~Oblivion: Part Two~

Rea's eyes snapped open, she sensed something quickly falling in her direction. With a snap of the wrist she caught a powerful leg. The bones of her arm creaked, she knew what was happening. Using her superior flexibility and snake muscles it was child's play to pivot and wrap herself around the limb. With practiced ease she performed a leg lock. Her shocked opponent gasped as it became obvious that struggling was futile.

"Hurry up and break it," Talia commanded in a calm voice. She wanted to get loose and continue the fight.

Rea was pretty upset about the flying battle axe, but she was more curious how the woman managed to lob it so quickly. Thanks to some rather insane velocity she hadn't had the time to dodge.

Still, she felt a bit wronged right now so Rea being Rea, she decided to punish the woman. After powerfully ramming the ball of her foot into Talia's crotch to shock the woman — causing a moment of confusion and pain — Rea slid her right hand along her spine. With a resounding slap she applied an entire glob of [Poison] to Talia's leg.

Talia was shocked to say the least. She had figured that Rea's oddly colored hair and all was just thanks to a few blessings, it wasn't entirely anything unnatural. But what she'd just seen was definitely not normal. While she was losing feeling in her entire lower body, Talia angrily said, "cheap shot."

Rea shrugged vacantly as she got up to walk away. "I'm not really sure how the rules work so I won't kill you. Maybe you'll even calm down after we do this a few times." Rea took a moment to look at her fellow martyr, talking about the woman's goddess in such a way had upset her far more than anticipated.

Talia was starting to breathe heavily by this point. Her chest was heaving and there was confusion on her face. "What did you do to me!?" she asked in a panicked tone.

"I'm sure you'll figure that out," Rea remarked absently while retrieving a black shortsword. As the ophidian waltzed out of the shrine she killed the first arriving hellhound. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Talia shot an angry glare at Rea, and retorted with righteous indignation, "FUCK YOU!"

Rea was actually pretty annoyed with this whole situation. It would seem that she had finally run into a troublesome woman that couldn't be charmed, hell, the woman couldn't even tolerate her lewd antics. Rea let out a dejected sigh. "Crud..."

As Rea took off sprinting towards one of her usual directions she began to brainstorm ways of repairing her rapidly deteriorating relationship with the fellow martyr. In the end, it seemed hopeless to her. She wasn't wanting to do the usual and just bang Talia's brains out. As tempting as that may be, Rea was still considering Sereda. It wouldn't really do to have their first conversation be — welcome back, I slept with this person, that person, that goddess, that other person. Oh, and her while you were stuck in there. She could imagine the face her wife would make at that point, it was damn scary.

There was also the odd matter of feeling faithful to Sereda, it was the second time she felt this way. Her first love as Noel had gone up in flames, that bastard father of her daughter had tried to kill their child after all. Basically, Rea was having a significant bout of inner turmoil. Back when she was in the whole watery-eyed first love stage, she wasn't a hopeless pervert. This time however, Rea was pretty unreserved with her desires. As always, the important part was just having someone to hold onto, but that usually resulted in doing the deed.

Rea came to a stop and shook her head wildly. She was already off topic with her thoughts and the situation was beginning to look dire. Distraction had caused her to get surrounded quickly this time around. In front of her were three of those freaky bastards, the skinny ones. Killing the bony fishmen wasn't exactly easy. They were surprisingly dexterous and whenever she let up for a moment it usually ended up with getting jabbed by those long nails.

Without any hellhounds around she knew that they were the quickest of the bunch. Funbags were laughably slow... until they spit acid with pin-point precision from ten meters away. It was hard to laugh at them the first time her ass literally got melted. In hindsight, that probably should've stopped her from poking that one funbag back then and getting a face full of juicy, melt your mouth, liquid sprayed all over herself.

Aside from them there was also a berserk in the distance, rapidly approaching. Having gotten used to this sort of situation by now, she charged at the fishmen. They let out a low shrill as her blade made contact with one. It's entire body bent at an angle from the heavy blow. Slashing didn't really work against their skin, if it wasn't a piercing attack it never went through. This was one of the reason's she chose the dull, durable, heave shortsword. Thanks to it, she was able to easily disable them with a single well-aimed blow.

The second and third simultaneously charged at her, Rea dove to the side as funbag juice approached. The left fishman shrieked while a hole began to melt in its chest thanks to the friendly fire. Rea took advantage of the confusion and aimed another strike at the last fishman's cranium. With a deafening thud it exploded as she did a [Barrel Roll] to avoid more funbag harassment.

