Vol 2. Chapter 5: Godly Reminiscing and Nerinne Wants What? (1)

“Oh! A goldie! I got a goldie! Aaaaand it’s a dupe…” I lamented as I held the phone I brought out of my soul back when I first taught Nerinne the ways of Waifuism and subsequently left here after reincarnating as my waifu, my excitement over the unit I had gotten in the gacha gone and replaced with… RAGE! A RAGE SO POWERFUL THAT IT MADE ME GET OFF NERINNE’S GODLY THIGHS AND ROAR AT MY PHONE AS I HELD IT ABOVE MY HEAD! “GAHHH! WHY HAS MY LUCK IN THIS DAMN GACHA NOT IMPROVED?! IS MY LUCK BLESSING WORKING?!”

“Fufu~, now, now. Do not be like that, dear. Thanks to that dupe you can finally max that unit completely after so many years! That’s good!” Said my darling, encouraging me to see the good side of this painful defeat I suffered at the hands of this gacha game, all as she pulled on the skirt of this gyaru outfit of mine and gestured for me to get back on her lap.

“I know… but I wanted a new one…” I said, letting go of my salt-induced gamer rage and placing my head back on my girlfriend’s holy thighs while totally not pouting since I’m a mature adult.

“Oh, but you’re so cute when you pout, dear.” And that totally wasn’t a remark about it by Nerinne. Nor did she poke my pouty cheeks playfully. No sir.

Ah, just in case you’re wondering, I’m still in Nerinne’s divine realm. It’s been like 5 minutes since our joint takedown of Isharnnat, who’s still sitting there in the corner of the room all depressed. So sad. Anyways. I’M FINALLY GETTING MY GACHA FIX! IT’S GREAT! Or at least it would be if this wasn’t my third bad pull in a row…

“Welp, time to farm some coins to do that last upgrade for this unit…” I sighed, opening the tab for the daily coin missions and—

“Oh! Is that not the game where I helped you get a version of mine self?!” WOAH?! WHY ARE YOU SUDDENLY LYING BESIDE ME, ISHARNNAT?! “To be able to see the screen, obviously.”

“Don’t ‘obviously’ me! You spooked me dammit!” I hiss; HISS I TELL YOU! AND WHY DIDN’T YOU GIVE ME A HEAD’S UP, DARLING?!

“I wanted to see your reaction, of course~.” This smug, shamelessly confessing goddess… “I wondered if you were going to jump and scramble a bit like Lyra did after Sophie played that cucumber prank on her, but to think that you’d jump straight into my arms… Ahh, it feels great…”

“You’re drooling, darling…” I squinted at her, a tinge of annoyance lacing my words. But just a tinge since we’re the same when it comes to how much we indulge in our desires, heh. In any case, I guess I must address the penitent, cosplaying goddess making puppy eyes at me to answer her question about the game on my phone. “Yes, it is…”

“Kaka, I knew it! Can I play it?!” Guhh… she said with genuine enthusiasm over something I like, my weakness... “So, is that a yes? I have always been curious about it since it pushed you to the point of screaming to the heavens.”

“I see…” I responded as I quickly set up her game version’s story missions and made a team of versions of her and the one who resembles Nerinne. Then I handed the phone to her. “Here. I guess it’s fine to trust you not to do anything bad to it since you’re Nerinne’s friend and she isn’t speaking out against it.”

Then again, maybe that’s just because she is in her own world, enjoying the heck out of princess-carrying me, which I find adorable to be honest. Still, seeing these two goddesses completely relax in the presence of the other, like one does with a friend even when each is doing a different thing, and thinking about everything, it makes me wonder… “Why did you never tell me about Isharnnat, darling? Well, besides that one time at the pub of Jules’ father. But I don’t even know if that counts since you never hinted at her being your friend.”

