Volume 8 - Gratitude, Chapter 52 - In The Middle Of A Revolution

Iormu finally entered the nightclub and made her way to the other girls. They were at a table at the back of the main floor and they'd already moved a bunch of chairs aside to make room for Iormu.

Before long, a waitress arrived at their table. She had white hair, impossibly pale skin, and her eyes were glowing an eerie red in the dim light of the club. "What would you ladies like to drink? We haff many beers as well as some cocktails," she said in a thick and unplaceable accent.

Yuisu went with her classic fallback of Asahi Super Dry, while Haru was thrilled to hear the Wild Life had finally stocked a special carnivore-targeted brew, so she ordered that.

"Oh yes, the Hunter's Heart lager has a genuine meaty taste to it," the waitress said. "Though I prefer the Countess Custom, with it's wonderful blood flavor." She smiled and her long fangs glinted in the shifting light.

Yuisu shivered at the sight. Even with her extensive exposure to a variety of liminals, Yuisu was more than a little unnerved by this creepy waitress.

Iormu also ordered a Hunter's Heart, and Quess ordered a Kwak, a Belgian amber ale with a light, fruity accent. Mara ordered a canned energy drink, which got a strange look from the waitress until she spotted Mara's six eyes and nodded knowingly.

"Thank you. I'll haff those right out."

Thanks to the quiet of their secluded table, the girls were able to chat while they waited, but it didn't take long for the waitress to return with their drinks. As soon as the drinks were passed out, Mara grabbed her caffeine-filled energy drink, chugged it, and jumped up from the table.

"I'm off to strut my stuff! Seeya!" she called out before skittering away, her frilly dress trailing behind her.

Haru met Yuisu's eyes and smiled. "Well, I'd call the plan a success."

Yuisu nodded and took a long drink of her beer. "Ahh! That hits the spot!"

Haru mirrored her, then slid her glass toward Yuisu. "This stuff is really good. Want to try it?"

Yuisu eyed the dark red beer suspiciously. "Does it taste like meat?"

"Yep, it's like a really rare chunk of boar meat, but in beer form," Haru responded.

Yuisu shuddered. "Yeah… I'll pass. Thanks though."

While Mara explored the busy club, it didn't take long for someone to catch her eye. From her low height, she had a perfect view of an amazing perky and firm booty with a fluffy brown tail wagging above it. Mara maneuvered around to see its owner and found a familiar face.

"Polt? Is that you?" Mara asked the kobold, who was wearing a short blue form-fitting dress. It showed off her lean figure and sizable breasts.

She grinned down at the little spider. "Mara! I thought I recognized your crew on your way in, but I wasn't sure."

"Yep, we're here," Mara said, then added, "for the most part." She blinked her many eyes at Polt. "But what are you doing here? Don't you live in Tokyo?"

Polt smiled and bounced on the balls of her feet, hyperactive as always. "Yeah, since I'm investing in Korbin's ski resort, I came to town again to help lay the groundwork. Speaking of Korbin, I heard he hired Tsuen as a trainer. Is she here tonight?"

Mara's expression and mood both fell. "No, she's got work early in the morning."

Polt studied Mara's odd reaction and wiggled her nose in thought, then gently said, "Ah, that's too bad."

Mara swept her eyes over Polt's lean, muscular form. She's really hot, but the last thing I need is Tsuen thinking I hooked up with her friggin' idol just to spite her… "Well, it was nice seeing you again, Polt. You should swing by our table at the back and say hi to the other girls. Seeya!" Mara said, then quickly slipped away between some larger club-goers, leaving Polt a little puzzled.

Next, Mara spotted a long, purple tail wrapped around a bar stool. It wasn't large enough to be Iormu, so Mara hopped up onto the adjacent stool. She turned and looked up to see a blonde woman with captivating lavender eyes. Like a Lamia, she had a serpent's tail instead of legs, but she also had small bat-like wings poking out of the back of her shirt. If Mara had ever bothered to study Lamia subspecies, she'd know that the woman was a Melusine, a water-loving Lamia with non-functional wings.

The melusine was wearing a white sweater over a pink blouse and a long lavender skirt. Mara barely noticed that, however, as the woman's prominent cleavage stole her attention.

Mara leaned toward the woman, putting on her cutest smile. "Excuse me, miss?"

The woman turned and considered the pink arachne with a neutral expression. "Yes?"

Mara leaned even closer and said, "I just wanted to say that I love your outfit. It really goes with your eyes, which are absolutely beautiful. I could just get lost in them."

The melusine blushed a little, the red standing out sharply against her pale skin and bright gold locks. "Oh, um, thank you?" she stammered. "But I'm, uh, not into women. Sorry…"

Gah, I should have figured. I'd probably have to go to Tokyo to find a liminal club that's also a gay bar. "No problem. Have a good night," Mara called as she hopped back off the stool and walked away, resuming her single-minded search.

Back at the table, Yuisu set her empty glass down then hopped to her feet and held a hand out to Haru. "Wanna dance?"

"Of course," Haru replied with a smile. She took the offered hand and sauntered to the dance floor, her silver dress sparkling in the rainbow lighting as her hips waggled side to side.

Quess started to stand up too, but Iormu put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'd rather not occupy the entire dancefloor," Iormu said, pointing at her massive coiled tail. "Let's hang out here instead."

Quess cringed and said, "Oh, sorry. It must be hard, being so big. Not fat, though! I mean—"

Iormu cut her rambling off. "It's fine, Quess. I'm used to it by now."

