As it turned out, Jadis’ sex didn’t have a guaranteed effect on how her children would come out.
Kerr took the news of her successful impregnation surprisingly well. She did vomit, which Jadis supposed was at least partially due to choking on an apple. The crying also probably had mostly to do with the fact that Eir and Sabina were both weeping tears of joy as they hugged Kerr from either side. All excuses said, however, it was pretty obvious that Kerr was anxious as all get out at the prospect of being pregnant.
“I didn’t… I didn’t think I’d actually get knocked up so quickly…” Kerr murmured as she rested a hand on her stomach. “Holy gods above… I’m pregnant…”
“Are you… not happy with the idea?” Jay asked cautiously from where she sat next to her stunned lover.
Kerr had needed to sit down after being practically pounced on by the others after Bertha announced the news. In all honesty, Jadis had needed a few minutes to recover, too. She was still getting used to the idea of Alex having a baby, so the news that Kerr apparently had twin boys growing inside of her had made her feel somewhat faint, at least for a moment. Jay had led Kerr away from the excited group after a few minutes, taking her to one of the beds in the patient recovery room to sit down and catch her breath while her other two selves ran interference for a little while.
Jay winced as Kerr smacked her hard on the side of her arm with her not inconsiderable strength.
“Of course I’m fucking happy!” Kerr growled at Jay with her teeth bared. “T'es complètement stupide? I went into heat specifically because I want your babies, you dumbass!”
Kerr deflated as she sank heavily against Jay’s side a second later.
“I just didn’t think it would hit me this hard, okay? I’m… going to be a mother. It’s a fucking weird thought.”
“Yeah, it is,” Jay agreed as she put her arm around Kerr and pulled her in closer.
“I mean, sometimes I feel like I barely have a handle on my own life, you know? How in the blessed breasts of Ulya am I supposed to raise another tiny person? Two tiny persons, actually.”
Jay felt her own inner panic at the prospect, but the bubbling joy at the idea of having little baby Kerr’s was doing a good job of keeping that anxiety-ridden concern from setting in.
“Well, it’s not like you’ll be alone,” Jay pointed out. “I’ll be with you every step of the way, changing diapers and cleaning up barf. And everyone else will be there, too. You know that if no one else, at least Eir will be able to tell us what to do when we get lost in this whole parenting thing.”
“Hmph,” Kerr made a noise as she rubbed the side of her head against Jay, inadvertently poking her with her horns. “Do you think I can get her to handle all of that diaper shit? I’m not really looking forward to any of that.”
“You probably could get her to do all the cleanup,” Jay smirked. “But you shouldn’t take advantage of her like that.”
“I’ll try not to,” Kerr sighed. “But no promises.”
The two were silent for a few heartbeats, simply leaning into each other for a while. They watched as the rest of the group spoke with Bertha, talking about Kerr and Alex, as well as what was involved with the ritual that would allow them to pause the pregnancies of both women. Eventually, Kerr spoke up first.
“Jadis?”
“Yeah?”
“We’re going to have kids.”
“Yeah.”
“Holy shit.”
Jadis and her companions spent the rest of the afternoon speaking with Bertha, learning what they needed to know about their pregnancies. Eir was familiar with general health advice, of course, but Bertha was an extremely experienced expert in the field, so her guidance was some of the best in the world. Jadis had a lot of questions when it came to both Alex and Kerr, which Bertha was happy to answer, though even her vast knowledge was severely limited when it came to what they might expect with Alex and her Succubus baby. Kerr’s pregnancy, however, was much easier for the midwife to advise on.
One of Jadis’ first questions was about the idea of the two baby boys being twins. Were they identical, or fraternal? According to Kerr, therions usually gave birth to “litters” of pups. Bertha had kindly clarified that a therion pregnancy was usually only two or three babies at a time, rarely more. There was no way for her to test if the two were identical or not; Bertha didn’t have a spell that provided that information. However, she was able to tell that the two boys had been conceived on the same day. That didn’t mean they were necessarily identical twins since two of Kerr’s eggs could have just been fertilized at the same time, but the possibility was there.
