Chapter 205 The Lions Pride
Van and Luna, escorted by a small group of guards, walked the plaza wondering what they were going to do today. They only had two weeks before the wedding, and then only a few days before they had to leave for Bloodhaven.
If he had to be honest, he wasn’t against the wedding. If anything, he was actually happy about it. He has gotten used to the way things worked now, and only had to worry about it if his wife was against it. It didn’t hurt either that when he ranked up his incubus bloodline, which made him a little hornier, look forward to tapping Rosalyn’s ass.
“So? What do you want to do today?” Luna asked excitedly. “Do you want to go to the theater? A restaurant? Or the lover’s guild?”
“What would you do at the lover’s guild?” Van asked in wonder.
Luna gave him a mischievous grin. “Watch…”
Van rolled his eyes, then began to think about what they could do today. “Well… we do have a few tickets to the theater… would be a shame to not use them… are there any plays you would be interested in watching?” Asking Luna for her input.
“Not really… if anything I'm more of a coliseum girl. Fight’s get me excited! Though… there is one play I wouldn’t mind watching…”
“Oh? Which one is that?” Van asked.
“It’s kind of childish but most people say you should at least watch it once. Some play or another about a young knight who lost her lover to an evil queen or something from a far off land. She meets up with a bunch of friends along the way to rescue her lover and when they beat the evil queen, they all agree to join in as one big harem together with her now rescued lover so that they can be together forever. Supposedly it’s about the strong bonds of friendship one makes along a journey, the lessons learned about companionship and sharing, and the happy ending where everyone stays together. Or something like that. Also they have a big orgy at the end.” Luna explained.
“Huh… anything else?” Van asked, now curious, but ignoring that last part.
“Well… there is this other one where a couple finds a flying ship that can even travel through to the stars. They meet many strange people and cultures, some they have a hard time understanding or getting along with. But everything always works out in the end because no matter how different we are, we are all the same on the inside with the same wants, dreams, and goals! And that we can be friends with anyone if we just try to extend an open hand.” Luna said.
“Oh! That sounds interesting.” Van admitted.
“Ya! And the husband fucks all the alien girls along the way with the help of his wife! They make a lot of friends that way, some that even join them on their travels!” Luna said excitedly.
“Ah… there's the catch…” He lamented. “Anything else?”
“Umm… There's this story about a high class noble woman with three beautiful young women whose father died a long time ago. Her step sister heard that she would be getting the inheritance when her mother dies and decides to kill the mother and her three daughters to keep the money all for herself. But instead, the mother and daughters find themselves on the street with nowhere to go until a low class male who’s street savvy saves them and takes them under his wing. Over the course of the play, the mother realizes her feelings for this male, who’s help was integral to helping them get their inheritance back in one piece and expose her step sis’s wrongdoing, and she and her daughters marry the male because it’s not about if you're high class or not, but if you have a good heart…” Luna finished.
Van waited…
“...And then they-”
“Next!”
“-A story about a young male abused by three step sisters who he gets back at them by marrying a princess he meets at the ball thanks to a mischievous fairy and-”
“Next!”
“-A handsome male who lives with thirteen halflings falls into a cursed sleep until a beautiful princess rides him awake and-
“Next!”
“The phantom of the theater and an angel of music fall in love with a young strapping male and-”
“Next!”
“-So he gets a snake bite there and she sucks the poison out-”
“Next!”
“Linda jones runs away from the large boulder and meets a handsome young male… and then-”
“Next!”
“The handsome male and the beast woman.”
“Next!”The two went at it for the next thirty minutes until finally…
“-and the toys… come to life… and they… become friends… and… stuff…” Luna finally finished, panting and puffing from the exhaustion of trying to remember all the plays happening this week at the theater and trying to explain them as quickly as possible before Van said next…
Van was also tired, mentally speaking… it seemed like every play Luna recommended had at least one sex scene or another in it. He knew that in this world women were horny little fucks, and that sex was a casual and open thing… BUT COME ON!
“Lets…” Van took a deep breath. “Let’s watch that last one…”
“R-really!?” Luna looked up at him hopefully.
Van nodded, just too tired to do anything else. “Ya… sure… What's the worst that can happen? They're just toys…”
How wrong he was…
Everything was going fine at first. They entered the theater and went to their own personal booth provided by the duchy. As Van and Luna looked down as the seats below got filled, he saw his first warning… there were a lot more adults… than kids… and the kids themselves looked on the older side as well…
Second… some of them had toys… very… phallic… toys…
The play starts and it’s about a boy and his female neighbor buying new toys. The boy had a lot of lifelike dolls, and buys a new one, the female buys a new dildo… the story is about appreciating the things you have and making sure you take care of them… as well as a fight between the toys breaking out and getting lost and needing help from the neighbor toys to get back home… Obvious story about friendship and acceptance, insert here… long story short, the male fucks the now living dolls and the neigbor girl, and he allows those he can’t get to, to use the dildos so as to take care of themselves… and everyone is happy… including the women using their toys in the seats below…
The theater… it also turns out… has a contract with the lover’s guild as well to rent out males for the paying customers enjoyment… so sometimes there were a few distracting sounds from the audience as the actors continued their play…
Three hours later, with a half hour intermission in between. Van and Luna were walking out of the theater.
“You got a slut in me! You got a Sluuu~t! In me~!” Luna began to sing.
