Rebirth of the Nephilim

While a part of Jadis was earnestly trying to help Maeve achieve a true sense of self, the other parts of her were diligently working on the huge number of duties and responsibilities that required her attention. She was still very much upset with D for the cruel joke he had played by making Fetch the way they were, but a small part of her mind still had to begrudgingly offer her thanks to the god for giving her such an incredibly useful class. Mirror knight had frequently saved her life ever since she had been reborn on Oros. It had also made her sex life more interesting and varied than it had any right to be. But the aspect that Jadis was thankful for at that moment was how much easier the class made multitasking.

The conversation Jadis had with her companions went on for a relatively short amount of time, only about an hour or so. While that wasn’t as long as she might have liked, and they hadn’t been able to cover every topic she had wanted to discuss in as much depth as she would have preferred, Jadis and her lovers had still been able to go over quite a bit of information. Not the least of which being the two new options that she had received for reaching level twenty-one in her tertiary class.

Wings of the Succubi

Active Spell. Gain the wings of a Succubus, allowing for magical flight. Your maximum speed and weight capacity while flying is dependent upon your Eldritch attribute, though the closer you come to your limit the lower and slower you fly. Cost – 200 magic. Duration – 15 minutes.

Eyes of the Succubi

Active Spell. Gain the eyes of a Succubus, allowing you to see the flow of magic in the aether around you. The flow cannot be obscured by typical means. Your normal vision is not otherwise enhanced. Cost – 200 magic. Duration – 15 minutes.

The two choices cemented a suspicion that Jadis had previously formed thanks to an earlier skill. Ardor of the Succubi wasn’t just the simple boost to a stat that it seemed to be. Instead, it was a skill that helped highlight what a Succubus was or, perhaps, was going to be since none yet walked the world. The two new options Jadis had been offered certainly seemed to support that theory. Therefore, Progenitor of the Succubi was more than just a class that made it easier for Jadis to ensure the new species took root in the world and succeeded in growing; it was also a class that gave her opportunities to become more like the new race of beings that she had sired.

Finding out that Succubi were going to have wings had been a surprise for everyone, Jadis included. Even though she was the only one in the group who had any kind of prior knowledge of what a Succubus was, her experiences were based entirely on Earth lore, which did not necessarily translate when it came to the reality of Oros. Besides which, Jadis’ idea of what a Succubus looked like was largely the product of the generally suggestive imagery that she had enjoyed perusing online in her spare time. She was fairly sure that the original version of Succubi from Earth mythology didn’t have bat wings or horns or any of those modern additions. And yet, it seemed that the Oros iteration of Succubi was going to have wings, just like the widely fetishized Earth variety of fantastical creature.

Then again, Jadis wasn’t sure what the wings of an Oros Succubi were going to look like. They didn’t have to be bat-like. For all she knew, they’d be butterfly wings.

Putting aside the surprise of her firstborn child’s not yet fully revealed biology, Jadis and her lovers had discussed which of the two spells were best for her to take. On the one hand, flight. There really wasn’t much more to say. Flight had tremendous value for travel, combat, and just general utility, even if it only came in five-minute bites. On the other hand, Eyes of the Succubi couldn’t be so quickly discounted.

Jadis knew what magic felt like. She couldn’t sense it all the time, but she had been around powerful spells and enchantments often enough that she had started recognizing when that otherwise intangible substance was moving in the air around her. She’d felt it when Demon Prince Vinea had been casting its powerful spells, and she felt it every time she got too close to the massive walls of Eldingholt. However, when it came to more basic forms of magic, she really couldn’t sense the power all that well, if at all. Having a spell that could let her literally see the magic in the air could be an extremely useful way of not only seeing what her enemies were doing but also tracking enemies that would otherwise be invisible. The spell description seemed to imply that normal types of invisibility wouldn’t work to hide a target from a Succubus’ eyes. The magic couldn’t be obscured, at least not through normal means. It was a logical leap, Jadis agreed, but one that felt like a fair gamble to her.

Honestly, Jadis wanted both spells. Unfortunately, she could only choose one since she had just the one skill slot open. She had to pick, which meant she had to choose the spell that she knew without doubt would have immediate value to her. Without regret, Jadis selected Wings of the Succubi as her level twenty-one Progenitor option. Once that decision was made, Jadis earmarked Eyes of the Succubi as a spell she would be taking at the next available opportunity. Unless level twenty-three offered her something truly insane as an alternative, she would be taking the magic eye spell sooner rather than later.

Jadis wasn’t the only one who had a new spell to pick, either. Eir had reached level twenty-one in her Oracle class at the same time as her and thus had two additional selections added to her list. While her new options were both powerful and useful, Eir had a far easier time choosing which option she wanted to take. There wasn’t even much debate from the group as a whole, since they could all recognize what potent use the one option had.

