Chapter Text
It had been several days since the events of the night when one of the gods of the abyss had tried to take the life of a Priestess of the Ancients. The landscape of the area was quickly returned to normal by the efforts of the Cover Corporation. Since then, the Corp itself has realized that they can use the powers of the Vtuber girls to perform certain tasks, of course, with their own consent. But this topic is for another day.
A single person was walking across the clear, level landscape. It was an ordinary courier, dressed in jeans and a loose blue and black hoodie. On his shoulder was a thermo-bag with an order that he had to deliver to a house that stood in the distance from the city.
At the same time, there was a little commotion in this house. Everyone was getting ready for a little party. Ina and, as it turned out thanks to the Cover Corp report, Masha had recently woken up from a dream after that absorption of the ancient god. Everyone was preparing the food and the table... or rather, Kiara and Calli were doing it.
Gura and Amelia, in their usual manner, just played, competing once again, which of them is better in fighting games (Spoiler: not Ame). No one wanted to disturb either Ina or Masha yet, as they still felt a little weak, which wasn't surprising considering what both of them had been through.
"Girls, can you help me in any way?” Kiara looked out of the open refrigerator at a Gura and Ame “We'll be starting soon, and you're still playing " the phoenix was slightly displeased. After all, a new member of their family was in the house, and it was necessary to hold a welcome party.
"Now... just one more minute... we need to beat that fish ass… “ Before she could finish, Ame’s character was defeated by one precise combination of blows from Gura’s, which caused a large K.O.!!! to appear on the screen. This indicated Gura’s victory and the subsequent cry of Amelia with the throw of the controller on the floor.
” God, you're unbelievable." Kiara giggled, taking several pots of food preparations out of the refrigerator.
There was a knock on the door, which distracted Kiara from her cooking routine. Kiara, still giggling at Amelia's reaction and her cries of displeasure quickly went to the door and opened it.
A courier was standing at the entrance with an already open bag containing four boxes of pizza. Printed on the surface of the boxes was a raptor with rainbow feathers and the signature "Burndoc's."
"Pizza time," said the young delivery guy who served the pizza to Kiara with a cheerful voice. After paying, the phoenix gave a surprised noise.
"You are the owner of this pizzeria. Why do you work as a courier? "
"Why not?"
"Fair. Thank you for your work!"
After saying goodbye to the courier, Kiara brought the pizza into the house and put the boxes on the table, opening the top one and sighing contentedly, inhaling the smell of delicious food
"I love this pizzeria. They always make such a thick layer of toppings"
"If someone keeps eating this kind of food, she'll be a thicc as well," Amelia commented, the corners of her mouth curling into a grin as Kiara began to eat one of the pizza slices.
"As if you don't want it, dear," Kiara said coquettishly, licking her cheese-greasy lips contentedly, casting a meaningful glance at the detective.
”She got you, Ame." Gura could barely contain her laughter as she looked at Ame's blushing red face with embarrassment on her face.
"Shuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup, Gura!”
The shark's peal of laughter and Ame's screech of displeasure were interrupted by one small, quiet cough to attract the girls ' attention.
“You are as loud as ever, girls” Ina came out of her room. Since the event, she has slightly changed her style. Or rather, just the style of her hairstyle. Her hair was shortened to a pixie-like style, but slightly longer. As the girls themselves realized, this was due to Ao-chan merging with Ina. This event turned her long hair into tentacles, which caused her hair to shorten after Ao-chan's essence returned to the depths of Ina's soul and to the book. The girls were not particularly against it, and Ina did not resent it either.
But other girls' attention was attracted to another person. It was Maria, who was shyly hiding behind Ina and peeking over her shoulder, holding her hand as if it were her mother's.
"Don't worry, Masha, they're not mad at you,” Ina said with a caring voice, starting to gently stroke her head to calm her down. "We've prepared something here since you're now part of our family... if you don't mind staying with us.”
Maria shook her head, saying she didn't mind. Ina smiled gently again and now turned to her friends “She still has problems with speaking English, but she understands it surprisingly well.” Ina looked at Masha again, taking her hand gently. "Come on. A new life awaits you.”
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The introduction went quite smoothly. Curious and cheerful, Kiara was, not surprisingly, the first to earn the girl's trust. They talked to each other for a long time, discussing various stories. Kiara talked about times from past lives (and at the same time Masha calmly believed all this... which is not surprising after what happened), and Maria told stories from the Slavic folklore and about the interpretation of the phoenix - the Firebird.
Soon after dinner, Maria was distracted by a duel between Calli and Gura. At first, she only stood aside, but the shark itself saw it. Without hesitation, she offered a third controller with the words "Don't stand still, I see that you’re interested” and with a wide, friendly smile. Maria couldn't resist.
