Rest and Recovery

It's barely dawn by the time I walk out of the kitsune house, the sky lighting up a bit orange. I approach the smoking remnants of what was the beginning of the bridge across the river, my lieutenant kneeling and investigating the embers.

"You find anything out?" I crouch next to her.

She sets her hand on me for support. "Nothing conclusive. They used a torch, but since this is near Garth's, there are so many footprints in the area it is impossible to know which ones belong to the culprit."

Sighing, I help her up. "Alright. We'll see what we can figure out, but it's not a major priority right now. We'll make a rope bridge instead, and have guards posted on either end to make sure this doesn't happen again."

Bel rests her hand on my shoulder. "Will people not feel less safe once the bridge is complete?"

"That's what the guards are for. No one will be allowed to cross the bridge without permission from whoever I put in charge of it."

There's a bit of silence as we stare into the embers, before Bel speaks up again. "I can do it. I may not be able to fight well right now, but no one else is able to spend all day and night monitoring it."

I hum. "Maybe. But you're on bedrest until tomorrow morning. After that, we'll see."

She nods, bobbing her black hair. "Understood, sir."

. . .

I find Eve sitting on the tavern's roof. She's leaning forward, using her bow to prop herself up as she sleeps. Sighing, I flap my wings a couple times and land next to the goblin, startling her awake.

"Ah! Ah-ah!" She startles awake, her bow elastically returning to its unbent state and dropping down from the roof , despite her attempt to catch it. She slumps over, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "nnSorry, Dusk... I used to stay up all night...with Kristhyra all the time..." She yawns repeatedly.

I sit next to her and pat her head. "Relax. You're not an elf anymore, and I imagine goblins typically need more rest. Besides, Demona will be able to take care of things tomorrow night."

Eve leans against me, clearly still drowsy. "nnYeah... Sorry I couldn't see who lit the bridge...but I at least put out what I could."

Running my fingers through her hair, I sigh again. "It's fine. I should've known it wasn't going to be so easy. Good news is that we cleared out two dungeons last night."

"mmThat's nice, Chief..."

And she's too sleepy to keep going, even calling me 'chief'. "Sleep well, Eve."

"nnI'm not...asleep..." I chuckle as she meagerly fights off her slumber.

I wait a short while, watching the dawn light bathe the church. Lots of things to worry about, but it's still important to relax like this sometimes... Might even get some more time to relax after some more work on the machine dungeon. Could I set it to manufacture things? Maybe even find out how that engine room works and produce more of those... Although I suppose I need to fix the reactor first... Is it a nuclear reactor? Or some...other kind...

After I'm confident that Eve is in a deeper sleep, I lift her up like one might carry their sleeping kid and drop down from the roof, using my wings to land more gracefully. Polymorphing into my human form, I walk off to the north end of the village to take Eve to bed, the waking populace staring cautiously.

Approaching my own house, I see Camilla slowly and quietly closing the door. As I approach, she seems concerned and (thankfully) whispers. "Dusk, where's Kara?"

I purse my lips. "She's okay, but Kaguya got in trouble last night. Miki and Kara went off to rescue him from some wolves. They're all pretty worse for wear, but alive."

The concern grows on her face. "I'll go see if I can help out." The brunette picks up her pace as she passes me, jogging off to where I assume is Miki's home. I'm touched she'd go off that quickly, but a bit upset she didn't stick around longer...

Entering the abode as cautiously as Camilla exited, I see the three hornets still resting face-down on Kara's old bed and cock my head. Huh, I guess that's to make sure they don't mess up their wings... Speaking of, this is the first time I really take a look at the trio's wings. Diana has butterfly wings, although they're still just as -if not more- efficient than a regular hornet's wings, while the twins have those traditional bug-like wings. Maybe if they conquer a bunch of hives, they'll get butterfly wings, too.

I set Eve down carefully on what used to be Camilla's bed, tucking her in since it's a bit chilly this morning. Turning to the 'kitchen', I purse my lips. Well...maybe if I channel Kara? I could probably make some breakfast for everyone then, but...is she okay to do that right now? I sigh. And now here I am missing those overpriced food delivery services...and cereal...

