Chapter 86: Thera's Perspective

“Mom, I've been out for a day. Why did you plan this so soon? Hell, how did you plan this so soon?”“As soon as I was told you completed it I had arrangements made immediately. Never underestimate what money and power can accomplish.”

Thera wanted to crawl in a hole and die. When she woke up in the morning she had been informed that in a ridiculously quick fashion her mother had arranged a ball to celebrate her completion of the trial, apparently wasting disgusting amounts of wealth and likely abusing her political influence to get it set up for the next day.

She couldn’t help but groan. She always hated these social events and it sounded like she’d be stuck in this one for the rest of the day. She hadn’t even been able to see Ben yet and tell him the good news about becoming an earth mage.

Still it was just one day, and it looked like it would make her mother happy. “Fine, let me grab my cloak and I’ll be right down there.”

“No need for that, our enchanter has produced well over a hundred resistance amulets at his current level for our use, and with your brace we should be fine.”

“My charm increased in the trial.” She muttered, not looking at her mother. It was still something she wanted to avoid thinking about and she hated admitting it.

Penelia put a caring hand on her daughter's cheek. “It’s only a five percent increase love, that’s not much at all.”

“Enough that a resistance amulet won’t be able to handle whatever the arm brace can’t cover though.”

“Everyone attending should be high enough in their respective governments that if they don’t have the willpower to handle whatever little bit of your charm leaks out then they really shouldn’t be in their posts. It will be fine, and I have some guards to keep an eye on things anyway.”

“I don’t know…”

“Tell you what, I’ll hang on to your cloak just in case, but I’d love to see the expression on my beautiful daughter's face while she’s dressed nicely.” At that her mother stepped out quickly, coming back with a bright white toga.

It did look light and lovely, the sort of traditional clothing she didn’t have much reason to wear outside of Anailia, but enjoyed the few times she did.

“Okay, maybe just this once won’t be so bad if everyone knows the risks.” She didn’t have many opportunities to dress up, she wanted to enjoy them when she could.

“Excellent,” Her mother beamed. “Throw that on and we’ll head down to the ballroom right away, can’t leave everyone waiting.”

She quickly dressed herself before following her mother down and entering the ballroom. In an already extravagant home, she always thought it was needless. There was no reason her parents couldn’t host their government events at an outside venue, and given Thera’s disdain for them when she was younger they often did. Nothing good came from prying eyes sneaking out to see the rest of the house where they might accidentally wander into her.

Having said that though, now that she wasn’t hiding herself away in her cloak it was surprisingly nice to see it so full of life. A band playing in the background and tables full of food, guests from various allied races standing around and mingling, and in the center of it all-

“Mother, what exactly did you do?”

“Ah now, there's the face I wanted to see.” her mother giggled while seeing her daughter's hands covering her face, not quite managing to hide the golden glow of a blush spreading through her cheeks. “Better go over there, he’s been standing alone for quite a while waiting for you to get ready.”

In the center of everyone was Ben, dressed in a dark green toga and a purple belt wrapping his waist, holding the flower they’d plucked from the trial, and generally having no idea about the significance of anything he was doing. Her mother had definitely tricked him into it, or just as likely gotten one of the maids to do it.

As she got closer his face lit up, and looking like he forgot something for a moment held the flower out to her, which she hesitantly took, not able to meet his eyes from the moment he lifted it towards her. Even knowing she was being set up she couldn’t hide her embarrassment.

She pulled her eyes from the ground to peek up at him and noticed he looked confused. It seemed like he was about to ask her something when her mother spoke up.

“Hello everyone, welcome to this wonderful occasion! We’re all here to celebrate a completion of the trial. My daughter, proving herself to me and earning my support as she chooses her own path, and Ben, dedicating his work through it with her to his god Myriad, and the first man to have a complete resistance to Thera’s charm. I hope you’ll all join hands in celebrating with me, as well as looking forward to what their future holds!”

She noticed Ben tilt his head during her mother’s little speech as cheers went up, and assumed he was getting the notification that he’d successfully completed an achievement in his god's name, before looking back to her and smiling, seeming to have no idea what he was supposed to do from here. She leaned up to whisper in his ear to grab them a table in the back, and once he walked off turned to her mother, trying to make her smile look as real as possible for any watching guests while keeping her voice low to hide her anger from everyone around.

“Mother, care to explain what in the infinite hells that was about.”

Irritatingly, her mother just laughed her anger off, placing a gentle hand on her head and saying in a voice that sounded so genuine she had no choice but to believe her, “You know Thera, one of my greatest fears is one day you’ll wake up and realise you’re alone, this is just some insurance against that.”

How was she even supposed to respond to that? She just shook her head and walked to the table Ben found for them.

The moment she sat down, other guests sprinkled around nearby found an excuse to find different seats or to get up. Normally it would have bothered her a bit, seeing as how blatantly obvious their aversion to her was, but she was grateful to have the peace for once.

As she was trying to think about how to explain exactly what happened to Ben, he placed a hand on her forehead.

“You okay Thera? You’re looking pretty flushed. Is the crowd too much for you?”

She gently pulled away from his touch, feeling her face heat up even more, and coughed to clear her throat, trying to pull herself together.

“I’m fine,” She started awkwardly, having no idea how to tell him what just happened and still unable to meet his eyes. “It looks like mom just decided to pull a bit of a prank on you is all.”

“Um, okay, what did she do? Is it the outfit? I’m definitely the only one in the room in these colours.”

“Well, that’s a part of it…” “So you just proposed, and I accepted.”

For a solid minute, it looked like his brain stopped working. He just stared at her, processing what she said.

“Um, explain please?”

She sighed, still avoiding his eyes the best he could. “The colours you're wearing represent Anailia and Tolona, for a succubi or incubi to wear them outside of a marriage ceremony would indicate they are serious about their pursuit or love of an individual. As for handing me the flower, well long ago a couple took the trial together, and upon completing it the incubi handed it to his partner, symbolizing that their love ran deep enough that even Anailia would approve, and they wed shortly after. Since then it’s been a custom for pairs that were romantically involved who took the trial together to propose their marriage with the flower after completing it by having one hand it to the other, expressing their love.”

Old traditions, old stories, both things she never in her wildest dreams thought Ben would need to be warned about. She wasn’t sure how much her uncle educated him on succubi culture, but even he surely didn’t expect to need to warn him about something like this.

“Was that why your mom said that bit about me not being affected by your charm? It did feel a bit out of place.”

She could only nod. “Since before my people arrived on this world, there was always a bit of a taboo about taking advantage of someone who was charmed romantically. Even more so since arriving here and finding so many races who didn’t have resistances that could deal with it. Love is sacred, you shouldn't manipulate someone into it.”

Ben nodded. “Okay, that tracks, she wanted everyone to know I wasn’t taken in by your charm. One question though, very minor, not really a big deal, just a little curious. Why did you say yes?”

Thera groaned and threw her face into her arms on the table. “Cultural differences. Like I said, love is sacred. If you were to so boldly make a proposal like that to join our lives together, only for me to decline you, it would indicate extremely poor judgment on your part. It isn’t an exaggeration to say you’d never be able to do business in this nation, possibly with a few of our allied nations either. That’s how badly rejecting you would make a fool of you. Mom knows that, and she knew I’d know that so that’s probably why she set things up this way.”

He let out a low whistle. “Is it really that bad? That sounds a bit on the extreme end, no offence.”

“If it was a different pair in a different venue it probably wouldn’t be so bad. Plenty of people propose in private to be careful, though it’s seen as lacking in conviction for your love so any that do will have a public one later to make it seem more real. As for anyone who gets rejected in public, they’d probably just move. As long as they didn’t run into anyone aware of their rejection they could start a new life, without worrying too much about lasting consequences. You however just very publicly proposed to the queen's daughter. The entire country’s going to know in a few days.”

She didn’t know what she was expecting from him, but it wasn’t a powerful laughter out of nowhere, and she lifted her head just enough to look at him. “What’s so funny?”

“I mean, your mom got us good. I’d say it’s a little funny.”

“Sure, until you want to actually marry someone and find that no succubi will purchase your work or request your services for leaving the queen's daughter.”

“There are lots of races in the world,” He told her with a shrug. “I’m sure I’ll manage. Besides, I’m not exactly looking for anyone at the moment.”

She didn’t know how he could be so indifferent about such a thing and put her head back down, before feeling a hand on hers.

“Thank you though.” He told her. “You accepted for my sake right? I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“Cool, I’m going to grab a plate or two of food, want one?”

“Sure, get me whatever looks good.”

“Will do.”