Ina was sitting at the kitchen table, still talking to Amelia. Kiara left with the other girls and Masha just to watch them play. And Ina had a lot to talk about with Amelia... there were too many important things.
“What do you mean by a reward, Ame?” Ina slowly stirred the sugar in her coffee, looking at Amelia Watson and into her beautiful bright blue eyes.
"I thought I told you that Ao-chan promised… They promised to fulfill our heart's desire, and you know what I mean.” Amelia's cheeks flushed slightly, as this topic had been in her mind for a long time, waiting for its allure.
“I believe that Maria was this 'reward'. They left her alive, and she is now our daughter, even if adopted.” Ina exhaled, closing her eyes and taking a sip of her coffee “Still, I don't think They want to give us what you want, and how do you imagine it?”
"Quite easily, Priestess” A third voice answered a completely new but familiar voice... or rather, voices.
Startled and even jumping slightly on the spot, the two girls looked at the empty chair. On it sat a girl, who was a mixture that Amelia had seen for the first time in the abyss-a mixture of her image and Ina.
“How are you in the real world?!" Amelia asked with slight indignation and fear, looking at this appearance of Ao-chan with the same anger and rage, even if these feelings were now more an unpleasant noise in the background.
"By absorbing the essence of another ancient god, We have acquired new features. Now We can interpret Our image into this world for a short time, but We still can't stay away from Our vessel.” They said it in perfectly calm voices as if everything that was happening was normal. “We're here to discuss your reward, Detective and priestess.”
"I thought Masha's spared life was a gift in the first place," Ina looked in surprise at the mixture of herself and Ame that was Ao-chan. She looked at them and her soul became warm and sad at the same time
‘This is how our child could look like… ' It flashed through the priestess ' mind for a moment.
"About this. Ina'nis, we can still hear your thoughts.” The image of Ao-chan's face twisted into a sly smile. "Masha was a pleasant surprise, rather than a real reward, which we prepared for your ... family. "
"Our family? I thought-"
"You thought we would only reward you two with this opportunity.” Ao-chan interrupted Amelia's thoughts, after once again starting to look at a certain place between the two girls. " We originally wanted to do this, but we felt that the best gratitude would be to give this special opportunity on a permanent basis to one of the two of you." After saying this, the ancient god's smile once again twisted into a sly, mysterious smile.
They waved their hand slightly, which was slightly glowing purple, showing the vision in Amelia and Ina's minds, causing the girls ' faces to immediately flash red.
"W-What are you showing us?!” Ame asked, at the height of her confusion and thoughts about this. Ina herself covered her red face with her hands, imagining this vision in reality.
"Choice." Said the Ancient ones quite calmly, "Which of you two will be the bearer of this opportunity, so to speak. But choose wisely, I'm not going to change what I give you later."
Ina and Ame thought about it. The reward was truly incredible at its core, but ... it could give them what they had wanted for so long.
"So..” Ame asked Ina in a whisper, her voice slightly trembling with excitement and anticipation.
"I ... I think that the best option will be me," said the priestess, also worried, looking at Amelia. "After all, I am more used to the magic of Ao-chan and it will be easier for me with this one..piece"
"Yes... perhaps you are right... and the subsequent event is easier for me to bear... after all, you are not as hardy as I am," said Amelia, already returning to her usual impudent joking state with a cocky smile.
"Do you think I'm against it? I'll be glad to see you in a new role in a couple of months," Ina kept up with Amelia, answering her in a flirtatious tone, then breaking out with the detective in a joyful laugh.
Ao-chan watched the two of them. They were right, after all. People are incredible creatures, interesting for their chaotic emotions. These emotions were the engine of the incredibly beautiful things created in this world. And this amused the Ancients.
Sighing, they coughed to attract the attention of the couple."Have you decided? We can't stay in this world for so long, even in this form, and we don't want others to see us except you."
Amelia and Ina looked at each other again and sighed. They held hands and lightly pressed their foreheads against each other and then kissed gently. "Yes."
Ina looked with confidence in her eyes and a smile on her face at the Ancients."We have chosen, Ao-chan. "
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The evening was a success. Masha was able to get close to all the girls from HoloEn, understanding them better and becoming comfortable in this house. But even though it was fun, she was still a person who had endured terrible and exhausting events. And even after a few days of sleep, she still got tired quickly, so soon she was quite snoring in her sleep in her private room.
And it was this moment that they decided to choose Ame and Ina for a small conversation with their friends. As the five of them watched the first season of the show on Netflix, Amelia cleared her throat slightly to get her friends ' attention.
