A Seven-Month Absence

Author's Note: In a move that will stun absolutely nobody, I once again forgot details from before. Namely: time isn't measured the same on Euphoria. Pregnancy is roughly the same length in total time (barring magical shenanigans), meaning that on Euphoria, pregnancies last approximately 6 months, combining longer days and months. Again, the downside of writing the day of publishing with little editing.
...going back through this story in however long and editing/updating shit is going to be SO much fun...

Apparently, almost two decades of living had made Ahsch forget how many instincts babies had that he couldn't ignore. Something against his palm? Grab. Something against the sole of his foot? 'Step.'A nipple at his mouth? Suck.

The horny part of him had to admit that last one wasn't the worst - though horny thoughts in a baby body was just... weird; things didn't react the normal way, either physically or mentally, which made a very disturbing dissonance whenever it came up - but he preferred having control over his mouth, and just sucking until he was full was very different than sucking a nipple to make someone feel good.

It didn't help that it was Elui's nipple he frequently sucked on, for reasons he was quick to find out, though that horny part of him hardly protested the sight of large, dark-skinned breast and rosy nipple she presented him on the regular.

It was barely two days into his third reincarnation that he confirmed that being a baby sucked. Or... hmm... 'is awful?' he corrected the pun in his own mind, to Mahat's amusement.

He couldn't be annoyed with his familiar though. Even as distractable as his baby-brain was, Mahat was able to act as his mouthpiece, asking the important questions he wanted answers to for him - and filling him in when he woke up from his inevitable, constant napping. After all, nine months was a long time to be away from things.

He'd passed on the questions as they came: 'why is Kirasiel here,' 'why is _Elui _here,' 'is the Temple/Order doing okay,' 'what's the situation with Byrdrek and Fauna,' and 'did they know that those two shit-heads were the ones to order his **** and that Kirasiel was innocent of fault' were just the first.

The answers were usually lengthy: Kirasiel had come to the Odestag suite and even allowed - without any protest - Avery to... 'vent.' Nobody had been specific in the moment while there was an audience, though Ahsch later learned from Ariin that Butler had answered Kirasiel's arrival, warned her away, been ignored, and the royal had been slogged in the nose the moment Avery saw her, sending her to the ground. This had been followed by a few sucker punches as she had tried to stand up again, but Ahsch's wife had quickly gone from 'teaching her a lesson' to 'trying to kill her,' and Butler had restrained his Lord. After getting a moment to recuperate, Kirasiel had then gone on to explain that she'd been scared when Ahsch had put his orders into effect, went to Fauna and Byrdrek for help, had let slip a few of Ahsch's secrets in her fear and anger - including his immunity to being killed by living things - and had absolutely no idea that the two older royals had planned to **** him until after the deed was done - they had even used her name to invite Ahsch to her suite without her knowledge or permission.

And that, it turned out, had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Realizing the depths to which her uncle-in-law and his ally were willing to stoop to, and with Ahsch's command to actually think about things, she'd come to the realization that she couldn't trust them, that they had been using her for months, and that there was a good chance they were behind her position as Head of House Celes.

It hadn't hurt that Ahsch's belief that she wasn't evil or malicious was accurate - she never wanted Ahsch hurt, let alone killed, she just wanted the problem he posed 'gone' and hadn't ever thought about what had happened to any other problems she posed to Byrdrek and Fauna. Another realization that had rattled her quite severely.

And, furthermore, the pressure to submit to the two's instructions was mounting. Just a scant two weeks before Ahsch's birth, Byrdrek had given her an ultimatum: either she married him - with the clear intent to be bred until she gave him a male heir he could groom to do as he wished, or Kirasiel's younger sister would be betrothed to him for the same purpose. Something that the elder Celes girl was appalled by, though relatively powerless to stop, as she wasn't in a position to flatly refuse Byrdrek socially, and given his and Fauna's last move was ****, Kirasiel feared for her life if she outright defied them. It was a predicament that suddenly put Kirasiel in Avery's... it couldn't be claimed 'good graces,' but 'less homicidal graces' for sure - something Ahsch quickly connected to his wife's likely trauma over her own younger sibling's ****.

