Bryce

I took another sip from my beer and sighed in contentment. Elven wine was unsurpassed, dwarves did whiskey, halfling brandy was to die for, and gnomish cocktails were literal magic.

But humans, they discovered how to brew beer before they even figured out written language, and it showed. There was just something about chicken wings with a good hoppy beer that I couldn’t resist.

It was a strictly human delicacy that I acquired a taste for back on New Eden, and if another elf ever heard about me eating like this, they would be mortified. Lucky for me, I stopped caring about elvish customs when my family abandoned me thirty years ago. So, if I wanted to eat meat while drinking human alcohol, then I was going to do it.

“You look like you’re enjoying yourself,” Thea said as she slid into the round booth next to me with another plate of chicken wings. “Mind if I join you?”

“Please do.” I wrapped my arms around her neck and pulled her into a deep kiss.

“I can see why you like her,” an extremely attractive woman commented while she stood over us with a smirk. “Thea, why don’t you introduce us?”

I broke the kiss to address the succubus with a smile. “No need. I’m Bryce, Thea’s girlfriend, and you must be Nessy.”

“Just Nes, please.” She slid into the booth across from us and swiped one of the chicken wings. “Thea is only allowed to call me Nessy because she won a bet.”

“Oh? What sort of bet? Might be worth challenging you for the privilege.” I leaned across the table with a coy smile and Thea grabbed my collar to pull me back against the booth.

“Babe, it’s bad form to flirt while you’re wearing a blank band.”

I was about to apologize when Nes raised an eyebrow. “Thea, that wasn’t jealousy, was it?”

“N-no!” Thea stammered. “It’s just that Bryce has never been to a club like this, so she doesn’t know all the rules.”

I smiled, knowing that it was my turn to be mischievous. “I mean, I could always just—”

“It’s also a really bad idea to change your colors while you’re drunk.” Thea shot me a look.

“Well, I guess that’s that then. Sorry, Nes, maybe next time.” I took a sip from my beer while feeling extra smug.

“Now hold on a second,” Thea interjected while holding up her own band. I froze mid-sip. “I’m still sober. There’s no reason I couldn’t just–”

I grabbed her wrist and held it above her head while locking my lips on hers. I held her there for several long seconds before releasing her from the kiss. “I could think of a few reasons.”

“Dear gods, Thea. She’s perfect for you.” Nes laughed, and I blushed, having completely forgotten about the succubus in the moment.

“Yeah, she’s great,” Thea said, while looking a bit dazed.

“Well I’m glad you’re safe, and thank you for bringing my sister home.” Nes gave us a heart-warming smile as she got up to leave.

“Wait, Nessy!” Thea shouted before she could get too far from the table. “We wanted to set up a private meeting with your dad.”

“Oh sure. I can arrange that…” She seemed to think for a moment before continuing. “He has a couple of meetings that can’t be moved, but I could probably sneak you in to see him in a few hours. If you don’t mind waiting.”

“Actually, we were hoping to stay the night. Do you mind if we wait on the fifth floor?” I asked, catching a hopeful grin from Thea.

