The 'Demon Country' Calla

We continued our journey healing as we went, encountering a few light and dark magic users with low affinity, man, woman and animal kind alike on the way and awakening everyone along the way. It was during this time Ash told me what happened that night before Vi and I woke up. He said he was the last to lose consciousness and was the only one to witness Sir Stirling's last stand. He told me how brave Sir Stirling was saying, "I will not let you touch her! I will not waiver!" while covered in wounds. Ash said he said "I will not waiver!" a few times before his final moment fighting with everything he had. I will always remember his bravery. I miss him dearly. He was a great friend.

It took us about 6 months (approximately 216 days in this world) to awaken most of Hedia. After these 6 months I have acquired the ability to manipulate light and turn myself or something I desire invisible. Well not really invisible just bending the light around them to appear that way. This ability should prove useful. It is also winter now. I have been able to feel my tattoo's power firsthand. I feel the cold, but I do not feel cold. It is different from taking a bath. Mainly because before the tattoo I loved heat. I hated being cold and now it doesn't bother me. I am still wearing what Vi likes the bikini top and my capris, while they are bundled up for the weather. 

After these six months we arrived at the border town and my earring started going off. We get here and there is a commotion immediately. There is a demi-human woman that appears to be a calico cat-girl that is being harassed by some men. Her tail is all fluffed up and all hair standing on end and she is obviously not having a good time. I approach with the earring getting louder and they are yelling things like, "How dare you try to hit one of us you violent demon." I also heard one of them say in a disgusting tone, "She is pretty though, maybe we should have some fun with this demon before selling her." Truly fucking disgusting. I approach and now close enough to see her wounded state and yell, "Leave her alone!" summoning nunchucks in case there is trouble. I swing them around practicing while 'rolling to intimidate'. I really want to play some with my new light toys though I really am hating the idea of actually fighting these guys. My chest tightens though not in a tightening way, just an apprehensive way. 

One of the guys says looking at me with the same disgusting look as the other perverted bullies here, "Another pretty one. Did you come to join us? You think you can take us or something? I say we have fun with both of them." I replied, not hiding the disgust I feel as I look at them like they are garbage, "I don't know about taking you all by myself, but who said I was by myself?" Before I could even use my nunchucks, Em got some of her vines and restrained all of the men. I approached the cat girl and she was really hurt. Those guys beat her pretty badly. Shame on them. I turn to them and say with venom, "We can still fight. Just know that everyone in my party is a magic user and we will not go easy on bigots like you. With that said, are you still interested in fighting us today or will you go about your business?" They all real quick change their tune and Em lets them go. They run away like little wimps. 

I bend down and touch her and it is a solid tone. I ask her worried for her since she was beaten so badly, "Is it ok if I heal you? In doing so I will also be awakening your Light magic." She is still surprised that she can understand my words. She nods her head in agreement and I place my hands on her and think intently 'HEAL'. She flashes with a strong flash of light like I did when I awoke and all eyes are on her. She is giggling now I am guessing from her feelings. I then ask her, "What is your name? My name is Zoe." She stops giggling and replies, "The name is Val. I never thought I would awaken. I was the only one in my family that wasn't awakened and I left home because of it. Though, right now I just want to go back to my homeland of Calla. I miss my people… No offense but you humans suck." I laugh at her honesty, "None taken. I actually agree with you. I am actually trying to make a change for the better. I am going to awaken everyone here then I will be joining you in Calla. Why don't you come with us to get something to eat while I tell you everything you need to know about your magic?" She nods excitedly at the talk of food, "Sounds great." as she said this her stomach growled and I giggled at the impeccable timing. 

We head to a restaurant and I yet again become a show because of the amount of food I am eating. Everyone looked on in awe. I was able to do the spiel about the light magic before our food arrived. Since I ordered a FUCK TON. She obviously had questions very similar to Carmen back in Lilia and I answered them all to the best of my ability. She apparently can use 'heal', 'purify', and make light claws. That is a cool idea with the claws. I might have to try that, but I am not a fan of sharp things really in actual combat. I don't like hurting people like that. Even if they are pieces of shit. I would rather beat the fuck out of them instead. I could even heal them and keep beating them up until they finally learn their lesson and learn how to treat people. That would totally be torture though, so I am not sure how the goddess would like that but at least blood spilt would be a lot less. 