The discarded choice wasn’t lacking. The ritual spell was called Rose Tinted Memories and would allow Eir to cast a spell that would let her see past events that had occurred in specific locations. The spell had great value as a fact-finding tool and could definitely be used to track criminals or verify the facts of a debated interaction. The spell description indicated there were limits, such as how far back in time they would be able to observe as well as no distinction between reality and illusions, but regardless, it still sounded useful.

Not as useful as an improved version of Speak to the D.

Party Line to D

Ritual Spell. Allows up to three targets of your ritual to speak directly with Destarious. You can be one of the targets. Only three questions total may be asked, regardless of the number of participants. The nature of the answers provided is not guaranteed. This ritual can only be performed once every thirty-five days and shares a cooldown period with Speak to the D.

The possibility of bringing along other people to speak with D was just too good an opportunity to pass up. Jadis wouldn’t have to rely on conveying a conversation between herself and the god, she could actually have two of the others with her. Even better, Eir could be one of them. Jadis had always thought it was an injustice that the devout elf didn’t get to meet with Lyssandria despite being the one who was casting the ritual. With Party Line to D, Eir would finally be able to see her goddess in person. At least, she would so long as Lyssandria chose to show up to one of the meetings with D. Considering the goddess had been crashing her son’s chats with his chosen champion consistently ever since the first time, Jadis doubted that pattern was going to change anytime soon.

With the discussion of Jadis and Eir’s new spells settled, the hope had been to move on to Severina. The Seraphim had her own levels to discuss, including the reveal of her full class and skill background. However, since they were limited on time, they were forced to defer the paladin’s level up discussion to later that evening. Severina didn’t mind; she had already had plenty of time to think over the options available to her and was fairly set on what she was going to pick for her recently gained levels. That said, she hadn’t yet taken any of those new options since she was waiting to discuss them with the others, just in case someone had some input to provide that might change her mind on the value of the skills and spells she had chosen to skip. Another half day of waiting didn’t bother Sev. Nighttime and the requisite privacy would come soon enough. The day, meanwhile, was for duty.

The only other discussion of significance they were able to have as a group was the issue of Eir travelling back to Eldingholt. While lively, the debate didn’t take too long. There were, of course, objections to the idea of splitting their company up, especially over such a vast distance. The counterpoint to that was the fact that it would be, at most, a single week apart. More likely five days, but Aila insisted on the expectation that an additional two days should be accounted for in case of unexpected delays. Either way, it wasn’t a long stretch of time. More to the point, anyone travelling by airship was sure to be safe.

Aside from the fact that flying Demons were relatively rare and thus were an unlikely threat to the Leviathan, Jadis insisted that a crew that was powerful enough to handle any unforeseen complications be on board as well. Yes, a small part of her mind was telling her that splitting the party was a bad idea. Under most circumstances, she agreed with that sentiment. However, what was the point of building airships capable of rapid deployment over large distances if they didn’t use the resource when they needed it? Sticking all together was, under most circumstances, the right play. But for a situation where half of them would be in a well defended city with a mountain of allies surrounding them while the other half would be traveling via an extremely well-guarded airship, well… After a certain point, too much caution could cease to be beneficial.

While it took some time to hash out who was staying and who was accompanying Eir on her trip, the end result was mostly what Jadis had in mind. Aila would be piloting the Leviathan, along with Bridget’s brother, Alban, who was going along for the extra experience. Severina and Tegwyn would also be going. Both because they were extremely powerful even without Jadis’ Lewd Lover’s Bond, and because they both needed to get their level one hundred badges. Jadis needed hers, too, but she was willing to wait. Besides, Sev was hoping that a written document attesting to Jadis’ recent level achievement from Aelius would be enough to secure the badge.

The one who Jadis had not expected to go on the trip was Kerr. Mostly because she knew that the therion was extremely interested in reaching level one hundred for herself and wanted to get those levels in Glanum as soon as possible. That was why Jadis had suggested Thea accompany Eir on the airship. However, as Kerr herself was quick to point out, Thea didn’t have any ranged combat abilities. If some hostile force did attack the Leviathan in the air, the shieldmaiden wouldn’t be of much help. Kerr, on the other hand, could snipe most threats right out of the sky. So, despite wanting to focus on leveling, Kerr insisted that she also join the others on the quick trip back to Eldingholt.

