Word count 9,816
"Right." Chris said. "Let's end this."
"Hahahahaha!"
Claire and Chris flinched at the sudden laugh before looking up the nearby stairs, their eyes widening at the sight of Alexia standing up there, smirking sadistically down at them.
"It's Alexia!" shouted Chris, putting himself in front of Claire.
"It is almost time, you genetically inferior siblings!" she declared, sneering at them before turning and walking away.
"After her! I really don't want her to finish whatever it is she's doing!" said Chris, something that Claire agreed with thoroughly.
They began running up the stairs-
*CRRAAAASSSHHH*
- Only to stumble as a massive tentacle bursted through a nearby wall, before slamming right in the middle of the stairs.
Chris and Claire jumped away, but the ground crumbled beneath Chris who fell down with a pained grunt.
The massive tentacle then seemingly stared at the scene for a moment, before leaving back through the new hole in the wall.
Claire waited a few seconds to make sure that it was really gone, before scrambling towards the broken stairs and looking at her brother down on the floor.
"Chris!" she screamed.
"I'm fine!" he shouted back. "Just give me a second…"
Chris sat up, shaking his head with a grimace.
Claire pursed her lips, and then began cautiously going down to her brother.
Once she was down, she took her brother and put him against a nearby pillar to rest for a moment-
Only for both of them to freeze when Alexia's mad laughter was once again heard from the stairs.
The difference was that she wasn't mockingly laughing at them… but at a black-clothed man that Claire immediately recognized.
"Wesker." she whispered, and by her side Chris's expression turned dark, as they both hid behind the pillar and began watching the upcoming confrontation.
"At last, I found you, Alexia." declared Wesker. "Come with me." he ordered.
Alexia sneered hatefully at him, not moving an inch.
Wesker slowly began to walk towards her. "You're responsible for the creation of the T-Veronica virus. And now, the only existing sample is in your body… I want it. Now." he ordered, voice cold and hard.
"You want it?" whispered Alexia. "You are not worthy of its power!" she snarled.
And then she began walking towards Wesker… and both Redfield siblings inhaled sharply in surprise as her body began to transform.
First her body seemingly began to set itself on fire, and then her skin turned grey, and plant-like growth began covering up parts of her body.
Wesker took a step back at the sight, genuine shock clearly visible across his usually grim features, before Alexia slapped Wesker so fast that Claire was barely able to see it, Wesker doing a full jump through the air before falling back on his feet, eyes narrowing grimly towards the inhuman woman in front of him.
Alexia jumped, trying to get right on top of Wesker, but he rolled to the side, quickly getting back to his feet, and for a few seconds both sides seemingly took one another in.
"You're coming with me." finally declared Wesker, his voice carrying the faintest trace of interest… and greed.
Then everything went down incredibly fast, as Alexia raised a hand which suddenly caught on fire, throwing fire right at where Wesker was, only for him to literally jump and then run on the wall, successfully catching Alexia with a punch in the face when he jumped off of it towards her before rolling away as Alexia kept sending more fire his way.
The next time that Alexia raised her arm however, both Chris and Claire cursed and jumped out of the pillar they were hiding behind as a stream of fire failed to hit Wesker but smashed right where they were in.
For a moment, everyone froze as Chris and Wesker stared at each other.
"Chris!" shouted Wesker, half surprise and half anger in his voice.
"Wesker!" growled Chris, his voice containing only rage.
Alexia took advantage of Wesker's distraction to throw yet more fire his way, catching his right arm, though Wesker was quick to put the fire out and refocus on the greater threat that was Alexia.
And then he paused, and turned towards Chris again with a slight smirk.
"Chris, since you always were my best man, I'll let you handle this." he said, before running through the entrance of the manor they were in a second before Alexia set the doors on fire.
Chris tried to rush towards the stairs, but Alexia set them on fire with another wave of her right arm, making it clear that both Claire and Chris would have to fight to escape her.
"Claire, you have your weapons?"
"I do. Alexia, in all of her so-called genius, apparently didn't see fit to remove them when she caught me." she replied, before pausing and whispering very quietly "That, or Aeon cheated."
Chris nodded. "Good. You wanted her dead, well she's right there, so let's end this!"
And with that, putting action to words he took his shotgun and fired, while Claire did the same with her las-pistol.
