Lots of things going on

"What'd I miss?" Ilias asked, hurriedly wrapping her wet hair in a towel as she rejoined Eden.

"What…. What is that?" Eden asked, confused.

"It's a bathrobe and towel. I took a shower."

"But…. You dissolved completely and returned to heaven as pure holy energy…. Why would you need a shower? And why do we even have a shower? I'm not nearly as powerful as you and I just use magic to make myself clean."

"I lived as a mortal for awhile and I found that I liked the ritual of showering," Ilias explained. "Sure, I was physically clean when I returned to heaven, but I felt… dirty."

"And this human ritual made you feel…. Fresh again?"

"Exactly," Ilias answered. "So, what happened while I was having my…. Meeting."

"I'm guessing your omniscience is still 'off'?" Eden asked, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm still basking in the glow of my experience. I don't want all that…. Awareness coming into my head. Right now I can only focus on two things: how it felt to get eaten and our two friends on the surface."

"You seem to like the limitations of mortality. How odd."

"It's a different perspective," Ilias admitted. "in some ways, it's nice. I'll go back to my divinity shortly. Right now, I'd just like you to tell me what's going on. Besides, I like talking to you. One reason my counterpart on your world probably rarely spoke to you except to degrade you was because she already knew almost all of what she needed to know."

"So if you don't know things, and you need me to explain them to you," Eden said uncertainly. "That means we get to spend quality time together?"

"That's the idea. Besides, you have the sexiest voice among all of my angels. So catch me up. I assume he beat the spider this time?"

"He did," Eden reported. "She went for his neck again but he was ready."

"Okay, don't tell me what happens next yet," Ilias said. "The next battle would be against Nanabi, and that's a toughie, even on easy difficulty. I'm guessing right now she's in the midst of raping him?"

"Actually, no, he defeated her the first time. Although it was with assistance from the Monster Lord. She cut off Nanabi's magic during her Seven Moons attack."

"Interesting…. That's how it happened on his world. On mine, he just kept losing over and over to that attack. The Alice from that world was one cold bitch. His Alice was as well, at least on the exterior. Apparently she had some feelings very early on that the version of Alice on my world didn't."

"Do you think the difference was Alice, or Luka's origins?" Eden wondered. "Remember, on your world Alice had a strong dislike for Luka at first because he was a devotee of yours, and seemed to be a completely ordinary human in every way. This Luka was not a worshipper of yours and showed that he was special very early in their journey. Perhaps that changed her perception of him."

"Good observation," Ilias praised Eden.

"Why thank you," Eden said, blushing. "I could get used to my goddess paying me compliments."

"Okay, so he beat Nanabi, I assume his power was the finishing blow?" Ilias asked.

"Actually, no. Alice's feelings for Luka must be strong. She was cutting off Nanabi's magic as soon as she struck. That enabled Luka to seal her with Angel Halo alone."

"Hmmmm….. I wonder if that will complicate things. In both original timelines, Luka's special power was revealed to Alice in the Treasure Cave. Luka's alien power in his world, and his angel powers in mine. Maybe setting things to easy mode wasn't the wisest decision. He may never use his power at this rate."

"If he doesn't need it, does it matter?"

"I'm not sure," Ilias admitted. "We'll have to keep a close eye on things. Fortunately, I took some of his power when I banged him."

"Really, Ilias?" Eden asked. "Do you actually need more? I thought you had replenished it."

"I did, but you can never have too much! Besides, if he has a problem with it, he can take it back at any time."

"Only if he knows about it!" Eden pointed out, giving Ilias a disapproving look. "Anyway, that's not the only complication. The spider attacked Luka at a different point in the cave quest, which meant that Luka never saved that poor sealed kitsune from it. That leaves Luka no leverage to negotiate for the Poseidon's Bell. Those negotiations are happening now."

"Ooh, this should be good!" Ilias chortled. "I hope he's not dumb enough to take on Tamamo. I'll have to rewind again for sure if he does. And then I still have to find some way to get him that bell. I might have to rewind him to the beginning of the cave quest and try to force that spider to be where she's supposed to be for this act of the show."

I was standing near the entrance to the treasure room, trying to look as intimidating as possible to Tamamo. The expression on her face, one of amusment, told me that I was not succeeding. Why wasn't it working? I'd easily overcome her two tailed lackey, and beating her seven-tailed aide hadn't been as difficult as I'd expected. Her big finishing move hadn't been all that impressive. So how tough could a nine-tailed kitsune be?

