Chaos Unleashed

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  Maria POV
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The birthday party was in full swing, with all the good and bad that it entailed, children screaming, running and jumping all over the place, the activities we had prepared were not enough to contain the flood of energy that those little goblins could carry. The store had become a complete chaos, the victim of an uncontainable tragedy, a broken door in the bathrooms, someone climbed on a table and broke it, someone threw something and hit a lamp which fell to the floor, two children threw up, one somehow fell into the mermaid's tank and Levia had to rescue him.

Despite our best efforts it was impossible to win a battle against a never-ending horde of little devils with just a couple of tired and unmotivated workers. My mother had given up, the birthday party they paid her to host in our cafeteria had gone horribly wrong with those spoiled brats. It was no longer about making money, it was about keeping the store open for tomorrow. The level of desperation was so high that even Tamamo had a completely stressed face, completely disheveled, and the once known for never dirtying her clothes, was now a mess full of paint when a kid threw paint at her, it was the first time I had seen the goddess legitimately angry, even the greatest creature known for her acting couldn't hide the fact that she was having a miserable time. But she wasn't the only one, Lisa had reached the breaking point too, right now she was in the staff room hugging her Elise's pillow while crying more than the kids.

My mom and I were at the counter watching the world burn and trying to keep track of the price of the repairs we would charge the customer, the list was already long but we knew it wouldn't stop. The armor that my brother had brought from another world was dented again, more than even as he had brought it after being attacked by huge monsters, now it would need the help of a blacksmith. In an attempt to calm the flood, we cooked a couple of pizzas and threw them on the tables so that maybe they would fill up and calm down. Without a doubt, the best player in the encounter was Saeko, who somehow managed to do what not even the parents of the creatures could do, make them listen to what she said.

The only safe haven from the monsters was our staff quarters, which slowly began to fill up more and more, as the visits to it became longer and longer, trying to gain some inner peace and calm, before continuing the war. While I was inside taking my break, I saw Cedric arrive also looking for a moment of peace or he was going to kill someone.

"What the hell is wrong with these kids?"
"Yes I know they are foreigners, but for God's sake, what the hell did their parents teach them?"
"To just make others suffer?"
"One of them came up to me to hug me and then threw up on my leg!"
"Besides, this suit smells horrible, like a combination of sweat, fear, and terror to live!"
"Where did they get this suit and why do I have to wear it?" Cedric said as he took off his mask.

"Hey, wait a minute!"
"Isn't that the bunny suit Elise is terrified of?"
"Yeah look, it's the same one we saw at the party at school," I said as I got a better look at it.

"Well, the costume was never returned and I had kept it as a souvenir."
"After the nightmare day, I didn't know what to do with it, whether to keep it or burn it."
"I just thought it was a good idea to use it for a children's party."
"And the kids seem to like it at least."

"But why do I have to carry it!"
"The kids keep doing weird things with me, one of them was trying to tripping on me all the time!"
"Another one wishes I was his dad......."

"Well, that's because you still owe me money Cedric."
"Remember that you accepted my conditions when you received extra money so that your father wouldn't close the farm."
"It's up to you to help in the store like another employee and suffer with us."
"So less complaining and more helping"
"Go back outside and keep more things from getting broken."

"Hell, I haven't even visited my family's farm this year and I'm still paying for it."
"War hero my ass" Said Cedric putting his helmet back on and returning to the coliseum.

The moment Cedric walked out the door now two androids came in right after. Kazumi and Charlotte came running in, the twins had almost all their bodies scratched with marker, full of pretty bad marks all over their bodies. Immediately the sisters grabbed a wet cloth and began to wipe off the marks.

"Now we know why Dad doesn't want children" said both robots at the same time.

"Come on, hang in there, you two."
"It's not that bad......"
"!!!!!"
"Oh fuck that's a permanent marker"
"Now we have to buy rubbing alcohol to remove that."