Alexia sent yet more fire her way, seemingly unconcerned about the shots, but winced and staggered when her laser shots hit.
"She really doesn't like heat, ironically!" Shouted Claire, and Chris smirked. "I saw! Keep firing, I'll keep her off you!"
Alexia snarled, throwing more and more fire their way, and Claire wondered what Aeon would do in this scenario…
Probably something crazy, like cutting through the fire with nothing but a sword or something. She thought with amusement, even as she kept firing more and more shots into the inhuman woman.
"Dodge!" suddenly screamed Chris, and Claire reacted on instinct, jumping away from her position-
A second before yet another massive tentacle like the one who broke part of the stairs slammed through the ceiling and into the ground where she just was a second ago.
Claire didn't have time to breathe in relief, as Alexia sent more fireballs her way, forcing her to roll out of the way-
*KA-BOOM!*
- at least until the whole entrance of the building they were in shook as a grenade exploded right in front of Alexia, sending her flying back and through a wall.
"Never take your eyes out of your opponents!" triumphantly screamed Chris, who obviously used Alexia's focus with killing Claire against her.
Claire smirked, before making her way towards the broken part of the wall…
Only to find no corpse there.
She growled. "Dammit! She escaped!"
"Then come on. Let's track her down and kill her once and for all." said Chris.
Claire nodded. Alexia wasn't going to get away! Not if she had anything to say about it!
As they tried to track down Alexia, they came across a secret lab where they found information indicating that both of the Ashford heirs were created through genetic experiment meant to create the most intelligent human being possible, with Alfred considered a relative success and Alexia being exactly what the Ashford senior wanted: an individual with genius-level intellect.
A rather ironic fact, considering that it's that very intellect that saw him end up as a mindless monster, experimented on by his own daughter.
Either way, they managed to find a control room for the facility and activate the self-destruct system, but the moment they tried to leave, the massive tentacle controlled by Alexia bursted through the ground of the platform they were on, before the tip opened up to release the now inhuman Alexia in front of them.
"What are we gonna do?" shouted Claire, with Chris quickly looking around-
Only for his eyes to settle on an experimental weapon laying nearby.
He smiled.
"Claire, turned the key simultaneously clockwise with me on three to release that weapon!"
"Got it!" replied Claire when she saw what her brother was looking at.
Chris rushed towards one of the keys, Claire doing the same for the other, as behind them Alexia began to mutate even further.
"One… two… three!"
The weapon locks opened, and Chris rushed to claim the anti- B.O.W's rail cannon before turning back towards Alexia.
"Distract her!" he shouted, and Claire immediately began firing on Alexia.
The inhuman woman, having finally finished mutating, flinched slightly at the shots, her monstrous gaze turning to look straight at Claire.
She waved her hand, creating a line of fire straight towards Claire that Chris' sister desperately rolled out of the way of, before once again firing some more shots.
With the platform they were on having no cover, the only thing that Claire could do was to keep moving, and that's exactly what she did, dodging and rolling away from blasts of fire and the occasional attack from the giant tentacle controlled by Alexia.
Claire's eyes narrowed however, when she noticed that Alexia was trying to box her in using her lines of fire, and for a moment she contemplated how to get out of the trap…
Before she started grinning. It would either work, or fail spectacularly, but at least she wouldn't need to worry about the fire-
-if she charged straight at Alexia!
Rushing forward, Alexia's eyes widened ever so slightly at the sight, the first sign of human emotion appearing from her since her metamorphosis, before she and Claire engaged in a quick knife to hand combat as Claire used a knife she had found on Rockford Island to try and stab her.
Unfortunately, Alexia was far quicker and stronger than her in her new form, and easily sent the knife flying before grabbing Claire by the throat.
"Claire!" shouted Chris at the sight, glancing down at the charging rail cannon-
Claire smirked and slammed her forehead down on Alexia's face, who stumbled back, releasing her more out of surprise than pain.
Chris grinned and pointed at Alexia… before pressing the trigger.
Alexia flew backward, crashing hard on the ground… only for her body to start visibly mutating out of control as it suddenly lost any human appearance and turned into some kind of grotesque Queen ant-like body a dozen times the size of a human being.
Despite the sudden transformation, Claire only grinned widely… and took out her grenade launcher.