Van immediately covered her mouth with his hand from the side. “Don't you ever… sing that song around me again…” He said in a cold manner.
Luna frowned. “You could have just left if you didn’t like it, you know?” She said after taking Van’s hand off her mouth.
Van sighed. “I was hoping it would get better… hope that I spent… then wasted…” Now feeling dejected. He turned to Luna with a pleading look in his eyes. “Is there… at least one play… that males like? One where the male is the hero and saves the day?”
Luna thought about it for a while until it looked like she had an idea. “There may be one…” She said thoughtfully. “It’s called the Lion’s pride… it’s about-”
Van raised a hand. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. Let’s just go back inside and watch it.” turning back towards the theater.
“Eh? Just like that? But you don’t know what it's about!” Luna said. “Also I'm hungry! It’s lunch time!” She complained.
“I’m watching it with or without you. Are you coming?” turning back to look at Luna.
Luna pouted but sighed, joining him back into the theater.
They were just in time for the next play in theater three to start. They got to their booth and waited… and this time… Van was pleasantly surprised to see far more males in the audience this time.
Then the curtains lifted and the play began…
And… it wasn’t… bad…?
There were still a few things he had issues with, such as the male still gaining a huge harem at the end of it. But there were also a lot of progressive ideas for its time, and considering the culture of this world. Though there was still a lot of sex… the story of self discovery and independence, as well as being your own male and mating and loving who you have feelings for instead out of obligation or duty was a bit refreshing. It also subverted the stereotype of males being weak and constantly needing protection with instead the male and females working together for a common goal and the male being the leading of the harem instead of one of the females who gets to decide who the male marries or not.
All in all… he was actually… Happy with it…
“That… actually wasn’t that bad…” Van commented, feeling a little better after that last play he watched.
Luna nodded. “I like Luna.”
“Because she has the same name as yours?” Van asked, a little amused.
“Because she helped grow the harem of course! And because she loves her male as much as I love mine! Can’t you see the similarities between us and them?” pointing a few things out.
“I… guess you have a point…” Van admitted. “Though I do have to wonder… where did they get all these play ideas from?”
“Oh! That’s easy! I told her about it while you went to the bathroom before you left.” Kiki said all of a sudden from behind them.
Van and Luna jumped and turned around.
“Haha! Sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.” Kiki laughed, looking like she felt a little bad about making them jump. “Rosalyn gave me and Nikki a special pass to access more of the city in exchange for promoting the city to tourists. So when I noticed you in the booth, I just flashed it to the attendant guarding your door and said I was a friend of yours.” She explained.
“In hindsight that still shouldn’t have worked, but thankfully one of your guards noticed me and still made sure I was who I said I was and knew me from yesterday so let me through. Very professional!” She smiled.
“Anyway, do you want to know more about these stories!” She asked excitedly. “I practically grew up with these stories! So I know the most about them.” Looking eager to explain.
“Uh… sure?” Van said, after he got over the awkwardness of the situation, his curiosity getting the better of him.
“Well! It happened a long long time ago.” Kiki explained. “There was a struggling author who couldn’t make a decent book even if she tried! Until one day she made a deal with a witch to open her mind to new possibilities, thinking that she simply didn’t have the inspiration to write. The witch did so, and the author got just what she wanted! Only, she went mad about a decade later and died! Even so, the stories she was able to compile, at first not very good, were taken over by a friend who rewrote them after the author's death and did her best to sell them on behalf of her friend's memory.”
“Soon, the stories quickly became classics! And the money earned was used to create a school for all struggling artists, to help them improve and get better. The stories were then spread across the world and now are something of a must-watch or read for all children! Pretty amazing right!”
“Well… that explains why they all seemed familiar to me…” Van thought inwardly, already coming to the conclusion that the author must have been soul awakened.
“That is interesting… but if you already watched the plays and read the books… Why are you here?” Van asked.
“That’s because I’m interested if there are any changes in the play. Sometimes depending on the culture, the playwrights change a few things around to make it more… presentable to their audience… It's always fascinating to see what changes, minor or major, are made to much beloved stories depending on where you live or what culture you follow!” Kiki said, looking excited.
“I see… that does seem interesting…” He admitted.
“Right!?” Kiki agreed happily.
She then began talking about other stories and how they changed over time and from place to place, explaining the nuances and more and even going so far as to go into great detail about her top favorites and why.
“Kiki…” Van tried interjecting. “I would love to hear more… but maybe over a belated lunch? Me and Luna are very hungry.” trying to explain it in a kind way, not wanting it to seem like he was not interested and trying to run away from the conversation with her.
“Oh! Of course! Where do you want to go?” Kiki asked.
“Well… since we are new here… And you seem to know about this place more than us… Do you have any recommendations?”
She thought about it. “Actually… I do! What do you think about fish? Nikki’s been dying to try this restaurant that’s like an aquarium! And not only that! But I heard that there are fishes that swim in these things called fog storms! Can you believe that! I've only been in one of them before, scary stuff! But supposedly they have fish swimming in them! How does that work!”
Van nodded, knowing what she was talking about from experience and now also growing curious about what fog storm fish would taste like.
“What do you think Luna?”
“I don’t like fish… but I don’t mind trying it,” Luna said, also looking a little curious.
“Alright then, it’s settled, let's go eat some fish!” Van said, getting up from his seat.
“Yes!” Nikki exclaimed.
The group then filled out to get a well deserved meal, Kiki chattering all the way.