The main thing that Kerr asked about was what she needed to know for the pregnancy pausing ritual. While she wasn’t at all getting cold feet about her now realized motherhood, she didn’t have any intention of letting the pregnancy progress to fruition so long as she was still needed on the battlefield. Bertha had explained that the ritual would take a few hours to complete, but once it was in effect, the two barely formed embryos inside of her would remain in a state of indefinite suspension until Kerr herself cancelled the effects of the ritual. Bertha was careful to point out that the suspension wouldn’t keep the babies from being harmed. They could still be damaged by outside forces, which was why doing the ritual right away rather than waiting until the embryos were further along was best.
Kerr was not happy to learn that outside forces still included the things that Kerr consumed. So long as her pregnancy was suspended, she wouldn’t be able to drink any alcohol, not without risking the health of her babies.
Jadis, on the other hand, was very happy to learn that people on Oros knew enough about the effects of alcohol on unborn children to know to keep it away from pregnant mothers. On reflection she realized that with magical means of diagnosis, it probably hadn’t been all that hard for priests to figure out over time.
In any case, while Kerr bemoaned the loss of liquor in her diet, she would put up with the sacrifice for the sake of her children. However, she insisted that if she was going to have to quit drinking for the duration, then so would everyone else. Seeing others imbibing while she couldn’t partake would be an unfair temptation. Jadis agreed with the sentiment and had no issue swearing off alcohol for Kerr’s sake. No one else had any problems making the promise either, though Jadis overheard both Sorcha and Bridget whisper a plan to go out and drink one last time that night or the next before cutting booze out for good.
The one part of the whole hours-long conversation that Jadis was surprised by was Alex’s insistence that she did not want to perform the ritual to pause her pregnancy. Jadis had thought that Alex would be on board, since it would allow the Demon to stay at her side out in the field, but Alex was adamant. She wanted to give birth as quickly as possible, with no magical delays. While Jadis was against the idea, Aila was oddly in favor of the plan.
“We don’t know how long her pregnancy will last,” Aila pointed out. “I don’t believe that it takes long with Demons, so it seems a safe bet that any of your and Alex’s offspring will also be quick to gestate. This is a fascinating opportunity to learn not only about Demon reproduction, but also the development of an entire new species.”
“That’s not really my point,” Dys frowned at the way her redheaded lover was so focused on the academic aspects of the pregnancy. “Who’s going to take care of the baby once she’s born? Even if Alex gives birth a couple of weeks from now, that still means our kid is going to need to be taken care of while we’re out in faraway places fighting Demons. Maybe a Succubus will develop fast like a Demon, or maybe she’ll take years to grow just like the rest of us. Either way, do you really see us bringing our kid along with us while we go to fight Demons and defeat the Demon Lord?”
“No, I can’t say that I do,” Aila shook her head while looking somewhat chagrined. “I’m still interested in seeing exactly how Alex’s child turns out. The whole idea is fascinating.”
“It will… Be better… If she grows… Sooner…” Alex insisted again. “She will be… Protected…”
“Of course she will,” Jay agreed with her Demon lover. “But she’ll be protected so long as she’s inside of you, too.”
“I may die…” Alex stated bluntly as her neon blue eyes pierced into Jay. “Better she be born… Soon… Better chance… Of survival…”
That was a decidedly different perspective from how Jadis viewed the situation, but she at least understood where Alex was coming from when she put it like that. Alex, while extremely strong and capable of amazing feats of healing even without Eir around to tend to her, had a target painted on her back. Samleos and, by extension, the Cult of Samleos, and the Demon Lord, wanted Alex dead for her perceived betrayal. She was never not in danger, even when in the safety of a city like Eldingholt, since cultists could be lurking just about anywhere. If Alex gave birth to her baby, then there was a greater chance of the baby surviving if Alex was attacked. Jadis didn’t like it one bit, but the argument had some logic to it.
