Unwritten Destiny [Yuri/Sapphic, Isekai, LitRPG]

The trip back to Vaqyn was brutal. Returning with one fewer party member than we left with had us both in a funk. Fortunately, at least we didn't have to drag Xena's body back. Bibi graciously had her husband and some nephews deliver her to the temple. We dragged ourselves to the inn and fell into some surprisingly comfortable chairs.

Anabelle, the devil-blood barmaid, sashayed over to our table with a warm smile. "Howdy folks. What can I do you for?"

I looked up at her with pleading eyes. "The nicest and hottest meals you've got, please. And if you've got any sweets banging around, we'd take those too. We really, really deserve a treat after the week we've had." Paz nodded vigorous agreement.

"No problem, hun. How about two bowls of our house stew? And I do have some cinnamon rolls due out in a few minutes as well."

I think Paz and I both drooled a bit. "Yes, please!"

She nodded. "I'll bring those out in a jiffy!" She moved over to the bar, filled two mugs of mead, and then brought them over to our table before withdrawing into the kitchen.

I figured we had a few minutes, so I sipped my mead and then looked at Paz. "So, Ninira."

She nervously took a large gulp from her own cup. "Ninira."

A teasing smile played across my lips. "You don't look a day over nine thousand years old."

She snorted and some of the tension seemed to ease out of her shoulders. "You always do that. Whenever I'm feeling tense or sad or upset, you always know what to say to make me feel better. The uh.." Her eyes glimmered wetly and she cleared her throat. "The first time you were there after the whip and made me laugh until I forgot about the pain. That was when I knew I loved you."

I nodded along, that had been a rough fucking day for both of us. "Let's see," I tapped my finger against my chin thoughtfully, "The first time I knew that I loved you was.. the first time I saw you naked." Her mouth fell open and she hefted her mug like she was preparing to throw it. I quickly held up my hands while chuckling. "Kidding, kidding! I'm just taking the piss."

Her eyes narrowed. "You had better be joking, or else you'll never get to see me naked for real."

I looked down into my mug and got serious. "It was actually when I had that nightmare about my mom and woke up in a panic attack. You must have held me and comforted me for four hours. I think that was when I knew."

Paz sucked on her lip and her eyes twinkled. "I had to pee sooooo bad!"

We were both still laughing when the smell of roasted meat pulled our attention. Anabelle brought our food out and set it on the table. "Thank you! This looks and smells amazing."

She curtsied. "Just holler if you need anything else."

I sat for a moment looking at my stew. And then I looked up at Paz. "Are we bastards? We're sitting here laughing and eating when Xena died a few hours ago."

She tilted her head and considered me. "Death isn't an every day occurrence in your world. Here, we have to deal with it as best we can and keep moving forward. Let me ask, do you have the power to resurrect her?"

I shook my head. "No, of course I don't." Although I guess I did have the capacity to learn it at some point? Paz said I could use all schools of magic.

My ginger girlfriend bobbed her head. "And neither do I. By the strength and honor of our deeds, we have been given a promise of bringing her back. For now, that is all we can do."

I nodded and smiled at her and then pushed it onto the back burner in my mind. I grabbed a spoon and slid a heaping amount of stew into my mouth. "Oh my gods! Mmmmmm." I moaned as the rich flavors caressed my tongue. "This venison is so tender." I took another bite and savored it in my mouth as I closed my eyes, making a plethora of immodest sounds in my chest. I finally swallowed and opened my eyes. Paz hadn't touched hers. She had her bottom lip tightly caught between her teeth, her entire face was flushed, and her eyes were the size of dinner plates. The knuckles on her left hand were white where she had the edge of the table in a death grip, and her right hand was resting somewhere under the table. I smirked at her. "Hey Paz, enjoying yourself down there?"

My hot little redhead jerked her hand out from under the table so fast that she banged her knee on it and blushed a color that I could only describe as nuclear meltdown. She suddenly discovered that her bowl of stew was the most fascinating object in the universe and quickly shoveled half of it unto her mouth before mumbling something completely incoherent.

After we finished our stew, I pulled up my character sheet. "I think I'm gonna increase my charisma and constitution. And pick up.." I tapped at my chin in thought for a moment. "Circle of Power seems nice. It'll give us an option for when we need to stand our ground."

Paz smiled. "Oh yeah, that's a good choice. I think I'm gonna go with constitution and dexterity. And I'll pick up Gallant Stride. Since we do so much fucking walking!"

We settled into a comfortable conversation about nothing for a while before Anabelle brought out the cinnamon rolls. She set two saucers down on the table, each with a big fat steaming cinnamon roll drenched in icing. Paz picked hers up and cleared her throat to get my attention. I looked up at her. She smiled a devilish grin at me and brought the roll to her mouth, her long pink tongue lashing out at the icing. I felt my face flushing and I started squirming in my seat. This wasn't fair! It wasn't intentional when I did it. But still, she kept on slowly licking that icing.

By the time we managed to finish the cinnamon rolls, I was a hot mess. "Your dad seemed nice." I offered up to distract myself with ANYTHING that wasn't her cute little mouth and that evil tongue.

Paz smiled warmly, her eyes drifting off into the distant past. "Yeah, he really was. Mom too. I still miss them, if you can believe it."

I nodded and took her hand between mine. "So, there's no awesome way to say this-"

She read me as effortlessly as always and finished the thought. "Is Ninira the reason I hate the gods so much?" I inclined my head. She gave a short, sharp bark of derision that couldn't possibly be mistaken for actual laughter. "No. It was only the first in a long line of dominoes that set me on that path."

I was slightly frightened to imagine what would constitute bigger dominoes after something like Ninira. "Okay."

"Just okay?" She crossed her arms, not quite in a disbelieving way, but close.

I shrugged. "You've already promised that you'll tell me the rest when you're ready. That's good enough for now. So!" She squeaked and jumped when I clapped my hands. "Wanna go shopping now? I'm gonna crawl out of my skin if I have to spend one more minute in these hideous man clothes."

Paz nodded excitedly. "Yes, please!"

I stopped by the bar on our way out to pay Sabastian for the meal. "So, would be able to rent a room for the week?"

His face broke into a broad grin. "Aye. We'll be happy to have yeh."

I turned on the charm. "Happy enough to give me seven nights for five gold?"

The dwarf scratched at his messy beard as his sharp eyes pierced me. "How about seven gold with meals for you and your girl."

I agreed happily. "Deal." I reached into my smelly pocket and grimaced. "Oh right, any chance you've got change for a cobalt?"

Sabastian nodded. "Aye, the local wizard helps us with that sort of thing. Not a problem."