Reward time!

"Now Luka, we have to play this smart," Alice cautioned. "Obviously there's an incredibly complex, devious plot being put into action, but we won't be fooled! Well, I won't be fooled, anyway."

"Didn't you listen to a word Emma said?" I asked. "I mean, I admit it was hard to follow, but you asked good questions, and you trust her, don't you?"

"I don't know who to trust anymore!" Alice yelled. "My entire reality is being torn apart here, can't you see that?! If Emma is telling the truth, everything I thought I knew was wrong! This has to be part of Ilias' plot! Sure, I trust Emma, but Emma's not much brighter than you! She'd be easy to fool into believing all that nonsense!"

"I don't know," Luka admitted. "I just don't get a bad feeling around Ilias. She seems nice."

"She seems nice? Seems nice?!" Alice roared. "What kind of an idiot are you?!"

"I agree, the boy's a complete idiot," Ilias chortled, materializing into the small bedroom Alice and Luka had retired to after a very tough day. "But he's always had good instincts. You, on the other hand, overthink things, to the point where you do even more idiotic things than he does!"

"So you're trying to convince us you're a good person now?" Alice asked skeptically.

"Oh, I would never try to convince you of that!" Ilias laughed. "I've been who I've been for millions of years. Nobody changes overnight. But let's just say I've gained some new perspective in recent months. I don't think I'm a good person yet. I probably won't be a good person in your lifetimes. But I know who I give a shit about and what I care about. I created this entire world, just for you two."

"Why would you do that?" Alice asked. "It doesn't make any sense!"

"Fortunately, there's a book on the subject, written mostly by the love of your life," Ilias explained. "I'll give it to you after your wedding, and then you can read it and understand. Emma's explanation was a little…. Extra. Without actually being enlightening."

"Wedding?! So that's your dastardly plot!" Alice said triumphantly. "I knew it! You intended for us to fall in love and get married all along! I'm on to you, you piece of shit goddess!"

Ilias just stared at Alice blankly. She read Alice's thoughts. While Alice wielded powerful magic that could reach Ancestor level due to her incredible aptitude, she lacked an Ancestor's natural mind shielding. Her mind was an open book to Ilias. And what she was a flow chart of logic that went to insane conclusions.

"Okay…." Ilias said slowly. "So my evil plot was to get you two to fall in love again. Wow, you caught me. How could I ever have hoped to fool such a brilliant Monster Lord as yourself?"

"I hate to admit it, but I was educated by the best kitsunes," Alice said proudly.

"Ah, speak of the devil!" Ilias said with satisfaction. "That very kitsune is in the main hall right now having a panic attack."

Ilias teleported all three to the main hall, where Tamamo was indeed having a conniption.

"What did I miss?! Is Alice okay? Are you guys okay?!"

Granberia smacked Tamamo. "Calm down, you childish kitsune!" Granberia roared.

The slap didn't actually hurt Tamamo, but it got her attention.

"We're fine now," Alma Elma said. "Thanks to this goddess here," she said, gesturing to Ilias.

"The goddess….she…..what is going on!?"

And then Tamamo fainted.

"So!" Ilias said, putting her hands together. "I'd like to give you the complete explanation, but that would waste a ton of time, and the wedding is already scheduled for two weeks from now!"

"You've scheduled our wedding?!" Alice exclaimed.

"I have indeed," Ilias replied. "It will be the grandest wedding in the history of weddings. Your first wedding in a past life was rather simple, because Luka liked it that way. This time we're going all out!"

"But…. Neither of us have agreed to get married!" Luka protested.

"Ilias…." Eden cautioned in Ilias' head. "Remember what we talked about? Free will."

Ilias groaned. She hated free will. She had a plan for Luka and Alice and it would probably have gone smoothly had there been no interference. Now it was a clusterfuck and Ilias had to unfuck it. But there were fun ways of doing that, she thought evilly.

"I'm sensing evil and perverted thoughts, goddess," Eden cautioned telepathically.

"Leave me alone, mom!" Ilias sent back, loudly enough that Eden broke the connection.

"Who are you talking to?" Alice asked.