"Oh, Alice!" Tamamo laughed. "This boy you've found is adorable! He's actually looking at me as if he wants to fight me! I guess you must want this bell pretty badly, Luka. So what are you going to do to get it?"

"I'll fight you if I have to!" I said with confidence and determination.

"Don't be an idiot, Luka," Alice warned. "You stand no chance."

"But I did well against Granberia!" I protested.

"You're good with a sword, I'll grant you that," Alice conceded. "But Tamamo is a different kind of opponent."

"She's tougher than Granberia?!"

"Not tougher… just…. Different. Granberia is the best at what she does, but she's one dimensional. Tamamo has many different ways to beat you, and if one isn't working she'll just change tactics. I mean, if you really want to fight her, go ahead, but I'm not going to interfere. She's not attacking you unprovoked. If you attack her, you'll have earned what happens to you."

"But…. If I don't get that bell, our journey ends here!" I argued. "I have to fight!"

"Then I guess you have no choice," Tamamo said, her expression darkening. Now I was intimidated.

"Luka, stand down," Alice ordered. "Tamamo, what are we even doing right now? Why are you even here? You don't need the bell."

"Sure I do," Tamamo replied. "Alma Elma's whipping up those annoying storms, making it impossible to cross the southern sea."

"Maybe for Kitsu and others, but not for you or Nanabi. Stop playing games, Tamamo. Give Luka the bell."

"It's not as if you need it either," Tamamo pointed out. "So maybe you should stop playing games. Besides, the boy clearly has his warrior spirit up. I'd like to see how good he is."

"Good enough so that you'll know you've been in a fight, although not nearly good enough to beat you," Alice said. "But it's very likely he'll injure at least one of your tails."

"My tails!?" Tamamo cried in mock horror. "Well, I'm no Granberia. I don't enjoy fighting like she does. I enjoy what comes after I win. But he's not THAT cute. It would be too much trouble."

"So then you'll give him the bell?" Alice prompted.

"Only if you order me to."

"Tamamo…."

"I found the bell first, fair and square," Tamamo pointed out. "I disabled all of the traps. And that treasure room is NOT safe. There are so many ways you could have lost your new companion if I hadn't been here. So if you want me to give the bell up, you have to order me to do it."

"What game are you playing, you sinister little kitsune?"

"You're the one playing a game," Tamamo countered. "Luka's a good kid. He has no animus towards monsters. There's no reason to mislead him about who you are."

"I'm not misleading him!" Alice yelled. "He's just…. Slow. I haven't exactly been hiding who I am. I just haven't said it explicitly."

"I'm waiting for your order, Alice."

"Fine," Alice sighed. "Tamamo, I order you to give Luka the bell."

"See, was that so hard?" Tamamo said, handing the bell over to me.

I stared at the bell in my hand dumbly. Then it was as if a light went on in my head.

"I… I think I just figured something out!"

Alice: "..."

Tamamo: "..."

Nanabi: "….."

Kitsu: "...."

"Ilias, please stop banging your head against the edge of the scrying pool!" Eden yelled. "you'll damage it!"

"I know I was supposed to wait awhile before getting eaten again, but I think I need to go get eaten right now!" Ilias responded.

"But Ilias!" Eden protested. "He's going to be facing Alma Elma soon! You'll need to be available to deal with that!"

"That won't happen until tomorrow. I'll be back by then."

"Ilias…." Eden said uncertainly. "Do you really think my voice is sexy?"

"Most definitely," Ilias answered. "Your body is perfect as well. Not as perfect as mine, of course, but those breasts of yours are very impressive. And you're so tall! I mean, if we were both mortals, you'd dominate me given our size differences."

"Would you like me to dominate you, Ilias?" Eden asked. "Would you like me to change into my true form and consume you?"

"Eden!" Ilias exclaimed. "I… I have to admit, that's been on my mind ever since you brought up the idea. But I didn't know you actually wanted to do it!"

"I've always wanted to make my goddess feel good, it's just that…. Your counterpart was divine, and had no interest in such things. My sexual skills were devoted strictly to rewarding and punishing mortals. But now that you have known pleasure…. And it would keep you up here, so I'd know where to find you if trouble arises. We're talking about Alma Elma here, so trouble is sure to arise."

