The Homunculi's Weakness

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Mermaid Heel Headquarters.

June 4, x785.

Like so many other mornings, Alfonzo woke up in a warm, comfortable bed. On top of that, he could feel the warmth of several bodies pressing against him, as well. However, this is where the similarities to the way he normally woke up ended.

Unlike the usual, Alfonzo did not feel his arms being sandwiched by soft flesh. Well... That would be a bit inaccurate, as his arms were feeling the soft flesh of two women weighing down on them. However, it felt more like he was being restrained rather than hugged lovingly.

On top of that, there was also pressure on his waist, undoubtedly from someone sitting on him. At the same time, he could feel the pressure from a pair of hands on his chest.

'Well, this is different.' Alfonzo thought to himself without opening his eyes. 'I don't think I ever woke up like this before. I wonder what kind of game these girls are playing.'

Naturally, after feeling something different, Alfonzo spread his [Magic Power Detection]. Immediately afterwards, he was able to identify the three weights that had settled atop him. Sitting on his waist was Erza. While Marin and Lucy each sat on his left and right arm, respectively.

["There's really only one way to find out, isn't there?"] Bedlam asked with a grin.

'I guess you're right.' Alfonzo replied internally.

"So, to what do I owe the pleasure of feeling all three of your asses on me, first thing in the morning?" Alfonzo asked as he opened his eyes and raised his head slightly to slowly make eye contact with each of the girls.

Upon making eye contact with each of the girls, Marin, Erza, and Lucy smiled brightly in turn. However, Alfonzo could tell that they were a little unhappy about something.

"We are not pleased that you are keeping secrets, Alfonzo." Erza said, her brilliant smile turning into a stern expression instantly.

"Yeah, and how could you sneak out like that after I fell asleep?" Marin asked with a pout.

"So, we've decided that we're going to get the truth out of you, one way or another." Lucy added with a solemn expression, as well.

"*Sigh* I guess I should have seen this coming, huh?" Alfonzo said as he let his head sink back into his pillow. "Unfortunately, this has to remain a secret."

"Is keeping your secret more important to you than the discontent of your lovers?" Erza asked, her stern expression turning into a frown.

"Or, are you afraid that we'll tell someone?" Marin asked, her pout deepening as she asked.

Meanwhile, Lucy, who had already tried those tricks, only kept her silence while glaring at Alfonzo with increasing intensity.

"*Sigh* You all know that's not it." Alfonzo said while gently shaking his head. "I trust all of you with my life. So, of course I'm not afraid of the secret getting out."

"Then, why?" Lucy asked in a huff.

"Because if I told you, it would ruin the surprise." Alfonzo said with a grin. "Although this project is mostly meant for a single purpose, it's meant to be a surprise for all of you, as well. And what would be the fun if only a few of you knew about it while the others were left in the dark."

"Then, you can just tell all of us, right?" Marin asked, her pout now replaced with a bright smile. "If you do, I promise we'll make it worth your while."

As she spoke the last part, Marin reached to her shoulder and slowly lowered the strap of her tank top, causing more of her left breast to be revealed.

"As fun as that sounds, I think I'll let the surprise, be a surprise." Alfonzo replied with a grin.

Once again, Marin's smile transformed into a pout. Then, she raised her tank top's strap and hid her breast away before turning her head away.

"Fine, have it your way." Marin said, clearly not happy that her seduction attempt failed.

"It would seem we are unable to get any more information out of you." Erza said as she relaxed her posture. "I guess we'll just have to wait until the surprise is uncovered. And since Lucy told us about your promise that you were not seeing another woman behind our backs, I suppose there is no harm in waiting."

"*Sigh* I told you this wouldn't work." Lucy said as she, too, relaxed her posture.

"Yeah, but I was looking forward to rewarding him after he gave in." Marin said while continuing to pout. "I even had a new idea of how I could add my [Transformation Magic] into the fun."

"You know, it's not like we need a reason to do that, though." Lucy pointed out.

"I know. I know." Marin said while waving off Lucy's comment. "But this would have made it feel more special."

"After hearing that you had a new idea, I must admit, I'm rather curious." Erza said as she glanced at Marin.

"And you should be." Marin said while smiling proudly. "You really should look forward to it."

Like that, while continuing to sit on top of Alfonzo, the girls chatted without a care in the world. Meanwhile, Alfonzo could only watch them with a wry smile on his face.

'If I didn't know any better, I'd think they forgot I was down here.' Alfonzo thought while enjoying Erza, Marin, and Lucy's smiles.

["Yeah, we all know they're just messing with you."] Bedlam replied.

'Well then, I think we should do something about that.' Alfonzo replied with a mischievous grin.

In the next instant, Alfonzo bucked his hips while simultaneously swinging his arms upwards. As a result, Erza, Marin, and Lucy were all thrown into the air with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Then, they all landed on top of Alfonzo, with Erza landing on his chest and Marin and Lucy landing in his outstretched arms.

"There, this is much more comfortable, don't you think?" Alfonzo asked as he wrapped his arms around Marin and Lucy.

"*Sigh* Somehow I forgot how strong he is." Marin said with a wry smile on her face.

"Yeah, if he wasn't playing along with us, we would have never been able to hold him down like that." Lucy added while sporting a similar wry smile.

"But that's why we love him the way we do, right?" Erza asked as she snuggled into Alfonzo's chest. "He let us air out our grievances, as it were."

"*Sigh* That's true." Marin and Lucy replied simultaneously while also snuggling into Alfonzo's embrace.

Then, for the next few minutes, the group of four fell into a comfortable silence. However, that silence was broken when Alfonzo remembered a question he had from the day before.

"Hey, Marin, I got a question for you." Alfonzo said while turning his head to address Marin.

"What's up?" Marin asked as she tilted her head to make eye contact.

