47 A Time Of Peace

Word count 10,777

"Right then! In respect to the progress you all have made, I decided to send you into a different Yharnam simulation! I'm sure that you are all looking forward to it!" I said brightly.

A number of groans answered me back.

I laughed.

"Come on, up you go! The Old Blood has to have healed the worst of it by now! You expect an enemy to show you mercy? No? Then don't expect me to show you any! It'll defeat the point of training you!"

The group of Hunters slowly got up, grumbling all the way.

I rolled my eyes at them. Honestly, I really ought to have gone beyond mere exhaustion and physical injuries when it comes to training, but I was too soft to brutally kill them at any glaring mistakes they made.

Even if they probably would learn so much better that way. And be so much more resistant to pain.

Really, it's not like it would be hard to reattach and heal a dismembered limb or two…

There was nothing quite like losing your arm or leg to teach you to remember the value of properly swinging your sword like you were taught!

I should know!

Though to be entirely fair, Father Gascoigne hadn't taken my arm off with his axe, he just sent my own axe flying away.

Arguably, the Visceral Attack he killed me with after that was much more painful than just losing an arm would have been.

Speaking off, I never did use one of those on any of my students, did I?

… I'll have to fix that!

Still, once they were all up and ready, I nodded once then clapped my hand.

A second later, we were in an illusion copy of the Chalice Dungeons.

I couldn't just use the real deal sadly, I'd have caught the attention of every Great Ones in them instantly.

Still, it'll do.

"Right! Welcome to a copy of the Chalice Dungeons, the very ruins from which the people of Yharnam discovered the Old Blood and so much more, once upon a time! Your mission is simple: go through this one, kill everything standing in your way, and bring back the Chalice at the end."

I grinned. "Naturally, the execution will be harder than the theory. Still, I believe in you! And since I'm a generous teacher-" I ignored the snorts and mutters "-I'll even heal you first! That way you'll be ready to go kick some ass!"

And then I proceeded to do exactly that.

Much to the relief of a few… and the suspicion of all.

Good, they were learning!

I'll teach them proper Yharmanite paranoia yet!

"How bad are those Dungeons, that you actually healed us before we went in?" asked Rebecca, eyes narrowed at me.

I put a hand on my chest, a mock-wounded expression on my face. "Would I really heal you just to see you suffer more later on?!" I exclaimed dramatically.

"Yes!"

"Absolutely!"

"Without a doubt!"

And more comments were thrown my way, without a single instant of hesitation.

Aaaahhh… I taught them so well!

So proud!

"You're absolutely right!" I agreed with a nod. "Thankfully for you, you are four, so I don't expect you to struggle too much. After all, I did it by myself once! Surely my own students can easily do the same together?"

"And how many times did you die doing it?" bluntly asked Jill.

I smiled at her.

"Well, as long as you are immune to heat you should be fine!"

"Aeon, none of us are immune to heat!" pointed out Claire.

I blinked innocently. "Really? Well suck to be you, then! Good luck, and good hunting!" I cheerfully declared, before teleporting out, while the group of four began to curse loudly.

And then I went to get popcorn.

Because no way in hell was I going to miss the first encounter of those four with that damn giant dog on fire!

Glorious, glorious schadenfreude, here we come!

"So, are we seriously exploring a real-life dungeon? Or, you know, a very good illusion of one?"

"Seems that way." replied Chris.

"Huh." said Claire. "Not really what I expected, but it could be fun!"

That, naturally, was when she took another step.

Which sank just a bit more deeply in the floor than normal.

Claire blinked and looked down-

Only for a bunch of giant axes to come down and cut her in half, alongside Chris and Jill.

Rebecca just lost an arm… and then fell down the bridge they were walking on into the darkness below.

At least it didn't take long to hit the spikes.

"Claire?"

"Yes, Chris?"

"What have we agreed on when it comes to fate?"

"To not tempt Aeon, because he has a horrible sense of humour?"

"Yes Claire. Exactly. For this, you get to go first from now on."

"Oh come on!"

Chris shrugged. "Jill and Rebecca outvoted me."

Claire pouted.

She pouted harder after the only reason she survived the poison darts trap she accidentally activated was the three others behind her saving her life, protected as they were by her body taking the brunt of the trap.

"Hey, Jill?"

"Yes, Rebecca?"

"Should we be surprised that all the treasure chests we found so far contained only Blood?"

"No, Rebecca. I don't think so."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, myself."

"Hey guys! The other treasure chest contained only moss of some kind!"

"Okay, now Aeon is definitely fucking with us!"

The group stopped, and stared at the giant rats standing in their way.

The giant rats looked back.

"Well shit, you win that one, Rebecca."

There were some grumblings as money exchanged hands.

The rats charged-

Only for a trap to activate and a number of giant axes to kill them all mid-run.

Claire perked up. "Wait, does that mean-"

"No." bluntly replied Rebecca. "We saw the giant rats first, so I won the bet."

"Aww."

Chris cursed, even as he dodged a giant swinging axe while firing at some kind of skinny asshole throwing poisoned daggers around.

Honestly, the stuff was so potent that even the Old Blood didn't fully protect them!

Rebecca was equally as fascinated by that fact as she was disturbed, muttering furiously that any poison powerful enough to overcome Old Blood healing was complete bullshit.

The fact that the fucker was hiding at the end of a bridge full of traps was just adding sadism to injury!

"And I thought Yharnam was bad!" screamed Jill, narrowly avoiding another swinging axe.

They all stopped and stared.

"Did that bitch just-"

"Yup."

"Oh so now they can summon more of themselves?!"

"Yup."

"What is wrong with this damn place?!"

"Alright, lesson learned: Speed is, in fact, more important than armor. As this fat bastard just helped us prove."

"To be fair, we did just throw fireballs at it until it died."

"Exactly. You think we could have done that against a Hunter?"

"Well, no. They'd have dodged everything until we'd managed to pin them down."

"Indeed. So from now on, no charging the heavily armored fat bastard and trying to win at CQC. Otherwise-"

The three girls turned to look at the red smear on the ground that used to be Chris.

"- shit like this happens."

"You know," mused Chris, laying on the ground staring at the ceiling of the entrance of the dungeon "I don't know exactly at which point I stopped caring about you brutally dying. Or vice-versa. I know that Aeon warned us that might happen, but I didn't believe him… again. And yet, here we are, again."