“Let’s talk about it some more later,” Jay frowned at Alex. “I don’t think we should rush the decision.”
“You have plenty of time to discuss,” Bertha added to the conversation. “If I perform the ritual for Kerr tomorrow, I won’t be able to do so again for another three days.”
“Yes, that should be plenty of time to come to a decision,” Aila nodded at the priestess before pointing at Jay. “However, you do not have plenty of time.”
“Huh?” Jay tilted her head in confusion.
“Isn’t that the seventh bell ringing right now?”
With a start, Jadis realized that Aila was right. They had spent so much time talking, she’d completely lost track of the time. She needed to get over to the Temple of Metethys to meet with Lady Una.
There were still things that the others wanted to discuss with Bertha when it came to Alex and Kerr’s pregnancies, so their group ended up splitting into two. While Jadis’ three selves, Aila, and Bridget departed for the meeting with the Golem, everyone else stayed behind in Lyssandria’s Temple. Jadis was mildly surprised that Bridget was so keen on going since academic discussions weren’t her particular bag, but the orc soon revealed that her main motivation in coming was to keep an eye on Jadis and Aila. While Jadis was massively more powerful than anyone else in the group and Aila was more than capable of taking care of herself thanks to her powerful spells, Bridget felt that having a third nearby just in case something unexpected happened was a good idea. Frankly, Jadis agreed. She didn’t like the thought that all of her lovers were targets, but her liking it or not didn’t change the facts. For the sake of keeping everyone safe, it was probably best if they moved in groups of at least three when not in a protected location. The Temple of Metethys should certainly be safe enough, but still. It had only been a few days since the temple had been directly attacked.
Once Jadis, Aila, and Bridget arrived at the intellectually vaunted temple, they found that a scholarly acolyte was already waiting to guide them to where Una was. The man led them to a small chamber on the top floor of the building. The room had clearly been intended to be a bedroom for a junior priest at some point in the past based on size, location, and the other nearby rooms, but it held no bed. Instead, bookshelves lined the walls, cramming every available space with volumes of thickly bound tomes and scrolls inside of protected cases. The only pieces of furniture in the room other than the shelves were a stack of chairs that had been pushed into a corner near the door, and a short wooden lectern.
Lady Una, the lamb-shaped Golem, was waiting inside the room. She stood before the lectern, reading a scroll made of yellowed parchment that had been carefully pinned into place. When they entered the cramped room, she turned and gave them all a small bow of her head.
“Thanks for agreeing to see us,” Jay started while returning the bow with one of her own. “I’m sure you have a busy schedule.”
“I am happy to speak with you,” Una replied in that oddly robotic way that Golems spoke. “Please, make yourselves comfortable.”
As she spoke, several articulated hands that had been carved from stone and pieced together with metal joints levitated up from the ground by Una’s bookstand. The floating hands quickly placed several chairs down, giving them all a place to sit.
“That’s a neat trick,” Bridget commented as she watched the hands return to their resting spots on the floor.
“One must adapt when faced with certain anatomical challenges,” the Golem said with what almost sounded like a hint of the sardonic.
“I bet,” Syd let out an amused huff as she glanced down at the Golem’s hooves. “That spell has to come in handy when you need to turn a page.”
While everyone in the room turned to glare at Syd, even Jadis’ other selves joining in, Aila voiced a question for Lady Una.
“…You must have an Arcane based class to have a spell like that,” she said while slowly turning her glare away from Syd. “But I had heard from some of the priests that you specialize in illusions. Were they mistaken?”
“No, they were not,” Una shook her sheep-like head. “I do specialize in illusions. However, I also specialize in kinetic-based arcane magic as well as defensive benedictions. I have purposefully leveled each of my magic attributes at the same rate and have unlocked a class that takes advantage of each separately.”
“Wow,” Jay raised her eyebrows in an expression of surprise. “That sounds very planned out.”
“It also sounds incredibly inefficient,” Aila said with a frown, “if you’ll forgive me for saying so. Wouldn’t that drastically lower the potential for each of your classes?”