I approach the counter, mumbling to myself. "Okay, how does she normally prepare breakfast? It's just tea and bread, right?" I instinctively reach onto a shelf, pulling out a small, beige clay pot and a white porcelain teapot. "First I need water..."

A trip to the river later, I'm filling the teapot from the bucket, and dropping some tea leaves from the clay pot into the porcelain. In lieu of a small fire, I conjure a fire bolt, holding it under the teapot carefully as I manually heat up our morning beverage. I don't know how, but...I just know when to finish, preparing some clay cups after setting the tea on the counter.

"[D] Where's the fox girl?" I turn, seeing Diana having stirred, and now sitting on the bed.

I bring my attention back to the tea, pouring it out into the cups. "[D] She's at her parent's house. They all had a rough night."

"[D] ...serves her right..." Diana mutters, barely audible.

"[D] You'd better watch what you say about her. She might just mess up with your food again." I can't help but smirk at what happened last night, despite my initial anxiety over it. I hide my smile before turning around, carrying a tea cup for each of us and seeing her stare daggers at the floor. "[D] Drink up. We've got a big day ahead."

The blonde side-eyes me as she takes the cup. "[D] Are you going to **** me to work more?"

I chuckle. "[D] I barely made you work at all yesterday." Taking a sip, I continue. "[D] After we visit the lake, you'll be in charge of the kids. I need to check up on Kara and her family, then follow up with a dungeon Demona led me to last night. Shouldn't take all day, but we'll see."

We sit in a somewhat tense silence, watching the twins sleep. Without taking her eyes off them, Diana speaks up. "[D] Why do you want me here?" As I pause to consider the question, she continues. "[D] You have your children. You could just send me off and we could never see each other again." Her grip tightens on the teacup.

I take a breath. "[D] There's two reasons for that, really..." Briefly considering not telling her the first, I chuckle. She'll get a kick out of it. "[D] The gods sent me on a quest to take out the most powerful monsters in the world. They said you could easily take over the world if I hadn't gotten to you, first."

She lifts her head up and smiles pridefully. "[D] Of course I could. I was already well on my way to doing so."

"[D] I obviously can't let that happen. That's why we fought in the first place."

"[D] You're some kind of 'hero', I've noticed."

I chuckle again. "[D] To some, yeah. But to most of the humans, I'm just like you: some monster trying to take over."

The blonde scoffs. "[D] We're nothing alike."

"[D] Doesn't matter to them. A monster's a monster. I made a bit of progress with the people here, but...it's on an individual basis, for the most part." I can't help but chuckle again. "[D] Hell, I should probably thank you for sending that swarm here. If I hadn't fought them off, the people would probably be a lot more hostile to me."

She looks away, mumbling. "[D] You could thank me by letting me go, or even sending me away, instead of keeping me prisoner..."

I sigh. "[D] I can't do that. Besides-" Daisy shifts below us, and I try to whisper. "[D] They need you." I point to the twins. "[D] I could teach them how to fight, how to be nice to people, how to... I can teach them a lot, and I plan to raise them to be good, decent people. But I can't teach them about what they are. You grew up a hornet, and while they're a bit different from you when you were young, they're still hornets. I figured out they seem to age about a year every 2 days -by human standards, at least- but that's most of what I've got."

The hornet looks to me with confusion and deep thought. "[D] You're keeping me here...for your children..."

"[D] Our children." I nod. "[D] And yes. I'm not going to pretend I can be here 24/7. They need a parent who can be there for them when I can't." Not the best option, but they'll relate to their real mother best.

Diana pauses, looking away. After a moment, it seems like the conversation is over...for now.

. . .

We land at the lake. It was a bit awkward of a flight, since I'm not able to slow down for the kids like Diana is, but it's a short enough flight that that doesn't end up being a problem.

"[D] DaddyDaddyDaddy! The lake is so pretty, right?" Violet lands closer to the shore, turning around to look at me.

The wellspring has refilled significantly from when I found Blo- Banta the first time; not quite overflowing, but probably around 90% full, if I had to guesstimate. The water is much bluer than the river, and shines more than the morning reflection would suggest.

