Mature Content Warning: Language and naked apron imagery

Author's Notes: So, we come to the end of this chapter and more about both Shara and the world's state are revealed. Next update on Monday, those of you who have wanted a different book cover... behold the glory of half-assed Blackthorne. :) Eventually, I'll make a proper cover or have one made, but for now the rough half-finished sketch will be what we have to work with.

Those of you waiting for a Galataea update... Sorry, that will be out tomorrow. I had intended it for earlier today but I developed a major headache and needed to lie down. I figured I'd finish up this chapter of Blackthorne after I woke from my long nap. Though, I did put up a half-assed sketch of Eina for the cover-art. :)

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Chapter 21.3: Operation Sexy Justice

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The scent of a woman is an ephemeral thing that is often spoken of in song and tale. Typically, she will be stated to smell like lilacs or perhaps a honey dew melon. Her fragrance will be one of sweetness, a gentle aroma that fills the heart and suffuses the world with joy due to her presence.

There is one aromatic feminine fragrance that is rarely spoken of that can often melt the emotional permafrost that can be found in some of the most ice-rimmed of masculine hearts. The simple and pleasant scent of a sweet woman surrounded by food and spices, a domestic scene of tranquility known as making dinner, was something that no perfume line could ever properly capture and place into a bottle.

Sonja smiled softly as she chopped vegetables. She had cooked once or twice for Scott but this was the first time that she did so with fine ingredients. He did most of the cooking when they were in his world.

“You’re really good at that.” said Shara as she watched Sonja expertly chop, shave, and slice various food items.

The Valkyrie never looked away from what she was doing, but her smile brightened slightly. “Thank you. I learned to cook recently, and had always done it as sort of a chore.”

“You seem pretty happy to do it, despite that.” said Shara.

Sonja’s cheeks colored slightly. “I am. This is something that I can do for him that he can’t feel bad about.”

Shara looked at the barely visible blurring motion that Sonja’s hands made when she began to chop more vegetables. The skill and speed that the girl possessed with a blade was well beyond what a normal human could have accomplished if they had been born of this world. She knew why Sonja could move so fast, and so skillfully, but she was not supposed to know. It was difficult for her not to tell the smiling Valkyrie that she had just casually performed a series of actions that would give away the truth of her existence to an alert observer.

Sonja began to hum softly and Shara blinked. A slow blush formed on her cheeks as a memory awoke. She recalled how she had once watched her step-mother, Era do something similar to this back in her true home. Her step-mother rarely spent any time with her, though that was still far more than her true mother ever did. One of her few fond memories was of a time when she and her sister Origin sat in the kitchen and watched their mother cook dinner.

Era was not a domestic person at heart. She was a goddess of fertility and rarely cooked as she was frequently busy with other business. Still, she had taken the time out of her busy schedule to spend time cooking with her daughters.

Shara blinked away a few tears that began to form. The sight, the sound, and the smell of Sonja cooking reminded her far too much of that day. She even had on a similar outfit. Sonja had donned a white apron, but wore nothing else.

“Hey... Sonja?” asked Shara.

The demi-goddess turned to her new friend. “Yes?”

Shara nervously asked, “Can you teach me how to cook better? I’m alright at it but...”

“Sure, can you chop vegetables?” she asked her gently. The soft smile on her lips never wavered for a moment.

Shara blushed in embarrassment. “Yes, but they aren’t always even. I’m good with a knife but I’ve rarely used one in this way.”

“Good with a knife, huh? We’ll see.” said Sonja. She reached out to the girl and Sonja scurried over to get started on her epic training.

The ninja-goddess followed Sonja’s directions and began to chop vegetables. Her hands blurred slightly as she worked, but her cuts were not proper despite their precision.

“You’re cutting the sections too thinly. It’s good knife work, but the result won’t taste as good compared to making the sections slightly thicker.”

Sonja reached around Shara’s waist and took her hands in hers so that she could properly guide her hands. Shara’s blush returned as her beautiful new friend pressed against her.