The food comes and we dig in and everyone is astonished yet again at my appetite even though this ain't shit for me. She tells me as I am finishing my mountain of food that she is going to head to Calla immediately to start healing the population there while we start here in this town. I then say wiping my mouth inelegantly, "We will join you in Calla as soon as we finish up here. Before you go, where can we find the mountain with the spring? The goddess told us we need to go there to return Ash's wind magic." Val laughs a hearty laugh placing her paws on her exposed fur on her belly, "This all must really be true then if you know that. That mountain is sacred to our people and everyone knows of it but not everyone knows of the springs properties. It is near our capital city, Raja. The mountain is home to many wild beasts we hold sacred so no one goes up there out of respect for them." I then get excited, "What kind of wild beasts? I can talk to them as well." Val replies, "The beasts are dragons. They protect our people from the dangerous wildlife, which is why we hold them sacred. And really? We can't even communicate with them ourselves, we can only communicate with our own animals. Like me with cats big and small, but here you are here talking to me which no other human has done before. You obviously have furry friends here as well that can use magic no less… Wait, can this magic awaken animals, too?" 

I nod and explain my plan, "Yes, though you don't have to worry about them unless you want to. I will be getting all the animals awakened when I go to Calla. I always awaken everyone I can find. Man, woman, child, beast, or demi-human." Val replies, "I take it we are the demi humans?" I nod slightly grimacing, "Yes. The humans call you something I don't like so that is what I call you guys instead. I want to change how they see you. How you all see them. Though I may be an average woman. I have an amazing ability bestowed upon me by the goddess to be able to talk to your people. It is my duty to help bridge the gap, as frightening of a task as it sounds. I can't do anything alone though. Without my friends I would be dead now many times over. Due to our severe weakness to earth it is vital you get friends who can use the other elements who are of like mind. Find an earth magic user you can trust with your life to help you. That is all the guidance I have for you at this time. Do you have any more questions? I know this is a lot." 

Val then asks with her ears perked up in curiosity, "What DO they call us out of curiosity?" I reply furrowing my brow, "They call you demons. I think that is just such an ignorant thing to say. Just because you can't communicate with something doesn't mean they are innately bad. Every book I read here about your race was negative from the human perspective, and I know from my time in a different world that humans who write history are the ones who are powerful and/or oppress people. Of course the narrative will be like that. I just hate how HATE is the knee jerk response to unknown or misunderstood things instead of compassion." 

Val then responds with her tail straight up and alert to my words, locked in the conversation, "I could care less about what they call us now. You said you were in another world? How does that work?" I tell her most of the unfiltered story, keeping some things out. Just because she can use light magic does not necessarily automatically mean she is a good guy so not telling everything right off the bat is the wise choice. My gut feeling says that I can, but I want to verify beforehand, by seeing everything she does. She then says after I am done, "That is wild. This world must seem so strange to you then, right?" I answer candidly, "At first my mind was blown by how different it is. After really examining the differences, I think there are more similarities than differences. The main thing that caused the differences I noticed was the existence of magic. Magic changes everything, yet changes nothing. Humans are still terrible and hateful creatures that hate and fear things they don't understand. As evident from the history books in Lilia. Humans are like that with or without their magic cores." 

Val then agrees with her ears folding back, "Yea humans are pretty terrible. Sorry no offense, again." I chuckle and warmly smile, "Again, none taken. I wouldn't have said it if I didn't agree. Humans hate out of the unknown though so if we are going to make a change we need to make it known that you guys are just wanting to live and coexist just like the rest of us. Is that something you might be interested in? You know, helping to bridge the gap officially?" Val thought seriously over this question her tail thumping as I'm sure she is feeling a myriad of emotions, "You know I am not sure I can trust them yet. For so many years they have victimized our kind. Enslaving us, raping us, torturing us, harvesting us for enchantments, and even hunting us just for sport. I do not know if I can bring humans closer to us after what they have put us through. My thoughts may eventually change, but as of right now I need to be there for my people. I will go ahead and leave now. I will head in a different direction from the capital of Raja so we can cover more ground healing the people of Calla. Thank you again for all of your help, Zoe. I am finally not useless and can do something for my people. Thank you ahead of time for helping my people." She says as she grabs my hand the Gaos way and her tail does a little happy wiggle. I then say, "I completely understand your feelings. I really hope we can meet again. Take care. Don't forget that the goddess walks with you." Val makes her exit and Vi says, "So what did she say? I could only hear your side of the conversation." I give her the rundown and then we find local leadership to organize getting started healing everyone here in this town they call Krate.

