Sacrifice

When Aisha first stirred, she felt… amazing. Heavenly. Like her entire body was bathed in sunbeam, her face being caressed by something amazingly soft, amazingly warm, and cuddly…

"Nnn…" She groaned. "M-more…"

"Oh…" A warm voice purred. "You want more? Then I'll give you more…"

.

Aisha gasped as her eyes snapped open, and her eyes were met with the most beautiful sight that she had ever seen in her life.

.

Lorian giggled from above her, one hand propping herself up on the bed, while the other ran its palm across Aisha's face.

.

"W-wuh?" Aisha stuttered. "Mistress?"

"Who else would it be?" Lorian giggled, nuzzling her face into the side of Aisha's head. "Mm…"

"I-..."

"Don't talk anymore." Lorian commanded, pouting. "I've only got a few hours until I have to go to class, and I'm spending it cuddling."

Aisha blushed. "Ah… really..?"

"Yep!" Lorian said happily, wrapping her arms around her adored lover. "Fufufu… you're so soft…"

.

Lorian settled happily on top of Aisha, resting her weight on top of the small girl, closing her eyes and breathing evenly.

.

Aisha said something from beneath her, but it was muffled unbelievably, sending vibrations into Lorian's navel and breasts. She paid it no mind, but she did giggle once Aisha pounded weakly at her sides, the girl losing air quickly. When she got off of her, she relished the look of Aisha's panting, blushing face, absolutely filled with her pheromones.

.

"So…" Aisha panted. "Heavy."

.

Lorian frowned.

.

"Eyaaaah!" Aisha squealed, as her cheeks were pulled on. "Ahm sawwwy!"

.

Lorian giggled as she turned on her side. She wasn't actually upset at all, but she did love to tease Aisha. She pulled Aisha in close, until they had returned to their regular cuddling position, pressed up close together, until pure comfort and warmth took both of them into slumber.

.

.

.

[

"Aisha, wake up." Mihyang commanded, straddling her waist.

"What's happening?" Aisha asked, instantly awake. She no longer felt warm and fluffy, even though she was buried in a mound of blankets. "W-where's…"

"Seeing people again?" Aless asked, concerned. "Where?"

"No, I…" Aisha held her head in her hands. "Ugh…"

"What's wrong?"

"I…"

.

Aisha's head spun as her vision began to flicker. She felt like she was floating, like her arms and legs weren't actually real.

"What's… happening?" She whispered. "I feel like… is this real? Where am I? I-"

.

]

.

"ACK!" Aisha grimaced, suddenly drenched, and very, very cold. Mihyang smiled from above her, holding a now-empty tub of water.

.

"Still feel the morning sickness?" Mihyang laughed.

"...No…" Aisha grumbled.

"Then it's time for training!"

.

.

.

Raxas held a hard gaze as he looked at the letter in his hands.

.

"Another brunch?" Falo asked, his arms crossed. "Why?"

"I don't know." Raxas muttered. "It's not from Vayne."

"How do you know? Who's it from?"

.

Falo walked around the desk, to take a look at the sheet of paper the judge held in his hands.

"Ugh." He scrunched his face. "What the hell is that handwriting? It's like an ogre tried to write that!"

"It's from Tylich." Raxas muttered. "It just says, 'get over here.' "

"...Wh-"

"I don't know!" Raxas snapped. "We both are looking at the same letter!"

"Well I guess you can't really do anything." Falo sighed.

.

Falo returned to his seat across Raxas's desk, crossing his legs.

.

"You're worried about something." Falo mused. "What is it?"

"I don't know. That's what worries me."

"Know what?"

.

"We're in the midst of war." Raxas muttered. "Ifrit is going to do something. He would not have converted half the judges for no reason."

"I mean, he's trying to get a majority, right?"

"Yes. But I have no idea what he's going to do when he gets it."

Falo nodded, before raising an eyebrow in surprise. "When?"

"Our current 'Alliance' is built on an incredibly thin wire." Raxas said darkly. "I think it's only a matter of time before Tylich or Gazeth tire of this charade."

"...Nothing you can do about it, right?"

.

Raxas sighed as he put his head into his hands, balling up into fists in frustration.

"Yeah." He said, his voice strained. "There's very little I can do. Can't… overstep my powers as judge magister. Can't convince anybody. Can't solve… anything."

Falo walked over and put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Hey man, if there's nothing you can do, then just relax."

"How can you be so relaxed?" Raxas cried in frustration, slamming his fist on his desk. "We're in the midst of war, Nepenthe is still everywhere, and you find solace in the fact that we can't do anything?"

