Interlude 3: Family Concerns
“We’ve just received confirmation that the shadowy beast fighting Green and Ceridwen has been pacifed,” Medi stated. “Sending the coordinates to pick up the subject.”
“So, they didn’t kill it?” Roth asked.
“No. Um… Isis, Hori, could you go with them?”
“Medi, like I said before-” Isis began.
“The beast was Seth.” Isis’s eyes widened. “And… she seems to have been subjected to a lot of abuse at the hands of Odin.”
“I see…” Isis frowned. She rested her eyes as she processed the news.
“Um… Hori? I just want to check… in the past, Seth was…”
“Seth was… well they presented as a man. Honestly, all the ill will aside, they were fairly enigmatic,” Hori explained. “Maybe things can be different this time.”
“I’m not so sure…” Isis mumbled. “All the things they did…”
“I think things will be okay,” Ami stated as she approached the others, Cheryl beside her. “Believe me, I understand how you feel. Sue and I had a lot of bad experiences with each other in the past too. It wasn’t easy for either of us, but over time she became a better person, and a big part of that was changing her body into one that reflected who she was. If Seth changed to, give her the chance to prove it.”
“I suppose.”
“Isis,” Athena spoke up. “We all did and believed things in our past lives that we’ve come to regret,” she said looking to Medi. She frowned. “I hurt Medusa in an unforgivable way back then, and I still struggle to fully grasp what I damned her too.” Medi sighed, her body tensing as Medusa took the lead, her face twisting as thoughts ran through her mind. “But I’m trying to make up for it. I know it might be selfish to say, but I think Seth deserves the chance to change as well.
Isis sighed. “Fine. If possible, I’d like to avoid what happened with Odin anyway. That bastard may have deserved it, but I don’t believe we should be sentencing each other to a second death if we can help it.”
“I agree, Mom,” Hori said. “Heck, maybe treating her nicely will show her that she doesn’t have to hurt people either. Either way, we should hurry up. I assume that Wisp and Ceridwen won’t be lingering there for too long.”
“They’ll be standing by for a bit,” Medusa stated, “Carmen’s group is going to rendevous with them before heading out again. Strength in numbers and all.”
“Understood, we don’t know what else could be out there,” Hori stated, Medusa and Athena going silent. “Alright then, Mom and I are going to head out. We’ll see you all again soon.”
“Take care you two,” Ami said, waving the two off. As they left a heavy silence seemed to linger. Ami looked around confusedly until finally noticing Cheryl’s anxious expression. The two traded a glance causing Cheryl to sigh.
“Um… are you two okay?” Cheryl spoke up.
“Sorry, just thinking…” Athena muttered.
“What else could be out there indeed,” Medusa sighed. “Well Athena?”
The war goddess sighed. “I… kind of suspected she might be involved in this.”
“I can tell the girls if you’d like.”
“Tell them what?” Ami asked.
“Ares, the goddess that Carmen and Ichika mentioned in their messages, is my sister. The god of war, like me. Only where I am the goddess of just warfare…”
“Ares was the god of everything else,” Medusa explained. “Pillaging, burning things down, certain vile acts, you know, war crimes.”
“That… wasn’t how we spoke of it, but yes,” Athena admitted. “Ares was… hard to deal with. Gruff, tough, and very aggressive, but even in the scant few memories I still remember clearly, it was like they were more like a shadow than a person. Her being a goddess… it strangely makes sense for her,” Athena sighed.
“What do you plan to do?” Chreyl asked.
“I want to give her another chance.”
“But she’s working with Zeus,” Ami pointed out.
“And so did Tia,” Athena noted. “Father is manipulative, relentlessly so. He always was, and Tia showed to me that he still is. I myself was convinced to do some horrible things by him in my past life. And I suspect that Ares is still in the clutches of that manipulation.”
“What do you plan to do?” Medusa asked.
“Same thing as with Tia… I’m going trust my priestess to save her.” She approached the console and readied to call the others when a phone rang.
“Oh, sorry, that’s mine,” Cheryl said, pulling out her phone.
“Is that a phone!?” a man, General Tombs angrily shouted from the other room.
“Um…”
“We’ll cover for you,” Ami giggled. Cheryl nodded.
“Hello sweetie, what’s going on?” Cheryl asked as she stepped out of the room and into the hallway.
“Just checking in,” Mary answered. “Sounds like things are getting pretty busy over there.”
“I mean… you’re right, but why did you…?”
“There’s been a bunch of reports about there being a battle near Colorado Springs. Something about rock monsters?”
“Ah, yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Cheryl chuckled. “Vivi is safe. She hasn’t been involved in any battles.”
“...yet…” Mary whispered.
Cheryl sighed. “Honey… I’m sorry. I didn’t want her to get involved, but…”
“Cherry, we’ve had this conversation already. I don’t blame you, so please stop blaming yourself.”
“But… I just feel so guilty…” Cheryl confessed. “If it weren’t for me, maybe Vivi would be home safe and sound, and…”
“And getting harassed at school?” Cheryl went quiet. “I remember what you and Vera talked about, her becoming a succubus was an inevitability. Lilith’s intervention with her magical girl powers only accelerated it a bit. And I’m happy for that. Vivi’s happier this way, and at least has the support to push through it.”