Alexia's new form was stronger than her previous one… but it was slow and very, very big.
Which made it a very easy target for both Redfield siblings to fire at.
As seen when suddenly Alexia's body began to bulge unnaturally, and Chris promptly turned towards his sister as his instincts screamed at him.
"Run!" he screamed, before doing exactly that himself.
Claire didn't need to be told twice, and both siblings ran as fast as they could away from Alexia-
- Who, after one last scream of agony, visibly lost control of her mutations and promptly exploded into a massive shover of gore.
Chris and Claire didn't stop running, as the alarm of the self-destruct system continued to blare across the facility…
Until they suddenly stopped as they came into the outside of the facility, where Wesker stood waiting.
"Well done, Chris. It turns out that Alexia's work didn't turn out to be much of anything of note. So now, the only thing left… is revenge." he declared, glaring coldly at Chris.
Chris hesitated, then glanced towards Claire.
"You get out of here, Claire."
His sister stared at him in shock.
"But what about-"
"As a surviving member of S.T.A.R.S, I have to finish this."
Claire visibly struggled with herself… and then nodded firmly.
"Remember your promise, don't you dare die on me now, okay?"
Chris smiled. "You got it."
Claire ran away, and Chris stared at Wesker, who did the same back, the bloodlust between both so thick it could almost be cut with a knife.
"I'll finish this once and for all." Chris grimly declared.
Wesker smiled slightly. "Today is a good day. I may not have gotten Alexia, but you are arguably a much better prize. I'm going to enjoy killing you, Chris."
Wesker began to slowly walk forward, Chris backing up slightly… before his left hand knocked on a nearby steel pipe.
He quickly took it and smashed it on Wesker's face, before trying to bash Wesker's skull in…
Only for Wesker to put his arm in the way, the man not even blinking as the steel pipe bent against his arm.
He took the pipe with one hand and then kicked Chris faster than he could react, causing him to fly back and land roughly on the ground.
Chris coughed in pain, while around him the facility began to shake as it entered the last phase before the self-destruct system went off, and Wesker chuckled darkly as he began to walk towards Chris.
Chris tried to stand up, only for Wesker to punch him, again and again, before kneeing him in the guts and making Chris fall on all four, coughing painfully and bleeding from a broken nose and wincing at the black eyes he could feel forming, on top of several bruises.
Wesker exulted at the sight. "Sure I'm not human anymore, but just look at the power I've gained!" he exclaimed, laughing gleefully.
He punched Chris yet again, sending him flying and crashing on the ground painfully, left to stare blankly for a few seconds at the ceiling while Wesker cackled…
And then Chris blinked, seeing the dozen of heavy steel beams hanging right above him.
"If you want to fight him off, you need to be tricky. A straight fight will have you lose horribly, Chris. Keep that in mind, when you meet him again."
Chris smirked slightly. Yeah, well I have a god on my side, Wesker. Go and try to top that.
"Magnificent!" Gloated Wesker. "Don't you think?" he asked, before rushing towards Chris.
Chris barely jumped out of the way, before releasing the cable holding the steel beams-
Right on top of Wesker.
The man glanced from Chris to the rolling cable to the the incoming doom above-
And then gasped loudly in pain as they crashed right on top of him.
Chris shifted, sitting back against a nearby wall and panting from the pain his body was in…
And then he froze, as the steel beams shifted.
In shock, he stared as Wesker slowly got on his feet, before opening his slitted eyes again, looking straight at Chris with a mix of pain and hatred.
What the hell do I need to do to put him down for good?! Chris thought, incredulous at Wesker's survival. A regular human would be a bloody smear on the ground right now!
Still, he slowly got up, taking heart in the fact that Wesker stumbled out towards him, a trail of blood going down his mouth and chin to fall on the ground.
Wesker survived, but as evidenced by his gasps of pain, it wasn't without wounds.
For a moment, the two men stood before each other, panting and gasping slightly in pain, before Wesker scowled. "Nice try." he grudgingly and hatefully praised.
"Wesker-" Chris snarled back-
*KA-BOOM!*
- only to be sent flying back as a nearby explosion sent both men flying.
When Chris looked up, the ground between him and Wesker was on fire, a massive broken pillar standing in the way, while Wesker himself was holding one side of his face, horrendous burns on his face.