“Hmm… because I had a feeling that she would do something outrageous if and when she figured out that we were in a relationship. The fact that she already had a connection with you didn’t help with that feeling.” Said Nerinne after returning from her enjoyment-induced trance and pondering for a moment, each word stabbing into a certain groaning golden someone who had been eager to hear her answer, so eager in fact that if this was an anime, her ear would’ve been cartoonishly bigger. “To be honest, I was kind of expecting her to do something sooner rather than later, so I actively tried making it harder for her and anyone else with similar bad intentions.”

“And it was very hard! It took mine self days to pull it off!” Piped up Isharnnat before realizing what she just said, putting her hand on her mouth, and changing course… because she’s an idiot. “That last part was unnecessary! But yes, I mean, no! I mean! Is that how you see me, Nerinne? That hurts!”

“Well, that feeling turned out to be correct.”

“Yes… regrettably so, dear.”

“I apologize…” Isharnnat sniveled, backing down after both me and Nerinne impaled her with the proven truth to the point that she’d have the typical undulating black lines over her head in an anime.

In any case, there’s something else I want to know regarding Isharnnat and you my darling. Especially after that very emotional last bit to this whole ordeal. “What is it, dear? You can ask me anything.”

“Then, how long have you been friends? The way she acted for your sake and how you reacted to it, it’s clear to me that you two are very, very close.You even called her a best friend, so I can’t help but be curious since, you know, I didn’t have that kind of thing ahaha...” I said while laughing awkwardly and lightly scratching my cheek. After getting off Nerinne’s arms and cuddling up to her side, of course.

Hm? I’m being a bit too clingy today, you say? Weeeeell, I went through a bit of a traumatic experience, so I think it’s fine if I’m clingy today, thank you very much! You can be jealous all you want you weebs, I’m not letting go! Muahahahahaha!

“I think I already said this but… who are you talking to? Who are these weebs you keep mentioning?” Asked Isharnnat as she snuggled up to Nerinne from the other side, still puzzled and weirded out by both my very normal mental narration and my mentions of you weebs. “It is not normal! Seriously, Nerinne! Your soul partner is very weird!”

“And proud of it,” I added oh so smugly. “I’m the King of Weirdoes after all! Didn’t I already tell you all of that?”

“Not the point!” She snapped back while not missing an input in the quick time event for the last battle of her game version’s story, ensuring that the boss, an opposing goddess, starts it with less hp. “A welcome advantage. I shall show her that none who dare insult me get away unscathed, even in a game such as this!”

“Fufufu~, I’m glad that you’re having fun, Isharnnat.” Beamed Nerinne wholesomely as she was truly happy to see her friend playing a game she also liked and enjoying it.

“Kaka, I am having lots of fun.” Isharnnat smiled back, but then she realized that—“YOU CHANGED THE SUBJECT QUITE MASTERFULLY! YES, I NOTICED!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” I looked away, acting dumb for a moment as she huffed and puffed only for me to impishly snicker right after, something that she of course saw.

This, my dear weebs, annoyed her even more… isn’t that right? “Giii…!! You…!! Now you’re doing it on purpose!! But I shall not fall for it! In fact, I shall just say what I wanted to say before you change the subject again! Nerinne! I am happy that you found someone worthy of trust, but that does not make her any less weird! Her strangely accurate narration weirded me out from the start, but then she occasionally says stuff as if she’s breaking a fourth wall that is not there, and that makes the whole thing even weirder!”

“Really? I find it cute though?” Nerinne joined in with a counter after my own heart, all while tilting her head incredulously at Isharnnat’s remarks. “I even do it sometimes. It’s fun~.”

Hearing that, Isharnnat proceeded to stare at Nerinne completely flabbergasted. She couldn’t believe that her dear friend, who replied to her stare with an innocent smile, was engaging in something so strange or perhaps… it was the opposite? Maybe it made too much sense for her to be like that? After all, her dear friend was already considered a weirdo, she told me as much. So was it really that shocking?

Isharnnat shook her head as if to answer my question and then she let out a deep, deep sigh of resignation, but not before killing the last boss of her game version’s story with a pretty sick combo. “You really are made for each other… Just two weirdos making each other even weirder…”

“Thank you very much. We’ll take that as a compliment.” We replied at the same time with big, smug smiles on our faces, if only to tease her a bit more despite her seemingly giving up! Muahaha!