"You make good arguments, Eden. And…. And wow, your breasts are huge. Before you change into your true form and eat me all up, could you just… make love to me as a woman does another woman?"

"I wouldn't know how to do that," Eden admitted. "But for you, I shall try."

"No, wait!" Ilias said. "I'll change into my male form. You can do to me what you did to humans my counterpart ordered you to reward."

"Now that I can do," Eden said, smiling warmly. "Unless… unless you'd prefer the punishment instead."

"How about this? Start out rewarding the hero Elias with tender lovemaking, then he'll insult you and you'll punish him for his blasphemy, ending with consuming him completely."

"A role play? I've never done that before. It sounds delightful!"

"Then let's begin," Elias said, flashing Eden that ten thousand watt smile that made her weak in the knees. So weak that she fell to her knees in front of Elias' gigantic member.

"Mmm. Slurp…"

"Ahhhh…."

"Mmmmm….. you like that?"

"It's so good! I can't believe how good your mouth feels! AAAHHHH!!!!"

"Mmph? Acch…. Cough. Luka!"

"I'm sorry, Sonya!" Luka exclaimed. "You did that thing and it caught me by surprise and I just…."

"You have to warn a girl," Sonya said gently, still on her knees, semen dripping out of her mouth. "I know your other experiences were with monsters, vicariously while inside of the other Luka. Monsters don't care if you come without warning. But I'm human and I have a sensitive gag reflex. I'll have to train some common courtesy into you."

"I'll…. I'll try to do better, Sonya," Luka promised. "It's just that I'm still not used to how my body reacts. I didn't masturbate, and while I did…. Join in for a few of Luka's later experiences out of curiosity, his body was the one experiencing everything. My body isn't used to the things you do to me. It responds differently."

"Well," Sonya said, getting up and smiling at her new husband. "Hopefully you never really get used to the things I do to you. I'm in the same boat as you. I'm just as inexperienced. I forgive you for coming in my mouth without warning me. It's flattering, actually. You let yourself join the other Luka in some pretty intense experiences. I was worried that I'd never measure up. I like that you come so quickly with me. Besides, it doesn't matter that you're a premature ejaculator when I have this…"

Sonya reached into a drawer and pulled out the succubus hand Alma Elma had gifted to her. Succubus hands were highly sought after sex toys because they retained succubus magic for years after the succubus made her "donation". These donations were almost always voluntary, and lucrative as well, since succubi regenerated lost limbs. Alma Elma, being extra powerful, hadn't even needed to cut her hand off. Promestein had merely created a silicone glove and grafted some of Alma Elma's skin onto it. She'd even added a little kitsune fur to make it unique and even softer. But the best part about the succubus hand was that it meant Luka could keep on going no matter how many times he ejaculated. Rubbing him a little with it was all it took to get him ready for another go. And due to its potency, if Sonya just wanted to make Luka feel good without having to do much work, the glove was very convenient, about as arduous as scratching Luka's back for a few seconds.

"I'm going to see that you make it up to me, husband of mine," Sonya said, advancing on him. "All… night…. Long."

"Is everything ready, honey?" Alice the Fifteenth asked Marcellus.

"All set!" Marcellus replied, patting two large suitcases he'd packed for the journey.

The Monster Lord stared a long time at the luscious man that stood before her. He looked much better without all that silly looking armor. Time had been kind to him. When they had first traveled the world together, he had been a young man of twenty-three, seeking his fortune as a hero so as to give his wife and son a better life. Like her daughter, she was actually a merger of every version of herself that had ever lived except for the original, which had died before the Paradox. Unlike her daughter, however, she handled her disparate selves well, since they were all of like mind. Her daughter's personality was very different depending on how she was raised and her early experiences with humans. Her mother, on the other hand, whether a Monster Lord or a mere peasant, or a wild monster, had a similar outlook. She loved the humans and wanted coexistence.

Taking her bad ends, however, was another matter. She had constant nightmares of her deaths. Even though she had renewed her love affair with Marcellus, she could not sleep next to him when they were finished making love. In most worlds, he had been the cause of her death. While she had intended him to end her life, in fact, would not have let anyone else do the act if it was in her power to prevent it, she still couldn't be that vulnerable with him. She would have to get over it. They were about to go on a journey together again. But they would not be alone.

