"Water?" Beth asked, holding a bottle down against Sera's forehead.

  "Hmm, yes," Sera said, opening her mouth wide. Beth laughed and tipped the bottle carefully, letting water slowly pour into her girlfriend's mouth and down her throat.

  "Say when," Beth said with a laugh, grinning as the dragon girl refused to say when, letting her continuously pour the whole bottle down her throat.

  "Thirsty," Sera said when the bottle was empty.

  "I can see that," Beth laughed, drinking from her own bottle. Sera sat up then with a sigh before letting out a huge belch, smoke pouring from her mouth as she did so. "Nice one."

  "I try," Sera said in reply before getting up and making a drink appear.

  "Do you ever burp fire?" Beth asked, straightening up herself.

  "If I've eaten something weird, sometimes, yeah," Sera said with a nod before taking a long pull on her fresh bottle.

  "I'd hate to see what you'd define as weird," Beth mumbled, seeing Sera's glimmering fangs as she grinned.

  "Let's try together next," Sera said.

  "Meaning what?" Beth asked, quirking one eyebrow.

  "Let's go against some basic sim opponents," Sera explained. "The two of us working together."

  "Sure. Set it up," Beth replied, finishing her drink and throwing it across the room into the recycler.

  Sera adjusted the settings of the arena to present simulacrums for them to fight, something Beth was well used to by this point, and the two of them moved to a side of the ring. It was a bit awkward at first as they hadn't fought side-by-side yet, but they very quickly fell into a rhythm. Beth was used to charging forward and smashing into the enemy first with Blood circling around her and hitting the flanks or the rear, but with Sera present, she could afford to change her strategy.

  The huge dragon woman moved forward first and somewhat slowly, but the speed wasn't an issue as Sera's reach and spear skills allowed her to contact enemies from a surprising distance even without flinging out any energy attacks. She would solidly plant herself in front of even a group of opponents and engage them all, her spear-wielding quick and brutal, incorporating plenty of smashing and slashing attacks, utilizing both the broad side of the long blade on the end of her weapon as well as its haft to hit the enemies.

  Beth followed behind Sera, and to the side, of course, as the tall woman needed a lot of room around her to wield her weapon and Beth had learned from the first instance of getting clocked by a backswing not to stand even remotely close. She would take a second and observe the opponents, finding an area where they were presenting an opening or had a weaker member getting pushed back by the dragon and dive in. Sera would easily alter her strikes to form a gap around Beth that allowed her to push forward and destroy one or more enemies before the pressure was almost entirely gone from Sera, who could then focus on a single opponent and clean up.

  They stopped at noon for lunch, heading up to the cafeteria in the arena, which was far nicer than the ones Beth was used to in the CRA Hall. Not that the CRA had bad food or a bad environment, they just didn't provide a list of gourmet dishes cooked-to-order by professional Cooks at the touch of a screen. They also didn't have incredibly fancy dining halls with super plush chairs, polished wood floors, expensive art on the walls, nor any people working to wait on the guests and bring them drinks and additional refreshments. Beth had to remind herself that she wouldn't be seeing this kind of treatment again for a long time after leaving here and that she better not get used to it.

  After eating what many would consider too much food, but an amount that barely filled the singularities that were Beth and Sera's stomachs, they returned to their training for the afternoon. They worked the same thing for the rest of the day, developing their cooperation, which would be rather important going forward, as Beth certainly intended Sera to be a permanent member of the group. She wasn't sure if it was a compatibility thing, thinking she might be reading a bit too much into how well Sera and her seemed to fit together, but by the time they were done for the day, it was as if they had been fighting side-by-side for decades and not just five or so hours.

  They returned to the room all sweaty, Sera having taken off her armor and walked back naked, enjoying the sun on her skin when they crossed the gardens. Beth did make a small comment about Sera being so pasty-white, which she answered by saying a lot of customers preferred her not have a tan or tan lines, which had Beth practically sputtering. Sera laughed at her as she stretched before they entered the main building, learning a few more of Beth's proclivities.

