CH 24: Next Destination

Miquella :"I want to hear those three little words."

Alistair :"I love you."

Miquella :"That's sweet, but try again."

Alistair :"Fine, I'll behave."

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Miquella panted on Alistair's lap, limp and leaning back against his firm chest with numb, swollen lips :"That... was brutal..." He expected kisses to be gentle and loving, but as overly loving as his consort's kisses were, they were anything but gentle. It felt like his mouth had gone through a tough battle.

The man in question chuckled slyly, yet fondly at the same time, with the same swollen lips as him :"Yeah, and that's the best kind. Wanna go some more?" He cued teasingly, causing Miquella's face to twitch and pout :"P-please spare me the air.

I felt like I was going to pass out multiple times from the lack of air, you know? D-don't misunderstand, I-I liked it, but please be gentler with me, okay, dear consort? A-at least until I've become more skilled in kissing, alright?"

Seeing his pleading eyes, still teary from the long, brutal kissing session, Alistair couldn't help but hug him tighter and kiss his hair, chuckling fondly :"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for kissing you so intensely even though it's your first time. I couldn't help it. You just taste so~ good and feel so good to kiss. But I'll be considerate since I love you so much."

A smile made its way to Miquella's beautiful blushing face :"Y-yes, thank you, my dear consort. By the way, where has uncle Maliketh gone off too?"

"Hmm, now that you mention it, we haven't seen him since he left yesterday?"

"Do you think he may have sensed some Deathroots and went to find them?"

"Nah, not happening." Alistair deadpanned with a smirk :"Believe me, he's really lazy when it comes to that. Even in the game, he just stayed in the Bestial Sanctum and waited for us to bring him Deathroots. Hey, he rewarded us for each one with some pretty cool stuff, so that's cool."

"Come on, don't say that. Maybe he just doesn't have good luck with finding them."

"Hmm, fair enough. Other than a few of them, the other Deathroots are pretty well hidden. Actually, now that you mention it, there are a few in Limgrave. We should get them when we get the chance."

"Yes, but before that, we still have to find the Sacred Tears for me first, remember?" Miquella smiled gently. Alistair chuckled, rubbing his hair gently :"Don't worry, Miq. There's no way I'd forget that."

Miquella nodded :"I know you wouldn't. But a little reminder never hurt anybody. Seriously though, I'm getting worried about uncle Maliketh now."

"*Amused* You're getting worried about the vessel of Destined Death? Shouldn't you be worried about anything that comes across him instead?"

"Ha ha, very funny." Miquella rolled his eyes in amusement :"Uncle Maliketh isn't a violent person, alright? And besides, I'm just worried that he would get lost, not worried that something would happen to him. That is almost impossible."

"Goddamn it!" Maliketh appeared with loud stomps and a growl :"What the hell is wrong with those damn bears?! They're worse than the cursed dogs in Caelid!"

The two stared at the annoyed wolf, before chuckling to themselves :"Speak of the Devil and he will appear." Confusing Maliketh who frowned :"What? What are you two laughing at?"

"Nothing, nothing." Miquella raised his hands in surrender, clearly the doggo of death wasn't in a good mood :"We were just talking about where you were and you suddenly showed up, that's all. We hadn't seen you since yesterday, after all."

"Hmm, is that so? By the way..." Maliketh grew unsure :"You are Miquella... right? I mean, Alistair did say the change would probably be big, but I didn't expect it to be massive like this...? I barely even recognized you."

The gorgeous femboy smiled happily :"That's right, uncle Maliketh, it is I, Miquella! I finally grew up! And that's all thanks to my dear consort."

Alistair smiled :"You're welcome, Miquella."

Maliketh smiled as well :"I see. So your curse really is no more. Congratulations on finally growing up then. You really resemble Marika now, just a very younger version."

Miquella hummed :"Well, personality wise aside, Queen Marika truly was a beauty beyond the imagination. Her beauty was truly that of a god." Before sighing :"But still, I would have appreciated it if I was somewhat handsome too instead of just having the beauty of a woman."

Alistair grinned :"Hey, you won't see me complaining about it! You look absolutely gorgeous! And you know that's true, because I don't lie or sugarcoat my compliments!"

Miquella blushed, happy, but still pouted :"W-well, thank you for the compliment, my dear consort. B-but still, a bit of handsomeness would have been nice as well. After all, I still have my pride as a guy."

Alistair kissed his head :"No matter if it's just womanly beauty, beauty and handsomeness mixed, or just straight up a handsome prince, I will still love you just as much nonetheless. And who knows, maybe you'll get some handsomeness too with more Sacred Tears."

The pout was replaced with a shy but appreciative smile :"Mhm, thank you, dear." A smile the noiret returned :"Anytime, babe."

"I'm happy you two are getting along as always." Maliketh chuckled, before sighing in relief :"And thank goodness it was you, Miquella. Because I was about to get mad thinking Alistair here was fondling another woman suddenly."

"F-fondling?" Miquella blushed :"Please don't say it like that, dear uncle."

"Yeah, yeah. But still, I seriously was about to get angry if I didn't see the resemblance to Marika. Well, angrier than I already was."

Alistair grinned :"Had the misfortune of meeting the Rune Bears, I see?"

Maliketh growled :"Emphasize on the misfortune. One of them straight up fucking dived at me! And as if one wasn't mindlessly savage enough, its friends heard the commotion and came attacking too!"

The noiret cackled, the image of Maliketh just walking and a Rune Bear just leaping at him was unBEARably funny. Miquella meanwhile looked confused and concerned :"Are you alright, uncle? You're not hurt, right?"