Falo sighed. "Even if the entire government collapses… Even if all that stuff happens, we're still fine, right? I mean, I could just take my family, and… leave. Go start a farm somewhere."

"But this is our home!" Raxas started to breathe heavily. "I… made a promise. To Fenix. To Miari. That I would… make things better. That I would… and I still… haven't made anything better. I haven't saved anyone."

.

Falo shook his head.

"You've tried your hardest." He said softly. "I'm sure Miari would be proud of you."

"You don't know that."

.

Falo shook his head as he watched Raxas pore over his documents, scribbling erratically. He took a deep breath, before he snatched the pen out of his friend's hand, and swept all the documents off his desk.

"Wha-"

"Let's go get a cheeseburger. Your favorite."

.

Raxas hesitated, staring at his fallen paperwork, but after a bit, his shoulders relaxed, and he leaned his head back.

"I don't deserve a friend like you." He muttered.

"Of course you do." Falo smiled. "I'm just repaying the favor, after all."

.

.

"Man, it's been a while since it was just the two of us, right?" Falo said, poking at his food with a fork. "I think… oh man, it was before we started adventuring."

"Mm…" Raxas mused. "You know, this job isn't all that different from being a scribe."

"And this job isn't all that different from being a house contractor." Falo said with a wry smile.

"I guess we've both gotten promotions."

"Mhm."

.

Falo watched Raxas as the man picked up his cheeseburger, taking massive bites out of the thing, as if he was starving. Although, Falo mused, he might have actually been starving, the way he buried himself in his paperwork.

"It's been a while since I've seen you wolf down a cheeseburger like that." Falo joked. "Reminds me of the kid."

"Which one?" Raxas asked.

"Er… the fey girl. Aisha." Falo said. "She… didn't turn out the way you wanted, did she."

"I was wrong about her." Raxas sighed. "All I can do for that one is help her on her path."

"You think she can do it? Get diamond?"

"From a statistical standpoint… No."

.

"Are you going to say anything else?"

"No."

.

Falo rolled his eyes. "When did you become such a pessimist?"

"You know when."

"Aren't you going to try to stop her?" Falo asked, raising an eyebrow. "Like how you're trying to help Aless and Kro?"

"No." Raxas shook his head. "Aisha… is intelligent. And what's more important, is that she's made her own decision."

"Intelligent's an interesting word to describe her." Falo said wryly. "I would go with… childish."

"Childish is the wrong word." Raxas sighed. "She's much more self-aware than you think."

"The girl eats candy and chicken nuggets." Falo laughed. "Come on."

.

"She just likes to eat what she likes to eat, and does what she wants." Raxas wiped his mouth with a napkin. "She doesn't care about what we think. It's quite admirable."

"Some would call that foolhardy." Falo scoffed.

"I wouldn't. Even the best of us often don't know what they truly want."

.

Falo just sighed as he looked at his plate of fries.

"You need to get a girlfriend, man. You need to mellow out. Or get a hobby."

"I'll take your wife."

"What!?" Falo sputtered, snapping his neck-

Raxas smirked at his old friend, as Falo let out a small chuckle under his breath. Some things never changed.

.

.

.

"UNGH!" Aisha grunted, vibrations reverberating through her left leg as she slammed her leg into her new training dummy, a massive oak tree, so thick that Aisha couldn't wrap her arms around half of the thing. Mihyang looked nervously at the thing as it shook violently, dangerously close to toppling over and causing a lot of property damage.

.

"Okay, okay." Mihyang said, hugging Aisha from behind and pulling her away from the tree. "That's good enough for now."

.

"Huh? Why?" Aisha asked. "I don't have it down yet."

"You can practice on your own. I've already taught you all the forms." Mihyang said. "And also, I need to go to work."

"Oh."

.

Aless gave Mihyang a big hug, before the woman returned to the manor in the distance, a figure watching them from afar.

.

"You look happy." Sin observed, putting his hand on Mihyang's shoulder. "Your girlfriend?"

"Yeah. We don't get to see each other often."

"Happy enough to make some breakfast?" Sin asked playfully. "I can't really cook."

"We'll see."

.

Meanwhile, Aisha and Aless made their way back to the middle ring of the city, Aless unable to contain the small smile that permeated her face. It was a far cry from her usual stoic, slightly angry expression, and to Aisha, it looked a little strange…

.

"That woman... gave up her job to be with you?" Aisha asked quietly.

"...Yeah." Aless muttered, smiling. "After she moved my personal quarters… she told me that she would quit her job if she could keep beating me up. I challenged her on that… and, well… uh…"

"She..." Aisha swallowed a load of saliva. "She did that? For you?"