Even still, Wesker snarled, before calming down.
"Today is your lucky day." Wesker declared, looking disgusted and hateful but resigned. "Next time we meet, don't count on another." he spat.
"Next time." Agreed Chris, no less hateful.
"Until we meet again!" shouted Wesker, before the man turned and walked away, laughing to himself darkly.
Chris sent one last dark look at Wesker's back, before running towards the plane he had come here with. Hopefully, Claire should have noticed it since it was in the general direction of where she went to…
He ran as fast as he could while the whole facility shook from more and more internal explosion, all the while trying to not slow down because of all the wounds he took fighting Wesker, until finally-
*KA-BOOM!*
"Aaah!"
Chris was sent flying… only to crash right on top of the front of the plane where his sister waited for him.
"Chris!" she shouted.
He turned towards her, trying not to show in just how much pain he was in. "Hey. You know I always keep my promises." he said with a smile.
Claire laughed, more in relief than at his words, but Chris would take it.
"Was your mission successful?"
"Yes sir. We lost two men, but we got the samples while you were keeping the Redfields busy."
"Good." Declared Wesker, as he felt his wounds slowly but surely heal. "Very good. Between the death of the Ashford heirs, the destruction of Rockford Island and this facility, this mission was a success. The Organization will be pleased."
And hopefully, studying the T-Veronica virus will give me the edge I need to kill Chris the next time we meet. he thought, his hatred burning bright as he felt the pain his body was in after their last encounter.
"- and that's everything." declared Chris, as he and Claire sat in the briefing room that Aeon and the others had used to inform them of many truths of the world in what felt like so long ago, when it was in truth only a few months.
Lucy nodded.
"Yes, that goes along with what Aeon told me. Needless to say, the loss of everything that the Ashford were connected to, on top of the new investigations into Umbrella as a result of recent events, has only accelerated the downfall of Umbrella. It won't be quick, Umbrella is just too big for that, but it certainly made things go from bad to worse for them."
Chris snorted. "A shame, truly." he declared, sarcasm so thick in his voice that it could almost peel the paint off the walls.
Lucy smirked. "As you say. Still, there's one bad news in all of this: Aeon-" she waved at the man seated nearby "-confirmed that Wesker's forces used the distraction of your fight with him to get samples of the T-Veronica virus from Alexia's corpse."
Claire and Chris' eyes widened. "They did?! But-" Chris stopped, before cursing loudly. "Of course Wesker was lying. I should have known!"
Lucy smiled sympathetically. "For what it's worth, it isn't as bad as it sounds. Sure they got samples, but they have none of the research notes and data on the virus that the Ashford possessed. It's going to take them years before Wesker can do anything with it, at best."
Both Redfields scowled, but nodded. It wasn't all that much of a good news, but it was something, at least.
"So what now?" asked Claire.
Lucy glanced at Aeon, who was patiently waiting for the debriefing of the recent events to be over to breach a certain topic.
Aeon glanced back and nodded, before leaning forward.
"Well, that's up to you. As mentioned, Umbrella is in deep shit, and Wesker and his Organization needs time to get anything done. So at least for a while, we should have a moment of relative peace."
He chuckled. "Relative, since we're still going to try our best to bring Umbrella down, but at least things should be relatively quiet for a while. Which brings me to an important question, one that I asked you both before: Are you both interested in becoming Hunters?"
Claire and Chris shared a look. They had had a lot of time to talk after escaping from Antarctica, and beyond just catching up on everything they had gone through since they had last met, they had naturally talked about Aeon and everything connected to him.
Including his offer of becoming Hunters.
The two Redfield siblings nodded at one another before looking back at Aeon.
"We are." they declared.
Lucy and Aeon smiled, though Aeon still asked a question.
"I have some ideas of the answer, but why the change of heart?"
Chris scowled. "You told me that Wesker was too strong now to be easily killed by normal humans. I… honestly, I didn't listen to you on it. I just… I was so focused on revenge that all I wanted was to kill him myself."
"And then you met him, and he kicked your ass. Twice." bluntly replied Aeon, though not without some sympathy.
