“So, it’s my turn?” Higure smirked and crossed her arms on the backrest of the couch she had been sitting on when Rakna returned.

“What? Has the word spread already?”

“Heh, small house,” the lioness joked. “Flavia told us. So, you’re gonna do whatever I want?”

“…I suppose I did say that.”

“Good!” She hopped off the couch and grinned. “Now, sit down,” she pointed at where she had been just before and he briefly scowled at her before doing so. “You just have to say still,” she added and nearly faster than he could react, she initiated a leaping motion toward him but in midair, her body shrunk and transformed into the one of a young lion, much like she had been when resurrected.

The cat landed in Rakna’s lap and nestled herself there with her paws up. “Belly rub time, devourer of mine!” She exclaimed with a teasing but expectant voice.

“…you girls really are something,” the therian muttered and swiftly started stroking her belly and occasionally scraping her chin with his fingers. Her legs reflexively wrapped around his wrist and he smiled at the adorable view.

“Now this is what I’m talking about…” Higure purred contently.

“Knowing you, I expected you to just drag me to bed,” Rakna commented.

One of her eyes opened to look at him with a laugh. “I already got that one not long ago. I can hold back a little. You did a number on us, you know? Hands down the best night of my life,” she smirked shamelessly. “I’m satisfied for now but I fully expect you to make it outdated soon enough.”

Rakna huffed and used his other hand to directly pat her head, closing her eyes. “I could probably make some kind of curse with Lust Magic…” He said without much thought but when he saw her tail immediately swaying faster, he could only sigh. “Which of course, you would love.”

“Absolutely,” she confirmed without hesitation.

As the two enjoyed the subsequent silence together, Rakna’s thoughts wandered back to the first time he talked to Higure in the first place. The memory felt old and recent at the same time. In this house of his, there was barely anyone he wouldn’t trust with his life, but the lioness represented something… more. A bit special.

‘I suppose sharing your soul with someone for a while does that to you,’ he thought and looked down at the feline. “Hey, Higure, you still plan to meet your children, right?”

Her ears twitched and she opened her eyes with a meditative gaze. “Of course,” she said gravely. “It’s my responsibility, in the end. I do feel a bit sad about it though. Verias killed me right after I gave birth, after all. That I didn’t have a hand in their growth is upsetting.”

“…”

“I told you we Dusk Lions can reproduce by parthenogenesis, right?”

“Yes.”

“The truth is, Dusk Lions, as small as our population is, seldom resort to it. It requires us to expend most of our strength and we become vulnerable until we recover,” she smiled bitterly. “Proven by myself. It’s uselessly risky. But I wanted children, and being the strongest Dusk Lion, there was no worthy father to be found anywhere.”

“So, you did it yourself,” Rakna blankly said.

“So, I did it myself,” she nodded back with a grin. “But, well, all of that was four hundred years ago as it would seem. One day, I died, and the next, I woke up in your soul scape. I can only hope they’re still alive today… we are hermits and long-lived, but not immortal.”

Higure grunted to herself. “I made sure to lure that shitty Téras away when I sensed his intention, but who knows what happened to my children after I left them. Did they rise up on their own and survived? Did someone help them? I’m nervous to find out.”

Rakna wordlessly rubbed her belly and she smiled.

“Though, I’m also thankful that Verias had to go into hibernation or else he might have raised me as a puppet… I would have never met you and probably been lost forever.”

“Honestly, I’m surprised your soul lasted that long,” Rakna remarked.

“It didn’t,” the lioness snickered as if she had heard something hilarious. “At best, my desire to take revenge against the one who killed me, and protect my cubs, allowed the remnants to stick around my corpse, frozen inside the spatial storage. The fact that your Nirvana Skill could reconstruct me from the ground up is nothing short of a miracle.”

“…true,” Rakna hummed. “I could have ended up with someone like Rex… a newborn Dusk Lion of sorts.”

“Would you have preferred that?” She asked with half-lidded eyes.

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“Never,” the therian retorted instantly and she curled around his hand with a smile.

