Chapter 177- Entering Capital Lokir
[Keeno POV]
Sitting in the ash next to a still slumbering dragon, I stared at the cloudless sky. I’ve gotten a combined hour of sleep over the past week due to the two horny hellhounds who even put me and Ama to shame. I was livid to say the least, and the worst part is, they were still doing themselves and I could HEAR. EVERY. SECOND!
“…Freya, get Pram. Something’s wrong with Keeno.” (Mostima)
“I don’t think that will work; I don’t think healing magic can fix this.” (Freya)
“Hehehehehe. I’ve tried stopping them, but every restraint just made it worse. WHY ARE THEY THE WAY THAT THEY ARE!!!???” (Keeno)
“What’s going on, Keeno? We get here only to find you practically catatonic with dead eyes.” (Mostima)
“Geri and Freki discovered Red was their Fated One…they fought like they were going too, all of that made the two insatiably horny…they’ve been playing with themselves a week straight and they won’t sever the connection temporarily, so I can hear everything…I can’t sleep…have barely slept for a week…help me.” (Keeno)
“…” (Mostima)
{For the record, I’ve also tried to help, but whatever thing those two are doing wakes her up instantly.}
“…” (Freya)
“I’m going to break their hands when I see them again.” (Keeno)
“How violent.” (Mostima)
The two of them walked over to me and helped me stand up. My vision wobbled and I would have fallen over if they weren’t holding me up.
“Come on, Keeno. Let’s get you somewhere more comfortable.” (Mostima)
As we passed Margaret and the others, they got concerned looks on their faces. Margaret looked like she wanted to ask, but Mostima gave her a glance that said not to ask.
“You guys got good at communicating hehe. Imma tell Fia.” (Keeno)
They brought me to Pram’s wagon and gently lifted me into it. I saw Pram sit up and look over at me with worry.
“Hello Pram…” (Keeno)
“Last time I saw you like this, you hadn’t slept for three days. How long has it been this time?” (Pram)
“Since I came back from Ama’s place.” (Keeno)
“…*sigh*What are we gonna do with you?” (Pram)
Freya and Mostima sat me down and Pram moved over and pulled me down, my head now resting in her lap.
“…Ah! They finally stopped.” (Keeno)
I don’t actually know when they stopped, but noticing the pleasant silence, I practically passed out.
“Don’t wake me up…for a while…” (Keeno)
[Pram POV]
Combing my fingers through Keeno’s hair, I looked at her with a small smile. It’d been a while since I’ve seen her sleep like this. She looked so…defenseless. Like all the stress she kept to herself was gone and she was free of worry.
“Mostima, please tell Margaret that it’s imperative we do not wake Keeno up. If we have to go through a search to get into the city, then she can’t be disturbed. Waking her up in the state she’s in will end in someone dying.” (Pram)
Mostima simply nodded her head and left the wagon as we began to move.
“Freya, please take over, my legs are becoming numb.” (Pram)
“Eh?” (Freya)
“Don’t eh me. Lap pillow the fox girl now.” (Pram)
“Yes ma’am!” (Freya)
I gently lifted Keeno’s head while Freya slid over. I placed her down and moved over to stretch my legs.
“It’s surprisingly comfortable.” (Freya)
“I know right? She’s a kind of warm that soothes you when she’s asleep like this.” (Pram)
I saw Freya eyeing Keeno’s slightly twitching ears with a look of veiled interest.
{I wouldn’t do that, Freya. I don’t want to fight you.}
“…” (Freya)
Freya looked away quickly and I could practically see the cold sweat that broke out all over her body. Smirking in my mind, I feigned a hurt look.
“I can’t believe you’d even consider that, Freya. Aren’t I enough for you?” (Pram)
“Ah! Um. I-I was…um…?? Wah?” (Freya)
She began flailing while trying to defend herself, but she couldn’t move all that much to avoid waking Keeno up.
“I’m kidding, love. You know I’d never let you leave me or have another woman.” (Pram)
She didn’t say anything, just blushed and looked away, though I didn’t fail to see the small smile on her face. Freya is just too cute. Half an hour later, we traded spots again just in time for the wagon to start slowing down before rattling to a stop. That made Keeno scrunch her face in her sleep, but thankfully she didn’t wake up. Mostima then poked her head inside.
“They are going to check the wagons, so be ready for that. Margaret said try not to hide Keeno’s tails or ears since it’ll make the guards ignore this wagon.” (Mostima)
We both nodded with bitter expressions.
“This doesn’t feel right.” (Pram)
“I agree, but we’re going to change it.” (Mostima)
“Or let Keeno kill every sleazy mongrel in this city.” (Freya)
“Whichever comes first.” (Mostima)
“Mmmm. Murder…mongrels.” (Keeno)
She remained asleep but shifted position slightly.
{How cute.}
“She really is.” (Pram)
“Yeah.” (Freya)
“Ehehe.” (Mostima)
Mostima then hopped up inside and pulled her hood over her head, her wings and halo practically vanishing in the darkness of the covered wagon, leaving only her tail to lazily sway too and fro. Five minutes later a man wearing light armor hopped into the wagon and looked around. He had a look like he just ate a lemon until his eyes saw the sleeping Keeno. He did a double take when he saw her four tails and the long ears on her head.