"Are Allison and Morrigan ready too?"

"I made sure of it," Marcellus said proudly. "But are you sure you want those two along? I thought this was just for us."

"This journey is about selecting an heir, and if that fails, perhaps producing one," the Monster Lord said patiently for the twelfth time. "Morrigan was reborn out of my own womb. She is not genetically my daughter, but we are bonded now. She has power, as well. She would make a fitting Monster Lord if I can control her…. Murderous nature."

"But wouldn't it break the Fateburn line?" Marcellus asked. "Every Monster Lord after her would be a succubus, not a lamia."

"While it's true that most Fateburns are lamias, there have been adoptions. The Fateburn line is not all blood, although the line always seems to return to the blood eventually. But for blood, we have Allison. She is a version of my daughter, but she'll be a lot of work. She knows no magic, has no combat skills, and no respect for human life. But I see my daughter in her, which is only natural because she is my daughter."

"I don't like the way she looked at me while I was packing her bag," Marcellus said. "I know from long experience when a monster wants to eat me, and she wanted to eat me."

"I want to eat you too," the Monster Lord laughed. "It is our instinct to desire live prey. But the Dark God bequeathed us complex brains so that we could make moral choices. Allison rationalized that since she was making her prey feel good while consuming them that it was all right. After all, none of her victims complained once she got started."

"She looked at me with intent."

"She doesn't have the ability to eat you unless you let her," the Monster Lord retorted. "And I know you aren't that weak to temptation. No, unlike that version of your boy, you are a complete warrior, with no weaknesses. No monster, not even me, can take you against your will. So if Allison eats you or Morrigan turns you into dried fish, that would be because you wanted them to. Besides, they wouldn't dare try. Allison is already on thin ice, out of prison only because I agreed to take her into my custody. And Morrigan wants very badly to be the next Monster Lord. While she doesn't need my permission, as the Monster Lord is always decided through combat, she knows that being the logical next daughter of the Fateburn line would be a huge advantage. With me, she'll have all the best magic and combat teachers. Without me, she'll be just another succubus, albeit a powerful one. But no Monster Lord has ever been crowned through pleasure attacks alone. Many a powerful succubus has tried."

"Do you think by the time we finish our journey, our children will have finished theirs?" Marcellus asked. "I really do hope that Ilias lets us see them again."

"I do as well, but whatever her decision, they are in a better place now," the Monster Lord replied. "And that Luka is not your child. Your child is here, enjoying his honeymoon."

"With a woman who is not his half sister, thank Ilias."

"Oh, don't be a stick in the mud," Alice XV scolded. "There are no genetic consequences to monster/human half sibling pairings, or even full sibling pairings. That's only a problem for human/human pairings."

"It's still creepy to me. Speaking as a human."

"Then I suggest you stay away from the original world."

"My days of world hopping are finished," Marcellus said grimly. "I've had more than my fill of it. From now on, I'm staying right here. And frankly, when this journey ends in Iliasville, I'm staying there and never leaving again."

"I'm glad you feel that way. As much as I love you and enjoy your company, reading about that strange Luka's experience being married to a Monster Lord made me question if it is at all wise for Monster Lords to marry. I intend to reign a long time, and over a simple, peaceful world."

"Do you think it will last?" Marcellus asked.

"Who knows?" Alice XV shrugged. "I'm not just going on this journey with you for kicks, or just to train my potential heirs. I also want to get a look at things at ground level. You and I have both been off of this world for decades and only recently returned. Now that things are back to some semblance of normal, it is time for me to do my job. And until your son discovers his own secret powers, you are the designated hero of this world. Your retirement will have to wait until we've ascertained whether this world still needs a hero."

"As long as your solution isn't to die this time."

"Not funny, Marcellus."

Tamamo waited in the restaurant apprehensively. She wasn't sure why she agreed to this meeting. She'd been in emotional turmoil ever since Luka had seemingly sacrificed himself to save the entire multiverse. Learning that he was still alive, or at least that a small part of him had been preserved and recreated by the goddess Ilias, on a world of her own creation, had not been a comfort. That event had only been a week ago. She hadn't even come close to working out her feelings on everything or grappling with her own actions. She had chosen solitude in order to think, as well as heal, since Luka had done quite a number on her face in their battle inside the Demiurge, followed by another humiliating defeat in the Monster Lord's Castle at the hands of the Four Heavenly Knights. But something about the invitation intrigued her. Tamamo felt that she should at least find out what it was all about.