While running away at full speed she kept her awareness at maximum to avoid any projectiles... it hadn't helped. Out of the corner of her eye she caught a glimpse of a downed woman covered in monster guts. At that moment something was already upon her.

*Ka-pow*

Death by flying battleaxe… again...

This time around Rea rolled as soon as she could. The concrete shattered upon impact, two martyrs gazed at each other willfully.

"..."

"..."

Talia was the first to move. She knew she could beat Rea with a weapon in hand, but the woman's pride was hurt. Rea had handled her with ease the last time around using some sort of grappling technique she'd never seen before. Talia was determined to best Rea in a physical altercation.

Without even taking up a stance she swung a wide hook with all of her power at Rea's abdomen. Rea did a backstep while twirling, a whip-like right hand wrapped around her neck. With a blade-like swing of her hand, before the spin was over, she'd splashed a decent amount of [Poison] on Talia.

Talia cursed at Rea with an impressive range of vocabulary as her entire body started to slow down. She began panting heavily again while looking up at Rea. This was gonna be huge problem so Rea decided they should talk it out... the only pressing issue was dealing with hellhounds, then finding a safe place to talk.

"I'm seriously, really, really sorry Talia," she claimed honestly.

Talia didn't stop scowling. "I don't care if it costs me a hundred extra months in here, I'm gonna kill you every single time we wake up."

That answered one of Rea's questions, the reward for friendly fire was likely an extra month from what the woman had just said. Rea was smirking by now. "I'm pretty sure we'll just end up with me paralyzing you, or breaking your arms and legs — every time."

Talia's pride was blazing now. "I dare you to fight me without this cheap trick. I wouldn't lose otherwise. You're just a one-armed kid."

Rea tried to focus, but she couldn't. The way Talia was rubbing her thighs together — slowly, powerfully back and forth, back and forth — even if the woman didn't mean to she was really starting to wear away Rea's faithfulness meter. She'd been alone in this place for too damn long already, and Luthia's dastardly antics hadn't helped with her self control. Rea realized by now that Talia was pretty prideful and she hadn't been too happy to be called — just a kid.

"How about this, we'll fight it out fairly," Rea proposed in a roguish voice.

Talia wasn't really sure what Rea was getting at. "I'm assuming there's more to this?"

"What do you want if you win?" she asked.

Talia grinned evilly. "I wan — *ahn*..." she began, resisting the effects of [Poison] "I want you to revoke your blessing, give up your martyr status."

Rea tried to not let the way Talia was panting distract her. The woman just asked for something possibly absurd. "Will I die for good if I revoke it?"

Talia shook her head. "It's a way for us to get away from ending up in oblivion again. After abandoning our goddess you still have to serve your term here. Once it's over you get resurrected as usual, just, you won't be a martyr anymore. The next time you die in the real world, it's over."

Rea pursed her lips, it was a big risk, but not big enough to ignore the possible reward. Having Talia be more friendly meant learning how to get out of here faster after all.

"What do — *ahn* — you want if you —*nnn*— win?" Talia asked in a haughty tone, already assured of her victory. Rea's eyes were scanning the panting woman' body... her faithfulness meter was in the negative now.

Rea mused that she'd just have to introduce the woman to Sereda afterward and beg for forgiveness. With a — you gotta do, what you gotta do attitude — Rea claimed, "I want you to let me do everything I did to Luthia, to you." In her excitement, the ophidian had forgotten that she couldn't use her magic here.

Talia gaped at Rea. She nervously tightened both fists and pulled her knees in. "What the hell? Why?" she asked in an incredibly confused voice.

Rea straddled the half paralyzed woman without hesitating and got in close. Gazing into Talia's eyes, she smiled gently and ran a finger along the woman's face. Brushing aside Talia's disheveled blue hair and admiring the woman's lavender eyes. Talia was still seething mad with Rea and tried to push her off, but without her full strength it was easy for Rea to stay in place by wrapping her own legs around Talia's abdomen.

Talia couldn't believe it, for the first time she was finding another woman attractive. Rea's beauty — thanks to Aphrodite — was simply too much. Add that to her charm and naturally roguish behavior, she could probably seduce a stalwart nun while claiming to be the devil himself. Every time Rea sent her another impish expression, the heat in her lower body increased. Talia was quickly losing her senses.

