A pregnant pause stifled all the noise that had once existed in the workshop. As Dys stared down at the father of her half elf lover, a million different thoughts whipped around through her mind. Most of them revolved around how she was supposed to respond to the man’s statement, though a few of her more errant thoughts involved plans for possible escape. She supposed she could always toss Sabina over her shoulder and make a run for it, in the worst-case scenario.
Not that Jadis felt like running was the right call. Gallo didn’t look angry with her. His tone had been calm rather than accusatory, and his stance was, while not exactly open, not the most threatening she had seen on future parent-in-laws. Aila’s mother had definitely been more intimidating. Even without the hammer. So, with the knowledge of how Sabina was as a person, Jadis decided that the best way to handle talking to Gallo was how she would talk with her lover.
“Yes, I am,” Dys admitted without preamble or deference.
“Are you planning on marrying her?” Gallo questioned her, both his face and his tone flat as the top of an anvil.
“Yes, I will,” Dys said, her eyes straying to see Sabina’s grinning reaction. “As soon as the time is right. I was thinking after the Demon invasion was over.”
“Hm,” Gallo grunted deep in his chest. “What’s your take on Ernust’s treatise on advanced armor crafting?”
The third question threw Jadis harder than the first two, simply for the mental whiplash it caused within her.
“I, uh, don’t have any opinion one way or another. I’ve never read it.”
“Gah,” the smith made a disgruntled noise. “Well, no one’s perfect. Come over here and put those arms to use at least. If you’re going to wreck good armor, you should have some part in fixing it. Unless you have backwards thumbs or glass bones. In which case, you should stay far away from any forge, but I doubt that because Sabina would have mentioned such a deficiency. Now, grab that set of tongs right there and hold this piece in place. No, turn it so the long end faces me—yes, like that. Now, hold it.”
As Gallo rambled on his instructions, Dys followed the smith’s directions and held the piece of armor in place. As soon as she had it positioned the way he wanted it to be, he began pounding out the dents with his hammer.
“Do you think we should get married in Weigrun?”
“Huh?” Dys blinked in surprise, her attention immediately shifting to Sabina, who had begun working on the anvil next to her and Gallo.
“I mean, we met in Far Felsen, so it would have a kind of symmetry to it if we got married there. Actually, the only person in your harem you didn’t meet in Weigrun is Severina, and I’m not sure she counts yet because we haven’t had any official discussions about it. But I think she counts because she’s very in love with you even if she’s kind of awkward about showing her affection sometimes. Maybe you should marry her in the capital and the rest of us in Weigrun, then? Or would having separate weddings be too complicated? Should it be all one big ceremony?”
Jadis followed along with her lover’s torrent of words; she was used to Sabina’s wandering trails of logic, after all. She was somewhat distracted, though, since everything the enchanter was saying was spoken at a volume loud enough to be heard over the sound of hammers striking metal, and there were three men in the room who were all paying close attention to the unexpected conversation.
“You should just get married in the capital,” Gallo inserted his input before Dys had a chance to respond to Sabina’s questions and suggestions. “It’ll be easier. You’ve gathered all the families in one spot anyway, haven’t you? Why make them all get on a ship to sail all the way to Weigrun for a wedding ceremony when you can do it where everyone already is. Far more practical.”
“Weddings are supposed to be romantic, though,” Sabina countered. “Wouldn’t it be more romantic to have the ceremony somewhere that has more emotional meaning for the people involved?”
“Function before form,” Gallo shook his head before directing Dys to angle the piece of metal in a slightly different way. “Yes, right there. No, function is more important than any decorative flummery. Get married. Have kids. Or the other way around, that’s fine too. But get married so your bond is blessed and then you go to Weigrun for a holiday. A far better use of your coin, treating yourselves to a nice luxurious outing all to yourselves, rather than spending it on transporting the whole family.”
“I don’t know, I think it might be nice to visit Weigrun for a wedding,” Crispus said as he continued to mold the hot slab of metal he was working on. “If you do have the wedding there, maybe we could use the time to learn about some foreign metalworking techniques that we wouldn’t have the chance to see otherwise. Nice to finally meet you, Dys. Or Jadis? Does the name matter much?”
Dys stared at Crispus, her brain still catching up with the abrupt swing in conversation. When it did, she answered in as congenial a manner as she could, given her confusion about the situation she had found herself in.
“This body goes by Dys,” she told the smiling smith. “But it gets confusing to keep track for most people, so you can just call me Jadis unless you feel like guessing.”