"Oh, did I say that last one out loud?" Ilias said innocently. "Just Eden lecturing me again. She is such a scold! Anyway, I've been told that you two have free will and that if you don't actually love each other you don't have to get married."

"It's not about just love," Luka said. "I love Alice, more than anything! And I'd hate for this…. Thing between us to end just because our adventure is over."

"I guess it's no secret I love Luka as well," Alice admitted. "But I'm sure you understand how confusing this all is. You're an evil goddess, Ilias! How can I ever trust a marriage that you manipulated us into?"

Ilias sighed in frustration. "Look, I am, or was, everything you think I am. In fact, I was worse! You know who destroyed Remina? I did! You know why I did it? Because monsters and humans were getting along and engaged in all sorts of perversions there! There was another reason as well, but I won't get into that right now because this is all complicated enough and it was a rather embarrassing oopsie on my part. But that oopsie led to me spending months as a mortal with you two. That changed me. You already did the thing where you fight me and defeat me. That was SO two adventures ago! That led to our more recent adventure where we saved the entire multiverse. That's where I acquired a different perspective. I don't hate monsters anymore. I don't judge humans for loving them anymore. I love monsters now! Maybe to an unhealthy extent, or so I've been told."

"Yes, Emma told us what a pervert you've become," Alice said cautiously.

"You say pervert, I say enlightened," Ilias huffed. "The point is, your mind was set back to where it was before your first adventure, so it's understandable that you'd understand the world through that lens. I needed to do that in order for you to recreate the love you had for each other. I owe you my life, Alice! I owe you everything! There's nothing I wouldn't do to pay that debt. As a monster, you understand that concept well."

"I do," Alice said uncertainly. "But….. how do I know this isn't all a lie?"

"I don't think there's anything I could do that would convince you completely," Ilias admitted. "I can create any reality I want. Anything I showed you could seem to be fabricated."

"Alice, if there's one thing I've learned from all this," Luka said. "It's that doing terrible things to yourself just to thwart Ilias is a losing game. We can't win by hurting ourselves. Even if Ilias is plotting something, we should do what we think is best and deal with the consequences as they arise."

Alice considered for a moment.

"All right, I guess I do talk myself into things from time to time," Alice said. "That's why I have my Knights to advise me. I kept my plans from all of them except Tamamo, and that was bad judgment on my part. Of course, my Knights showed some pretty poor judgment of their own…"

"If you desire our lives, my liege, they are yours," Granberia said, drawing her sword and falling to her knees.

"Speak for yourself, Granberry!" Alma Elma chirped. "We got bamboozled, no question, but we had no way of knowing! I feel terrible about it, but I don't believe I committed a capital offense! Everything I did, I did for the Monster Lord's sake!"

"I'd strangle you right now, you obscenity," Alice said angrily. "But your actual crime was against Luka. Luka, you shoved your sword down her throat. Do you consider that sufficient vengeance for what she did to you?"

"I don't want vengeance," Luka answered. "I never did. I acted in self defense. So I guess the answer is yes, I think we're square."

"How can we be square when you didn't even shove the fun one down my throat?" Alma Elma asked, a twinkle in her eye. "I think I have a lot to make up to you, and we can start there."

"Don't make me regret healing that damaged throat of yours," Ilias warned. "I can undo it, and then you won't be able to give good head for a week!"

Genuinely frightened by that thought, Alma Elma fell silent.

"I don't need apologies right now," Alice said. "And I don't want your stupid life, Granberia. What I need right now is advice. This goddess here wants me to marry Luka. Should I marry him?"

"I…. I can't say," Granberia stammered, getting to her feet. "He seems honorable, and he is definitely strong."

"I don't need you to tell me what kind of man Luka is," Alice snapped. "It's the goddess who confuses me. Should I do what she wants, and potentially fulfill whatever diabolical plot she's conniving? Or should I thwart her and send Luka away?"

"Alice, no!" Luka protested.

"Alice," Granberia said gravely. "I long for love, just as you do. I may not talk about it. I may not seem the emotional type. But I want a man in my life. But not all of us can be Alma Elma and just love hundreds of random men."

"I don't love any of them!" Alma Elma retorted. "And it's thousands, thank you very much! Twenty-two thousand, six hundred and forty-seven!"

