Chapter Twenty-Eight Blessings and Discoveries

A few moments before returning to the temple altar: 

Polca blinked as Hikaru vanished mid-word in a flash of shadowy light. The goddess smiled and turned to her and Eren, “Before you two go. I have a private offer for the both of you.”

“An offer?”

“I’ve seen your destiny, both of you have already seen evil escaping. The Hellspawn are merely the vanguard of what’s to come. The Dragons and other gods are already busy keeping the worst of it away. My Daughter Arlie has her own task. Hikaru has agreed to be my champion, now the question is how do you want to stand beside him? As you are now, you may not be able to support him, which is why I offer you both my blessing to stand beside him as my priestesses.”

Polca blinked, “That’s quite the offer.”

Eren fidgeted, “As his wives?”

“Marriage is a rather human concept, but I will bless your joint union. Just be careful you’ve got an accident waiting in the wings. Remember not all labels are to be trusted, mistakes can happen even with trusted vendors.”

Polca shifted on her feet, “So what does being a priestess entail?”

The goddess of the cycle settled into a chair, and began, “Each of you would be akin to the Dragon Priestesses common in the south, blessed with the ability to channel a portion of my power. As your connection with me grows, so too does your magic. In exchange, you are expected to act befitting a priestess, heal the sick, spread my favor, bless those seeking blessings. Don’t worry, I will grant you all the knowledge you need to be a priestess.”

“That’s rather generous alright,” said Polca.

“Quite, and if you travel to the south my mark would protect you. Mages are treated as witches down south, but the mark of a Skylord isn’t that different from a Dragon’s Mark. Show the mark proudly and they will treat you as they would any priestess. Only the priests would know, but an ancient treaty would require them to treat you with respect. If they don’t, the dragons would revoke their blessing.”

Polca and Eren shared looks, after a moment they accepted the offer.

“Excellent, now expose your chests.”

Eren opened her top immediately but Polca hesitated a moment. Before opening hers as well. She knew how this worked and braced herself just before the goddess placed her palm in the valley of her breasts. Next to her the other palm was touching Eren in the same place. The two of them screamed as fire burned into their very soul, leaving the mark of the cycle burned into their chests.

_____________________

Present:

Hikaru looked back to see Polca with her hand on her chest, and blinked. Was that a gentle glow under her hand? “Um, are you alright?”

She took a breath, “Mostly, just give me a second.”

After a moment she moved her hand away, revealing a most unusual mark. Silver lines that glowed a mystic blue were prominently located between her boobs, wings of fire and lightning formed a circle, around which a second lay within. Two worlds were depicted rotating on the line, on the left was a world in ruins, shattered, on the right was a world blessed with life. Then there was a third circle within which two lightning bolts were striking a single point, forming a V and from that point, a fireball shot straight up. Oddly, it reminded him of the Contrey Clan Crest. “Where the fuck!!!”

She interrupted him, “It’s the mark of the Goddess. She offered me her blessing as a priestess and I accepted.” 

There was a smile on her face but he couldn’t help wondering, “When?”

“Right after she gave you Duality of the Cycle, speaking of, you should try it out.”

Hikaru blinked, right he had this new toy and apparently it could heal Eren. Taking a breath, he pulled the blade out of the stone and stood up. For a second he wondered how he would even use it, but the answer came to him like instinct. Clutching the blade, he reached for the divine mana within him, channeling it through the blade as a formula bloomed in his mind. Complex, otherworldly, far beyond anything he could have comprehended before. Light and darkness bloomed in balance around him as his very form was consumed by the spell in an instant, and then just as suddenly the room was larger.

He looked to Polca and blinked, not moving as he realized the other girl was suddenly taller than him. Polca was silent before suddenly proclaiming, “You’re so cute!”

“Huh?”

Polca waved a hand, “See for yourself.”

From the ground, ice shot up forming a mirror. Hikaru didn’t know what to think about the reflection in the mirror. Rather than the lanky young man he’d come to expect, he saw a young girl. If he had to guess her height, he’d put her at a hundred and forty centimeters tall. She had the most adorable face, heart-shaped with lovely violet eyes. Long black hair hung loosely around her face, cascading down her shoulders and halfway down her back. The armor he’d been wearing was gone, instead, the girl was dressed in an evocative set of mage armor that clung tightly to her bosom emphasizing her apple-sized boobs. Down lower the skirt flared out stopping halfway down her thighs, while long black socks ran up to her thighs. Sturdy leather hiking boots clung to her calves, and she had long black gloves clinging to her arms. Clutched in her hands was a long staff as tall as she was, it was ornate yet elegant, curving silvery-blue metal wrapped around itself before coming up to four long prongs wrapped around an orb of glowing crystal within which hues of blue, green and purple were endlessly swirling about the depths of the crystal orb

Few words could describe the girl he saw, but in a way she reminded him of his sister. The idea that the girl in the mirror could be him, just didn’t click in her brain. He found his mind, conflicted about everything. Was he still a he, or was she a she? Finally, the only words she could agree on floated to the surface, “I’m adorable.”

