First Day as Lord...First Day as a Dad

I'm ripped away from my character sheet by suddenly waking up to a kick to my crotch. As I wince from the pain, I look up at the one who attacked me, finding a golden blond, bug-eyed kid pouting at me.

I breath as I try to heal the pain, a soothing wave flowing through me. "[D] ...good morning..." How do I even respond to that?

From behind the blond, a similarly bug-eyed kid - this one with tiny horns, silver hair, and lavender skin - jumps onto me, wrapping me in a hug. "[D] Daddy's back!"

I take my arm from around the stirring Camilla and hug my child. "[D] Yeah, I'm back. Sorry I was gone so long." I rub the back of her head as I pull my other arm from behind Eve. I lean forward and take the blond twin's shoulder, pulling her into a hug as well. "[D] And I'm not going anywhere..." I hope... "[D] Now...what should I call the beautiful ladies in front of me?" I release my grip on them enough to get a good, if slightly disturbing look at them.

The 'devilish' one looks confusedly at the more 'angelic' one, and the latter flicks the former's forehead. "[D] Names, like Auntieve." Auntieve? Oh, Auntie Eve.

"[D] Oh yeah!" She suddenly pouts. "[D] Mommy didn't give us names..."

I purse my lips and furrow my brow. Names...names names names...how about flowers? "[D] Hmm... How about...Violet aaaand...Daisy?" I pat the head of the horned twin first, then the blond, both between their antennae.

The newly-named Violet hugs me again. "[D] I love it, Daddy!" Meanwhile, the blond twin still seems upset.

Camilla seems to be awake now, as she speaks up groggily. "Just so you know, I'm naming our kid." She sits up, stretching her arms and torso.

I chuckle. "Am I that bad at it?"

"You called the purple one Violet..."

I blush slightly from embarrassment. "And?"

She chuckles as she stands. "My argument has been made. [D] Kids, do you want to go meet Aunt Kara and Uncle Will?"

Violet stops hugging me and starts running around the room, arms in the air. "Yaaaaay!" Unfortunately, that also wakes everyone else in the single-room cabin.

I nearly clothesline her as I rush to pick her up, accidentally causing Eve to fall onto her side. "[D] Keep it down, okay? The others are still sleeping."

She giggles. "Ssshhhh."

Eve rubs the side of her head. "Ugh..."

Still carrying Violet - thank Ariel for that Pure Land boost - I place my hand over Eve's. "Sorry about that. You okay?"

She gives a soft smile. "Yeah, just surprised."

"Good. Now, I know I just got back, but...things are gonna be moving pretty fast the next few days." I set a hand on her shoulder.

The goblin furrows her brow, concerned. "What happened?"

"Long story short, I've got a lot on my plate. I'll explain after Camilla." Lifting up Violet onto my shoulders, I polymorph to my usual human form. "[D] Come on, Daisy. Let's go meet the extended family."

Walking through town is...an experience. Some people are glad to see me back, offering smiles and waves as Eve, Camilla (who is carrying Daisy on her back), the twins, and I pass by, but even those people are a bit off-put by the twins themselves. Even I am, if I'm being honest, but I keep trying to put down my initial revulsion of their appearances. Daisy is more normal looking, beyond her eyes, the weird carapace covering her chest, crotch, and extremities, the insectoid wings, and antennae, but even she doesn't look...normal, even among monsters. Violet is more monstrous in appearance, but at least her black and purple carapace doesn't seem out of place on her body.

We quickly come to the kitsunes' home, and a frantic Kara answers the door for us. Without even looking at the kids, she hugs Camilla. "Where did you go?!"

The brunette hugs back, relieved, but also anxious. "There was a goblin raid, and then I stayed at Dusk's overnight. And...I need to explain what's been happening to me..."

. . .

"...and that's why I'm here, my lord." Camilla's 'friend' speaks with their echo-ey voice, from the side of the table. "I am to protect you and your loved ones, using Camilla's body as my vessel."

I scratch my head. "But why the fainting spells, the coma? How are you even here at all?"

"Her body needed to be restructured to better suit my needs. She is still human, but is now not only better accommodated for myself, but your own needs, as well. As for how...I am unsure." She looks down and to the side. "I remember very little from before, other than that I have experience with concubi." She then stares at me with determination. "You should not need worry about my past, though. It is irrelevant to my purpose here." She then grunts and holds her head, and when she speaks again, the lack of echoing seems to indicate that Camilla is once again in control. "Gah, I hope that goes away at some point..." A pause. "How do you not know!?" She sighs, and Kara immediately hugs her.