Rea continued to run her eyes across every inch of the woman's visage. She used the back of her hand to gently caress the woman's neck. When Talia started to have an all too familiar look in her eyes, Rea got close enough for the woman to feel her breath.

Talia's entire body trembled as hot, sweet gusts from Rea's lips made contact with her own. She'd lost it now, as Talia closed her eyes and moved to kiss Rea... just as their lips were about to touch...

*Grrrr*

Rea and Talia were both equally surprised. A hellhound collided with Rea, it's jaws clamped around her throat. Talia smirked as Rea went flying by and out of her sight. Before she could regain her composure another hellhound was chomping on her own noggin. That was... an embarrassing way to get killed...

Talia and Rea both looked on, equally annoyed. They were both in the same place she had been after slaying the giant. Luthia saw fit to summon them just so they could watch her roll around laughing.

"Good one!" Luthia yelped, trying to catch her breath.

Rea vacantly looked in Talia's direction... the woman was shell shocked. Her goddess that had once blessed her, Talia's stalwart goddess was cackling like a child. Mind blown. Rea shrugged it off and waltzed by while dropping her clothes. The ophidian was pleased with the way Talia's gaze followed as she descended into this familiar bath. Rea looked back towards her.

With a calmer mind she made a decision, they'd still fight, but she wouldn't cheat on Sereda. Something about the whole situation was obviously having adverse effects on her self control. If she couldn't manage to resist something as insignificant as arousal and temptation, she could kiss goodbye any chance of seeing her daughter again. Being here clearly reminded Rea of the last conversation with Luthia. Although she was pretty sure Sereda would still have her daughter as a surrogate... best not to chance it.

The funny part is where she should draw the line... That was a bit hazy, but considering what she'd already done with Luthia, Rea figured that should be the line. Pleasing others would be fine but the vise versa wouldn't.

Satisfied with her decision Rea quietly basked in the bath while Luthia began to have a long conversation with Talia. Thinking that they both were too far away, and too distracted to notice, Rea took advantage of this safe haven to release some of the tension both of those women had caused her.

It was odd for her, feeling timid about this. A familiar pulse of excitement jolted through her spine. Her dexterous fingers made their way down familiar curves. Rea bit her lips and sank lower into the bath as she began to put the fire that Talia started out. Her supple chest heaved just above the water's surface. Clearly imagining the way Talia was grinding her thighs slowly back and forth only served to make this experience all the more intense.

Rea cursed angrily under her breath, a hidden downside to losing her left arm. Not wanting to end this with a disappointing finale, she hastily conjured a dragon on the step beside her. With a single swift and impatient motion Rea assumed a familiar position. Knowing that the water resistance would likely make her climax before she got to fully enjoy the spell, Rea forced herself down in a single, powerful motion... she screamed involuntarily. Both the goddess and martyr shot her an inquisitive look. "I slipped, that's all!" Rea shouted in a slightly quivering voice.

Rea turned away from them as they began to argue again. Slowly her gaze fell to what had caused that involuntary yelp. In her muddle headed haste she had accidentally misjudged the shape. It didn't help that looking through water skews your perspective. She hadn't realized that Denarius curved backwards...

Still feeling entirely too heated to stop, Rea began to gently twist her hips ever so slightly back and forth. After a minute she was familiar with the new specifications. Feeling like she was nearly about to go insane, Rea began to arch her back and raise her hips, then fall back down with gravity. Slow, measured thrusts striking unfamiliar territory thanks to Denarius V.2.0's new shape caused Rea to very nearly cry out loud again. Realizing it was futile to resist, Rea curled herself underwater to drown out screams of ecstasy. Within moments her entire body shuddered as she resisted the urge to gasp for breath.

With the task done, her tension released, Rea quickly ascended and began to catch her breathe. Lightly propping herself up over the edge, she carelessly looked in the goddess and martyr's direction. Both of them were arguing about something by now, what happened next utterly shocked Rea. Aphrodite came out of nowhere, Luthia gave her a nod of affirmation, and the goddess of beauty dragged one smitten Talia off like a child.

Rea was immensely confused as Luthia waltzed up to her.

"Aphrodite's gonna deal with the virgin, I doubt Talia will cause you much trouble after she enjoys some time with Aphrodite." explained Luthia.

Rea's mind was blown this time... that sure explained a lot.