The person she was here to meet arrived, somewhat late, and was directed to her table. She didn't look like any angel Tamamo had ever seen. She was dressed in a black outfit that left little to the imagination, drawing stares from the patrons. Tamamo remembered that she had actually suffered three humiliating defeats. Sariela had burned her with hellfire, an attack the kitsune had not expected from an angel. It had hurt far worse than anything Luka had done. She should hate Sariela. But she didn't. It had been war. Tamamo herself had done a lot worse to those she had defeated. Micaela….. She had gouged Micaela's eyes out, and that had just been the start of Micaela's violent death. She had been so filled with hate that she had denied her defeated enemy a pleasurable end. Her dark goddess had punished her for that crime. While pain was an acceptable tool for monsters to use on a defeated opponent they did not intend to kill, it was monster custom to kill all defeated enemies with pleasure. Otherwise, what separated monster from angel? Monsters were supposed to be the good girls, right?

"You look good, Tamamo," Sariela observed as she sat at the table and grabbed a menu. "I guess we immortals heal fast."

"You look good too, given that you were headless a few days ago," Tamamo countered. "Are you sure you reattached it correctly? It looks a little off center."

"I did that on purpose to favor my good side. So what's good here?"

"What do you care?" Tamamo retorted. "You're an angel. It's not like you can taste anything."

"I should probably start living as if I can," Sariela replied. "With Ilias abandoning us and taking all that holy energy with her, we are slowly going to lose our divinity."

"Oh, that's so terrible."

"Don't get too excited. Our newly recovered genius is working on a way to create angelic stem cells that will keep us mostly divine."

"I thought that was impossible," Tamamo said skeptically.

"That's what we all thought. Yet this Alliance of Wisdom says it can be done and Promestein has set out to do it. She may even be able to create us a new Ilias."

"Thrilling. So why am I here?"

"I'll get to that," Sariela said. "Waiter! We're ready to order!"

The waiter was a very tasty smelling man, or perhaps it was the fact he had the smell of the restaurant's amazing food on him. Tamamo gave him her best sexy look. Like all men, he responded positively. At least the night wouldn't be a total waste. First a meal, then some semen for dessert. Men were weak. It would only take thirty seconds. Maybe she'd drag him under the table with a tail. Or wait until the end of his shift if she wanted to take her time. Semen always tasted better when it was extracted more slowly. Quickies were like junk food, in Tamamo's opinion.

"And what will you be having, ma'am?" the waiter asked Sariela.

"Oh, I don't care, I'll just have what she's having."

Sariela probably didn't want what Tamamo was having. Or maybe she did. Angels were hard to figure. Some of them were very slutty, which Tamamo felt was quite hypocritical, but others hated to even touch men, especially the powerful angels.

"I'll have the sushi," Tamamo replied. "With sashimi."

"So two of those? Very good."

"We've ordered, now get to the point," Tamamo said curtly when the waiter was out of earshot.

"How have you taken your defeat at the hands of the hero Luka?" Sariela asked.

"How do you think? It sucked! To be defeated by a human, even if he was the prophesied World Breaker! But it's not as if he was my only defeat that week. It was a tough few days."

"It wasn't any easier for me," Sariela replied. "But I got the impression that you took your defeat at Luka's hands a lot more personally than you did your defeat to me, or to the Heavenly Knights."

"How would you know?"

"I read the book," Sariela shrugged. "I believe you said that you hated him and wanted to destroy everything he loved."

"That was when I thought he'd doomed us," Tamamo said. "Obviously, that was a mistaken belief."

"Oh?" Sariela asked, nonplussed. "So…. You no longer hate him?"

"I still hate him. I want to rend his flesh and eat it. He humiliated me. Worse, he made me doubt myself. Lately I've been questioning if I'm a good person or not. That goody little loli version of myself isn't helping, but I can't do anything to her. If one of us dies, we merge. I don't think either one of us could handle that."

"I'm confused now," Sariela said. "You said you hated him and wanted to destroy everything he loved, but that was before he was proven right. And then you said you want to rend his flesh. So it sounds like you still want to kill him."

"I do," Tamamo admitted. "More than anything in the world."