“Not at all. In fact, I’d encourage it.” Nes smiled, and I grabbed Thea’s hand to lead her towards the elevators in the back of the club.

~~~~

I straightened my shirt and quickly checked myself before opening the door to see a familiar succubus waiting patiently.

“Hello Bryce.” Nes gave me a knowing smile. “Father is finishing up his last meeting for the evening, and should be available to see you in about half an hour. I figured you’d appreciate some time to prepare.”

“It shouldn’t take us too long to get ready. Should we just meet you down there?”

“Unfortunately, I won’t be there to receive you. I just got off my floor shift, and still have a rather long list of things that need attending to as high priestess,” Nes apologized. “But it shouldn’t be an issue. You’re expected, so just head down to the second floor and let Zelaeth know who you are.”

“Alright, in that case, thank you again for arranging the meeting, and I hope to see you before we leave.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure of it. Would you tell Thea I said hi?”

“I will when she wakes up. It’s been something of a long day, and she passed out the moment her head hit the pillow.”

“But it’s so unlike her to fall asleep that quickly when she’s alone in a bedroom with a beautiful woman.” Nes’s grin grew wider as she leaned in conspiratorially. “Your shirt is inside out and you may want to fix that before you meet with my father.”

“Right, well, we may have done a few things before Thea was able to make it to the bed.” I blushed, which only caused Nes to laugh.

“You are too adorable. Please be careful while meeting with my father,” she warned, then elaborated when she realized how that sounded. “Please don't take that the wrong way, you won't be in any actual danger. Our temples are some of the safest places in all the planes. It’s just that if he catches even a hint of embarrassment, he’ll turn it into a game to make you as uncomfortable as possible. It’s usually fairly benign, but problems have arisen in the past.”

“What sort of problems?” I was painfully aware of taking up Ness’s time after she already told me about her busy schedule, but it felt important to ask.

“Well, now Diathna will only communicate with him through messengers. Which makes my life significantly more complicated than it needs to be.”

“Diathna?” I furrowed my brow as I searched my memory for the name. “It feels like I should know who that is, but I can’t seem to place it.”

“She’s a white dragon who ascended about a decade ago, so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of her,” Nes explained. “Her mantle is ice or frost or something else cold related. I’m not exactly sure of the specifics, but it’s become a problem because father was assigned to mentor her, and now she won’t even speak to him directly. Honestly, who would’ve guessed a dragon could be such a prude?”

“That’s a lot to unpack…” Why would a goddess need a mentor? Why assign Chorus to do it, and for that matter, who could possibly give a god an assignment like that?

“I’d be happy to help unpack it all for you, but maybe some other time?” Ness gave me a pleading look.

“Oh! I’ve taken up more than enough of your time. Thank you Nes and please let’s try to meet again before we have to leave. I’d love to get to know one of Thea’s friends, and I have no doubt she’d want to catch up.”

“Absolutely, I’ll be in touch.” She waved goodbye, and I closed the door.

“Everything okay with Nessy?” Thea asked the sleepy question from underneath a pile of blankets on the oversized canopy bed. The room we were in wasn’t large and the bed took up nearly half of it, likely a consequence of how tired I was when I conjured the image for it. The instructions to create the room hadn’t exactly been clear.

Thankfully, the dimensional space would disappear when we left, and I’d be given another chance at it before we had to actually spend the night.

“She’s fine, just busy.” I pulled my shirt off to fix it before continuing to urge Thea out of the bed. “Come on, we’re heading down to meet with Chorus in about ten or fifteen minutes, so we need to hurry.”

“Is that why you’re stripping?” She asked while peaking out from underneath the covers. “I mean, showing up naked would probably earn us some points, but I didn’t think you swung that way.”

“I most certainly don’t ‘swing that way’ and no, I’m not stripping.” I quickly redressed before explaining. “It’s just that I was in a rush to answer the door and put my shirt on inside out.”

“Well, to each their own, I suppose.” Thea pulled the covers off herself and stretched her arms into the air as she let out a yawn. “If you’re going to wear clothes, then I probably should, too. Do you know where my pants landed?”

I looked around the small space and spotted them underneath the bed near me, so I picked them up to toss at her. She thanked me before pulling them on.

“Remind me when we get back to send a message to Sora,” I commented as I sat on the bed to pull on my boots. “They’re probably okay, but that premonition has me worried.”

“You don’t think Stephy getting kidnapped was the thing that they predicted would go wrong? I mean, if they were there when Rose attacked you, then it probably would’ve been a fight.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “There’s no way Sora would’ve attacked Rose while she had all my mana. It’s way more likely that they would’ve just made fun of me for it or something.”

“You’re underestimating Softie. They care about you. Not like romantically or anything, they think you’re too boring for that, but maybe like a big sister or something.”

“I’m boring?” I glared at Thea, and she rolled her eyes at me.

“Those were their words, not mine. Softie actually has super high standards for romantic partners, and not that it’s any of our business, but I don’t think they’ve ever found anybody who meets them.”

“Well, the Network is a big place and they’re still young. I’m sure they’ll find somebody.”

“Not if they keep sleeping on my table.” Thea crossed her arms and glared into the distance. “I swear, if we get back and I find a single fox hair, then they’re not going to get any of my cooking for a month.”

“At which point they’ll either starve to death or have to cook their own food, and that’s definitely a death sentence.” I chuckled as I got up from the bed. “Are we ready to go?”

“Hold on, I’m still missing a shoe.”

We spent the better part of ten minutes looking for Thea’s missing boot, but eventually found it on top of the bed’s canopy. Getting it down from there was an adventure all its own, and by the time Thea was fully clothed, it was already time for our meeting.

We stepped off the elevator onto the second floor, and it was not at all what I had been expecting. In fact, calling it the ‘second floor’ was just plain inaccurate. We were surrounded by a white stone temple with artfully decorated pillars spaced evenly on either side leading up to a set of heavy looking double doors. Looking up, I could see a beautiful night sky with far too many stars shining too brightly to be natural. Dimensional magic had to be at play.

“Oh, we’re in Elysia,” Thea commented from beside me.

“Elysia? Are you sure?” I asked, while staring up into the veritable sea of stars.

“Not quite. It’s just a facsimile of our home to help those of us who are unable to return regularly.” A voice came from beside me and I nearly jumped out of my skin at the unexpected appearance of a man in a wispy white robe. “I’m sorry. I hadn’t intended to startle you, but I must ask if you have an appointment with my father. If not, then I’d be happy to escort you to one of our less restricted floors.”

“That’s alright, I just didn’t see you approach.” I paused for a moment to take a breath and let my heart settle before continuing. “I’m Bryce, and this is my girlfriend, Thea. Nes told us that we would be expected.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Bryce and Thea.” The man smiled widely while bowing deeply. “I am Zelaeth, the youngest of my siblings, and you are expected. Please, follow me.”