Lilith: Origin of Succubi Chapter 254

Chapter 254

I picked up the teacup in front of and took a sip to calm my nerves. There had been so much to process in that short eting with two gods. I wasn't the only one who was still thinking about what had just happened. The entire room was silent for several straight minutes and it wasn't until Velen returned that everyone seed to be knocked out of it.

"Altiena, I ordered a light lunch for six to be brought here and cleared your schedule." She hesitated as if she was going to say sothing else before quietly sitting next to her on the couch.

"Thank you, Velen... What are your thoughts on that eting?" Altiena asked.

"? I... I found it... surprising how familiar the goddess acted with us. I have always known that the goddess could watch her followers but I had never suspected she would be so..."

"Motherly?" Altiena asked with a smile.

Velen returned her smile. "Yes, motherly. I hadn't told anyone that I felt uncomfortable about my na before. For her not to only be fine with it, but give permission to tell others that she approves... I don't know how to react to that."

Altiena closed her eyes and nodded. "I know what you an. I'm still not sure how I plan to tell others about this eting, especially since so much of it will be tied up in secrecy. Velenthel rarely shows herself to mortals, to tell others she appeared before us but didn't give us much allowance to explain why will make so of our priests worry."

Velen looked over at Nelly. "And then there's the matter of our new Oracle..."

"Yes... at minimum, we'll have to make sure you know your teachings well enough to properly represent the goddess," Altiena said while refocusing on Nelly. "Then you'll need a bit of instruction on holy magic and outfitting with equipnt. Do you have any priestly tools already?"

Nelly's ears went back. "Ah, no. I don't have much of anything except for this outfit I'm wearing. All of this won't be expensive, will it? I don't have any money and I would rather not have to borrow too much from Lilith..."

Altiena looked confused for a mont before she realized what Nelly was talking about. "Oh, dear, no. None of this will cost you or your... patron anything. You're an Oracle of Velenthel now, touched by the goddess herself. The church of Velenthel will provide you with everything you need to be a proper traveling priest and oracle of our goddess. You don't seem to be aware of your new standing, Oracle Nelly. As an oracle, your position in the church is only a half-step below my own now, and in so matters, you're above ."

I frowned. "Will this training and outfitting take long? I'm not sure how long that normally takes but I don't want to be delayed from leaving town for too long, we're already escorting a blacksmith back to her family in Traehall and I'd rather not be too delayed."

The high priest mulled over the question for a mont. "Three days. Normally we would want to take our ti training and preparing any of our traveling priests for much longer than that, but considering the goddess herself said that traveling with you would be her divine mission, I will just make sure to go over the basics." She turned to Nelly. "You'll have to stay with us here in the temple for those three days though, would that be acceptable, Oracle Nelly?"

"Oh uhm... but I kind of wanted to..." she looked over at Kal'daeryn with a conflicted look.

"Your lover is welco to join you, of course," Altiena hastily added. "She will be a welcod guest and be allowed to share the private suite we'll be lending to you and use the living facilities the priests share while she waits for you to return from your various classes and training. To pack the basics into three days, you'll be busy nearly the entire ti, but you'll be able to relax with your lover when you're done."

Kal'daeryn wrapped one of her large arms around Nelly. "I'll be okay. I'll wait for you in our room or even join you for so of your classes if I'm allowed. We'll have plenty of ti to be together after these three days, but this is important to you. You should put all of your focus into it."

"Okay... Is that alright with you, Lilith?" Nelly asked.

I nodded. "Not a problem, three days was better than I was expecting and will give so ti to catch up with my friends at the Ruby Vixen. It sounds like it will be a busy three days for you though, are you sure you're up for it?"

Nelly smiled. "I'll do my best." She turned back to Altiena. "Okay, I can stay here for three days. When do I start?"

Altiena smiled. "As soon as we're finished with this eting I'll have soone set up your schedule." She turned to . "Lilith Baphot, would you mind telling a little bit more about the succubi? I feel as though I was lacking a lot of context during our eting with Goddess Velenthel."

"Just Lilith is fine..." I took a breath. "As you might have guessed from the implications of my conversation with Goddess Velenthel and Fortuna, I'm a world traveler. When I woke up in this world, the system had classified as a demon. Where I co from, succubi are commonly known in fiction and fantasy as 'sex demons' though their exact morality varies depending on the story they're from. Not too long after I made it to my first town, I joined the adventurer's guild and took a job to do so surveying in Traehall. While on that mission, my friends and I stumbled on a demon-filled dungeon and beca trapped there. Very shortly after, I was confronted by a demon and, to use Sorsette's phrasing, rejected the demon as kin."

"The rumors of the demon sightings in the frontier are true then?" Velen asked.

"They are," I said with a nod. "Anyway, when I t Sorsette in the capital, she told that when she noticed I had rejected the demon, she intervened to reclassify as a new race that wasn't a subset of demon the mont she was able to."