Just after Saeko entered, in her hands she had an empty tray, it looked like she had just delivered all the desserts.

"Levia says she needs to use the bathroom because she hasn't gone all day, so she needs help from someone strong, but Tamamo right now is helping with the piñata."
"I mean I would help her myself, but I can't lift something as heavy as a mermaid."
"I'm just a normal human"

"Is it urgent?" I asked

"I don't know, a mother was asking me because her son was lost and I had to help her look for him."

"It turns out he had gone to play in the park across the street.

"All right, relax, I still have a plan."
"Tifa, it's your time!"
"Today we'll be debuting the puppet show act and the fairy."
"That should entertain them long enough for the Dolls to take Levia to the bathroom."

"Do I really have to go?" said the poor little girl.

"Tifa, please I need your help."
"Lisa won't come out since one of the kids tried to peel off her succubus tail."
"Now it's all up to you"
"You just have to stay in between fifteen or thirty minutes."

"Okay, I'll try, but I'll run away if I see danger."

"All right, Saeko, you just have to do the number we've practiced for this occasion."
"The puppets are in that box, just remember to say your lines and look like you're controlling Tifa."
"And remember to keep her safe at all times."
"If anything happens to that little girl, Cesar will be very angry."
"And the last time he got angry about something like this he detonated an atomic bomb in a city and then killed their goddess."
"Please take care of Tifa, the fate of Tokyo is in your hands."

"Isn't that a big responsibility for me!?"

"You'll be fine ........"
"........."
"Maybe......"
"No pressure"

The door opened once again, Momo had rushed in, her mask had somehow broken, even though it was a solid metal plate, she came in covering her face with her hands trying to sort it all together. But that was not the important news the glass angel had to give.

"We are in trouble!"
"One of the kids climbed back into the fish tank and peed in it!"
"When Levia saw it she got so scared that she......."
"She dirtied the tank even more...... with something solid......"
"Right now she is crying under the water hiding her face."
"We have to close the fish tank now and block the view!" Said Momo as she took tape to repair her mask as quickly as possible.

"Wait a minute!"
"If you're here too! How many are left out there attending!?" my mother screamed in fear.

When the party was finally over, our coffee shop, a symbol of peace, one of Elise's favorite places, was a complete mess. At home Levia immediately asked to take a bath first, so the rest of us helped her to get clean again. Lisa on her side we had to let her sleep in the same place where Elise usually sleeps to calm her down, during the night Tamamo and Momo came to sleep with me because Lisa didn't stop laughing and smelling the pillows.

We couldn't open the next day because there were too many things to clean and repair, so we spent the whole day on that. Cedric had to come again in the morning to take the water out of the tank and clean it all by hand at Levia's request. Normally we put in one of those fish tank cleaning machines, but it wasn't enough to clean what had happened yesterday. The broken tables and doors were repaired by Lisa and Momo, while my mother and I went to wash the rabbit suit and buy a new lamp.

By the time the afternoon arrived most of the damage had been repaired and the only thing left to do was to clean and sweep the place, so it was a pretty quiet time, so much so that we started to talk a lot to pass the time.

"Hey, I didn't know but yesterday I found out."
"How long have you known about the other monster girls here?" I asked Saeko.

"How long has it been going on?"
"It was around the time when Momo dropped her mask while she was helping me to cook."
"But to be honest I suspected something before, since the first day Tamamo appeared through that door, it always seemed strange to me that her fox ears looked so natural."

"And you still decided to stay?"
"Why?"

"Well, if I had to give a specific cause, I wouldn't know what to tell you."
"On the one hand Adelis has been a great friend, letting me work here is a great opportunity for me."
"Not only does it pay me very well, but it helps me a lot and lets me take a lot of time off with my family."
"Letting me leave early every day, not demanding overtime all the time, medical insurance for the family, helping me to find a good school for my son."
"There are not many places in Japan that are so patient with me like that."
"....."
"I also like the environment here."
"It's generally pretty quiet, there's no competition for top sales every day."
"It's more like we sold what we could and if we didn't, no problem."
"I am also a supporter of the calm atmosphere."