Not far from him, Claire hummed thoughtfully.

"You know, I can't quite say either. I guess he trained us so well that seeing each other in pain no longer registered as anything serious, since we know we'll both get back from it…"

Chris nodded. "True."

A second later, both Jill and Rebecca appeared, blinking and then wincing.

"He got you both at the same time?" said Chris, a measure of surprise in his voice.

"More like he got me and I went flying into her." grumbled Jill, nodding towards Rebecca.

"Figures that undead skeletons in Yharnam are actually giant undead skeletons…" grumbled Rebecca.

"To be fair, we really should have won that fight." mused Claire.

"True. But to be even more fair, the room we fought in was pretty small, once we consider the size of said skeleton."

"Also true. So, rematch?"

"Rematch."

"Err… Chris, are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"You mean the fortress, cannons and all, currently right in front of us?"

"Ah, so I'm not suddenly going insane. That's good and all, but…"

Jill waved in front of her.

"Fortress! With cannons! And all of that underground!"

"I say, we chalk it up to Aeon fucking with us and move on." replied Claire.

"Seconded." said Rebecca.

Jill agreed, though she couldn't help but glance at the cannons for a moment.

"For some reason, I feel we should take those with us…"

"Okay, I think you're actually losing it, Jill. Who's insane enough to go around fighting with a literal cannon in their arms? That's crazy!"

"I guess you're right, Chris. I guess you're right…"

The group of four entered the last room, eager and nervous in equal measure.

All things considered, the fighting to get here wasn't as bad as they had feared. Not always easy, but they had expected much worse.

Naturally, that only made them all the more paranoid. This was Aeon they were talking about, he wouldn't have sent them here if they weren't in for a hell of a time.

So what kind of unnatural horror lied beyond this last set of doors? What kind of unholy abomination resided here?

They pushed the doors open-

And heat welcomed them. Heat, and the literally burning, fiery gaze of a giant dog-like creature, which promptly got up and stared at them.

They stared at it back.

"Didn't Aeon complain about a giant dog on fire in the past, and how much of a pain in the ass it had been to kill?" declared Rebecca.

"He did." confirmed Jill.

"Well, shit." bluntly said Chris. "Figures that that sadistic bastard sent us to fight it, too."

Any further words were lost as the beast roared and jumped, the group scattering as the beast smashed right where they used to be, a wave of flames spreading around it before disappearing.

The group didn't hesitate any longer, unleashing all the firepower at their disposal upon the fiery beast, none of them foolish enough to get close to a monster literally on fire, who merely took it all without so much as a whine of pain, instead focusing its attention on trying to crush flat the various member of the team under it's bulk by jumping over and over again towards the nearest hunter to it.

When that failed, mostly thanks to the extensive dodging training Aeon had ruthlessly put them through day after day, the beast decided to get more serious, and actually began to run towards the different Hunters fighting, leaving great trails of fire behind.

Now, one advantage of having the Old Blood of Aeon in their veins was that it gave some good general resistance against damage, elemental, physical or magical.

Resistance did not equal immunity however, and all four Hunters felt the sweat soaking them as the heat of the room they were in grew more and more as the beast began to leave trails of fire everywhere.

It was Jill who first noticed the trap that the beast was laying… but by that point, it was already too late.

Just as she opened her mouth to warm the others, the beast suddenly gained speed-

And then the trap closed, as the group of four, already many for a room with a giant dog on fire in it, suddenly discovered that much of it had been deliberately set on fire to limit their ability to maneuver.

And with the trap finished, the beast eagerly stopped holding back, spewing lava or releasing it such that all four Hunters could not avoid it without going through the flames, and one by one all four Hunters died burning alive.

At least, those coated in lava died quickly…

Rebecca woke up, staring at the ceiling of stones and moss above.

Then she shuddered, rather ironically considering how hot she had been just a moment ago.

Aeon had told her before, but she could now confirm: Being burnt alive sucked.

And she really didn't want to think about the smell of her own burning flesh.

"So. We just got outsmarted by a dog. One whose brain is probably made of lava." commented Jill, laying on the ground nearby.

"Yeah. Not our finest moment." replied Chris.

Jill snorted. "You think?" she said sarcastically.

"To be fair, most dogs don't deliberately fill a room with fire to better corner people and burn them to death." pointed out Claire.

"True." Jill acknowledged. "But in hindsight, we really should have known that anything Aeon considered a pain in the ass would be, in fact, a major pain in the ass to deal with."

"Also true."

There was a moment of silence.

"So, we get back to it?" finally said Chris.

"Shh. I'm trying to get the sensation of burning alive out of my head." dryly replied Claire.

Rebecca grimaced. "And the smell, for that matter."

"Oh heavens, the smell."

Chris blinked. "Is that why I'm currently thinking of pork?"

"Chris, I swear to Aeon-"

Eventually, they went back.

Fought much more cautiously, this time.

And for a while, they made good progress!

And then the bastard dog began spewing lava everywhere.

Mostly so that he could jump and splash lava everywhere.

Ever see a dog splash water everywhere? Imagine that, but with lava.

Needless to say, none of the four will be able to look at a dog jumping in a puddle quite the same way ever again.

They woke up. Began to complain about bullshit dogs on fire.

And then went back.

Naturally, that was when the dog revealed he could create shockwaves of fire around itself.

Jill found that out the hard way.

The others tried to stay far and away from the damn thing after that.

So the demon dog relied by gliding on lava, instead!

Ever been used as a bowling ball by a giant dog gliding on lava? Rebecca has, now!

All things considered, she was starting to seriously believe that yes, there was indeed knowledge that was better left unknown.

Like what being a dog's chew toy felt like.

"Alright! We know all your tricks, now! We can avoid the fires shockwaves, the damn lava, the gliding, we know your fucking tricks-"

The demon dog stared at Jill.

And then send several Fire Missiles at her, looking fucking smug.

That day, everyone present learned just how extensive Jill's vocabulary on insults truly was.

Alas, they were cut short for finding the full extent of it when the missiles caught up with her.

"Err, Jill?"

"Yes, Chris?"

"What are you doing?"

She smiled sadistically.

"I'm going to win this, Chris. Just you watch. I'm going to fucking win this."

Everybody stepped aside as Jill stomped towards the chamber with the dungeon boss, muttering furiously to herself at every step while carrying one of the cannons from the fort in her arms.