"Yeah." Aless said sheepishly. "And I almost got kicked out of the program. But even if I had... I don't think I would have been that sad."

"You really like her." Aisha observed.

"Yeah."

"...So you're a masochist?"

"W-what?" Aless stuttered, blushing. "N-no!"

"You seemed to like it when she slapped your-"

"Okay, okay!" Aless said hurriedly. "Maybe a little bit. But only for Mimi."

"I don't get it." Aisha said. "Why do you like it?"

"Like what?"

"Pain." Aisha muttered. "Why would you want someone you love to hurt you?"

"I… It's like…" Aless mumbled. "It's like… mmm…"

.

Aless clearly didn't want to answer, and Aisha decided that she didn't care enough to press her on the issue. The rest of their walk back was in silence, until…

.

"It's about losing control." Aless muttered.

"Huh?"

"Losing control." Aless said quietly. "About… not having to worry about… anything. Just letting someone you trust make all the decisions for you. Do you get it?"

"...Yeah. I… guess I get it."

.

Memories played through Aisha's head, of the usual…

.

[

"Aishaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa--" Lorian called. "Come heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!"

"B-but I'm doing your homework!" Aisha said from Lorian's desk, as the big girl whined from the couch.

"Screw my homework." Lorian pouted. "I wanna screw you."

"Huh!?"

"U-uuuh" Lorian blushed. "Nothing. Just come heeeere!"

"Don't you care about your schoolwork?" Aisha asked, leaning over Lorian's chair. "It's-"

"AAAHHHHH!" Lorian squealed. "You look so cute when you do that! Come here so I can hug youuuu!"

"UWww…" Aisha blushed in response. "Okay…"

.

Lorian giggled, holding her arms out as Aisha timidly made her way over, slowly sliding her way into her place, nuzzled into the big girl's shoulder, arms wrapped around her navel.

"You really don't care about your schoolwork?" Aisha asked, giving Lorian that inquisitive look, with her eyes all wide, peeking out of the valley in between her breasts with her eyebrows arched. It was adorable, so Lorian smooshed her cheeks together.

"No." Lorian said firmly. "Every moment I'm doing… ugh. Hom-work. Is a moment I'm not spending with you."

"Don't say that…" Aisha mumbled, blushing.

"But it's true!" Lorian pouted. "You take time off all the time from training to cuddle with me. And that's something actually important! These are just papers."

"Bu-"

Lorian pressed her breasts together, effectively silencing Aisha, nothing coming out but muffled complaints..

.

"But nothing." Lorian said firmly. "The most important thing is being with you!"

"Is it really that important…?" Aisha's muffled voice asked.

"Yes." Lorian smiled, starting to pet Aisha, sending fluffy feelings through the girl. "You know what we're going to do when this is all finished?"

"No." Aisha mumbled, her eyelids fluttering.

"Let's just go out into uncharted territory… make some friends with some fey… and build a little cabin out in the woods."

"...Really? Don't you want… something more?"

"Why would I ever want something more than you?" Lorian said sweetly. "You're everything a girl could want… Cute… cuddly. Warm. Soft. Fun. Adorable."

"Nnnn…" Aisha blushed scarlet, heat suffusing her gut. "Do you even know how to build a cabin?"

"Oh, I would live in a cave, as long as I was with you…" Lorian cooed mischievously. "We could cuddle all day to keep warm, and just have s- play games all day."

"W-what was that?"

]

.

Aisha's face went pale, and her head dropped. Aless noticed.

.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Am I…" Aisha muttered. "Am I stupid?"

"...What?"

"I just…" Aisha wiped a tear from her eye, her voice cracking. "I've been so selfish, and… I haven't listened to…"

Aless sighed. "Oh Aisha. I don't know what you're going through, but worrying isn't going to help."

"Should I go back?" Aisha asked panickedly. "After I…"

"That's up for you to decide." Aless interrupted, holding up a hand and shaking her head. "Whatever it is, you're the only one who has all the information. But don't forget, you still work for Raxas."

"Ugh. That's right…" Aisha put a hand on her forehead, moaning.

"Things will work out for you." Aless said sympathetically, looking at Aisha with a soft expression. "Don't worry."

.

Before long, Aless and Aisha had made it back to the small little area of the capital near the adventurer's guild. Aless veered off abruptly, waving and offering a small goodbye as she walked off.

.

Aisha was left to stand there in the crossroads, with nowhere to go, and nobody to talk to, but her own thoughts. It was depressing.

.

"Hello Aisha." A smooth voice said, close to her. Aisha jerked, putting a hand on her new blade, but her expression visibly relaxed when she saw a friend.

.

"You're a little on edge for being in town." Amir said flatly.