“Then, it’s all good…”

* * *

“I see you’re adapting quite well,” Rakna said with a gentle smile, crouching next to Ceresta in front of a flower bed that she was cultivating herself behind the house with both her magic and natural means.

The doll-like woman brushed the petals of a rose with the back of her hand and nodded. “Yes… this feels… right?” She said hesitantly. “I believe that is how I see it.”

“Maybe it’s my fault… well, in a good way,” the therian hummed. “I saw that you liked flowers back in the ‘dream’ and named you after one. It might have been imprinted in your growing soul.”

“…that is not quite right,” Ceres shook her head slowly and watered another patch of flowers. “I do agree that my soul was imprinted because of my name, but… it was fueled by you,” she smiled very faintly, to a degree Rakna almost missed it. “I… ‘became a flower’ because... I was loved as one.”

The therian’s eyes widened slightly. “That’s…” He blinked before chuckling. “Well, you would know better, wouldn’t you?” His lips curved. “That love must have come from an awfully suave guy.”

Ceresta looked at him… then tilted her head silently with a pure and perplexed gaze.

“…that was irony,” Rakna couldn’t help but clarify.

“Oh,” her mouth opened. “I understand,” she nodded seriously and he snorted in amusement.

“By the way, would you like a gift of some kind?” He asked. “Or something you want me to do?”

She pursed her lips hesitantly. “…you have given me life already… have I done anything deserving such a favor on top of it?”

Rakna smiled and patted her head. “Of course, you have. All of you mean a lot to me. I wouldn’t be here as I am today without you, Ceres. And it’s not like I’m asking you to take advantage of me,” he jested and pulled his hand back, much to her instinctive regret. “Anything; something that would make you happy. Just say it.”

“…” Ceresta fiddled with her own fingers and after a moment, she stood up. She dusted her dress and turned toward Rakna as he straightened himself next to her. She clasped her hands together and a rather impressive amount of mana and soul power flowed in between them.

‘This…’ Rakna watched in shock. ‘A soul technique? And she’s overlaying a spell on top of it?’ None of that was easy. If he had to be honest, even he would have a bit of a hard time doing it with normal means.

But, demonstrating monstrous talent, she completed her intended creation and opened her hands to reveal a pale flower laying in her palms. It had no color or shape per se. It had exactly ten petals and a white pistil.

“Please infuse this flower with your soul power,” Ceres requested softly.

“…got it,” Rakna put his palm over hers and released a flow of purple flames. They wrapped around the flower and were harmlessly sucked in by the petals. After a few seconds, the flower had already been altered to possess purple petals and a black pistil.

When the therian reined in his soul power, he noticed a connection between him and the flower. If he didn’t focus on it, it would be practically unnoticeable.

Ceresta carefully grabbed the flower with both hands and held it closer to her chest. It was glowing like a moonflower and permanently burning with minuscule flames. “Thank you.”

“What does it do…?”

The doll-like beauty smiled and delicately set the flower in her hair like an ornament. She crossed her hands and stood regally. “It is a memento... As long as it blooms, I will know that my love is yet to be weakened.” Her voice was as soft as it was melodious.

❮ ◈ ❯

Soul Flower of Eternal Love

A flower conjured from Soul Power and Flower Magic. It connects two individuals’ souls and manifests the strength of the connection as a blooming flower.

The state of the flower reflects the physical and mental condition of Rakna Xiorra Blade. Its wilting signifies the demise of the one linked to it.

❮ ◈ ❯

Rakna read the description in the blink of an eye and Ceresta’s eyes twinkled with joy.

“I shall carry you with me forever,” she declared.

“…” The therian was speechless. If anything, he was the one who didn’t deserve these girls. With a wistful sigh, he called upon the Crystal Sage’s power. A small crystal flower fastened to a necklace appeared between his fingers and he held it forward. “In that case, it’s only fair we exchange.”

That day, Ceresta’s smile was the happiest it ever was.

* * *

“Wait here,” Nyx spoke with her composed demeanor, leaving no hint as to what she was thinking, and forced Rakna to stand still in her room. The therian obeyed in bewilderment after having been dragged here the moment he returned from Ceres’ side.

