Someone receives a letter from Tristiana (??? POV)

"No, no, don't eat that!" Bey shouted, wrestling with Eris as she tried to **** her mouth open and pry the chocolate cupcake out of her mouth, their living room in shambles from the commotion. It was almost comical watching the smaller, thinner Bey try to pry the larger wolf girl's mouth open with her bare hands. In the background, Sarah was happily eating a rack of ribs and watching the show with amusement, uninterested in helping either party. "Spit it out! Spit it out!" She demanded as the unruly beast woman reached for another cupcake from the bag she'd smuggled.

"Why are you so worried?" Sarah asked, finishing the meat on her ribs and happily gnawing on the bones.

"Chocolate's toxic to dogs!" Bey shouted, continuing to wrestle with Eris and keep the wolf girl from poisoning herself.

"Don't worry, we've got poison resistance. One chocolate muffin isn't gonna kill her." Sarah reassured.

"But it can make her throw up on the carpet!" Bey countered before looking to Eris and grabbing her cheeks. "Spit it out!" She ordered, infusing magic power into her throat as she spoke. Instantly, Eris' body weakened as she disobeyed the command, swallowing the rest of the cupcake in her mouth. Taking advantage of the wolf-girl's momentary weakness, Bey swiped the bag of cupcakes while Eris weakly reached forward, her movements now sluggish. 5 seconds passed as her strength returned as Bey infused magic power into her throat yet again. "Stop moving!" She commanded, weakening Eris once more as they heard a knock on the door to the house.

"Delivery!" A voice outside said as Eris tackled Bey, reaching towards the bag of muffins. Of course, Bey easily **** her back as the two continued wrestling in the living room.

"Un!" Eris said angrily while pawing towards the muffins.

"This is for your own good!" Bey said, keeping Eris at bay while someone knocked on their door.

"Delivery!" Thevoice outside their house repeated as Bey groaned.

"Sarah, get that! After that, help me destroy these things!" Bey commanded as Sarah sighed, still gnawing on a rib bone as she stood from the table.

"Fine." She said, walking to the door and throwing it open to display a small courier who was by no means prepared to find what was waiting behind it. His eyes went wide to see a trio of girls with pitch black hair waiting behind . Though all three of them shared a resemblance to one another, there was a number of drastic differences between them.

Eris was the tallest, standing at 7 feet with a chest worthy of her size, the dog ears atop her head flopping as she wrestled to regain her precious confectionaries, her furred arms reaching in vain towards the bag. Her eyes were completely inhuman, having glowing red pupils and black sclera of a monster while her hair was tussled as though she were a true wolf given human form. The second tallest was Sarah the wolf girl standing at an even 6 feet with the same black hair and dog ears. What made her stand out were her eyes, one having the normal white sclera of a human and a deep gray pupil while the other was identical to Eris', glowing a bright red color in the dark. Only her hands showed signs of being a monster, her smooth human arms ending in razor sharp claws. Lastly was Bey, the shortest of the trio standing at a mere 5 foot 2 with a slim build and deep gray eyes. Unlike the other two, she had no animal ears atop her head, being a standard human with no discernable monster traits.

"Letter from a secret admirer." The courier said while handing Sarah the letter, her hand immense compared to his own. Upon seeing the courier standing by the door, Eris focused on him, hungering for something else as she licked her lips. Receiving the letter, Sarah smirked before reaching to a table beside the door and grabbing a fistful of silver coins and plopping it in the courier's hand.

"If you're interested in earning a little extra, feel free to stop by later tonight cutie~. We'd love to receive a different package from you." She said in a sultry voice, grabbing the rib in her mouth and licking at the bottom of it while cocking her head to the lustful Eris behind her, the giant wolf girl smacking her lips seductively. The courier blushed, nodding his head before running away in a panic as Sarah chuckled at him, closing the door behind him. "He'll be back. They always come back." She said to herself with a grin.

"Good grief, was I always that horny when I was a monster?" Bey asked, cringing at Sarah's pick up line and Eris' blind lust. With the benefit of a human's rationality, Bey wanted to crawl under a rock and die whenever Sarah used one of her pickup lines or when Eris tried to fuck everything with a pulse. The only thing worse than the cringe she felt was the shame knowing she was the reason the former prim and proper hero of obedience was now acting like a depraved harlot. She almost missed being a savage degenerate if not for the fact that she didn't realize how ridiculous she was. Ignorance was truly bliss as they say.

