Time: 10:26, Day: J??shrim, Week: 3, Month: K?rgoyde, Year: 36651

  Ayanna groaned as Grim grabbed her ankle and pulled her off the bench she’d decided was her bed, grumbling under his breath about stupid Nephalem's and their inability to hold their drink.

  “Ugh, stop yelling!” Ayanna shouted her wings fluttering but not actually helping or hindering her, her hands clutching her head as it pulsated with the rhythm of 3000 monkeys drumming to different beats.

  “Tsk, yelling.” Grim scoffed, pulling her up into an accidental embrace as he attempted to seat her on a bar stool. For a moment they just looked into each other's eyes, but as her hands went to touch his face, he plopped her down and made sure to sit a few stools down.

  “That's not exactly what I'd expected when we felt you coming. I figured you'd be more. . . I dunno, Godly maybe?” Vezzy teased sliding a plate of venison bacon, lightly spiced diced fried potatoes, and Cockatrice eggs, in front of Grim.

  “Godly,” Grim scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, “Why? Because enough of you Waraba chose this for me? I can't exactly make myself a god.” Grim snapped back, a low growl under his voice.

  “We didn't choose shit! You killed off the Devil Kings one by one, leaving no one else for us Waraba to follow. And when we tried to follow you, you vanished without a trace. Now here you are in my tavern, cursing your own damn name! Should call you the God of Assholes!” Vezzy spat, literally, on the counter just above his plate.

  “God of Assholes? Sounds like some kind of high end sex slave.” Grim chuckled.

  “Least you'd actually be fuckin useful then.” Vezzy crossed her arms and quickly shuffled away from Grim, plating the others' food. She would never admit it, but she hated the fact that Grim chose to help demon-kind in Salem Kingdom, but never lifted a finger to help his fellow Waraba.

  “Unngghgh, what the hell is a Waraba?” Ayanna said, her head on the bar and her wings and tail dropping dramatically.

  “Well my overindulged friend, it's what we Beastkin call ourselves. Me and—” Vezzy turns to point at Fibble, who was standing next to her—more like swaying next to her, but he had already run off, “Anyways, I am a Muridas Waraba, or Mouse-folk, or Mouse Beastkin.”

  “And what about Grim killing Devil Kings? He's old but not that old.” Ayanna said, struggling to bring herself to eat. Truly she wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she was also happy that she didn't feel the corrupting touch of the essence of Chaos Magic flowing up from Origin Entropa's Tomb.

  “Shows what you know, girlie.” Vezzy says putting her hands on her hips, her tail slapping the floor, “Can't always believe what you read or hear,” She points at Grim, “Kelevra is—”

  Before Vezzy could finish, Grim let out a deep rumbling growl, his sapphire blue eyes becoming ringed by a deep scarlet tint.

  “S-sorry, I won't overstep again!” Vezzy said, stammering through a deep fear. Her wide mouse eyes bulged even more as she began to shake and lower her head.

  “You need not worry about my age, Little Succubus, just eat and let's figure out what our next move is.” Grim said, with a mouth full of food.

  Lilith, who also had a mouth full of food nodded.

  “Yea, we can't exactly stay here forever. In fact I still think that Ay should go to Azielle. Learn what she can and stay out of harm's way.” Elstraya added, sounding bored as she rested her head in her palm and her elbow on the bar. Her long flowing, deep black hair was like a cascading night.

  “Wont that be the first place Mommy-dearest looks? She already knows that you and Lilith are with Ayanna, and she has pull all over Alina, so what's stopping her from finding a few corrupt Angels or even Cirrans to hunt Ayanna down and bring her back to Salem Kingdom?” Grin said, pushing his plate forward after completely cleaning it, “Raise your head Muridas, the delicious meal you've provided is more than enough apology. Do not let it happen again. There's a reason so little was written about me, as for the tales that are told, I cannot control that.” Grim looked at Vezzy, stern for a moment and then softer.

  “Oh wow, the big bad wolf’s scaring mice now. Uh-oh.” Ayanna managed to say, and instant karma hit her with a fresh flood of nausea that quickly turned into vomiting over the bar.

  Vezzy raised her head, still too shocked and afraid to say anything, but quickly went to fetch towels. And Fibble.

  “But what reason does she have to believe that Ay would go to Azielle? Not once has Ay ever shown interest in going, so why would anyone believe she wants to go now?” Elstraya sat up straight, her brow furrowed as she tried to make sense of Grim’s words.

