The previous chapter has no plot-progression and can be safely skipped.
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664 10/12 10:45 (Autumn, Day, Midrar's Capital, Sabel's Home)
Sabel groaned, her face nuzzling in her pillow as the aches filling her body slowly faded into a pleased exhaustion as her Vital Energy actively flowed through her body.
With a sigh, her muscles relaxed even further, burrowing in the warmth and safety under her, enjoying the company of her Mates all around her.
At least until her conscious mind fully woke up, enough for her to remember the previous hours and everything she suffered during them, causing her to flick her eyes open at once, meeting with Luna's amused ones.
A high-pitched whine escaped from her mouth, especially so as she realized the true identity of her 'pillow', she was able to confirm the lack of any clothes and recognize the two limbs as belonging to her other two Mates, one of which was sleeping while the other was currently sending a gaze intense enough to make her blush even more intensely.
The black-eyed one retreated immediately, hiding her face in Luna's cleavage and trying to just ignore the world around her, a clear signal for Amber.
Warm fingers started poking the Human along her spine, teasing and prodding along, taking advantage of the fact that Sabel didn't want to disturb the still sleeping Mafel.
Struggling to remain silent and still despite the repeated touches, Sabel made the mistake of looking towards Luna for help with teary eyes, earning only a gentle gaze.
"Do you want me to join in?" Luna's gentle question only served to cause Sabel to still, her face paling as she realized the consequence of accepting.
"No, no, no! There is no need! It's already way too late, I am sure my parents will return home soon!" The panicking Human retreated immediately, forcefully breaking Amber's hold and fleeing from the cover of the embrace of the Sunless Mantle, rushing towards her closet and rapidly putting on clothes without paying them the proper amount of attention, escaping soon after from the room.
Silence filled the room briefly before Amber started to snicker to herself as silently as possible, the amusement born both of Sabel's reaction and her choice of clothing, mindful of the still sleeping Mafel on Luna's other side.
Luna merely hummed in amusement as a response, her lips turning upwards as Sabel rapidly escaped from her Senses' reach, her red eyes moving to the side to meet with Mafel's closed ones. "Do you have any intention on getting up? While you were sleeping at the start, it's impossible that you still are."
The Elf continued to be still for a couple of seconds longer before tentatively opening one eye a sliver, her golden pupil shining slightly from her purple iris.
Upon seeing her cover was blown, her eyes fully opened, her lips turning downward slightly. "How did you figure it out?"
"Oh, please, you are not subtle. Sure, you may have consciously chosen not to actively circulate your Vital Energy, but when someone is sleeping, their flow is irregular, changing rapidly depending on their dreams, as is the flow of your blood and I can feel both... And your ears twitched slightly every now and then."
At her words, Amber immediately sat up, uncaring of her state of undress, and leaned over the Lunarian, her purple-slitted orange eyes immediately focusing on Mafel's ears, more specifically the slightly red tip of her long ears, twitching slightly at her attention.
A pair of curious fingers immediately started grabbing at them, causing Mafel to flinch back and send herself right out of their current bed, her armour immediately materializing to cover her as she used her newly increased physical ability to blur away from her Mates, grabbing her clothes from the ground and slipping away.
Amber giggled to herself slightly, her eyes narrowing in two slits as she laid back down over Luna, making herself comfortable on her before her smile slowly faded, turning in a more serious expression. "What are the chances the Lich thinks you are involved?"
"Guarantied. Even if he doesn't think I am the one that directly attacked the king, not only am I a Vampiric Entity, but I also arrived near the attempt and accompanied by the young daughter of the Guild Master." The Lunarian confirmed, her eyes clear. "In addition, while the common thought upon seeing me is that I am a Dhampir, this is caused mostly by their general rarity."
"And such an old Being, one that personally experienced the near creation of Nigrar without a doubt would be able to recognize such... So, what does he think you as? A vampire? No, can't be, he should be aware you walked under sunlight and even the strongest Vampire couldn't. A Lu-, you know, that thing? I doubt the oldest Vampires even know they existed. So, an Ancestor? Yet your level of power is not..."