"As I was saying," Granberia continued. "You have an opportunity that will probably not come again. In order for a Monster Lord to marry, a man must be stronger than she is. Men that strong are rare, and most of them would sooner kill you than marry you. If you do not want him…. I do."

"Granberia?!" Luka exclaimed.

"I have spoken," Granberia said resolutely, then went silent.

"You want my opinion?" Alma Elma asked. "Who cares what the goddess wants? We're monsters! We never cared about what the goddess thought when she didn't want men consorting with monsters, why would you care now that she wants you to? Just do what makes you happy!"

"Erubetie?" Alice asked. "you're the most level headed of my Knights. Your opinion carries great weight with me."

"I did not know that you valued my counsel," Erubetie replied. "But I am honored to give it. Luka is a good man. He could have destroyed us with ease. I do not understand this strange power of his, but once it awakened within him, he was like unto a god himself. Yet he didn't even seal us, he only put us out of action. He doesn't seek revenge for the wrongs done to him. I know that you don't care about our thoughts on Luka, you've made that clear. Yet I had to speak on his mercy. As for this goddess… who can know what her plans are, or how to thwart them? She is beyond us. We must trust her until she shows us her true colors. Whatever plans she has that rely on you and Luka marrying, your refusal would do nothing to stop her."

"Tamamo?" Alice asked. "Oh, never mind. She's still out."

"Wha….?" Tamamo asked weakly.

"I want to marry Luka, Tamamo!" Alice yelled. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

"Marry? Uh…"

Tamamo fainted again.

"So it seems to be unanimous," Ilias noted. "Tamamo didn't give a real answer, but that's three in favor, none opposed. Luka wants to marry you."

"I didn't say that!" Luka protested.

"But you want to," Ilias said gleefully. "I can read your thoughts. And you, Alice….."

"Don't say anything!" Alice cried. "I admit…. Given your power, and our… relationship…. And apparently our past, which we don't remember…. I wouldn't object if you wanted to be…. My husband."

"So romantic," Ilias muttered. "But it'll do! Now, get to it! You've got three days of fucky and sucky to get through!"

"What? Three days!?" Luka stammered. "Maybe it is a plot, Alice!"

"If it is, that's not part of it," Alice said. "That is how my tribe marries. There's no ceremony. That's a human tradition. We simply have three straight days of sex and if the man survives, he's strong enough to be married to her."

"If he…. Survives?" Luka gulped.

"Don't worry, kids!" Ilias assured them. "I'll be there to make sure she doesn't go too far!"

"You'll…. What?!" Alice cried.

"Oh don't worry!" Ilias replied. "We used to do this all the time! You loved threesomes with me!"

"I did?!"

"Oh yeah, you couldn't get enough of me! We were tight, Alice!"

"But if it's a threesome, doesn't that mean we're all getting married?" Luka asked.

"Oh no, no, no!" Ilias said hastily. "Don't get the wrong idea! I'm just an observer! Who will participate from time to time! I'm a more gentle lover than Alice is, so you'll need the break. I can also keep her occupied when you're feeling weak and tired. Just think of it as if I'm the minister, except I'm not only there for the ceremony, but also the consummation!"

"I don't know….." Alice said uncertainly. "I've never been into women…."

"Not that you remember," Ilias countered. "Also, I can be a man too. I can be whatever you two want me to be."

Ilias demonstrated by changing into Elias. He flashed that smile that always caused women to nearly faint. Alice wasn't nearly as impressed.

"I still don't know…."

"How about if for those three days, I explain everything?" Ilias offered, returning to her female form.

"Well, I do want answers…." Alice said. "Okay, fine! This is highly irregular, but as long as Luka fills my womb with semen over three days, it qualifies as a marriage."

"Wonderful!" Ilias declared. "Now let's go back to that very nice bedroom and get it on!"

Ben and Emma were never going to get used to heaven. This heaven was a little different from the one they were familiar with back home. There weren't statues of Ilias everywhere. The Ilias of this world was a lot less self absorbed than their own. Given her differing experiences in recent months, that wasn't surprising. Still, while Heaven wasn't filled with shrines and statues and portraits of Ilias everywhere, the angels were as devoted as ever, singing hymns to the goddess as they flew past.