  "You'd like me tan?" Sera asked in a teasing tone.

  "Tan and with tan lines, absolutely!" Beth replied emphatically. "Tan lines are sexy."

  "I'll lay out on the balcony for a few hours the next few days," Sera said with a laugh. "You want me to keep the bottoms on or the top or both?"

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  "Dealer's choice," Beth said with a smile.

  "Come on, what do you like?" Sera asked, waving at another worker, or what Beth assumed was a worker, that they passed in the hall.

  "I'm a both girl, I would say," Beth answered with a nod. "But you don't have to do any of it, you can stay pale-ass, bright white. It makes a nice contrast with your dark black scales and hair, anyway."

  "Speaking of pale-ass," Sera said, poking Beth's butt as they entered the apartment. "I would reference something about throwing stones in a glass house here, but I don't mind either way."

  "Well, I do have that kind of, uh, armor tan," Beth said, having removed her gear right as they walked in.

  "If by armor tan you mean your face is currently a little tan and then nothing else, sure," Sera said with a chuckle.

  "Yeah, yeah. Yuk it up at my ugly mug," Beth scoffed, heading towards the bathroom.

  She was stopped by Sera's tail, the dragon grabbing her and saying, "Beth, you need to stop with this talking down on yourself shit. Whatever you think, you're fucking gorgeous, so stop talking about yourself so poorly."

  "Yeah, yeah, sorry. It's just…habit at this point," Beth mumbled, getting a shower of kisses in response. "Come on, enough. Let's shower."

  "Sure, sure," Sera said, though she still kept her tail in contact with Beth.

  Just as they were getting to the bathroom door, the front door opened and Blood and Tasha entered, both of them clearly highly oiled up. Tasha leapt on Sera's back as soon as they were in the room and Blood followed behind, walking into the bathroom after the other three after making sure the front door was shut. Beth had to start the tub as Blood slouched into the shower and leaned against a wall as Sera got the shower settings just right. The four showered off before entering the tub, Blood and Tasha starting to drift off almost immediately.

  "How was your afternoon?" Beth asked, trying to keep from having to rescue them out of the tub by getting them talking.

  "You were right, as usual," Blood muttered. "The massage was insane."

  "You look pretty relaxed," Beth said with a laugh.

  "Mmm, I just want to lay down now," Blood said blearily.

  "We should probably just get out," Beth said with a laugh. She stood up and picked Tasha up out of Blood's lap, followed by Sera picking up Blood. Beth kicked the drain control on the way out, opening the drain as she stepped out of the tub. Sera followed her and quick dried them with fire, after which they walked to Beth's bedroom and climbed up in bed. Tasha refused to leave Beth's arms, snuggling deeper against her, and Sera put Blood down beside them before laying on top of all three.

  Beth woke up the next morning to the little demoness nuzzled against one side of her neck and Sera against the other with Blood pressed firmly against her side. She didn't move for a while, waiting for the others to wake up, with Sera last as always. Once they had managed to get the dragon off of them, they went to eat and clean up before deciding what to do for the day. Sera and Beth decided to visit the arena again in the morning before swimming in the afternoon, and Blood and Tasha were perfectly content to doze on the couch in the room for the entire day.

  The rest of the week passed by like that, with Beth being the one insisting that her and Sera not spend quite so much time in the arena, which was certainly a novel experience. Blood mostly relaxed in the room or went out with Tasha, though Beth did basically force her to come to the arena for a couple hours so she could work with Sera as well. Their teamwork wasn't nearly as seamless nearly as quickly, but Blood got used to working around the dragon as the center of their formation fairly fast, all things considered.

  It had been exactly two weeks when they got a visit from one of Laselle's guards asking them to come to her office. Tasha had been booked out by other clients and had already said goodbye a day and a half before, so it was just the three of them heading to Laselle's office. Just in case, Beth made sure they packed all their crap and didn't have anything left in the suite. They trooped up to Laselle's office, being waved in by the guards at the door immediately this time. Beth took note that none of the erstwhile daughters were present today, just the Blue Queen and the two guards always in the room with her.

