Connie teleported back to the Dinsion of Discounts, landing just outside of the hot spring. She had excused herself from the gas early so as to have her talk with Jerry, so she hoped that Lia and her lovers would still be playing. Fortunately, it seed that they had taken a shine to the gas, and were currently playing pool.
“Alia, can we talk?” Connie asked, poking her head into the room. “A-alone, please.”
“Sure thing. You guys keep playing without , okay?” Alia said, placing her cue down on a table and walking over to Connie.
Connie guided her out the door, carefully shutting it behind her. “Um, can we…talk about this in a more private room? The hall isn’t a great place for a discussion like this, and if Rose or Lia want to go use the bathroom or sothing we’ll be in the way.”
“Where’s the nearest room?” Alia asked. “It just has to be anywhere they won’t go, right?”
“This way.” Connie said, leading her down the hallway to a room that would be used for massages in the future, when Lia had saved up enough Blood Money for that function.
Once they were securely inside, Alia turned to Connie. “So…I’m assuming this is about the relationship?” She asked.
“Well…yes.” Connie admitted. “I –”
“Before this conversation goes any further, I would like to ask that you read my mind.” Alia interjected. “Use as much god power as you need to make sure I’m not manipulating things with my magic or anything. I’m aware that you very rightfully don’t trust , so I’d like it if we can talk with you secure in the knowledge that I’m not lying to you.”
Connie hadn’t been planning on it, it was far too rude an action to do to soone who might theoretically beco her lover, but if Alia was offering, she was absolutely going to take the opportunity. She gave Alia a nod and reached into her reserves of Worship and drew out a not insignificant chunk, sowhere in the realm of ten units, then used it to fuel a powerful mind-reading spell.
Alia’s own Worship automatically resisted, but between the decent amount of Worship Connie had used, the fact that Alia very clearly was deliberately trying not to put up any defenses, and the fact that Alia’s Worship was bound, she was able to slip in and get a complete grasp of Alia’s mind.
She was as non-invasive as possible, staying out of mories and other irrelevant sections of Alia’s mind, but she nonetheless occupied most of Alia’s consciousness. To her surprise, Alia was still holding onto a spell like she had told Lia, and a quick glance over its construction revealed that it would, indeed, make Alia love Connie. She hadn’t been bluffing earlier; she was ready to commit.
“Done.” She said. “As I was going to say, you’re right in that I don’t trust you. Even so, I think we can work sothing out between the two of us. But, before any of that, I want to know exactly why you’re so keen on moving this forward. What’s your ga?”
Alia shrugged. “I won’t lie and say I’m completely altruistic, because I’m not. I believe that having a god dating us would greatly aid us in smoothing relationships over with the other gods, and potentially even in other ways, though I’m less certain that would be allowed. That being said, you and Lia seem to get along pretty well, and if another person gets added to the relationship, that’s only a good thing, god or no.”
Connie frowned. Alia was indeed telling the truth, laying her raw, unfiltered feelings bare. “That doesn’t bother you at all? That soone new is coming and changing things?”
“Why would it?” Alia asked, giving Connie a strange look. “Falling in love is fantastic, and the more love that’s in my life, the better.”
Connie could tell that by “falling in love” Alia ant the spell she used to make herself love soone. It was a bit of an odd way to refer to the process, but…it wasn’t necessarily incorrect, either. “I just…I don’t know, I feel like I’d have a hard ti loving you.” Connie admitted. “My trepidation is just too strong, and I feel like no matter how I try, there’ll be a wall between us, and that’s not fair to everyone.”
“Is that all?” Alia asked, tilting her head. “Because that’s a pretty easy problem to solve. I can just copy and update my spell so it has as a target instead of you, and then cast it on you. I’ll even modify the one I’m casting to fall in love with you and add a trigger that’ll go off if I undo the spell on and duplicate the effect on you, so if things don’t work out you won’t be locked into pining for soone you’ll be unable to have a relationship with.”
Once again, Alia was being completely honest, sothing that puzzled Connie. There was no intention to use it to gain an advantage over Connie or to try sothing tricky, just the desire to make sothing work.
“I’ll tone it down from what I usually give myself, keep it in line with your desire for Lia.” Alia suggested. “That way you don’t need to worry about suddenly loving more than them or sothing.”
The idea was, admittedly, attractive. Finally admitting to herself that she had feelings for Lia had broken the barrier created by the lies she told herself about being happy alone, and she could no longer ignore the fact that she desperately wished for companionship. And…if things went too far, Jerry would step in, so…what was the harm?
She heaved a sigh. “Fine.” She said. “But if it goes beyond acceptable limits, know that Jerry will fix it.”
Alia bead. “Great!” She said enthusiastically. “Give half a minute, and it’ll be ready, okay?”