“Why would it be confusing?” Valerius asked while still pumping the bellows for the furnace. “One is Dys, one is Jay, one is Syd. It’s not that many names, not hard to remember. They aren’t even long names. Jadis isn’t even that long. Kind of cute, though, in an artsy sort of way. Sounds like a Lyssandria sort of name.”
“Ah, well, all three of me are identical,” Dys responded to the shirtless pretty boy, though she wasn’t entirely sure if she had just been complimented or not. “So, most people can’t tell the difference. Honestly, Sabina’s the only one who consistently gets it right. I have no idea how she manages that.”
“Because you’re the one that looks like a Dys,” Sabina murmured as she made some minor adjustments to the piece she was working on. “The rest of you doesn’t.”
The three men let out a chorus of grunts that indicated complete understanding with Sabina’s assessment. Dys just stared at the enchanter with a total lack of comprehension.
“You’re a Nephilim, right?”
Dys blinked away her confusion at Sabina’s explanation and turned her attention to Valerius. His question seemed more like a statement, but she decided to answer anyway.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Then, you’re so tall because of being a Nephilim, or is that a personal decision?”
“How exactly could my height be a personal decision…?” Dys slowly responded to the bizarre inquiry.
“Well, the soldiers were saying that you were twenty feet tall. You’re not. I’d say nine feet. Give or take an inch. But then another soldier said you started at one height, then grew bigger later in the night, so maybe it was some kind of spell or skill, or just something that Nephilim can do. Seraphim can fly, so maybe Nephilim can change their size. But Sabina said it was a spell, and she’d know better than the sixteen soldiers I talked to about it earlier. But just because you grew to eighteen feet from a spell that apparently doesn’t last long, doesn’t mean you didn’t grow to your current height because of a different spell that’s more permanent.”
While worded in a weird and meandering way, Jadis understood the logic of the younger man’s question. Maybe it had something to do with how tired she still was from the previous night, or maybe it was because she was used to Sabina’s way of talking, but she was starting to get a handle on the way the three men voiced their thoughts. Sort of.
“No, I’m just this tall naturally. All Nephilim are. The spell from last night is just… a coincidence, I guess?”
“Oh! That reminds me,” Sabina jumped in, voicing a thought before she lost track of it. “I want you to use the spell to become really big while holding something that I want to work on with my enchantment runes. I think it’ll make it easier to do the detail work.”
“Sure,” Dys answered the chirpy smith. “That sounds like a really good idea, actually.”
“Did you think of the flight enchantments because you’re a Nephilim, or because of some other factor?”
Dys’ attention was once more whipped around as Gallo addressed her. He hadn’t actually stopped giving her small directions on how and where to hold the piece of metal, so the sudden and direct question made her brain hiccup for a second before she could answer it.
“I guess I just had the thought?” Dys tried to answer as truthfully as possible without giving away her unnatural origins. “It really was just a vague idea of how heat and propellers might work. Sabina was the one who put in all the effort to make the engine and figure out the enchantments and everything. All credit goes to her.”
“Of course it does, she’s a genius,” Gallo said with the same tone a person might use to comment that fire is hot. “Yet you were the one who came up with the starting idea. What brought about the idea in the first place? Do you have more? Where do you plan on going with all this airship crafting? Have you considered making a larger scale version that could be used as permanent observation posts in the sky? What about smaller scale models that individuals could use for personal transportation? Do you have a plan for anti-dragon measures?”
“Uh…”
It was hard enough to understand what Gallo was saying considering his thick accent and rapid-fire way of speaking, but the questions themselves were a challenge. Even just one of them required serious contemplation to answer, and yet the older smith seemed intent on piling more and more on top of her without giving a moment for her to stop and think. Fortunately, she was saved from having to respond to any of the questions by an interjection from Crispus.
“A permanent, large scale observation post wouldn’t work, dad. Even if you put aside the cost of the amount of eleria you’d need for something like that, the weather would cause too much trouble. High winds, storms, hail, lightning strikes, and the gods know how many magical beasts that might try and interfere would all make a project like that a logistical nightmare.”
“Actually, I think it’s doable,” Sabina commented while working on a piece of armor that Jadis was pretty sure came from Bridget’s kit. “There are spells that can help deflect wind and rain, though I’m not so certain about the lightning. Maybe a conductive piece of metal at the top? It would give the lightning a specific place to strike rather than at random.”
“That’s from Philio’s Insights into Tamar’s Storms,” Gallo said between hammer strikes. “Lightning is attracted to metal. The more metal, the more lightning. But that’ll produce heat and you might set the canvas of your balloon on fire, even with the concoction you painted it with.”
