as potent as any pleasure attack. I surrendered and we were married."

"How does your race marry?" I asked.

"Nothing too complex. We live in the wild, so marriage is mostly just a Yuki-Onna deciding she has chosen a mate, and the mate not objecting. Which I realize now is not the same thing as consent. To my eternal sadness, I will never know if he truly loved me or if I had broken his spirit. Critical ecstasy changes a man. It can turn him into a pleasure seeker above all other things. I see the signs of addiction in you, Luka."

"I know," I admitted. "I want monsters desperately, as in… all of them. But I know it's wrong. I only do it because I'm supposed to keep you all fed. It sounds like a rationalization when I say it, though. So I have these mixed feelings of elation and guilt."

"The fact that you can even rationalize means you aren't too far gone," Oyuki said gently, touching my leg with a frigid hand. "Despite all your experiences, you still focus on others, not just yourself. The other monsters talk. They revere you. Not because you are tasty, but because of your concern for them. The fact that you are trying to save them all, and give them a better world to live in, rather than simply insure their continued survival. None of us have ever known a human like you. There are bad humans and there are nice humans. But I have never heard of one as selfless as you. Which is why I would love to give you what you want. But it is very difficult for me. I shall continue my sad tale if you wish to hear it."

"Please do," I said. She smiled at my obvious concern. I really did seem to be living a dual life in the castle. I was becoming hopelessly addicted to the incredibly varied pleasures the monsters could give me, but I did actually care about them all, even the ones who had refrained from having sex with me. My focus was still on my quest. Otherwise it would have been so easy to just seek endless pleasure day after day, forgetting my quest entirely.

"A marriage to a Yuki-Onna is not easy," she continued. "For one, we must live separately. We cannot sleep in each other's embrace at night. I have never known the joy of sleeping with, and then waking up, next to a man. Since we were married and his devotion to me was unquestioned, he would descend the mountain every week and go into Yamatai to buy foods I had never tried before. I became addicted myself, to sushi and rice balls and various sweets. I would wake up to breakfast in bed every night, and we would talk for as long as he could endure the cold of my home. Then he would retire to his cottage, where it was warm, and sleep through the night. We spent such little time together, only an hour or two per day. But I thought that it was good. We never grew tired of each other. Every moment was precious. I was hopelessly in love. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world. So few Yuki-Onna ever experience true love."

"And where is he now?" I was afraid to ask.

"Last month, we were making love, as we often did," she said. "In his cottage, with the fire doused so that it would get colder as we made love. Let me tell you, there is nothing more unpleasant than a sweaty Yuki-Onna."

"You seem to be doing fine at the moment," I said. "This room is pretty comfortable for me."

"I can endure in this climate for about an hour before I start to reek. There is a snow room in the castle that I stay in. I only venture out into the rest of the castle for one hour at a time, usually twice a day. Once to eat your delicious cooking, and again to socialize and sometimes feed. But I am digressing, because this tale is so difficult to tell. You see, despite the viciousness with which I had treated him in those early days, viciousness which he had somehow endured, he began having chest pains that night, even though I was gentle. He hadn't even had a single orgasm yet. He died in my embrace."

"That doesn't sound like your body killed him," I said. "Anyone can have an undetected heart problem."

"I know," she replied. "But I will always wonder. Damage can build up over time as well. Was I slowly killing him, every time I put him inside me? Since then, I have used only my robes and hair to pleasure men. I treasure them too much now. I see them as beings worthy of life. You are not the first in this castle to beg to be inside me. And I want to, I really do. I crave a man's warmth. It is as exquisite for me as my cold is for you. But I should not take the risk. Especially with you. You are too important."

"I'm strong though," I said hopefully.

"You are indeed," Oyuki replied. "And I am grateful to you for listening to my story with such compassion. I admit I am conflicted. I want to share my most exquisite pleasures with you. It is our way as monsters. It is how we show our gratitude, as you well know. But it would not be gratitude to kill you accidentally."