It took a while to organize all of the people here so it took us almost three days to heal everyone due to lack of communication and organizational leadership. It was a shitshow. Reminded me of my time in the army and those officers that had a way of making exercises worse with their presence. We probably would have been faster just doing it ourselves. After we finished healing everyone, it was around dusk on the third day so we stayed one more night in Krate before crossing the border into Calla.

We head into Calla and the first town is already fully awakened thanks to Val. I ask a local for directions to see what direction we need to go for Raja. They were completely shocked when I "spoke" demi-human language. I never ever change how I speak. It is like a dub is playing for anyone that is listening to my voice so that everyone is able to understand my words. I am literally still speaking English and haven't ever stopped. They point us in the direction and we start heading that way. 

We pass by several different ecosystems and they have more big cats here and I LOVE it. I got a chance to pet a very large panther that was maybe almost twice the size they were on Earth. I was so happy in those moments that I forgot about my troubles, my pains, my sorrows and I soaked up all of the big kitty cat affections and their giant murder mittens. I always joked in my first life that I would probably die trying to pet a big cat. Well I have finally done it and it was definitely worth it. The wildlife here was very thankful to us just like back in Hedia. They helped bring others to me making our trip more efficient. It took us a while getting to Raja. What would have taken 3 days traveling took us 2 weeks from healing all of the wildlife along the way and stopping at demi-human settlements when we came to them. They always greeted us with hostility until they realized we were there to help. I don't blame them though. Humans haven't given them a reason to trust them yet. Healing EVERYONE as always. 

We arrive in the capital around midday. We ask to see if we can maybe get an audience with the king and where we would need to go to do that. I would like to talk with him to see about organizing the people to make this a quicker process and hopefully a lot more efficient than the town of Krate was. That town was a disaster. We are traveling and someone throws something small and hard at Vi in anger in passing causing her head to bleed. I couldn't see what the item was because everything happened so fast. We move with haste and I heal her on the move while we head to the castle where the demi-human king resides. We are not welcome here more so than the other places. This may not go well, but I will try my best. 

We arrive at the demi-human castle and it looks like a mix between Asian historical architecture and African decor. It is a weird thing to describe and it actually kinda worked. We approach and are immediately met by guards. I say in my most tactful customer service voice I can muster, "I request an audience with his majesty the king of this nation. It is of utmost importance." They laugh at my words in a manner very condescending, "What could a human want that could be so important? If you guys try anything we will kill you on the spot. Do you understand?" We nod in agreement. 

We head into the throne room which is pretty dark and see a formidable strong man that looks like he might be a lion man? His hair was really long like a beautiful black mane and reminded me of characters from the Fire Emblem game that could turn into beasts. His ears were black as well and his tail was obscured by his back. We kneel in his presence because that is what you do for royalty and we stay there and I say again in the same tactful tone, "Your highness, I apologize for the intrusion. My name is Zoe. Would it be possible to have a few moments of your time? We mean no harm in this visit." 

The king then says, baring his sharp teeth with his fur standing on end with his thick black tail now visible shooting straight up and floofy behind him, "You are a light magic user. I can sense it. Were you sent here to kill me from the human king? Are you just trying to trick me? I think I might just let my earth magic right hand man use you for Photosynthesis so he can get stronger instead." When he says this my chest tightens tight and the foliage in this room is quivering. Vi now realizing about what was said due to my reaction and the foliage cue puts a hand on her sword. I reach over with my other hand still clutching my chest with my left hand and shake my head. The king says wearing a slightly amused expression, "I take it you know what that means then." He laughs. Vi astonishingly says, "I understood EVERYTHING he just said. Only after you touched me. I wonder if it is because my soul is wrapped in your light magic. That is besides the point. Zoe, say your words." I repeat 'I love me' to myself until my tightening episode subsides. King Dante asks propping his head on his paw exposing his tail behind him ever so slightly as it flickers in interest with his ears pointing to the side, "Human, are you the only one that can speak our tongue?" 