They weren’t the only ones who would be going back, either. As their talks grew more detailed, they were forced to reach out to the rest of the household. Specifically, Aelius. While the Seraphim himself wouldn’t be leaving Glanum for the capital, he was able to help coordinate who else would. For one, a large number of soldiers who were in need of more specialized healing than what could be provided locally would be loaded onto the airship. For another, there were some support civilians who needed to go back as well. On top of passengers, there were all kinds of documents and records that came with running a war that needed transportation too. Since Fortune’s Favored would be serving as the means of travel, Aelius and General Voss would make sure that the ship was well guarded with capable fighters. Guards who would have otherwise been assigned to supply caravans would instead be riding on the Leviathan, providing support and protection.

While Jadis wasn’t too sure caravan guards were up to the task, Aelius assured her that those riding on the airship weren’t going to be the regular rank and file, but instead the more powerful specialist that could act as force multipliers in any hostile encounter. With the older Seraphim’s assurances, and the reminder that even without Lewd Lover’s Bond both Aila and Kerr were powerful combatants that would command respect in the army just by their sheer levels, Jadis felt confident that the Leviathan and its precious cargo would be well protected.

Having decided on who would be temporarily leaving, the only discussion left to have was about what those who would be staying behind would be doing while the others were gone.

The short answer was power leveling. The much longer answer involved a discussion that they didn’t have the time for. However, the general scope of what they planned to start on the following day involved sticking close to the city of Glanum. With both Eir and Sev gone, they would be out their primary healer, as well as the backup healing that Sev would have normally been able to offer. That didn’t mean they weren’t completely without means of health restoration, though. While far from the level of power Eir had achieved, Cora would be staying, and she was more than competent at healing. Additionally, Alex could heal others as well with her new flash healing skill. There were also some talks about bringing other local healers along to act as backup in exchange for the opportunity to get some power leveling as well, though that was just a suggestion. Details still needed to be worked out, which would happen as the day progressed. However, the time for quiet talks in a private room had passed. Jadis and her lovers were needed elsewhere. Many different elsewheres, in fact.

It was a good thing Jadis wasn’t restricted by basic considerations like being in one place at a time.

“How is your talk with Maeve going?” Aila asked as they strode down the street side by side.

“Well,” Jay grinned happily at the redhead. “I don’t want to talk about the details. I feel like those are hers to share. But we’re having a really good discussion right now.”

“I’m glad,” Aila smiled at the news. “I admit, I’ve been having a hard time figuring out what to make of her. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure I trust her completely. Though I do appreciate what she did for you and Alex during the battle.”

“Eh, she’s alright,” Kerr said from Jay’s other side. “Probably just needs someone to give her a break. Or a good fuck. Both. Could be both.”

“The fuck part is still up in the air,” Jay laughed. “I’m not jumping into bed with someone when it could just make their emotional issues worse. But now that we’re talking openly with each other, I can see her being a good friend. I really do.”

“Hey, I would have just gone for it already, but that’s me,” Kerr shrugged, both hands held casually behind her horned head as she strolled along. “Fucking a copy of myself sounds awesome. You’re a stronger woman than I am.”

“Did you forget that there are literally five of me running around the city right now?” Jay laughed. “I fuck my self all the time. It’s nothing new.”

“Yeah, but imagine two of Aila,” the archer grinned wickedly. “Sandwiched together with your cock pressed between them? Merde, I’d pay good money to sit in on that show.”

“You would, wouldn’t you,” Aila grumbled, though her face had flushed bright red. “I would think one of me is enough.”

“No such thing as enough when it comes to you, Blue,” Jay said as she winked at the magister.

Aila looked like she was going to reply with some sort of suitably witty and scolding retort, however, her mouth snapped shut with an audible click. Glancing away from the redhead’s face, Jay saw the reason for her abrupt silence was the small group of soldiers who passed by in front of the three of them. All ten of the armed men saluted the trio as they passed by, showing clear deference towards those they saw as heroes of the city. Jadis was getting very used to seeing those sorts of looks around Glanum. Not that she wasn’t already used to constant attention while out in public. This, however, was a more focused, specific kind of awareness.

“Please, no weird topics while around soldiers,” Aila said with a calm, cool, and collected expression on her freckled face. “At least not while we’re in the administration building.”

“If you’re going to drag me along for shit like this, you could at least let me rile up the locals with some lewd descriptions of our nightly activities,” Kerr complained. However, when both Aila and Jay gave her a stern look, she relented. “Fine. My lips are sealed.”

“Hopefully this won’t take long,” Jay commented as she looked over the crowded entrance to the government building where Magistrate Lodovico and his staff could be found. “I definitely don’t want to be here all day.”

“At least the rest of you is having more fun elsewhere,” the horned archer murmured as she followed behind Jay. “Talking with Maeve has to be more fun than talking to bureaucrats.”

“It is,” Jay readily agreed.

“At least you aren’t with Syd and Sabina,” Aila said as they entered the administration center. “I can smell Vinea all the way from here.”

“You have no idea…”