"Then let's be allies! Luka is weak now! He has no awareness of his power. He doesn't even have a single spirit yet! We can figure out a way to go to the world he's on right now and kill him. Slowly. Perhaps kill his love in front of him slowly as well, although she's a tougher opponent. Nothing we can't handle, of course."

"I can't kill him," Tamamo said.

"What do you mean, you can't kill him?" Sariela asked. "Is your dark goddess forbidding it?"

"That's now how it works. She doesn't rule like Ilias, telling us what we can and can't do all the time. She's said nothing about Luka since his sacrifice. She doesn't have to. My own conscience won't allow me to kill him anymore."

"You monsters are so confusing!" Sariela exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I thought you monsters couldn't be dissuaded from vengeance when you were wronged!?"

"Oh, we can't," Tamamo agreed. "My heart screams for vengeance against Luka. He owes me a debt and I want to collect so badly."

"Then what is the problem, exactly?"

"What he did to me isn't the only debt I need to replay. He also saved us all. I, and all my descendants, only exist because he saved us. That's a debt that also has to be paid. If I kill him, I can't very well thank him for saving us, now can I?"

Sariela just stared at Tamamo. When she found her voice again, the angel said, "So basically, you need to reward him, and then kill him. Fine. Give him nine moons or whatever the hell you nine tailed kitsunes do to men and then we'll kill him."

"I'm not killing Luka!" Tamamo yelled, slamming her hand down on the table. "I'm willing to listen to ideas for paying back the debt he owes me. The fact that he did something good doesn't cancel out the wrong he did me.Both debts must be paid. But the nature of the debt of gratitude is such that I could never repay it in a thousand of his lifetimes. So he has to live so that I can pay it back as best I can."

"I'm… I'm not going down this stupid rabbit hole any further," Sariela said with frustration. "No matter how much you explain it, I'll never understand it. So we can't kill him. Fine. We'll torture him again until he begs for our forgiveness. Then you can do whatever nice things you want to do for him according to your weird customs."

"No," Tamamo said firmly. "No physical torture. We've already done that."

"You have," Sariela said bitterly. "I tried to, but he altered my sexual magic. The bastard. I still feel so violated. He used me… for… pleasure!"

"You do realize you raped him, right?" Tamamo pointed out. "It was you who put his penis inside you and ignored his pleas for mercy. And so YOU feel violated because he liked it? And you say monsters are weird?!"

"I'm an innocent little flower who has been taken advantage of!" Sariela raged, now slamming her hand on the table.

"Look, I've got a lot of thinking to do," Tamamo said. "if you want me in on this little plot of yours, you need to come up with something more creative than physical torture. I did that to him, and he was unbreakable. He screamed like a little girl, but wouldn't give me what I wanted to make it stop. Doing it to him again wouldn't be revenge. It would hurt and then he'd be healed and he'd get over it. Real pain lasts. Such as the pain of betraying your friends. Which is something no amount of torture could ever get him to do."

"Betraying his friends, hmmmm?" Sariela mumbled. "You might be onto something there, my dear kitsune."

"You have an idea?"

"Not yet," Sariela admitted. "But let's eat first. I have some thinking to do as well. Perhaps soon I'll have an idea for you."

Food was served a few minutes later. Tamamo was not the voracious eater Alice was, but she did enjoy her delicacies very much. She just preferred to savor them slowly rather than gobble them up. She had a similar philosophy about men. Many monsters thought extracting ten loads in five minutes out of a man was a meal. But meals were meant to be savored unless one was in a hurry. It was how Tamamo had conquered kingdoms with her vagina, something even Minagi couldn't claim.

Sariela, on the other hand, ate distactedy while turning the pages of a large book. Tamamo recognized the book. It was Luka's memoirs, although the second half of the book had been written by Ilias. Tamamo had barely skimmed it. What little she'd read had made her uncomfortable.

"I've got it!" Sariela said triumphantly as she ate her last bite and closed the book.

"What have you got?" Tamamo asked wearily.

"Luka and Alice's relationship was a difficult one," Sariela explained. "His relationship with your counterpart on his world was far more loving and stable. Yet for some reason his heart has always belonged to Alice. But therein lies opportunity. On their original journey, there were many points at which they could have been pulled apart."

"And? I want to go home and get my nightly twelve hours. Get to the point."

