When I awoke, the tiniest hint of sun peeked through the blinds ahead. Sleepy brain wondered if we’d been moved to one of Celestia’s cells. I smiled when I discovered I was in the same bed from the night before. Keke was still sound asleep beside me. I turned my head to the right to admire the curve of her bare backside. Her body rose and fell with every breath she took. It mesmerized me.

With reluctance in my motion, I reached over and gently shook her shoulder. “Hey, Keke.” Mumbles and groans escaped her lips. She yanked away what remained of my covers, wrapping herself in a cocoon of blankets. The cold air nipped at my skin, and I rubbed my hands against my biceps for a bit of warmth. I shook her again, this time with a little more force. “Come on. It’s time to get up.”

“Just a couple more minutes,” Keke whispered.

I made several disapproving expressions. I wanted to let Keke rest, but Ravyn was right. We needed to get this done as soon as possible. Every minute we spent resting or lazying about was another minute our [Slumber] victims were suffering.

“Keke, get up. We need to get going.”

She turned toward me in her sleepy trance, and the morning chill completely evaporated with the sight of her breasts. This was still taking some getting used to. I averted my gaze, then scratched the back of my neck and got out of bed before the more bestial side of me could take control.

Where are my clothes? Oh, over there.

Halfway to the pile of garments, a fierce knock came at the door. Keke shot up into a sitting position. Dark circles hung under her eyes. A gnarly growl emanated from the deepest part of her throat while she squinted at the door.

“Time to get up! Get dressed! We’re burning daylight!” Ravyn’s voice boomed from behind the door. The doorknob rattled, and soon after, another knock came.

“Get up, dumbasses, get up dumbasses, squawwwwwk!”

Did she really have to bring the demon bird?

Keke continued to growl, then swooped up the covers and wrapped them around her until she became a ball of sheets and blankets. After I got my undergarments and pants on, I unlocked the door and swung it open, a finger to my lips.

“Can you be a little more gentle?” I asked.

Ravyn was already dressed. Ball Gag sat atop her shoulder, munching on a cracker. She folded her arms and raised a brow. “Baka. We don’t have time to be gentle. Got shit to do. Cannoli’s already prepared your breakfast, so hurry up before it gets cold.”

“Did you already eat?” As eager as she was to get started, I had a hard time believing she’d leave without at least getting a bite.

“No, of course not. I offered to wake you up. You and Keke are the only ones who aren’t eating, so hurry the fuck up before I eat all your food.”

“Hurry the fuck up, squawwwk!”

I didn’t fight back. It wasn’t worth it. Besides, she was right. We’d already agreed on getting out by the time the sun was up, so any lost time would be on Keke and me.

“Alright, just need a few minutes. We’ll be right down.”

“Chop chop!” Ravyn exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

I shut the door in her face and locked it. Curses spouted from Ravyn’s mouth, and I ignored them. Then I turned around to face the bed. I got down on all fours and crawled across the mattress, putting both of my hands on the blankets. With a sigh, I started to remove them one by one.

“Noooo,” came a voice from within the ball of comfort. “Just five more minutes. Pleeease.”

“No, Keke. Come on, get up. We got shit to do, just like Ravyn said.” I tugged harder at the fabric. It was coming loose, and for a moment I wondered if this was how my parents felt every day before school.

The idea of waking up one of my own kittens crossed my mind, and I quickly shook it away.

“Breakfast is downstairs,” I continued. “I bet Cannoli and Ara made it. It’s gotta be delicious.”

There was a pause, but I could feel her wriggling inside. At last, she relented. “Fine. I’ll get up.”

Despite how tired we both were, we were quick to get our clothes on, taunted by the enticing aroma of Cannoli’s, and presumably Ara’s, cooking. Afterward, we soared down the stairs. Even if I was pretty quick, Keke was the faster of us. She’d managed to reach the bottom before me.

“Winner!” She threw her arms into the air for a quick victory stance, then took an empty seat next to Ceres.

“Good morning, Keke,” Ceres said with a slight bow of her head.

I lazily walked the remainder of the stairs and caught Ravyn’s glare. “Loser,” she said, pointing at me with her fork. She directed the utensil to an empty seat across from her. “Sit, boy.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Good boy.”

“Good morning, Sir Matt,” Ceres said with a warm smile.

“Morning.” I took the other spot next to Ceres, avoiding Ravyn’s gaze.

Right after, Cannoli and Ara approached with a nice spread of food I was familiar with by now. Potatoes were mashed, some of the local fish was fried in a pan, and a few bowls of cleaned fruit sat at the center of the table.

“Did you make this too, Ara?” I asked.

A rare smile, probably one of the most honest I’d seen on her, tugged at her lips. “I did. With Cannoli’s help, of course. No catgirl would go to Venicia’s School of Etiquette without learning the essentials of cooking.”

“I’m impressed. Really, this looks amazing. Thank you.”

Ara offered a curt nod before placing a plate of potatoes and fish in front of me.

“Try the fruit, Matt. We picked it this morning,” Cannoli said as she put a plate of food down in front of Ravyn next. “It’s really fresh!”

“Oh, this looks so good.” Keke’s eyes went wide as she plucked a smaller nyapple from the bowl in front of her.

“Why are they so small?” I asked.

“The smaller, the sweeter,” said Keke.

I frowned. “I never saw you rip down a nyapple that small before.”