"It isn't good to do that against someone's will, Luthia," she reprimanded the goddess.

Luthia quickly assured Rea that it was Talia's decision. "After what you did to her twice in a row she was more curious about our relationship than anything else. I gave her a choice between myself, or Aphrodite... because Aphrodite asked me to." Luthia huffed angrily. "My own martyr had the gall to pick her over me. Dammit."

Rea couldn't help but laugh.

"You've got a day, then it's back to the grinder with Talia. Okay?"

"Thanks Luthia," she said honestly while getting out of the bath.

"Sculpting again?" the goddess asked.

Rea nodded silently with a forlorn gaze. Her hands began to dance in the air as she summoned then cut into a block of ice. Luthia was as fascinated as ever, watching Rea at work was a treat for the ancient being. Not many had the artistic talent it takes to make the sort of things Rea could.

*cough cough*

Rea looked back and asked, "what?"

Luthia pointed to a blurred object of condensed water inside her bath. "What's that?" she asked with an impish grin.

Rea actually blushed, she had forgotten to dispel Denarius V.2.0.

Being back in oblivion after the short vacation was as crummy as it had been the first time. Talia didn't waste any time rushing for a battle axe. Rea noticed that there was something different about her, she was almost glowing. Funny how that works...

As she took a familiar blunt blade the pair shared one silent look. After nodding to each other Talia took off running with Rea following behind, barely able to keep up with the elder martyr's pace. Within a few minutes they had met their first opponents. Talia violently swung her giant axe at a hound, its corpse became a mess of flesh and guts while soaring and skipping across the ground.

Rea could only cringe in admiration. It wasn't pleasant thinking that she'd been killed by the same weapon twice already. Another few minutes of running and killing passed in silence. Soon, Rea found herself in unfamiliar territory. Talia took one look at Rea and pointed off in the distance. Standing there among rocky crags was a familiar shrine, not unlike the one they kept resurrecting at.

"I had no idea that was out here, what's it for?" Rea asked, genuinely curious.

"Nothing, just thought I'd point it out."

Rea tripped and skinned her knee, she had not expected that answer...

Talia led her towards more unfamiliar territory, within the hour they had found a cave. Rea didn't even know there were caves around oblivion. Once inside, Talia quickly pulled a lever and the entrance sealed itself with a large stone while torches lit up all around them.

"We've got about two hours now before the creatures inside make it all the way up here. If you can survive most of the day, then get in here... it's a good way to survive." Talia explained while gazing suggestively at Rea's uniquely charming martyr garb.

Earthen floor reminded her of the elven people's woodland homes. Talia placed her battle axe against a wall and cracked her knuckles maliciously. Rea absently tossed her blade aside.

"New terms," said Talia. "If I win you have to listen to and perform any request I ask of you. No matter what it is, until the day we die."

Rea wasn't happy about that, it was obviously a much worse deal than before. Very open ended, without a limit besides death... Rea grinned like a child at the martyr and chose to interpret her words as she pleased. If she lost the fight all Rea had to do was go let whatever is in this cave eat her, then claim that — until the day we die — has already passed.

"Why did you change your mind?" Rea asked, even though she was pretty sure she knew why.

Talia rubbed her neck nervously. "Aphrodite said some... interesting things about you."

Rea chuckled ruefully. "They were probably true. Since the stakes are higher I can change my request as well, right?"

"Yes, that's fine."

After a moment of indecision, Rea spoke clearly, "I want basically the same thing. No matter what happens you have to listen to and perform any request I ask of you. There is no limit on the amount of requests I can make."

Talia quickly agreed to the seemingly equal terms without realizing her mistake. Rea didn't bother telling the woman.

Moments later they were having a stand off. Talia didn't use any sort of stance, she'd only ever brawled before. In their world most people picked a weapon and stuck with it, through and through. If you were a battleaxe user, why bother learning barehanded combat techniques? — was the generally accepted frame of mind. Rea took up a self-defense stance with practiced ease, her right arm forward.

The fight was on!

HIATUSREVIEWSUPDATES

At one point during this chapter I sat back, and was like... what the fuck am I writing?

Anyways, a loyal fan demanded that I write a chapter of Re:Lovely so... I obliged. That won't work on me again. I'm really into Wayward Soul, my new story. I just stared a few days ago and I'd like to focus on getting it off the ground.

Forgive me for not writing more Re:Lovely at the moment. ♥NaughtyHippy♥

:grin: