Reborn From the Cosmos

I find Alana where I expect, behind the estate swinging her sword. Except, rather than her usual slow and deliberate training, I find her cutting down small orbs of light with the ferocity of a drunkard mistaking a man for his demons. Her hair is tied back, doing nothing to obscure the sweat beading down her face or her grit teeth. I pause, watching her progress. Hm. She's definitely faster. It's hard to judge her strength without a proper target, but given the time Kierra's spent with her, I'd be amazed if her swing couldn't bisect a man. Maybe two. I can tell that every swing has the same amount of force behind it. Given how much she's sweating, she's been at this for a while. Her endurance has certainly grown.

I could watch the show for hours, but time presses at me. With regret, I step towards her. Rolly, who is floating above her, is the first to notice my approach, canceling her light show. Alana tenses, I guess readying herself for a new challenge, but when it doesn't show, she turns. It's a rare thing for her to smile when she sees me coming, like the love-struck maidens in stories. She's more contained, subtle. You have to be paying attention to see the way her shoulders relax and her eyes soften. Though the added blush is more obvious than usual.

"Hey, sweetie," I greet her. Rolly drops a towel on my head. Sigh. Good thing I wasn't trying to make an entrance. And I am grateful for it, or at least for the opportunity to pass it on. "Good training?"

"Mm. My teacher is a pain, but she knows what she's doing." Alana arranges the towel over her shoulders after she finishes cleaning her face. "When she's not trying to get me to memorize a song and dance number, she's knowledgeable. Light isn't the same as a hard target, but it makes for decent practice."

I turn to the slowly circling lueorale. "You know swordsmanship?"

"Eh. You watch something enough times, you learn its secrets. Fighting, dancing, acting out a scene. All of it requires awareness. Being able to follow your partner, anticipate their next move. Sunshine here has all the moves down. All she needs is experience."

Sunshine? Oh, that's good. I'm taking that.

"You mind if I steal her for a while?"

"Why you asking me? I'm the adorable supporting cast. You bigguns make all the decisions."

"Something wrong?" Alana asks, gaze sharpening, ready to leap at the problem.

"It's not so much a problem as…" How do I say this delicately? Sigh. Who am I kidding? There's no delicate way to say this. "The last few days were kind of intense, huh?"

Her flush that was starting to fade comes back with a vengeance, spreading down her neck and to her ears. Her gaze drops to the ground, that sweet bashfulness she only shows when it comes to intimacy coming to the fore. "Y-yeah."

"Tell you the truth, I can't remember much. It all blurs together. There's just this…feeling. A few flashes, but a whole lot of feeling. You know?"

She raises her head, brows furrowed. "I do. It's the same for me."

"Yeah, I figured."

"Lou…"

I raise my hands. "First off, no one knew. Apparently, our darling elf is still in the middle of a growth spurt."

"She's getting taller?"

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"What? No, she…" Ugh. Just say it. "I'm just going to come out and say this. Kierra has a drug in her saliva that does fucky things with the mind and no one knew about it because it only becomes a thing after the first time she gets pregnant."

"She's pregnant?!"

I love this woman. I tell her the wife of her lover is pregnant and that she was just drugged over the course of several days and which one does she focus on first? "Yes, she is, but that is a whole other bucket of worms. Let's get back to you, sunshine."

She groans. "Are you going to use that?"

"It's perfect. Are you okay?"

Her expression scrunches up in confusion. "I don't know? Am I supposed to be okay after learning my lover is a walking narcotic? Am I not supposed to be okay? Is there a right way to respond to this?"

"You don't have to respond the right way. I…just tell me what you're feeling, whatever that is." I can't help if I don't know if there's a problem.

"It's a mess."

"I love it messy."

She smacks my shoulder, but her lips curl into a smile. "I guess I'm not really surprised? I mean, I am about the drug thing. And the pregnancy. Yeah, no, let's focus on that. What?"

"Well, did you think you were milking me for the show?"

"Saints' shiny asses! This is serious."

"Sorry, sorry. Nervous humor. Seriously, I designed my body so there was a chance. A small one, but a chance. For us too." She squeaks in surprise, eyes going so wide I'm afraid they'll fall out. "Hey, hey. When I say small, I mean grain of salt small, okay? That happens when or if you're ready for it. Okay?"

"…yeah." She clears her throat. Trying to clear the memory of the sound you made? Not happening. "I guess that means Kierra was ready for it?"

"Hah! It couldn't have happened without her magic."

"That's…I'm not saying I'm against it, but this is a crazy time to be having a kid."

"I agree. Thankfully, a normal elven pregnancy lasts three years."

"Really?"

"If it's normal. Could be shorter."

"Could be longer. Saints bless her. Ancestors bless her. The whole damn world bless her."

"Is it…that bad?"

She gives me a look one gives to an idiot. But then it softens. Her hand takes my own. "When my mother would do chores with the other women, they would tell stories about motherhood." That's why she's being gentle with me, huh? I want to tell her it's okay. I'm long past the point that being reminded of my absent mother hurts me. I don't. It's obvious it's hurting her. "Even the bad ones. Especially the bad ones. A normal pregnancy is hard on the mother. Carrying a child is a battle, one that takes place inside the body. It takes a warrior to fight for nine months straight. I don't want to know what it takes to fight for years on end."

"It takes a matriarch," I whisper. Suddenly, I understand why Kierra, for all her bloodlust and aggression, never claimed the role of conqueror. Why she's content to let me fight the enemies of the clan and claim territory. She expects me to do that while she's fighting her own battle.

"Back to us being drugged without our knowledge."

Alana shrugs. Actually shrugs. Is it my turn to insist she take this seriously? "I suppose I'm…annoyed. That…" She swallows. "I can't hear the name she calls me without, um. You know."

"What? Alana?" No, she never calls her that. "Star?"

I watch in amazement as a shiver goes through her body, legs pressing together. She screws her eyes shut as she rides out…whatever is happening to her for several long seconds before sighing. "Guess I should be glad it's not as strong as when she does it. I was worried random people could make me do that by casually mentioning the sky."

"By that, you mean—"

"You know what I mean!" she snaps, pitch rising with her growing embarrassment. "This is ridiculous and annoying but…I guess it's not the worst. I might have been okay with it, if I knew it was going to happen, probably. Just, suddenly waking up with vague memories of a sex marathon and the ability to cum on command is a bit unsettling, for obvious reason."

"Obviously."

Silence stretches between us as I digest her revelation. I shouldn't tease her with this, right? Like she said, it's unsettling. She didn't ask for it. I should be seeing what Geneva can do to fix it.

Saints, what a waste.

"I'm about to head for the camp to speak with Buttefly. Then I'll be heading for the Sanctuary. Interested?"

Her fingers drum against her waist as she thinks, drawing my attention to the way her shirt clings to her stomach. I don't know why—until I see a vision of my nose pressed into that sweaty stomach, a strong hand guiding my head lower. I shake off the sudden spike of lust, literally. Really hope one of those doesn't happen at an inopportune moment.

"Just us?"

"Kii, too. Talia if she wants."

"Then I better come. Just give me a few minutes to clean up."