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Cooled Passions Chapter 40: Tea with Spice
🕑 Added 2024-08-15 23:26:09 +0000 UTCChapter 40: Tea with Spice
“Indeed.” I began, “I apologise for the delay in organising us to have this time alone, your arrival gave me an opportunity to accelerate my plans that had to be seized.”
Despite sitting across from someone who could be considered a world ending entity, I felt surprisingly little apprehension or nervousness. Ever since she had descended, Ranni had been firmly in my camp, despite the situation presenting her with several facts that she obviously found distasteful.
“Dwell upon it not, Damocles.” She spoke, her cool voice reassuring, “It would be most ironic to deny thee thy schemes and plots. After all, thou aided me in my own most stalwartly.”
“About that.” I leaned forwards, feeling slightly foolish for my words even as I said them, “The way I interacted with you… The me you knew…”
Ranni interrupted me by raising a hand, “I know what thou wish to say, Consort.”
She steepled the fingers of her lower set of hands, looking at me over the rim of the tea cup she held in the top pair, “'Tis true, that although we know of each other, our relationship is built upon naught but passing memories. However, I have observed thee and my intuition hath led me true. Thou art my Damocles, thy demeanor and way of thinking are at once both refreshing and achingly familiar. Should you wish for confirmation, I would ask thee a question. I once asked thee what drove you to aid me so, what attracted you so to myself. Do you know what thee answered?”
Her question was surprising, but it made sense. If the Damocles she knew was my avatar from Elden Ring, a projection of myself, then he would have had similar tastes and personality to myself. In that case, what drew him to Ranni would be the same thing that drew me to her, when I first met her in game.
“Your voice?” I hazarded a guess.
“Indeed.” Her smile was beautiful, “To be honest, I was most surprised to hear that admission. I was pleased however, that my chosen Consort finds my voice pleasing.”
I felt playfulness rise within me, seeing how smug the Lunar Princess was acting, “It’s not the only beautiful thing about you, you realize?”
“Hmm.” She covered her face with the cup, almost ducking behind it, “Thou art aware that this is not mine original body, correct? Thine compliments art wasted.”
“I’m aware,” I smiled, “But I believe that makes my compliments even more truthful. You cannot change how you are born, but this is an appearance you chose for yourself, right? So you are solely responsible for how beautiful I find you.”
She stared at me over the cup, eyes narrowed, “Thy Queen was correct. Thy truly hath become the enemy of all women.”
I laughed, causing her to bring down the mug and reveal her small smile. Surprisingly enough, I found her easy to talk to, a sense of comfort filling me as the conversation progressed. If she was correct, and my soul was the same, perhaps it still remembered her somehow? Either way, the conversation flowed well after that. She spoke of Renna, whose body she took inspiration from for her own and prompted me to speak of my time in the Underworld, my own perspectives of the Satans and what they had done. At her further questioning I spoke of my plans for the Underworld, what my goals were.
Eventually, there was a lull in the conversation, a comfortable peaceful silence falling between us. She was a delight to speak to, an acerbic wit hidden behind her flowery speech.
A fact that was proven by her next words, “So they were right to fear thee, then. Considering that thou art wishing to usurp their power.”
“True enough.” I easily conceded, “However, if they were more accommodating then I would have been happy to work with them, rather than against them.”
“A lie, Consort. Thou would not be satisfied with joint rulership.” She retorted, “And neither should thee. As My Lord, yours is the right. I did much the same to Marika, after all. That does bring my attention to something I wished to discuss with thee.”
“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow, “What is that?”
“Thy strength is not sufficient for me to aid thee directly. Should I exert too much of my will upon this world, Our Order shall establish itself. The Order of which thou art the Lord.” She spoke, staring at me seriously, both pairs of arms resting in her lap, the refreshments finished.
“I think I see the problem. Your Order would force me to act as it’s Lord, regardless of my wishes, correct?” I guessed.
“Indeed. Going as far as to puppet thee. Something I will not abide. To that end, I wish to aid you in gaining the strength to take up the mantle in truth, as my equal.”