“Oh stop it!” She whined. “I am not whining!”

“Fufufu~~, there, there. You should know that the more you react, the more material you will give Auros for her to mess with you through her narrations.” Said Nerinne sagely to the growling Isharnnat as she patted her head to calm her down… is she a kid? “Auros, you should stop too~.”

“Alright, alright, heh. I’ll stop.” I say that but man… that was fun. Still, we gotta get back on track before I start reading something from my collection and forget about it! And believe me, that stacked bookshelf over there is looking more and more tempting by the second!

“Fufufu~, don’t worry, dear. I remember your question. And you could even say that we are dressed in the best way possible to answer it.” Said Nerinne with a playful smile while waggling her eyebrows at me, as if she was implying… wait… does that mean what I think it means? “Yes, dear~. We became friends at school~.”

“Ohhhhh, so gods really go to school?!” I asked enthusiastically as this unexpected revelation could actually be a tease for the spin-off shoujo series with Nerinne as a high school girl! Can you imagine it? Nerinne in her uniform going through slice of life things, funny shenanigans happening every now and then, and lots of godly events with a colorful cast of characters… and Isharnnat.

“Hey! What is with that?! I would have you know that if such a thing existed, I would be one of the most popular characters! Especially if we are talking about colorful. I assure you, no one had me beat on that.” She flashed a smug smile before pointing at Nerinne with her thumb. “No one except her, of course. You may think in that hyperactive mind of yours that she was this class president, neat princess type but—well, take a look for yourself.”

With that, she snapped her fingers, and a photo appeared in my hands, a photo that made me immediately stand up and hold it high as I realized who was in it, my eyes shining with both surprise and an ardent, joyful interest for it was none other than—“ACADEMY NERINNE! UOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

I’M NOT ONLY HEALED!! I’M OVERFLOWING WITH POWER!!! YOU WERE RIGHT, ISHARNNAT! MY THINKING WAS TOO LIMITED!! CLASS PRESIDENT?! NEAT PRINCESS?! NO WAY! SHE IS BEYOND THAT! THAT PRISMATIC, SILKY STOLE FLOATING ABOVE HER SHOULDERS! THAT RIBBON IN THE CENTER! THAT WHITE, HEAVENLY UNIFORM WITH TOUCHES OF SKY BLUE AND ROSE GOLD! SHE IS GLORIOUS!! SHE IS THE GODDESS OF THE GODS’ SCHOOL!! LIKE A JEWEL FLOWER IN A FLOWER BED! AND THAT SMILE!! IT SCREAMS RELIABLE GODDESS SENPAI OF THE SCHOOL!!!

“Oh my, my, if you keep looking at my photo while saying things like that, I will get embarrassed…” She says that BUT HOW COULD I STOP LOOKING AT IT?! MY GODDESS GIRLFRIEND IS JUST TOO CUTE! Crap, I even missed a ‘can’t be this cute’ reference BECAUSE SHE IS THAT CUTE!! I’M SO LUCKY! BLESSED EVEN! LITERALLY TOO! “Oh, stop it, you~.”

Yes! Hold your face and shake it all happily like that while blushing! That only makes you even cuter my love! To the point that I can’t hold back! “C’mere! Gotta kiss you lots!”

“Kyaaaa~!”

“Hey, lovebird, I am in the photo too.” Isharnnat chimed in, stopping me as I was about to unleash a kissing barrage upon Nerinne by employing the ‘iron-claw grip to the head’ technique and pulling my lovely girlfriend away from me with her other arm. And of course, my darling found all of this incredibly enjoyable since it looked like a scene straight out of a shoujo, one where the heroine is trapped between their love interest and their overprotective friend. Heck, her eyes look like stars right now! She’s even clapping while going ‘oooohhh’!