Connie watched in nervous anticipation as Alia began to weave a spell, myriad magic circles appearing in the air behind her. As she worked, Connie quietly filled the gaps in the spell where Alia would normally insert her Worship with so of Connie’s own; though she hated to spend it, Alia’s spell would need to have so Worship in it if it was to have any hope of affecting the mind of a Higher Being like Connie.
After an eternity of waiting, Alia finally finished her spell, holding it just before the point of casting it. “I’m going to cast it now, okay?” She said. “Once we do this, going back isn’t going to be easy. So…last chance to back out.”
“Do it before I change my mind.” Connie said, squeezing her eyes shut, ending her mind reading, and bracing herself for the spell.
She could feel the magical energy discharge, and, contrary to her expectations, it didn’t hurt, wasn’t even the slightest bit uncomfortable. Instead, it felt sort of like being lowered into a pleasantly warm bath, as the sensation of love bubbled up within her, strengthening her feelings for Lia and the sprouts of her feelings for Rose, and then adding more love in for Alia.
She could see why Alia didn’t have a problem with it; being filled with more love made her feel…happy, almost giddy in a way that she hadn’t felt in so, so long. It was as if her horizons had been broadened in all of the best ways.
Opening her eyes, Connie smiled at Alia, then grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug. Alia gladly reciprocated, lting into Connie’s embrace as she pulled her closer.
Connie wasn’t sure how long the two would have stayed like that, but they were unfortunately cut short by the sound of the door opening.
“Um…” Lia said. “Are we…interrupting?”
“L-Lia!” Connie said, hurriedly disengaging from the hug. “W-why are you here?”
“I felt so powerful magic happen.” Lia said. “And we ca to make sure everything was okay.” Her face darkened slightly as she looked at Alia. “I’m guessing Alia cast her love spell on you.”
“Before you say anything, I agreed to it!” Connie said hurriedly. “She literally couldn’t affect unless I consented, the gods have innate resistance to mind-altering magic. I even had to give her so of my power to make the spell work. We can get Jerry if you need, he’ll back up on this!”
Lia groaned. “So, I’m guessing you’re going to say that your hang-ups are now resolved, and everyone agrees that we want to try this out, right?”
“Yup!” Connie said happily. “That…is okay, right?”
“Yes, I suppose it is.” Lia sighed. “If you both consented, then I can’t really get on your case about mind altering magic.”
Connie’s heart pounded joyfully, and she rushed over to Lia and Rose. She would have pulled them into a hug as well, but she realized that they might not be ready for that yet. “Um…can I hug you two?” She asked.
Lia grabbed Connie, pulling both her and Rose into a hug. “Of course.” She said. “We’re dating now, this is normal.”
“ too!” Alia exclaid, jogging over and getting in on the group hug.
While it was nice, the logistics of the hug were sowhat awkward with four people, not helped in the least by Lia and Rose’s sizeable assets. Especially Rose, her chest felt far bigger now that Connie was actually feeling it up close. And, though she loved the sensation, it certainly did complicate things.
Eventually, Connie ducked out of the hug. “So…gas?” She asked. “I know I sort of dipped on you in the middle, I was making sure things were alright with Jerry.”
“I assu they were, then?” Rose asked.
“Yup, nothing to worry about.” Connie confird happily. “It seems I was just misunderstanding his stance on things.”
“Gas it is, then.” Rose said. “Do you want to sleep with us tonight?”
Connie blushed fiercely. “A-already?” She asked. “I’m not sure I’m ready for sex yet.”
“Not sex if you don’t want it.” Rose said quickly. “Just…sleeping in the sa bed.”
“Oh. Then, yeah, sure, sounds like fun.”
“Great.” Rose said, smiling. “Let’s get started!”
When Lia awoke, she found herself alone. Or…not alone, the others were just further away than she was used to. She had beco accustod to falling asleep in Rose’s arms and waking up in the sa way, but Rose had apparently rolled over and grabbed Alia, as had Connie.
Lia smiled faintly as she looked at her lovers sleeping peacefully, then sat up and tried to get out of bed as quietly as she could. It seed that she wasn’t quiet enough, though, as the mont she got off the bed, Connie began to stir.
“Lia?” She mumbled sleepily. “Why are you here? And why am I…oh. There’s…no taking it back now, right?”
Lia gave her a smile. “If you don’t like it, you’re free to leave whenever you want.” She said. “But if you do like it, then I would encourage you to stay; relationships can be scary, but I personally find them to be worth it.”
“Give up, and let yourself be loved.” Alia said, tightening her grip on Connie and snuggling up closer. “I’m gonna love you so hard you can’t even think of going back to how things were before.”
“What’s going on?” Rose asked sleepily. She opened her eyes, looked at Connie’s rapidly reddening face, then let go of her hug. “Morning, Connie.” She said. “How are you feeling?”
“A little overwheld.” Connie admitted.
Alia instantly stopped hugging Connie. “Sorry.” She said. “You should have told , I didn’t realize.”