"I just… keep running into people who I don't like." Aisha muttered. "And I don't like being snuck up on."

"Why?" A high voice asked, grating on Aisha's ears. "Do you have enemies?"

.

Aisha moved her gaze down from Amir's face to look at the thin looking girl at his side, hair in a long ponytail and swept bangs, just like Aisha. She had the same chiseled face and coffee-colored skin as Amir, although she lacked the intelligent, stoic looked that her brother had. The kid looked about fourteen, despite being taller than the fey girl.

.

"Who's this?" Aisha asked disdainfully. "Your sister?"

"Brother!" The teenager said petulantly, stomping… his foot. "I'm a boy!" His voice cracked. "I mean, I'm a man!"

"Yeah, okay." Aisha said dismissively. "Sure."

"It's true." Amir sighed. "He's a boy."

"A boy the way Fei is a girl, or…" Aisha trailed off.

"What do you mean the way Fei is a girl?" Amir asked, raising an eyebrow.

.

"..." Aisha was silent.

"I can prove it!" The kid yelled angrily, hooking his hands on the waistband of his pants. "You want me to-"

Amir put a hand on his brother's arm. "Nobody wants to see that, okay."

.

"What's its name?" Aisha asked.

"It!?"

"His name is Kayle." Amir said.

"Sounds like a girl's name." Aisha muttered. "And his hair, and clothes…"

"Anything else makes him look more like a girl." Amir explained. "Just… let's not talk about this. It's weird."

.

Aisha scoffed.

"Come with us." Amir motioned. "You might be interested."

.

Aisha had nothing better to do, so she obliged.

.

.

"Hey, can we get some food?" Kayle asked, tugging on Amir's pants.

"No. Maybe on the way home."

"Why not?" He asked.

"We have to get to the guild." Amir sighed. "Come on."

"But…"

"Be quiet." Aisha shot irritably at the kid, who blew her a raspberry in response.

.

"What's wrong?" Amir asked his short friend. "You don't like Kayle?"

"I don't like her!" Kayle interjected.

"I just don't like kids." Aisha muttered. "They're annoying, and entitled."

"You used to be a kid." Amir pointed out.

"Yeah, and I was probably annoying too."

.

Amir was silent, although his gaze inexplicably wandered near the empty candy wrappers shoved into Aisha's pockets.

.

"What's at the guild, anyways?" Aisha asked. "Why are you bringing your brother?"

"We're going to visit Elerion." Amir responded. "He's in town."

"Who's that, again?" Aisha asked boredly. She had a distinct memory of someone by that name, but as with all names, she forgot…

"He's an upper-division adventurer." Amir sighed. "Upper division contracts usually take people extremely far away, so they're away for a long time."

.

As Amir explained, Aisha caught a hint of disdain in the man's usually even voice, his lips ever so slightly curling downwards in a slight frown. It was tiny, but Aisha caught it, assuming that the man had a bad experience with an upper division adventurer at some point. She chose not to pursue it.

.

.

Approaching the guild, there was a visible commotion, adventurers cramming into the large doors to get inside. Amir grabbed Kayle's wrist and forced his way inside, shoving aside a few people, Aisha following. Everyone was centered around one point, and like the eye of a storm, as soon as Amir and Aisha broke through, everything was calm around the emerald adventurer, sitting casually on a bench.

.

Aisha took a good look at the guy as he turned to look at the group. Immediately his clothing stood out from the other adventurers'- it flowed and held an unnatural sheen, as if it was alive- Aisha could tell that it was enchanted. Looking at his face, his eyes glowed unnaturally, and his irises were pure white. It was… uncanny, the way his pupils locked onto something, the small little dots unwavering in a sea of white.

.

But what Aisha really paid the most attention to was the man's coffee-colored skin, and defined jawline…

.

"He's your brother?" She asked, turning to Amir.

"Yeah." Amir said stiffly. "He… is."

.

"What's wrong?" Elerion sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry that I can't be here more of-"

"Can't?" Amir said bitterly.

"Lo-"

"Ely!" Kayle cried happily, hugging Elerion's back. "You're back!"

"Hey!" Elerion laughed. "What's up! You've grown! What are you, thirteen now?"

"Fifteen." Amir muttered angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I've missed two birthdays. I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Three." Amir interjected quietly.

.

Kayle released his brother awkwardly from his hug, the air growing uncomfortable, as Elerion gave Amir a soft, apologetic look, the crowd around them dissipating.

.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Elerion pleaded, taking his backpack off and taking out a massive sack of gold, standing up. The people in the crowd gasped at the massive amount of money. "Look, here's what I've accumulated."

