The goblin avenger Glyka, 21, and human-slime wizard Galatea, 21

Glyka Aldiris had to admit that her guest room in the castle was built for someone much taller than a goblin. She’d been able to climb easily into bed, and the servants had provided step stools for her needs when she’d asked, but it was something that irked her. But that was just a small thing. The room, no, apartment was finer than anything she’d ever imagined, much less seen. She wondered what Emilie’s room--rooms, she had been assigned an apartment like her entire party-- must be like, if this was a guest apartment.

A part of her wished she could stay back and explore the castle, after the meeting ended. She wondered if Askania Castle really had an orangery inside the castle--not that she really knew what an orangery was.

She quickly shook herself out of her distracted thoughts. It was important that this meeting was successful. In the early days after the battle, the people of Askania looked similar to the people of Toothsrest, even though they were mostly longshanks with very few goblins and other shortfolk amongst them. Even when she and Lucs weren’t scouting through the wreckage looking for the dead or any demons that they missed, she couldn’t get the memories of their faces, whether of Toothsrest or Askania, out of her head. She suspected that was what drove Sir Caelan on too, even though she hadn’t gotten a chance to ask him.

With her long goblin ears, teal skin, and bright amber-orange eyes, Glyka did not look much like a hero. But the people of Askania saw her as one, and respected her. Although not as much as they did Sir Caelan.

Of course they should respect Sir Caelan more, Glyka thought. He saved my life twice over, and he actually practices Aldir’s teachings! Not like that bitch! She would not disappoint him in this meeting. With that in mind, she dressed in a sleek shirt and trousers, put her blue-black hair in a braid, and wrapped herself in a dark gray cloak with Aldir’s symbol on it. If the outfit accentuated her lithe build, she was certainly not complaining. She needed to prove to the world and herself that she was worthy of standing beside him. Even so, she kept a dagger carefully concealed up her left sleeve. She never wanted to be unprepared if she needed a weapon, even in a place where it was improper to carry them.

The sunlight streamed in from the window, and Glyka thought she looked exceptionally heroic as it illuminated her, both in the mirror and in real life. And then she disappeared, and one of the beams of sunlight coalesced into a form identical to her.

Meanwhile, in her own guest chambers, the wizard, Galatea, had risen from her slumber, performed her morning ablutions, and wrapped herself in her usual shapeless dark gray robes. Her bright mint green hair oozed down her shoulders, and with a bit of concentration, she formed it into a normal-looking long high ponytail. Her hair and her hands were the parts of her body that she had most often practiced holding their shape--they were most important, since only her hair, face, and hands were visible when she wore her robes. She wished that she could wear something else instead, for once.

On one hand, she didn’t want anyone to find out about her past, and what Rovanus the Mad had done to her for too many years. At best, she would be hounded by over-inquisitive scholars trying to figure out how exactly she worked. At worst, she would be hunted down like a monster, when the real monster Rovanus was already dead at Caelan’s hands. Would the people of Askania still look at her as the hero who helped save them, if they knew the truth about her?

But on the other hand, she wanted people to know her true nature, to see her, to accept and love her as she was. She didn’t hate her slime, or hope for a cure, it was a part of her now, and she was certain almost no one would see her as anything other than a tragic victim or an abomination. And she saw herself as neither. Galatea was not merely a product of an evil wizard’s sick experiments to create a body with human intelligence and slime plasticity, but she was a person. She hoped Caelan and his party were among the first to see her as she was, and it seemed she hadn’t been wrong so far. Maybe, since Caelan had never tried to hide his tiefling nature, he would understand. Although she’d not talked to him about it, since there were other things she had to figure out first.

One of those was herself, and her own identity. “Pieta” hadn’t fit right after the Battle of Askania, and she’d elected to start going by Galatea. While there was confusion at first, most people had adapted pretty quickly. And if Galatea didn’t fit right someday, she would find a new name, and maybe that one would fit. She would not be Subject 121, never again. As her hands clenched into fists, she felt the fingers and palms begin to ooze together, instead of feeling nails dig into her flesh. Never again, indeed.

With a sigh, she reset her hands, and stared into the mirror one last time. She looked like an average height human woman, twenty-one years of age, with light brown skin, yellow eyes, mint green hair, and a figure on the thin side of average, if one could make it out through the robes. She’d taught herself very quickly to lock her colors, rather than letting them shift. That was the only way she could get back some of who she was before.

She turned away from the mirror, and out of her ruminations. She had a meeting to attend. As she made to step outside, she stepped in a beam of sunlight that she belatedly realized did not appear to have come from the window, and then disappeared. The beam of sunlight then oozed into an exact copy of her, and strode out of her room.

“...1, and here they are now!”

Glyka and Galatea reappeared in front of the manor, where they saw Caelan, Mahja, and Adalheid. Caelan in particular looked shocked to see them both. They also saw twenty identical maids standing by. The pink woman in the diaphanous white dress stood out most to both of them, and Galatea let out a soft gasp when she realized that she was the one who’d announced their presence, and where she’d seen the pink woman before.

“Ginelia…” Galatea breathed out. Was this really the goddess of lust? Why was she in this strange place? Was this some sort of trick?

“She’s not a goblin,” said Glyka bluntly, being most familiar with the depictions of the goddess as a goblin. “Is this what she looks like to longshanks?”

Ginelia, seeming to hear them both, and even Galatea’s thoughts, looked at them and laughed lightly. “It is no trick, my dears. I am here in a corporeal form, to welcome you both as two new contestants in this season of Harem Hotel. You don’t need to kneel.”

And then she changed the subject. “Glyka Aldiris here,” she gestured to the goblin, “ greatly admires Caelan--or as she’d call him, Sir Caelan, both for his strength and genuine adherence to Aldir’s teachings. She’s devoted to the master already!”

“And Galatea,” she turned to the wizard, “formerly known as Pieta, is a sexy slime wizard who was rescued by the master! She oozes love for him with every move!”

Glyka and Galatea were shocked, hearing Ginelia’s explanation of their circumstances, as well as her sexualized description of them both. But then Sassafras’s suggestion took effect, so Glyka did not draw her dagger, and Galatea did not cast a spell.

“Why did you…announce that?” said Galatea softly. The shock had left her barely able to speak. She reflexively drew her robes tighter over herself.

“Galatea,” said Ginelia in an overly familiar tone. “The audience of Harem Hotel adores slime girls, and you’ll find that they love you even more because of it!”

She turned to Glyka. “And the audience also loves goblins, so don’t feel jealous, my clever avenger! I’m sure you can use your skills to do well in the competition!”

“But that doesn’t explain what we’re competing for!” said Glyka.

“You both are part of Caelan’s harem now, and will compete to win his heart as part of this season of the Harem Hotel show. I will explain what that means in a few moments, when our last two contestants arrive. Now, why don’t you go and join Mahja, and Adalheid until then?”

Galatea and Glyka nodded, and did so. However, they kept wary eyes on Ginelia and the twenty maids. Mahja and Adalheid looked at them, baffled. But before they could react, Ginelia made an announcement.

“And, last but not least, appearing now are contestants five and six!”