"I'm so sorry, Cammy."

I lean back on my hands. I can't help but feel like this is my fault... If I hadn't given her one of my feathers... "I am too..." I sigh. "But let's focus on what we can control, right now. Kara, I need you to find your Mom. Eve, I need you to grab Gilford and bring him back here."

Eve, instead of immediately going out, speaks up. "Are we not going to talk about...the beach?"

We all glance around at each other, but I'm the only one to respond. "Well...is there anything else to discuss? Rose is...shit, I forgot about Rose." I facepalm. "I'll talk about her later. The other girl was the slime that we found. I'm pretty sure they both used to be human, just like how you used to be an elf, Eve."

Silence infects the whole room, and this time Camilla's the one to speak up. "I spoke a bit to Rose, but I couldn't get much. She didn't have a lot of friends before, though."

I nod. "And the slime had some girlfriend she wants me to...find..." I pause, realizing what exactly she said. "And I think that girlfriend knew something about these reincarnations..."

Eve sits up onto her knees, hands on the shin-high table. "Then we need to find her! Where's the slime now?"

"She's coming with some...friends I met in prison. More monsters, but they're not...'wild', for lack of a better term. Surprisingly peaceful, despite their circumstances. Captain Roger should be coming back as well, but I'll explain more later, when everyone's gathered."

. . .

Miki and Gilford sit awkwardly, the former and her children having put up their illusory appearances while Violet and Connor try to get Daisy to play with them, despite Connor sharing less than half a language with the two.

I take a breath. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but-"

"We have, Dusk." Miki interrupts. "Your essence has...permeated the land in an unnatural way."

Gilford exhales in relief. "So I'm not the only one... I'm not sure if I should be more or less worried, now..." He looks to me nervously.

"Relax." I'm glad that 'synergy' thing did half the hard work for me. "The king gave me a test. If I do well, I'm instated permanently as lord of the land. If not... well, I won't fail." I gulp. "But I'm gonna need the help of everyone here. Miki, I need you and your husband to make me a map of the region. That's your first priority. Gilford, keep doing what you're doing, but I'd prefer if we had a dedicated hospital building instead of taking all our injured into the church. Other than that, keep calm. People look to you, and if you panic, they panic." I take another breath. "Eve, I'd like to take advantage of the goblins as scouts. If we're gonna get more raids like the one last night, I want to know about them ahead of time, and even counter if able. Cap, we need the recruits trained as well as they can be. Captain Roger should be escorting some more amicable monsters here to help out, but I don't want people to panic so much from the lack of strong humans in the area to counter them." I rack my brain, thinking of anything else.

Gilford raises a hand. "With all due respect, what exactly is this test the king supposedly gave you?"

"I am to provide the value of ten gold, and I was..." I realize a fatal mistake, and facepalm. "...and I forgot the seed money when I left..."

"Ten gold!? Do you realize how much money that is?"

"I'm assuming it's a lot, which is why we need to get started right away. Eve, Cap, we're gonna interrogate that last goblin from last night and find out where they came from, then take out their tribe, one way or another. Miki, Kara, I hate to do this do you, but do you mind babysitting a bit? Violet and Daisy need to get out more."

Gilford stands. "If I'm not needed here, I'd like to return to the temple."

"Yes, please. I'd hate to get between you and Ramel." I gesture for him to leave, and he does so.

Miki is the first to speak up after. "I will reiterate this point, Dusk. I will protect my family, and you will not endanger them."

"Miki, if things go well enough, you won't have anything to hide them from. Now, are you gonna let my kids play with the only other monster kid in town or not?" When she looks shocked and glances to Eve, I interrupt her before she can speak. "Eve found out outside of anyone's control."

"It's true, Mother. Something else happened last night, and Eve knows."

"A concubus made a dreamscape and trapped us all there. There was no way for anyone to hide who they are without the concubus doing it themself." Camilla's echo-ey friend reiterates, before the captain holds her head again.

The matron does her best to suppress her anger, but it's evident on her face. "I will...allow your children to stay here for the time being. You are beginning to owe me, Dusk."

"I'll make it up to you." I give a half-smile. "Alright, Cap, Eve, let's get going."