Waking up with Cici next to me always put a big smile on my face. Waking up with not just her, but Clarissa next to me, was a joy I couldn't even properly explain. It was still pretty early from what I could tell, the early morning sunlight coming into the room from the window illuminating it with soft light. I didn't really need much sleep, but I still did get tired every now and then, and I did like sleeping. Not to mention, if I got to wake up like this every day, that was even more reason to sleep.
After a few minutes of laying there, reveling in my women's soft embraces, I thought about the day ahead of me, and figured I might as well get an early start to it. Cici had said that I should try and convince Serena and Benji to let me help them sooner rather than later. Even after what I had told them and assured them I would do, they were still scared, and worse, they thought they were asking me to do too much. I wouldn't have that. Nothing my friends asked of me was too much.
I gently removed my arms from around the girls, making them mumble in their sleep, but they did not wake. They really must have been tired. I didn't want to move around to much, so I had an idea. I wrapped a layer of Abyssal energy around my body, and slowly rose out of bed. It reminded me of those weird levitating magicians back on Earth I used to watch, except what I was doing was very real. Slowly, I guided myself to the edge of the bed, and righted myself, planting my feet on the wood of the floor below me.
I quietly made my way to the bathroom, heated some water, and quickly rinsed myself off. I grimaced at the crustiness on my groin. Can't imagine what that was. That being said, I was actually quite impressed with the bathrooms here. It wasn't exactly like the plumbing from back home, but there was a large reservoir in the back of the bathroom attached to pipes that led to both the bathtub and the sink, and they actually had faucets, of which seemed to be imbued with magical enchantments that chilled the water, or heated it, depending on which one you used. I wondered if that could be expanded even further with some of the knowledge I had. Probably needed more information than what I knew, as my knowledge about actual plumbing was zero. I just knew that it was convenient.
I quickly dressed in a simple black shirt, jeans, and some socks. When I walked out of the bathroom, I chuckled softly to myself, but I had a big smile on my face. The girls were still asleep, but during my time bathing, they had scooted closer to each other, and were now cuddled together tightly, with Clarissa burying her face into Cici's tits as she snored softly, while Cici had her arms wrapped rather protectively around Clarissa with her tail coiled around one the other woman's legs, and had her nose buried in Clarissa's hair. It was incredibly cute, and I made sure to save the mental image in my head forever.
I walked out of the room to find my two shades just standing to either side of the bedroom door. I had almost forgotten about them, but I just left them for now, and just instructed them to chill and keep watch. They didn't answer, but I knew they would do as I said. With that, I exited the room, and realized that I didn't actually know where the fox sibling's room was. Thankfully, there was a maid in the hallway who offered to show me when I had asked her. She had blushed the entire time I talked to her, and even as she led me to their room. I couldn't help but wonder if she had been near the room last night, because if so, there's no way she didn't hear any of what happened.
"This is their room." The maid said after a brief walk down the hall, giving me a small curtsey.
"Thank you." I said, which made her smile, her cheeks still pink, before she scurried away back to her duties.
I sighed. All of these blushing anime maidens were getting ridiculous. Clarissa and the other girls made it look cute, but everyone else was just a bit much. Not thinking much further on that, I stepped up to the door, and knocked.
"Hope it's not too early." I muttered.
I actually heard movement on the other side of the door when I focused my hearing, soft footsteps walking towards the door.
"Who is it?" Serena's voice asked from the other side, and I smiled at the tone of her soft voice.
"It's Eli. I was hoping I could speak with you and your brother." I said, and after a brief pause, I heard the door unlatch, before it was opened.
The first thing that happened was that I was stunned a little stupid. Serena was currently wearing a thin tan tank top, and while it did cover most of her chest, it seemed like it was really struggling to contain the massive fleshy mounds underneath. She wore a pair of matching shorts that cut off at about mid thigh, revealing her long, smooth legs. She gave me a strange look, before she looked down at herself, and she blushed.
"Oh! I wasn't thinking! I can get changed if you give me a second!" She said hurriedly, her embarrassment breaking me from my stuper, and I chuckled and shook my head.
"It's fine, Serena. You're just so pretty I lost my train of thought for a second there." I said honestly, only furthering her blush, but she did smile a bit.
"You really mean that, don't you?" She asked me, and I smiled.
"I do. Can I come in?" I asked, and she smiled warmly at me, the pink in her face now matching her hair, before she nodded.
"Yes. Please, come inside." She said, moving out of the way, and allowing me entry.