After my tightening calms down I answer the king, "I have a special ability that they do not have. As I have already told you already, your highness, that I am not here to hurt you or your people." I say as I continue to hold Vi so she can hear him, "Actually the opposite, your highness. I am here to awaken EVERYONE. Once everyone awakens they will be safer and you will have less people being sold into slavery and killed with tightening. We have already started in Calla by healing the settlements on the way here. I ran into another light magic user named Val and she took a different route to continue to heal people by awakening them so we can cover more ground." 

The king stands up in amazement, his ears perking up to the name, "Did you say VAL?" I nod my head still remaining in a bow, "Yes. A very strong and beautiful calico catwoman." He sits down as if in relief, "I am so glad she is ok." He says as he waves his right hand man to stand down and that everything is ok. He continues with his brow furrowed, "If she uses light magic, it only makes sense that she would run away from home. I thought she would use dark magic like me. So what I thought was helping probably did the opposite." He puts his head in both of his paws ashamed of himself, "I was such a fool. If you do see her again, please tell her that I want to see her. So what exactly do you need from me today?" I reply honestly, "I have a favor to ask of you, your highness, but that can wait for now. I would like you to organize the people of the capital so I can heal them efficiently." He nods, "Let me bring the unawakened from here in the castle first." He then turns to his retainer who then moves with haste understanding his task. In a few minutes there are a handful of demi-humans. I then go up to each of them and heal all of them. They are all giggling with excitement at their new found abilities and the king seems relieved. As if he thought I was lying or something. I mean, again, who would blame them. Humans can be very terrible. The king then says with his ears and tail standing at attention, "Blow the trumpets. Gather my citizens. We will get started immediately." 

Once the outside of the castle is flooded with citizens of Raja, the king steps out on a balcony and in a very commanding voice, "My fierce and beautiful brethren, I have news! Today marks a new age for us! An age where we won't have to be scared, tortured, or put to death by humans ever again!" The crowd is roaring with approval for the king's words. The king continues, "We are awakening EVERYONE'S magic!" The crowd roars at the great news. The king continues his speech, "Trust me! Everyone line up and meet us in the throne room! I want to see all my people awaken for nothing would please me more in this life!" It was very clever of him to leave my race out. That would not have flown well with them AT ALL. We get situated in the throne room and there is already a line. They are immediately apprehensive at a human being here, but are calmed in their monarch's presence. I healed everyone for the rest of the day until dusk but there were still many more left to awaken. The king says at the end of the day, "All who have yet to awaken, keep returning day after day! We will get to everyone! We will begin again at sunrise tomorrow!" With that mighty announcement the day's healing was finished and they fed us a mighty feast in gratitude for our work so far. 

We are sitting down eating and Vi is sitting next to me pressing her leg against mine under the table to hear everything. The king sits down with us as we eat in awe at how I am putting food back and says, "I don't think I have ever seen a human with as much magic as you or eat as much as you. One would think you were one of us." He chuckles a deep manly chuckle. I then say, telling him the brief synopsis of my mission, "Your highness, I might not be one of you in body, but I am for sure fighting for your people just as much as I am for the humans. I want to make a world where demi-humans and humans can not only cohabitate but also communicate. It is nothing but a dream right now, but I want to make it a reality." I pause a brief moment and continue, "Your highness, I have a question for you. Have you met with Goddess Aella?" He looks at me inquisitively tilting his head to the side as animals do when they are perplexed, "I have never. How could I?" I then tell him about his relationship with his goddess and how he can ask to speak with her before bed and soul travel to her like light magic users can with Aruna. I also told him of Sid. Sid loves to go to the goddess Aella and get pets. Since he usually doesn't talk with the goddess so he doesn't really bring it up much though it is obvious when he does how he feels about her and his love for her. 

He then says after my spiel, "I see. I have always felt so close to her so far and I think that may be why. I shall ask to speak to her tonight then." I then reiterate the disclaimer for his own safety, "Just make sure you give your soul rest. I know I said it before but soul traveling wears on the soul. Always at least one night's full rest with no visits in between, your highness." I then continued after a pause trying to remember if he introduced himself and realizing he didn't, "I am sorry your highness, but what is it they call you? I haven't gotten your name yet all this time." Now I am thinking that maybe the royalty here in this world just has an aversion to introductions. He then sighs, "I am sorry. Usually I would have immediately out of noble courtesy, but it isn't often we get a human among us and I was very surprised and guarded. They call me Dante. Also, I am sorry for the things I said when we first met. That was very insensitive regardless of what race you are." I reply earnestly while bowing slightly in his direction while remaining seated, "I really appreciate your apology and accept it. Consider it the past, your highness." Vi gives me the side eye like 'WTF' kind of face like I did something wrong. 