“Yeah…” Cheryl chuckled lightly.
“Speaking of changes, there’s something else we should talk about.”
“Mhmm?”
“Leah was talking to me earlier and started talking about hybradization,” Mary sighed. “She… wants to see if one of the ideas you mentioned could work. About channeling mana into someone to initiate it.”
Cheryl took a deep breath. “What… did she have in mind?”
“That’s kind of up to you. Whatever you think could work and…”
“...and would be safe.”
“Yeah.”
“That last part is unfortunately the one I don’t know about. We’re still learning what magic can do to people.” Cheryl took a deep breath and chuckled. “I imagine she’s feeling a little left out, isn’t she?”
“She won’t say it, but I think so.”
“Well, I have some pretty resourceful people I can ask here for ideas. Don’t worry, we’ll get our girl her ears,” she giggled.
“Oh, and you’re so convinced she’ll be an elf and not an alluring succubus?”
“Gosh, I wish your charms worked over the phone,” Cheryl moaned. “That sounded so hot.” Mary made a seductive chuckle, making Cheryl’s blush intensify. “To be fair,” she panted. “We both have long pointy ears.”
“Oh, you sneak,” Mary laughed. “Keep our girl safe out there.”
“You know I will.” She hung up and took a deep breath. “As soon as I can figure out how to beat a god, that is. If only my priestess powers weren’t so support based, maybe I could help… says the girl who didn’t have muscle mass before changing. Yeah… sure,” she mocked herself.
* * *
The girl’s breath was light and easy. She curled around, the snake coiled around her neck pulling itself free and choosing to instead coil up next to her belly, her fingers delicately resting upon it. The snake’s head shivered and the girl giggled. Her eyes fluttered open. She took a deep breath and rose from the bed, giving a big yawn, the snake mimicking her movements as her ears twitched. Her hand fell to her chest only to twist her lips in confusion. She looked down to see that her chest was larger than she remembered. “How did…”
“Morning auntie,” Hori chirped, startling her.
“Y-you!” She pulled herself into a ball, her snake of a tail coiling around her and hissing. Her eyes widened. “My shadow?”
“It seems that you’ve lost that ability, dear sister,” Isis stated. Seth’s looked at her and trembled.
“Please don’t hurt me,” she squeaked.
Isis sighed and pet the girl’s head, much to her surprise. She relaxed, a purring sound coming from her as she leaned into the pets. “You really must’ve been through a lot to act like this.”
Seth looked up at her and frowned.
“Now then, Seth-”
“Steph…” she interrupted with a quiet mumble.
Isis smiled. “Tell me, Steph, what happened.”
Steph looked at her with awe. “Um… o-kay…” She took a deep breath. “I… I woke up in the middle of a forest. I… think I was an animal before, but I don’t remember much else other than the mist engulfing me. From there I just tried to live in solitude for a bit. I noticed a couple human towns, and I considered entering and living among them, but…” She curled upon herself. “The only real memories I have from before are of… him… of what I did to him…”
“I see…” Isis grumbled.
“I’m sorry…” Steph apologized. “I know it’s not enough, but… I’m sorry.”
“Ugh,” Hori grumbled, making Steph grip herself tighter. “Enough of the pity party. It’s not like we were amazing people in the past either. What matters is what happens next,” she stated bluntly. “I assume Odin found you and cursed you?”
“Yeah…” she whimpered. “My shadow would protect me from threats. For some reason, my base form turned out small and squishy… and comfy,” she whispered the last part.
“Oh, yeah it is,” Hori laughed as she tapped her breast, Steph chuckling.
“Odin didn’t like that though. He said my reincarnation made me weak, but he could still feel my power and forced my shadow out to protect me. He then shackled it with a bunch of runes that caused it to become more aggressive. Suddenly everything became a threat, and it would take control. I… I felt so isolated. I mean, sure… I was scared to go to those human towns, but I wanted to go, and then I just couldn’t anymore. The worst part was his so called training.”
“Training?” Isis repeated. “He forced it to learn different forms of magic to fight. Fire, poison, and other stuff. And when he did, it started to hurt.” She gripped her knee. “I used to think of my shadow as my friend, and then it became something that hurt me. And…” she sniffled, the snake head of her tail rising to her cheek and licking away her tears. “H-huh…?” She looked at the appendage, her eyes widening with realization. You’re…”
“Ceridwen mentioned the tail formed after her spell rebirthed you and changed your body. Could it be…” Isis thought aloud.
“Yes,” she sniffled. “I’m glad you’re safe.” She pulled it ther her head, nuzzling it.”
“Hey, Steph… Now that you’re free…” Steph looked at her cautiously, the snake head gazing upon her with apprehension. “Wanna come with Mom and I? We can be a family,” she grinned.
“A-are you sure?” Steph asked. “After everything I did?”
“We’ve been given a second chance at life, sister,” Isis stated. “Let’s make it one worth living.”
“Yeah… okay,” Steph accepted a quiet smile spreading across her lips. Isis scratched her head, pulling her closer to her stomach, the chimera goddess leaning in, accepting the touch, once again beginning to purr. “Thank you,” she said as a final tear trickled down her cheek.