[Luna POV]

“Luna, are you serious right now?  This isn’t time for jokes.” (Skadi)

 

“Yes I’m serious.  We were told that we can’t kill it and that making it retreat is practically the only option, but think about it.  What else can we do to prevent this from happening again at any time in the future?  Me making it my pet and taking it away from here where it won’t rampage again would benefit everyone.  Plus it’s absolutely adorable.” (Luna)

 

“Less arguing, more golem killing!” (Velvet)

 

“Tch.  We don’t have time for this, if you know what you’re doing and have a good plan, then go for it.  If not then you better think of something fast.” (Skadi)

 

While every one of us used our preferred methods of attack to deal with the swarm of golems that Cerberus was making, I tried to think of ways to get it to calm down enough to be tamable if that was possible.

 

‘Hey Tamamo, would I even be able to tame it?’

 

{Like I know.  Though if you want to make it your pet, then taming it probably isn’t the way you want to go since it’ll just turn out like Ophidia did with it getting a humanoid form as well.}

 

‘I know that much.  What I meant was taming it in a way that doesn’t have a contract like Ophidia.  I mean, I know of a few methods I can try, but I don’t know if they’ll work while it’s all riled up like this.  And Atmos, any input from you would also be appreciated.’

 

“Luna, nobody has ever…wait…let me go ask Gear.  He should still be relatively free at the moment and he can look into the past for anything.  Give me like 10 minutes.” (Atmos)

 

{You all heard that right?}

 

“Yeah!” (Velvet)

 

“Yes, but this better end up being helpful.” (Soleil)

 

“Nya!  Die you stupid rocks nya!” (Mio)

 

“Skadi, on your left!” (Ophidia)

 

“I got it!” (Skadi)

 

Seeing the others fighting the endless hoard of golems was quite amusing to say the least.  While Velvet and Soleil used some explosive fire magic, Mio used some corroding darkness to eat away at the ones that came at her.  Skadi and Ophidia were moving around punching, kicking, and slashing away in what could almost be considered a dance.  This isn’t to say I wasn’t pulling my own weight.  I used ice and lightning magic to defeat the golems that came my way while I tried to move closer to Cerberus.

 

‘Now that I think of it, why hasn’t it really done anything but growl and stand in the back of the room?  I mean you’d think it’d try and attack us as well, but it hasn’t moved since entering here.’

 

{Well, from my vantage point, it looks more like only one head is actually doing anything.  The others look almost dazed to me.  Kind of like when you are half-asleep in the morning, Luna.}

 

“Please don’t tell me this is all because it was interrupted while taking a nap.  I mean, I get being grumpy when getting woken up, but still.” (Luna)

 

We continued the fight as we waited for Atmos to bring any news.  In this time, I had managed to get into a position where I could get a good look at Cerberus aside from just its general adorableness.  It was about as tall as a small, one story house and had a coat of mixed black and white that seemed well groomed for a giant, three-headed dog that lived in a cave.  If I had to say the name of a dog breed from my previous world to call it, it would be close to a Malamute.

 

“I really want it as a pet now that I’ve gotten a better look at it.  What do you think, Tamamo?  Think we’d be good at taking care of a pet together?” (Luna)

 

{I’d like to think so.  The problem is how are you going to get it to the divine domain.}

 

“Hmm.  Couldn’t I just open a portal with space magic next time I’m there on a full moon?  There should be one soon after all.” (Luna)

 

{Aren’t you limited to small portals when doing that?}

 

“I refuse to believe that something like this can’t shrink in size at will.  You can do that in your fox form and Ophidia can do that in her snake form, so why wouldn’t the demigod level dog not be able to?” (Luna)

 

{That’s…a good argument.}

 

“I’m back.  Gear told me that in the past when several gods were allowed to descend to try and get it to willingly come to the divine domain, the thing that worked to calm it down the most was music, though that only worked for a short time.  After that, nobody else could figure anything out.” (Atmos)

 

“Wow.  Talk about giving up quick.” (Luna)

 

“Hey, don’t blame me, I’m just the messenger here.  Blame those lazy idiots who gave up.” (Atmos)

 

{When did Luna ever say your name in that statement?}

 

“Um…Anyway, go on and play your flute, Luna.  After that I got nothing.” (Atmos)

 

“I’m starting to think that gods aren’t that great at planning things.” (Luna)

 

“It’s not that, but I’m sure whatever you come up with will be way more entertaining than anything I can come up with that won’t make the situation way worse than it currently is.” (Atmos)

 

{It’s not that I’m bad at planning, it’s just that I’m no good at it in situations like this.}

 

“And that’s perfectly fine, Tamamo.” (Luna)

 

“What about me!?” (Atmos)

 

“Fufu.” (Luna)

 

I continued my onslaught against the golems as I telepathically told the others what I was going to try and for the them to get ready in case things only got worse from here.  I pulled my flute out of my inventory and started playing.  The ears on Cerberus’s heads perked toward my music and the most aware looking head looked in my direction and tilted a bit to the side.  The golems’ movements also slowed down due to their creator becoming distracted.

 

I slowly approached Cerberus while weaving through golems until there was only somewhat short distance between us.  When I stepped one step closer, Cerberus started to growl at me with all three heads, so I backed up a step.  When I did that, it stopped growling at me and went back to just staring at me.  I slowly sat down in front of Cerberus and the other two sleepy looking heads turned my way as well.  When they tilted in the same direction as the first head, I had to fight the urge to jump up and pet it.  For several minutes we just sat there staring at each other.