I reach down and squeeze her thigh with my left hand as if to tell her 'I am good' and she sighs and continues eating carefully while listening. The king then says, "You mentioned something about a favor earlier, what is it?" I replied after taking a sip of water in the glass accompanying our dinner, "Well I want to awaken all of the people in your capital first, but I was hoping you would grant us permission to visit the spring on your sacred mountain. Goddess Aruna said the spring there can restore my little friend's magical powers." Ash, who was finished eating on the floor had his hands on his stomach from eating a lot, perks up a brief moment at the sound of his circumstances then immediately puts his head back down and resumes holding his stomach in contentment.

 Sid is finishing up about now and now is relocating to under my chair. The king responds after dabbing his mouth with a majestic elegance, "All of this really must be true if you know about that." I laugh and he asks what is so funny. I reply after composing myself, "Sorry, your highness. It is just Val literally said the same exact thing after I told her about it. Like father, like daughter. You know what they say." I chuckle and he says in that deep tone of kingly authority of his, "After you heal everyone in our capital, I will escort you there myself. I just ask you to respect the sacred beasts on the mountain." I nodded, "Of course your highness. I am very excited/terrified to meet their acquaintances though. If they are anything like from stories of fiction where I am from they are very mighty and I would be a fool to not respect them." King Dante laughs a deep hearty laugh, "That is right. They are very mighty even without magic. Their scales are very tough and are resistant to both physical and magic attacks. So tough that it would take several of our elite magic users to even think of possibly taking one of them down. I really do hope the day never comes that they turn on our people. That thought terrifies me." I replied after swallowing a big mouthful of food, "Well, you don't have to worry, your highness. I am just really excited to talk to them. Like how old are they? What kind of things do they know of this world? The things they know about magic that may have been lost through the years. So many things I would like to ask them." 

King Dante then says, "You would be the first ever to talk with them in centuries. Dragonkin have not been seen in centuries and we assume they are no more. The humans of the past hunted them for their 'enchantments'. They sought the tough defense they had since they were dragonkin. The dragonkin people were our highest nobility back in those days and the strongest of our kind. Their connection to our sacred beasts that protected us was sacred to us. We treasured them so much and yet the humans stole them from us. In pursuit of their own power." He says as he furrows his brow and continues, "Those humans are obsessed with our kind for enchantments. Each different beastkin has a different type of ability they can extract from us. I am afraid they will never seek peace with us because of their insatiable appetite for power."

 I then replied, not wanting to get too ahead of myself, "Before we get talking too much about the future, your highness, why don't you visit the goddess tonight. Ask her to show you the vision that Goddess Aruna showed me. It was a beautiful vision of peace. Peace between all races and living peacefully together in harmony. It is going to be a hard road to get there. There will be many obstacles and there will be many times it will seem impossible. Even so, I believe we can do this. It might even take centuries to achieve since I don't know how far in the future the goddess showed. All I know is it starts with us. I want you to see it with your own eyes instead of just hearing me talk about it. That and meeting the goddess in person is a life changing experience and I am not entirely sure what you will feel in her presence but you will feel it so intensely. I feel what I feel when I use magic in front of Aruna. I am not entirely sure about goddess Aella," I look to Sid who is under my chair, "Hey Sid, what exactly do you feel when you are in front of Goddess Aella?" He says wagging his tail, "I feel loved." I reply while I smile at his adorable emotional transparency, "You are very loved indeed and not just by her either." I say as I scruff his fur on his head in a loving manner. 

I turn back to King Dante, "He says he feels loved by her. Though he is the only dark magic user I know so my data is limited and I do not know for certain if you would feel the same or not, your highness." King Dante replies with a nonverbal motion that says that makes sense, "I see. I will do that. I would very much like to see this future you speak of and I also get to meet my goddess I admire so dearly. So I only need to ask her to speak before going to bed?" I nod, "Yes, your highness." King Dante wags his thick tail in excitement, "That is just fascinating. I am glad we met Zoe. I think we will get along fine. I always thought light magic users would be insufferable, but you aren't so bad… Let me get one of my retainers to show you and your party to their rooms so you can rest. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day." He says motioning to a retainer standing off to the side of the dining room as they bow to King Dante and motion to us to follow him. I pick up the now napping Ash and carry him as we get escorted to our room.