"You know, our Eden showed us her garden once," Ben said. "It was beautiful. Endless varieties of plant life, both from Earth and her world! I'm sure you must have access to even more worlds!"

"Um…. Well… you see…." Eden stammered. "That's not the Garden I am supposed to be showing you. To be honest, I haven't had time to even think about rebuilding THAT garden. When the Ilias of my world disappeared and Heaven fell, my garden was no more. One day I will certainly recreate it here, but lately Ilias has had so much for me to do!"

"If we're not seeing that garden, which garden are we seeing?" Ben asked.

"Wow, you are such a dumbass!" Emma snapped. "Did you really think an ancient goddess, living by ancient values, was going to thank us for all we've done by showing us some plants?!"

"Well she did say a garden…."

Without transition, as if crossing into another plane of existence, the three entered a subdimension within Heaven. There was indeed plant life everywhere, but as opposed to the continent-sized garden they had been introduced to in their world's heaven, this subdimension was no larger than a supermarket. At the center was a fenced area containing several angels. All of them looked similar, with only slight differences.

"Are those angels related to you?" Ben asked. "They all look like you."

"They ARE me!" Eden laughed. "I experiment with different looks here. The form you see of me normally is the form the most men find pleasing, but some heroes have different preferences. Thus there is blonde Eden, flat chested Eden, short haired Eden, dark skinned Eden, Yamatai Eden, and…. Oh I forgot about that one."

Ben could tell who she was referring to. An Eden covered in tattoos and piercings and smoking a cigarette, put it out, crushed it under her bare foot, and walked off.

"Sorry, when you gave me the idea for a navel ring I decided to go all out with one of my copies," Eden said apologetically. "I may have gone too far. Ilias despises smoking and thought that the body art ruined my perfect form. I'd been so absorbed in my duties that I forgot she was still active. Unless you like that sort of woman. I can call her back if you desire."

"No, I prefer more conventional girls," Ben said quickly. "But what's this all about?"

The Edens giggled. Emma facepalmed.

"You have no idea what you agreed to by accepting the goddess' reward, did you?" Emma asked, irritated.

"Wait…. This isn't…." Ben stammered. "Emma, I had no idea, honest! I don't want this!"

"You… you don't want it?" Eden asked, looking as if she might start crying.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Let's just do this!" she said, removing her clothing, much to Ben's shock. "Eden's already got enough issues and we've come this far."

"You're really okay with this?" Ben asked.

"No, not in the slightest!" Emma replied. "But you did agree to it, presumably unknowingly, and you did earn it. And we're doing it together. But this is the ONE time! Now you know better about accepting open ended rewards from angels and monsters!"

"Splendid!" Eden said happily, jumping up and down and clapping her hands.

Eden didn't even wait for Ben to begin undressing. Tentacles emerged from the structure to strip Ben in three seconds and pull him up to the copies of Eden, who took him from the tentacles and sat him down on a soft bench covered in vines. Emma joined him, seating herself only a few inches from him.

One of the Edens, the one with the largest breasts, even larger than the original's, got behind Ben and rested his head on her bosom. The blonde Eden wrapped her arms around Ben and began kissing him passionately. Ben got only a glimpse of the Yamatai Eden going down on him before his vision was obscured. The other Edens gave him attention in other ways, kissing and touching him all over.

Emma tried not to be angry. She was a monster, after all. While possessive of Ben, she knew this wasn't his fault, and that it was very hard to avoid such rewards unless the person being rewarded was smart enough to request an alternative, or simply run away very fast. She also wasn't liking the look on Ben's face. He didn't react nearly as intensely when she made love to him. She tried to rationalize it as Eden simply being more powerful and experienced than her. Eden had been doing this for thousands of years. Emma had only been pleasuring men for three years.

"I'm sorry if this isn't the reward you wanted," the original Eden said apologetically, Taking a seat next to Emma. "I'm sure Ilias will think of something that would mean more to you."

"Oh, believe me, I'm good," Emma said quickly. "I don't even want to imagine what Ilias would do to me if I told her this wasn't good enough."

