I was still a bit dazed when Mother told me to run to the doorway in the clearing and back a few times. Asra noticed the worried look on my face and told me that she was fine and that I should go ahead and do the running. Acting more on instinct than thought, I gave Asra a tight hug before making my way down the path towards the forest. As I left, I took one last glance at the cooling bodkin.

I had many things on my mind as I ran. Dozens of thoughts fighting with each other. Why had the bodkin heated when I tried to shift? Why hadn't the burn healed? Did I just accidentally curse Asra? Why hadn't Otherworlders used memory crystals to bring over entertainment from their worlds? 

One thing was certain, though. They were right about the bra. I did not want to know what it would have been like with these things flopping about unrestrained.

After four laps, I was too tired to continue. As I entered the garden, Asra was putting her boot back on; the burn looked like an old scar. My eyes swept across the ground, looking for the bodkin, only to not find it.

Looking from Mom and then to Asra. Neither of them seemed to have it. "Um, where's the bodkin?" I asked, a bit of worry leaking into my voice. Mother just shook her head and pointed to Asra, who had an embarrassed look on her face.

"Uhh. It's kind of inside me." Asra answered hesitantly, her embarrassment intensifying.

"What?" My brain utterly stalled at her words. What the hell happened while I was gone?

"I picked it up, and it just kind of went into my hand. Eliza got worried, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't sense anything wrong with me." Asra explained, only making me more worried.

"You seem way too calm about this." I said, walking over to her.

"Yeah, probably. I don't know how to explain it, but I don't feel like it's something we need to worry about." Asra said, sounding way too happy.

I stared at her, completely dumbfounded. How could she possibly think this wasn't something worth worrying about? A part of a Demon Blade is inside her somehow, and she's acting like it's no big deal. Is it messing with her mind?

"September, it's alright." Asra said, trying to reassure me. "This will sound a bit weird, but I'm not worried because it felt like you."

"What?" She was right. It did sound weird.

"It felt like you. I have no idea how else to describe it." Asra explained. "It felt like you wriggled your way into my chest and snuggled up right next to my heart."

That was a lot. If it was anyone else at any other time, I might have thought they were confessing to me. But this was Asra we were talking about; there's no way she was interested in me. Right?

That line of thought came to a screeching halt as Mother spoke up. "As Asra said, I didn't find anything dangerous, but that doesn't mean I didn't find anything." both Asra and I looked at her with interest as she continued. "September, it appears that a bit of your soul has lodged itself inside Asra's."

"And how is that not dangerous?" I asked in frustrated disbelief.

"Because your soul isn't hostile to hers." Mother answered. "Quite the opposite. It seems to want to protect her." For the first time in this conversation, someone had actually said something that was slightly reassuring.

Distracted by my mother, I hadn't noticed Asra's approach until her arms wrapped around me. "It's going to be fine. Just trust me on this, okay?"

"Fine. Just please tell me if anything weird starts happening." I could easily trust her; I had for a long time. The problem was the bodkin. Wait, if the bodkin was a part of me and I didn't trust it, does that mean I don't trust myself? I'm not going to think about that anymore.

"Definitely." Asra said, hugging me a bit tighter.

We stayed hugging for a moment, but then it was time for more training. The rest of the afternoon was filled with fitness strength and basic combat training. Even though I was a smith, I had never really learned much about how to wield a blade, just enough to be able to test its quality.

The training came to an end when Lyra came to get us for dinner. I was utterly exhausted and leaned into Asra as we went inside. Once inside, we were greeted by the fantastic dinner Lyra had made.

As we ate, Vayla and Lyra dominated the conversation. I listened with a smile on my face as they regaled Mother with stories of the past. The night was filled with stories of their sisters, Lyra's adventures in the guard, and Vayla's time in Everen. We even managed to squeeze a few more stories about Anya out of her. Apparently, Anya really likes dogs, is terrible with spicy food, and refuses to talk about where she's from. That last one was a bit concerning.

Eventually, we moved from the kitchen to the living room. It wasn't long after that I ended up falling asleep. I don't know if it was the new body or the fact that I wasn't used to the training, but I was utterly exhausted. I was honestly surprised I made it till then. I was worried I'd fall asleep while eating.