Then she entered the room.

Seconds later, a loud BOOM echoed.

Then screaming. Then cackling. Then more screaming and cackling and explosions.

Then Jill limped back out, an arm dangling limply at her side, half her face burned horribly, most of her clothes in charred tattered… and with a wide, sadistic and triumphant smirk.

"I knew it! The cannon worked great."

Rebecca face-palmed.

"Figures that the best way to go about it was the most crazy idea we could think of…"

"Well, congratulations! You won! So, tell me: how was your time in the Chalice Dungeons?" I declared with a smile when the four came back to the Hunter's Dream.

As expected, groans and curses were my only answers, and I laughed. "Good, good! That means that you're learning! Look on the bright side: one day, you'll be able to go through everything you went through by yourself, with barely any issues!"

Four grimaces answered my words. "Easy to say, but as it is I'll never be able to look at fire without flinching…" grumbled Claire.

"Bah! Nonsense. I dealt with it, so I'm sure you can, to! If needed, I can always just throw you into a volcano for training-"

"We'll be good!" Rebecca yelped, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Great!" I exclaimed happily. "And Rebecca? I'll need to see you at Insight Corp's headquarter, I have some news of interest for you."

She looked at me curiously, but I betrayed nothing, since I wanted to keep things a surprise.

"Anyway, in rewards of your latest success in training, I've been cooking food for tonight's dinner-"

"Why didn't you start with that? Come on everyone, let's take a shower and then get dinner!" exclaimed Jill, before she eagerly rushed towards the mansion.

I rolled my eyes but grinned, amused and happy that she was looking forward to my cooking… though the same was true of the others, as Rebecca, Claire and Chris wasted no time to rush towards their own bathroom, exhaustion and complaints forgotten in the face of divine food.

Well then, better go make sure they weren't disappointed…

"Come on in!" I shouted, getting up from the chair in front of my desk in the office I possessed at Insight Corp. HQ, as Rebecca opened the door and got in, looking at me curiously.

"Alright, I'm here. So, what is it that required you to have me come here to tell me about it?"

I smiled, sending a quick message to my secretary to send the next guest in.

"An old friend is here, I figured that you'd want to see him?"

Rebecca blinked in confusion… until someone knocked at the now closed door, before entering when I gave the go ahead.

And I most certainly enjoyed the look on her face as recognition gave way to shock followed by delight.

"Billy! Billy, is that you?!" she exclaimed.

Billy Coen, ex-convict of the US Army, smiled back at Rebecca, looking much more relaxed than he had been months ago while in the Arklay Mountains.

"Rebecca. It's been some time! This guy told me you work for Insight Corp. these days? In between studying to become a medic?"

Rebecca smiled brightly. "That's right! I-" she paused, before scowling and pointing at him. "Hey! Don't distract me! How are you here? Wait, isn't it dangerous for you to be in the open like this?!"

She turned towards me, eyes wide, but I merely chuckled and waved at Billy.

"Well, it took some time, but with the recent scandals rocking both the US government and Army, they really couldn't afford any more rocking their boat. Especially one that would easily turn into an international clusterfuck. So I managed to… convince enough in the army and government to cut a deal in exchange for Billy's innocence and freedom."

"Yeah. Still not sure how you pulled that off, but I know better than to ask. As it is… Well, I owe you big, Aeon." said Billy, looking gratefully at me.

I grinned at him. "I promised, didn't I?"

He chuckled. "That you did."

Rebecca sent me a deeply grateful look, green eyes shining bright with joy, before looking up at Billy. "So wait, you're… really free, now? You don't have to hide anymore?"

"Nope. The Army doesn't want me back, sure, but I wouldn't want to go back anyway. After all, I got a much better job offer."

Rebecca frowned in curiosity, and Billy grinned. "You're looking at one of the new recruits of ISIS. I heard you guys did good work in Raccoon City?"

Rebecca gasped. "Wait, you joined ISIS? Really?! That's great!"

I shrugged. "All things considered, he needed a job, and I already knew he had the skills and personality to work for us. Really, it was hardly a question in my mind."

"Perhaps, but I appreciate the help anyway, Aeon. After everything that happened… Well, I'll be glad to pick up a gun and fight the good fight again." replied Billy.

I smiled at him. "That's what we are here for. Someone needs to fight for the sake of the world, and it might as well be us. We've all experienced how corrupt and cruel people in power can be, after all."

My words turned the atmosphere in the room darker, as both Rebecca and Billy grimaced, dark looks in their eyes, but I was pleased to see the shared determination to fight for what was right in their eyes.

"So, with that being said, How about you accompany me as I give Billy a tour of the facilities? It'll give us time to properly catch up on everything." I proposed.

Rebecca smiled, the shadows in her green eyes disappearing at my words, replaced by excitement.

"I'd love that! Come on, I've got so much to show you! The labs here are incredible… and so is the armory!" Rebecca cheerfully declared, taking Billy by the arm and all but dragging him towards the door, much to my amusement as I followed after them.

It may have taken some time, but I held to my promise of helping Billy. I was actually hoping he and Chris would become friends, too, since both knew a thing or two about traitorous bosses and wanting to fuck over Umbrella.

And with that, the only "heroine" of the first Resident Evil games that still remained to get in my circle of influence was Ada Wong.

Though that was going to require more time to get results. It would be Leon's job to help her try and become a better person, after all.

And much like in canon, she had broken ties with the Head of the Family. That was a good step in the right direction, that was for certain.

I looked at the group of mercenaries in front of me.

The Wolfpack, who ended up "pressured" into working for the US government after their testimonies were done following the events of Raccoon City, stared back at me.

"Well, it's been some time since we last met. I heard you made a deal with the US government… though I'm sure that Simmons had nothing to do with that, huh?" I declared, the barest hint of sarcasm in my voice.

To their credit, they didn't even blink.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, you know everything. Look, you wanted this meeting, so what do you want?" declared Beltway, some hostility in his voice.

"Beltway." said Lupo, and the man in question fell silent. Then she narrowed her eyes at me slightly.

"You'll have to excuse my subordinate's hostility. The last few months have been… busy for all of us. Nonetheless, he is correct. Have you a new deal for us?"