"Nope, you were worse. At least nobody's bred us yet." Sarah said as Eris nodded arrogantly.

"Un!" She said before returning to grappling with Bey, forgetting about the courier and returning her focus to the chocolate cupcakes.

"Key word is yet." Bey reminded as she focused on the letter they received. "Triss sent another letter?" She asked, focusing on the letter Sarah was holding while keeping the bag of cupcakes away from Eris.

"Yup." Sarah said, tearing the letter open and skimming over the contents.

"What is it now?" Bey asked as Eris stopped struggling and sat down on her haunches like a dog, listening intently to Tristiana's letter. As for Bey, she sat down in the chair like a human while Sarah read the letter out.

"Says she has a few artifacts she needs us to win. All of them are important, but she's outlined one specific artifact that we need at all costs." Sarah read, the kitsune's demands as incomprehensible as ever. Regardless, they knew better than to question her plans, the kitsune monster core in her giving her a new tactical acumen her human form lacked. .

"Which one does she need?" Bey asked.

"Magic shotgun for the doubles event." Sarah answered as Eris and Bey tensed up. Despite their different personalities, they all shared most of their memories and could more or less guess why Tristiana wanted the shotgun.

"Does that mean the creep is still alive?" Bey asked cautiously, shivering slightly at the mere mention of that weirdo.

"Probably. Also, why are you calling her a creep? You've never met her." Sarah asked with a puzzled voice.

"I have your memories of her, and she creeps me out since she creeps you out." Bey answered with a shiver, trying not to think about Sarah's fellow heroes. All of them were a neurotic, unstable bunch that came from worlds that could best be described as hell. Of the bunch, the hero of the hunt was the most insane of them, her affection for the hero of the hearth leaving the realm of love and into obsession while her homeworld was best described as a waking nightmare.

"Well, let's hope she didn't end up like me. Just one of her in the world is one too many." Sarah said with a sigh, still chewing on the rib in her mouth while she spoke.

"Un." Eris said while nodding in agreement as Sarah kept reading the letter.

"She also says somebody's following her and to be careful. She hasn't said who, but she's currently in the city preparing a trap for them, and wants us to watch out in case they come for us." Sarah added as Bey felt a headache coming in.

"Great." She said, rubbing her temples as their job became that much more dangerous. People were always out to kill them. She never really knew who they worked for or if they were all a single organization, but they did try to kill them. The fact that Tristiana gave them such a warning meant things must be escalating. Did something change recently?

"Anything else?" Bey asked with a hopeful voice, praying to hear there was at least good news.

"Nope. That's it." Sarah said before handing the letter over to Bey to store in their inventory.

"Alright, let's go sign up for the tournaments. Come on Eris." Bey ordered as the trio donned long cloaks and covered their faces with veils. Once their faces were covered they left their home through the back door, entering through an alleyway and making their way to the main road. Traversing the city's sandstone streets, they reached the coliseum where the day's gladiators were fighting. Just outside was the line signing up for the upcoming tournament. As expected it stretched around the city's streets, every two bit adventurer thinking they had the skills to win the tournament with their stats equalized. With a sigh, Bey and Sarah shared a tired look as they prepared to fill out the paperwork for the events Tristiana wanted them to compete in.

"Eris, stay in line. We're going to go find the forms to sign up for the events. We'll be back in 10. Sit here. If you're good, we'll buy you a treat when we get back." Bey said as Eris eagerly nodded. Leaving her alone, the pair wandered about before finding a booth where a particularly annoyed looking secretary was busy translating for every fool that came in not understanding the local language. As they walked forward, they were shocked to find Eris standing in front of them, abandoning her spot in the line completely. Eris looked to them and began waving towards them and while pointing at a girl idly filling out one of the forms on a clip board.

She was a person with a diminutive stature and short brown hair, giving her the appearance of a tomboy despite her fragile features. Her body was thin and lacked any distinct curves of a woman or the broad shoulders of a male, her androgynous build leaving her gender up to debate from her body alone. She smelled like a normal human, albeit one clad in expensive floral perfumes that permeated her entire body. Wasting no time, Eris hopped up and grabbed the girl's hand, only for the girl to lean to the side without even looking up from her form.

"Try and touch me again and I'll fucking kill you." She snarled as Eris pointed to her again.