“It’s fine, Alia.” Connie said, sitting up. “Why don’t you two go relax in the hot spring for a bit?” She suggested. “Lia and I need to et with the God of Heroes, and he would like it if we were alone.”
“Sounds good to .” Rose said. “Alia?”
“I’m always ready for so alone ti with you, Rose.” Alia purred. “You two don’t leave us waiting for too long, though, the more the rrier, after all.”
“U-uh, right.” Connie said shyly, fully stepping out of the bed. She snapped her fingers, and her pajamas changed into her regular outfit. “Lia, do you need to change or anything?”
Lia transford the sleepwear she was wearing back into her kimono. “Ready.” She and Connie left the hot spring, walking back into the Dinsion of Discounts proper. Once they were a good distance away from the hot spring, Connie turned back to Lia.
“I’m going to call him now, are you ready?” Connie asked.
“Ready.”
Connie looked off into the distance, and a mont later Hector, the God of Heroes, appeared in front of them. “Thank you for taking the ti to et with today.” He said, giving Lia a lukewarm look. “I have a proposition for you.”
“I’m listening.” Lia said warily.
“I have been inford that you are no longer planning to convert Ira, and will be unceremoniously killing him instead. I would like to propose an alternative.”
“Oh?” Lia said, raising an eyebrow. “I was under the impression that he was deed a threat to the world and should be stopped. I know you’re against conversion due to the ntal alterations it entails, so I fail to see an alternative that wouldn’t leave him free to continue his wrongdoings.”
“You misunderstand.” Hector said. “He needs to go, that’s non-negotiable. I was thinking that, instead, you could have a proper deathmatch with him. A one-on-one fight to the death.”
“Absolutely not!” Connie spat. “Leave, now. You are well aware that the two of them are not comparable in power yet. You’re basically asking her to commit suicide, and we won’t be discussing this topic further.”
“Woah there.” Hector said, holding up his hands. “Hold your horses. I’m pretty sure there’s a chance she could win. And if she does, I’m willing to offer my full support, and my Blessing.”
A shimring portal appeared in the air next to Hector, and Matthew, the world strength tester, stepped out. “Hector, we discussed this.” He said. “This is a borderline insulting offer. If you insist on going through with this, then I will personally throw in my weight to make sure she has a fair chance before the match.”
Hector frowned. “Matthew, you can’t possibly be serious. I’m giving her an opportunity to gain the full support of an influential god, such a thing has always co with great personal risk, that’s how it works. Many people would jump at this offer.”
“And many people don’t have you actively displeased with them.” Connie said, putting her hand on her hips and leaning forward. “Only a fool would accept such a task from a hostile god.”
“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.” Lia said. “This isn’t a risk I can afford to take right now.”
“Are you sure?” Heroes asked. “Every god that defects to your cause will make your job that much easier.”
“How?” Lia asked. “Okay, I get your Blessing, sure, but in the long run I don’t think that changes anything. I might grow personally more powerful, but that’s not what the swarm needs.”
“And any future summoned Heroes would be predisposed to join you.” Hector replied. “And I could likely make the argunt that the bindings from everyone but Rose should be completely lifted.”
“I could make similar argunts now, if we consider Alia an exception.” Matthew pointed out. “Hector, you’re being petty. If you truly wished to make her an offer, you wouldn’t have given her a suicidal task, or you would have modified the terms of this deathmatch.”
“Hector, you knew this was going to happen.” Connie accused. “That’s why you wouldn’t tell what you wanted to talk about. What were you thinking?”
Hector shrugged. “I had to give it a shot.”
“No, you didn’t. And I’m not going to sit around and let you try and kill off my girlfriend like that.”
“Your what?!” Hector gasped.
“Girlfriend, significant other, lover. We’re dating. Deal with it.” Connie said testily. “And before you say anything, I passed it off with Jerry first, and he told he fully supports it. So, you can take your judgent sowhere else, mister. Even if she did win your little challenge, that isn’t going to actually change your mind about anything, so get out of here with your weaselly offer.”
“Fine.” Hector said frustratedly. “I can see that you’re not open to discussion. I thought it was an offer worth the risk, but apparently no one else agrees.” He unceremoniously disappeared, leaving the three of them alone.
“Sorry about that.” Matthew said. “I tried to talk him out of it when he proposed the idea to , but he wouldn’t listen.”
“It’s not your fault, Matthew.” Connie said. “Thanks.”
Matthew nodded. “I’ll go talk to him, get him cald down.” He said. “He has a bad tendency to get stubborn about these things. I’ll catch you two later, and…congratulations, you guys make a cute…quadruple? Have fun!” He stepped back through the portal, and it closed behind him.
Connie sighed. “Sorry about this.” She said. “I knew sothing was up, but…well, it was an opportunity for you, and I figured I could prevent him from doing anything crazy.”
“It’s fine.” Lia said. “For now, let’s go back to Alia and Rose, start the day off a little better, what do you say?”
“I say…that sounds like a good idea.” Connie said. “Let’s go.”
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