"And, what better revenge could we have than for him to disappoint Alice, so that she leaves him?" Sariela said excitedly.

"You think we can do that?" Tamamo asked.

"I think we can. I see three events on their journey which could definitely break them apart if we manipulate things just so."

"You're forgetting two rather big obstacles to that brilliant plan," Tamamo pointed out. "Getting to that world in the first place…"

"I have an idea for that."

"And the Goddess," Tamamo concluded. "She's at her full power now. Whatever we do, she can simply undo. And that's assuming she doesn't just fry us as soon as we annoy her. Remember, she's not only at her full strength, she's carrying some of Luka's power as well."

"That…. I admit that will take some luck. But I think there's a good chance we will receive that luck."

"I don't follow. Why would you think we could get lucky against a goddess with more power than even the Goddess of Chaos had?"

"Oh, because of a very big brained scientist who doesn't trust goddesses, and a very lonely version of yourself that is probably wondering right now what happened to her Luka."

"What happened to my Luka?!" Tamamo cried, burying her face in Promestein's shoulder.

Tamamo was very, very drunk, something that was extremely hard to pull off and a condition Tamamo almost never experienced. Promestein understood, though, despite her own inebriation, which occurred much more frequently, if only to quiet her busy mind from time to time. How does one handle a loved one who keeps on dying and coming back and dying again? Or more accurately, disappearing? They'd all thought they lost Luka when he had taken the Dark God into exile on Earth and cut the link between Earth and their world. Luka somehow made it back. What happened to that Dark God was one of the main reasons Promestein drank. Figuring out the implications given that only their world had been rewound hurt her head.

Then Luka had died a natural death and everyone still alive who had known him assumed that was that. He'd lived a remarkably long life thanks to a magic ring. If it was time for anyone to pass into the next world, it was Luka. Except that Ilias had intercepted his soul and kept it a secret. So centuries later, Tamamo said goodbye to him again, this time presumably for the last time. And Luka did move onto the next world. Except it wasn't the final destination and he came back AGAIN. And then something had happened to save everyone, something involving Luka's power, and the Tartarus on their world had closed. Leaving Tamamo and Promestein with no clue as to Luka's fate.

Of course, it had only been a little more than a week. Tamamo, an immortal, was normally a very patient person. Promestein was certain that if Luka was alive, he would find his way back to Tamamo. She was still his wife, after all, even if his Alice was back. If Luka was dead, he would probably still find his way back, it just would take longer. And Tamamo had time if nothing else. And yet the world's most powerful kitsune, the mother of all kitsunes, was distraught. The constant deaths and rebirths, the losses and returns, had become too much for her to handle. Tamamo needed to know now.

"Tamamo, it's only been a week," Promestein said uselessly. "Just… assume he'll be back as soon as he can find us again."

"You know how it always works!" Tamamo slurred, drooling on Promesteins shoulder. "If we assume he's dead, he'll come back. But if we assume he'll come back… we'll…. We'll…. WAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! We'll never see him again!"

"Clearly you won't be able to rest until we know, so…. Sigh…. I have a way to get us to that… that Paradox world."

"Really?" Tamamo asked, perking up and briefly sobering up. "When can we go?"

"It's not totally risk free," Promestein cautioned. "It's a lot like teleporting indoors. We'll probably be okay, but things can go wrong. Having never been to that world, we could teleport way above the surface."

"We can fly," Tamamo said.

"Or underground."

"I have earth power. I can survive the heat of the planet's core. No matter how far underground we are I can get us to the surface!"

"Or in space."

"That I can't do much about," Tamamo admitted.

"We could also end up on the wrong world and not have an easy way back," Promestein cautioned. "Then we'll be world hopping like Luka did way back when. I can try to set our portal to bring us back to our starting point, but different worlds can have different physical laws. It was an ironclad bitch to get Earth and our world connected properly. A world we end up on might not allow us to teleport straight back here. And then you truly may lose Luka forever. Just wait, Tamamo."

"I can't wait!!!!" Tamamo cried. "It's not that I need him to be with me all the time! I just can't bear to not know what happened to him! Please, Promestein, let's leave right now!"

"We're both too drunk for that, Tamamo," Promestein replied reasonably. "Let's sleep and then when you're awake we'll go to my lab and give it a shot. Okay? Tamamo?"

Tamamo was already snoring on Promestein's shoulder.