“It was like, buuu! And the target went fou! And caught on fire!” Violet explained.

Explaining the events of today, Violet, Rose, and Lily were already dressed in their pajamas. The sun was setting with lamps gently lighting the area. Many of the younger maids, thirties and below, listened to their tales excitedly. Despite saying that magic was heretical, most were openly interested in it. It helped that the head maid, Hilda, seemed to be the most powerful in beam-like spells, as witnessed earlier today.

““Wow!”” Some of the younger maids were amazed.

“Master, can you teach me magic?” Touya pleaded.

“When you are done with your training, I’ll teach you if you're still interested.” Etrius said, brushing Iris’ hair as Iris brushed Lily’s and Lily brushed the pup, Pepper.

“Thank you master.” She bowed.

“You can thank me by doing well in your studies.” It said.

“Yes!” She said enthusiastically.

“Now, Is everyone ready for sleep?” Etrius asked, putting down its brush.

“Eh…” Iris seemed disappointed. 

“I’m not tired!” Rose said. “Can we stay up?”

“Yeah, I’m not tired!” Violet agreed.

“You need to get a good night’s rest if you want to do well practicing magic tomorrow.” It pointed out.

“But you said that we were doing well.” Iris said. “It wouldn’t hurt to stay up every once and a while.”

“Hmm…” Etrius took a moment to think. “How about a bedtime story?”

“Bedtime story?” Lily asked.

“Yes, whenever you want to stay up, I’ll read you a bedtime story.” It said. “If you’re still not tired by the end of it, I’ll let you stay up.”

“Is that it?” Iris asked skeptically.

“That’s easy!” Violet said.

“Let’s do it!” Rose agreed.

“What story?” Lily asked.

“Well, let’s see what I have.” Etrius said.

Reaching into its cloak, Etrius fished around for any suitable book. Given the fact that not only Iris and her kids, but also some of the maids were interested, it needed to be something that they would all enjoy. Finding one, Etrius pulled it out and skimmed its contents to refamiliarize itself with it. Once everyone was seated, Etrius cleared its throat and began despite the terrible news that it was about to receive.

Sitting in their room, Satou, Mary, and Jasmine were gathered at a table as tea was served to them, by Etrius. Having been acquainted for a while, there was a fourth chair and cup waiting at the table with them.

“So, how much longer?” Jasmine asked, drinking some tea, none to gracefully.

“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Etrius asked, refilling her cup.

“The good news please.” Jasmine said.

“I lied, there is no good news.” It said. “At the earliest, it’ll be about a month.”

“Didn’t you say that last time?” Mary sighed.

“Something came up.” It said, filling up the fourth tea cup.

“And what might that be?” Adriana asked, accepting the tea.

“““!?””” Satou, Mary, and Jasmine quickly withdrew from the table.

Suddenly appearing in the empty chair, the tall and somewhat incomprehensible figure of Adriana appeared. Despite looking straight at her, they were unable to see her. All they knew was that she was as tall, or taller than Etrius, and she, if it was a person at all, had a feminine voice. The shape seemed to be human as it sat in a chair, and at least one of, or her only, hand grabbed the teacup Etrius just filled. It wasn’t only her figure, but they were able to tell that light was being affected around her. Not only that, but she remained perfectly still. Not even moving to grab the cup, which was already lifted high off the table. Was it ever on the table to begin with?

“I found myself some succubi and some big breasted maids.” Etrius said, refilling her empty cup.

At that moment, Etrius’ body broke. Its limbs and black sand were suddenly embedded in the walls across the room. Despite that happening, its body formed back together from the scattered sand and broken limbs.

“Explain.” Adriana demanded.

“I adopted the Succubi and the maids are required for some of my future work.” Etrius said, reforming the shattered teapot.

“Then begin with that.” She sighed annoyed.

“All in good fun.” Etrius shrugged.

“I’m sorry, but what is going on?” Mary couldn’t help but ask.

“Is that human another one of our children, or can I kill it?” Adriana asked.

“April asked me to save them, so I would prefer if you didn’t hurt them.” It said.

“April is?” She asked.

“My daughter.” It said.

“In that case, tell her that I love her.” She said. “Any other children I should know about?”

“Aside from the succubi, no.” It said.