I chuckled. "You could say that. Insight Corp has been busy too, these last few months, but the downfall of Umbrella is far from over. And I do not believe that I am mistaken when I say that we have… mutual interests in seeing Umbrella gone from the face of the world."

"Your point?" questioned Vector.

"My point," I calmly replied, "is that we could use people of your particular talents and motivation to see Umbrella burn. And perhaps, even further beyond, too, in time."

The group fell silent for a time.

"If you know our employer-" Lupo began, but I cut her off.

"I do indeed. Better even that you do. And that's exactly why I'm here right now. Simmons isn't someone that you want to follow. Not when his sanity could, politely speaking, be described as "slipping." And I'm sure that you all remembered the last time you worked for anyone who's sanity was not exactly stable, don't you?"

There were a few grimaces and closing fists at my words, though Lupo herself only turned grim.

"And we're supposed to believe that you can outsmart him so easily? Simmons isn't Umbrella. He's got the US Army and government in his pocket on a far greater level. Even after the recent… purges… his powerbase is still strong. If Umbrella can fall, what makes you so different, if Simmons decides to get rid of you?"

I snorted. "Besides not being a comically evil, megalomaniac bastard like Spencer?"

Beltway snorted.

"Besides that, yes." dryly replied Lupo.

I gave them a long look.

Then I decided to drop a proverbial nuke on their heads.

"Simmons is going to try and kill the US president, one day."

"What?!" they exclaimed, jerking back in shock at my words.

I casually shrugged. "Remember, Simmons is the same guy that wanted to nuke Raccoon City to cover up any and all American involvement with Umbrella. Sooner or later, one of the US presidents is going to try and reveal the truth of everything, and what do you think will happen then?" I pointed out.

They frowned. "And what makes you think one of them will?" wondered Four Eyes.

I smirked at her. "What makes you think they won't?"

Four Eyes opened her mouth… and then closed it, giving me a suspicious look.

"You think you can convince one of the US presidents to do something crazy like that?" asked Lupo.

I shrugged slightly. "Well, you never know. I heard a great deal of those in the US with secrets to hide got the boot, recently. Something with all those secrets being blown wide open?" I replied with a wide, knowing smirk.

Wolfpack stared at me for a long moment.

"Motherfucker… you- fuck, that makes far too much sense. But in that case…" Vector began mumbling to himself, and Wolfpack shifted slightly, looking at me with somehow even greater caution than before.

"Even with Simmons dealt with, Blackwatch isn't going to be so easy to deal with." warned Lupo. "Those bastards got away from Raccoon City stronger than they entered it. If you push too hard, I can't see them not acting, especially when it's obvious they'd love a reason to go against you all."

I smiled calmly. "Then it's a good thing that they won't be a problem forever, isn't it?" I replied, voice deceptively light.

Once again, they all stared at me.

"How the hell-"

Lupo raised a hand, her eyes never leaving me. "I'm starting to wonder who between you and Simmons is the craziest one." she declared.

I laughed slightly... before smiling coldly at her.

"The difference, Lupo, is that his belief in his victory is born from overconfidence. Mine is born of understanding. Of knowledge of exactly what me and mine are capable of… and exactly what my enemies are capable of. Mark my words, Wolfpack. Insight Corp needs not lift a finger to destroy Simmons or Blackwatch. All we have to do… is wait. For as we speak, both are already creating the very weapons of their own destruction. All that we need to do, then, is wait for the time when both will be broken by their own creations. And when that happens? Insight Corp. will be ready. All we will have to do is drive the last nail in their coffin. When they will fall, it will not be a war. It will be an execution."

Wolfpack fell silent, unable to say anything in the face of the sheer confidence in my voice.

After all, I wasn't speaking as a mere mortal mastermind, here.

I was speaking as a god passing judgement.

One who knew exactly what was coming.

Oh, war was coming, I knew that. The outbreak of New York would happen, and then Blackwatch would march to war.

But that would be the last war they would fight in. A rather fitting end, since it would be a conflict born from their own sins.

That was the thing with Evil. All too often, their greatest enemy wasn't even the forces of Good, per say.

It was the fact they were always so very good at creating their own worst enemy.

And as I left Wolfpack to think upon my words, I knew it all too well.

The same happened for the Moon Presence, after all.

That was the problem with creating living weapons, really.

If you weren't careful, the only thing it would destroy… is yourself.

Too bad for the Big Bads of this world that their megalomania did not let them think of this fact.

Spencer with Wesker. Wesker with S.T.A.R.S. Blackwatch with Alex Mercer. Derek Simmons with Carla Radames.

Truly, what a world of dark irony, than the one I now live in...

After yet another long, hard day of work trying to keep the world as safe as possible, it was with a sigh of satisfaction that I entered the bedroom of my mansion in the Hunter's Dream-

Only to pause, staring at the sight before me.

Oedon, Lucy, Rebecca, Jill and Claire were all naked, and they were all staring at me with grins on their faces that made it very clear what they had planned for the rest of the night.

I slowly entered the room, closing the door behind me, my eyes roaming over the naked flesh of the beautiful women in front of me… before finally resting on Rebecca, who was blushing harder than any of the other women.

I grinned. "Well now. I didn't think you had it in you, Rebecca, but it appears I am delightfully wrong on this one."

Rebecca's blush deepened, but she still smiled at me.

"Well, me, Jill and Claire still haven't rewarded you for all your help in our world and in our personal lives… For helping save Raccoon City… and for helping Billy." she replied, almost whispering by the end, even as her green eyes never left mine.

I smiled back, before glancing at Jill, who smirked at me, one hand gently caressing her naked left leg. "You did save my home city, Aeon. So when Rebecca came up and asked for this… well, I was most definitely on board."

Her smirk widened. "Also, the sex is always great."

"Hear hear!" shouted Claire, grinning at me.

I then looked at Lucy, who shrugged and said that she definitely could use the stress relief, and finally to Oedon, who smiled, green eyes twinkling.

She hardly needed a reason, but…

Sherry, she mouthed, green eyes dancing with joy and love.

I chuckled.

"Well then…"

I stepped forward, my clothes disappearing and several clones suddenly surrounding me.

"Let's get this show on the road."

The women grinned, letting themselves be pushed flat into the bed as a Aeon for each of them stood above them, the original "me" having gone straight for Rebecca, who stared up at me with lust-filled green eyes.