Heh, that’s why I love her though. In any case, I gaze back at the image I’m holding and find Isharnnat immediately. She was right beside my darling sporting quite the elegant goth golden goddess look, which I have to admit looks quite cool.

Yet, I must say, “meh.”

“Liar! You just praised me! I am not deaf! And you are not blind either! We were called the three Radiant Maidens of the school for a reason! Not just her!”

Oh? Interesting, interesting… wait, could that be what those two gods mentioned? Hmm… no, for that to be the case Yawue would need to be included. Either way, “meh.”

“Why?!”

“Principle.” I replied, leaving Isharnnat even more shocked and annoyed than she was when she asked me that very obvious question. Of course, I am glad that my darling was recognized as a Radiant Maiden, she is that and more after all. Buuuut, I cannot resist the temptation to stick it to Isharnnat every chance I have and that’s tooootally not whatever little, tiny pettiness I do have.

“Are you going to be like that with me every time we meet?” asked the aforementioned goddess as she squinted at me, to which I shamelessly answered…

“Yeah. Pretty much. Or until I feel satisfied.” Mind you, she can be annoyed at that all she wants, but she hasn’t released me from her iron claw yet, so it’s just fair.

What isn’t fair, however, is me not describing the photo properly. Sorry, I was a tad busy gushing out. I hope you understand. In any case, the photo shows Nerinne, Isharnnat, and a… silver-haired cool beauty goddess in uniform… huh? I don’t know why but… the more I look at her, the more she feels kind of familiar? Did I pass by her on my way here? No, I don’t think so. So why?

“Kakakakakakaka, oh Nerinne, your partner sure is funny! As if we would believe that she does not know her! Kakakakakakakaka!” Wow, she’s sure laughing a lot at something that is genuinely the truth because… I really don’t know her. “…you serious?”

“I am.” I replied, confused since there’s no reason for me to lie about this. “Aren’t you a goddess? Can’t you ‘see’ if I’m lying?”

Hearing that, Isharnnat looked at me for a second, then at Nerinne, who nodded with a hint of resignation, and, in both befuddlement and disbelief, grumbled, “no way… you are serious…”

“I said as much. Though I don’t know why you’re so upset about it. Believe me, I would have remembered someone as beautiful as her. She even looks A LOT like one of the most popular waifus from my former world. I even was a member of her camp for a brief amount of tim—” CHILLS!! CHILLS GOING DOWN MY SPINE AGAIN AGAIN!

“Dear.”

“Y-Yes, my totally-not-smiling-darkly darling?!”

“Move on.”

“MOVING ON!”

The photo has all three smiling as well as their teacher—hold on! I know this teacher!! It’s the Little Goddess!!

“Oh my, is that so? Could it be that you saw her while Isharnnat was running after you, dear?”

“Yep! That’s it, darling!” I said while pointing at Nerinne in a ‘you got it’ manner. “But there’s a bit more to it than that. I almost made her drop her meal too.”

“What…?!” Umm… why are you both so terrified that you even said that at the same time? Is there something wrong? Because I’m starting to feel scared just looking at your faces. AND CAN YOU RELEASE MY HEAD NOW, ISHARNNAT?! YOUR GRIP TIGHTENED AS SOON AS I MENTIONED THE LITTLE GODDESS AND IT’S STARTING TO HURT!

“Ah. Sorry…” Thanks… my poor head… Anyways, why are you two so scared? The Little Goddess didn’t seem that scary to me.

“Because… she is, dear. That’s why I need you to tell me if you actually didn’t drop her meal and what you did after… It’s really, really, important.” Seeing that you’re being serious enough to even grab me by the shoulders while sweating beads out of fear, you can scratch me starting to feel scared, I am scared now… “Deeear, tell me.”

“I really didn’t drop her meal, darling. I almost did, but I caught all of it,” I said reassuringly as I began to explain. “Then, I respectfully apologized and gave her a bottle of the sauce Allegra and I developed with Louise’s supervision for her troubles. That’s it. I left right after that.”