“Good to hear.” She said, taking a sip of her tea.

“So, what’s with the sudden visit?” It asked, despite already knowing.

“Two things.” She said. “Firstly, those so-called gods are very upset about what you did.”

“I noticed.” It nodded.

“Secondly, my sisters are coming for you.” She said.

“That sucks.” It said.

“You have just over a month, and we also know about your escape plans.” 

“Which one?”

“All six of them.”

“I only have three.”

“We both know you have over fifteen.”

“Well fuck.”

“I’ll do my best to help. Good luck darling.”

And just like that, the three realized that nobody was ever there. As they stood there, unable to summon their weapons, Etrius picked up the chairs that they carelessly knocked over. Seeing that there was nothing immediately wrong, Satou took a cautious step forward.

“What was that?” He asked carefully.

“That was Adriana.” Etrius said.

“Okay…” Mary said. “What was that all about?”

“Why can’t I use magic?” Jasmine asked.

“That would be the radiation.” It said.

“The what?” Mary asked, concerned.

“Radiation.” It repeated. “Most people don’t know this, but the magic you use is unable to work in or near radiation sources.”

“So, she was irradiated?” Satou asked.

“She emits it, yes.” It nodded.

“Why?” Mary asked. “Are we going to be okay?”

“It was low level, so you’ll be fine.” It said.

“I don’t understand what’s going on…” Satou sighed.

“My stalker-” Etrius started.

Something, which could have been a hand, appeared and hit Etrius on the back of it’s head, before disappearing.

“The somehow sentient and destructive series of anomalies that call themselves my wife, came to tell me that the fragments of it’s consciousness are coming to eat me.” Etrius said. “That is in the literal sense, as they want to, plain and simple, devour me.”

“Does that affect us?” Jasmine asked.

“They take the form of blackholes, so yes.” It said.

“Can you do something about that?” Satou asked.

“I can try.” It said.

“What do you mean try? Can’t you just use portals to let us go home?” Mary asked.

“Well it’s not that simple.” It admitted. “The elves' portals can be tracked by their gods so that won’t work.”

“Can you make portals?” Mary asked.

“Yes, but only for short distances, as organisms don’t tend to react well to my, let’s call it, magic.” It said, taking out the severed head with a crown on it.

Being held up by the hair, the head’s eyes were wide open darted about, with the jaw regularly twitching. Before anything could come out of it, Etrius put it away.

“Why did you show us that!?” Mary asked, grabbing it by the shoulders and shaking it. “I didn’t need to see that! Now I’m going to have nightmares!”

“Calm down child.” Etrius said, patting her on her head.

“I’m not a kid! You're the kid here!” She said.

“Calm down and listen to me.” It said.

Stepping back, she crossed her arms as Satou and Mary looked at Etrius.

“Sorry it took so long, but now that Adriana showed up, I can actually start working.” It said.

“Then what have you been doing all this time!?” Mary asked.

“To be honest, I was just messing around.” It admitted.

“I am so close to hitting you!” Mary paced, frustrated. “I am going to hit you!”

“Now now.” It attempted to calm. “Now that she made herself known, I can take another form that will actually help you.”

Black sand appeared in the room and gathered at Etrius’ feet. Being absorbed into its body, Etrius grew and its features changed to that of a young looking, silver haired elf with gray eyes, a longbow and black arrows in a quiver on its back.

“How will this help us?” Satou asked.

“Basically this form is like royalty to them.” It said.

“The two people in charge here are queens.” Jasmine pointed out.

“They’re like regional governors if you're comparing them to the kingdoms you know.” It said.

“Queen’s of throne worlds, sounds like a lot more than regional governors.” Mary said.

“Wow, a bunch of self important elves want to sound more impressive than they are. Who knew?” “It shrugged sarcastically.

“Can I hit you?” Mary asked.

“No.” It said, and then pointed to the door. “More importantly, we have company.”

Before they could react, the door was violently kicked open by queen Tohana.

“Humans, You are to have-” Upon seeing Etrius, she froze in place.

“Allysa?” Queen Arroyo asked. “Why did you stop? What did you-”

Entering the room herself, she looked at Etrius and froze.

“Hey girls.” Etrius waved in a friendly manor.

““AUNTIE!?”” The two queens exclaimed.