The first thing that Elizabeth did as they arrived was expand her senses even further beyond, going all plus ultra on the apartment they found themselves in. Expanding her Shadows all around, filling every small nook and cranny.
She found nothing, no evidence of any formation or mana remnant in the place. Nothing that would say this was a spot where people teleported away or to where they got to.
"Are you sure this is the place?" Elizabeth asked turning to Jenna.
"Yeah, I used this one a few times actually." Jenna answered as she walked to the bar at the far end of the apartment, "Same as always Lily?"
"....yes…." Lily said in a small voice as she sat at the far end of the bar, somehow against a corner where there was a shadow creating a dramatic effect over the white-haired girl who went ufufufufufufufufufufu dramatically.
That was one weird girl, all right.
"Well….If you say so…" Elizabeth said moving to her next plan, "[Amp]+[Highest]+[Search]+[Identify]+[Space]+[Teleport]+][Record]+[Evidence]+Identify= All round search for evidence."
A spell that combined whatever Elizabeth thought could work, and she even stuck her own skill both in normal and in enhanced form, for good measure.
"Hmm…." And when the spell took almost ¾ of her mana, Elizabeth thought that it had worked…
"Rossie, you missed a spot in your left sock." And really, the only thing that she got was that Rossie had incriminating evidence about…well, Elizabeth didn't really mind about what.
"Oh," Rossie said removing her shoe and looking at her left sock, "...heh…I knew she had left something, thank you Eli-Eli!"
And the pink-haired girl burned away the sock as she put a new pair on, "Sorry about that…Also, can you tell me the counterspell for no particular reason?" Asked the pink-haired girl sheepishly.
"Yeah sure, I'll send the formulae later, let me focus on this," Elizabeth said waving away her girlfriend.
Elizabeth…didn't really mind at this point, she should. But so long it was consensual…she had no way or right to complain; Rossie needed to fulfill some needs that Elizabeth wasn't fulfilling…
And expecting Rena to do all the work wasn't fair either. Elizabeth knew that Rossie was containing herself as best as she could, but she was an actual Succubi and the bearer of The Gem of Lust.
Some…liberties were to be forgiven, at least till Elizabeth could fulfill those needs anyway, then…well. Elizabeth had Dragon Might, so she should be able to fix Rossie.
Or if not, at least entertain her long enough to leave her tired beyond reason and unable to continue committing crimes against the young and frail lives of other innocent blonde girls, but then again….
If you follow a pink-haired girl with heart eyes in her eyes….you were asking for it at that point, Elizabeth knew it first hand, she had done just that after all.
"Please stop deluding yourself and focus Elizabeth," Said Jenna snapping her fingers and bringing Elizabeth out of her reverie, rude.
"Right…well….I guess that I'll try space?" Elizabeth said pulling at the space mana she had available thanks to her [Gem of Space].
Using that as a focus, she started reading the cracks within space around….there were….evidence of someone teleporting?
"Not there Mistress….focus the tear, the teleport was local." The voice of Aura whispered in her mind.
Local?
"It jumped to the other side of the continent," Elizabeth answered aloud.
"Found something?" Jenna asked, suddenly frantic.
"Exactly," Aura answered ignoring Jenna's outburst, "What you are seeking is something more complex, ask Jenna if you don't believe me."
"The place Amelia is….Is it in another continent?" Elizabeth said turning to Jenna.
"Oh….wait, you meant it was from here to another continent?" Jenna asked, deflating, "If so, that isn't the one. If it is from another continent to here, then it may be a lead…but from here to another continent….it is probably fake, follow it just in case?"
"See?" Aura said in a smug tone, "This is not it, this one is just a random B-Tier teleporter abusing his gift…I'll make sure to educate him later."
"Then where is it? You can sense it right?" Elizabeth said focusing her mind on the purple-haired maid.
"Hmm….I could, yes, I could probably even go there if I wanted…" Aura said thoughtfully.
"Then!" Elizabeth knew it! Her maid was the best, after all.
"It would cost me greatly, though," Aura finished her phrase.
"....How so?" Elizabeth asked.
"I am bound to you Mistress, if I cut that link…I don't think I'll be able to remain within Zaanam, or Terra Nexus for that matter." Aura sighed, "Not for long."
"You got it?" Jenna asked once again, "This time, is it right?"
"No," Elizabeth said, shaking her head, "There are some leads from here, but nothing that I can use to teleport us there."
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"Are you sure Mistress?" Aura said cheekily, "I could send you there, you know…if you leave a shadow dragon here…"
"Nothing I can use to go there anyway." Elizabeth continued ignoring the smug maid, "Let me try something else."
"If me sending you there isn't an option…perhaps you could try to save the space to Terra Nexus?" Aura said next, "It is kind of small, but your new planet could use a moon or twelve I guess."