Chris winced, but nodded. "And he kicked my ass twice, yes. And the only reason I am still alive was because of a lot of sheer, dumb luck each time…" he gave a pointed look at Aeon. "Or maybe not just luck. Point is, I can't win against him as I am. So I'll swallow my pride and do as I should have done from the start: accept help when it is freely given."
Aeon smiled at him, clear approval in his eyes, before turning towards Claire.
She shifted slightly at the looks thrown her way, but still stared back into Aeon's eyes without flinching.
"I changed." she declared. "When we first met, I was just going to Raccoon City to find Chris." she ignored the slight flinch from him at her words. "But then everything… happened, and suddenly I was neck deep in secret conspiracies and monsters and the knowledge that the world could possibly end at any moment if some of the most powerful people in the world had their way. It was… well, it was terrifying." she bluntly said.
She took a deep breath, before exhaling. "I was scared, to be honest. Terrified, really. I wasn't Chris, I never wanted to be a soldier or be put in a situation where I had to fight for my life. And yet, I wasn't given a choice. Oh sure, I had you to protect me, and I'll be forever grateful for that, " she said with a smile towards Aeon, "but I was still surrounded by zombies and worse. And then everything with Sherry…"
She fell silent, before speaking again.
"Even after Raccoon City, I still wasn't sure of what I was going to do. It was still too much, too soon. I knew I wanted to do something, help ensure that no one would have to suffer like Sherry did, but… I was still lost, confused, and yes, scared."
She glanced at Chris, then looked straight in Aeon's eyes.
"But no longer. I saw how evil Umbrella was, yet again. I saw how fragile the peace in the world was, how many monsters live in it. I can't just sit back after all this. That's not who I am, that's not who I want to be. So… I'll do it. I'll become a Huntress, and that way the next time I'll be thrown into a situation where I have to save the world I'll be ready."
Aeon and Chris looked at her with a surprisingly similar mix of pride and sadness, as if they couldn't quite decide whether they were proud of her for wanting to fight for the world, or sad that it was required of her in the first place.
Then both settled with merely acceptance and quiet approval.
"Then, so shall it be. Come on, then. Let's get on with it, since we are done here." Aeon finally declared, getting up from his chair and turning towards a nearby wall, a portal suddenly opening on it.
"Go on." Urged Lucy. "I still have work to do, but you have your own things to take care of."
Claire and her brother exchanged one last look… and then followed after Aeon.
"Aeon."
"Chris." I nodded, before glancing towards Claire, who was staring at her right fist, slowly opening and closing it.
No doubt trying to get used to the sudden boost in strength as a result of the Old Blood now flowing in her veins. It was quite something, I knew that well.
Chris turned to look at his sister, and for a moment we both looked at her in silence.
"Here to give me the shovel speech?" I finally said, half-joking and half-expecting exactly that.
Chris snorted, before glancing at me.
"To a god?" he replied.
"Would that stop you if you felt it was needed?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
He stared at me for a moment before grinning.
"Absolutely not." he answered bluntly.
We chuckled, before looking back at Claire.
"Just… take good care of her, alright? Ever since our parents died, it was only the two of us. I wanted to keep her away from all of this, safe and free to live a happy, peaceful life, but…"
He sighed deeply.
"I guess I screwed that up, huh? If I had gone to talk to her after the Mansion, maybe... "
He shook his head, falling silent.
"Not easy to see her going straight for the frontline instead, huh?" I replied.
Then I sighed. "I kinda understand, if a bit differently. You heard about Sherry, right?"
Chris grimaced. "I did. Poor kid. Still, good for you to take care of her after everything." he said, approval clear in his voice.
I smiled. "Yeah, well she needed somewhere to go, somewhere where she could be safe and be free to grow up happy." I replied, though it was only part of the motivations behind it.
There was also the fact that she reminded me of Violetta, or that I knew that Oedon would love to have a child to raise, or… well, there were many reasons.
"Point is, I know that one day, Sherry will follow Claire's and my footsteps."
Chris winced sympathetically. "Shit, seeing my sister in danger is bad enough, but sending your own daughter against zombies and worse? I don't envy you, Aeon."
I snorted.
"Oh, it gets better. I'll have to be the one to train her, of course. Like hell I'm letting anyone else do it. Which means that I'll have to hurt, even be brutal with my own daughter one day. And I can already tell that Sherry will take it all without complaints, because she'll want to make me proud."