“Yes, it has,” Una agreed without hesitation. “However, ever since my youth, I have had a theory that there are high-level spells that possess great power but require an equal or similar level of power in all three of the magic attributes. No such spell has ever been recorded in the archives, but I theorize that is because no one in modern recorded history has tried evenly leveling all three attributes to such a high level since to do so goes against all conventional wisdom.”
“That’s pretty intense,” Dys murmured as she considered the level of dedication involved in the plan. If the Golem had three classes unlocked, that meant she had been doing this strange plan for a very long time. “But what if it turns out you’re wrong and you don’t unlock any spells like you predict?”
“Then I will have provided a valuable lesson to all others who might have a similar theory in the future.”
“So long as they have access to the imperial academy archives,” Aila pointed out.
“Just so,” Una acknowledged. “However, I do not believe you asked to see me to discuss archives and spell theory. How may I assist you?”
“Right. Well, I’m honestly not sure,” Jay started as she gingerly leaned forward in the chair that was not intended for someone of her dimensions. “By that I mean, I was told by D, er, Destarious, that I needed to ‘Seek out the Lamb guided by the Moon.’ Jocelyn thought that he might have been referring to you.”
Lady Una patiently listened to Jadis’ story, never interrupting as the entirety of her four class descriptions, minus any reference to her extra-Oros origins, were relayed. Jadis also made sure to go over her question and what D had said in answer verbatim, just in case some small detail might matter. Jadis even went over her own interpretation of the classes, as well as the arguments that her lovers had made both for and against the various choices. Aila chimed in regularly to help clarify different points, and even Bridget gave her own input from time to time. When they were done, Jadis felt like she had at the very least followed part of D’s instructions. She’d just gifted Una with a lot of information. Now she could only hope that Una was able to give her some back.
“Fascinating,” was the first word that Una uttered after her long silence.
“Yeah, it’s an unusual situation, right?”
“Indeed it is.”
There was a long pause as Jadis waited for further input from Una, but as the seconds dragged on it became clear that the Golem was in no rush to talk.
“So… do you think you can help me out?” Syd verbally prodded the stone sheep. “I, uh, kind of laid this all out to you because I really need some info. I’m not asking you to tell me what to do, I just want to be able to make an educated decision.”
“I am pleased to hear you say that,” Una replied with a slight dip of her head. “I would not wish to be held responsible for your class choice decision. I fear that you have a dangerous path ahead of you.”
“Why do you say that?” Aila asked, concern furrowing her brow. “Jadis is already being targeted by Samleos and Demons everywhere. I don’t see how things could get much worse, and frankly, I would rather not contemplate the possibility.”
“…thanks.”
“Before I speak further, I do wish to ask a question of my own.”
“Sure, go ahead,” Jay motioned towards the Golem with one hand. “I’m honestly surprised you haven’t asked any questions so far. I figured you would have some.”
“I have seventy-three questions I wish to ask, actually,” Una said without batting an eye. “However, my questions are largely more for my academic curiosity, so they can wait for now. The question I need to ask before I offer any advice is this: have you confirmed with certainty that the Demon Alex is pregnant with a new species called a Succubus?”
“Yes, we actually confirmed before we came here,” Jay nodded, her curiosity piqued by the unexpected focus of the Golem. “Are you asking because of the Progenitor class I was offered?”
“Yes, I am,” Lady Una replied as she took several steps towards Jay. Her flat tone finally showed some level of emotion as she stressed her next words. “Progenitor of the Succubi is potentially the most powerful as well as the most dangerous class that you could choose, and I highly caution you against taking that class. Simply taking that has the potential to put you on the path to heresy and may eventually turn many of the faithful against you. Even Lyssandria’s temple could potentially cut ties with you if you choose Progenitor of the Succubi.”
“Why?” Jay asked, her voice filled with a mixture of shock and incredulity. “What’s so bad about it?”
“It may lead to you becoming a Demi-God.”
300