“Not if you put the balloon on the underside,” Valerius pointed out. “Though that might cause some stability issues.”
“Oh, you could fix that with propellers stationed around the outer edges!” Sabina happily added to her brother’s idea. “Four at a minimum to cover the cardinal directions. Eight would be better depending on the size of the platform.”
“Then you build a roof with a tower in the middle for protection against rain and lightning,” Crispus nodded along. “That would solve a lot of the inherent problems. However, it wouldn’t do anything for the dragon question.”
“Is that really a major concern?”
Dys jumped in with her question, surprising herself that she was even able to worm the sentence into the fast-paced back and forth going on between the Sarto family members. There was a certain rhythm to the way they talked, despite the speed, which she was starting to feel. Hearing her father and brothers talk, even for just a few minutes, and Jadis felt like she had gained some huge insight into why Sabina talked the way she did.
“Dragons often fly overhead on their way to the Siren Sea where they catch their meals,” Valerius answered her question. “They don’t really care too much about what happens on the ground below them since we wouldn’t make very good meals, too small and all, but something hovering in the sky would probably catch their attention. Your airship might get attacked by one. Then again, they might just bite it once and move on because it wouldn’t taste like anything edible.”
“That might be a good defense option,” Sabina mused as she tapped a piece of metal against the side of her head. “An extra bad taste. Oh! An extra bad smell that the dragons don’t like! That way they won’t even bother taking a nibble out of the airship!”
“Then anyone riding the airship would have to deal with the bad smell,” Gallo pointed out to Jadis’ immense relief.
“Not if the smell is on a release system! We could figure out a way to make a bad smell appear at will, just when needed!”
“Are you really trying to come up with a way to weaponize a fart?” Dys asked her lover incredulously. When she turned her attention towards the others in the room, looking for support, she was dismayed to find that her feelings were not shared. “Seriously!?”
“If it works, it works,” Crispus shrugged his muscular shoulders. “But we’d have to test it to see if it does. And make it first. Naturally. But yeah, we could probably test it on some drakes to start before moving our way up to dragons.”
At that point, Jadis decided that her input into the conversation was no longer needed. The Sarto clan were going to do what they were going to do, and any appeal to reason was probably best left until after they had talked themselves through the train of thought they were currently on. If that was even possible.
For the next fifteen or so minutes, Dys dutifully aided her future father-in-law with his repairs, using her strength to hold things the way he asked. She felt like her contribution was more as a vise grip than as an assistant, but that was fine. Gallo seemed to appreciate her effort, which was what counted. It felt a little weird to be helping Sabina’s family with their smithing work when less than fifteen hours previous she had been fighting for her life against an army of Demons, yet she didn’t object. The work was a nice distraction, almost as effective as having Aila’s bare stomach to nuzzle into. Though between the two options, Jadis would pick Aila’s belly one hundred percent of the time. That was one of the nice things about having multiple bodies, though. She didn’t have to choose.
It was almost precisely at the twenty-minute mark that a knock resounded from the door that led outside of the workshop. The interruption was fortunately timed, too, since Crispus and Valerius had just gotten into a semi-heated debate over the viability of using metal arrows. While Jadis didn’t mind the shop talk, the argument between the two brothers had devolved into the sort of bickering feud involving childhood insults and obscure references that she could barely follow. She definitely appreciated getting a break from the talk, especially since food had been promised.
Eager to get moving, Dys was the one who went to get the door and thus she was the one who greeted Severina with a brilliant grin. The knowing smile on the Seraphim’s face made Jadis give the other woman a look that promised she would be getting back at her sooner or later. The silent exchange was all in good fun, though, and everything Jadis had expected. What she had not predicted was seeing Thea next to the paladin.
“Hey, we ready to eat?”
Dys’ question wasn’t really for Sev or Thea, since she already knew the answer. Her other two bodies were with most of her other companions, getting ready to leave the bedroom and head to the dining room. She already knew that one of Aelius’ servants had announced the meal was ready, since she had been present. Dys called out the question loud enough so that Sabina and her family would hear her and thus take the hint that it was time to wrap up their work and head into the house.
Both Valerius and Crispus seemed to understand right away as they put aside their work and headed over to a water barrel in one corner of the shop to wash up. Of course, they never stopped arguing with each other, even as they poured water over their heads to clean off the grime and sweat.