Eden abruptly kissed Emma, her tongue pushing into Emma's mouth. Emma was quite heterosexual, or so she had long believed, but she was also aware that powerful sexual magic could override a person's normal preferences. Eden's tongue caused her entire body to feel warm and tingly, and the smell of Eden's breath was like nothing she had ever experienced. It smelled like a fresh forest. Before Emma realized what she was doing, she found herself returning the kiss passionately. Ben looked her way and frowned, before being distracted by short haired Eden deepthroating him, which returned his focus where it belonged for his reward. Dark skinned Eden came in from the other side to completely cut off his vision, so that all he could see was breast on all sides.

Original Eden moved down to lightly suckle on Emma's small breasts. Emma decided to surrender. Maybe it was a good reward after all. Just think of it like a… massage… or maybe a manicure. Yeah, that's it, she's just making me relax after a tough quest!

Emma gasped as Eden's finger began to rub her clitoris. Damn, she found it right away! Ben never does that! Emma thought. Maybe I shouldn't be upset about this at all. After all, we're together, and we're both getting the reward. Emma reached out for Ben's hand. He grasped it tightly as his first orgasm hit, filling a brunette Eden's mouth with semen. Seemlessly, Yamatai Eden mounted him, forcing him inside her. Blonde Eden switched to licking his balls while Yamatai Eden slowly thrust and rotated.

Soon, rather faster than Emma had expected given her reputation, Eden moved down to Emma's crotch, lightly teasing her with her tongue, then licking her clitoris hard, which made Emma squirm a little.

"Not too direct," Emma said. "I'm not ready for that yet."

"I'm sorry!" Eden replied, stopping. "I'm really not experienced with making love to a woman. In fact, you're my first."

"Just… trust your instincts," Emma said. "Go slow. As long as you go slow, it'll be great."

"Sorry, I've been experimenting," Eden replied. "Just tell me what you like and what you don't like. I really do want to learn how to please a woman."

"I thought you rewarded heroes. You never had to reward a female hero?"

"I was only ever assigned to reward males," Eden answered. "Micaela always volunteered to reward the females."

"Oh did she now?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow. That information could be useful. It explained a lot about Micaela, now that she thought about it.

"Look, just play around, try different things, and I'll give you feedback," Emma said. "Be gentle, go slow, and when I tell you to focus on something, then you can apply more pressure."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Eden said gratefully. "This is why I wanted to reward you myself. My copies are me, but I can only devote so much of my consciousness to them. And I really must learn how to do this, so that I can please my goddess. As you know, she's…. different now."

"Yeah, I don't think anyone could miss that."

Ben cried out as his second orgasm hit. How long had it been? Only five minutes? Ten? The Edens giggled. They were trying to go slow with him, but they were just too good. And that was with Eden only barely paying attention. Her copies were almost on autopilot.

"Fortunately, we have plenty of time," Eden said as she resumed her gentle exploration of Emma's body with her tongue and hands. "Not as much time as I would like, but enough."

"How much time is enough?" Emma asked.

"Well, normally we'd take at least a year to properly do this," Eden replied.

"A year?!"

"But since you have a wedding to attend, we'll make this quick."

"Oh, good," Emma sighed in relief. "I was about to say…"

"Two weeks," Eden interrupted. "Two weeks of pure pleasure. It's the least the goddess can do for the ones who assisted her so ably."

"I don't think so!" Emma said firmly. "You've got two hours!"

"Two…. But I must learn how to please a woman!" Eden protested.

"You can learn quite a bit in two hours," Emma said, pushing Eden's head back between her legs.

"I shall do my best," Eden said, her tongue resuming the wonderful, soft licking.

"Oh wow, that's the spot!" Emma cried.

"Right here?"

"No, a little to the left."

"Mmph…"

"Oh yeah! That's it! Keep doing that! Faster!"

The parties had ended. It was time for the Monster Lord to resume her normal, boring duties. But there was still one more special thing to attend to: evaluating the performance of her "children".

The succubus and the variant of her daughter stood before the throne, nervously awaiting their lord's judgment. Neither were worried about having failed. Both had performed well. But neither had been spectacular either. They had traveled in very powerful company and mostly failed to distinguish themselves. Being adequate was not a qualification for being Monster Lord. One had to be extraordinary. Neither Morrigan nor Allison were sure that they had proved anything.

