Chapter 24: Home

The next morning the innkeeper's knowing smile had become noticeably more smug after he noticed that Selene had spent the night with us. But even so he didn't say anything and simply served us three portions of breakfast, though even without any comments he managed to reduce Selene into a blushing mess.

“Relax”, I told her, gently patting her forearm. “There's nothing wrong with it.”

“I know, but...”, she trailed off. “If he reacts that way, what are my parents going to think?”

“You did sneak out and then spent the night with two others around your age who clearly care about you”, I said. “I'm pretty sure they had an idea of what was going on and I'm pretty sure they would have stopped you if they'd been against it.”

She covered her face with her hands as her blush deepened. “You mean they already know what we were up to last night?”

“Is that so bad?”, Alisha asked. “We are lovers now, aren't we?”

“Of course”, Selene said. “But...”

“But it's still embarrassing to know that they know”, I said. “I get it, but it's something you'll just have to deal with. If it makes you feel any better, your parents had two kids so it's not as if they don't know how this sort of thing works.”

She buried her face in her hands again. “Not helping.”

“To be fair”, Alisha said, “I doubt her parents ever had another woman along.”

I nodded, acknowledging the point.

“Not helping at all”, Selene muttered into her hands.

“You know”, I said, “if anyone should be worried it'd be me. I'll be getting the concerned dad speech later.”

“Oh gods, just kill me now”, Selene whined.

“Shouldn't we both be getting that speech?”, Alisha asked.

I paused. In a perfect world I supposed we would, considering Selene was going to be dating both of us, but I really couldn't see Hank crossing his arms and telling Alisha to make Selene happy or else. Of course that mental image made me burst out laughing.

“What's so funny?”, Alisha asked.

I told her.

“It's really not that funny”, Selene said as she saw us both doubled over.

“It's not?”, Alisha asked, wiping tears out of her eyes.

“It's mortifying”, Selene said.

“We don't have to do this if you don't want to”, Alisha soothed but in response Selene's eyes went wide with worry.

“I-I-I didn't mean it like that”, the blonde said. “I'm sorry.”

Alisha frowned. “What's wrong?”

“It sounded like you were telling her to stay here if she can't handle the embarrassment”, I said.

Alisha's eyes went wide and she threw her arms around Selene's. “I'm sorry, that's not what I meant at all!”

“What did you mean, then?”, I asked. “It's not as if Selene can just leave without saying anything.”

“She could always elope with us...”, Alisha suggested.

Selene was blushing furiously and my own cheeks felt like they were on fire. When she realized what she'd just said Alisha blushed as well.

“That's going a bit fast, isn't it?”, I asked.

“Maybe a little”, Selene said.

“I... I just mean that if she's scared of dealing with it she can come with us now and tell her parents later”, Alisha said. “Better to ask forgiveness than permission and all that.”

I bit my lip. I understood why Alisha was making this suggestion. It was pretty much exactly what she was doing, staying with me and not telling her parents about the fact that she'd blown off her engagement, but I didn't think it was a good course of action. It might be for her; I didn't know enough about her circumstances to say for certain. But Selene's parents clearly loved her and this would break their hearts.

“No, I'll tell them”, Selene said. “If you'll still have me.”

Alisha hugged her tighter. “I'm sorry. I really didn't mean it.”

“Of course we'll still have you”, I said. “Until you're sick of us.”

That finally got a smile out of her. “In that case you'll be stuck with me for quite a while.”

I leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “Good.”

**

After our hearty breakfast we made our way to Selene's family home. She was still clad in the tunic and pants from last night and wore her necklace proudly, the charm nestled in her cleavage. It drew even more attention to her amazing breasts and I certainly wasn't complaining.

Hank and Marianne didn't seem shocked when Selene came home with Alisha and me in tow and Marianne's gaze immediately went to the moon sapphires around Selene's and my neck, then to the fairy quartz charms Alisha and me wore, and then understanding dawned on her face. I could all but hear the way her mind shifted from seeing us as a casual fling her daughter had had to seeing us as a serious, if non-standard, relationship.