"Why not take it slow, then?" I suggested. "You know I'm strong. If you think it's going too far, just stop."

"Do not tempt me so! Once I feel your warmth it may take all of my willpower to release you."

"I understand, Oyuki. If you want to finish me with your robes and hair, it's fine. It is very unique, I admit. I did like it a lot."

"Alas, I'm starting to get uncomfortable," she said sadly. "I will have to return to the snow room soon. But perhaps, just a taste, to reward you."

Oyuki gently pushed me into a reclining position on the bed, then bent down and gave me a cold kiss on the underside of my penis. I shivered in delight, and for the obvious reasons. She slowly licked it with just the tip of her blue tongue. I quivered in response. Growing bolder, she gave it a longer lick, which sent paroxysms of pleasure shooting through my body.

"My, aren't you sensitive?" she said. "It's almost as if your ardor didn't decline at all while we were talking. Is my mere presence that enticing to you? If so, I'm flattered."

Hiking up her robe, she poised herself over me and plunged her pussy down onto me, fully engulfing my cock. For all her talk about giving me just a taste, the shock nearly caused my heart to stop. Inside of her felt like nothing I'd ever experienced before. There was a slight roughness, as if there was ice slush lining her vaginal walls. She didn't move. She simply held me there. It really was the opposite of being inside Granberia. It was the coldest sensation I had ever felt, an overwhelming cold, but there was no pain from frost burning, nor cramping. There was no way that her husband had been killed by this. As with Granberia's heat, it could not harm her partner directly. I just didn't know how to convince her of that.

"You are strong," she whispered softly, her cold breath caressing my ear. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I came inside her forcefully. "But perhaps not strong in some ways," she giggled.

When my orgasm finished, Oyuki climbed off of me and readjusted her robe. She then gently dressed me herself.

"Thank you, Luka," she said as she turned out the light and left the room. "You are a good man. I am gladdened to find out that my husband was not as rare as I had originally thought. I wish I could say that you had quelled my fears and my guilt, but life is not so simple. What I gave you today I will probably not give again for a very long time. I hope that you at least have a memory to treasure."

She had given me a memory to treasure, no question. I drifted off to sleep as she closed the door. I had been up exactly two hours and it was only about 9am.

I woke up to my back being rubbed. Sonya? No, it was Alice. I smiled up at her.

"I've been looking everywhere for you," Alice said. "One of the kitsunes said she saw that Yuki-Onna snatch you and bring you into this room. And then she didn't even bring you back to yours."

"It might not have been feasible for her to carry me," I replied. "Besides, she left me in a comfortable bed."

"Still, in a place like this, even knowing how strong you are, we shouldn't have strange monsters just grabbing you. Even here, a monster might try to do something bad to you. I'd like to believe it's perfectly safe here, but we've got a lot of monsters here who weren't properly vetted. Try to be more careful. Next time someone you don't know ambushes you, treat them as an enemy. Summon your spirits, use your sword. Seal them if necessary. They need to learn how to properly approach a man in my castle."

"I understand, Alice."

"So some things have happened while you slept," she said. "The war is over. Since the king of Grangold was being manipulated, and the Queen Ant was locked up, the war ended as soon as he was beat back into his senses by Tamamo. The ants are already working to rebuild the castle. As for the humans, well, it will take some time for them to recover from how that lewd air affected them, but they are managing."

"Did Tamamo tell you anything about your mother's plans?"

"Nothing good," Alice sighed. "Her plans were to end all life on the planet. I fear that my mother is being manipulated as well. We need to go to her and find out who is doing the manipulating. I didn't think anyone was powerful enough to do that to mother, but if there are Ancestors here, even she can't withstand them."

"How are you taking the revelation that Tamamo is an Ancestor?" I asked.

"Given that it's only the second most shocking thing I saw that day, pretty well. It's not natural for a kitsune to live as long as she has. Supposedly she mentored several Monster Lords. Now it all makes sense."

"But her name was in the history books!" I pointed out.