He got up to wander the tables, piling plates high with far more than a person should be grabbing on their first walk around, making small mountains of it. Thera watched him for a bit before turning to look around the venue and realised just how many eyes had been on her when she accidentally met them, leaving her even more embarrassed. She was used to people avoiding her gaze as if locking eyes on her by mistake could somehow make her charm more powerful, but now that the opposite was happening it was even worse. Knowing that everyone was probably curious about her engagement and the man who would be willing to marry someone like her, hell a man who was capable of it without breaking any taboos. She tried to ignore it by instead focusing on the rising music and the guests who had started dancing.

“That’s pretty nice,” Ben said as he sat back down with far too much for them to eat. “I’ve never seen a dance like that. Of course, none of my race have tails, so we really can’t dance like that.”

“It’s a traditional dance from the homeworld from what I understand, it’s been done for hundreds of years.”

“Do you want to join them?”

“It’s not exactly something I can manage. Even with their amulets and my brace, my charm on contact is still way too high, not to mention that I can really only dance with you because as far as everyone in this room’s concerned we just got engaged. They’ll play other songs to dance to soon that aren’t for this one so that guests from other nations can participate however they see fit, this is just to show our culture to them.”

“But you would like to do this one.” He pressed on, seeing it in her eyes.

“Well, I was a dancer after all. I was only ever able to do routines that could be managed alone which really hindered my potential to develop my skill, but I did enjoy it and would like to someday if I could, but we can try dancing when they change songs.” She knew he didn’t have the skill, but having a dance partner for the first time was a more exciting prospect than she thought it would be. Aside from learning solo routines, she had at least learned the technique for different dances that needed a partner, she’d just never put them to practice.

He thought for a minute before giving a nod. “Alright, I’ll be back in a second then.”

“Wait, for what?”

But he was already gone, running towards an incubus she recognised as globs teacher and dragged him by the hand towards her parents, who were in the middle of making conversation with some exhaurire diplomats she was fairly sure Ben had made braces for. When they saw him approach they politely spoke for a moment before walking away though, presumably to give him a moment to talk to his future inlaws.

She wasn’t sure what he said, but she saw her mother run towards the band as her father seemed to do…something.

After whatever it was her father did he grabbed Furela’s hand, as well as whatever it was that now clung to his waist, before walking back, keeping an eye on the dancers the entire time.

“Okay, I’ll give. What is that?” She asked, seeing a carefully twined-together length of what looked like a metallic rope, the weave of it making it seem more flexible than a typical length of chain should be.

“Mythril tail. Come on, let’s dance.”

“Wait I’m sorry, what do you mean a mythril tail?”

“I’m the only one you can dance with and you seemed to want to do this one, so come on, your mom’s having them play the song again. Also fair warning, I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to go for. I had to do a pretty quick and sloppy job getting these enchantments on rather than figure out the best way to apply them, and creating small barriers throughout the tail to move with my mind is going to be pretty draining, even with the mythril taking most of the burden to power it.”

Without waiting for her answer he took her hand and led her to the dance floor, held onto her wrists as the other dancers were, before running mana through his artificial tail to intertwine it with her own.

“You’ve never seen this dance before and definitely don’t have the skill, how exactly do you plan on making this work?”

“Oh I’m going to be terrible, but don’t underestimate a guy who grew an extra mind,” He told her with cheer. “I was using both to see if I could quickly memorise the steps, and now one’s going to be focused on making my feet move right while the other’s managing the tail. Come on, let’s give it a go.”

He started dancing, leading her to follow his steps. From a professional standpoint, she confidently judged him as terrible. His movements were jerky and awkward, and it seemed like he was having trouble controlling how his limbs moved. The tail she tried to be more generous about, seeing as how it was his first time attempting to use one, but if she was watching from the side she would have pegged him as being at the zeroth level in the skill tops. With herself sitting at level four it was nothing to write home about.

And yet despite all that, it was perhaps some of the most fun she’d ever had dancing. She did her best to compensate for his clumsy moves, trying to make him appear a bit more graceful than she could tell he was and worked to bring the best out of the dance she could. Her heart was beating in excitement as she did what she’d always wanted to try as a dancer, having a partner.

“How am I doing?”

“Terrible,” She laughed. “Do people in your world even dance?”

“I mean, professionals would definitely have some complex dance routines, but the most I’d ever do was whatever my high school set up. If the right song comes on I’ll show you how.”

“Ha sure, sounds like fun.”

They continued on for a little while longer before Ben began running low enough on mana that he had to sit down.

