Chapter 280: Chapter 279: Easy Decision

Reviewing everyone else’s choices gave Jadis the time she needed to come to her own decision. In truth, it wasn’t that hard of a choice. Jadis didn’t have the years of combat training that Noll had, nor did she have weapon and armor skills to boost her competency like Kerr and Thea. What Jadis had was raw attribute power. The pure overwhelming numerical advantage she possessed over others when it came to her stats was the determining factor when it came to her fights. That was the whole reason why even just one of her bodies was a force to be reckoned with. It was also why three of her was even more of a devastating combo than it would be if there were, say, three of captain Willa. Her high attributes were key.

Jadis decided she would keep debauched duplication on her fractional spread passive. With that choice set firmly in place, she also opted to cover her most obvious deficiency rather than spin the wheel on past skills. She took Mirror Knight’s Impenetrable Ward, happy to finally have some real defense against magic. Considering what a boost it was, she was tempted to do some tests, same as Thea, to see how strong her new defenses were. However, stabbing herself with the cursed magic knife she’d taken from the now very dead Legs felt… extreme. Certainly not something she was going to try to do that night, in any case.

Solidifying her skill choices in her mind, she could actually feel the physical shift in her body. Nothing visible about her selves changed, but her strength alone had just risen by over a hundred points. She absolutely felt the difference, to the point that she was somewhat worried about accidentally using more strength than she intended when interacting with her companions, as well as the environment around her. No issues had come up so far since it seemed whenever she gained any Strength or Agility she also gained the instinctive knowledge of how to control her selves, but still. Jadis had just increased her attributes by their biggest jump to date. She couldn’t help but have a little concern.

Of course, that concern was eclipsed by the elation of reviewing her stat sheet. She’d truly grown by a massive amount. She couldn’t wait to test her new-found strength out and get a real feel for just how much she’d improved with these latest levels. Maybe she could ask for a rematch with Noll. Not out of any petty spite over the ass whooping he’d given her last time. No, she’d deserved that one. But the savage wolf was three times her level and had become her best benchmark for true combat power. After this level, she could very well have surpassed Noll, at least from a numerical standpoint.

Maybe.

The old dog was pretty fucking strong.

Once everyone’s choices had been made and the skills discussion petered out, Aila took back her journal and carefully secured it inside her backpack with several layers of knotted string that couldn’t be untied, only cut. There was no way anyone would be able to open the journal without at least giving away the fact that it had been spied on. Aila was still halfway convinced she should burn the notes, though Jadis convinced her otherwise for the time being. Instead, she told her that she would copy her notes into a new, fresh journal for her, only this time she’d write it in her own Earth-based language, or as far as Sabina and Bridget were concerned, the Nephilim language. No one on Oros except for Jadis knew how to read and write English, so Aila could preserve her notes in a kind of cipher until a better solution could be found.

By then the night had grown late and everyone was exhausted, even with Bridget’s Stamina Beacon giving them a boost. Picking out their moss-covered beds, everyone settled down for the night. The room grew quiet as the strange magical light of the flowers surrounding them seemed to sense their intent and slowly darkened to the point where there was barely any glow at all.

Since Jadis was so large, she did not get to take advantage of the enchanting moss beds. The wood floor was her lot, but at least she had her blankets, which suited her well enough. Staring up at the strange, dark ceiling, she listened to the sounds of her friends and lovers falling asleep. There were a few whispered conversations, the sounds of movement under blankets, but after a time, those all faded away until there was nothing but the soft sound of ten different people breathing.

Two of her bodies were fast asleep, but the third, Dys, was not. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust the Dryads: she had no reason not to. But Jadis had been on high alert for a long while by that point and it was hard to just turn that off. So, one self stayed awake, watching and listening and thinking about what she wanted to do in the morning. It was because that one self was awake that she heard the sound of Eir getting up from her bed.

It was too dark in the room for her to see, but Jadis knew it was Eir because of where the sound had come from, as well as the lightness of her steps. Eir always moved with a kind of soft grace that was wholly different from the way the others moved. Whether that was an elf thing or just an Eir thing, Jadis didn’t know. She was inclined to think it was a mix of both.

Dys waited, listening to Eir’s bare footsteps as she left her bed and moved across the room to where Jadis’ three selves were lined up in a trio on the floor. She said nothing, made no sign that she was awake, and waited to see what the priestess would do.

There was a long silence. Then, she felt Eir lie down, settling herself against Syd’s open left side. She tucked herself into Syd’s arm, one hand on her chest and her head on her shoulder. Jadis could feel Eir’s fingers clutch her shirt as the elf pressed herself so close to Syd’s side there was not a hair’s breadth between them.