"....How big is whatever place Amelia is in?" Elizabeth asked turning to Jenna, "Like, building big? House big?"
"Planet big," Jenna answered, "Your parents apparently stole a moon and used it as a resort; when we needed to make a base that couldn't be assaulted, they just threw the building we were using into that moon, and your Mother stuck it near Zaanam."
….A fricking moon?
That wasn't a joke?
"How…" Elizabeth said with a groan.
"I don't know, they spent plenty of time outside the planet dealing with extraplanar threats? " Jenna said shrugging, "[The Beast Master] deals with the rift that your Mother couldn't be bothered to close, and I dealt with the threats that came from local space."
"You need to find the space node that your Mother left," Aura also answered the question, "Find it and link it to your Domain, then from there Lady Alice and Lacy Chloe can do the rest."
…So Elizabeth needed to find a space node that she couldn't sense, link it to her Domain that she really couldn't use. And then that would fix the issue?
Easy
"Easy peasy lemon squeeze…" Elizabeth grunted as she facepalmed herself.
"Right?" Jenna said nodding.
"Very easy," Aura also nodded, "Also you need to reinforce your Soul again before doing so, you are already straining it as you are right now."
"....I fricking hate you Aura," Elizabeth said with a groan, she had just fused two Gems!
Two!
That should have helped her Soul greatly!
She was running out of combinations!
Actually, what combinations did she even have left?
"Aura?" Jenna said confused, "Your Maid? What did she do?"
"Make my life harder for her amusement," Elizabeth answered.
"Isn't Aura a very good Space Mage?" Rossie asked from the back; the girl was sipping from a glass of wine…with a mysteriously rainbow drink.
Rossie? Is that alcohol? You can't drink that!
"That is true, Eli. Couldn't she help us?" Rena added as she took a sip of…a coconut…Why was Rena drinking from a coconut? Where did she get a coconut?
"She was?" Jenna said confused, "Wasn't she just a pervert who enjoyed harassing Elizabeth?"
"Yes!" "Yes," "Yeah," "Of course!"
Elizabeth, Rossie, Rena, and Aura answered at once.
"Hello Lady Rossaline, Lady Rena, Lady Jenna, Mistress," Aura said bowing to the four girls, "And of course, good evening Liliana."
Liliana?
"Aurora," Lily answered back.
Aurora?
Wasn't Aura formerly Aurelia? What the heck was Aurora? Who the heck was Aurora? What?
We don't need more plot! We need less plot! We are behind schedule as it is!
"You can help us?" Jenna asked, gazing at Aura.
"Nope," Aura answered with a bright smile, "I can see Lady Amelia's pocket dimension, I could probably even go there, but I can't take anyone there or anyone from there."
"....Why?" Jenna asked narrowing her eyes, Elizabeth felt the mana within Jenna start to surge, "To see Elizabeth struggle? For your own amusement?"
"Nothing so crass," Aura said ignoring the pressure that Jenna was sending to Aura, the mana control was exquisite, Elizabeth wasn't sure she would have noticed if not for her Dragon Eyes, "For the same reason Elizabeth's Grandmother couldn't just fix her issues, the same reason Lily is stuck like that, and the same reason you don't Incarnate the ideal version of yourself."
The what?
"...Not enough Authority?" Jenna said deflating, "How much…?"
"That is one way of seeing it," Aura said, nodding, "I do have enough to bring Mistress there…But I would also get evicted from this planar dimension, and while the next one is indeed interesting enough….I don't think Sapphire would be accommodating enough…Or that thing ruling over there for that matter."
"Sapphire?" Elizabeth asked confused, had she heard that name before?
"So yeah, I don't want to move just yet, so I can coach Mistress Elizabeth, but that's about it." Aura said, shrugging once more, "Hands tied and whatnot. Don't get me wrong, I do want to help her…but I can't coddle her, and I'm not in love with her to want to crack my Soul like SOMEONE did before."
….Someone did that for someone else? That was nuts, to think there was more people as crazy as Rsosie, who would have thought…
Joke aside…
"Jenna, stop bullying my maid, she is into that." Elizabeth said sighing, "But really…She did help me point in the right direction, even if the right direction is something I don't really want to do this early…"
Elizabeth had thought that she could have more time, her original plan was to go through her list of possible gems…after dealing with Lust. But…
She didn't feel herself confident in dealing with that one; Rossie was someone who was intrinsically linked to her, more than Rena in some aspects; Rossie had grown and been with Elizabeth the longest.
And was the first person that Elizabeth willingly welcomed into her heart, leaving the minutia of how that ended happening aside, Rossie was important to Elizabeth. And Elizabeth was important to Rossie.
