Chapter 260

It took a while to tell Oceane the full story of everything that's happened to me since coming to this world. It had been a bit difficult recounting some of the stuff that had happened early on, but I got through it alright. Once I got to the part where I met Morrigan and Torien, it was easier to continue. There weren't any other significant revelations from the complete story, but it apparently made her feel like she had a better grasp of the kind of person I am.

She would not elaborate on the kind of person she thinks I am.

Once I finished the story, there wasn't much more she was interested in discussing. She was still really busy, so we ended up leaving after that. It was early evening now and the magic lamps were lighting the road between Oceane's mercenary building and the Ruby Vixen. Now that the night had come, the front doors were open to the public and the brothel's lobby was packed. I had known that their business had picked up since things had calmed down in Goldenhearth, but seeing it firsthand was quite a bit different.

The moment I stepped through the doors, Raya swooped in and whisked me away from the crowd, much to the chagrin of some of the men who had been crowding her. She wrapped her arms around me and Morrigan and led us up the stairs before anyone could bother us.

"Hey there guys, sorry about this, but I've had to explain that I'm not on the menu since the doors opened, and I was getting a little tired of it. Do you mind if I hang out in your room for a bit?" Raya asked.

"I don't mind. I was planning on calling a group meeting tonight anyway," I replied.

"Another one after the one about Maddie?" she asked.

I nodded. "It's been a busy day and I've got some news. I'd like to hear what you guys were up to today too."

She sighed. "Another serious conversation, huh? I was hoping we would skip to the orgy." A few of the nearby men we passed in the hallway turned to us curiously when they heard that. She laughed and waved. "Sorry boys, private event."

The two of us coordinated through the bond to contact all of my girlfriends and friends to meet in our room, with the exception of Tenna, Kino, Quinn, and Madeline. We managed to convince Quinn to look after her while we had our meeting. Nelly and Kaldaeryn didn't attend either, but only because they were still at the Temple of Velenthel.

All of us sat in a large circle on the couches and bed so that all of us could see each other. Fortunately the suite was large enough to accommodate everyone. Bella had calmed down a little since I had last seen her, but she still seemed to be blushing anytime I made eye contact with her. That wasn't too far from the norm anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem.

"Is this about the notification we got about our fertility?" Sibyl asked once we were all comfortable.

I sighed. "Yes and no, that's only part of it." I snapped up a [Zone of Silence] around us before the conversation could continue. "This magic won't protect us from the gods listening in but it seems that those cards are already on the table. When the four of us went to the Temple of Velenthel today, Velenthel herself came down to meet with us."

There were some mixed looks of interest and shock. Silva was the first to speak, "I'm not surprised, what did she say?"

"I think she mostly wanted to meet with me. We also addressed Nelly's acceptance as a priest of Velenthel, she was actually promoted to Oracle instead, and the Goddess answered the request Bella had for her," I said. Bella blushed and looked away at the mention.

"What did the goddess want in exchange?" Lorriene asked.

I nodded. "I suppose we'll talk about that bit first since it's not as related to the rest of the things we need to discuss. Velenthel altered our race to become virile or fertile based on our transformations. That means all of the succubi are capable of getting pregnant or siring children now."

"Good thing for the built-in ability to suppress that, or things at the Ruby Vixen would get complicated really fast," Sibyl joked.

"Do you want to tell them the price?" I whispered to Bella.

She nodded and cleared her throat. "The cost was that I have to bear four of Lilith's children... a-and the first one is already on the way."

That got a mixed reaction of shock, amusement, and congratulations from everyone. All things considered, she took their reactions well and thanked the ones who congratulated her. I think it may be the other part that embarrassed her more. Through the bond, I could tell that Mimi didn't understand the weight of the announcement, but everyone's enthusiasm made her happy, so she decided to pull Bella into a side hug while we continued to talk.

"Is that what triggered her transformation into a greater succubus? All of the girls in the brothel were talking about it like gossip when I returned," Silva asked.

"Eh... I'm not sure. It happened while we were having sex, but I'm not sure if that was what triggered it," I said with a shrug.

Silva nodded before turning to Bella. "Can we see the transformation? I'm curious."

Bella's eyes shot down to her lap and her ears immediately heated up. "I-I'd really rather not right now if that's okay..."

Silva's brow knitted. "Did something happen?"

I cleared my throat. "We'll uh... talk about that another time. That's not really what I want to focus on right now." Silva shrugged and let it go without saying anything further, to Bella's relief.

"Anyway," I continued on, "while we were there another goddess appeared. Fortuna."

The room mostly looked confused. The only one I had told about her involvement with the Tamin church had been Silva through the bond.

I took a deep breath. "I had gone there to ask Velenthel to return my memories of my past life, but Fortuna appeared to try and talk me out of it." The confusion on the faces of everyone there intensified.

"Why would that matter to Fortuna?" Fellia asked.

"To be honest, your guess is as good as mine. Fortuna and Velenthel had made a bet that I wouldn't come looking for my memories. By asking Velenthel for them back, Velenthel won a bet and Fortuna appeared to confirm that. I asked Fortuna how she was involved, and all she gave me was the nebulous answer that she loved me and that regaining those memories would only hurt. She also all but admitted that she had manipulated things around me in various ways, and this supposedly reduced the likelihood of me remaining a demon," I said.