  "Good to see you three," Laselle greeted them.

  "Finally time to get some work out of us?" Beth asked with a small smile.

  "That's right," Laselle replied. "How much do you know about why Mortaine sent you here?"

  "Something you wanted done that your people weren't suited for?" Beth asked in reply.

  "Mostly correct," Laselle said, putting down her pen and looking at the three of them for a moment before continuing. "It's two things, primarily. The first is that none of my people are particularly skilled with the type of mission I have for this. It involves both successfully completing a specific Trial and doing it with a certain minimum score. The second reason relates more to my business, in that assigning personnel to this isn't my top priority and would waste valuable time and resources I need elsewhere."

  "Hence where we come in. We can do whatever Trial it is that you need done and get the right score, and we're not tying up your workforce to do this," Beth laid out succinctly.

  "Exactly," Laselle replied calmly. "Here's how it will work; I will give you a set of coordinates, you will make your way there, challenge the Trial at that location, and not just clear the Trial, but meet the minimum standard I need in the completion."

  "And are there any limits on this? Time? Location based?" Beth asked.

  "It doesn't need to be done tomorrow, but it would start to be a problem if it isn't completed within six months," Laselle answered. "You must also be aware that this Trial is limited to Awoken only. The three of you are all done with three rebirths; you can only do one more and still be qualified for this Trial. Keep that in mind as you prepare for the Trial over the next few weeks or months."

  "Any other information? Specifics about the Trial? Dangers on the destination world?" Beth further asked.

  "The Trial is a type of endurance and continuous fighting test that emphasizes battling large groups of enemies over long periods of time," Laselle explained. "The world it's located on is mostly untamed; there are, in fact, only two cities thereon. I will give you the coordinates of the Trial and let you make your way to the nearest city."

  "Any dangers of anyone else completing it? Is it a one-time Trial?" Beth asked.

  "It is not a one-time use, as far as we have found," Laselle said. "There will be others present trying to take advantage of the untamed nature of the world. That can lead to there being a few…rough around the edges people, but I doubt you will have much trouble. The capital city has a CRA Hall, as well, as should be expected, so you also have them to rely on."

  "That's good to hear," Beth said, sighing a little at knowing she wouldn't be far from home.

  "Any other questions or concerns?" Laselle asked.

  "Any, uh, sticky politics we might need to know about?" Beth asked.

  "Not that should concern you. If anything does happen, you can rely on the CRA, as well as contact Mortaine or even myself to handle any issues. As a newly founded world with a small but growing population, there will be some taxes on anything you sell or buy that might be more than you are used to, but that's the price for being on the frontier. Otherwise, I would just avoid meeting the governor, if I were you," Laselle said, maintaining a stoic expression.

  "Ah, I see you heard about that," Beth said.

  "Heard about what?" Sera asked.

  "I might have arrested a planetary governor at one point," Beth said, scratching the back of her head and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

  "You know, I can see that," Sera said.

  "What's that supposed to mean?" Beth asked, narrowing her eyes as she glared up at the dragon.

  "Nothing. Nothing at all," Sera said, waving her hands in front of her.

  "Anything else?" Laselle asked with a quirked brow as she watched them start to banter.

  "No, ma'am," Sera said, grabbing Beth and pushing her out the door. Blood trailed along after the two of them, giving the guards a narrow-eyed glance as they left.

  They had the coordinates, they had the mission, and Beth figured it was best to get moving. Besides, Laselle had said there was a CRA Hall at their final destination, so they could pick out a place there and assess their situation. She led the other two through the main building and to the lobby, where they checked out of their room. They were generous enough to refund her for the time she booked Sera for before paying for the rest of her contract, so she recouped a couple mithril coins right before leaving. After finishing at the front desk, they moved into the teleporter room and used one of the several pads to move back to the Blue Rose Bar they had come from originally. From there, they were able to head over to a CRA Hall and use their network to make two teleports to get to the newly settled planet.