I leaned down to kiss her, her moans soon followed by several others echoing across the bedroom, as each woman moaned happily under their own Aeon.

My hand trailed down her side, gently squeezing her breasts, which earned me a more guttural moan, before going downwards, and then grabbing each of her firm ass cheeks hard.

Rebecca gasped softly, while my cock lined up in front of her pussy, the wetness over it making it clear that no foreplay was required.

And so, with Rebecca silently urging me through a heavily lidded, lip-bitten look of pure lust and desire, I buried myself into her, a hot gasp escaping her while her arms went around my neck, squeezing as tightly as her inner walls as her legs went around my waist, pushing me deeper into her.

"Take me." she gasped, similar words whispered from each of the women in the bed, and soon enough the bed rocked from the several Aeon fucking the women deep into the mattress, while the room echoed with hot gasps, guttural moans and whispered words of praise and encouragement.

My lips closed around Rebecca's left nipple, teeth gently nibbling on it as her limbs tightened their hold on me, even as I continued squeezing her ass while hammering her into a trembling, sweat and cum covered mess.

"Aeon, I- fuck!" she gasped, her eyes closing as her body tensed then shuddered, an orgasm wracking her body and mind… followed by another, and another, as I kept on fucking her, my own orgasm building up quickly.

Finally, I came, Rebecca throwing her head back as a long, pleasure-filled moan escaped her as I released enough cum inside her womb to swiftly fill most of it.

Then she collapsed, trembling arms and legs falling on the bed in exhaustion while I looked down at my work, the sweaty, disheveled woman looking back at me with a tired, but bright grin on her face, and my 360 degree vision easily allowed me to see that the same was true for every women on the bed.

Then as one all Aeon turned to look at one another… and then grinned, before looking down at the women beneath them.

And with that, each of them resumed thrusting, drawing pleased gasps from every woman, only for every Aeon to touch the women's foreheads… and then they gasped harder, as sensations and emotions were shared between everyone present.

Lust and desire, love and pleasure merged together, and the passion in the room grew even higher as all felt one another's emotions, their collective desire pushing them onwards to greater heights of lust, their pleasure drawing gasps from all present.

Love-making was adjusted to be rougher or more gentle depending on preferences, specific spots of all bodies found and pleasured, and the room echoed with pleased moans, encouragements and professions of love.

When the next orgasm struck, it struck with the force of several individuals cumming at once, screams of delight ringing in all of their ears.

For a moment, everybody gathered their breaths… And then several new clones were created, new positions taken by all to ensure each woman was truly claimed in every way a woman could be claimed.

If the previous heights of lust and pleasure was already far beyond normal human limits, then this went even further beyond them, and muffled squeal of ecstasy rang in the air as bodies were rocked back and forth, blue and green eyes staring up into black ones with only lustful delight shining in them.

When the next orgasm hit, it once again echoed throughout all present, bodies shuddering and muffled groans of pleasure filling the room, more than one pair of eyes closing or outright rolling up in bliss.

And yet, the long night to come had only barely begun…

"Ha!" Jill gasped, blue eyes rolled upwards, her gasp echoed by several more, as every women kneeled face first into the bed, drooling mouth and rolling or closed eyes a testament to the sheer mind-breaking pleasure all were assailed by as an Aeon continued to fucked them from behind, pleasure spells and more guaranteeing that all of the assembled were as equally fucked nearly comatose into the large bed.

Occasionally, sharp slaps echoed, as those women with rougher preferences had their ass spanked as brutally as they enjoyed, while for others gentle words of love were whispered into unresponsive minds overcome with ecstasy.

As one, every Aeon suddenly thrusted forward, groaning in pleasure as a great amount of cum was sent into already well-filled wombs, and unintelligible groans of pleasure left the drooling mouths of every woman.

And still, the night was far from over…

Wet mouths sucked and tongues lapped as the great cocks in their mouths, while each woman instinctively rocked their hips back and forth as more cocks filed their asses from below, their cunts from the front, and yet more were surrounded in the soft valleys of their breasts. By now, all of their bodies were covered in either sweat or cum, but their eyes yet danced with lustful delight, each of their lust feeding into another to create a constant feedback loop which never weakened, and only grew whenever specific spots were hits within them that drew pleased gasps shared by all.

Any sense or reason had long since left the minds of all gathered here, in the face of endless rutting, the magics in the room ensuring that, despite everything, neither thirst nor hunger nor anything else would get in the way of the ongoing orgy.

And so, position after position, the non-stop sex continued.

Sometimes, two or more women were put together such that kisses were exchanged, skin suckled and pleasure given not by male hands but also at femine ones.

Groups created, broken and then re-created, as all were ensured had their fill of one another, with Claire, in a rare moment of greater lucidity, managing to gasp out her newfound love of lesbian sex not long before she was pushed head first into the juices covered pussy of Lucy, who did not hesitate to close her legs around the woman's neck while being fucked in the ass and mouth by two clones of their male lover.

At one point, with amused grin on their faces each Aeon suddenly began to levitate, and every women present were thus thoroughly pounded into the ceiling above, cum, sweat and drool covering it more and more as new position were investigated and then followed through when the new space offered by levitation allowed it.

And then the Good Hunter, deciding that his current preys were near the breaking point, went for broke, and the room seemingly disappeared, exchanged for a black expense as wide as the void of space, black tentacles seemingly made of the void of space itself curling around their bodies, restraining their limbs and cupping their breasts.

And then two of those tentacles easily entered their well-fucked pussy and ass, drawing gasps from them a second before a third went down their throat.

Their backs arched as those tentacles felt unnaturally amazing inside them, so good that they all orgasmed in the spot, bodies left shuddering in the void, and yet all easily felt another orgasm growing as the tentacles kept pistoning in and out of them.

More, the space around them itself seemingly began caressing their body, two mouths coming from two dark as void tentacles latching on their breasts and each women, now positioned like upside-down Y, clenched their fists and curled their toes in ecstasy as they felt like their whole body was caressed or sucked or fucked, all at the same time.

And so, bound in an endless void where each women could only hang in and tremble in bliss, muffled squeals and moans of delights escaping them from around the tentacles fucking their throats, their bodies shuddering as both they and the tentacles fucking them occasionally came and released their juices, which then dripped down their legs into the abyss beyond, the only things left on their minds, connected to one another and to their eldritch lover, was mindless pleasure and love in equal measure.