"Isn't all of that a good thing?" Torien asked. "Besides, all of that seems... maybe a bit obvious considering you use weird luck magic all the time."

I sighed and looked away. "When that was originally offered as a possibility, I reacted very negatively because... it carries with it the implication that she had allowed me to be... violated by the man who had formerly owned Bella." My voice cracked a few times as I worked my way through that sentence.

I wouldn't be able to stand it if any of them looked at me with pity, so I just rolled into the next thing I wanted to bring up without looking at them. "I also confronted her about being one of the gods associated with the Tamin church."

This revelation got gasps from nearly everyone. Lorriene snarled. "The one you found out about was Fortuna?"

"Yes. Fortuna confirmed it but downplayed her actual involvement with the group. She says she dislikes them as well but is trying to use them in some way. She did admit that she is the source of the Tamin church's funds though," I replied.

"We should tell everyone," Lorriene said with gritted teeth.

I relaxed a bit when I realized that her anger wasn't directed at me, but I could tell that she was burning hot right now.

I shook my head. "I don't understand the full scope of things but there appear to be certain rules that they're adhering to. I don't know if it's the divine accords or something else, but something is restricting them in some way. There might be some kind of repercussions to leaking this information publicly, so I would suggest distributing the information through the Order of Lilith first. Although, keep in mind that the gods that we've named are all likely listening to this conversation right now. The only reason I'm telling all of you this now is because Fortuna already knows that I know."

Lorriene nodded seriously, and her anger simmered down a little. "Fortuna is a god that is favored by a lot of beastkin... for better or for worse. There is a common stereotype that beastkin are more likely to enjoy gambling than others and also the most likely to be addicted to it. Unfortunately, of all the gods to be giving the Tamin church funds, this might be the most difficult to stop. Most beastkin already know that gambling is likely to be bad for them, yet they do it anyway." She shook her head. "No one donates money to Fortuna's churches the same way they do to the others. Everything is funded through her casinos and gambling dens. I'm not sure if public knowledge of Fortuna's involvement would even deter the ones who have trouble with gambling. But... maybe the Order could try to subvert them in other ways. I'll at least pass the information along."

"I agree. I'd rather you pass the information to them and let the Order deal with it however they see fit," I said with a nod.

Torien scratched the back of her head. "Do you ever intend to get more involved with them? It feels like once you found out that Silva and Lorriene are associated with them, you've wanted to know less about them, not more."

I frowned and looked down. "I... don't know. I think... I'm hesitant to find out more about them now... After meeting So- After meeting Silva's handler, I am almost afraid of what getting involved with them might mean."

Morrigan shook her head. "If they are doing something you don't approve of, it would be better to know. Even if you choose not to... I don't know, punish them for it, you would at least be able to tell them to stop." Morrigan turned to her aunt. "Actually, would they stop if Lilith asked?"

Lorriene shrugged. "I'm not sure. They might or they might not. I think there's a real possibility that it creates a divide within the Order. Especially if Lilith starts trying to interfere with how they're operating now. Not everyone involved believes in the prophecy stuff. Some of the people in charge try to strike a balance between the believers and the pragmatists, but I know that a decent number of them think all of that is bunk, having been one of those people myself. I've met some people who could become quite furious if you suddenly showed up and tried to take control of everything."

Silva crossed her arms. "That 'handler' would take Lilith's side though. If nothing else, I believe he would stop doing things you don't approve of and do his best to get others to stop. As long as you two remain directionally consistent with the group's overall goals, he would probably do his best to make things work."

I shook my head. "Maybe, but my exposure to him in the capital is what I think spooked me the most. He seems personally powerful, and it sounded like he had a lot of strong people that listen to him. It feels daunting to try and talk those people out of anything."

Silva shrugged. "Maybe so, but I do think he would listen."

I sighed. "He's going to track me down again sooner or later, so I don't think I have much choice in the matter. I'll have to deal with that eventually."

"So what does all of this mean for Nelly?" Sibyl asked. "Can Velenthel be trusted?"

"After the meeting, I strongly believe Velenthel is not associated with the Tamin church based on her reaction and the... context of the conversation. She could be lying, but I don't believe she was. Part of Nelly's job will be keeping an eye on me for Velenthel and making sure I don't stray too far from her 'teachings,' but Nelly and the Goddess agreed to the compromise that Nelly would not be allowed to break her oath to me in order to obey the oath she made to Velenthel."

Cecilia, who had been quiet up until this point, laughed. "So another open spy joins the group?"

I smirked at her. "You're one to talk."

Lorriene cleared her throat. "There is one more thing I'd like to ask about."

"Yes?" I asked curiously.

Lorriene looked nervous. Which made me nervous.

"Would you be willing to make me a succubus tonight? I believe I'm ready for it."

"Really!?" Morrigan and Torien's voices exclaimed at the same time. Morrigan's sounded excited and Torien's sounded confused.

I looked at the three of them before nodding. "I would be willing to do that, but I believe you may want to talk with your nieces about it first."

I clapped. "Okay, meeting adjourned."