***** Rudeus' Perspective *****
I took the four of us back to our manor. Eris hugged my arm as she walked alongside me. Roxy walked on my other side while Sylphy trailed behind us.
"There you guys are! I've been looking everywhere for you, Sylph." Hope called out as we came out from the basement door.
"I'm fine, Mom."
"Sorry about that. I took everyone for a short trip", I said as I pointed down the stairs towards the faintly glowing magic circle behind us.
"That's alright, Rudeus. I can't imagine Sylphy would be safer with anyone else by her side."
'I don't know about that. I may be somewhat strong, but I also tend to attract a lot of danger', I thought to myself.
"You did miss the end of your party though; everyone has gone home at this point."
"It was pretty much over anyway", Sylphy replied. "Besides, I've had such a crazy, busy, day that I couldn't really handle any more excitement. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for Therese and Aurora, but I just needed to step away for a while."
"That much I understand. Anyway, you guys should stay the night", Hope suggested to Eris and Roxy. "It's too late for beautiful maidens such as yourselves to be walking the streets by yourselves."
"I can handle myself", Eris assured Hope. "But maybe I'll take you up on that offer anyway..."
She squeezed my arm just a bit tighter as she said that.
"I appreciate the offer, but I think I'll head back to my room at the dorms. I've got a class to teach just six hours from now tomorrow morning. If I wake up here I'm certain to be late."
"I see. Well stay safe out there."
"I will", Roxy said as she waved goodbye.
"Well I'm going to get to bed; everyone else is already asleep. Goodnight Sylphy. I hope you had a happy birthday."
"Good night, Mom."
She gave her daughter a big hug and walked upstairs to her bedroom.
"We should probably get some sleep too", I suggested. "Like you said, Sylphy, it really has been a crazy day."
"Yeah... Good night, Rudy."
Sylphiette quietly walked up the stairs to her bedroom. She looked exhausted. I don't really blame her as I feel that way too. I followed behind Sylphy, walking up the stairs and turning right to head towards my bedroom. Eris continued holding onto my arm, following me all the way to my doorway.
"You can stay in the guest room, right next door", I told her.
"What? Why? You don't want to sleep with me? It's ok, right? Aren't we getting married?"
"Shh!! You're going to wake everyone up!", I whispered. "Come on inside!"
I led Eris into my room and closed the door behind us. The two of us sat on my bed. I sat there silent for a bit as I debated with myself on what I should do.
"Look, Eris. It's not that I don't want to sleep with you. It's just... after everything I just told the three of you, don't you need some time to process everything?"
"What's there to process? You're still the same person you've always been, aren't you?"
"Well, yes."
"Exactly. There's no problem then."
"I suppose there isn't..."
Eris began untying her boots and kicked them off to the side of the room with a soft thud.
"...but what about the others? Roxy and Sylphy might need a little bit of time."
"They can take as long as they want. Why should I have to wait."
The side of me that wanted to hold off was quickly losing ground thanks to Eris' persuasion. I've been celibate for several decades now if you count the latter years of my last life. Not to mention the hormones raging in this young body of mine. The only argument that came to mind against the proposal was that I really was quite exhausted.
Eris continued, unbuttoning her shirt next, deliberately slowly as she crawled onto the bed.
'Well, I guess I'm not that exhausted.'
I pulled my robe off and started unbuttoning my shirt as well. Eris smiled excitedly and tossed her shirt to the side of the room. I fumbled with the buttons, unable to keep pace with Eris. Eris hopped up onto my lap, causing a sharp pain as something dug into my thigh.
'Ahh, the lithograph stone. I forgot it was in my pocket.'
I rolled over onto my side partially so I could access the pocket and pull it out. I had planned to just toss it aside, but I noticed the faint glow indicating that I had received a response from the message I'd sent to Orsted. If it wasn't for the topic I'd inquired about, I'd still have tossed it aside.
"Give me just a moment, Eris."
"Hmph!", she scowled in annoyance as I sat back up and looked over the message.
____________________
Rudeus,
I'm sorry to hear about your encounter with Abyssal King Vita. I'm glad, although a little surprised, that you both managed to escape Vita's grasp. To my knowledge, only the Death God, Randolph Marianne, has the ability to fight Vita's influence once he has taken control.
You are right to be concerned about his control over Sylphiette. I would not trust his word that he has left her, especially after he admitted to being an apostle of Hitogami. Do not leave Sylphiette unsupervised until you've confirmed she is free of Vita's influence. I recommend you reach out to the Death God; he should be able to help you.
-Orsted
____________________
"Shit...", I said audibly.
"What does it say?", Eris said while peeking over my shoulder.
"It's from Orsted. It's about what happened with Sylphy and I earlier today."
I explained to Eris what had happened earlier that day. I had already mentioned earlier when Ghislaine was prodding me during the party that I had regained my magic due to a sudden 'Revelation' I had during a play Sylphy and I had gone to see.
"So you and Sylphy fought this Demon King and didn't even tell anyone about it?"
"I didn't want to worry everyone and ruin her party."
"Why do I always miss out on the fun", she pouted.
"There will be plenty of fun to come", I promised. "For tonight though, we should keep an eye on Sylphy. Our fun will have to wait until tomorrow."
"Ugh... Fine", she said reluctantly. "I've waited for years, I guess I can wait one more day."
'You and me both.'
The two of us quietly made our way across the hallway into Sylphy's room. I showed her the message from Orsted and explained how we should stick together tonight. Eris and I would take turns keeping watch to make sure Vita didn't take control.
"It's kind of rattling, you know? The thought that I could lose control of myself at any moment. I guess maybe this is kind of how you felt when you couldn't use your magic."
"Maybe a little, but it's not quite the same. Try to relax, I'm sending a message out to Randolph now. He'll take care of everything and you won't have to worry anymore."
The three of us spent the night together in my room (I've got the largest bed). Eris and I took turns sleeping and keeping watch. By the next morning Randolph had already responded.
____________________
Meet me at the island north of East Port - the one with the teleportation circle. Bring the girl.
-Randolph
____________________
That almost sounds like a ransom letter if you didn't have the context. Well, at least we got a response.