Maliketh scoffed :"Oh, please, as if some overgrown savage fur balls could even put a scratch on me. I'm just annoyed at how persistent and violent they were. They wouldn't piss off even when I killed the other ones in front of them!"

Miquella frowned as Alistair snickered in amusement :"What are these Rune Bears?"

The Tarnished scoffed :"The worst monsters in the Lands Between. I would honestly rather fight dragons than those bastards."

Maliketh :"Preach it, kid. At least dragon corpses are valuable and delicious, these bastards don't give anything in return for the trouble they give you! More than their attacks, I got more harmed from the heart attack I got when the first one body slammed into me from nowhere! Hey, stop laughing, you two!"

"Hehehehe I-I'm sorry, uncle." Miquella tried to hold in his laughter :"But that is a very funny image you put in my mind."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. So what now?" Maliketh rolled his eyes :"Are we going to Godrick's castle or doing anything else?"

Alistair turned thoughtful :"Hmm, first things first, we need to get the three Sacred Tears in Weeping Peninsula for Miquella. I promised him we would do that first."

Miquella smiled :"Hm, thank you again, dear."

Alistair smiled back :"My pleasure and duty, sweetheart. Then next... hmm, I think a better weapon is needed. I love the club, but that won't exactly cut it. And I have just the right weapon in mind that we can actually find in the Weeping Peninsula.

And it's pretty close to one of the Sacred Tears! After that, I have some talismans in mind that can be pretty useful too. And funnily enough, most of them are in Weeping Peninsula too!"

"So our destination is the Weeping Peninsula one way or another, huh?" The golden femboy hummed before smiling :"Well, that's better for me then. I won't need to feel guilty about taking up so much of our time just for my selfishness."

"Don't say that." He felt his consort's fingers run through his hair fondly :"The Sacred Tears are extremely important to get anyway. So one way or another, I would need to collect all of them in the end. Them actually aging you up just adds to the benefits they bring."

"Hm, understood. But thank you nonetheless." The unalloyed twink grabbed his free hand, interlocking their fingers together (what a slut-) :"Just because it benefits me on the side doesn't mean I shouldn't be grateful."

Alistair nodded, smiling :"Then you're welcome, again."

Maliketh smiled at the two, happy about his nephew actually being happy :"Then since our destination is decided, shall we start the journey? Hmm, isn't the Weeping Peninsula very far away too? Shall I just take us there quickly if you are in a hurry?"

"Hmm, nah, it's-" Alistair was about to answer, but was interrupted by Torrent suddenly appearing by himself out of nowhere with an angry neigh :"Neigh! Neigh, neigh~!!"

"Wha- I am not stealing your role!" Making growled :"Why would I want the role of a horse?!"

"Bffh! Neigh! Neigh!"

"Grr, no, I do NOT have any interest in your "gig", as you put it! So stop overreacting!"

"*Suspicious* Bffh?"

"Grr I am the proud vessel of Destined Death, you damn mutt! Why in blazes would I be interested in the role of a horse?! The only reason I even suggested taking them there was because I thought they were in a hurry!"

"Neigh! Neigh~!!" Torrent neighed accusingly as he stomped his feet. Only angering Maliketh further :"I am not lying, you stubborn donkey! You better stop getting on my nerves or I will Destined Death you to oblivion!"

"Neigh!" But Torrent was fearless, only glaring daringly, causing Maliketh to grit his teeth :"You damn... if only you weren't the steed of these two... you know what, fine! You can carry them on your back for the rest of your life for all I care! Stupid donkey!"

"Bffh." The spectral steed smirked smugly as Maliketh turned away angrily. If Alistair wasn't busy cackling and Miquella busy trying to hold or at least hide his laughter, they would actually be pretty impressed.

They only managed to make Maliketh angrier however :"Stop laughing already, would you?!"

Miquella cleared his throat :"By the way, uncle, are you really fine with coming with us? As you already know, our journey will be long and tiring. If you don't want to accompany us, I won't hold it against you."

Maliketh scoffed with a smile :"Why? So you two can be even more shameless than you are and flirt around comfortably? If so, just tell your old uncle and I will go back to my place."

Miquella blushed, but quickly shook his hands :"N-no, none of that! I seriously just don't want to bother you, that's all. If you're worried about our safety, Alistair's current strength should be more than enough to guarantee our safety as long as we don't provoke an extremely strong foe."

Maliketh went quiet for a moment, thoughtful, before he smiled and patted Miquella's golden hair :"It's alright, kiddo. I'm not accompanying you just to insure your safety, but because it feels nice to take a breather and let myself relax after all these decades of torture from my hunger. I had completely forgotten how nice it feels to spend time with family after so long. So I'm happy that you invited me to come along with you for your journey."

"Uncle Maliketh..." Miquella grew sad. He knew better than anybody how awful it was to be cursed. Both him and his twin sister had suffered all their lives. He was aware he had better luck however. He was cursed only to stay eternally young, while his sister was cursed to suffer agonizing pain every second of her life while knowing she is rotting away from the inside.

And now, knowing how his uncle, one of the few people who truly cared for him, had been cursed as well, one that made him starve for such awful things, made him immensely sad.

He stroked the finger that was almost as big as him, fire of determination lighting up in his eyes, the same way it would whenever he talked about curing his sister :"I promise you, I –will– find a way to get rid of all the curses that haunt our family. Whether it is yours, Malenia's or Godwyn's, I will get rid of them all, even if it's the last thing I'll do."

Maliketh was stunned, before smiling fondly :"I know you will, child. I know you will."