We get to our rooms which are pretty swanky in an asian/afro hybrid sort of way. Sir Carlos and Sir Maria have separate rooms. Looking around this room, I feel like I am in an anime. The decor of the structure and furniture looks mainly Asian-like, but with african-like touches around the room like specifically with the tribal-like designs on the tapestry. It was weird, but it worked. Well, I guess it seems weird to me because of my knowledge of Earth. Vi and I sat on the bed sitting by the wall at the head of the bed with our legs touching and we both sighed in relief as I tucked the sleeping Ash in bed so he could keep sleeping. Vi breaks the silence, "Today was a day. I thought we were going to have to fight, then I realized I could borrow your ability. It seems he couldn't understand me which means he would probably have to undergo the same conditions of being healed beforehand and then make physical contact with you. This is really cool. I actually heard Sid talking earlier with an actual voice. That was pretty amazing." She beams with a smile looking at our adorably happy family member who is wagging his tail.

Sid jumps up on the bed and says, "Wow you can hear us, too?" She nods while reaching to pet him, "Yep. At least while I am borrowing Zoe's ability." I say explaining it to Sid while reaching to pet him as well, "Apparently after I heal someone and while I am actively touching them, they can borrow my language comprehension ability. Next time we see the demi-humans do you want to try? Tomorrow I will heal all three of you first thing in the morning so as long as you are touching me you can hear what they are saying. They will still be unable to communicate with you, you will just be able to hear. Earlier in the throne room, the king could only understand me so it only works if I heal them and they are actively touching me it appears." 

Ash groggily says after being woken up by the talking jumping in the conversation coming out from under the covers, "That is cool. We don't know the demi-human tongue so we were pretty lost today. We were only ever around humans to pick up their language." Vi then says smiling looking at the two of them overwhelmed by their cuteness, "I still can't get over your voices. They suit both of you so well. They are so cute!" She does a little happy wiggle similar to how I do. Then reaches out to pet both of them with a little of that aggressive affection. Not aggressive in the literal sense of the word but more or so with intensity. Sid really loves it, but Ash gets tired of it real quick. Ash yells with his fur standing up all floofy, "Stop, it is too much! I can't take it!" Vi and I start giggling. She says while conceding, "Fine. I guess. Only cause I love you. Though it is because I love you I want to just pet you sooooooooo much." Ash retreats to the other side of me for protection just in case Vi changes her mind. 

Vi then puts her head on my shoulder and sighs, "I was really worried today. I still can't believe he threatened you like that. Forced Photosynthesis is a cruel thing to wish upon a person. ANY person. I know you have accepted his apology, but I still have not. Just wanted that to be known and out there." I reply, not exactly trying to change her mind, but explaining from their perspective, "To be fair, humans don't exactly hold the cleanest track record in their history books. They had plenty of reasons to greet us with suspicion. They have held hate for humans for centuries. Humans have demonized their kind and hunted them for sport and treated them with no dignity or respect. Of course they wouldn't trust anything I said initially. To be honest, I was surprised they knew of Photosynthesis to begin with since it is a forbidden magic and mainly forgotten magic." 

Vi then says while petting Sid gently with a worried tone, "What could be forbidden in Hedia might not be forbidden here. There may be a chance that more people may know about it so it would be wise to remain vigilant here." I reply while gently comforting Ash with soft pets, "That was the plan. I am still not comfortable around earth magic. Except I feel at ease when I am with Em though. She is my exception. She has yet to cross boundaries and when I tighten she doesn't lust after me but worries instead. I feel her love and worry everyday when I am with her. I trust her now, too. It took me a while to break down my walls, but she is the first earth magic user I trust in this world. The next time I tighten around Em I think I might be ready for her to do photosynthesis with me. Have her soak up my despair for me instead of saying my magic words. Consensual photosynthesis is all about love. Platonic, romantic, or familial love. When you really love somebody, you want to take their despair and misery from them and I think that is what the goddesses were going for when they made the concept of photosynthesis. Growing closer together with love." 