We started with a bit of small talk but it was made awkward by the elephant in the room. I expected Hank to ask the obvious question any minute but before he could Selene blurted out:

“I'm going to be traveling with Felix and Alisha.”

Hank and Marianne both nodded at that. They both stayed silent for a little while before he asked: “They aren't just your traveling companions though, are they?”

I slipped my hand in her right and saw Alisha doing the same thing to her left hand.

“Th-they are my lovers”, Selene said. “Both of them.”

Hank simply regarded us but Marianne's expression shifted slightly as she looked at Alisha. I was expecting to see a look of disgust and was about to get angry, but the look didn't come. She just looked... surprised, like it wasn't what she'd been expecting. And then she spelled her feelings out: “And here I thought you two were going to compete for his affections.”

“Wood Elves don't compete over men”, Alisha said. “We share.” She paused and then decided to embarrass me: “And Felix has more than enough affection for the both of us.”

The remark got a smile out of Marianne but Hank was not amused, just as I'd expected.

“Are you sure you want to go with them, baby?”, he asked Selene.

“It's not a question of 'want' anymore”, Selene said and I wondered if she was aware she was rubbing her right hand over the scars on her left arm. “I want to be with them. Not just that, but... I can make money this way. Lots of it. I know how tight things have been here. And just over a week of adventuring gave me more than enough to support all of us for years.”

Marianne's lips pressed together into a thin line.

“And...”, Selene continued, still rubbing her scars subconsciously, “I don't want to hide away where it's safe. I can't do that.” I wasn't sure how much she'd told her parents of what had transpired in the Dark Lord's throne room but at her words her parents both looked at her scars, their expressions softening.

Hank took a deep breath and then said: “I understand. You have my blessing.”

The three of us just blinked at him.

“I can't say I'm entirely happy with you leaving just like that”, he went on, “but I understand. You already had to leave when you were chosen and now you have found people you care about and want to keep traveling with them. I get it.” Of course their obvious poverty and the prospect of Selene continuing to work a lucrative job were likely a big part of why he approved but nobody was gauche enough to spell it out like that.

Either way, I nodded at his reasoning and when he saw my reaction he gave me a look. It was the look I'd been expecting since we walked through the door. He narrowed his eyes and then flicked them off to the side, gesturing for me to follow him. Marianne clearly noticed the look as well because she invited the girls to sit with her.

I walked with him and we sat down as far away from the women as the small cottage allowed. He just sat there for a while, looking me over. Multiple times he opened his mouth as if wanting to say something but then he just closed it again.

“Is this the part where you ask me what my intentions with your daughter are?”, I asked, deciding to get it over with.

He sighed, long and hard. “Selene wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, so I can't exactly tell you to make sure to keep her safe, can I?”

“I have no intention of letting any harm come to her”, I said. “I care deeply about her.”

“Do you?”, he asked. “Because if she's just another notch in your bedpost...”

“If I were that kind of guy your daughter would have told me to go fuck myself already”, I said, eliciting a small smile from him. “I, no, we fell for your daughter. I was hesitant to start something with her since I was with Alisha already but Alisha told me she wouldn't just be fine with Selene joining us but that she wanted it. It's not that I want to have two women to show off, it's that all three of us want each other.”

“Is that so?”, he asked.

I nodded. “We both cherish her and she, in turn, wants both of us.”

He considered that. “And what of the future? Are you going to drop her once the next pretty woman comes along?”

“Of course not”, I said. “If anything, I'm worried that Alisha is going to try and grow this relationship we have. But I have no intention of breaking your daughter's heart.”

“You better not”, he said. “Or I'll break you.”

I snorted. “If I were to break Selene's heart she'd do the breaking herself. Your daughter is strong. Incredibly strong.”

That got a smile out of him. “Promise me you'll make her happy?”

I didn't even hesitate. “I promise.”