Amir took the bag, not even bothering to look inside as he put it into his own backpack.

.

"Is it… enough?" Elerion asked tentatively.

"No. You should know that." Amir said, bitterness leaking into his expression. "It's never going to be…"

"I'm sorry." The adventurer repeated, the words stale in the air.

"The money doesn't matter."

"Come on." Elerion said sympathetically, putting his hand on Amir's shoulder. "It'll be enough one day."

"That's not what I was talking about."

.

Elerion sighed as he sat back down, leaning his back against the table.

"Do you have what I asked you for?" He asked.

"Yes." Amir said stiffly, reaching back into his bag. He placed a small, ornate looking dagger on the table, which Aisha recognized as the ritual dagger he had shown her a while ago. Elerion graciously took the thing, stashing it in his bag, before looking back at his brother.

.

"Hey, you wanna go bowling?" He suggested. "Before I head out again?"

"Not even going to stay the night?" Amir asked.

"Er…" Elerion scratched the back of his head. "No, sorry."

"I'm good."

.

Amir left abruptly, pushing aside adventurers as he made his way outside, Aisha following. Kayle sat down next to Elerion, the two beginning to talk and catch up.

"So, you wanna go out for some candy?" Elerion suggested.

"I'm not a kid anymore, dude!"

.

.

Aisha stared at Amir as the man stood still, breathing in the dusty air, unmoving.

.

"So what happened between you two?" Aisha asked. "Something to do with the kid?"

"It's none of your concern."

"Does the kid have a disease? That you need a lot of money to cure?"

.

Amir was silent.

.

"I'll give you some money, if you need it-"

"That's highly uncharacteristic of you." Amir observed. "Why do you want to know so bad?"

"Boredom."

.

Amir scoffed.

.

"Do you have a dead sister? Parent? Cousin? Another brother? A-"

"Kayle's not sick." Amir said, irritated. "Our mother is."

"...Oh."

"The money is to pay for research." Amir muttered. "Into a cure. She has a disease that apparently, the church can't heal."

"That's not all, right?"

.

Amir sighed as he looked at Aisha, a tired look in his eyes.

.

"Our father was an adventurer. He died on a contract, trying to find money for a cure. But he taught us well. To think with our heads.

.

We decided that we would follow his footsteps. He didn't like it, but he respected our choice.

.

Kayle was just a baby when me and Elerion decided that we… didn't want him to have to do this stuff. So we tried to climb the adventuring ranks for more, but…"

.

Amir shook his head.

"Low mana runs in our family. It didn't work out very well.

.

Ifrit offered Elerion powers. He claimed that it came price-free, but I knew better. Elerion should have known better. Everything comes with a price. I told Elerion that he shouldn't take it, but he did.

.

The conversion changed him. He's mostly the same, but ever since, his priorities have been set on rising through the adventuring ranks, instead of taking care of Kayle. It used to be the other way around. To his friends, he probably seems unchanged, but… I can tell. Ifrit did something to him."

.

Amir sighed as he sat on a bench, propping up his head with a hand.

"It's not his fault. It's the fault of that pretender god." Amir spat. "But I can tell that Kayle is lonely. I can't take care of him and our expenses at the same time, it's getting harder and harder. School is expensive. And the amount of gold Elerion gives us is growing smaller and smaller."

.

The brown-skinned man shook his head.

"The war complicates things even more. The way things are… Kayle can't avoid the draft, if we pull him out of school. And with his low magical aptitude… He might have to become an adventurer."

.

"What about what the kid wants?" Aisha asked softly.

.

"Kayle's just a kid." Amir muttered. "He doesn't know what he wants to do."

"Have you asked him?"

"Of course. He's my baby brother. What he wants comes first. That's why we have to keep him safe until he decides."

"...He has a lot of people caring for him."

.

Amir nodded, and suddenly there was nothing but the cold sound of the wind, as Aisha reflected on her own situation. A pit settled in her stomach as she realized that some people had it much worse than she did…

.

"But that's enough about that." Amir muttered. "Let's see your plate."

"Huh?"

"Adventuring." Amir said impatiently. "Let's see it."

.

Aisha blinked her eyes, not instantly recognizing what Amir was asking for, and when she did, a bit of guilt hit her. Leveling up that stupid plate was supposed to be her purpose, but she had forgotten, not even because she was busy, but because she simply had lost sight…

.

"You're close." Amir observed. "Four-one. That means you've only got one contract left until you can do sapphires."

.

Aisha looked at the plate and was surprised, her eyebrows raising. She hadn't expected to have progressed so much over such a short period.

.

"Just one contract left." Aisha echoed.