I sighed. "I'm really not looking forward to it, but the battlefields she'll walk upon one day leave me no choice. You can't half-ass training, that's just asking to get someone killed."
And I'm not Gehrman, so I won't just throw them to the beasts and let them break or thrive on their own merits. Just because someone won't stay dead isn't a good enough reason to throw them to their death without proper training, you cold-hearted old bastard! I mentally grumbled.
Sure, I knew it wasn't quite so simple, but still, "Go out and kill a few beasts, it's for your own good!" does not make a good training plan, Gehrman!
While I was busy mentally grumbling about uncaring old mentors and their brutal idea of training, Chris winced at my words, before turning thoughtful, a frown growing on his face.
I glanced at him and frowned slightly myself.
"No, that's not a reason to not get kids of your own if you find someone you love, Chris." I said bluntly.
Chris flinched, before staring at me wide-eyed.
"How-"
"God." I said bluntly. Though considering he never got kids in cannon… "Look, I understand that you might not want to have kids in a dangerous world, but that's no excuse. The world will always have its dangers, and always have its evils. If you wait until it doesn't, then you're going to wait until the end of time."
He hesitated, so I went for the killing blow.
"If you let yourself be ruled by fear like that, I'll tell Claire about it." I declared, before pausing.
"Claire and Oedon." I amended, smirking at him.
He stared at me with wide eyes. "You-"
"-totally would do it. As both your new teacher, friend, and god, I'm not going to stand up for you being stupid on my watch."
"Then what about you?" he fired back. "You got Sherry, but I imagine that both Lucy and Oedon would want to have children at some point, and they've been with you for some time now, right?"
I fell silent, but eventually answered.
"I do plan on going for it eventually, but I'm waiting until certain events come to pass."
"Like what?" He wondered.
I frowned, looking away.
Like when I will know for sure whether or not I need to wage war against the Eldritch Pantheon or not, I thought grimly. After all, it's not the battlefields of this world that concern me for Sherry. It's those that will follow.
And I can't know for sure whether or not they will be friendly, hostile or somewhere in between until I go to the center of the Omniverse and find out the hard way.
At the very least, If the next jump proves as fruitful as I'm hoping, I might get an ally strong enough to make a difference in a war between cosmic gods.
I just need to find out if my hopes for Humanity's strongest hero will prove themselves… If not, then I'll have to handle things with Oedon and Lucy alone.
Though I could theoretically empower people far, far beyond the level of even Hunters if I needed to.
Turn Jill, Rebecca, and the others into full blown Outer Gods, for one, and my True Self had the knowledge necessary to create truly terrifying weapons of mass destruction on cosmic scales…
Maybe pull off what the Old Ones from Warhammer 40K did, create or modify species for war against the Eldritch Pantheon, and/or create robotic armies that would make the C'Tan green with envy…
"Aeon?"
I blinked, then looked at Chris who was looking at me with a concerned look.
Oh right, I did space out on him, didn't I?
I smiled, drawing on my charisma to empower my next words.
"Sorry Chris, I was busy checking out the world for a while. I thought I noticed something of interest, but it was a false alarm. Anyway, what were we speaking about again?"
Chris gave me a weird look, but obviously chalked it up to "god stuff." and soon enough we were speaking about Hunter weapons and training instead.
I sighed internally. I'd have liked to speak more about my concerns for the future, but bluntly speaking, they already had their hands full with their own world.
No need to worry them about something that might just be my well-earned Yharnamite paranoia speaking.
I respected and even loved them, these brave mortals, but in the end they could hardly comprehend the danger of a war like the one that might start once I reached the center of reality.
So for now, I'll let them live in blissful ignorance.
I glanced at a part of my mind, where the memories of the Love Azathoth CYOA rested.
Besides, in the best case scenario there won't be a war… not one against the Eldritch Court at least.
How ironic, that as one of the most powerful beings in existence, even I could still feel the desire to pray for good fortune…
"So, how do you feel?"
Claire glanced at Aeon with a smile.
"Strong. Very strong, in a way that is rather awe-inspiring, honestly. And I imagine that it's so much more true in your case, isn't it?"
Aeon nodded. "Ever heard of the saying about a world of cardboard? It's how I feel, sometimes."