**

We talked for a little while longer, just telling Hank and Marianne about life in the capital. Selene promised to write to them regularly. At one point Marianne actually ended up pulling Alisha aside and gave her a talk quite similar to the one Hank had given me and the elf had seemed almost giddy at that. I couldn't really blame her. It meant that Selene's parents acknowledged that Selene wouldn't just be in a relationship with me but with both of us. It also meant that they implicitly approved of the fact that their daughter wasn't entirely straight, which warmed my heart. It was becoming more accepted but among the commoners there were still many who found such relationships unnatural. Of course, the relationship the three of us shared was unnatural on the face of it, but even so Selene's parents seemed fine with it.

Eventually Selene said her goodbyes to her parents and we left the cottage. We'd already decided to make our way out of the town before Alisha would use Homeward to bring us back to the capital, if only to give Selene a chance to say goodbye to everyone she knew. We'd be visiting her parents in the future, of course, but we would be cutting off most of her friendships by taking her away from her home town. Though the small number of people she cared enough about to visit made me feel slightly less guilty about it. The longest visit had been to her older sister Anna and her husband.

Along the way to the gates we also discussed the matter of Selene's armor. She didn't want to wear it anymore, but she clearly needed some sort of protection going forward, so I told her to give it to me and I'd trade it in for a less conspicuous set. In reality, I had something much more devious in mind with it, but that plan would have to wait until we were back in the capital.

Just as we stepped outside the village and Alisha began chanting for the Homeward miracle a beam of light shone down from the sky right in front of us and out of it stepped Athena. I noticed right away that this time Alisha did not fall down on her knees, though she still bowed respectfully. Selene gave a deep formal nod.

I crossed my arms and asked: “You again? What have I done to get your undergarments in a twist this time?”

Athena's face reddened and she looked at me, then at my companions. “Felix Tailor, I see you have managed to corrupt another stalwart hero over to your insolent ways. A pure paladin of the goddess Freya this time.”

Selene bristled at that. “I have no devotion or connection to Freya. My only allegiance is to Alisha and Felix.”

Athena's lips started to turn into a sneer but I preempted it and told her: “And there you have it. No lost lamb, just a woman making her own decision. One that does not involve you, I might add. Because even if she did have an allegiance to Freya she'd still be Freya's concern and not. Yours. Oh goddess of wisdom.”

She seethed silently for a moment before asking: “What is it that drives you mortals to such foolishness? A Hero and a high-born Wood Elf and both of them are following around a tailor playing at being a Hero...”

To my surprise it was Alisha, humble gods-fearing little Alisha, who replied: “Because unlike you or your Chosen Ones he has proven his worth to us, Olympian. That you cannot seem to see that worth is an indictment of you and not him. Now leave, none of us answer to you.”

Athena finally managed an uninterrupted sneer and told Alisha: “I told you to leave him before. Now look where it has gotten you.” Then she turned to me and said: “Ironically, I came here today not to antagonize but to give you a heartfelt suggestion”, and suddenly her tone was no longer condescending but instead as serious as I'd ever heard it as she told me: “You might want to ignore the next Chosen One to come asking for your help.”

And with that she turned and walked back into her pillar of light.

Screw her if she thought I was going to start listening to her now... But then again, she had never been this serious before...

I felt Alisha's hand wrap around my clenched fist as she told me: “It's alright. We'll decide when the time comes whether to listen to her or not.”

I calmed down and nodded and when she felt my hand relax Alisha began to cast her Homeward miracle, this time without interruptions. Seconds later the three of us were back in the capital, right in front of the Plucked Cockatrice Tavern and Inn.

**

That night we made sure to thoroughly welcome Selene to her new home. The next morning the two went out to buy Selene some necessities and that was just fine by me. I had an errand to run. After all, Selene needed a new suit of armor and I knew just the guy to ask for it.

I went to my favorite blacksmith in the capital, an old guy named Andre. One of the reasons I liked the old tosser was that he had apprenticed under Hephaestus himself. Normally that would be a black mark in my book but of all the Olympians Hephaestus was the one I liked the most. Well, him and Hades, who cared nothing for the pomp of the Olympians and instead simply did his job without fail. Also, his happy marriage to Persephone was a perpetual thorn in Demeter's side, which made him alright in my book.