I walked inside, and she closed the door behind me. I smelled tea or something brewing in the kitchen area, and it smelled pretty damn good. I immediately spotted Benji in the living room, and he did not look like he slept very well. There were bags under his eyes, and he currently had his hands clasped in front of himself as he stared at the table. He looked anxiety ridden as all hell. He looked over at me, and he brightened immediately.
"Master... uh, Eli! Good morning!" He said, sounding a lot more cheerful than he looked, and I smirked at him. He was getting better at that.
"Morning, Benji. You look... tired." I said, and at my words, he sagged, and nodded.
"Yeah... couldn't sleep very well." He admitted as I came over, and sat across from him.
Serena came over a moment later with a tray with a kettle on it, steam wafting from it, with three empty cups on it. She placed a cup in front of her brother, a spot next to him, and then myself.
"Tea?" She asked, and I smiled and nodded.
She poured each cup up to the rim, before placing the kettle in the middle on the tray, and sitting down beside her brother. I picked it up and took a sip. I had no idea what the hell this was, but it tasted as good as it smelled. I took a few more sips, and both siblings looked at me a little wide eyed as I drank the scalding hot liquid.
"That's... really hot." Serena said, and I nodded.
"It is. It's also good." I said, and that made her chuckle and shake her head as she picked up her tea, and began to blow on it. Benji just stared at his like it might tell him the answers to the universe.
After a moment, Serena looked at me, a nervousness in her gaze. I could tell that she already knew why I was here, as did Benji given how her also looked pretty damn nervous.
"Since you're here so early...I take it Cici talked to you?" She asked me, getting straight to the point.
"She did. At first... I was a little hurt, honestly. " I said, which made her pause, as did Benji, and they both looked at me with worry on their faces.
"Why?" Benji asked, while Serena looked on the verge of tears as she locked those pretty amber eyes with me.
"That either of you thinking that asking for my help bothered me at all. You're both my friends, and I want to help you. Look, I know that you're both afraid of what you might find, and that you're scared of what might have happened while you've been gone. I dread the thought that something bad happened, but take it from me... it's better to know rather than not knowing." I said, and both of them looked down, Benji struggling to keep his emotions in check, while Serena's bottom lip quivered as a few tears fell from her eyes.
"But we haven't known you for that long..." Serena said in a quiet voice, but that didn't strike me as the real reason. They both really were petrified.
"Even so, I still agreed to help you both. I can see how good of people you both are, and right now, I can see how much you two are hurting. And I won't just sit here when I can help. So... if you two are up for it, I'd like you both to get ready today, and take me to your settlement." I said, and both looked up at me, a mixture of emotions on their faces.
"I..." Serena began, only to sag, as more tears fell, and she looked at me with sadness and fear in her eyes, " I am so scared Eli. I know you can help us, you're strong... but it doesn't shake the fear we are feeling. What if Raizen hurt our parents... our friends... or worse? I don't want to go home to save it... only to find out that it is too late."
Benji seemed to think about his words for a moment, before he locked his gaze with mine, and gathered his words.
"I was more than ready to go back, to help our people, our parents, to get my Alina back from that monster... but now that we're so close... I'm terrified. Like Serena said, what if we're too late... what if they are already gone. What has that man done to our people in our absence? What if our home is no longer... home? What if Alina is...?" Benji asked, unable to finish the thought, his body shaking.
This was where I had to be careful with my words. That was... a real possibility. I was powerful, not omniscient. Still, I wanted to be strong for them, and they needed some positivity. I wouldn't give them platitudes or lie to them, but what I could do was try to give them confidence.
"I won't lie to you and say that everything will be fine when we get there. It could very well be as you say," I said, which made them tremble more, but I continued, "Or, we could get there, I can kill this prick, and save your people, your family, and those you love from this. We simply don't know, and personally, I think that's worse than not knowing at all. Here... let me tell you a story."
I told them a little bit more about my life on Earth, mostly about my mom and dad. They looked saddened by my words, but I kept going. I told them about my return a bit later, and about how afraid I was, wondering and hoping that my mom was still alive, or how I'd find her. They looked horrified when I told them about how I found my mother, but then I told them about me saving her, helping her, punishing my dad, and then bringing her back home.