How long did they all hang in this void, bodies wracked by pleasure and minds filled with bliss? Only Aeon himself knows.

After all, lost in ecstasy as they all were, they would have gladly stayed an eternity inside these bounds of love and lust, uncaring about the passage of time, their lives easily preserved forevermore by their immortal lover.

But there is far more to life than lust and pleasure, no matter how enjoyable they may be, and finally Aeon lets all his lovers pass out with bliss-filled smiles on their faces.

Though all knew that, sooner or later, they would go for a round 2… and no doubt many others after that.

I was, to say the least, rather amused.

And so was Oedon, if the slight grin and twinkling green eyes were anything to go by.

See, the problem with having a 12 to 13 year old girl in the Hunter's Dream, during a rather wild night of passion, is that, despite magic ensuring that no noises escaped the bedroom, the slight limp all women had the morning after, combined with the easily noticeable glow we all had acquired following a long of night of vigorous sex, wasn't exactly subtle. Especially when Sherry was a pretty smart girl.

The wink and grin Claire had sent her hadn't exactly helped.

So now, Sherry was trying her best to turn into a tomato, so red had her face become as she failed utterly to look anyone in the eye all morning.

Still, I supposed that I should say something, or otherwise she would probably stay like this for a long while.

Somehow, I doubted that her parents were the kind of people who did… stuff like this. Or had sex in general after Sherry's birth, honestly.

So, with that being said…

"Sherry." I said, the poor girl almost jumping a foot in the air at the sound of my voice despite currently sitting on a sofa, before throwing me a look that could be best described as "deer caught in the headlights."

Rather amusing to say the least, and utterly adorable, but this wasn't the time to tease her over it.

That would come later.

"You don't have to look at us like that, you know. Did you never got any talk about sex?" I asked, genuinely curious.

Somehow, her face simultaneously turned redder and paled dramatically. Fascinating.

"I-I-I did. My… my parents even brought out charts and… stuff." she replied, face twisting at the words "charts."

I held back a snort. Yeah, the Birkins probably touched on the subject from an entirely scientific point of view.

"I imagine that they didn't mention sex ever having more than two people involved." I said, and the look on her face made it very clear that no, they certainly didn't.

"To be fair, as I understand things, it is not something that happens often in modern human civilization." calmly pointed out Oedon.

She paused. "Mostly."

I shrugged. Fair enough. Still…

"But yes, me, Oedon and the others did, in fact, pass the night having sex. That's the kind of thing that normally happens at some point between lovers, you know." I said to Sherry, a measure of amusement in my voice.

She blushed again at my sheer bluntness, before hesitating, her eyes flickering from me to Oedon.

"Go on, ask." I said.

She swallowed, but took a quick breath and turned towards Oedon.

"Does it… not bother you, that he has so many lovers?" she asked, sounding rather confused.

I traded an amused glance with Oedon. Yeah, we knew that was coming.

Oedon turned back towards Sherry and smiled. "Not at all."

Sherry blinked, her confusion increasing. "But… I mean, he's not technically cheating or anything, but…" she fumbled, seemingly not sure what to say.

My dear wife chuckled gently, before smiling. "You forget that I am not originally human. I was a Great One first, Sherry. And even after I got a body in the Hunter's Dream… Well, I was not certain that I could bear a child for Aeon at the time. So, as my kin traditionally do, I suggested that if I could not bear children, I would be fine with him having other, mortal lovers, who could bear him children. Surrogates, so to speak."

She took a sip of her cup of tea, then once again looked at Sherry with a gentle smile. "To be truthful, I now know that I could bear his children. And one day, a day that I most certainly look forward to, I shall." she declared, and the words spoken rang with the certainty of a god, with the absolute conviction of one who will let nothing stand in her way.

The sky was blue, water was wet, fire was hot, and Oedon would bear my children. As far as she was concerned, absolutely nothing could change this fundamental truth of existence.

Sherry was now looking rather wide-eyed at Oedon, though I merely smiled in amusement. I knew my wife, and I knew quite well indeed that while she respected my reasons for not truly starting a full family full of children yet… the moment that I gave the go ahead, there would hardly be a single night passed without sex happening.

Even when I knew that I could easily guarantee that she would be pregnant by the end of the first night.

Though then again, I also suspected that she'd work hard to convince both myself and all of our lovers to let me impregnate them.

Something that was going to be… interesting, to say the least.

"But, even without that, I have no problem with him having more lovers. He is powerful, handsome, intelligent, and I am not blind to what such a combo does to humans. I could easily… keep him to myself, so to speak, but I care little about whether he loves me or me and others. Again, I am not truly human. I am a Great One, a Goddess, and I can feel his love for me, as strong as ever. I am no mere mortal woman plagued by doubts, or even jealousy. I know my husband loves me. I know he will always love me. And that is enough, Sherry. That is all that will ever matter."

She took another sip of her tea… and then smirked at Sherry.

"Besides, the more women he has, the more children I will be able to dote on in the future. Once again, I am not human. I can love one or thousands of children as easily and fiercely. Long after this world dies, long after the very stars grow cold and dark, I will still remember you and love you as much as I do now and in the years to come, Sherry."

By now, poor Sherry was left staring at Oedon with wide, trembling eyes, though both Odon and me only smiled gently.

"We are gods." I whispered softly to her. "We will always remember you. We will always love you. No matter how much time passes, our immortality and perfect memory ensure that those we love will never be forgotten."

Oedon and I got up and then went by Sherry's side, hugging her gently.

"So we love as much as we do, because we can. Because to us, numbers and time matters not. And since we have to be immortal, have to be eternal, then being around people like you, and Claire, and Rebecca and more… Well, we could deny our feelings, we could bury what humanity we do possess… but what good would it do, besides twisting us into cold, heartless monsters? Better to follow our hearts, even if it means potentially being hurt, than to close them forevermore. And so, if we meet people we respect, we make friends. If we meet people we find ourselves loving, we love them, without doubts or hesitation. Eternity... is a long, long time to pass if one does not have the courage to love, Sherry."

Sherry didn't reply, as she was far too busy hugging the two of us as tightly as she could, tears falling from her eyes.

For a while, we simply stayed there, hugging Sherry and whispering gentle words to her. Considering her past, it wasn't surprising that she could develop… issues with being abandoned, so we wanted to make it absolutely clear that it wasn't going to happen.

