Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Contrary to Aoko’s expectations, Vahn’s did not kiss her on the lips. Rather, before he could make any headway with the red-haired beauty, there were other promises he needed to keep. Thus, after giving her a light kiss on the forehead, surprising the expectant woman, Vahn stated in a calm tone, "You don’t need to push yourself like this. We only recently came to know each other and, in that time, have interacted for less than a single day’s worth of time. Once you get a better understanding of the situation, I’ll show you just how greedy I can be..."

To punctuate his words, Vahn surprised Aoko a second by giving her a quick peck on the lips just as she wanted to respond. This forced back any words she had come up with, her face turning beet red in an instant. Then, before she could collect herself, Vahn lightly chuckled as he rose to his feet and said, "It really is a shame...if I had more free time, I’m not sure I’d be able to hold myself back."

With those words lingering in the air, Vahn ruffled Fenrir’s hair one last time before making his way toward the door. Truthfully, he didn’t mind claiming Aoko as his own but, for the same reasons he had been holding himself back with others, he couldn’t just let her jump the line. There was also the simple fact that she had yet to integrate into the larger group so, until she had a better grasp of the situation, she wasn’t exactly qualified to leap forward like this...

Even after the door had closed, announcing Vahn’s departure, Aoko hadn’t recovered her senses. It wasn’t until Fenrir lightly pat her head that she blinked back to awareness, asking, "Didn’t you say he liked red-heads...?"

Without hesitation, Fenrir nodded her head in affirmation, explaining, "Master has a weakness for girls with red hair. Your timing was just bad. Right now, he is going around to make sure everyone is happy so it would be impossible to seduce him. He pays a lot of attention to the ’order’ of things so you’ll have to keep that in mind. Come, we will find you a room in the Inner Sanctum. Once you get to know everyone better, Master will come to you of his own accord. If you want, you can stay in the Menagerie with us...Master is very intimate with the girls residing in the Menagerie..."

Though she had never entered the Inner Sanctum, Aoko had learned about the Menagerie through her interactions with Fenrir. Hearing the latter invite her to stay inside, an awkward smile spread across her face as she remarked, "I don’t have the ’qualities’ required of a girl in the Menagerie, do I?"

Hearing Aoko’s question, Fenrir tilted her head to the side, explaining, "Race means nothing to our Master. The Menagerie is just full of people that are more expressive with their feelings. There are people like Jeanne, Okita, and Medea who stay there often. The latter only has slightly pointed ears so it isn’t as if you need some peculiar trait to be accepted. You just have to want to be pampered and, when the situation requires it, you need to be willing to pamper our Master."

With the same awkward smile on her face, Aoko asked, "It sounds like everyone in the Menagerie is a servant, though? Besides, I don’t really want to be spoiled...I don’t think my mind could take it..."

Shrugging her shoulders, Fenrir just plainly responded, "This is why Master wanted to give you more time to make your decision. You are underestimating him too much, Aoko. If he got serious, he could even make Gods become addicted to his care. Once you cross the line, even self-pleasuring will have little to no effect. What Master is capable of is something you can’t begin to comprehend, even after you experience it directly. He makes you feel have been missing something important your entire life and, once you obtain it, letting it go is almost impossible..."

Aoko was accustomed to Fenrir lauding her Master but, hearing the severity in her current words, she couldn’t help but swallow an imaginary knot in her throat. She had already guessed there was something about Vahn that made the women around him acquiesce to being part of a large harem but, hearing Fenrir’s words, it seemed as if she had nearly stepped on a landmine. It was likely that Vahn himself had realized she was mentally prepared so, rather than take advantage of her bravado, he gave her a leniency period, allowing her to make a more informed decision...

After leaving Aoko’s room, Vahn released a slightly hot sigh as he had nearly gotten caught up in the moment. Aoko was a very ’passionate’ woman and, though she wasn’t really ready for what she was getting herself into, her emotions, perhaps as a result of her monstrous power, were scary. Since she also had the mentality of never regretting her decisions, she was fully prepared to jump in headfirst without proper consideration for the future. Rather, her decision was likely to secure a better place for herself and her family, reasons Vahn had never been fond of.

Fortunately, the next person on his visitation list was someone he didn’t have to worry about pining after him. Rather, she seemed to disdain him quite a bit and, if not for Aoko’s insistence, Vahn could easily imagine the fiery woman leading resistance forces against the Empire.

Since the person in question had been caught snooping around forbidden areas a few times, she had been barred from entering the Ivory Castle. As a result, Vahn had to teleport outside to an area on the outskirts of Vivian’s Lake, the location of a small cabin that fit the description of Witch’s Hut to a tee. This was where Aoko’s Sister, Touka Aozaki, had made a home for herself using her unique Puppet Magecraft, an ability she had refined to the point that, in the not-so-distant past, caused the Mage’s Association to put a Sealing Designation on her.

Touko was so skilled in the art of making Puppets that she had ’perfected’ the craft to the point that she could make bodies indistinguishable for her real self. In fact, the version of Touko that Aoko had thought was her sister was actually a puppet as, despite having her Sealing Designation revoked, she never trusted the Mage’s Association enough to expose her true body. If not for Aoko explaining the capabilities of the Empire, including their ability to find virtually anyone, Touko may have continued hiding away indefinitely...