The Valkyrie was all business, however. She slightly corrected Shara’s hands on occasion as the ninja-girl cut vegetables. They soon ran out of veggies to slice and chop as Sonja had already done most of the vegetable prep work beforehand.

“You did well, big sister.” whispered Sonja into Shara’s ear.

“Mmm, thank you.” said Shara softly. It was a simple thing, chopping vegetables, but she could not help but feel much closer to Sonja now.

Sonja released Shara’s hands then stepped away to get back to work. The ninja-girl glanced over at her then took in the sight of her outfit once more. Shara said, “I know...”

Shara started to strip and soon she was down to nothing but her smile. She casually walked over to Scott’s kitchen supply cabinet and pulled out another apron. He had bought a few of them for Sonja just because she liked them, but today they would serve another purpose.

“That’s a nice look for you.” said Sonja with a grin.

Shara smiled at her then lifted the hem of her apron. “What? This old thing?” She then placed one hand to her mouth and offered a fake laugh for comedic purposes.

Sonja snorted then chuckled a little before she turned back to her cooking. Shara joined her and the two apron clad girls went about the task of making a cozy romantic dinner for three.

They worked together and soon the various dishes were merrily cooking away. The girls stood side by side and occasionally bumped each other with their hips while they laughed at one thing or another.

Shara’s smile grew three sizes during dinner preparation and for the first time in a long time she felt truly at home in the world. She was not good at making friends. Honestly, most people thought she was annoying or weird. Men generally wanted to get to know her better in this world, but she saw through their actions quite readily and none of them had ever interested her except for Scott. She had grown up with him and gotten to know him in a way that she knew few other people.

Thoughts of Scott always made her feel better. She wanted to do right by the people of this world, and that was a difficult prospect. The explanation about the changes to the world, and the coming times of darkness was handled by a different part of the project leadership. She had helped spread the word, but they had designated the targets of information dissemination.

As things stood now, she could not tell Scott or Sonja anything specific until Status One hit or until her request for authorization was processed. There was no reason to believe that they would deny her, but it was not high on the list of current priorities.

She still did not understand all of the secrecy. It would make more sense to allow the alpha testers to choose people they trust so that they could inform them more properly. If nothing else, a fledgling champion system could be devised so that chosen Earth natives could be built up more quickly. In only a few days monsters would start to spawn in this world. They were not ready.

Shara looked at Sonja then looked away. No matter how much she wanted to tell her, she physically could not. She could not speak it, write it, or lead them to it in any way. If she tried to tell them directly, her vocal chords would lock up and she would be unable to speak. If she tried to write it, her hands and arms would go number. When she was a child, she had tried to tell Scott many times and after a few attempts she had been stricken with illness and numbness that left her weak for days.

The project committee leaders had a reason for limiting the information dissemination. They wanted to prevent mass hysteria, more than there already was of it in the world, until the people of the world could actually do something about it. Until Status One hit, their skills and combat potential would be highly limited in this world with only a few exceptions.

Powerless people who were told that hungry beasts would soon roam the land, many of which would be invulnerable to standard weapons; could do nothing but despair. They would live their lives in constant terror knowing that they had no hope. That was what the project committee believed.

Shara disagreed with that assessment entirely. Even if the common citizens of the world could do nothing, wouldn’t they have benefited from having been told that developing their levels and skills would keep them alive? The last report that she read had informed her that roughly forty-three percent of the population had not even fought a single monster. Less than twenty-six percent of the people on the planet had even increased a single combat skill to level ten. It was going to be a bloodbath and she could not do a damned thing about it, but try to help them pick up the pieces and leave a few breadcrumbs for Scott to follow toward a better life-position.

She could not tell him anything directly, but she could hint at things since he officially belonged to her goddess avatar’s spectrum. He was a creature of darkness. She was the patron goddess of darkness in her other avatar form. That gave her a little leeway, but not nearly enough. All she could really do originally was whisper to him in the night while he slept. She had hoped that he might take her suggestions to heart.