"She's still waiting for me back home. I miss her dearly, but I know she's safe. I was gone for a while... and even though things weren't great, in the end, I got my mother back, and she has a chance to be happy again. I didn't get to spend much time with her, but it was enough for me for now. Just knowing she's in a safe place, and being taken care of... it's enough. I came to this city to help Clarissa, because that's just who I am. I help those I care about, and right now, I'm here for the both of you. I told you that story for a reason. To ley you know that it's okay to be scared, and it's okay to be afraid, but without knowing what truly happened, it'll eat away at you, and that fear will never fade if you don't confront it. So please, let me help you both. Let's go and see for ourselves, and let's put an end to this dickhead." I said, and even through the tears in their eyes, I saw the fire burning in them.
"It's hard to imagine you being afraid, Eli." Benji said, and I nodded to him.
"I was, and yet I still went and found out for myself, because I needed to know. I refused to be left in the dark." I replied.
"I..." Serena began, choking on her words, before she steeled herself, "You're right... even if it's painful, I... I want to know. I have to know. It has been eating away at me, at us both. Whether I get to hug my parents again... or I have to lay them to rest... I..."She said, then her tears began to fall in earnest, "I can't just keep living like this! And I want Raizen to pay for all he's done! I can barely sleep most nights! I miss my mom and dad, my friends... everyone..."
She began to sob, and Benji quickly wrapped her up in a hug, and began to cry himself. I stood, walked over to them, and put my arms around them both. Both of them leaned into me, and I did my best to comfort them, but also give them the strength they needed. These two's emotions were in chaos over this, and it was even worse than I had originally thought the first time they cane to me.
"I promise I will do everything in my power to make that happen. I want you both to see everyone again. I want to help put your minds at ease. And we will make this Raizen pay. He will pay dearly for doing this to you, I swear." I said, and both of them sobbed as they used me for support.
"I want to see my parents again too, Eli... And I want to see my love again. I can't keep doing this either." Benji said, choking on his words, before he said, "Serena, it's time to stop running and face this. I believe in Eli, and I know you do too. No matter what we find, we should... no, we have to end this... today."
Serena continued to cry, but after a moment, I felt her nod. I hugged them both tighter, my own throat a bit tight. These two truly were wonderful people, and did not deserve this.
"Then it's settled. I'll give you both time to get ready. I'll go and do the same, and go talk to a few people to let them know we are going soon. Maybe others would like to come as well?" I said, and they both nodded.
"Terroth and Sheila... they're like family to us. I know they'd want to come." Benji said, with Serena agreeing with him.
"I want Valerie to come... she's become such a good friend to me, and I know she'd want to be there for me." Serena said, and I smiled.
"Of course. I know she wouldn't miss it. I'd like to bring Cici and Clarissa, if that's fine?" I said, and they both nodded.
"Of course. They've both been wonderful to us. I won't say no to anyone we've met coming with us." Benji said, with Serena agreeing wholeheartedly.
"I'm also sure we'd be hard pressed to tear Marina away from Terroth." Serena said, laughing through her tears, "Plus, Cici was so nice to us last night, and I feel like I owe her for this. So yes, I'd feel better if everyone came with us."
"I think you should both explain the situation to Martin and Sera as well. They're gonna wonder where we've gone, especially depending on how long we are away." I said, and they both nodded.
"You're right. They've both been very kind to us, and I don't mind telling them." Serena said.
"Not to mention, if our parents, Alina, and the others are okay... I don't want to just leave. I've missed them all so much." Benji added, with Serena nodding emphatically in agreement.
"Then it's settled. I'll go find everyone and let them know while you both get ready. Then, once we are all together, we can go find Martin and Sera, and inform them of our plans." I said, and then my voice took on an edge as I made them a promise, "This will end today, and I promise you both, I will make things right."
I released them, and made to stand, only for Serena to lunge at me, wrapping her arms around me this time and burying her face into my chest. Benji just gave me a smile, but it looked like he was giving this one to her.
"Thank you, Eli." She said, sniffling.
I just smiled, putting my arms around her, and held her. She was so warm, and so soft. The way her red ears twitched, and her tail swayed back and forth was so incredibly cute, but also conveyed her feelings. Nervous and worried, but the thought of finally being free of this nightmare gave her hope. It only furthered my drive to see this through.
"You're welcome, Serena. I promise, no matter what happens, everything will be okay." I soft softly, and she sniffled again as she hugged me tighter, nodding into my chest.
I held hope that, even if things were bad, we would be able to help her people. And if we found the worst... I would still be there for them, and I'd help them and take care of them however I could. This Raizen better hope, for his sake, that everyone was in a state that I could at least heal them from.
Either way, I was going to make him feel pain the likes of which he's never felt before. The difference was merely how long he'd suffer, and I found that I was really good at inflicting pain as of late.