"By the time I reached you yesterday, the homunculus, Lust, was already turning to dust." Alfonzo said. "But how did you kill her so fast? I mean, from what I can tell, you'd usually have to injure her over and over until her Philosopher's Stone ran out of power."

Hearing that, Erza and Lucy's gazes also fell on Marin. Even though Lucy already knew Marin fought a homunculus yesterday, Erza had not yet heard the story. So, she was even more curious to know what happened.

"Wait, Marin, you killed one of those things?" Lucy asked in a disbelieving tone. "You mean, it didn't run away when Alfonzo showed up?"

"I thought I told you; the fight was over by the time I got there." Alfonzo said as he turned his head towards Lucy. "The only thing I did was catch Marin before she face planted into the ground, picked her up, and flew her back here."

"Yeah, but I didn't think that meant she won." Lucy said in an incredulous tone.

"Are you trying to call me weak?" Marin asked with a playful smile on her face. Then, she freed herself from Alfonzo's hug and jumped over both Alfonzo and Erza, before landing on top of Lucy. "I'll show you just how strong I am!"

"Hey, Marin, what are you--- Hahaha! Marin, sto--- Ahahahahaha!" Lucy began to ask before bursting into raucous laughter.

"Yeah, that will teach you to look down on me, Lucy!" Marin shouted as she tickled Lucy mercilessly.

Meanwhile, Erza allowed herself to roll off of Alfonzo's chest and settle into the space Marin had just vacated while she and Alfonzo watched Marin and Lucy play around.

"I'm truly thankful that everything turned out all right." Erza said with a smile. "I would hate to lose moments like this."

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a smile and a nod. "But I think we should stop them soon. We still haven't heard from Marin how she took out the homunculus so fast."

"Agreed." Erza replied with a nod.

That said, Alfonzo and Erza did not immediately move to stop Marin's relentless tickle torture. Instead, they waited until it looked like Lucy would run out of breath before intervening.

A few minutes later, everyone had once again taken up relaxed positions. Though, Lucy was still breathing somewhat heavily.

"I thought I was gonna pee myself." Lucy said between labored breaths.

"Well, at least I stopped before that happened." Marin said from her spot atop Alfonzo's chest.

Hearing that, Lucy glared at Marin resentfully.

"No, you were stopped before that happened." Lucy barked back.

"Same difference." Marin replied with a shrug.

"Anyway, Marin, tell us what happened while you were fighting the homunculus.

"Right." Marin replied with a nod as her expression turned serious once again. It actually happened just after I got hurt. Right after my arm got slashed, I lunged forward and stabbed Nova into---"

"Wait! Is that the name of your [Soul Armament]?" Lucy asked, interrupting Marin's story again.

While Erza was just as shocked as Lucy this time, Alfonzo was much calmer, as he was there to see when Nova reverted to its sealed state.

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that, huh?" Marin said as she sat up on Alfonzo's waist.

Then, while grabbing at the multi-colored bracelets on her wrists, she reverted them back to their original forms, a pair of multi-colored, double-edged, kodachi.

"This is Nova." Marin said, holding out her [Soul Armament]. "And even though there are two of them, there's only one spirit."

"Interesting." Erza replied while inspecting the quality of the two short swords.

"But how did you find out her name so fast." Lucy asked in an amazed tone.

"I was just about to tell you that." Marin said as she turned Nova back into a pair of bracelets. "But a certain someone keeps interrupting me."

As she spoke, Marin reached over and pinched Lucy, who had started to blush in embarrassment, on the cheek. Then, after having her fun, she continued her story.

"Anyway, after I stabbed Nova's initial form into her chest, she screamed, like, really loud." Marin said, continuing her story. "And then, Nova told me that she could sense the souls inside of the Philosopher's Stone escaping when her blade made contact with the stone."

"But how is that possible?" Erza asked, though it was obvious that Lucy was thinking the same thing.

"If I had to guess, it was because the [Soul Armaments] are created from our souls." Alfonzo said with a contemplative expression on his face. "And while in most situation, if we were to attack someone with them, there wouldn't be much of a difference from a normal weapon, most-likely because the body insulates the soul from the attack, but when attacking something like a Philosopher's Stone, which is only made up of souls, they probably have a much greater effect."

"Yeah, Nova said something like that, too." Marin replied with a nod. "Anyway, after that, I dodged around, trying to get close enough to attack the stone again. But the homunculus wouldn't let me get close."

From there, Marin explained what she had to go through to hear Nova's name and how she defeated Lust.

"After that, I passed out." Marin said, concluding her story. "And... Well... You know what happened after that."

With that, the room fell into silence while everyone digested Marin's story.

"Alright, now that we know how to finish off the homunculus, things will be a lot easier going forward." Alfonzo said, snapping the girls out of their contemplations. "But we can worry about that later, it's almost time for me to start getting ready."

"Ooh! I'll help you get washed up." Marin said as she sprung out of bed.

"I will offer my aid, as well." Erza said as she climbed out of bed shortly after Marin.

"Well, if they're doing it, I'll help, too." Lucy said, following the other two.

As Erza, Marin, and Lucy got out of bed, they missed the malevolent glint that passed through Alfonzo's eyes.

'Good, now I know how to get revenge.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'After hearing what Bradley muttered about them leaking the information about where our parents lived, I'm sure Lici will be ready for a homunculus massacre, too.'

["Fuck yeah, this is gonna be fun!"] Riot shouted excitedly.

["We'll have to make them pay for what they did to Marin, too."] Bedlam said with a malevolent smile on his face. ["They undoubtedly wanted to capture her to lure us out. And we need to show them why that was such a bad idea."]

With that, Alfonzo got out of bed and followed the girls into the master bathroom while doing his best to stop his current emotions from showing up on his face.