"[D] Yeah, it is, Vi." I breathe in the fresh air. "[D] We should come here for a picnic sometime. It's a nice, peaceful atmosphere."

"[D] A picnic?" The purple hornet gasps, grabbing and shaking her sister. "[D] Daisy, we can go for a picnic!" She pauses. "[D] What's a picnic?"

I crouch down in front of the pair. "[D] It's when you find a nice place outside, set down a blanket, and have lunch. I'd offer today, but a lot's going on."

Violet pouts and slumps, and Daisy speaks up - one of the few times she's done so, at least in front of me. "[D] Dad, why do you have to work so much?"

I sigh, rubbing the back of my head, but Diana surprisingly speaks up for me. "[D] Do you feel the air around this town? Your father is the ruler of this region. He has duties he must fulfil to maintain and expand his influence."

Glancing to her appreciatively, I give a correction. "[D] I don't know about expanding, but she's right. I'm sorry I can't always be there for you two, but the king needs ten gold by the end of the week." I set my hands on their shoulders. "[D] We can play every day after that, promise."

"[D] Really, Daddy?" Vi gasps.

"[D] Well, not every day. We all need to rest now and then." I rub her silver hair, sticking between the nubby horns and long antennae. "[D] Now, why don't we have some fun in the water while we're here?"

. . .

I walk into the kitsune's abode, finding the family still worse for wear, but Kara is at least awake. Camilla's tending to the trio, replacing the towel on Kaguya's head as I walk in before cuddling back up with Kara. Earlier, when I had picked up Connor to have him play with the twins, she had been making some tea for the group.

Looking at all three through God's Eye, I close the door behind me. "How is everyone?"

Kara chuckles painfully, nursing her broken fore and hind legs. "You asked that 5 minutes ago, Dusk."

"Well it could've changed..." I sigh, sitting down on Kara's side, next to Camilla, and still having all three wounded in line of sight.

The younger kitsune lifts her head. "Dusk...did you make tea this morning?"

Nodding, I begin petting her back. "Yeah...it was weird how I knew how exactly to do everything, though..."

She smiles as she sets her head back in Camilla's lap...at least as much as she can smile with her fox head. "You didn't even realize you channeled me."

"I did? Huh..."

"You wanted me there, and I felt it."

Camilla nudges me as she pets Kara's head. "Kind of jealous, honestly. I have Lia, but she's just stuck in my head."

I look to her. "Anything new on her? I would've asked Eve, but she was falling asleep on me."

The brunette shakes her head. "We talked a bit last night in a dreamscape, a bit of what she remembered, a bit of her thoughts regarding security for the town, things like that. She hasn't spoken much today, but-" She pauses. "You can talk to her if you want."

I wave my hand. "No, no, it's fine. We can talk later. How about you? Everything okay?"

She cocks an eyebrow. "Fine, I guess...?"

Shrugging, I continue. "Well, you just figured out your fiancée nearly died..."

"...and my boyfriend not only saved her life, but her parents, as well." She huffs, poking and looking down at Kara. "I'm more offended neither of you bothered to wake me up."

Kara coughs. "Sorry... We were in a rush...and you would've been too slow..."

Camilla pokes the kitsune's shoulder. "That doesn't mean I couldn't have helped..."

I sigh. "Maybe you could've, maybe not... And even if you were there..." I purse my lips. I was there for Sakurai, and she still fell...

The kitsune coughs again. "Chin up, you two... We're all okay, now..."

Snapping myself out of it, I set a hand on Camilla's shoulder. "Yeah. We're all okay, and that's what matters." Pecking her on the cheek, I go to stand up, only to be tugged back down by my girlfriend.

She kisses me more forcefully, before pulling away. "Don't think you can get away with just a peck on the cheek, Dusk." She smiles, patting my own cheek. "We'll be here if you need us."

I smile back, feeling a bit warm in my cheeks as I stand up and head toward the door. "I'll keep both of those in mind."

A/N: Caught a bit of sickness the past few days, so the spoiler chapter on Patreon will probably be out tomorrow or Thursday instead of today.