"Morrigan," the Monster Lord began. "You did as well as I expected. In combat, your pleasure skills were formidable and you were never seriously challenged. Truly you are a legendary succubus, and a worthy successor, although you will still require much education. You still lack empathy and do not respect life as much as you should. Still, I did not expect you to develop completely on only one quest. I intend to live a long life, Morrigan. For once. Therefore, you can study under me as long as you wish."

"Thank you, my lord," Morrigan said, bowing her head.

Already Morrigan was more respectful than she had been before her unbirthing, but how much of that was a genuine change and how much of that was simply emotional fallout from the experience, it was too soon to tell. And truth be told, Alice XV was prejudiced. While it was her duty to help develop any candidate for the throne, only Fateburns had ever been Monster Lords. Morrigan could pass as a Fateburn due to her unbirthing and rebirthing, but the process had only been partial. Alice XV did not feel as if Morrigan was actually her daughter, and she wasn't sure how much of Morrigan's feelings for her were genuine and how much were feigned.

Allison, on the other hand, Alice XV had no doubts about. She was not just a variant of her daughter. Allison had never brought the subject up, perhaps never even thought of it, but since Alice XV was all versions of Alice XV that had ever existed, Allison was actually her daughter. She had raised her until the age of ten, surviving somewhat longer than most versions of her did. And then, as in every universe, she had chosen a cause that had led to her death. She had dared to believe that monsters and humans should be treated as equals on a world in which monsters were dominant. That had led to her execution at the hands of the three succubus sisters. Alice XV looked over to Morrigan again. She had not forgotten, and she suspected Morrigan had not either. She definitely hadn't forgotten that Morrigan had attempted to assassinate her quite recently, and nearly succeeded.

"Allison," the Monster Lord intoned. "You are weak, an underachiever, intellectually incurious, you show little aptitude for magic, and you're cowardly."

"Oh…" Allison replied, looking down.

"Wow, that's harsh!" Morrigan exclaimed.

"I was not finished," Alice XV said. "Look at me, Allison. My daughter."

Allison looked up to meet Alice XV's eyes. No words had to pass between them. At that moment, Allison finally realized the truth. She rushed to the throne to embrace her mother.

"Now, now, my precious," Alice XV cooed. "It is not your fault that you are who you are. I abandoned you. I had time to fight for everyone, but no time for the one who mattered most. All of your negative traits are my fault, not yours. But I'm done speaking on those. I want to talk about how proud you made me on this quest."

"I.. made you proud?" Allison sobbed.

"You did indeed," Alice XV said. "You learned to respect human life. Your avoidance of battle with beings far more powerful than you was more intelligent than cowardly. I would hope that you'd fight to the death if the cause was important enough, and there were no alternatives, but with such powerful beings at your side, you would have only gotten in the way. You continued to show that good judgment in the battle at the castle. And yet, when you found that you had to act, you did, without hesitation."

"She was just hungry!" Morrigan protested.

"Was not!" Allison shot back. "I'd eaten my fill the night before!"

"You showed superb observational skills," Alice XV continued. "Despite the fact that you had no idea that Ilias was gallivanting about in a male body, you recognized the similarity between his appearance and the goddess', and deduced from the fact that his ally was trying to kill him that he was actually the goddess, and could only be returned to his true form by killing him."

"Well… actually…. I didn't think it through that thoroughly. I only understood the gist of the situation. But it seemed like the right thing to do. I'm glad it was, because if it hadn't been Ilias… Wow, that would have been embarrassing."

"That resourcefulness, that ability to observe and act on your observations, shows that despite your lack of education, you have a mind as sharp as any variant of yourself. Besides, my dear, education is overrated. I suspect it's that overeducated mind that led me and those other versions of my daughter to seek death as some kind of solution."

"Wow, you think I'm as worthy as those other Alices?!" Allison asked excitedly.

"Every bit as worthy as any of them!" Alice XV said proudly. "Who will become my successor has not been decided yet. It won't be for a very long time. But if you wish to compete, I will provide you with all the education you need, all the training, until one day, you will be able to compete in the succession tournament and continue the Fateburn dynasty."