"Look! Person!" She said with a serious expression as Sarah and Bey sighed.

"I'm sorry. My sister's not... Fully there in the head." She said as the girl looked to Eris' frantic pointing then at the embarrassment in Bey's eyes.

"Oh. Well now I feel bad." The girl said while looking at Eris with pity, then smiling and looking at Eris. "Yes, I'm person." She said, playing along with Eris as her tail began wagging.

"Yes! Look, person from bright place!" She reiterated, as though this were some revelation. The girl stopped filling out her form and looked up at them. Though all three of them were wearing cloth veils over their faces, Bey couldn't help but feel as though the girl could see through them.

"Have you people met me before?" She asked with a half excited voice, as though she were an up and coming mercenary happy to gain some fame. Bey and Sarah stared closely at her face, squinting their eyes as they realized something. This girl was familiar now that they looked closer. They just couldn't put their finger on where. "D-do you by chance know who I am?" She asked, as though this very moment was the highlight of her life.

"Yes!" Eris said eagerly while nodding, the girl's eyes brightening as she looked to the trio. The longer they looked at her face, the more familiar she was. Where had they met? Considering she was competing in the tournament, she was probably an adventurer or some sort of mercenary.

"Where have you seen this person Eris?" Bey asked, now curious as to just who this vaguely familiar girl was. Eris smiled arrogantly as she pointed to the girl as though she were displaying a trophy.

"At the bright place! Watcher attacked him before he helped us go home!" She answered as the girl's smile disappeared, Eris' nonsensical answer only worsened when Eris referred to her as a guy. She looked to Bey and Sarah with hopeful eyes, praying that they knew of her and would give a saner answer. They just avoided her puppy dog eyes, now thoroughly embarrassed by the entire encounter.

"... I'm so sorry to have gotten your hopes up." Bey apologized as the girl shrunk down despite Eris' protests that they did in fact know her. Giving Eris one last chance, she infused magic power into her throat and spoke. "My sister tends to be a bit lost and gets into trouble. Please tell us what you know about her." She commanded, studying the girl's response. She didn't have a lie detecting skill like followers of the goddess of deceit, but Command could give a similar response. If this girl disobeyed the order, she'd suffer a crippling debuff and flinch. If she obeyed, nothing would happen.

"I have no idea what this girl is talking about, and I've never met any of you in my life." The girl answered, obeying the command as Bey and Sarah studied her. Though clever wordplay could work around skills that detected deception or lies, this was as straight an answer as they could get. She wasn't lying. Furthermore, their monster intuition was quite adept at feeling out people. Though the girl was a bit off to them, they sensed no outward hostility or danger from her. If anything, it felt like they were staring at an innocent rabbit than at a person.

"I'm so sorry about all of this." Bey apologized again, realizing Eris was just being unhinged again.

"Here, buy yourself something nice." Sarah said, handing a fistful of coins to the confused girl before dragging Eris away. The girl just blinked, looking down at the coins then at the trio disappearing into the crowd, completely confused at just what happened.

"Eris, what are you thinking? You're harassing strangers now?" Bey scolded as they walked away, holding Eris' hand like a parent would to their child.

"He helped us out of the bright place! Watcher attacked him and he helped us leave!" Eris said indignantly, as though her words made any sense, even referring to the poor girl as a guy again. True, she was a hair on the androgynous side due to her haircut and clothing choice, but that was the attire of most mercenaries. Anyone with eyes could see that this was just a slightly androgynous girl with a haircut. Sarah and Bey just sighed at Eris' eccentric rambling.

"Do you think we met her sometime in the past?" Sarah asked.

"Probably saw her while you were traveling. She doesn't look that strong, and she doesn't trigger any warning flags from me." Bey answered with a shrug, detecting nothing wrong about the girl. If anything, the girl's only real abnormality was that the aura around her wasn't bloodthirsty or particularly dangerous like the other mercenaries. If anything, the air around her seemed peaceful.

"But he's from the bright place..." Eris grumbled under her breath, still intent on clinging to her odd statement as Bey looked to Sarah.

"Go grab and fill out a form. Try not to make eye contact with the girl we just harassed. I'm gonna wait in line with this one." She commanded before looking to Eris. "And as for you, no more chocolate and no leaving my side."

"Buu..." Eris grumbled under her breath and staring back in the direction of the girl from earlier.