But I digress.

I'd never met Hephaestus in the flesh but from stories and hearsay I was pretty sure he would be the easiest of all the Olympians to get along with. He wasn't as arrogant as most of the Olympians, even humble in his way. He was one of the greatest blacksmiths in the world but he was also alleged to be ugly and yet wed to the drop dead gorgeous Aphrodite, which was an underdog story I could approve of. Even better, he didn't allow his disciples to coast on his reputation. Instead they actually had to prove their worth before he approved of them. So in general, if you went to a disciple of Hephaestus you were in pretty good hands – if you could afford their prices.

“Felix Tailor”, Andre boomed as I entered his workshop, “haven't seen you around in a hot minute.”

“Missed you too, you old tosser”, I told him.

Andre was a big guy, tall, heavily muscled, almost always shirtless, with a full beard that was more than halfway on its journey to becoming gray. He had a nasty squint, a common affliction for truly dedicated blacksmiths, and spittle flew from his mouth whenever he raised his voice, which was quite often.

“So, what do you want?”, he asked.

In reply I pulled out the pieces of Selene's armor and laid them all out on his counter.

“Fine work”, he commented.

“I should hope so, the dwarven brothers made that”, I explained.

He frowned. “Don't tell me you go around beating up Chosen Ones and stealing their armor now.”

“Now that's an idea”, I said with a chuckle, then shook my head. “No, this is from a Chosen One who beat her Dark Lord. She wants to keep adventuring but she wants something less flashy.”

Andre nodded in approval. “So you want to trade that in for another set? Should've brought the lass along then, so she can try some on.”

I smirked. “No, I had something else in mind. Here's what I want from you...”

**

It took three weeks for my order from Andre to be finished and he told me the only reason he managed it that fast was because he had an enchanter, an alchemist and two wizards, one specializing in water magic and one specializing in time magic, helping him. The reason he told me all of this was to justify his exorbitant price tag, a thousand mun even after I traded in the old suit of armor.

I had told Selene I would be getting her a new set of armor but not where I'd gone or what I'd planned, so when Andre and I finally unveiled it for her both of my women were shocked at what they saw.

Selene's new suit of armor was forged in the exact same shape as her old suit of armor. The gaudy golden trim was missing but other than that all the shapes and proportions were exactly the same. But instead of shiny silvery steel the new suit was matte and understated, the royal blue cape replaced with a brown one that also had a hood she could don when needed. The cloth was enchanted to be water resistant so a simple rain shower wouldn't soak her to the bone. The only part of the armor that was still the same as before was the white gold crown, as Andre explained to me that the enchantment on it was beyond his ability to replicate and beyond the ability of his enchanter to transfer onto another piece of headgear.

In her new suit of armor Selene no longer looked like a Chosen One in whose wake the sun rose.. Now she only looked like a formidable warrior. Or in other words, it looked absolutely perfect on her.

“Wow”, she said as she looked herself over in a mirror after donning it. “Thank you Felix. This is amazing.” Then she turned to Andre and bowed deeply to him. “And thank you too, Master Andre.”

“Yer welcome, lass”, he told her, smiling. He was clearly proud of his creation and he had every right to be. It was outstanding work. Even if he had only copied a divine blacksmith's work, he had successfully copied a divine blacksmith's work and few others would have been able to.

Alisha stood a ways back, looking at the scene approvingly, particularly when her eyes met mine. She seemed thrilled about what I'd done for Selene.

“Now that you're geared up”, I began as I looked at Selene, “how about we go get ourselves a quest and try it out?”

Selene grinned. “Yes, let's.”

And thus, the three of us went off to the Adventurer's Guild in search of our next quest.

**

And with that, the first chapter of our story comes to an end. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined how we would end up, with my beautiful elf revered as Fairy Queen Alisha and Selene worshiped as the High Priestess of Sparta. And that's not even getting into the mystic fox and the beautiful herbalist who would end up joining us on our journey to become Great Heroes and save the world from the so-called Holy Maiden and her forces of darkness. But that, as they say, is a story for another day.