“Apologies ladies, but is that sleeping beauty there alright?”
“Yes. She got super motion sick, and I had to put her to sleep with magic. Once we, hopefully settle in, she should be in top shape.” (Pram)
“You’re a good servant then. Shame you met these stupid Eclipse Knights, but whatever. Let your lady know that she will most likely get a summons to appear in front of the Council. We will let Knight Commander Margaret as well.”
The guard’s gaze never left Keeno, the apparent lust in his eyes making my skin crawl. He stepped out of the wagon, and we waited until we couldn’t hear him moving to speak.
“All in favor of letting her burn this place to the ground?” (Freya)
“““Aye.””” (Pram, Freya, Mostima)
{Aye!!}
“Mmnn. Burn.” (Keeno)
Several minutes later the wagon started to move again. I expected Margaret to poke her head in with her usual apologetic manner at some point, but she never did. Getting curious as to why, I unfastened the knot on the cloth flap that acted as a window after having Mostima take over pillow duty.
What I saw was a city made of white stone, small waterways winding down the sides of the streets and down channels on most every building. Funny looking trees with big, wide leaves, so with a brown, nut-like objects handling at the tops. People dressed in colorful clothes chatting happily with one another. Most of them looked to the the same race as Margaret, though there were also several demons and other beastkin. Looking around though, I didn’t see many kitsune. Maybe one or two every so often, but not enough to match the amount Margaret alluded to. The ones I did see though, seemed hollow. They wore clothes that left very little to the imagination, with tops that barely covered their chests and would seemingly slip at even the smallest of movement. Their bottoms, which were small, colorful straps with a near translucent veil covering the important bits, but leaving their hips, thighs, and legs completely exposed also seemed a wrong step away from completely falling off. Deciding I had seen enough, I tied the window flap back and sunk lower, sighing.
“This country is completely doomed. I know we never did our noble purge in Odeen, but I feel that it’s going to happen here.” (Pram)
“That bad?” (Mostima)
I nodded. We sat in relative silence after that, the only noise being the rattling of the wagon, the hum of voices outside, and Keeno’s sleeping breaths. Around an hour after entering the city, we seemed to have entered a tunnel or some kind of other shaded place because the wagon got even darker than it already was, the only real light coming from Keeno’s dragon core, shading everything in a beautiful blue. It was then that Margaret finally poked her head inside.
“Sorry about me delaying this, obligations of my position and what not. We’ve arrived at our Knight’s Headquarters. It’ll take a while for the rest of our people to gather, so I’d like to get you all settled before then.” (Margaret)
“Margaret…” (Pram)
“I know what you want to ask, Pram, and we’ll get to that once all the important people get here. Until then, I ask that you hold your questions…” (Margaret)
By the sorrowful tone in her voice and the way she was avoiding looking in Keeno’s direction, we could all tell she was just as worried about the immediate future as we were. She seemed like she wanted to say something else but stopped herself and just pulled back. We followed her out of the wagon, Mostima carrying Keeno like a sack flower over her shoulder. One of our knight friends led us deeper into the compound to some empty rooms. Mostima laid Keeno down on a bed in one of them before leaving and entering a different one. Freya and I entered a third room and were told that we’d be notified when the meeting was going to start.
“Pram…” (Freya)
“Freya, we need to make sure we reign Keeno in as much as we can. I feel like she’ll be as volatile as she was in Falheim. We won’t stop her from killing mongrels, but we should at least make sure it’s in a place we can cover it up or where no one will find out in the first place.” (Pram)
“I was thinking the same thing…and to think I’m the one who’s supposed to have grown up in this kind of world.” (Freya)
“I also know you’re trying to leave it behind, so me being the one to suggest it is my way of trying to avoid forcing you to look back.” (Pram)
“Silly Pram, if it’s for you, Keeno, Mostima, or the other Valkyries, I’ll gladly use my upbringing’s teachings.” (Freya)
She got up and moved over next to me.
“We’re in this together, Pram. Us against the world.” (Freya)
She touched her forehead to mine, and we closed our eyes.
“Heh. I like this serious version of you, Freya. You should let it out more.” (Pram)
“Well, when there are people like you and Keeno, it’s hard to take the spotlight.” (Freya)
“Then we should look for opportunities for you. Let’s show the world what the aspiring Sun Apostle can actually do.” (Pram)
“Yeah, let’s do it.” (Freya)
Chaos Realm:
Luna: Kill. Murder! DEATH!!!
Tamamo: I will bathe that land in moonfire.
Calm down you two, let things play out.
Tamamo: …
Luna: Kitsune treatment aside, I’m getting a nagging feeling there will be a new Du-Fis interaction soon.
Tamamo: Knowing Keeno, it’s gonna end in a mongrel dying.
Yeah.
Luna: Hmm. Payto, permission to deny fluff.
Denied for now. Wait and see, then I’ll let you.
Luna: Boooo!