Opening my eyes, I found myself back in the flower-covered plains. The crone was still at work digging up the ruined foundation. In an instant, she turned to me, a wild grin on her face.

"Ahh, back so soon. I had expected it to take longer." Her voice creaked through the night and stabbed my ears like needles. I really hoped this wasn't going to become a regular occurrence.

"If you spend all your time holding on to what you have, you'll never be able to get anything more." Her words felt like knives striking my very core.

"And if you fine with what you have?" I asked, trying to believe that I was.

"Everyone wants more of something, little ones. Whether it be money, fame, power, or love, everyone wants more of something." She said as if it were the only true thing in the world. 

"What if it's something you can't have?" I asked, an image of Asra flashing in my mind. I spent so long trying to crush those feelings, but now, with the transformation...

"Who told you that it's something you can't have?" She said to my utter bewilderment. "Is it something you physically can't do? Did some authority tell you not to do it? Did someone deny your confession? Or was it something you decided was impossible without even trying?"

After hearing her words, I felt so stupid. I hadn't even considered talking to Asra about it. I was just so sure of what the answer would be. She's always been able to read me really well. I mean, she knew who I was before I did. Maybe she already knows.

With a start, I awoke much the same as I had the day prior. I was slightly confused and held tightly to the chest of the person I had a crush on for most of my life. At least this time, I wasn't worried about whether or not I had clothes on.

Needing to use the bathroom, I started trying to wriggle out of Asra's grasp, only for her to start squeezing harder. I continued struggling for a bit, but when that proved useless, I gave in. I really hoped she woke up soon.

37 minutes later, Asra's eyes opened to me, staring at her. "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Asra asked, a bit of tease in her tired voice.

"Good morning. The sleep part was fine." I responded in a slightly pained voice."

"You okay? Because that didn't sound entirely okay?" Asra questioned, finally loosening her grip to get a better look at me.

Taking full advantage of the moment, I slipped free from her grasp, dashing out of the room and shouting behind me. "Bathroom!"

Returning to the bedroom a few minutes later, I crashed down onto the bed, letting out a long sigh. Letting out a light giggle, Asra reached out and brushed my hair out of my face. "You really needed to go, huh?" 

A slight smile crossed my face at her teasing tone. Readjusting, I shifted onto my side, meeting eyes with Asra. Side note laying on your boobs is not fun.

"Yeah. You had me trapped. Felt like I could've burst at any second." I told her, a bit surprised at how easy it felt.

"September! If you needed to go that badly, you should have woken me up." Asra said, sounding annoyed. "How long did you wait for me to wake up?"

"About half an hour." I answered sheepishly.

"September!" Asra let out with an exasperated sigh.

"I know, I know, I just didn't want to wake you up. You looked so peaceful." I said, trying not to think of the other descriptors I could have used.

"Fine, but next time, you're going to wake me up. Okay?" Asra insisted, placing her hand on my cheek.

"Okay." It wasn't a hard thing for me to agree to. "Any idea what time it is?"

"Not in the slightest." she answered playfully. "I'd assume pretty early with how early you fell asleep, and eight was the latest we planned to let you sleep, so it can't be later than that."

There was something that had been bothering me for a while. "So, what's going on with your job? Are you going to get into trouble because of the last few days?"

"I sent a notice of a family emergency as soon as I got the message from Lyra, so it should be fine. And if it's not, well, there are some things that are more important than my job," Asra said with all the confidence in the world.

"Let's hope you're right. I wouldn't want you to lose your job because of me." I said a bit more playfully than I usually would have.

"If I lose my job, it just means I get to spend more time with you, so I don't think it would be too much of a loss." Asra teased

"Should we get up or...?" I asked, not quite ready to face the day.

"Nah. I don't think so." Asra answered. "I think we could use a bit more time to relax before the meeting." And so we did.

For the next few hours, Asra and I stayed in bed chatting about different pointless things. It was nice to not think for a bit. Just enjoying each other's company. I really hope this won't be the last time.