Satisfied with my explanation, Nerinne let go of my shoulders and sighed such deep a sigh of relief that it almost seemed as if she had been holding her breath all this time. “Phew… you did well, dear. You did very well… Sorry for scaring you…”

“It’s fine, darling. If anything, I also feel relieved.” Having said that, Isharnnat looks even more scared now…? She’s even biting her fancy nails… I gotta ask, “you ok, Isharnnat?”

“I am not… If-If what you said is right”—she shuddered to the point that she looked like a kid who was in fear of the trouble they knew they were in—“and she liked your offering enough to act, then she is probably behind one of the bad things that happened to me while I was running after you…”

“Oh. That’s right. She did help me out actually. She dropped the fruit peel you slipped on.” I stated, the image of what happened was still fresh in my mind. It was so funny, hehe.

“Ahhhhhhh! I am in so much trouble!” And I’m back to not following. Why are you saying that? Why are you face-palming now? “Nerinne… tell your soul partner who she stumbled with…”

“Dear… the one you call ‘Little Goddess’ is a Primordial God. The Primordial Goddess of Rules and Laws… ahaha….”

“Eh?” Eh?

“Not just that, but she is also one of the Prime Auditor Gods. As in… the ones who are in charge of the Divine Law and every matter related to it. Some of them, like her, were even responsible for its creation. They have some of, if not the highest authority amongst us gods… And while she appears like a sweet innocent girl, she is actually very… very strict when it comes about rules, etiquette, and many other things… To be honest, just reminiscing about her classes gives me the shivers…”

…

“Kaka, speechless aren’t we Auros? Good. Great even, given how you have gone pale in terror of what could have been a very, very bad time for you. Good thing that you minded your manners and even thought of a way to make it up to her, one that she, who’s famous for being picky, even liked. Thanks to that you avoided divine punishment in the truest of ways. You are quite the lucky one.”

“Y-yes… that was very close… GODDAMMIT THAT WAS SO FRIGGING CLOSE!” I SCREAMED BECAUSE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR LUCK BLESSING, YAWUEEE!! AND SORRY FOR COMPLAINING ABOUT IT A BIT AGO BECAUSE OF THAT HORRIBLE GACHA! I EVEN FORGIVE YOU FOR ABANDONING ME WHEN DARK NERINNE CAME OUT TO PLAY!! “Haa… haa… wait a second, didn’t you shout at her, Isharnnat? Well, not directly at her, but you know what I mean. Are you going to be alright?”

“Of course I am going to be alright. The photo you are holding is proof that we were her best students! She would have refused to be in it if that had not been the case. And because of that, I have some leeway. But just to be sure I am apologizing to her right now. Things will be solved in no time, I am sure.” Uh-huh, you sound quite confident for someone who hasn’t stopped shivering in fear for quite a while… “Giii…! You! Read the room! I am doing that because I am trying to not be scared! I do not want her to punish me like she did back then! My mind would be unable to take it!”

Now I’m curious…

“Too bad! I am not indulging that curiosity! The less me and Nerinne think about it, the better!” Hold on, did I hear that right? Was Nerinne also troublesome enough for her to punish? Were you, darling? Oi, don’t look away and start playing games as if you can’t hear me! OI! “See? Not even she wants to talk about it! For starters, us gods going to school was just supposed to be a form of entertainment and not actual education, but our teacher decided to take it seriously… very seriously…”

Going to school just for entertainment, huh? You heard that my weebs? Ahaha… that’s great, so great… Who wants a student loan just for the giggles of it? No one? Hahaha…

“And yet, you didn’t seem that surprised about the fact itself of gods going to school, dear. Why is that?” Asked my darling out of nowhere and yet… I should’ve known that you’d notice the particular way I phrased my reaction to the photo… “Fufu~~, of course I did, dear. I know that narrating mind of yours the best.”

“You got me there,” I chuckle in ‘defeat’. “As for why, well… umm… I wanted to save this for later as it’s part of a larger convo I wanted to have with you. But it doesn’t hurt to answer your question. Your sister told me about it when I met her.”