  “Because she’s out in the world. Yea it hasn't been long, but anything can happen out here. When she was locked in the dungeons, Syren had full control over every aspect of Ayanna's life. But out here in the world, there's no controlling anything. It would be easy to come across a Cirrans out here, and all it would take is one look at Ayanna's wings and that Cirran would immediately know she's Angelic royalty.” Grim turned to face Elstraya, “Hell, anyone old enough to remember The Cleansing would see her wings and immediately be confused by her horns and tail and probably say something to her. Which would probably send her to Azielle. Just because she never wanted to go on her own, doesn't mean there's not a plethora of ways she would've wound up there. Registering as an Adventurer, or a Mercenary, or even joining Estaban’s Merchants, would give her extra backing and protection against more all out attacks.”

  “Enough…” Ayanna managed to squeak out, “I can… speak for—” Unfortunately she began vomiting some more. Fibble continued to clean up her mess, his whiskers twitching with a drunken rhythm, as Vezzy rubbed her back and soothed her.

  “I think you just want to travel the world with your girlfriend, and that you don't actually give a damn what happens to her! You just want her to be your little plaything, and she's been obsessed with you for so long that she’ll just go along with whatever you want!” Elstraya snapped, standing and slowly approaching Grim as she shouted. Her eyes began to turn completely black.

  Grim took a step forward, his tail stilling as his sapphire eyes betrayed his anger by turning a deep red, “You think I'm just having the time of my life, being surrounded by people that remind me of everything I've lost? Don't act like you know me Lich! I can assure you, you don't know a damn thing! Don't make me tear you apart!” Grim slowly extended each of his three inch long razor sharp black claws, a deep growl in his throat that made Vezzy and Fibble cower behind the bar.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Lilith threw her fork at Grim. Just as it came within inches of him, it was forced to the ground by his Aura.

  “You two need to calm down, it's not that serious. You're acting like Ay’s not right here, and can't speak for herself. El, I know you're worried and you don't really know what to expect, but Kelevra has a point. Mother knows that some way, somehow, Ay will end up going to Azielle. Unlike the Cirrans, the Angels don't leave Azielle, so there's no real way to know whether or not Mother is in league with them. Plus, this is the outside world, the one place Ay always wanted to go. We can afford to let her learn how to survive on her own. You and I need to figure out what we're going to do and how we're going to survive anyway, so just calm down, and let's figure out what Ay wants to do.” Lilith turned her focus on Ayanna, her tail swaying gently, “After she's done getting sick all over the bar.” Lilith forced a soft laugh.

  Grim and Elstraya continued staring each other down for a long moment before breaking into laughter. Both of their eyes returned to normal.

  “Tell me, Lich, how's it work? Only one of you can dive off the deep end at a time, and the other one just magically finds tranquil clarity, enough to be diplomatic and sensible?” Grim laughs.

  “My name is Elstraya, dog! And despite Lilith being a battle hungry muscle head most of the time she's actually an amazing diplomat. After you decided to leave Salem Kingdom to rebuild itself, after The Cleansing, Lilith became the voice of reason and is more than half the reason that Salem Kingdom was peaceful for so long. She was even going to establish new trade routes with Alluraine and Blaire City.” Elstraya said, stepping up onto the air and floating back to Lilith's side. Lilith wrapped her arms around Elstraya's waist from behind, pulling her closer.

  “I'm… dying…” Ayanna said, her upper half laying across the bar. Her breaths were short and ragged, as sweat poured from her, giving off the scent of Asp’s Tongue. Her wings dropped and shuddered and her tail stilled, “Rest… Then Blaire… City… Please… Grim…” Ayanna said, shakily raising her right hand, as if asking for help.

  Grim turned his focus back to Ayanna, going to her and rubbing her back, making soothing noises as if calming a newborn.

  “See, El, Wolf-Boy might still be struggling to admit it, but he cares just as much as we do. Probably more.” Lilith said, holding her wife tight as she whispered in her ear. They weren't facing Grim and Ayanna, but both of them could tell that Grim was much more calm and softer as he continued soothing Ayanna.

  Slowly Vezzy and Fibble rose from behind the counter, Fibble covered in Ayanna's puke.

  “P-p-permission to k-keep cleaning?” Fibble stood, his whiskers twitching in the same rhythm he swayed with, his tail slapping the floor side to side to keep his balance.

  “Oh calm down, Fibble, go clean yourself up!” Vezzy snapped at him, quickly reinforcing her rule over The Lucky Cask, “And as for you, Kelevra, this town may be mostly dead, but it's mostly Waraba here, so please mind yourself. Even before you were inducted into godhood, you had control of all manner of beasts. Nothing will get done if you keep forcing us to submit to you.” Vezzy didn't look at Grim as she spoke, only continued cleaning up Ayanna's vomit.