"And I like to see all the magical creatures that work here."
"They give you a sense of what I do is quite important, even though I do nothing more than bake cakes and sell them." she replied as we continued cleaning

"Oh, about the Alliance and all that?"
"Yeah, well, I've known her since you were in the hospital."
"I guess you could say I've been friends with your mom since before she became famous."
"She came every day to the cafeteria I was working at back then after she visited you."
"She seemed to like me enough to finally decide to do her own store after I mentioned to her what steps she could take."
"I know Adelis helped end the continental war and his work with security stuff."
"But at the same time I feel good knowing that if I am ever in trouble his son will not hesitate to come and help me."

"Wait, you also know about Cesar and Elise being the same person?" I asked, surprised upon noticing it.

"Well, at first I had my doubts."
"But it becomes obvious when you start to see how Adelis behaves around her."
"She's the only person I know who could get mad at someone she knows for almost destroying an entire enemy combat fleet by herself."
"....."
"Plus you all keep calling him Cesar and Elise all the time."
"Just add one plus one and you can see that the result is two."
"When Adelis received the news of Cesar's death she called me shortly after, as if I were family too."
"After Elise arrived many things have changed, but everything has been for the better at least."
"Although I'm still surprised by the change to a slime girl."
"But hey, if being a girl is what he likes then so be it."
"I think she looks pretty cute anyway"
"...."
"Although I'm much more surprised by something else"
"I mean, is she really dating all the other girls?"
"Having a harem? How does that work?"
"It seems weird to me that it's working and they're not fighting with each other to be the main wife."

"You're right about that, the truth is that I'm not sure exactly how it works either."

"Come on, it's no big deal, Maria"
"There's no secret behind it really" Said Tamamo who was sweeping near me.

"That's the thing!"
"A harem is not a normal thing!"
"And yet you're all behaving like the most normal thing in the world!"

"That's because what Goshujin-sama does is what makes her special enough for all the other girls to want to stay."
"Elise was always honest from the beginning, she never hid from anyone that there were other girls in her life."
"Even when I wanted to get married without notice he was mentioning Nanami."
"Besides she had made it clear that she didn't like troubled relationships, clearly what happened with Sharon scarred him enough to not want anything like drama ever again."
"Or the fact that Goshujin-sama is always looking at everyone as someone special in his life."
"If there are several of us but he still treats us individually, he really pays a lot of attention to each one of us."
"....."
"I can't lie when I say that his way of behaving and relating to others has also affected the way we handle our relationships."
"It's not just anyone who manages to get a Goddess, a demon or a mermaid to work as a team and end up helping each other." Tamamo said confidently, not even turning to look at us, but you could see her smile as she spoke.

"By the way, talking about Elise?"
"Where is she? Why hasn't she come these two days?"
"It would have been good for us to have him here yesterday." Said Seako worried about her friend's son.

"!!!"
"Oh, my brother?"
"Well, he's working so he said"
"You heard about the nightmare he had recently, didn't you?"
"Well, it seems that a job in Africa came up and he agreed to take it so he wouldn't feel like a burden."
"I heard my mother say it would only be for a couple of days, so hopefully he will be back by Monday."
"What worries me the most is how he will do with his grades at school."
"I think he has a lot of absences already"

While Saeko and I finished cleaning the tables we noticed how Lisa appeared with a bottle of water, it had no markings and it was of sports style, which the succubus was caressing in a dangerously obscene way with her hands. So paying more attention to the content of the bottle I could see that the water inside the bottle was strangely light blue, the kind of natural water that doesn't come in that striking color, that's when I deduced its possible origin.

"It can't be! Lisa!"
"That's Elise's slime water, isn't it!"
"When the fuck did you steal the water from her body!?"