“My… sister? I see…” You seem shocked, darling. And yet… not that shocked. Almost as if you had been expecting this to happen but perhaps not this soon. “Hmm… sometimes I wonder if you really can’t read minds, dear. Because you are right on the gems. Come, sit with me”

I do as she says, and I sit on the floor right beside her once again, but this time it’s her who’s cuddling with me instead of the other way around.

“Which one of my sisters did you meet, dear? You see, I”—she paused, her hand reaching out towards the ceiling as it opened, and from it, many, many little stars, enough to fill a night’s sky, began to fly away like dandelion seeds in a spring's breeze, each with a different color—"have A LOT of them, and not just sisters, but siblings in general. Enough to fill the night’s sky as you said.”

Yet, despite showing me this beautiful representation of those words, there’s a certain… awkwardness draped in caution tinging my darling’s voice. An awkwardness I hadn’t heard before, at least not until this whole thing with Isharnnat… Speaking of which, she’s deadly silent right now. Heck, she’s even nervously looking away from Nerinne. “Fufufu~~, I wonder why. It’s not as if she caused even more problems than I had thought~.”

“Eeep!” I would say something about a goddess of combat hiding under some bedsheets being not very goddess of combat-y, but when Nerinne is scary, she is scary… Especially since she went a bit dark there… ahaha…

Back to the sibling talk though, I must say, “to think you’d have that many siblings. Then again, I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised, gods are in another level after all.”

“Hey, don’t say that. I’m sure we…” Oh? What were you going to say that got you so embarrassed? Come on, tell me. I’ll keep poking you in the ribs if you don’t, heh. You’re so red too! Ah! Maybe I should say i—woah! Getting pushed down on the floor by an embarrassed Nerinne! “Nnn… I… I was going to say that… I’m sure we can make just as… as many children…! There! I said it! Dummy!”

…so cute! Embarrassed Nerinne is so cute that even I’m blushing! And I’m the one who usually says stuff about having more kids! Ahhhhhhh! “So cute! So cute! I love you so much!”

“I know… I love you too…” said my embarrassed darling as she let me go and we went back to sitting but not before I gave her lots of kisses. Although, she’s now looking away from me, giving me a full view of her blushing ears… which she just covered. Heh. “Watch out, I will make you blush just as much later… Now, can we continue the conversation about which sister was it that you met?”

“Hehe, your wish is my command, darling. The one I met was your older sister. You know, the one that looks a lot like you and uses chains. She even was quite shocked when I told her that you don’t use chains at all, not even in your dress.”

“Is that so?” Said my darling as she raised her eyebrows and then turned to Isharnnat, who mistakenly assumed that it was safe to emerge from the blanket cocoon she had made for herself and immediately began to shake her head vigorously.

“I do not know anything about that! I swear! The only thing I can remember that could be related to her is that Auros vanished in the middle of my pursuit! I could not find her at all. Not even when I used my powers. And if that wasn’t enough, I was then transported into a maze-like hallway until I convinced the owner of such ability to let me go and I found Auros shortly after. That is all! I promise!”

Not finding any signs of falsehood in her friend’s words, Nerinne turns her gaze back to me and I continue. “I sadly couldn’t get her name since Isharnnat here was about to catch me. But I bet you already know who she is by what I’ve told you, right?”

“Yes,” she nods, her eyes pensive as she began to connect the dots, whichever they were, before sighing and speaking up again with an annoyed smile on her face. This time with a question. “Darling, did you meet any other of my… ‘siblings’ on your way here?”

“That’s a weirdly loaded way to say that word, but yes, yes I did. Your brother. I couldn’t get a good look at him besides his very muscly arm. He did help me out though! He threw a really cool looking purplish-orange-cosmic lightning at me, which I redirected and threw at Isharnnat! It was hilarious dear! You should’ve seen it!” I said, savoring the memories of Isharnnat going ‘abababababa’ in front of everyone. Ahh… good ti—

“You did what?!”