“Yes you are, and while you are admiring yourself, Eren is lying on the altar paralyzed.”

She turned bright red, “Oh shit!”

Embarrassed, she turned to Eren, her staff clutched tightly as she focused on the healing spell. Immediately words came to mind, spell formulae blooming in her mind as she channeled her divine energy into the spell, “By the grace of the goddess, I pray for her salvation, may all touched by her light be healed, by the grace of the sun whose eye sees all in her land, may her light touch all, Sun’s Healing Light”

Light sprung forth filling the room, he felt aches and pains he didn’t even know he had vanished under the light, and gasped as energy left her body. Clutching the staff she panted, as the room returned to normal. Just moments before she found herself on her ass, Eren clutching her tightly, “Thank you! Thank you!...”

She nuzzled against him... her enthusiastically. It was all Hikaru could do to endure. “Eren! Eren! You are welcome! Could you let me go?”

She didn’t release her right away. The fox girl was clearly quite happy and wanted to show it. Guess she’d been bothered by the paralysis more than he’d thought. Now Hikaru felt bad that she’d stared at herself in the mirror for so long.

Finally Polca pulled Eren off, “Come on Hikari needs room to breathe.”

“Hikari!?” exclaimed Hikaru.

“Well calling you Girl Hikaru would be a bit weird, or did I get the feminine form of Hikaru wrong?”

Red-faced Hikaru, or well Hikari, looked away. Softly she muttered, “No that’s right.” Yet she couldn’t say she disliked it either. Her mind spun, she was a boy, wasn’t she? Idly she looked down, noting the swell of her chest, then her eyes landed on the staff, the goddess's words ringing in her head. “I can only use this once more today.”

Polca nodded, “That’s what I heard, you should save that last use, just in case we need your healing spell again.” she lifted her potion belt, “I don’t have a lot of potions left.”

Hikari sighed, opened her mouth then paused. What was the problem? So what if she was stuck as a girl for the rest of the day? She could always turn back the next day. Polca was right, they should keep the option for the healing spell open. Eren could play frontline fighter for now, it wasn’t her specialty, that was his role but she could do it well enough. 

Polca pulled her up, “Come on, the goddess showed me the way out.”

Hikari nodded, and let herself be pulled up. Eren took the lead, her tail wagging. This time they took another route through the tunnels, which proved quiet enough, not a monster in sight.

_____________________

Arlie swatted the offending limb away and rolled over, a voice echoed in her ears but she tuned it out. Muttering “Damn dragon tried to kill me, let me sleep.”

The shaking grew more insistent, “Come on Arlie, you’ve slept all morning.”

Arlie finally opened her eyes to see Rose shaking her, with Lily nearby. She yawned while noting the circles under the eyes of the twins. “Alright, alright I’m up!”

“Good, we’ve got a visitor, and she needs healing.”

Arlie blinked suddenly, much more awake. Slipping out of the blankets, she didn’t bother to get dressed, merely grabbing her cloak and wrapping it around her before rushing out of the tent. Her gaze soon swept over the cliffside campsite they’d set up after Aurora finally let them rest.

The dragon was nowhere to be seen, but a large female figure could be seen by the campfire. A set of discarded plate armor sat next to her, but Arlie’s eyes were on the girl, she clearly had giant blood but she wasn’t pure giant either, the red skin and horns gave away her demonic heritage. She’d been bandaged already, which Arlie took in at the same moment she noted the features. The giant girl was easily two hundred and twenty centimeters tall and blessed with a bust that made Arlie’s chest look tiny in comparison. The damn thing was huge and she suddenly understood a phrase boys had used to describe really big boobs, as only that description could fit them

She had a very pretty face as well, with large eyes, a firm nose, striking lips and two black horns. Long pure white hair cascaded down her black, stained red in a few places with blood. The girl was quite fit as well, with a tight belly and firm muscles, yet not too much.

Arlie took in her wounds as well, she’d been cut in a number of places, but they all looked shallow and had been bandaged. Several cuts on her arms and legs, with one slash across her belly. The poor girl even had a broken leg, the bone had been set, the torn muscle bandaged, which left the magic healing to her.

Arlie started by pulling out her potions, picking several, she started applying them to the wounds. Her questions for the adventurer could wait, given she wasn’t conscious.

Lily spoke up, “The boys found her washed up by the shore, her armor dented and wrapped in tentacles. Big thick ones, might have been a River Kraken.”

“Noted, but we can ask her later,” said Arlie as she focused on healing the girl’s wounds.