"Just as there have been many Liliths, there have been many Tamamos," Alice said. "As long as Tamamo has been active in the world's affairs, she's been the only one. It would be presumptuous for a fox girl to go by that name in the present. But during the period that she was thought to be sealed and was hiding her presence in the world, there were many kitsunes bearing that name. I just thought that she was one of them. But it turns out she's the real deal."

"It was a shock to me as well, although admittedly I didn't even know what an Ancestor was until I found out she was one of them. I think I'd heard of them in passing in stories, but I didn't know their names at the time, or anything about them."

"And how much did you know about our children?" Alice asked pointedly.

"Alice, you told me you didn't want to know too much. That you were worried about how it would affect the true history if you had too much foreknowledge. So I tried to limit my information to just what you might need for a particular mission."

"I'm guessing Ilias felt no such responsibility."

"No, she didn't," I admitted. "She knows a lot more than you do now. But only what I felt she needed to know. Sorry, Alice, I've never been in the position of having to decide what it's safe for people to know. In the past, it was always you who withheld information from me, for my own good of course."

"And I support your decision. If Nero wanted to tell me that he was my son, he could have done that at any time."

"Technically he's not your son," I cautioned.

"No, he's obviously another world's Nero," Alice replied. "But it shows me what our destiny is. It's so exciting, Luka! To think that not only will I get married, but I'll also have children that amazing! And a male monster?!"

"Alice, there's something I have to tell you," I said. "That may be your destiny, but it's not OUR destiny."

"I…. I know that," Alice said softly. "But maybe this isn't what you think it is. Maybe you don't have to go."

"Maybe not. But if I do stay, and we do get married, and we do have kids, they won't be anything like what you saw."

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't they be?"

"The children I had with Alice were human," I explained. "Not completely human, but far more human than monster. My genes are dominant. I don't know why, but it has something to do with the world I was born on."

"Yes, you mentioned that the world you found your Alice on was an adopted world, not the world of your birth."

"Exactly. And so it was very difficult for us to conceive in the first place. And when we did, they were human. They lived normal human lifespans, and died long before you did. They never succeeded you as Monster Lord."

"But then how….? The Fateburn line didn't end, did it?"

"No," I answered. "she did what she had to do later on, conceiving with a man from her own world who was more compatible. And she did have an amazing daughter. She actually became recognized as the greatest Monster Lord in history. But that's not your destiny either. In every world I've been on except the one that I was transported to, Alice and Luka fell in love. But it was the Alice and Luka of their own worlds. Your destiny is this world's Luka, not me. And then you'll get to have those two amazing children."

"I don't know that Luka," Alice said listelessly. "I know you. I love YOU."

"You do,know him, though," I insisted. "it's why you recognized me and had feelings for me. Your heart knows. You'll fall in love with him just as you did me. And he won't be as much of a slut as I've been. He'll be devoted only to you, right from the start."

"Sonya won't like that."

"She saw the same thing you saw," I said. "I think Sonya's starting to understand the score."

"What if…. What if both of you can stay?"

"Then I guess you'll have a choice to make," I answered. "And so will Sonya. Maybe you can both have what you want. I have to admit, it would be very tidy. A storybook ending."

Alice laughed. "Maybe I marry you but get pregnant with him," she said.

"If everyone Is okay with that, why not?" I shrugged.

"You sure are open-minded. I'm not sure if I love that about you or hate it. Probably both."

"Definitely both. You're always madly in love with me and also pissed off at me."

"Well, why don't you go back to sleep," Alice said. "We've got some downtime, finally. It'll be a few days until the banquet and then we'll figure out where we go from there. Lilith said that we've adhered close enough to the true history that chaosization has slowed for the time being. Recharge, try to not let too many monsters drain you, and be ready. We already know we have one mission."

"Salamander," I said. "Hopefully that goes smoothly. Last time it ended badly for me."

"Last time you didn't have anyone helping you," Alice replied, smiling. "Now you've got allies."

"Thank you, Alice. You don't know how much that means to me."