  “I'll keep that in mind, as long as you keep those fanatics away from me.” Grim said, watching Vezzy intently as he rubbed Ayanna's back.

  “R-rest…” Ayanna said, her eyes closed and her head pulsating with the fury of 1000 suns.

  “Backroom or is there a room available for us, Vez?” Grim asked, with a soft smile, trying to seem polite.

  “Lilith and Elstraya have a permanent room upstairs, just take the one next to it. I'll make sure to mark it as yours from here on out. There's only one bed though.” Vezzy says with a mischievous smile as she looks up at Grim, “Not gonna bother you too much though right? Especially after the way she was throwing herself at you all night. And you were so gentle with her, pretending to push her away but using your tail to keep her standing and from hurting herself.” Vezzy chuckled.

  “It’s fine.” Grim said, agitation coating his tone, though his tail swayed slowly.

  “Ugh… Who threw… themselves at you? I'll kill her…” Ayanna said, the bite of her words lost as she remained slumped over the bar, her eyes closed tight, her brow furrowed, and her body slick with sweat.

  “Calm down, you couldn't kill a dead rabbit in this state, let's get you upstairs.” Grim leaned in close, whispering in her ear.

  “Can't… move.” Ayanna's words were thick with the pain of a nasty hangover.

  “Then just relax, and you'll be in bed soon.” Grim said, a soft smile playing on his lips. He stood and looked over at Lilith and Elstraya, “You guys wanna lead the way?”

  “See El, he cares too.” Lilith said, pushing aside Elstraya's hair with her nose, and planting a soft deep kiss on the back of her neck.

  “Mmm, keep doing that and I may just have to release all this pent up aggression on you when we get upstairs.” Elstraya said with a lusty smile, leaning her head back into the kiss.

  “Oh, that was going to happen either way, Love.” Lilith said with a smile, releasing her hold on Elstraya. Elstraya turned around and looked deep into Lilith's eyes, kissed the tip of her nose and took her hand.

  Grim placed his hand on Ayanna's back, a massive thick black cloud covering her and swallowing her whole.

  Vezzy gasped as Ayanna vanished with the cloud.

  “Don't worry, she's safe and won't move around. It'll help keep the floor clean.” Grim said with a laugh, before following Elstraya and Lilith upstairs.

  After a few short moments the trio came to the last two rooms at the end of the upstairs hall, Lilith and Elstraya stopping at the second to last, and Grim going to the last.

  Elstraya and Lilith were too occupied with each other to notice Grin sigh as he watched them, before he entered the room. He placed his hand on the bed, the thick black cloud returning and laying Ayanna in the bed. Thankfully she was already asleep. Grim went to the door, sitting on the floor with his back against the door, watching Ayanna sleep until he too drifted off to dreamland.

  “Nephal…” Fate’s voice rang through Ayanna's head, slightly stirring her from her slumber, “Nephal, you must be quick. The torrent of Chaos Magic will soon take hold of your mind again.”

  Ayanna groaned, and in return her stomach growled, yet she could feel the corrupting tendrils of Chaos Magic seeping into her mind and soul. She rolled over on to her back, tucking her wings beneath her, and focused on feeling the warmth and light of the Holy Magic swirling inside of her.

  Grim's ears twitched towards Ayanna, stirring him as he sensed a change in her.

  “What are you doing?” He grumbled, his expression almost as flat as his voice.

  “Shh, need to focus.” Ayanna snapped quickly, yet her stomach growled again.

  “Sounds like you need to eat. Come eat, and if need be, I'll open a portal to somewhere more serene where you can focus for a bit.” Grim said standing, and stretching before getting closer to the bed she lay on.

  Ayanna tried to focus.

  Tried to balance the Chaos and the Holy, yet with the constant complaints from her stomach she was getting nowhere fast. She slapped her hands on the bed.

  “Fine, but it better be good.” Ayanna snapped, sitting herself up and taking his hand. Her defiant nature gave way to a soft smile before he pulled her up. Her wings fluttered as she fell into his arms. For a moment there was nothing but them.

  Not her grumbling tummy.

  Not The Lucky Cask.

  Not Hollow's End.

  Not the impending threat of Queen Syren.

  Just she and him.

  His hands slid to her waist as he stared into her eyes. His expression soft, as her hands went up to the back of his neck, tangling in his hair. Gently she pulled him to her, as she stood on her tiptoes. His tail intertwined with hers, as they both closed their eyes and moved their lips closer to one another.