He shook his head. "Part of why I try to be pretty cautious of who gets to be a Hunter. Power like that can all too easily get to one's head."
"Yeah, I guess that's a concern… so thank you, for trusting me and my brother with this." she replied, smiling.
Aeon shrugged slightly. "It's hardly a blessing, in my eyes. It's a duty, a responsibility, and a sacrifice. You get to be sent against the worst that the world has to offer, time and again. This power, much like all others really, hardly comes without cost."
"Perhaps, but it still shows the faith you have in us to make the offer in the first place." she pointed out, to which Aeon inclined his head in acknowledgement.
Then he chuckled. "We shall see how long you thank me once we start training."
She grimaced. "Oh boy, considering what you put me through before I became a huntress… It's going to hurt, isn't it?"
Instead of smirking like she expected, he smiled sadly. "Yes, it will. A necessity, I'm afraid. I can't be your friend or boyfriend here, I need to be your teacher… and that means being as ruthless as I need to."
Claire mused on that for a few seconds, before straightening and looking at him straight in the eyes with determination. "Then I won't let you down."
His smile turned fond and proud, before the smirk he most often wore returned.
"And speaking of us… I think it's time we finish a conversation that started that day in Raccoon City, no?"
Claire smirked back. "Oh? And what conversation was that?" she purred, eyes twinkling.
Aeon gently took her chin, stepping closer until they were almost kissing.
"You know exactly the one I'm talking about. You had time to think about things, you said so yourself before, so-"
She cut him off by kissing him, eagerly crossing her arms around his neck as he took her by the ass and raised her up in the air to his level.
Claire happily moaned as Aeon left her breathless, before breaking the kiss once her lungs screamed for air.
Once she had caught her breath, she gave him a sultry look.
"I think I do remember you mentioning having godly skills in many things… care to prove your words?" she purred.
Aeon raised an eyebrow, himself not even slightly out of breath. "Not even a proper date, first?" he asked.
"Aeon," she replied bluntly, "We've been flirting for months, we fought together for our lives- and yes I know you weren't in danger, I'm making a point here- and frankly, your so handsome I would have gladly brought you home for a wild night if we've just met in a bar. So I can't believe I'm going to say this, but stop thinking with your brain and start using your other head, got it?"
Aeon laughed, but nodded, grinning. "Yes ma'am!"
She grinned back. "Good. You can give me that date later, for now I've been looking forward to this for months now, and those were by far the most stressful months of my life, so you better fuck me so hard I can't walk, Huntress or not, or I'm going to be very cross with you."
Aeon smirked. "Well in that case…"
Claire's eyes widened when Aeon took a step forward, and suddenly they found themselves in the middle of a very big bedroom, with the biggest bed that she had yet seen in her life in it.
One that Aeon wasted no time putting her in, and Claire swallowed as both her and Aeon were suddenly completely naked.
Being a god really does have its perks, she thought, enjoying the sight of the towering naked man above her with the most perfect set of abs that Claire had ever seen-
And then her gaze went downward.
She held back a gasp.
Very BIG perks, she thought with wide eyes.
Aeon flashed her a smirk… and then began trailing kisses down her neck, at her breasts and ever downwards, soft approving moans escaping her as her right hand went into his short black hairs while her other clenched tightly the bed sheets underneath her.
She gasped when his mouth finally reached her sex, before her blue eyes turned lidded as his tongue went deep… so deep… holy shit, just how deep could he go?!
"Fuck, Aeon!" she gasped, hips bucking, and she felt him chuckling before continuing, her moans rising as her sex became drenching with arousal.
She crossed her legs behind his neck, biting her lips as she looked down, her eyes meeting Aeon's mirth and lust-filled ones as he keep twisting his tongue inside her which had to be unnaturally long to reach this deep-
"Ah!" she gasped, hips bucking again and her back arching as he found her sweet spot, and with vicious passion he began licking and sucking and-
"Fuuuck!" she cursed, eyes rolling up her head as her orgasm came closer and closer.
Aeon firmly squeezed her ass, pushing himself as deeply inside her as possible, and Claire's eyes crossed before closing, a long gurgling moan escaping her as her orgasm came closer and closer-
And then Aeon pulled back, as much as he could with her legs around his neck, a smug look in his eyes.
