[Valerianne Yul]

I came into awareness, as a small kitten, still inside the pocket of Nox. She was sitting in front of my favorite cafe in Amarillia.

“Why are we still dreaming?!” I looked around. “Why did you ask the Dream mage to put us into a shared dream with June?”

“It was about time for something nice. I asked the Dreamancer to weave a relaxing dream for us. This. A little vacation for me and June in which nothing can go terribly wrong.” She waved a hand at the beautiful, summertime city around us. The city looked strangely empty, devoid of people as if it was extremely early in the morning when nobody had woken up yet.

She didn’t look like a creature made of night here. She still looked like me, but had brilliant purple eyes. She wore the armor crafted from Moosy’s bark. She started to take it off, putting it down, until only the fern dress was left on her.

“Why though?” I looked up at her as she pulled me out of her pocket and put me down onto the table.

“Here we can talk and act freely without the asshole Baron of the Rim spying on us with his magical all-seeing eye. We need to spend time together. All three of us. Me and you need to understand each other and make the pact between us grow stronger. We need to make the opposing nature of our magic work between us better.” Nox explained. “I’ve defeated the Dreamancer and the other two high mages for you, without resorting to murder, fulfilled my part of the deal. Now, please help me get June back to strengthen our [Pact].”

“How?” I asked, examining the dreamscape skeptically.

“With the power of dreams, of course!” She smiled.

“What, we can trust the Dream mage now?” I asked worriedly.

“He’s chained by fear and greed now.” She replied. “I know all of his secret plans. I fueled the fire of his ambitions to get what I want.”

“You want to help monsters like him breed?” I raised an eyebrow at her, my growing concern becoming evident.

“Pfff, no. Honestly, I don’t give a shit about him or his family or his dreams to rule the Rim. I don’t care about anyone except for June and... you as an aid in my goal. I just want MY June back!” She snapped.

“Okay, okay… you don’t need to shout. Why is it that you care about one foxkin so much?” I inquired.

“Pay attention - due to the nature of the Pact between us, I can make it so that I cannot lie to you, cannot trick you…” Nox said. “I invoke the power of our [Pact] to speak the truth. I promise not to intentionally deceive you.”

“Likewise.” I said, feeling our pact strengthening. “So, why is she important to you?”

“She’s my soulmate.” Nox stated so matter of factly, it wasn’t a boast, or some impossible wish but something she truly believed and the [Pact] only reinforced the truth behind it.

“What?!” I flicked my tail unconsciously. “But you’re a divinity and she's a foxkin girl!”

“So are you. People can become Avatars of the divine by interacting with a divine power. Your power as Virtue has undoubtedly been awakened by your constant, ongoing interactions with me.”

“So you… became the avatar of Nox by interacting with the Void too much?” I asked.

“Presumably. I don’t remember the details. It was too long ago.” She replied, rubbing her temples as if she could massage the memory to the surface . “It is entirely possible that I was kissing up to the Void or researching it until I ate it.”

“Are you planning to eat me too?”

“No. I am planning to get my soulmate back, even if it kills me. Feel the truth in my words, Yul. The church of Virtue are despicable humans who fractured people’s souls. I felt that for such crimes they deserved to die. I know that you disagree with me about my methods, but know that my methods won’t stay the same. I am very flexible. I can change. Not just for myself, not only because I want to fix the System, but also for June. She is somewhere in this city now. We’re going to find her and we are going to make her mine, as she was before she died. I’m going to incept love for me into her mind using this dream.”

“This seems like a terrible plan. You can’t just make someone fall in love with you using dream magic.”

“She loved me before… she died,” Nox glared at me.

“I’m serious!” I defended. ”I feel the truth in your words, and this plan could backfire! This manipulation could push her further away.”

“I want to try. Here we have a lot of nice things, plenty of time, no other people to distract us and no enemies hanging over our heads. It will work.” She said with determination. “Please? I just want to try being her friend, in a place where we can’t be hurt. Come on, you owe me this. Help a Void Goddess out. When I first met June, she said and I quote ‘We didn’t even go out on a date’. You aid me in this ritual that will lead to her accepting and kissing me.”

“Gaia, why me?” I whined, burying my face in my… white paws.

“You don’t want to help me?” She blinked.

“I’m a freaking white kitten. Why have you done this?” I looked up at her with my tail thrashing in irritation.

“You’re a kitten because kittens are adorable and easy to move around. Stop complaining! All you have to do is aid me with some [mental advice]. I’ll figure out the rest! I’m a quick learner and not an incompetent,” she replied cheekily. At the last word she scratched my head playfully.

“Wait. Did you just send me a thought?” I crooned my neck, pushing my head into her hand. Why did that feel so good?

[I did.] She spoke without moving her lips. [It’s good practice. With enough of it, I believe that we’ll be able to mentally talk to each other in the real world too! Little steps!]

[This is very strange.] I thought back at her.