That surprised me.
“Your equal? I appreciate the faith, but after your devouring of the Gods…” Even if I completed the list, it would still likely take me decades before reaching the strength of even Ophis, never mind Ranni.
“Indeed, in terms of mystical power, asking thee to become my match would be difficult. However, thou share ownership of our Order, it shall empower thee should you be able to withstand it’s effects.” Ranni confirmed, “I am not speaking of mystical or physical strength. Thou mental strength is more than sufficient, however the area that asks for improvement is the strength of thou soul.”
“My soul?” I asked, intrigued.
“Yes, mine Consort. Thy soul is unknown to thee. With careful exploration and mine aid, we can build up this aspect of thine until you could withstand the effects of our Order.” She fidgeted, very slightly, but with the amount of attention I was paying to her I caught the movement, “It would be… Intimate, mine… No, Damocles. 'Twould be an extension of utmost trust. Access to one’s soul is not to be given lightly. I will await thine decision patientl…”
“I agree.” I spoke up, surprising her, “You wish for us to be married Ranni. Together for the rest of our lives. If I cannot trust you, who can I trust?”
At this point, any suspicion of foul play would be foolish. She is so powerful that she has no need to beat around the bush, should she wish to damage me through my soul there is little I could do to stop her. It was still terrifying, of course, to let someone have such unfettered access to the most intimate area of my being, but my words remained true. Besides, trust is inherently reciprocal and I needed her to trust me if she were to accept the Stamp in the future.
“Thou hath a habit of pleasantly surprising me, Consort.” Ranni sagged into the chair, tension having being built up throughout her explanation.
“Eternity is a long time Ranni.” I replied, “If I was predictable, it would quickly turn tedious.”
“'Tis True.” Ranni nodded, before a contemplative look came over her face as she mused to herself, “How long has it been, I wonder? Since I was trusted implicitly?”
---XXX---
If you had told her two years ago that she would have been in this situation, CC would have been incredulous. Truly, Damocles was an enigma wrapped in an infuriating, charming mystery. Even now, she lamented the madness that had possessed her to fall in love with the damn playboy.
In her mind, she had no qualms about admitting that she had catastrophically failed in remaining detached from the Sagan. She would die before she let him know it, of course. Or rather, confirmed his suspicions. The brat was rather infuriatingly perceptive when it came to her. A fact that she both appreciated and cursed.
Her annoyance was entirely warranted of course, Damocles was just lucky that he was as blind-sided at his wife from beyond the stars as the rest of them was. If he knew this would happen and didn’t tell her…
Anyway.
Now she had to deal with these two new additions to their group. The dynamic had been fairly well established and static before this, each of them comfortably slotting into their roles with ease. Now that was shaken loose and they had to find where they stood in the new layout of the complex web of relationships.
It reminded her of how much she despised these games that people played with each other. It was one of the things she appreciated with Damocles, he might have been a manipulative schemer, but he was at least upfront with his desires. He was the type to engineer a situation to ambush you by stabbing you in the front, but then claim it was all above board because he didn’t do it from the back.
She knew something like this would happen, eventually. This world they inhabited was accepting of harem relationships and he was, after all, a man. If given the option, it would be a rare one indeed who would not take full advantage. However, that did not mean she had to like it, nor was he foolish enough to demand she did.
“Is this glaring serving a purpose?” Kasane asked from her exercising, having grown tired of CC’s irritated observations.
“No.” Was the surly reply.
“Stewing in rage will not help resolve your frustration.” Was the matter of fact follow up.
“No, I should go and throw myself at him in a volatile situation instead. That will surely work out great.” CC couldn’t help herself, the stupidity of that decision still rankled her.
Kasane did not miss a beat, “It did work out great. I feel like I should still be limping.”
“Oh, little girl you have a lot to learn. Some nights, these last two years you know, I could barely...”
She stopped, her eyes catching movement at the entrance to the gym. Kasane also dropped out of her exercise, looking towards the same direction just as the red haired member of the new pair paused after walking into the room.
“Is this a room for exercise?” She asked, taking in the strange contraptions that littered the room and the wide open space that took up the back half.