“Oof, may have pushed a little longer than I should’ve. That was entertaining though.”

“It was,” She agreed, still feeling a smile on her face and briefly forgetting about the craziness that led up to it. She saw her mother and father in the back, looking pretty emotional and ignored them in favour of eating some of the food Ben grabbed earlier. At least until a slower song came on that seemed to match his tastes.

He grabbed her hand again, leading her back to the dance floor, and instructed her on what to do. “Just put your hands on my shoulders.”

She did as he asked. “Okay, now what- ah! Where do you think you’re touching?”

“Your hands on my shoulders, mine on your hips. At least that’s how I was taught. If you’re uncomfortable we can stop.”

“No, it’s fine, it was just a little unexpected.” She was aware of dances with this sort of arrangement at least, she just never expected to participate in anything like that, and finding herself pressed so close to him made her remember her mothers comment about him having nice muscles when they first arrived, he certainly seemed sturdier than he looked.

Shaking her head, not wanting any weird thought to invade, she looked up at him. “So what do we do now?”

“We just move to the music.” He told her, gently swaying back and forth.

“Wait, that’s it, you call this dancing? There’s no technique. Not to mention how close we are…”

“Dancing should be accessible to anyone, even if they’re lacking formal training. This is how we do it when you don’t know how. Besides that, it’s fun. It’s nice being close to people. Once I get your charm under control you’ll be able to dance as much as you want with people who actually know what they’re doing.”

“Not likely. I’m not going back to doing it professionally, and it would still be hard to find a dance partner when people think we’re engaged.”

“Well I mean we’ll have to set the record straight someday. Ignoring my prospects, I’m sure you’d want to find someone eventually too.”

“That isn’t exactly in the cards for me.”

“Why not? You’re a beautiful girl, I get you can’t be romantically involved with anyone you’ve charmed for cultural, and well I guess ethical reasons, but if you get it under control you should be able to find someone nice if you want?”

She pushed aside being called beautiful for the moment and instead thought about how to answer him. It was an issue she had complicated feelings about but knew it would come up one day, one way or another. Why not now?

“It’s another racial issue for me. Do you know how a mixed breed can typically figure out their life expectancy?”

“Honestly haven't thought about it.”

“Average the lifespan of the parent races, plus or minus ten percent typically. Spirits don’t have fixed lifespans, what does that tell you?”

He scrunched his eyebrows for a second in thought before opening them wide. “Wait, are you saying you’re immortal?”

“Probably not,” She admitted. “Part of their longevity seems to be connected to having a body made out of mana since the main way a spirit will die is by using theirs up. Still, it’s undeniable that I’m going to live for a long time. I haven’t seemed to age at all since my growth period ended a few years ago, at least that's what my family seems to think. If I end up living for a few thousand years, I’ll outlive almost every race I’m aware of. Not much point in getting romantically involved with anyone I can expect to die so much sooner.”

“Seems like a depressing way of looking at things.”

“This at least is something I realized I needed to accept years ago, as soon as I figured out just what it meant to be half spirit.” Without thinking she raised a hand to his face, gently holding it and muttered. “I guess I’m going to outlive you too.”

They fell in silence after that, until Ben grabbed her hand, and without warming pulled it over her head, spinning her in a circle before continuing to dance.

“What was that for?”

“It’s very important to occasionally spin your partner out of the blue when dancing like this. Trust me, I’m all about mediocre human dancing. Anyway, that just means the time we have together needs to be as exciting as possible.”

“Why’s that?”

“So you remember me of course.” He told her with a grin, emotions she couldn’t quite place filling his eyes as he spoke. “You know, in a thousand years there probably won’t be a single human on this world.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s only twenty of us here. Plenty are going to have kids with other races. Sure some of them will probably marry each other and have children, but those children are going to want partners too, and a starting population of twenty doesn’t make a good gene pool by any stretch. I’m sure that in 1000 years from now by the latest we’ll be all but forgotten about. A note in a history book as one of the races brought to try and protect the world. I guess I just think the idea of someone being around to remember us is nice.”

The prospect of one day being the only one who would remember various races was a lonely one, even if she lived for such a span of time. If the world survived the immediate threat what other events would she see in her life? What might she forget? At the very least she felt confident of one thing in the moment.

“I don’t know how I’ll ever forget a weirdo like you.” She leaned into his chest and pushed away thoughts of a distant future, trying to enjoy the present.