“I… redirected the lightning he threw at me? It hurt like hell, but I’m fine, darling. Really. There’s no need to be so alarmed.” I tried to reassure her, but it was clear that her concern for me wasn’t going to be dispelled with just words. At least not those. “Darling, hey, ‘look’ into me. Check for any damage.”

“Ok…” Nerinne nods, then her eyes begin to glow and my entire being is beset by a certain feeling I grew familiar with thanks to a certain someone and my little ‘run’, the feeling of a god peering into my whole existence. But of course, this time said gaze wasn’t a curious one or a threatening one, but a loving, concerned one which then became filled with relief. “…you are fine. Ahh… you are fine… I’m so glad…”

“I told her about how risky it was, you know?” Isharnnat chimed in. “I told her time and time again about it, but she did not listen. She stubbornly believed that it was a test from your ‘brother’ and that she had to do it. So she did. Fortunately, she is ok. Unlike my pride… but still, if there had been any signs of that not being the case, I would have stopped with the games and saved her, consequences be damned. You know that, Nerinne.”

My darling nodded and softly smiled at her friend with affection and appreciation, “I know… and you, dum dum Auros! You could’ve gotten hurt!”

She sure is shaking me a lot… but I deserve it, so it’s fine. Seriously… “I’m sorry, darling… I just wanted to come back to you… and get some payback on that idiot, if I’m to be honest.”

“Nnn… don’t look at me with those sincere, loving eyes…” I don’t know what you are talking about, darling. I am only speaking from the bottom of my heart. “You… why do you make it so hard to be mad at you for your recklessness?”

“Because I love you very much and what I did was because of that.” Immediate response from me was immediate. And Nerinne’s reaction came just as fast, as she shook her head, smiled resignedly, and hugged me briefly.

“And I love you as much if not more for that. But please, please, don’t risk yourself like that again, Auros.”

Seeing that genuine worry and fear in your eyes, it’s impossible for me not to tell you that I won’t do it again, darling. I’ll try, but… “I cannot promise anything if it’s about protecting you or our family, alright? After all, you’d do the same for me.”

Hearing this, Nerinne goes wide-eyed for an instant before looking to the side as if remembering something only for her eyes to meet with mine once more as she says, “always, dear.”

“Speaking of family, is everything alright with you and your siblings? Your reactions when I mentioned them were, well, there’s no need to go over that again. Nevertheless, did I mess up by meeting them? If so, I am sorry about that too. I was just so excited to meet your family that I didn’t stop to consider if there might be problems. At least not until it was too late. ”

“Oh. Oh no, no, sweetheart. It’s nothing like that. Don’t worry.” Nerinne reassured me. “The only problem here, besides you grabbing something that you REALLY shouldn’t have, is that you are misunderstanding a couple of things. First, I’m actually the eldest, so there’s no sibling older than me.”

“Wait, what?” No, seriously, what? I’m baffled here.

“Fufufu~, yes, dear. Your lovely heroine is a big sister~! In fact, those were not my siblings. None of them are exactly as you describe them. And not a single one of my baby siblings is at the level to either elude or stun Isharnnat. I’m sure you know what I’m referring to by level, right? I’m sure Isharnnat told you.”

“Y-yeah, she did. But then, w-who did I meet?” And why are you smiling so smugly at my question?

“My parents.”

“What?” Nani?

“Fufufu~, you met my parents, dear~. The one with the chains was my mom, Anankrie, and the one whose lightning you redirected was my dad, Maemacius. They’ve had many titles over the years, the First Bond and the First Storm, the Primordial Goddess of Bonding Forces and the Primordial God of Clashing Forces, and more. But they go now by the Primordial Goddess of Bonds and the Primordial God of Storms. ”

“EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH? YOUR PA-PA-PA-PAREEEEEENTS?!”

“I told you that you were misunderstanding things.” So, I, Isharnnat, remarked as Auros was too shocked to… ugh, no, I cannot do this. It makes me feel very weird all over…!

To be continued… (cue chibi Isharnnat still playing the game with her videogame version while hiding inside her bedsheet cocoon)