My chest burns bright doing the thing in approval for a brief moment and Vi notices it too. Vi giggles and is curious at the timing of my chest flashing, "Was that the goddess?" I nod while touching my chest that is now not lit up anymore, "I think so. Whenever I say something about the goddess like that I think that is her way of saying I am right. This connection between us really puts me at ease." When I say that my chest burns bright again for a moment. Vi then says, "If she does that EVERY time. We could technically ask her yes or no questions all of the time." My chest burned bright from her words as if the goddess herself was still communicating using the brief flashes. Vi then asks, "Is there a way to power down someone who has undergone photosynthesis?" My chest burns bright for a moment. Wow that is cool. So we can debuff the prince pervert. That is great news. Though if we power him down, he will just seek out light magic users to power up again. I then ask the followup question, "Is there a way to prevent him from being able to undergo photosynthesis again?" My chest flashes again. I then say, "You know we could just ask to talk to her and go to sleep and have an actual conversation instead of doing this back and forth. It has been several days since our last visit so we can." Vi then sighs and gets up to remove her clothes, "Be the voice of reason why don't you." she giggles as she reaches into her bag to pull out her pajamas and asks, "Do you want some bedtime tea?" I responded with no hesitation, "I am always ready for tea." We do our nightly goddess ritual and drift off to sleep.

We get to the goddess realm and Vi is yet again high as fuck and says all squinty eyed, "I forgot what I was going to ask the goddess. I had a list in mind before going to bed and now 'POOF'! Gone." she giggles and I say, "I have some questions I wanted to ask that I can ask. Maybe we had some overlapping questions." Vi sinking down in her favorite goddess chair says, "I hope so. I mean we could always just come back and I can tell you my questions just in case I might forget from these feelings of mine. With these feelings here sometimes I am so relaxed I almost forget to breathe. Have you been so relaxed you almost forgot to breathe?"

 I laugh and say reminiscing of my previous life, "Well in my first life when I smoked a lot of that marijuana stuff I told you about. Sometimes that would happen too. We called it 'Breathing in Manual Mode'. Having to focus on breathing in and out like trying to remember how to do it." Vi lifts her head in excitement, "Woooah. That is exactly how I am feeling. That is crazy." The goddess then comes in and asks as she sits in her chaise lounge chair, "Welcome back to my home. Would you like to continue asking your questions?" I then respond while lightly bowing to the goddess in greeting, "Yes if you wouldn't mind. What kind of magic would be needed to block an earth magic user from going through photosynthesis?" Aruna replies, "Dark." I then ask, "What kind of magic powers down someone who has undergone photosynthesis?" Aruna replies again, "Dark." I then ask, "Is there a specific person that has the ability we need for this?" Aruna nods, "Yes and they are not who you might expect." I then reply, "Then I guess it isn't the demon king." Aruna nods, "You will be crossing paths soon though. You will know when you find them." I then ask continuing my followup questions, "Shadow magic or abyss magic?" Aruna replies while summoning some divine baked goods that has Vi now drooling, "Abyss magic." Aruna sees Vi's response and snaps her fingers and a plate of baked goods appears in Vi's lap and she beams with excitement as she munches on the divine baked goods. I then ask, "Since we are talking about photosynthesis what all does regular photosynthesis entail? How did you create it?"

 The goddess responds after wiping her mouth with that divine grace of hers, "Photosynthesis was created to grow bonds between my mortal creations. To create strong bonds made out of love like you said earlier. An earth magic user just has to physically touch a light magic user with the intent of trying to help and wanting to take on their pain. When those two conditions are met they will absorb the light user's despair and gain strength. It is a very beautiful thing that warms the heart in more ways than one. Those who force photosynthesis get stronger than normal photosynthesis since they deplete the light magic user of their magical energy by their desire to steal their power and causing the light magic user to despair." I reply, "So they just have to touch me like this?" I reach out to grab Vi on her shoulder and the goddess nods, "That would be sufficient." It is finally good to hear from the creator herself what she made it for instead of just speculation from a forbidden book that was told by a power hungry pervert. It is also great to know exactly how to do it right leaving the guesswork out. The goddess then says, "Take care Zoe, it seems our time is up for now. I love you." With that I start to soul travel back to the physical realm.