At Amber's supposition, Luna merely nodded in assent. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Ancestors have some small Resistance to Sunlight and I have an Artifact right here that could explain the rest of it. And my weakness isn't a factor. I could have simply either lost most of my power or having traded it to force an evolution, both possible through the influence of a Unique Skill. Which could explain my level of skill despite my lacking Rank."
"And would also reveal a lot more from his point of view. From the timing of your arrival, maybe counting on the chaos of a successful regicide to safely enter, especially so considering that you seduced the Guild Master's young daughter. I suppose his doubt will be quite hard to dispel."
Her curiosity sated, Amber stood up fully from under the cover of Luna's mantle, moving casually towards the door before stopping on the precipice of opening it upon hearing Luna's voice.
"Shouldn't you remake your clothes? Sabel's parents may return at any time." Luna's gentle reminder caused the Phoenix to blink a couple of times before nodding absentmindedly.
"I suppose." Golden and purple flames soon surrounded her, burning away all fluids and smells in an instant, before solidifying in a set of oversized clothes around her frame, growing defensive upon feeling the pale one's mirth. "What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just amused that if someone doesn't remind you, you are just going to go around naked." Her words merely caused Amber to bristle slightly.
"Do not think me a Human, this is only a form I assume to be closer with other People. And while intimacy, romantic or not, affects me as it would any other, I have nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about when it comes to my body." The Phoenix firmly and clearly explained, looking away with pursued lips.
"I know, I know. I'm sorry if I offended you." Luna almost playfully responded, her amusement not abating at all despite the barely hidden irritation filling the blonde's answer, standing up from the bed while covered only by her Mantle. "Let's rejoin our Mates."
Luna's Will flared, annihilating all traces of their previous dalliance, before her shadow rippled upward, solidifying into new clothes for the Vampiric one as she joined the burning one, her left hand slipping into Amber's right one.
The Phoenix silently acquiesced to her decision, launching a brief glance to properly examine the room, finding Sabel's clothes and indicating them to Luna with a nod of her head.
Silently, they sunk in Luna's shadow, all the extra material dissolving into Energy and leaving them as good as new.
Going towards the dining room, the two were soon granted the sight of a panicking Sabel rushing all over the place, flustered by the knowledge that her parents would return before too long, wanting to pleasantly surprise them so that her lovers would make as positive an impression as possible.
Thing quite hard considering both that she was their only daughter and what they evidently passed the last hours doing.
Amber, seeing the way that she was sprinting all over the place, merely sighed before joining in as the only one of the four to actually know how to cook between Luna's revulsion towards eating, Mafel's incredibly lacking experience in common life and Sabel's own half-remember instructions of years before.
Meanwhile she was explicitly taught since her youth how to be fully independent, especially from her mom, the Succubus being more than willing to teach her how to impress possible suitors or family.
Dispelling her sleeves entirely in lieu of pulling them upwards, she resolutely took charge over the panicking black-haired one, guiding her through properly cooking to impress her parents.
All the while Luna joined Mafel in admiring their Mates' effort and the harmony between the two that was only possible thanks to continuously sharing their emotions through their Mark.
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664 10/12 11:07 (Autumn, Day, Midrar's Capital)
Sarn and Bellemire returned to their home, the former exhaustedly avoiding looking towards the latter, more precisely the way she was moving without any trace of fatigue, barely hiding his envy behind her energy.
"If you continue to look towards me like that, I'm going to assume you no longer want my assistance in dealing with YOUR job." The woman immediately struck, causing her husband to flinch back, his mind replaying in an instant the time just after his promotion, if so it could be called, before the love of his life decided to help him.
"No, please! Have mercy upon this misguided fool!" The shorter one immediately stilled, his own dignity being ruthlessly discarded as he repeatedly bowed his head, trying to appease his wife.
The priestess merely let out a smug 'Heh', the only sign that she heard her husband's pleas, quickening her steps to leave him, initiating an impromptu game of tag between the two, subtly releasing a very minute amount of Holy-Attribute Mana to slightly relieve the mental strain of today.
It wouldn't do for him to grow too used on her assistance, she thought to herself, remembering a certain case she dealt with in the past.
Shaking her head away from those unwelcome memories, she turned her attention towards their home in the distance, calculating how much longer she could reasonably stretch out this distraction for Sabel.
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