The next two days were spent generally relaxing and socializing, as well as taking some time just for me. I wasn't used to being around so many people all the time. It wasn't completely new to me. I'd lived in the Monster Lord's Castle with Alice for about sixty years, but after we retired to the countryside, it was mostly just me and my wife, first Alice, then Tamamo, for the next five hundred years, with a few decades' break in between. Now I was experiencing castle life again. Castles have very active social scenes.

There's a lot to do in a castle. There's a small theater, and Saki loved to perform there, although sometimes monsters would perform improvised plays for everyone's entertainment. There's also the bar, for those monsters who liked to drink. Saki also liked to perform on the stage there. Really, Saki would perform wherever anyone would listen. I wouldn't exactly call Saki down to earth. She was a diva in many ways. But she didn't disdain small crowds. She gave her all whether she was performing in a coliseum, or whether she was just performing for a few people in the bar. She begged me for new songs, which I gave her. She called me a genius, but I really had to remind her that I didn't write any of them. All credit to the original artists, of course. Even if it seemed unlikely that they'd make a copyright claim given they were in a completely different universe.

I finally got to know some of the guys. I walked away from those encounters pleased that the monsters of the castle were seeing the better side of humanity. Most of the men were really nice fellows, with only a couple who I wasn't sure about. Or maybe I was just jealous. Those two were so handsome it was giving me a complex. As I've said before, I'm not much to look at. In fact, I think that Sonya is the only human to ever have been interested in me, and that interest only arose from a lifetime of being my counterpart's childhood friend. In other words, no one had ever been interested in me for my looks. I either won them over with my personality, or I just smelled good, which is what attracted most monsters, at least initially.

I'd been wondering why I hadn't seen Ratty much. Mainly it was because she almost never left the men's wing. Yes, there was a men's wing, at Alice's orders. And the men's wing was as far away from my room as possible, which is one reason I hadn't socialized with them very much. Why did Alice put the men so far away, you might ask? Especially since that meant near my room were monsters galore? Even that was genius on Alice's part. Ilias was the closest to me, because Alice assumed Ilias wouldn't try anything with me. While I knew that wasn't completely true, by the standards of the castle we were practically platonic. Sonya's was the next closest, and while Sonya and I had been far from platonic, she wasn't after me all the time. She had only approached me with intent once, the two other times we'd played around occurring on someone else's orders.

Victoria had been housed the next door down, and she had expressed zero interest in me. After that, some monsters' rooms dotted the hallways close by, namely the imps and a few of the weaker kitsunes. None of whom messed with me very much and who in any case were no threat to Alice.

So the way it would work is that if a monster wanted to find me for some delicious semen, she had to know where I was. And Alice had added a new rule, forbidding any monster from accosting me in my private room. Alice was exempt from this rule, of course, since it was her room too. All of the rooms were Alice's rooms. And if a monster did find me, chances are someone was already on top of me.

So it was simply easier to head to the men's wing when a monster was hungry, and that's what most of them did. So now we get back to Ratty, which started this whole tangent. Ratty didn't have a room. As a rat girl, she slept wherever, and once men had entered the castle, she slept almost exclusively in their beds. She'd cleaned up really nice, as had the men we'd found in the mines. Except for those teeth, which would require magical intervention of some sort to correct, she was a very lovely girl, with a top tier body, lovely eyes, and the most adorable ears. Her hair was down to her butt, and while it was an odd color(ever seen gray on a young person, but it didn't look like old people gray?), it suited her perfectly. In addition, her earthy manner had basically made her one of the guys, at least when she wasn't banging anyone. But she was usually banging someone. Ratty was getting more action than even the succubi.

Speaking of succubi, Sara's transition to a more mature monster had gone much better than anyone could have expected. Aside from her one feeding off of me, which I was beginning to think had nothing to do with eating, she hadn't desired semen in weeks. She had no cravings, although she did still enjoy the taste. Despite this version of Sara being different from the one I'd known, they had that in common. That Sara had also not needed to eat semen either, but if Granberia was eating, she'd be happy to join in because it was delicious and because it was even more delicious licked off of Granberia. This Sara didn't know Granberia as far as I knew. Nor had she come out as lesbian to me, but that didn't mean anything. People tended to confide in me, but that didn't mean they told me everything.

