Chapter 20-491: Epilogue VI, Part I (2/2)
And she was smiling. Sweet Nuava, was that a smile. I was so stunned by it that when she came right up, wrapped me up in arms the Hulk couldn’t have gotten out of, twined her legs about my waist, hugged me VERY close, and planted one on my lips, then my tongue, then down my throat, that all I could do was sit there and take it.
It was about thirty seconds before she was done. The Wrath of Heaven was singing over her, as Pure as my own despite being mixed with so many Pure others, and all my magic was going off in delighted response to it, filling the air with gold and silver and rainbow lights around us.
“Haaaaaaah...” I exhaled long and slow, trying not to taste her on my lips and tongue and throat and skin and everything after she released me. “Please don’t do that again, or I won’t be able to resist.”
She was harder than steel and felt as weightless and soft as gossamer against me. I was also aware her tails were holding me upright, because my legs were ready to give out.
“She said to greet you this way, Master Aelryinth.” I swallowed at her voice... no, their voice. I could tell there were at least ten thousand subvocalizations going on behind every syllable. “You do not disappoint, and you weren’t even trying. That must be the Soul Magic that does not manifest here naturally.”
They had no normal eyes, but the magic whirling on that Mask was more expressive than any eyes to me, and more hypnotic. Her nose was just, just touching mine, the mane of her white hair against that jet skin filling my vision.
“A Hello, Sailor! at +60 at least in the Night Rose. Touch of a nereid. Beauty of a nymph. Glamour of a Fey Queen. Power of an Amazon. Aura of a celestial. Majesty of a dragon. Softness of a sirine, temptation of a succubus...” I swallowed despite myself. “I’m guessing you must be... Legion?”
“Indeed we are.” They made no effort to extricate themselves from me. “And you are Aelryinth of Heaven, the Ringlord, the original soul from which our Lady Traveler was spun off from.”
I could only nod confirmation. “Um, I’m guessing you and she had a special relationship?”
Oh Nuava, what a smile. “Indeed we do. She still Sends to me from time to time, as she does you, when she can Crack the Sky of a Shroud. In time, we will go to her, but we cannot now, as there is still too much to do here.”
“I see.” I went still as strands of her hair reached up, and gently lifted the dark glasses I was wearing away. Her Mask stared at the hollow pits of my eyes and the pinpoints of silver there, and the air dropped one hundred degrees instantly.
“What did this to you?” they demanded, and even more voices were under those words now. It was almost a divine command, and a killing wind started to blow.
Okay, that is a LOT of Charisma...
“Calm,” I stated evenly, and there was only a moment before it all dissipated, gone even faster than it had arrived, and if anything, was even more serene now.
That is also a LOT of emotional control.
“It happened at my eventual destination. I ran across something in astral space mortal eyes should not see, and they turned around and tried to eat me. I had to burn them out. If I regenerate them, they try to do it again,” I explained evenly, having long gotten used to my situation.
They stared at me for a moment longer, then tilted my head down to administer a very chaste kiss on my forehead that nonetheless had my blood singing happily to receive it, and our mutual Wrath sparking off it. They unwound themself from me, not that they seemed to weigh anything, and stepped back to give me space.
They still smiled when I sighed in relief, however, and that Mask was very intent on me. Their hair and tails started to reach out for me, and to my own amusement, had to be snapped back.
“Your Aura is beyond tempting, Master Aelryinth. So much like hers, but without the touch of the Shroud upon it, and even Deeper.” They licked their lips and looked away, folding their arms and tapping their fingers as their cloud of silken hair blocked their sight of me for a moment. “Our apologies for having fun with you. It appears Our Lady was also having fun with us!”
“Were I not a happily married man, I would not be averse to fun at all.”
Their Masked face snapped back at me, biting their lip so enticingly, and they looked away just as sharply. “Well, that is not surprising. We know that we are very difficult to resist!”
“If you’ve got the twenty Ranks in Courtesan for Night Rose that I think you do, in addition to everything else, that is totally by design.”
They partially glanced back, smiling with just a hint of a promise. “Indeed! There are many of us, and we wish to be beautiful, and so we are!” Their hair swirled as if alive, mane and cloak and silken-snowy backdrop, and combined with those tails and those curves, I just had to look away again.
“You’re going to give me a nosebleed if you keep doing that,” I warned them.
“You should be proud to know that you’re the only male we have met who didn’t have one by now.”
I was amused at the thought. “And except for Traveler, I imagine the women, too!”
Their laugh was serene and had fifteen thousand layers to it now, shaking my blood again. “Yes! One could say the most beautiful women in the world call us their favorite lover!”
I just arched an eyebrow. “And the most handsome men?” I had to ask.
“They tend to fall unconscious with nosebleeds, pretty little things that they are. We have to look for other things in our male lovers.”
“Like, not breaking?”
“Yes, which does limit their numbers,” they agreed calmly, seeming to have regained some inner balance. “So, how long do you intend to remain here? We were told that it was not far to... Pentara, we believe?”
“It’s still a full Pyramid jump. It will take a week to power this pile of stone up enough to send me on the way. From Pentara, I can get back home in seconds,” I answered easily.
“Well enough! We think we can keep you occupied.” Oh, the meaning in those words, the sleek poofiness of them tails, and that... ahg. They didn’t have to flirt to flirt. They were all the women at the same time!