As such, the formerly-hated royal was now nominally a part of Ahsch's growing inner circle - or at least the outer circle that included Dorin and, more recently, Elui.

Much as she had before, Elui had puzzled her way into that outer-inner circle. The insistence on Arrin and Avery's (once Ahsch's sister had informed his wife about the 'bound to reincarnate as his own child' deal) part that Ahsch would be back before long (coupled with the continuation of his Thrall-bonds and commands, which was a bit of a surprise, given he had died, though his soul was still generally present), coinciding with Ariin's very timely pregnancy had the rabbit-girl figuring things out very quickly. While nobody brought her (or Dorin) fully up-to-speed on all of the details of Ahsch's reincarnated weirdness, she figured her way into a spot in the group fairly quickly.

The knowledge that Ahsch - or, more pertinent to her, Enochiel - would be reborn as a baby, coupled with the rabbit-girl's desire to properly repay the only god that had ever given her anything, caused Elui to induce her own lactation, with the goal of being Ahsch's wet nurse when Ariin was otherwise busy. Ahsch had Mahat press the rabbit-girl a bit on that, convinced that she couldn't possibly be that devoted to him after he'd done - in his mind - so little for her, especially after all but forcing her into Thralldom, but it appeared that she genuinely was that devout, something which made him reevaluate their relationship and how he saw the former destitute monster.

A reevaluation that only grew more serious when he was informed of the lengths Elui had gone to support Ariin and the troubled Order in the wake of Ahsch's ****. While she hadn't joined the order herself, she had made herself fully available to the Archpriestess, and had gone on to share her story with countless others, which led to the confirmation of Enochiel's promise to provide magic to his worshipers who needed it. Granted, he couldn't provide any spell, much to the disappointment of many - as well as accusations of trickery on the part of numerous nay-sayers - but similar to his bonds of Thralldom, Cleansing Light still worked, even after his ****; something that, coupled with the acceptance and training of several new acolytes (as well as the promotion of Naemui, Maera, and Wen to full priesthood) and enabling the tentative beginnings of their health care program, saw support for the Order increase significantly.

Public showings aside, Elui had also done a lot for the order behind closed doors. Once she'd been 'read in' on just how new Enochiel - and therefore, Ahsch - was to the whole 'being a god' thing, she'd helped Ariin come up with rituals and write down teachings for the Order - all things Ahsch intended to go through and approve, once he was able to, though from what Mahat relayed to him, nothing was particularly objectionable.

However, the other religions of the Kingdom weren't idle with the growth of a new rival. While the Order of Utsus made overtures of friendship and support - headed largely by A'uro, once the mouse-girl had found out about the health care project - and most of the other orders simply watched, both the Church of Irzton and the Order of Orror had made concerning moves - a number of public supporters or worshipers of Enochiel had been, for lack of a better word, intimidated with vague accusations of flirting with the law by Irztonites, while a number more had been either slighted or outright denied services or support by Orrorist priests. While they had yet to make any moves against the Order of Enochiel, his Priesthood, or the Temple itself, there was a growing fear that it was only a matter of time.

And so, Ahsch had his questions answered: Kirasiel was there because of her genuine remorse; Elui because she was too damn smart; the Temple and Order were doing fine, for the most part - though things were looking to take a turn; Byrdrek and Fauna were keeping quiet, though putting pressure on Kirasiel; and yes, the inner circle knew that it was the two older royals, and not the younger Lady Celes, who were truly responsible for Ahsch's **** (though Avery might need a minute... or a week... or a month).

And Ahsch, feeling the pressure to do something - pursue his murderers, figure out an escape for Kirasiel and her sister, support Enochiel's Order, fight back against the Irztonite and Orrorist bullying - was powerless to do anything, stuck as a baby as he was.