I did learn one little secret, however, of a minor sort: I learned who had taught Rami to…. Er…. Enhance her oral talents. It was not who I had expected, either. My guess was Kitsu, who was a lighthearted, mischevious sort, just the kind of girl who you'd assume would be enthusiastic in bed. But no, like most kitsunes, that wasn't among her talents. And no, I didn't find that out the intimate way. Kitsu was friendly, but was afraid of Alice. That was wise. Even though Alice was allowing me to feed her cute little subordinates out of necessity, I knew her well enough to know that she was keeping mental notes of who was doing it with me and who wasn't, and who was doing it WAY too often! The only kitsune unafraid of Alice was Nanabi, and even she wasn't greedy with me. Nor was she the one who had taught Rami. Nanabi had lovingly ministered to me quite a few times back in my world, and she also could not pull it off, nor had she ever been interested in trying. If I wanted stimulation along my entire length, she had seven tentacle mouths for that.

No, it turned out that it was innocent-seeming Kimuro who had shared that forbidden knowledge with Rami. You see, Kimuro was a geisha, and knew all sorts of things about sex due to a lot of theoretical training, even though she had rarely done it in practice. In fact, her first time had been in the castle with one of the men! Like Kitsu, she steered clear of me, but she was happy to share her exceptional knowledge with anyone who would ask, and Rami was eager to be more than she was. Just before she practiced her new technique on me, she confided that she had dreams of being the queen succubus. But if she wanted to do that, she had to first conquer the hero's penis.

Conquer it she did. At first she struggled, since a penis is not a banana. But she was determined, and before too long she was deepthroating me over and over, and I was in heaven. I'd never experienced REAL deepthroat before. Since my penis is of modest size, six inches on a good day but usually a little smaller, I don't really do much more than tickle the back of an average girl's throat. Which is amazing enough, but when you're talking about a woman as small as an imp, it's an entirely different experience. I felt the bend as I went places I'd never been before. Rami was very satisfied with her performance, although disappointed that she hadn't gotten to taste my semen, since I'd come directly into her stomach. It had been such a unique experience for me that I considered talking Kimuro into it. She was small herself and could probably give me a similar experience.

Rami's favor to me was strictly transactional. She had wanted me to take her to Mount Saint Amos so that she could try to fly. I hoped that Flippy's flying advice was as sound as Kimuro's sexual advice. If it was, Rami would soar like an eagle. I tried to picture it and couldn't.

Rami and I went to get her two imp friends, Rumi and Remi, and then I went to the courtyard to find Flippy, who would have to be Rami's safety net in case things didn't go well. Soon word spread around the castle that Rami was going to attempt flight by jumping off a mountain, which was an idea so crazy that many more wanted to come along. Promestein thought it was an intriguing experiment and needed some fun time since she had been working non stop trying to decipher La Croix's notes. She was so busy that she didn't even need any more samples from me, the last one I'd given her sitting unused in her desk drawer. Pochi tagged along, simply because she loved me and she loved the imps, although she was both worried and enthusiastic about Rami's proposed stunt in a way that only a dog can be. Ayesha and Kyona were in, simply because they wanted to go back home and say hello to a few friends. Kimuro, who had become besties with Rami was also in, of course. And finally, Alice, who thought that as Monster Lord, anything so many monsters wanted to see must be worth seeing.

I teleported us all directly to the peak of Mount Saint Amos, although far from the site where Micaela had died. Just coming back to the mountain was hard for me. Even though she wasn't my Micaela, seeing someone who had been a constant in my life, even if I hadn't seen her very much, was difficult. Immortals weren't supposed to die. But this night was all about Rami. We all waited expectantly as Rami looked down. The poor imp looked ill.