And then, of course, my wonderful wife had to prove herself as such by speaking up again.

"That, and to be honest your father is amazing in the bedroom."

I gave her a dry look over Sherry's head, currently buried on my chest.

"Really, Oedon?"

"What, I thought men liked it when women praise their skill in sex? Considering that you are good enough to completely satisfy Lucy, Rebecca, Claire and myself at the same time, our daughter should be proud to have a father like you."

Sherry let out a half-sob, half utterly embarrassed laugh, while I merely sighed deeply.

Yep, definitely my wife. No one else would be this blunt and straightforward and utterly, absolutely shameless.

"Huuuughh…"

I laughed, even as I kept doing more push-ups.

It hardly mattered to me, but in this case…

"Come on! You've barely done any, I'm sure you can do more!" I encouraged, while Sherry tried to keep going at my side, face red and sweat covering her body as she painfully did yet another one.

"It… hurts!" she gasped.

"That's the point! It means that you are pushing yourself, and eventually your muscles will grow stronger as a result! Now come on! Another one!" I shouted, easily doing mine with but a single arm with ease.

Sherry sent a weak glare my way, before gritting her teeth and going down and up, slowly, ever so slowly…

"Raaaagh!" With a last burst of effort, Sherry screamed as she made yet another push-up… before collapsing on the ground, a pained groan escaping her.

I cheered. "Congrats! That's one more than yesterday!"

"Yeah… Ow my arms… They're going to fall off…" groaned Sherry, face down on the ground and panting hard.

I got up, not even breathing hard despite the hundreds of push-ups I did at inhuman speed, before sitting crossed legs by her side.

"5… 4… 3… 2… 1… And there we go!" I said cheerfully, and Sherry tensed before releasing a sigh of relief as her G-Virus, Old Blood enhanced healing kicked in and easily healed her near instantly.

"Ow… You're evil…" she grumbled quietly.

I smiled, ruffling her hair. "Now now, none of that. You agreed to the training, after all. And with your healing being that good, it only makes sense that we push you like this. Your body can handle it, after all."

I waved towards her. "I think that the way your body has grown stronger ever since we began is a good proof of the results, no?"

She glared at me, before sighing and nodding. "Yeah. I am stronger, it's just really exhausting!" she complained with a huff.

I chuckled. "No pain, no gain, as the saying goes. Besides, that pain is part of your training, an important part actually."

She frowned, looking up at me in incomprehension. "How?"

I shrugged slightly. "If you get hurt in a fight, that pain can stun you, or make you make mistakes, or any number of things. So training your willpower in how to push past the pain is important for later. You can't afford to collapse and cry at every wound you take on a battlefield, after all."

I grinned at her. "Honestly, I'm going easy on you, Sherry. Give it a few years more however, and I won't be training you so gently."

She blanched. "So gently?! I always feel like my limbs will fall off at the end of every session! And you want to get worse?!"

I smiled sadly down at her. "It's needed, Sherry. The things we fight, they have no mercy within them. Thus, we must train just as hard, to ensure we are never stuck in a position where our survival would depend on that non-existent mercy. Our enemies do not know the meaning of the word… and so, neither can we."

I gave her a look. "Unless you think that zombies will listen if you or anyone else beg them for mercy?"

She grimaced, a flash of months old dark memories visibly passing through her eyes at my words.

I nodded grimly, if sympathetically. "And there's the issue. In a war against monsters, we must learn to be worse than them in battle, for kindness and weakness have no place against those with neither. And so, we train. And so, we push ourselves, day after day, to ensure that we remain the best."

"Even you?" she asked, curious, though I could feel her doubts that anyone could be stronger than me.

To Sherry Birkin, I was Aeon, the god who had saved her, and Claire, and her mother and the entirety of Raccoon City.

I was the one who fought in Yharnam, and killed madmen, beasts and gods alike.

Surely, there was no one stronger than me?

Ah, the innocence of youth…

"Yes." I replied. "There are those stronger than me. Even now. There is always a bigger fish, Sherry. It's always a good thing to remember that, lest we become arrogant and far too sure of our own invulnerability."

She gave me an openly dubious look, and I laughed slightly.

"Don't give me that look! I'm serious. There is more to conflicts and war than mere raw power, Sherry. Tactics, Strategy, skills, all that and more impact the result of any battle. I am good, I will not deny that, but I am not perfect. There are powers in Existence who can challenge even me, in the right circumstances."

Sherry looked at me no less dubiously than before. "But, you're…" she got up, sitting crossed legged like I am, any signs of her previous exhaustion gone utterly, beyond the remaining sweat on her, while she frowned heavily towards me. "You!" she finished, waving in my direction, as if it was enough to explain everything.

Which, fair enough, it kind of was.

Even so…

"And yet that is the truth. And no, " I interrupted, seeing her open her mouth, "I'm not talking about Oedon, or Lucy for that matter."

She frowned harder.

"Then who? I thought you said that there were no other gods in this reality? And you already won against those from Yharnam, even when you were still human!" she pointed out.

For a moment, I hesitated. Should I talk about the Eldritch Court at the center of the Omniverse?

… No. Not yet. She was still young, there was time yet before I would poke that rabbit hole to see what was in it.

Still, maybe I could give her something…

"There are… certain gods I know of," I slowly, hesitantly said, "that I am keeping an eye on. Ones that could be great allies… or the exact opposite. Until such time as I go meet them to determine the truth of it, however, they shall remain as something of a wild card. Thankfully, their attention isn't directed towards this reality, so I am free to make the first move when and where I see fit. Still, for now, all I can do is hope that things will work out in the end."

Sherry fell silent, staring at me for a moment, before frowning.

"And they are powerful enough to be as strong as you?"

I let my mind drift away for a moment on the distant chorus at the center of the Omniverse, the sounds of curse-flutes and maddened songs echoing across reality for those who know where to look.

Then I looked back towards Sherry, who was suddenly tilting her head.

I almost raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off.

"They are." I merely replied instead.

Which was a bit of a lie. None of the Outer Gods, by themselves, could match me. Me and Oedon? Especially if I add Lucy? Even combined, they would probably lose…

Except for the First. The Strongest. The Creator-Deity of all things.

The Daemon Sultan… Or Sultana, perhaps.