Lust…Lust was something that was innate to Rossie, and something that Elizabeth also felt towards Rossie. They lusted for each other, played with each other…and Elizabeth would be lying if she didn't admit to have some…very kinky dreams about Rossie from time to time.
So taking that particular gem into her Soul would have some kind of effect, a type that she really didn't want to experience before her 18th birthday. She would stay by her principles.
So that meant…
"Space, Greed, Soul, Divinity…and Lust." Elizabeth went through her options, voicing them aloud one at a time, even if she wasn't going to use the last one.
Elizabeth needed to fuse a few of those, she had…actually four gems, one sin and three elements, Greed for Space, Soul and Divinity. So really, what matched better Greed?
Space? Soul? Divinity?
Elizabeth…did not tought Space was a good match, she wanted something that was more contained, she had gotten the Soul aspect way before and wanted something that was somewhat more personal.
Space was too broad, and honestly, since she got space from Aura, a girl who seemed to be carefree and aloof, she didn't think Greed would match her.
Soul? Soul was an option, what was more innate to Greed than the Soul? It was what fueled the Greed, from where it came and from where it went. Shadow Pact, the one who gave her Greed, was such an example.
He fueled his Greed using the Soul of a thousand innocent…And for that same reason, Elizabeth…wasn't sure if this was a valid option.
But then, that left Divinity.
Did she want to raise Greed with Divinity? That was also a no. She didn't want to exalt Greed like that. Honestly, Elizabeth had already decided what she would link Divinity with from the moment she thought about this. So, really, this one was moot.
So? What did that mean?
"I guess that I will need to meditate on this then," Elizabeth said sighing, turning her face towards Rossie and Rena, then after locking eyes with both girls for a few seconds, turning her attention towards Jenna, "Any chance this apartment has a bed?"
"Yeah," Jenna nodded and pointed with her right hand towards a door at the far end of the apartment, "We got a shower, a jacuzzi, and a king's king-size bed…Why?"
"I need to deal with some stuff within my Soulscape, and I'd rather do it in a bed than in a chair or a sofa," Elizabeth answered, "Preferably laying on a bed, honestly."
Of course, there was no need to do it in such a way, Elizabeth had powered up her body recently, and her Soul…was reinforced when she made the Ravenous Shadow. It hadn't been strained, either because the Shadow Dragons were such a primordial part of her Soul, or because Shadows and Gluttony had been that important, Elizabeth knew not.
"Right…" Jenna said nodding, "Just….hang up a sock or something by the handle in case you decide that you need some….physical help while reinforcing your soul."
"It isn't like that!" "Can I use stockings instead?!?!?" Elizabeth and Rossie answered at once.
"Can I help?" And Rena added afterwards, making sure she allowed Rossie and Elizabeth to speak first.
Such a polity girl….not.
"Whatever works for you," Jenna said turning to Rena, who spoke last, ignoring both Rossie and Elizabeth.
"I…I need to power up and fuse some stuff I have left lying around in my Soul," Elizabeth said grimacing and summoning in her left hand The Crown of Sin, empty of all the gems, "This thing here is the reason."
"...That reeks of Sin," Jenna said covering her nose, "And you keep that thing around?"
"...It also helped nourish my Soul and help me survive," Elizabeth said, nodding and letting the thing sink back into her Shadows, "So…I mix it with one of these…and help stabilize it within my Soulscape."
Elizabeth summoned one of her remaining gems, this time, the gem of space.
"Right….a few people have tried to stabilize the Sin and Virtues. I had thought only [The Prophet] had managed to do so." Jenna said eyeing the [Gem of Space], then turning her attention to Aura, "Not many people can manage to manifest one of these that isn't tied to a Sin or Virtue."
"Not many people are talented, really, a shame if you ask me." Aura asked, smirking, "Mistress, the minions have been informed and are ready."
"The minions?" Jenna asked confused.
"The minions, if Mistress is to fuse a new gem, then Terra Nexus will suffer some degree of change, depending in the fusion we could end with a new bioma…or a new moon even." Aura said shrugging, "With Mistress one never knows."
…She was doing that on purpose, right? She must be.
"Right…and getting into bed with her lovers…" Jenna said turning to Rossie who was preening and Rena who was looking down, "Will…"
"Help her stabilize emotionally and not think about how this will get her closer to having more work," Aura said without hesitation.
"Yeah, I can see how that could work. They do say that you gotta distract a little girl if you want to get her a vaccine…" Jenna nodded in understanding.
"....I am still here, you know?" Elizabeth said raising her hand "I am not invisible…or deaf!"
"Well…have fun girls, we will order something from the front desk," Jenna said walking towards the phone, already asking Lily and Aura iff they wanted something.
Ignoring Elizabeth, who was being pulled away towards the bedroom. She hadn't intended it like that! She was innocent!
She would, however, enjoy this of course, but that was beside the point!
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