"Kiara, Calli, Gura ... Ina and I have something to say.” A slight blush covered the detective's cheeks, who was still rather embarrassed by the news.
Ina, seeing this, giggled sweetly, then turned to her interested friends "Remember what Ao-chan said if we do what he asked?”
Calli gave a long chuckle, folding her arms over her chest. “Man, the Ancient entities are so difficult to communicate with, I don’t pay much attention to what they promise,” Calli said with a sigh, putting the show on pause. “They could have meant anything by the reward, and we don't even know what it is.”
"Well... while you were having fun with Masha, Ao-chan decided to talk to us,” Amelia said with a slight giggle, while all three girls looked warily at Ina and Ame."Nothing serious. They just explained what the reward would be and gave a choice of who would be ... the chosen one.”
"A chosen one?” Gura and Kiara asked in unison, surprised.
A thought flashed through Calli's mind ‘This leads to nothing good.'
"Well… “ After that, Ina and Ame briefly explained the essence of Ao-chan's award.
With each new word, their friends’ faces turned redder and redder. Even Calli's normally pale face was as red as a tomato after the explanation.
After listening to everything completely, the first person to speak was Gura. She chuckled slightly and looked at her friends with a cheeky smile. ”Something to say.” With these words, she elicited several reactions at once: Ina and Callie's confused, restrained but sincere laughter; Calli's thunderous disappointed Guh; and Amelia's prolonged, aching moan.
"Gura, you're such a dork,” Amelia said with a playful smile, shaking her head while Gura herself giggled contentedly with a smile full of teeth.
”That's why you love me, Ame, " Gura replied playfully, emphasizing the detective's name, wagging her tail contentedly, like a puppy that has just been praised.
"Okay, we should go to bed… At least I want to do it, I feel... very ... tired,” Ina said, yawning long and leaning her head on the detective's shoulder, causing blondy herself to chuckle softly.
"Looks like it's my turn to sleep in the same bed with you today, heh heh heh.”
“If you continue behaving like you are smart, you'll sleep on the couch, Ame,” Ina said more wearily but playfully, already halfway into the dream realm, but drawing chuckles from the rest of the group.
"Okay, our priestess needs to rest if she's going to be chosen for this gift,” Kiara said, after stretching. "Good night, girls!” Kiara sang as she and Calli went back to their room.
"Hey, I wanted to sleep with Ina today! This is unfair,” Gura said in a mock offended voice, looking with her sad ocean blue eyes at Amelia, who only smiled slightly.
"You will be with her for two days in a row, I keep my word.”
After that, Ame, with Ina in her arms and Gura by her side, went to their rooms to rest and meet the new day tomorrow.
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The weather at night was magnificent. Half-darkness, illuminated by a white moon and many stars in the sky. The quiet chirping of crickets and the occasional chirp of birds. A peaceful, romantic setting that would be perfect for a romantic evening under the moon. Peace and quiet, which were deservedly received by the girls who were tired of the past crazy days.
But some of them couldn't sleep. Ina felt very strange. Something inside her body was burning, and the area just below her waist was tingling uncomfortably. The priestess opened her eyes sleepily, looking around the room where she had been sleeping.
There was nothing unusual. The same room she'd gotten since moving into the house. The beloved girl at his side, who was quite snuffling with a silly smile and an occasional quiet giggle. Ina wanted to admire the view, but the unpleasant feeling wouldn't go away.
Ninomae Ina'nis quietly got out of bed so as not to wake Amelia, after which she went to the bathroom to just come to her senses. Turning on the light, she closed her eyes slightly and groped her way to the sink. With her eyes narrowed to protect them from the glare, the priestess turned on the tap and began to wash her face. A couple of minutes passed, but the strange feeling did not want to go away.
“What the hell is this?” Ina muttered under her breath, determined to see what was going on below her navel. Slowly, still half-asleep, she pulled off the bottom of her pajamas so that she could freeze for a long time afterward.
It was several minutes before the priestess could say anything. Well, how to say it. Yell out loud from a mixture of shock, surprise, and incredible embarrassment at what she saw. Her whole face and neck were covered with a bright red blush, and Ina herself hid her face from what she saw. And somewhere in the background, in her head, the Ancients were laughing slyly and deliberately...
At Ina's cry, Amelia came running, who woke up quickly enough “Ina?! Are you okay?! Is someone threatening you?" Amelia was standing in the middle of the doorway, looking at Ina, who had her back to her.
Hearing Amelia, Ina spun around, completely forgetting that she herself was incredibly confused by "Ame I...It...It's...I have a...." Ina sighed with embarrassment on her face "I-it's!!! It's...WEIRD!! I don’t know what hap-"
"-WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” Amelia also shouted in surprise at what she saw. The detective's face also turned bright red, and her heart began to beat faster.
