Sixty-first Encounter

I woke up slowly, enjoying Sam’s warmth, wondering how long it’d be until I could see Emmara again. A daughter. I have a daughter now. Giving Emmara eggs actually worked.

*creak*

“We’re back!” (Emmara)

“Eh? So soon?” (me) I sat up quickly. I just saw her yesterday!

“It’s been almost a month. We kept going and found a shrine to the dark god.” (Ichigo)

“She actually spoke to us, and offered to make it easier for me to come see you. Plus, our daughter is so much bigger now!” (Emmara)

It’s true, the baby she was carrying looked at least twice the size it was before. Our baby daughter… that still feels weird to think about. Am I a mother or a father? Or am I stupid for even asking, because neither apply? My biology confuses me.

“I still can’t believe a priest of light made a deal with the dark god.” (man)

“I’m a priest of twilight now.” (Emmara)

“You serve both gods?” (me)

“That’s correct. That was the deal I was offered. Be the first to serve both gods, and she’d help me with my plans.” (Emmara)

“What are your plans, anyway?” (me)

“It’s already been decided that a new kingdom will form here. I want to ensure that it becomes a place our children can live well in. This means we need to get people to accept monsters as more than just beasts to be slain.” (Emmara)

“Ah, that’s right, I was asked to consult you about the leadership for the new country. While I don’t think anyone actually wants you in charge of the country, they would like a figurehead to represent you on the council.” (Ichigo)

“Is the kingdom going to be ruled by a council?” (me)

“That’s right, none of the current lords and nobles in the area want a king. Or more accurately, they all want to be king themselves, but don’t know how to make that happen. Haha!” (man)

“In truth it’s more like a parliament system.” (Ichigo)

“Inspired by Ichigo explaining how his home country worked.” (Emmara)

“It’s nothing like a real democracy, sadly. Maybe if I work at it I could convince people to change things slowly.” (Ichigo)

“Compared to you two, I feel like a side character. Here I am just enjoying my slow daily life, while you two worry about the fate of nations.” (me)

“I can’t just ignore problems that are right in front of me.” (Ichigo)

“Well, I always did dream of being the main character in an epic. Perhaps I really will be one someday.” (Emmara)

“Anyway, can I try holding her? Our daughter?” (me)

“Oh! Yes, of course!” (Emmara)

She really was cute… though I couldn’t shake the feeling that was just my own bias. Especially since I could hear the one guy who’s never introduced himself, muttering about not understanding how we could consider her cute.

“If I just look at her top half, it’s not too bad, but her lower half is disgusting.” (man)

“So, how is it easier to see me now?” (me)

“Well, I can quickly travel between floors in a dungeon now. It’s the first spell the dark god gave me. All dungeons are their creation, so dungeons are where their magic is strongest.” (Emmara)

“That sounds really convenient for dungeon delving.” (me)

“Oh, it really is. The round trip time to get here now from town is a matter of days instead of weeks. When my skill with dark magic improves, I should be able to shorten the time even further.” (Emmara)

“And this priest of twilight business?” (me)

“I’ve been asked to start a new church of twilight that serves both gods. The two gods are in fact, sisters, and they are both in charge of watching over this world and helping it grow… and now one of them wants to convince the other to try doing something new.” (Emmara)

“She wants you to help.” (me)

“Yeah. If it goes well, we might be able to end war.” (Emmara)

“That’s probably pushing it a bit. However, if we please the dark god, she may choose to not have demons wage war on humans anymore. No guarantee the humans won’t just start warring among themselves.” (Ichigo)

“That’s awfully pessimistic.” (me)

“That’s how Earth is, isn’t it?” (Ichigo)

“True.” (me)

“So, do you have someone you’d like as a representative on the council?” (Ichigo)

“Emmara.” (me)

“Uh, I’m already a member as the head of the church for the country.” (Emmara)

“Well, if you’re making a new Twilight church instead of using the church of light, then it’d make sense to treat Lily here as a part of the church. Then you having both roles of representing Lily and the church would make sense.” (Ichigo)

“But Lily and the church are separate things!” (Emmara)

“You’re my wife, Emmara. If you’re the head of the church, then it’s hard to say I’m not connected to it. You’ll even be a founder of a new church, not just the head of the old one.” (me)

“Alright. You’re right, you’re right. Your desire to not fight is, in a way, the center of what is creating this church in the first place. Calling you a founder isn’t really wrong. Though I suppose you are more like an inspiration.” (Emmara)

With that settled, I turned my attention back to my daughter, and after spending a rather long time fawning over my daughter and enjoying the company of my husband and wife (Still feels weird thinking about that. Weird, embarrassing and happy.), I eventually fell asleep, sharing a bed with my new family.

I had a strange dream that night of scolding my daughter for fucking too many guys. It wasn’t the number of guys, but her poor choice of whom, that I was scolding her for. I wanted her to choose better. Not to reward those jerks who treat people poorly. The fool child insisted that it’s only right to share herself with everyone because it’s not her place to judge. She’s wasting the power that she has like that.

…

It took me a moment to reorient myself when I woke. My daughter is still a baby, not an irresponsible teen. And I’m not on earth, there’s no high school or cars. I don’t need to worry about her ending up on videos online. Such a weird dream.

***Author Note***

I thought the funniest thing to do was have Lily see Emmara again when she woke up. So I made it happen. Time really doesn’t flow right in this dungeon room.

As for the rest of what happened, I had some ideas, rolled some dice to choose among them, and this is what it ended up with.