"You don't have to do it," I reminded her. "This is the highest point I've ever been to. But there's a hill over by Iliasville that isn't very high. You won't hurt yourself too badly if you jump off that hill."

"She also won't get any lift," Flippy argued. "The winds are more conducive at this altitude, plus she has a lot of margin for error if she has trouble. At this height, even if she panics, she'll recover from her panic well before hitting the ground."

"Yeah, but if she hits the ground, she'll die!" I countered.

"You're not helping, Luka!" Rami exclaimed.

"Don't worry, Rami," Alice assured her. "You're a monster. You're tough. You won't die from the fall. Probably not."

"Promestein, what are the odds?" Rami asked. "If I fail, what are my chances of surviving?"

"Well, let's see, it looks like the drop from here is about five thousand meters. Give your mass…. I'd say there's a 75% chance you survive the fall."

"Can you heal her if she gets hurt?" I asked.

"If the injuries are minor," Promestein shrugged. "A lot depends on what part of her body takes the brunt of the fall. You should try to insure that you don't hit the ground head first, Rami."

"While that's not comforting," Flippy advised. "She has a point. Your wings may not be sufficient to fly, but they can still steer you in the air. If you don't think you're going to make it, concentrate on keeping yourself perpendicular to the ground. Try to land on your feet. You'll break both of your legs, but our angel friends can heal them for you. Look, I'll wait for you about a thousand feet down. I'll dive with you and rescue you if it looks like you can't do it well before you hit the ground."

Rami nodded and tried to steel herself. This all seemed crazy to me, but Rami had her dreams and dreams don't get achieved without some risk. And there were some safety measures in place. Still, I was afraid. We hadn't lost a companion yet, and I'd hate to lose one because of something stupid like this.

Rami was still trying to screw up the courage to jump when Rumi yawned and said, "This is boring," and shoved Rami over the cliff. Fortunately, Flippy was already waiting for her further down the mountainside, and began her dive to stay alongside Rami as she was in freefall, screaming her head off the whole way.

"She should be reaching terminal velocity any second now," Promestein said gleefully.

"C'mon, Rami…." Alice mumbled to herself. As Monster Lord, I knew she also didn't want to lose anyone for an idiotic reason. Why were we doing this again?

I couldn't clearly see or hear what was going on, but I could tell that Rami had gotten over her panic and begun flapping, at first frantically, but then with better technique. I could see Flippy close to her, although I couldn't hear the instructions she was shouting to Rami. Rami's descent didn't seem to be slowing, no matter what she tried. At one point I got really scared as Rami began to spiral out of control, but she managed to at least right herself, even though it didn't slow her descent.

"Wow, she's just dropping like a stone," Alice commented.

"Goodbye, Rami-san," Kimuro said. "You will be missed."

"Why doesn't Flippy rescue her?" I asked, now very concerned. Rami was rapidly running out of altitude.

"I can hear what they're saying," Alice said. "Rami's a brave one. Flippy is warning her that she's almost past the point where Flippy can't save her."

"At a certain height, Flippy wouldn't be able to rescue Rami at all, and would only hurt herself in the process," Promestein explained. "A sudden stop in midair does almost as much damage as a sudden stop due to impact with the ground."

"Rami keeps on yelling back that she's going to do this," Alice continued. "That is the bravest imp I've ever known."

I didn't hear the impact. I could no longer see Rami, but I did see the cloud of dust and dirt as she made impact, Flippy helplessly hovering over the area.

"Rami!" I cried, and instantly teleported down to where Rami had landed, dragging Promestein along with me.

"Ow!" Rami cried. "My head!"

"You didn't land head first, did you?" I asked, relieved that she wasn't dead.

"No, I landed on my boobs. They cushioned the fall. Can we try that again?"

"Not today, little one," Flippy replied, landing gracefully. "You gave me quite a scare. Gave us all quite a scare. It is clear that you can never fly without magical assistance. We'll work something out and come back here to try again, but only then, all right?"

"All right," Rami conceded, sagging in disappointment.