Gallo took longer to pull away from his work, but Sabina took charge of that duty. While it was usually Jadis or one of the others who had to drag Sabby from her forge for meals back home, it seemed that the dutiful daughter had been the one to do that task for her father before striking out on her own. While Sabina worked on pulling her dad away from his anvil, Dys turned her attention onto Thea.
“Were you looking for something?” she asked her quiet lover.
Thea as well as Bridget had left the room ahead of the others, ostensibly to find the rest room facilities. As Jadis’ other selves were leaving the bedroom, she saw that Bridget was in the hall waiting for them, which is what she had expected from Thea. However, the brunette was here with Sev, which meant some deviation had occurred to her original plan.
“Yes,” Thea nodded as she entered the workshop. “I n—need, ah… There it is.”
Even as she spoke, the former soldier spotted what she was searching for and hurried over to one side of the wide-open space. Against the far wall were a number of weapons, including Jadis’ own battle axe and sword staff. Not her giant maul, though. It seemed that the massive hammer hadn’t been retrieved from the Demon pit. Jadis wasn’t even sure if it could be recovered, considering the mass of mud and corpses it was buried under.
The weapon that Thea took hold of from the wall wasn’t one of Jadis’ or her own spear, but was instead the strange ringed halberd that she had traded with Noct for during the battle. Grabbing the weapon, she scampered back over to Dys’ side with a slight smile on her face. When Dys gave her a questioning look, she simply shrugged one shoulder.
“I promised.”
By then, Sabina had managed to pull her father away from his job while her brothers had finished washing up. Considering that meant that the two attractive men were shirtless and dripping wet, Jadis mentally prepared herself for the slew of lewd commentary that was going to come from Kerr the moment she saw the pair. Not wanting to risk any of the Sarto family getting distracted, Dys immediately ushered them all out of the door, following behind Severina who lead the party back to the main house.
“So, do you think Aila will get mad at me?” Sabina asked as she moved into position on Dys’ right, making it so that she and Thea flanked her on opposite sides. “I know it’s something we normally do together, but I couldn’t help but take a look and there were a couple of choices that were just so obviously right that I had to take them.”
“What do you mean?” Dys replied, not entirely sure what her lover was talking about. “Why would Aila get mad at you for anything you choose to do?”
“She probably wouldn’t, at least I don’t think she would, but I do think she likes to know things and discuss and write it all down before we make choices because she’s trying to help us be the best we can be which is kind of controlling but also really sweet. Not that she’s controlling! Aila never forces us to choose what she thinks is best, but she does like to make sure we talk it all through before we pick any skills or spells which is kind of weird since most people don’t do that, but we always do and I really like it actually. It’s just that I got kind of over excited with all the levels I got, and I wanted to take a few before I started working this morning.”
Finally, the words and their meaning clicked for Jadis. All of her selves paused mid step, just for a moment, as the magnitude of what Sabina was talking about hit.
“Holy shit, we all got a fuck ton of levels last night,” Dys said out loud.
“M—many levels,” Thea agreed, a shy but happy smile on her face. “And a n—new class, for some of us.”
Dys’ eyes opened wide as she looked down at Thea. A wide grin spread across her features as the smaller woman looked away, maintaining an air of innocence.
“No fucking way. You hit CLR sixty?” she asked with growing excitement.
“Maybe…” Thea responded, her smile turning impish.
“C’mon, you’ve got to spill. What options did you get?” Dys asked excitedly.
“N—not until we all s—sit down,” Thea tutted at her. “Sabina is, ah, right. We sh—should discuss together.”
That response just made Jadis even more curious. How many levels had the others gotten? Had anyone else reached CLR sixty and unlocked their tertiary class? For that matter, how many levels had she gained? She knew her experience gain had to have been affected by all the other people who had been around her all night long; if not, then all the soldiers would be elites, and the war would be easy. However, there had been plenty of times where she and her companions had fought separately enough from the soldiers that they likely wouldn’t have been a drain on the bonus experience that she gained. They had also taken down literally thousands of Demons, and a bunch of greater Demons and a Matriarch. Not to mention Vinea, whose death notification had been subtly different from the ones Jadis was used to. Extra bonus experience points, not just the normal bonus. How many levels would that translate to?
Jadis’ thoughts were so distracting that Dys almost didn’t notice when they reached the main building of Aelius’ estate. Once through the door, they all started moving towards a set of stairs that no doubt led up to the second level. Not Thea, however. She turned away from the rest, looking towards the other side of the hallway they were in. Not sure what she was doing, Dys turned to see where Thea was looking and was startled to see a dark figure standing in the shadows that she hadn’t noticed.
Dys blinked in surprise as a single red eye stared up at her.
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