"That's what Goddess Velenthel and Goddess Fortuna were talking about, they said that you were born a demon and their actions would reduce the chances of you staying one," Altiena said.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure how much my original mories would have an impact on that, but I can't imagine my mories would change my feelings toward the first demon I ran into. Demons are horrible, I think it's ridiculous to classify as sothing even remotely similar to that thing I saw." I shook my head. "Either way, I'm not a demon any longer and I'm happier for it. After I created so new magic I beca 'noticed' by her and then after swearing on her na a few tis she made her follower. After speaking with her directly, I even received a priest class devoted to her. She's clearly taken a liking to and the feeling is more or less mutual."

"What about Fortuna?" Altiena asked.

I sighed. "Fortuna is a different story. I'm not entirely sure how I beca entangled with her, but she clearly knows more about than I do her. A quirk of my race gives a lot of luck based on sothing called karma and as a result, I've received a luck-based class and a lot of luck-based magic. Sorsette warned that she was probably manipulating through my luck and Fortuna herself more or less confird that when she was here. I really don't know her motivations or why she's doing what she's doing. All I do know is that she is a mber of the Tamin church, and that's not sothing I can easily forgive."

"Fortuna said she loved you. Do you know what she ant by that?" Bella asked.

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

"Could it be tied to your missing mories? That could be why she was trying to convince you not to regain them," Nelly said.

I frowned for a second before shaking my head. "No, I don't think that's what she was getting at. I think she was implying that my mories would be detrintal to . She could have been lying of course, but... I don't know. I didn't get that impression."

There was a knock on the door and Velen stood up to answer it. Apparently lunch was being brought in. It consisted of a salad and so fairly fancy looking sandwiches. The conversation was set aside for the mont while all of us began to eat so food and collect our thoughts. I took a bite of the sandwich and was rather impressed by the quality of the ingredients. It was a little suspect that the temple had such high-quality food after there had just been a large shortage but maybe they paid a lot to import it. I didn't want to be imdiately suspicious about everything, but it was hard not to be when it ca to the gods of this world.

"So... what are you going to do about your mories? What are your thoughts about that so far?" Bella asked.

I sighed and set my sandwich down. "I really don't know. I had been pretty set on regaining them until now but what Fortuna said really unsettled . She alluded to... having a similar problem to the one you had when I t you Bella, and she said that I had killed myself in my previous life. Maybe she was right, maybe I don't want to regain those mories."

"Do you actually need them?" Altiena asked. "My goddess went along with her plan. She agreed to return them if you asked but I don't believe she would have removed them if they would have been a significant detrint to you."

I shook my head. "I don't really need them. That's why I'm so torn on it. I am happy with how my life has gone so far since I've woken up here and I'm happy with all the people I've surrounded myself with. Regaining my mories now feels like... an unnecessary risk. But I'm not convinced I can trust that Velenthel wouldn't have removed my mories even if it was detrintal to . Rember, I was reborn as a demon and they were trying to keep away from Felketh."

Altiena sighed. "I do not agree with your assessnt of my goddess, but I can't fault you for that logic either, so we'll leave it at that. If you truly don't know what you will gain or lose from regaining your mories, maybe it would be best to shelve the idea for now. You will have Oracle Nelly to return your mories anyti you wish, so maybe it would be better for you to be in a more stable position first, in case sothing does go wrong."

Bella laced her fingers with mine and gave my hand a squeeze. I leaned my shoulder against her. Among all my lovers, Bella was the best at actually comforting when I needed it. She didn't even need words to do it, even small actions like this made feel like she cared and would always be there to support , hell or high water.

Bella kissed my shoulder. "Maybe Fortuna has been manipulating you, but so far she's mostly done things that have made you happier. It's fair to remain wary of her, but maybe you should heed her warning this ti. If she truly manipulated things to put in your arms, I'm happy with that outco."

I leaned against her and for a mont my troubled thoughts returned to that room at the inn. I had been violated and Bella had saved . She was already my lover after that night, but she saved and that solidified our bond. Bella made feel safe and centered . Did I feel that way because I was manipulated by Fortuna? Was that night really the best outco of a myriad of possibilities? Had it all been worth what that man had done to so that I could be in the position I am now, or was it all just a poor roll of the dice? I didn't know. It made feel gross inside to think that way, to even theoretically justify what had been done to .

I wiped a tear that threatened to spill from my eyes and squeezed Bella's hand again. I had to change the subject and talk about sothing else right now, anything else. I didn't want to be honest with everyone about my thoughts, but I knew that Bella knew I was holding things back. Despite that she didn't ask, she knew I didn't want to talk about it right now and she respected that.

"Well, if there's nothing else to discuss then perhaps we should finish eating and end this eting for the day. I'll have to get the suite prepared for Oracle Nelly. Where are you staying? I would like to be able to send you a ssage if sothing needs addressing before you intend to leave."

"The Ruby Vixen." I then proceeded to give so general directions to it.

Velen's face had gone red and when Altiena noticed she turned to look at her. "What's the matter?"

I cleared my throat. "The Ruby Vixen is, uh, a beastfolk brothel."