“Can’t sleep?” Syd asked, that self waking as Jadis allowed Dys to drift into sleep.

Eir was not startled by Syd’s whispered question. She simply took a deep breath, her face pressed against Syd’s shoulder.

“No, I couldn't.”

“Are you thinking about what happened earlier?”

There was a long pause.

“A little. I try not to.”

Images of Eir, a spike through her bloody chest, passed before Syd’s eyes.

“It doesn’t help to dwell on it.”

“I’m not,” Eir said as she moved slightly, rubbing her head closer against Syd. “I have prayed to Lyssandria. And Destarious. I will be fine.”

Syd shifted, turning to lay on her side so that she was facing Eir. She held the woman against her, one arm propping the much smaller elf up. Pressing her nose to her hair, Syd kissed the top of Eir’s head, finding comfort in the feel of her locks as well as her clean smell.

“I want to promise that I’ll never let anything hurt you again,” Syd whispered as she gently rubbed Eir’s back. “But I can’t promise something like that if you stay by me. I’m walking down a dangerous path. Anyone with me will be in danger, too.”

“I know,” Eir whispered back. “I knew that from our first meeting. You are a fighter. It is a part of your beauty, that wild fierceness. I would not try to change it. So I am resolved to go with you, wherever your wild heart takes you.”

“Thank you,” Syd said, touched by Eir’s words. “That… well. It really amazes me how strong you are, you know? You don’t have any real way of fighting or defending yourself at all, and yet you’re always right out there, in the thick of things with everyone else. I’m not sure if I would be as brave as you if I was also as defenseless as you.”

“I am certain that you would be brave whether you were a dragon or a mouse.”

“Thanks,” Syd chuckled softly. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

Her amusement faded as her mind turned to more serious matters. Words that she had been thinking of for a while, words that needed to be said. She pulled back slightly, enough so that she could look down at Eir, even if she couldn’t see much in the dark.

“Eir,” she began. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for a while now, but I’ve been waiting for the right moment. It never really came up, since we’ve been out in these woods with all the demons and the smugglers and the… well. I just kept putting it off because I wanted the moment to be special. But after today, I’m not waiting any more. I don’t want to wait so long that something happens and then the chance never will come because one of us is gone.”

“Jadis—”

“I don’t expect that to happen. I expect all of us to die of old age a few centuries from now. But I’m not going to take the chance anymore. So.” Syd took a deep breath. “Eir. I love you. I want you with me, always. Will you be with me?”

Eir’s body went stiff as stone in Syd’s arms. There was a long, long silence as Jadis waited, listening, hearing nothing, not even the sound of Eir’s breath. Then, as Jadis’ nerves almost became too much, Eir seemed to melt as she moved against her, sliding up her body to bring her face level with Syd’s. Her soft hands cupped Syd’s face as she pressed her forehead against hers.

“Yes. I love you, too,” Eir whispered, her voice cracking slightly with emotion. “I will always be with you. Always.”

Syd let out a sigh of relief that was quickly muffled as Eir pressed her lips against hers. She kissed the priestess back, slow and with a burning passion that she let smolder. Her arms wrapped tightly around Eir, dragging her on top of her as Syd rolled onto her back. She held Eir against her as they kissed, enjoying each other’s warmth. No more words were needed.

They kissed for a long while, passionate but without lust, just a desire to touch and be touched. Eventually their mouths broke away from each other and Eir rested her head against Syd’s chest, tucked up under her chin. They continued to hold each other, saying nothing, but happy. Happy in a way that made all the trials and horrors of the day fade away into nothing but a forgotten nightmare.

Eir was quiet for so long that Jadis thought that the elf had fallen asleep. Certainly she was having trouble staying awake, even her third self had heavy eyelids by that point. Then, as Syd began to drift, Eir quietly whispered a question against her neck.

“Jadis? When I was hurt, you told me something. You said that you would give me anything that I wanted. Is that still true?”

“Yes,” Syd answered drowsily, but without any hesitation. She would do anything for her lovers and Eir was most certainly of that number now. “Is there something you want?”

“There is,” Eir answered, her voice slightly apprehensive. “It isn’t… it isn’t something I need right now. But, someday. Someday, I would. From you.”

“What is it?” Syd asked again, Eir’s reticence perking her interest and dispelling a bit of her tiredness. “Just ask, I’ll do it for you.”

There was one more pause, shorter than the last, as Eir seemed to come to some internal decision. Her next words dispelled what remained of Jadis’ sleepiness entirely.

“I want to have a baby.”

“…Oh.”

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