Kasane looked back at CC, an unspoken conversation taking place between them before the white haired Knight replied, “Yes it is. I can explain how to use the equipment, if you need?”
“There is no need.” Melina responded, “My body does not build muscle. May I practise my movement in that open space?”
“You may. Be careful, the floor is constructed in such a way to allow you to more easily bounce.” Kasane instructed, causing Melina to nod and start stretching before she started to fall into her Katas.
CC pursed her lips, her position sitting on top of the climbing wall allowing her to look down on both of the other women. Melina was going through several acrobatic combat drills, whereas Kasane was merely doing resistance training with exercise seals developed for devils to advance their own base strength.
It allowed her to draw a rather stark contrast between the two. Melina was more fluid and loose, whereas Kasane underwent her task with a stoic, militaristic dedication. That could have just been her own prejudices speaking however.
Kasane proving that she was more observant than people assumed, spoke to Melina, “Your fighting style seems very similar to CC’s. You could ask her if you ever need a sparring partner."
There was no visible response, causing CC to internally smirk. She had wished to vent some of her frustrations recently, that was why she had sought out Kasane. She had wanted to ask the young girl for a spar, but had not wished to interrupt her exercise. The fact that the Knight would likely not be in any shape to spar after her session had only added to her irritation.
Being a Devil did come with some rather aggressive urges.
“Would she accept that?” Melina eventually responded.
“I don’t know.” CC mused from her position above the two of them, “Maybe you should ask her to find out?”
There was a scoff from Kasane, but the poker-face from the so-called ‘Maiden’ remained unbroken. She like to imagine that her silence and stony demeanor hid her feelings well, but honestly to CC she was like an open book.
Sensing that the conversation would go no further down that route, CC started to prod, “So, have you decided what you wish to do? You need to be Ranni’s Herald, but there is no reason you can not look for other activities to occupy your time.”
Melina tensed at the implication her words hid, but remained admirably unresponsive, “I am not sure what tasks would be suitable. What do the two of occupy yourselves with?”
“I provide security for the family company.” Kasane responded, her breathing even, “Patrolling our warehouses, making sure the perimeter is clear and killing trespassers.”
“You are surprisingly calm about Death, for one so young.” Melina opined.
”There are written signs.” Kasane’s voice was monotone. “They were all warned.”
“I see.” Melina preformed a double font flip, landing into a low leg sweep, “What of the professed Queen of this castle? What duties do you preform?”
“Diplomacy.” CC leaned onto her side, propping her head up with an elbow on the lip of the wall, “Dealing with the other Houses of the Underworld and all their quaint little legal traps. Our trade contracts have to be incredibly robust and examined thoroughly.”
“Of the two, I would prefer to aid Kasane.” Melina decided, causing CC to shrug in response.
“I’m not surprised. My work requires dedication and loyalty, after all.” The goading did not pass unnoticed, but Melina’s control over her reactions remained commendably tight.
“Loyalty would be required to withstand a job with such a lack of danger… excuse me, I meant excitement. My condolences, it must be boring to work as a scribe.” Oho, CC thought, so she had claws after all.
“It’s a mark of intelligence and maturity to be able to make your own entertainment.” Was her response, not acknowledging the false pity.
Kasane had paused in her exercise, watching the exchange warily. She was well used to CC by now, but she knew that her needling could very quickly escalate into a confrontation. Should it get violent, she needed to be able to step in.
Melina also stopped, looking up at the green haired menace for the first time since she had entered the room.
“I think,” The Kindling Maiden stated, “That I would enjoy that spar.”
“Finally.” CC flowed off the wall, her inhuman flexibility affording the action an uncanny appearance, “I thought you would never ask.”
Kasane abandoned the hope of her exercise being completed that day, instead resolving herself to making sure this didn’t get too out of hand.
She had the sinking feeling that this would not be the last time that she would find herself in this position.
Comments
Deathknight134
The zoo of Kuuderes is hilarious, heh.
Feng Lengshun
Kasane's face when she's the mature one in the room lmao