[Get used to it. You’re the Avatar of Virtue! A divine manifestation!] Nox cheered me on. [You can do miracles. Wield the belief of your followers and do me a miracle. I need to make things happen between me and June, whatever it takes!]

“Alright, alright, fine,” I submitted. “But this better not turn weird.”

“Oh it’s probably going to turn very weird. I’m all about the weird.” Nox grinned. “You don’t have to watch, you freaking prude.”

Yep, I had to help a Void Goddess with a date. I was a kitten-shaped wingmate to her insane plan of trying to mess with June’s feelings in a dream. This was my life now. This was me.

I sighed.

“So, what’s a date and how do I give one to June to make her happy?” Nox asked, poking my kittenly body. When she spoke of June, her expression softened. She seemed genuinely uplifted, changed... nearly human.

“Who said you could stop scratching?!” I uttered before I realized what I was saying. Clearing my throat, I tried to salvage my dignity, “Gaia, where to begin..?”

“Have you ever given someone a date?”

“No.” I sighed in relief that she missed the first part.

“A pity. Guess it’s the blind leading the blind then.” She giggled nervously.

“At least I know what a date is!” I commented.

“Okay then, smartass. What is it?” Nox picked me up, and snugged me into her(my!) cleavage.

“An activity in which two people meet socially with the aim of each assessing the other's suitability as a prospective partner in a future relationship. It represents a form of courtship, consisting of fun activities carried out by the couple, either alone or with others… well, in this case with me because there's nobody else in this empty city.”

“Gotcha. How do I start this process?”

“Find wherever June is in this stupid dream and ask her out on a date.” I said. [Now who’s incompetent?]

[I'm not an incompetent, humanoid mating rituals were never of any interest to me and the terminology of such was one of the first things I sacrificed to survive my imprisonment. Such things are quite useless for a Void Goddess, you know.]

[Whatever. Damnit how to turn this off?] My cheeks flushed beneath the whiskers.

[Stop thinking directly at me.]

[It’s hard because your giant boobs are up in my face!]

[They're your boobs and dryads made them this way. I had nothing to do with their curvature or size.] Nox pushed her chest out with a smirk.

I tried to focus on the empty city and not on the mountains of boob encompassing me. It was very hard. [Stop that!]

“Anyways… what if June says ‘no’ to my date invite?” Nox asked nervously.

“Right, umm… If she says No… Then you’re out of options, I guess.”

“Find June, don’t take no for an answer, got it!” Nox announced, getting up.

I sighed. “You can’t just force someone into a relationship.”

“Force her? It’s called being persistent! I’m not ending this dream until she goes on a date with me! Our souls are perfectly compatible on the thaumaturgic level. We are blessed with incredible improbability to be together forever. June just needs to realize and accept this important fact!” Nox said.

“Not ending this dream until she accepts you? This already sounds like a terrible start.”

“You’re just angry because you’re a kitten.”

“Am not! I just find your plan… dubious and morally questionable.”

“Which of my plans do you not find morally questionable?” She asked.

I tried to think. “Okay, fine! All of your plans are like this! Why are you like this?”

“Like what? Awesome? Amazing?” Nox pointed her tongue at me.

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Valerianne Yul / [System Error]

Quest: Have a successful date with June.

Reward: 1000 points.

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The system dinged.

“Did you just give us a Quest… for a date?”

“I have indeed! Might as well get rewarded for my effort! Got to level up your healership so that you become less of a useless burden.”

“I feel like this is by far the weirdest Quest anyone has ever gotten in the history of Quests.” I muttered. “Also… why does that say System Error?”

“Because the System sees me as an Error. I’m technically dead, broken and possibly corrupted beyond recognition.” Nox clarified.

“I see.” I sighed.

“What’s your problem, kitty cat?” She asked with a wide grin.

“You. You are my problem. You’re not awesome or amazing. I feel like I’m dealing with a petulant child or a megalomaniac.”

“Hrmmm?”

“Let me go over all of your decisions thus far. You’ve taken over my body without my consent, got me into trouble repeatedly, committed genocide, and brought me into mortal peril again and again. You sent me Quests threatening me into compliance with the murder of my family. You blew up the Convent - which makes me feel like you caused the Sextant invasion. Because of your actions half of the people in Europa are now dead and the other half have been enslaved. You constantly act like this invincible and all-powerful Goddess. You are not, though. Please stop. Think things through. Talk to me. Try to understand me.”

“Ow, that kinda hurt.” Nox winced. “Okay, my plans are questionable from the point of Virtue, but at the very least I'm accomplishing things. Have you ever accomplished anything that you are proud of, Yul? All you've done since I’ve taken up residence inside you is sabotage me and yourself."

I growled. She got me good.

"Okay, relax, Miss Grumpy Cat. We are all here to talk. To cooperate without me forcing anything into the two of you. Okay? Okay.”

“Fine. Let's go find June and get this over with.” I mewled. Being kitten-sized made things look way too freakishly large in comparison. It was weird.