"I... It looks like this is the same gift that Ao-chan was talking about…” Ina said softly, still recovering from her embarrassment. She was looking at Amelia, whose pajamas were slightly pulled down, making the neckline too large and Ina could see enough to feel the pleasant heat spreading through her body.
Amelia noticed how the “gift” reacted to her appearance. Chuckling, Ame gathered her strength with difficulty and stood up to her full height, exhaling, rubbing her forehead "I knew that these assholes would come up with something unusual…”
Ina didn't say anything to that. She didn't know what to do in this situation “Ame… I ... I know this moment is a little... unusual.… But what should we do?” Ina spoke in a low, confused voice, still very confused by what was happening.
Ame looked up at Ina. She looked at that sweet, confused face of the love of her life. After that, she looked once more at where the two girls ' attention had been focused for the past few minutes. A few seconds passed before a strange light flashed in Amelia's eyes and a flirtatious smile appeared on her face. “I believe that we need to conduct… a test run.”
Ina looked at the detective in mild surprise, and the only thing she could say was a clear and loud enough “What?"
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Ina felt incredible. A pleasant little ache all over her body after the night, a warm feeling inside her body, and the feeling of the remaining kisses all over her body. It was a beautiful wild night. Because of this, she woke up quite late, which only made her feel more tired. But she knew what could help her, and that something was a big hot cup of fresh coffee she decided.
It was nearly lunchtime, but the house was quiet enough. Kiara and Calli left a note saying they'd gone shopping with Masha to pick up clothes for the girl. Ina didn't find Gura in her room, so she assumed the shark was playing with pets. So Ina realized that she had the whole house to herself for the next few hours. Smiling contentedly, she went down to the first floor, still wearing her pajamas, which were quite rumpled from the night before. She went into the kitchen and stood at the coffee machine, humming to herself and enjoying the memory of the past event.
”Ahem." Ina jumped slightly on the spot. She turned toward the kitchen table to see the Guru sitting behind it.
"Gura, don't scare me like that… Good morning,” Ina said as she exhaled, continuing to make herself a cup of coffee and filling her plate with a grain breakfast.
Upon seeing Ina for the first time that morning, Gura smiles and waves, "Mornin', nothing like freshly baked bread huh?" she gives Ina a knowing smile.
Ina stares at her smug face in confusion for a moment, looks down at her bowl of cereal then back up at Gura. "Gura, what....?"
Gura ignores the question and goes about making her own breakfast. "Though it's weird for you to be baking so late at night. I could hear you and Amelia through the walls..." She says so casually it takes Ina's brain a few solid minutes to click the pieces in place.
Once Ina's brain finally catches on her face is aflame and she needs to hide her head in her hands, staring down into her breakfast "Gura...Gura oh my god...???"
Gura laughs as she sits at the table. "Sure hope you pre-heated her oven!" Ina wants to drown in her cereal.
"GURA!"
"You know, after what Ao-chan said... You can even make a stuffed chicken," Gura was pleased with herself. Ina was absolutely defeated, confused, her face red from ear to ear.
Ina felt an incredible heat due to the blood coming to her face, which made her entire face red with shame and embarrassment. She sat down at the table with difficulty, looking cleanly at her plate, which made Gura unable to see her eyes “Were ... were we... so loud?” Ina asked softly, making it seem like she was about to cry.
"Ina? If it really hurt you, please I’m sorry'' Gura said, already worried, getting up from her seat and walking over to the priestess, putting her arm around her shoulders “I didn't mean to offend you, I really thought it was funny.”
But something about the priestess had changed. She slowly raised her head and looked into Gura's eyes with a strange look. And in a deep, serious voice, Ina counterattacked.
"Keep that up and we're gonna have shark soup for dinner."
Now it was time for Gura to blush and be embarrassed, and only a soft, trembling "A” came out of the shark's mouth in response.
“This game can play two players, sharky.” Ina comes closer to Gura with a cheeky whispering in her ears. After playing with the confused Gura for a while, Ina sat back down with a soft, sweet laugh, after which she patted Gura's head to reassure her, “I'm not offended at you at all, I was just surprised that we were so loud.” The priestess said, sipping some coffee, still with a playful smile "But my suggestion about… the ‘game’ is still valid.”
“Gosh…” Gura quite giggled, unexpectedly for the priestess, quickly kissing her on the lips, then just as playfully smiling in response "Let's try it, Ina ~”
Chuckling, Ina straightened up and smiled enigmatically in response “Only tomorrow, my dear sharky.”