 

“Ok, so now what are you going to do?” (Atmos)

 

‘Just watch.’ (Luna)

 

As I played, I opened several small Gates near Cerberus’s heads and let some wyvern meat fall onto the floor.  Cerberus immediately started to sniff the air and when it looked down at the pile of meat and smelling it, it started to drool some.  I took this chance to slowly move closer.  Two of Cerberus’s heads started to eat the meat while the third looked back up at me.  This head seemed to be the one that did most of the thinking since it looked at me like it was asking if this was really alright for it to eat.  When I nodded my head it looked down and joined the other two in the meal laid in front of it.  Once all of the meat was gone the heads looked back up at me.  I stopped playing my flute and spoke.

 

“Do you want more?  I have way more than enough to satisfy you.” (Luna)

 

Cerberus let out a loud bark from the middle head which I assumed was it saying yes.  I then did the same thing I did earlier and placed more wyvern meat in front of it.  This time all three heads went at it and I moved closer once more.  This same thing happened two more times until I was basically right next to Cerberus.  When it was done with this pile of wyvern meat it looked down at me while its tail wagged.

 

“Fufufu.  May I pet you?  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.” (Luna)

 

It stood there for a moment before it laid down and placed its heads on the ground.  I moved my hand over and started petting and scratching it.  It made what I think were happy sounds and before I knew it, Cerberus was rolling over and exposing its belly for some rubs.

 

“Fufufufufufufu.” (Luna)

 

“…Is that seriously all it took?  Like, seriously?  Just some music and meat.  I-I’m so disappointed!  Like, come on, I was expecting some super awesome mutual respect forming thing to happen like it did with Ophidia, but no, she just played some music and fed it!” (Atmos)

 

‘Not it, Atmos, she.’ (Luna)

 

“Whatever!” (Atmos)

 

{Would you calm down.}

 

“No, this needs to be addressed!  I want something cool to happen, something exciting, something, something…” (Atmos)

 

‘Epic?’ (Luna)

 

“Yes!  Epic!” (Atmos)

 

‘Well, you can’t always get what you want, Atmos.  But on the plus side, now I have a big dog I can pet and fluff.  And when I’m done, she’ll be the fourth fluffiest thing in this world.’ (Luna)

 

“Fourth?” (Atmos)

 

{There’s Luna, then me, the Soleil, the Cerberus, then the rest of Luna’s kitsune family members, then everyone else.}

 

“Ahhhh.  Makes sense.” (Atmos)

 

Cerberus then let out a small whimper since I stopped petting it.

 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you.  Now, I need you to listen to me.  If you stop attacking the people you were earlier, I’ll give you more meat, a new home, and friends that will pet and fluff and play with you as much as you want.  So, what do you say?” (Luna)

 

Cerberus let out a happy sounding bark and then licked me with all three of her tongues.

 

“Thank you so much for that.” (Luna)

 

While I wasn’t too thrilled about the licking, I turned to the others and motioned them to come over, only now noticing that all the golems were gone.

 

“What happened to the golems?” (Luna)

 

“The all crumbled around the time you gave it the fourth pile of meat.” (Soleil)

 

“Oh.  Well anyway, meet Cerberus, my new pet.  Cerberus, these people are your new friends and people I consider family, so don’t be mean to them.” (Luna)

 

Cerberus let out another bark and it moved a head over to smell the others.  They all went on guard for a second, but when nothing else but smelling happened, they relaxed some.

 

“So, where exactly are you going to keep Cerberus?” (Velvet)

 

“Well, I was going to bring her to the floating island until the full moon, after that, I was going to try and bring her to the divine domain where Tamamo can watch her until I ascend.” (Luna)

 

“I guess that works.” (Velvet)

 

“Does that sound good to you girl?  Want to see more than just these boring, skyless caves?” (Luna)

 

Cerberus barked again which I took for her agreeing with me.

 

“Alright.  You take Cerberus and the others to the island for a bit, Ophidia and I will go and tell the dwarves that everything is taken care of and then we’ll come to the island as well.” (Skadi)

 

“Sounds good, I think we all need a break from these caves.” (Luna)

 

With that decided I teleported us to the floating island.  Cerberus immediately started to explore the area we arrived at by sniffing around.

 

“Now that I’m seeing her like this, you’re right, she is adorable, big sis.” (Soleil)

 

“I agree.  While a bit big, I can see her being a good pet for you and Goddess Tamamo.” (Velvet)

 

“I want to nyap in the fluff nya.  Speaking of which, Lunya, I think I’m going to move into your tails nya.” (Mio)

 

“Please don’t.  I’ll let you nap in them every so often, but please don’t start living in them.” (Luna)

 

“I’ll accept that compromise nya.” (Mio)

 

And thus, I had completed my seventh labor as well as acquired a new pet.

 

Chaos Realm:
Luna: I show up here after who know how long to find a kid here.  What the heck!?

Astraea: Fluffy lady!

Luna:...Adorable.

She is, isn't she.  Also, thanks for dealing with Cerberus.  I've got to say though, I kind of agree with Atmos on how you handled it.

Order: Just be happy she handled it and leave it at that.

Luna: Thank you, Order.  Also, tiny child, please don't pull my tails.  You can pet them if you want, but don't pull.

Astraea: Ok, fluffy lady.

Luna: I guess that's my nickname now.

She's still working on names.  She's only ever gotten one right every time she says it, but she's getting better with others.

Order: And her name is Astraea.

Luna: Well, congratulations, you two have an absolutely adorable daughter.  The only other person that's better than her is Tamamo.

Astraea: Tama?

Luna: Fufufu.  She's my wife, little Astraea.

Astraea: Yuri!

Luna: ...

...

Order: What's that?

Luna: Payto, are you teaching her weird things?

No.  I've never even mentioned that word to her, much less what it means in this kind of context.  Order, call Crisis here so we can ask her nicely if she's been teaching our Astraea weird things.

Order: On it, but you better explain what that is to me later.

I will.