Eventually, our relaxation was broken by a knock at the door. Springing out of bed, I dashed over to the door and opened it. On the other side stood a slightly disheveled Lyra.

"Morning, Mom. breakfast will be ready in just a bit, so I came to see if you were up yet." Lyra explained the smell of food wafting in from the kitchen.

"Cool, Asra and I will be out in a minute." I told her, closing the door as she turned back down the hall.

After that, the rest of the morning was a blur. After quickly eating, we went straight into getting ready for the meeting. Starting with a thorough shower, we promptly moved on to my hair. 

After an excruciating amount of time, we decided on what to do with my hair for the meeting. Instead of doing anything fancy, we decided to just leave it down.

Next was the dress. Having already worn it it was pretty easy to get into. The time-consuming part was mother's mandatory heels practice after I put on the boots.

After proving I wouldn't fall over because of the boots, we moved on to makeup. Knowing absolutely nothing about the stuff, I put my full faith in my mother as she applied pigment to my skin.

After covering my face with a few creams and powders, she moved on to my eyes. First, taking a strange-looking brush to my eyelashes and then using a small, fine-tipped pen-like thing to give me something she called wings. Finally was the lipstick. After some time debating the color, we decided on red to match the highlights of my dress.

As soon as I was all dressed, the three that would be going with me rushed off to get ready themselves, and Vayla went to finish packing. Vayla had decided she would be returning to Everen after we left for the meeting. Even if it was slightly disappointing, I understood her need to go see Anya.

About half an hour before we needed to leave, there was a knocking at the front door. Being the only one who wasn't currently doing something, I went to answer it. On the other side of the door was a shocked-looking Sophia.

"September, is that you?" She asked, astonished. "you look absolutely gorgeous. I mean, I knew you were cute, but this is on another level."

"Thanks." I replied, my embarrassment evident. I wasn't used to compliments, especially ones like those.

"Man, I hope Asra's ready for this. If she's not paying attention, my sister might just try to steal you from her." Sophia said jokingly. At least, I hoped it was a joke.

I let out an awkward laugh, not really knowing how to respond to that. Luckily, Asra arrived just in time to rescue me from the awkwardness. Turning my attention to her, I was surprised by her outfit. Instead of wearing any sort of formal clothing, she was in full leather armor with a sword at her hip, looking more like she was going to fight someone rather than attending a meeting.

"Which is exactly why she won't be leaving my side." Asra said with a confidence that made my insides quiver. Walking up to me, she wrapped an arm around me positively. It felt nice but strange. Just one more thing added to the list of things we need to talk about.

After a very princessly giggle, Sophia spoke. "I'm here to take you up to the castle to meet with my sister. I have a carriage waiting outside, so once everyone is ready, we can head out."

"All right. we're just waiting for Lyra and my mother right now." I told her. "Vayla won't be coming. She heading back to Everen to ask a girl out."

"Aww! I hope it goes well for her." Sophia said with a kind smile before shifting to a much more serious expression. "Your mothers here? Lyra told me she left over a decade ago."

"Yeah, we went to the temple of Eluna the other day, and apparently, my mom was there. It was a whole thing." I told her.

Giving me an incredulous look, Sophia didn't notice as a new arrival entered the room. "Well. That is a way of describing what happened." my mother said, walking over to us, Lyra not far behind.

Sophia's eyes darted to my mother as her face distorted in shock. "Your mother's the Champion of Eluna!" the princess yelled out. Oh yeah, I kind of forgot that she was something of a big deal. To me, she was just my mom.

gNatonthewall

Hello everyone. I didn't quite make it to 3000 words, but I feel satisfied for now. Expect next week's chapter to be at least this long. Sadly, we didn't quite make it to seeing Princess Raya this chapter, but we will most definitely do it in the next chapter. I have a bit of an update on the Patreon; I have an idea for a Patreon exclusive story. I won't say more now as it's in the early stages, but it should prove interesting. Before I move forward with that, I want to get a bit more practice in and work on my writing schedule a bit, so that is at least a few weeks out. Thank you for reading, commenting, and favoriting. Have a nice day.