The one being far stronger than I was right now, since despite everything, I was still a young Living God… by such godly standards, at least.

I fell silent, my mind despite myself drifting to the plans I created on how to handle the Eldritch Court of the Daemon Sultan(a).

In peace or war or everything in-between.

And all the while, Sherry stared at me, a concerned frown on her young face.

Sherry Birkin did not like the look currently on her adoptive father's face.

There was a near alien coldness in his eyes, an utter lack of emotions shared by cold focus and thought, and his eyes truly lost any mask of humanity in these few moments where the god beneath truly took over.

Her father, that is to say her now dead father, was never that much of a warm man. Neither was her mom, it was true, at least… before.

But Aeon was different. He was warm, and caring, and always seemed cheerful and amused, always eager to lend her an ear to listen to her thoughts and feelings and just pass time with her… with only a few moments of exceptions where his happy persona fell away to reveal the cold warrior within.

Her birth father often lost himself in thoughts too, his mind focusing on his work and his experiments. In the past she thought that he truly wanted to make the world a better place, and so tried to not let it affect her, for she was proud of having a father whose experiments could save the lives of many, even if she had wished he had more time and love for her… she knew better, now.

So no, she did not like the emotionless look on her adoptive father's face. And not only because he was far, far more intimidating than her birth father when he too, lost himself in his thoughts.

She did not fear Aeon, she never would, but there were times where his inhumanity did shine through.

Like what had happened just now. He may not have noticed, but for an instant, a mere blink of an eye, his body had… changed. Reality had broken, as no longer did she sit in front of Aeon, with his great coat and hat, or with his black robes full of stars and glowing or void-like eyes, but instead…

Instead, her vision was split. On one side, a humanoid being sat on a throne, the cosmos surrounding him, as if he was the very center of all things. His face holding no features but that of the void of space, full of stars and worlds and Black Holes and-

And on the other side, was a being of utter darkness. A black as void face and body surrounded by a dark red halo, his massive body floating in front of a comparatively small planet that was being broken apart with casual ease by his very presence, light and life and Time and Space breaking and shattering and screaming as Oblivion consumed all things-

And both were looking far into the distance, how she could tell that without them having any features she knew not, focused utterly on something beyond her sight… and yet, as she focused she could almost hear some kind of music, her entire being stiffening at the very sound, part of her shuddering in instinctual dread and revulsion, while another seemingly exulted in the growing sounds of flutes and drums and of the sheer,wondrous presence of disorder and madness and the glory of the NUCL-

Aeon blinked, and Sherry tilted her head, the sounds of drums and flutes booming one last time in her mind before falling silent.

Emotions, humanity, rushed back in his eyes, confusion and concern and love and so much more once again present and all the more visible for their utter absence a moment before.

And Sherry was left staring with concern at her father, as ever saddened by these moments where his warm humanity fell away out of necessity to let place to the alien divinity beneath.

Her father was a kind man. A warm, caring one, the sheer difference between him and her dead birth father all too easy to notice in the months she had passed with him.

She could tell he loved her, even as a god. But it was different then, as he did not love like a human, but like a burning star and blackhole both, the sheer intensity of his emotions only matched by the alien pragmatism and cold logic born out of a being whose mind was so developed that mere mortal emotions were as easy to discard as breathing was to do.

To a being who watched over the lives of all living things, from their birth to their deaths, to the beginning of their species to their extinctions, the love felt towards a single mortal should be as but a drop of water in the ocean… and it was, and yet was not.

Somehow, her father could be incredibly logical and coldly pragmatic, entirely willing to push her, hurt her even, if that was what he felt was needed to turn her into a strong warrior, once she had willingly accepted his proposal of training.

If what she had managed to gather from Claire's and the other's training was like, he might even send her to fight horrors which might kill her, brutally and painfully, once she was old enough and trained enough to have a chance to survive. That thought was terrifying, for she knew well enough of what death looks like, having seen far too much of it in the dark days of the outbreak of Raccoon City, of bodies torn apart, of people screaming in agony before falling silent forever.

And yet...

And yet, he loved her. The more time passed, the more his eyes burned with love, and the pride in his voice as he called her his daughter was unquestionable, which always left her blushing and her heart beating faster in joy.

How strange, to look into the eyes of someone, and see both inhuman cold logic and warm love alike, not fighting for supremacy but coexisting in harmony.

But that was her father. How ironic, that her first father was almost all coldness and little humanity (the last of which was willingly discarded to his own work, in the end), while her second father was the opposite, great warmth hiding brutal logic beneath.

Still, she promised herself that she'd help him remain that way. The warm smiles when she was with him, the warmer hugs he loved to give her (and that she loved receiving, even if she was always left embarrassed by these obvious display of love that she had experienced so little of before), the pride in his voice as he spoke of her… she wanted it to remain. She didn't want to see him lose himself, not like her first father had.

Being with him, with Oedon who had welcomed her with open arms and even more open heart, or even with the other people who passed time in the Hunter's Dream (the fact that her new father had a wife and multiple girlfriends was still something she was adjusting to, but they were all good people and she liked them all. Though Claire would always have a special place in her heart, and she privately rejoiced that her and Aeon had gotten together.) had been wondrous, living in a home who for the first time truly could be called one, full of warmth and laughter and love.

And maybe, just maybe, she could see where his coldness came from, why the rage he himself talked about lied deep in his heart. The thought of all this being threatened by anyone… the thought that, even now, people would see her new family and wish them harm…

Her heart squeezed tight at the thought, a mix of fear and anger in her as her mind provided images of what could be, images bolstered by her experiences in Raccoon City.

And she couldn't help but wonder, then, if perhaps the gods he spoke of were the true reason he had turned people into Hunters of the Dream… or at least, one of the primary reasons.

Did he, even now, prepare things for the future? Prepare them to face the gods he spoke of, in the same way he had worked hard to prepare for the outbreak at Raccoon City?

It made sense to her, at least. And as his daughter… would these gods target her, if they were to fight, her father and them? As a way to hurt him, through her?

… She didn't like that. She didn't like that at all.

Well. She was the daughter of a god-killer. If she trained hard, maybe…

She looked at her father… and smiled.

"Can we get back to it?"

He raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

Her smile turned ever so slightly cold and determined.

Perhaps… Perhaps I'll become my father's daughter in more ways than one.

Only one way to find out.