After lightly knocking on the wooden door of Touko’s hut, Vahn heard the cold voice of a woman say, "Enter..." before the sound of shuffling could be heard on the other side.

Gesturing for his entourage to stand down, Vahn unhesitantly opened the door to the hut, passing over the threshold with a casual smile on his face. This was in spite of the fact that a very powerful curse had been set to trigger, the potency of which even exceeded Touko’s Puppets. Rather, it was due to her research into Primordial Runes and Curses that allowed Touko to produce her Puppets in the first place.

As could be expected from a Curse derived from Primordial Runes, Vahn’s body was momentarily immobilized as tendrils of red thorns, similar to the effect caused by [Gáe Bolg] attempted to invade his body. At the same time, a woman with burgundy hair, styled in a short and prim manner, stared back at him with her cold hazelnut eyes. She was wearing an outfit similar to business casual, with a white blouse, form-fitting black pants, and high-quality heels while, adding to her intelligent look, a pair of artifact-grade glasses adorned her face.

Though it was a little annoying, Vahn ultimately managed to ’shrug’ off Touko’s curse with relative ease. After all, she couldn’t even hope to reach Scathach’s level in her lifetime and, with his unique constitution, Vahn didn’t have to worry about the detrimental effects of curses at all. The only thing she managed to accomplish was easing his tensions a bit, meaning she had served the purpose he had intended for her without realizing it.

Still, Vahn couldn’t simply ignore the fact that Touko had, once again, tried to curse him so the smile on his face melted away, replaced by a stern expression as he stated, "Had I not stopped them, your little ’prank’ would have resulted in your death...you do realize this, do you not, Ms. Aozaki?"

Rather than showing any signs of trepidation or remorse, Touko took a long drag of her cigarette, her eyes fixed on Vahn the entire time. It wasn’t until she exhaled a cloud of dense white smoke that she answered, "If you were the type to kill people over small slights, that idiot wouldn’t speak so highly of you. Besides, we both know that isn’t your only body. If it will make you feel better, you can do whatever you want to this one as compensation."

Toward the end of her statement, Touko put her cigarette out in an ashtray before unhesitantly using her gloved hands to begin fiddling with the buttons of her blouse. Seeing this, Vahn shook his head in mock exasperation as he extended his hand, pulling at the void. In the next moment, Touko’s real body was teleported in front of him, this one wearing loose pajamas as she lay suspended in the air by Vahn’s telekinesis.

Since she seemed intent on riling him up, the smile returned to his face as he mused, "While it is true that I have multiple bodies, each of my vessels is very real. If you will carry the memories, regardless, why not taunt me with your real body, Ms. Aozaki...?"

Though he had no intention of actually harassing her, Vahn extended his hand toward the sleeping figure of Touko, his eyes glimmering with untoward purpose. This caused the Puppet to rise to her feet, her cool visage nowhere to be seen as she glared back at him, panic visible in her eyes as she shouted, "You’re going too far! This wasn’t a part of our agreement...!"

Hearing Touko’s outburst, Vahn nodded his head in understanding but, rather than stop his hand, he continued forward. This caused the Puppet to leap forward but, just as Vahn’s hand was about to contact the sleeping figure, coinciding with Puppet’s attempt to retrieve her body, both passed through. As a result, the Puppet ended up crashing into Vahn’s body, her very real-feeling breasts squashing against him as confusion marred her face. At the same time, Vahn wrapped his hands around her waist, saying in a very serious tone, "You sisters are alike in the worst ways..."

Before the Puppet could make sense of his words, Vahn smiled mischievously as the surroundings began to crack like broken glass. His hands began to snake towards her rump but, before they made contact, the Puppet found herself seated back in the chair, breathing heavily. Then, startling her even further, a light knock could be heard from the door, followed by Vahn’s voice asking, "May I enter?"

Touko had no idea what had happened but, fearing what might happen if she continued doing as she pleased, she quickly rose to her feet before alighting to the door. There, she removed the curse, which had yet to be triggered, before opening the door with a pale face and saying, "Y-Your Majesty, it is an honor to have you visit..." in a fumbling tone.

Seeing Touko’s panicked state, Vahn lightly chuckled as he extended his hand and began to pat her head, dulling the intelligent woman’s expression. She was obviously against having her head pat but, after the confusing incident from before, she didn’t even know what was real any longer. Fortunately, Vahn was done messing with her as he had already released his pent-up frustrations from dealing with Aoko. Instead of pressuring her any further, he simply smirked as he said, "You are more than welcome to keep trying to harm me. So long as you don’t target others, it doesn’t bother me all that much...however, please keep in mind that I’m not an easy target. Depending on how far you go, I am more than willing to answer in kind~"

With these words, an uneasy peace was established between Vahn and Touko, one which would be disturbed at random times depending on the former’s mood and the latter’s nature...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: ’You know not what you invite upon yourself...’,’Trying to mess with someone that is notorious for teasing others...RIP, Touko’,’For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction...?’)