Quess's yellow-tipped tendril bobbed over her head as she nodded. Then it stuck up in the air like a cartoon idea lightbulb. "Oh yeah, I was wondering… What held you up at the door earlier?"

"Ah, there was a little issue with the birth-year on my ID," Iormu responded.

Quess raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I assumed you were about my age, thirty or so. How old are you?"

Iormu sighed. "That question doesn't have an easy answer."

"You don't have to say, if you don't want to."

"No, I do. I want to share this with you, but it is… strange." Iormu took a deep breath, then said, "I'll just say… I was born almost two thousand years ago."

While Quess was blinking and quivering in shock, Iormu continued, "But I don't consider myself that old, since I was hibernating the vast, vast majority of that time."

"Huh, I guess, um," Quess fumbled with her words as she tried to put this wild new information into a form she could understand. "I guess I've hibernated too, sometimes, when there weren't any more flowers to eat. But that was only for a few months at a time."

Iormu put her hands behind her head and leaned back against the booth, inadvertently flaunting her enormous breasts that seemed to be trying to burst from her silky black dress. "I tend to hibernate for decades or even centuries."

When Quess's eyes went wide in surprise again, Iormu explained, "All Jormungands are like that. We wake up during periods of great change: technological revolutions, world wars, crises like the Great Depression. Then, once there's nothing keeping us interested, we go back into hibernation until the next big revolution wakes us up."

"Huh, okay. That's pretty cool," Quess said in a high, sing-song voice. The mix of alcohol and mind-blowing news had already reduced her effective intelligence, and she was heading towards reverting to Little Quess.

Iormu didn't notice, so she continued, "I have a theory that our tendency to show up during times of turmoil is the origin of the Jormungandr myth. Supposedly, he was a snake that circled the entire world and bit his own tail, but if he ever let go, the world would end. Rumors of massive snake people kept coinciding with periods of upheaval until the rumors eventually turned into that myth."

Quess took a drink of water and paused in thought. She was finally starting to wrap her head around the crazy concept of Iormu being two millennia old. Quess forced her voice back to normal and asked, "So what made you wake up this time?"

"The big reveal of liminal-kind is what did it. Ever since humanity suddenly learned about all these other species, it's definitely been a time of turmoil." Iormu waved a hand out towards the bustling nightclub filled with human and liminal alike, and said, "It was pretty fortunate for me, too. The other times that I woke up, I had to stay in hiding the entire time."

Quess slid closer along the booth, cuddling up to Iormu. "It was fortunate for me, too," she echoed. "Since I got to meet you."

"Thanks. I'm glad I got to meet you too," Iormu said with the rosy cheeks and shiny eyes of new love. She leaned over and planted a kiss on Quess's soft, glossy lips.

Oblivious to the rest of the room, Quess returned the kiss with enthusiasm. Making out with her new girlfriend quickly refilled Quess's love-based energy stores.

Mara skirted around the edge of the dance floor on the lookout for women that looked single, and hopefully gay. Apparently my gaydar sucks. I have no idea how to tell who might be into girls… she thought, until her train of thought was suddenly derailed by an impossibly colorful sight. Orange, yellow, black, and purple assaulted all six of her eyes.

Leaning against the wall was a woman with massive butterfly wings protruding from her shoulders. Like a monarch butterfly, they were mostly yellow or orange with black lines, but they also had vivid purple spots that really drew the eye.

After a second of staring, Mara finally took in the rest of the woman's appearance. She had light green hair, cut to shoulder length, and had two adorable antennae sticking out of the top of her head. She was wearing a frilly white and gold skirt and top that had a sailor-uniform vibe and showed off her stomach and legs. Thanks to her top's loose long sleeves, it took another couple seconds for Mara to realize the woman had four arms.

Mara started toward the alluring woman, thinking, Will the spider capture the beautiful butterfly? As she got closer, Mara noticed something grey and white, standing next to her target.

Mara stopped in her tracks. The grey thing was another woman. She was small and drab and barely noticeable compared to the bright butterfly, and they were conversing like old friends, or lovers. Really? I find a beautiful girl and she's actually gay, but she's taken? That's just too cruel, Mara thought.

"Actia, you'll never meet a girl if you keep hiding over here against the wall," the butterfly woman said in a high voice.

Oh? What's this? Mara skittered behind a corner and peeked around it to watch and listen in.

"I fe-feel comfortable over here. I-I'm not a social, uh, butterfly like you, Flare," the smaller girl responded with a bit of a stutter.

She had short grey bobbed hair, pale skin, and two fuzzy leaf-shaped antennae. At first, Mara thought she was wearing some sort of patterned dress, but it was actually something else entirely: the girl had four dusty grey wings, like a moth.

"B-Besides, I was doing fine before you came over," said the moth-girl, apparently named Actia.

Flare smiled and fluttered her golden, multifaceted eyes. "Oh, really? How many girls have you talked to?"

Actia opened her mouth to answer, but she was cut off when Flare added, "Waitresses don't count."

Actia crossed her arms and scowled. "F-fine, none. No girls talked to me. Are you happy now?" the moth-girl snarked. Her stutter faded as she got riled up. "Not everyone can get attention as easily as you. Guys are practically throwing themselves at you all time."

I like her attitude… Mara thought to herself, eying the little moth girl. And she's single…

The feisty girl continued, "And besides, with you here now, no one will ever notice me."

Mara still had some caffeine courage running through her veins, so she stepped around the corner and approached the two insect-like liminals. She smiled wide and said, "Hey, ladies."