Become stronger. Strength is what is important. She had her goddess avatar say such things to him repeatedly as he slept, while she trained in the dream world. It was not mind control, but it was reinforcement of something he already wanted and would hopefully help him to continue to be motivated.

“See how this brown stuff starts to rise to the surface as the meat boils?” asked Sonja.

Shara blinked then returned to the present. She set aside thoughts of the recent past and turned to check out the pot of stew that Sonja had prepared. “Yes, I see it.”

“You can either scoop it out, or let it stay. Either way works. Personally, I like to scoop it out because I feel like that makes the food cleaner, but that’s just my personality.” said Sonja.

Shara asked. “Does it cause it to taste different?”

“It’s not really going to affect the taste of stew either way. Though, if you’re making stock it will be cloudy if the scum remains. Either way, it’s just a personal choice, usually.” said Sonja.

Shara started to ask another question but the front door knob rattled. Scott’s voice could be heard on the other side. “Ha, daddy’s home.”

Sonja smiled then pointed at her with her soup spoon. “Well, go get him so he can get ready for dinner.”

“Yes, mom.” said Shara cutely.

The girls shared a brief laugh as Shara walked to the door. She turned the knob to unlock it since Scott had apparently forgotten his key earlier.

Shara pulled open the door and called out, “Welcome home, Scott! We’ve been expec-”

She blinked then looked from Scott to the girl who clung to him in surprise. “Ashton?”

“Uh, hi.” said the store manager in confusion. It was obvious what she was thinking. Why had Shara answered Scott’s door? More to the point why was she wearing nothing but an apron? Sure, she had just taken a photo wearing lingerie, but that thing and this thing were separate things altogether.

“Hi...?” asked Shara. She had not foreseen this development.

“Well, are you going to come in or not?” asked Sonja lightly, before she wandered over to the door.

Ashton got an eyeful of yet another apron clad girl waiting for Scott to come home. “Scott?” she asked.

Scott blinked once then did his best to tear his eyes from the sight of two of his favorite people wearing nothing but an apron and a smile. He eventually gave up making that effort and simply asked, “Yeah...?”

“What sort of things go on here that make it alright to answer the door this way?” asked Ashton curiously. She had taken a moment to collect her thoughts so that she could ask her question in a semi-professional manner. Even so, it was difficult to properly word such a question as she basically wanted to ask why the hell they were answering the door wearing nothing but an apron.

Scott snorted out a laugh then smiled. He had finally regained his composure. Admittedly, the double naked chef thing had caught him off-guard, but he was able to actually communicate properly again now. “You should see me when religious solicitor’s come to the door.”

“What do you do?” asked Ashton, her eyes never left Shara’s confused face. It was obvious to her that her presence was something that the pony-tailed girl had not expected.

“Well, I don’t always do it, but I sometimes answer the door in my underwear and rub my nipples while saying random things about the glory of Satan.” replied Scott.

“That’s a lie.” said Shara with a smile.

Scott grinned at her. “You never know.”

“I would not be surprised it if was true.” said Sonja thoughtfully. She was not certain what a religious solicitor was, but it sounded like it would be the same thing as a foreign religious missionary. Those sorts of people irritated her. They came to her village now and then and tried to tell her people that they needed to wear more clothes. Why anyone would travel hundreds of miles to tell someone they had never met to put more clothes was beyond her ken. It seemed rather silly.

“Uhm...” said Ashton. What had she gotten herself into?

“Maybe I should do that next time a solicitor comes to my door?” asked Shara.

Scott snorted at her. Somehow, Shara wearing nothing but her underwear while rubbing her nipples for the glory of Satan did not seem to be as much of a deterrent for religious solicitation as Scott performing those actions. “If you do, let me know. I want to see if you change the poor guy’s religion.”

Shara laughed obnoxiously then flashed a victory sign with two fingers. “Yes, pray to me insignificant mortal solicitors. Oh ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho.”

That brought a round of laughter from everyone present. Much of the initial tension was eased and soon everyone went inside. It promised to be quite the interesting evening.