Allison was stunned. "Wow… that just means so much to me! And yet…. For some reason I don't feel as if I want it anymore."

"You…. Don't want it?" Alice XV asked, confused. "I don't understand."

"It's just not who I am," Allison explained.

"It is exactly who you are!" Alice XV countered.

"No. It's not," Allison said firmly. "It's who those Alices born in this castle are. I was born in a small house in Sabasa. When you died, I survived on the streets. I'm not proud of the things I did to survive, but they made me tough and resourceful. But not monarch tough and resourceful. No matter how much you educate me, no matter how much you try to turn me into a proper lady, I'll always be that street girl deep down inside. I don't feel comfortable living here. I need to find out who Allison is in this new world. The only thing I know for sure is that she's not a Monster Lord."

"Well…. If that's how you feel…." Alice XV looked to Marcellus, who had been standing impassively next to her the entire time. Marcellus gave a slight smile and winked at her. "I guess you must find your identity in this brave new world. Makai, the world of your birth, is no more. So go. Go and explore this world. Take a human with you, in fact. You'll need the sustenance and the companionship."

Alice XV looked at Marcellus again and smiled knowingly. He smiled back, a little less warmly, but still with clear love in his eyes.

"Just… don't eat him. That never goes well," Marcellus said to Allison.

"You will always be welcome here, and have access to the finest tutors,"Alice XV said. "I hope that you will continue to pursue an education. If you ever change your mind about becoming the next Monster Lord, you will always have what you need here to pursue that dream."

"Thank you…. Mom," Allison said, hugging Alice XV again. "I'll be sure to visit frequently. We still have a lot of catching up to do."

"Stay out of trouble," Marcellus reminded her. "Remember that you're still on probation."

"I've learned my lesson," Allison assured him. "No more eating people. I can only suck on them."

"Exactly," Alice XV said approvingly. "But…. Before you go…. Was Elias delicious?"

"I had to eat really fast, so I couldn't get the full flavor…." Allison answered. "But you can't even imagine how delicious he was! I mean, the best ever! I wish I would have had time to eat him with my actual mouth! To taste that skin on my tongue as he slid down…"

"Oh, I'm just imagining!" Allce XV said, putting her hand to her heart. "Giving up human meat was so hard! Do you think… do you think Ilias would let me eat her in Elias form?"

"She actually wanted to have me do it again!" Allison said excitedly. "I'm sure she'd love to have you eat her too!"

"Oh, splendid, splendid! It's been so long!"

"Didn't you taste her in your lower mouth back on Heinrich's world?" Marcellus asked.

"Bah," Alice XV said, sticking out her tongue. "She was depowered and mortal, but not completely as Elias was. Fairly tasteless, actually. Holy magic tastes disgusting. I've heard that Elias hides it completely so as to provide his predators with only the most delectable flavors!"

"Yeah, not even close to the same," Allison agreed. "The Ilias on Heinrich's world was pretty tasteless."

"I shall make Ilias' new world my first vacation destination!" Alice XV declared.

"Um…. I'm still here," Morrigan said plaintively.

"Yes, yes, of course, how rude of me," Alice XV said. "You of course are now the top candidate, really the only candidate, to succeed me. You will have access to the best tutors as well, and you shall learn how to fight with weapons as well as your sexual techniques."

"Actually…. I don't want to be Monster Lord either."

"You…. Don't?"

"The responsibility just isn't for me," Morrigan shrugged. "I think I'm just gonna rejoin my sisters."

"I see," Alice XV said. "So now I have no heir."

Marcellus placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You know…. We have a lot of time to make you one," he said.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Would you actually…. Really..?"

"I would," he said. "What happened between us…. That was another life. For both of us. Why don't we start over? Like you said, it's a brave new world! A world where a father of a monster lord can actually matter. Where I can be part of her life, raise her with you. If you'd like that, I'd like to try starting over with you."

"Marcellus!!!" Alice XV cried, hugging him to her massive bosom.

"Gotta breathe….." he gasped.

"You two are dismissed!" Alice XV said excitedly. "Marcellus and I have something we need to work on!"

Alice XV grabbed Marcellus in her tail and began carrying him back to her quarters.

"Can't we start with… I don't know… a date?!" he yelled as he was carried off.