He hadn’t even been able to say anything.

The goddess left him in the room alone and then swiftly came back. With orderly movements, she placed a chair opposite of him and pulled out what she had gone to fetch from her soul storage. It materialized between her and Rakna right as she sat down.

“Is that… a canvas?” The therian asked.

Nyx nodded quietly, placing painting supplies on a stool. From Rakna’s view, the canvas was fairly large, a bit more than a meter in width as it lay horizontally.

“I didn’t know you liked to paint.”

“…it’s an occasional pastime of mine,” she said while preparing the brushes. “The oldest, as well. I started early on in my life after seeing it once. I used to paint the moon a lot,” she said and casually twirled her wrist to conjure a shining moon.

She sent it toward a corner in the ceiling behind her and then closed the curtains. She preferred to work with minimal lighting that she could control with ease; she could see in the dark regardless.

“I borrowed these instruments from Hans however,” she added as she mixed the paint.

“So… do I stand here until you finish?”

“Mhm. Exactly so,” she smiled faintly as she began her first strokes. “Did you anticipate something more romantic by any chance?”

“I wouldn’t go that far… but realistically, would you even need me as a model to paint me?”

“No,” she answered plainly and he sweatdropped.

“And I’m standing here because…?”

“I like you there,” she said without hesitation and he frankly had no counter for that. “You say you would do anything for us if we asked, right?”

“I did…” Rakna took the sudden change of topic in stride.

“Why?” She followed up succinctly and he smiled wryly.

“Such a hard question for a single word,” he lamented to himself. “Do I need a reason? I owe you much. At least, that’s how I see it.”

“But you don’t owe us,” she retorted softly and wet her brush before picking another one. “We love you, and you love us, no? That’s the only transaction there is. Debts are inexistent. We don’t need anything; we just want you to be there.”

The therian chuckled. “And I agree. But once in a while, it’s not that bad to push a bit, is it? If putting myself at your service is enough to make us both happy and deepen our bond at the same time, it’s not such a bad way to repay each other’s love.”

“…those are words the old you would have never been able to say,” Nyx commented quietly.

“You may be right.”

“But if debts are to be paid… you still have a big one to settle with me,” she stated. “Do you know how it felt to have you dying in my arms?” She uttered and Rakna stiffened. “For a moment, I think some part of me broke. On one hand, I was happy to have been able to save you… I was even happy about the method,” she added with a small blush, hiding behind the canvas.

“…”

“But I can’t forget that despair I felt when I was sitting there all alone,” she lowered her eyes. “And the more days pass and my feelings grow, the more I imagine how worse it could have been. All of this to say…” She breathed in. “The most important thing isn’t what you can give us, but what you are to us. Do you want to repay me? Then never do that again.”

Nyx closed her eyes, her brush moving nonetheless. “I want to live for you… for as long as the world allows us to, without experiencing that again. That… is my wish. Can you grant it?”

On cue with her words, Rakna couldn’t stop the activation of his Chalice. Instinctually knowing the stakes of the wish she had just voiced, he couldn’t help but gaze at her with a defeated look. It was as if her desires were too genuine, too desperate, to willingly deny her the ‘wish’.

“You know what that means, right?” He asked softly and she nodded unhesitatingly.

“Of course.”

“Your Wish… Shall Be Granted,” he declared tenderly and a purple and white light filled the room for a split second, unbeknownst to everyone else in the house, and a ‘contract’ was formed.

The therian smiled at the Night Goddess who put down her brush with a relaxed expression. She gazed back at him as if waiting for something.

“Then, it’s time for me to promise you, huh?” He said helplessly. “I swear to never fail and force you to endure alone.”

Once he said that, Nyx finally showed a satisfied expression. “You better, you dork,” she scoffed in fake annoyance, blindsiding Rakna with the word choice, and then stored the canvas. He was about to say something when she abruptly took out a second, blank canvas and stopped him cold.

“Let’s start the next one,” she said with a playful smile. “You continue standing there. This one will be a full portrait so it’ll take longer.”

“…yes…”