“Bigger is better.” Cannoli was wearing a beautiful pink apron with frills on the ends. Come to think of it, so was Ara. The two were a cute cooking duo, and it put a smile on my face to see them passing by each other to put food on the table for us. “Typically, catgirls want more food. Ni Island isn’t very particular about taste, so much as quantity.”

I guess I can see that.

“Typically, anyway,” Keke said as she tossed the nyapple around in her hand and took a big bite out of it. Her face scrunched, and her lips puckered. “Oh, Saoirse, that’s sweet.”

“How are the sleeping girls doing?”

Ravyn shrugged. “About as well as they can be. We still have two days on the spell, but we need to get them food and water as soon as possible.”

Ara and Cannoli set down two more plates of food, then took two of the seats on Ravyn’s right. Now that I was getting a good look at everyone at the table, I had to ask. “So, where’s Tristan?”

“The young Master is attending to business in the town,” Ara said with stony indifference.

“I see. Did he take off to go talk to Celestia?”

“I would presume so.”

You would presume so? How unusual for you.

This was kind of strange. I struggled to think of a world where Ara wasn’t at Tristan’s heel, available at a moment’s notice. Their circumstances weren’t something they would get over in just a night’s rest, but I felt that an argument might’ve occurred.

I picked up a fork next to my plate and used the flat end to cut off a piece of the fish on my dish. “Is he going to be back soon? There were a few things I wanted to ask him about,” I lied.

“I do not know. Let us take care of the matters at hand first. We can return to your queries later,” said Ara.

“Yeah, stick to the plan. We finished the list last night,” Ravyn said as she procured a rolled-up scroll from beneath the table. “Simple stuff, but potent. Even if the bitch ratted us out, Esmerelda had some good wares. I think we should visit and pick up what we need from there. Maybe we can save ourselves a trip to an [Alchemy] lab while we’re at it. Esmerelda would have to have one.”

Cannoli chewed her lip. “I don’t think she intentionally hurt us, Ravyn. Celestia may have just asked her her opinion on the empty bottles and scrolls.”

“Yeah, not like she’s been telling anyone here the full story.” Keke rolled her eyes, taking another bite of her nyapple.

“That’s reasonable,” I said. I shoveled a hunk of fish into my mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “Who’s going to stay and watch our sleeping beauties?”

“Ara, Ceres, and Tristan will stick around to keep an eye on them. The rest of us are going to Badyron,” Ravyn said.

I did a quick count with my fingers. “You, me, Keke, and Cannoli?”

Ravyn nodded, spooning a helping of potatoes and delivering them to her mouth. “Cannoli seems pretty well-versed in [Alchemy],” she said between fits of chewing. She swallowed and lifted another helping to her mouth. “She came up with a few herbs that I didn’t think of.”

I sliced free another helping of fish. “That’s right. She helped me make my first potions.”

“That was such a wonderful day. You caught on to it really quick too, Matt!” Cannoli noted. She was hard at work on her own breakfast, and was managing to pass most of us by. I reckoned she had a busy morning. Was probably eager to get outside too.

Up long before dawn, were we?

“Well, sounds good to me.” I shrugged. “I don’t see what you need me for, though.”

Ravyn pointed the spoon at me and formed a flat line with her lips. “You know [Alchemy]. Novice or not, we’ll work faster if we have more people to throw at it. Simple addition, Matt.”

“Right, right.”

Most of breakfast passed by without interruption. Tristan never showed up. As much as I wanted to ask about him and Ara, I decided against it. I already had a knack for putting my nose in places it didn’t belong, and I didn’t want to be responsible for any more mishaps. This was, of course, coming from the guy going to Ichi Island to take yet another man away from his duties.

I hope Cailu’s plan works.

As much of a cuntbag as he was, I couldn’t fault the reasoning behind the task. If the four men could meet and build a council, or at the very least, just manage our resources together, then maybe we could fight the Defiled threat and return these girls to a life of normalcy.

I helped clean up, then moved outside. I stood on the front porch, my hands in my pockets, pondering over Tristan and Cailu. Both of them had unique circumstances, and I’d been fortunate as hell to end up on Ni. Considering what we’d encountered up until now, I’m not sure I would’ve survived if I’d found myself in Tristan’s or Cailu’s position.

A sensation on my shoulder broke me from my thoughts. “Hey. It’s time to go,” said Ravyn.

I turned to face her. “Oh. Yeah. Are Keke and Cannoli ready?”

Ravyn nodded. “They will be in a moment. I’m going to get us a ride while we’re waiting.”

“Wait.” I grabbed her by the bicep. She turned her head and looked at me. Part of me hoped there might be an angry hue of pink on her cheeks or that she’d snap at me. Something Ravyn-like. There was nothing of the sort. The last thing I wanted from her right now was for her to let the guilt of the slumbering girls drag her down. I wanted to ask if she was okay. But I didn’t. “How will I find you?”

Ravyn paused, then shook away my grip. “Same place we did last time, boy. Remember where the horses were stationed?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Ravyn smirked. “Good. At least you have a good memory for geography.” Nothing else came out of her mouth. Ravyn continued on her way with Ball Gag perched on her shoulder. I watched for as long as I could see her.

“Hey, Matt?” I flinched at the sound of Cannoli’s voice. “Are you okay?” Concerned ruby eyes stared into me, analyzing me. Keke stood just behind her.

I drew a deep breath. “I’m fine.” I forced a smile. “Come on, let’s catch up with Ravyn.”

Cannoli nodded. “Yes, let’s! The sooner we get these girls back to full health, the better! Lead the way, Matt!”