I had never thought that walking through a familiar hallway could bring about so much raw emotion deep inside of myself, and yet here I was, flooded with relief and giddy at the idea of just being back ho... and knowing that it was all over.
Ti was going to beco a factor again for us here, and not having the benefits of a temporal shift constantly giving us far more ti than we actually had was definitely sad, but I didn’t need it now since I was just looking to live and exist.
No fighting, no deadlines, just... relaxation, plenty of wine and an abundance of comforts that I had taken for granted after such a long expedition into a treacherous, unknown place.
The journey into the throne room was a quick one, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see all of the Empress’ wives waiting for us alongside the towering ashen haired being as well; that and seeing Mother and Mother Ria both holding my two adorable and super excited little sisters was definitely expected and very, very appreciated.
Alessandra squird around in Mother Ria’s arms as she saw all of us, while the lavender skinned Demoness actually managed to wiggle free from Mother’s arms as she showed off sothing rather incredible; she could ’run’.
It was a half run half waddle that was beyond adorable, and she made use of her tiny little legs to launch herself into her Mom’s arms, giggling like crazy and hugging the Demoness’ face as she was showered in kisses.
Mother Ria made her way over a step behind the little Demoness, letting her run as best she could before leaning herself against Mom’s side, letting the tiny Elf touch and babble at the larger Demoness.
The entire hall was quickly segnted into groups as everyone greeted and hugged those closest to them, so while Jahi approached that adorable and warm cluster I found myself in the familiar and lovable warmth of my own Mother, hugging her tight and rocking side to side as we silently welcod each other back.
Anput was just beside watching everything unfold until she too was hugged by Mother, surprising the Jackalkin a little before she just returned it and relished it, while Leone had made her way to the older Vampire as well as the wooden Elf.
The pleasantries took a few minutes as we all embraced one another, and during that ti I saw how deep the Demon Wolf’s hunger was as she stole away the blindfolded Lady D’Arcon and ’hid’ behind a pillar, devouring the ’innocent’ Saintess’ lips and practically making love to her then and there as she grabbed everything she could touch.
It was also that single glance that made feel a little confused as a sliver of jealous sliced through my jubilation, the montary thought of ’it should’ve been , not her!’ reminding that what had been done could never be undone...
I definitely needed space away from her, and since I wasn’t the only one who noticed how Lady Fenyras was staring at while chewing on Lady D’Arcon’s lips I was assuming that I would have so ’help’ in that regard...
Though that didn’t stop Mother from scolding and making it abundantly clear that I wasn’t to even think about the Demon Wolf over there, while Anput just ’grinned’ at from the side and reminded that I was going to have all of those thoughts thoroughly replaced soti soon.
By the ti everyone had relished their ti back we finally got ourselves in order to make the report, laying out the entire expedition from start to finish as best we could, not leaving anything out if it was important to said report.
The explanation of how there was a city, a world above ours, all these Trials needed to be completed to ascend to that world, how we had done our fair share of them, and how we encountered Jillian, Jahi had dueled her and the appearance of the being from above...
Well, it was a lengthy, detailed report, and none of us missed how ’uncomfortable’ both the Empress AND Lady Theresa got at the ntion of the world above ours, filling us all with questions that were going to need answers.
Leone was the one to ask it for us, leveraging the fact that she was the Empress’ child to apply a larger amount of pressure to get those answers for the rest of us, and also using so of the love that Lady Theresa had for her to guarantee we got them.
"What exactly are you, Mom? Where are you from, where did you and Aunt Theresa et? Are you from above? Why..? Just... why? Why not tell us about it, about this world above ours?"
There was so pain in her voice as she asked, and both of the millennia old won in front of us flinched a little upon hearing it, while the looks from the remaining mbers of their family caused them to stiffen as well.
"I... We couldn’t. Informing anyone about anything was forbidden. We swore on it... but we swore on the requirent of them not knowing... and now... well, you know."
The Empress sighed and sank into her throne, not casting that all powerful and dominating aura onto us anymore; she just looked tired, but upon the caress of the Elf beside her she nodded once and allowed her to speak instead.
"Because of , we had to make a choice. Stay in an environnt that should have been ho but wasn’t - suffer in silence because it was to be expected, to accept that we were... tools to be used - or escape into a ’lesser’ world, leaving behind our identities and starting from ’scratch’ down here.
I was... I was willing to stay. This... version of you see is the result of us leaving. Even still I would always chose to accompany her down into this world no matter what. To leave behind everything and slowly beco Nature itself... that is why we did not tell you anything."
Taking another deep breath, the Empress was about to say sothing when Lady Theresa began to cough, the wooden Elf rubbing at her throat and swaying for a mont before steadying herself again on her own throne, sending all of the questions we had spiraling away as sothing more important happened.
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