Unwritten Destiny [Yuri/Sapphic, Isekai, LitRPG]

"Hi."

"Hi, yourself." Paz pulled me close into the tightest hug and smashed her lips against mine. Finally, she leaned back and whispered in my ear. "Don't you dare ever do that to me again."

I chuckled. "Technically, you died first."

My ginger huffed and rolled her eyes at me. "I love you, you stupid idiot."

"I love you, too. And who's the idiot? I got the gold, didn't I?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her.

"It wasn't worth your life!" She growled and turned away from me, jumping with fright when she saw Cerbe. "What the fuck?"

Everyone else was backed against the far wall, nervously eyeing my Hellbeast like they were afraid to be his next lunch. Cerbe for his part, was just sitting in the middle of the inn, casually licking a paw while his other two heads watched the group.

"Oh hey y'all, that's Cerbe. We visited the Hells and Paranova and the Shadow Falls together. Don't worry, he doesn't bite unless you're a lost soul." I reached out a hand and Cerbe pranced over, rubbing his head into my hand so I could give him scritches.

"Ooookay." Sterling hesitantly pushed away from the wall and approached. Moira reached out for her, but Sterling waved off her girlfriend. She stepped closer and gently scratched Cerbe on his second head. That head leaned into her hand, causing the young infernal girl to giggle.

Paz focused on the others in general, and the strange man in specific. "Jacque, why couldn't I bring her back before? Right after she died."

Jacque threw his hands into the air. "Red, I already told you! You had to take the leap of faith."

My girlfriend frowned. "But Alexis did it when I died."

He grinned at her and looked down at me. "Blondie dives in feet first."

Moira broke into the discussion "Can we talk about the giant three-headed dog? Why's it here? Where did it come from? Is it going to eat my girlfriend?"

I rolled my eyes and brushed away her concern with a wave of my hand. "I already told you. His name is Cerbe. He only eats spirits and wandering souls. He chased me across the planes. In the Hells, we actually saw this chained angel woman being guarded by thousands of angels, it was wild. But anyway. Cerbe is my friend."

"Rawr?" Cerbe cocked a head at me questioningly.

"Oh yeah!" I nodded to him. "That probably would help."

Black smoke poured out of Cerbe and everyone shrieked. When it dissipated, my boy was actually dog sized. Around the size of a labrador or mastiff. "Rawr!"

"Oh gods Above, he is so cute!" Sterling squealed and then blushed guiltily and looked at me and Paz. "Sorry. It just slipped out. I didn't mean to say the G word."

I smiled and nodded at her. "I totally get it. It's gonna happen. They... run this world. Anyway-" I looked over at Jacque. "Who is that guy? Did we get yet another party member while I was dead?"

"Oh! Oh! I want to be an adventurer." Jacque jumped up and down clapping his hands.

Paz held up an angry hand to silence him. "Maybe! We can talk about it after you bring Xena back." She turned to me and mumbled. "I hate Blood Witches."

"Hey! I'm really proud of the Blood Witch." It's my favorite class and was a ton of fun to make. Although, I will admit, the Emerald Heart coven is too complicated. I looked over at Jacque. Judging by the muscle on his arms, I'd guess he was probably Onyx Hand. That would be handy. We could really use a front-liner and Blood Witches were tough as fuck thanks to being a constitution caster. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but I make it work.

My ginger gave me a weird look. Shit. I needed to watch my mouth. "He's Bibi's friend. And a changeling."

"Ah. Okay then." I groaned and leaned on Paz as she helped drag me to my feet. She dusted herself off and held me close. "So, we're resurrecting Xena then? Is she still in the temple?"

Paz nodded. "Yes to both. Come on, mushroom boy. Earn your keep if you're going to stay around and continue to annoy me."

"Cooooooool." Jacque, Moira, and Sterling were all standing together, giving Cerbe head scratches. He was panting and wagging all three tails like a pig in shit.

Wow. I... kinda feel like I'm herding cats at this point. I looked to the man who actually owned the quite crowded inn. "Thank you for the help, Sabastian."

The surly dwarf tilted his head toward me. "Sure thing. Glad to have yeh back."

We all filed outside in a big clump into the setting sunlight. I led the group over to the temple. The priestess nodded to me in greeting before her eyes went wide at my motley crew. "Fair evening to you all. Is there something you need help with?" She kept her voice low out of respect for the sleeping people who had escaped the slaver camp with us.

"Yeah, uh... we're here for her." I quietly responded and pointed to Xena's body, resting peacefully in the corner where flowers and a makeshift shrine had been built for her. "Our friend here is going to resurrect her."

The woman nodded and smiled warmly. "Iridatha be praised." Paz and I exchanged pained looks with each other.

Jacque walked over, carefully finding his way through the sleeping refugees. He scooped Xena up into his arms and followed us back outside. We all trooped out of town and a ways into the forest. The tree cover quickly eclipsed the twilight and blanketed us in darkness. I could still see okay, but I reached for my torch to light the way for the others. My bag. "Shit. Where's my bag?"

"Oh, sorry boss!" Moira slipped it off her shoulder and passed it over to me.

"Thanks." I pulled out the torch and lit it.

Jacque found a spot he liked and gently set Xena down in the fallen leaves. He very softly brushed her hair out of her face and stood. "Alright alright alright. This should do just fine." He began chanting and tracing spells across his skin. Wisps of multi-colored light started swirling in the air above the fallen elf. "The spirits call for sacrifice. Can someone like.. answer?"

I nodded and stepped over near Xena's body. I blew out a sigh and gathered my nerve. "I'm forty and I'm still a virgin." My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as Moira and Sterling snickered at me. They tried to cover it, but my cheeks burned even hotter at their teasing.

My wonderful, beautiful, eternally amazing girlfriend, Paz, stepped up and wrapped her arm around me with a nervous quirk to her smile. "I'm ten thousand and I'm still a virgin." I pulled her even closer and kissed her softly as Moira and Sterling bent over, no longer able to hide their raucous laughter.

Jacque pulled a mushroom out of his pocket while giggling at us and popped it into his mouth. "The spirits accept. That was a most embarrassing sacrifice." He traced a final spell across his stomach. The floating wisps glowed with power and then shot into Xena.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!" Our elf sat up and desperately sucked in air.