"Wha… Why did you stop?!" she whined, blue eyes wide as she stared at him in shock.
Aeon smirked widely. "I think I remember you calling me a sadist a few times in the past, so I feel it's only fair I don't disappoint you now! So with that being said… beg for it." he declared, purring the last words.
Claire stared at him with a mix of desire, arousal… and lust-filled annoyance.
"Bastard-"
Aeon went back and sucked her sweet spot, and Claire gasped, so close to climax-
Only for him to pull back. Again!
For a moment she stared at him in shock again, before she swallowed.
She really should have seen this coming, considering his sense of humour. Of course he would take her words as a challenge…
For a moment, she hesitated. If she really wanted to, he would probably stop with the games…
But then, where was the fun in that?
So she smirked instead, pushing back her pleasure with sheer willpower but letting her desire grow.
"Do your worst." she purred.
As she suspected, Aeon's eyes lit up in eagerness at her words, and Claire shivered as the sheer hunger in his eyes.
Oh, I'm in for it now, she thought with mixed dread and anticipation.
Her eyes went wide as chains suddenly appeared, binding her in a X position, and Aeon smirked widely up at her.
"With pleasure." he purred darkly.
And then he went back down on her, and began teasing her.
Again.
And.
Over.
Again.
Even her newfound strength and stamina as a Huntress didn't help, as it only allowed her to suffer for longer before exhaustion set in!
By the time he was finally satisfied, long after she had finally lost the strength to both plead and curse him, he finally stopped, getting on his knees with a wide smirk, while her legs trembled with exhaustion and glistered with her juices.
"Well! Time for the finishing blow, I think."
And then, finally, he let her orgasm.
It was, by far, the most satisfying climax of her life.
Or at least she certainly thought so, as darkness finally began claiming her after the most intense sexual experience she had ever had-
"Now now, none of that! We're only getting started!"
And then she gasped, eyes going wide as her exhaustion disappeared in an instant, and she stared down at Aeon in shock as he looked at her with a smirk after having given her her stamina back with magic.
He leaned forward, standing above her, his hands taking her thighs and raising them up.
"Time for the real fun to begin!" he said cheerfully… and then he hilted himself in one swift move.
Claire's mouth dropped open, eyes closing as a guttural moan escaped her, and somehow her mind made the connection that he had deliberately drawn out the oral sex and how wet she would be to better allow her to take him inside her.
Not that he didn't enjoy every second of her torments, she knew.
She opened her eyes, glaring at him even as she felt gratitude for him being considerate because holy shit was his the biggest dick she ever took.
And it filled her utterly, so perfectly she wondered if some magic wasn't involved in that too.
He grinned down at her, completely unruffled by her glare.
"Ready, Claire? Because here I come!"
And then he began pounding her into the bed.
And there was no other word for it, because with both his size and strength the only thing she could do was moan and drool as he pounded her into rolling, mind-blowing orgasm one after another.
By her fifth orgasm, she wondered if she had bitten more than she could handle.
By her eighth, the fragment of her still conscious mind that wasn't a drooling wreck knew for sure.
After that, there was only pleasure, and the sensation of being so utterly filled all she could do was hold on to him and try to not pass out.
It didn't take long at that point for her to fail.
Claire slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Her body was sore, the kind of delightfully sore that came after a night of glorious, body and mind-wrecking sex.
It said something that she, who had quite a bit of experience in sex with many, many boyfriends, had never been as sore.
Or, for that matter, as utterly satisfied.
"Why the hell did I ask you to wait so long for this? Fuck, we should have started to fuck like rabbits the second we were done with Raccoon City…" she muttered, still staring at the ceiling.
The bed shuddered… or rather, the massive body on it by her side did as Aeon chuckled.
"Want to go another round? There's quite a few things I've yet to show you, after all…" he whispered seductively.
Claire merely blinked, before glancing at him in shock.
"Again?!"
Aeon shrugged. "Sure. It's not like we don't have the time, I adjusted the time field around the room to essentially ensure no time passed in the rest of existence compared to here."
Claire frowned. "So wait, no time has passed for the rest of the world?"
She paused. "Are you telling me we can have as much sex as we want, without having to worry about time?"
"Or food, or water, or anything else really. The magic in the room ensures that." he smugly replied.
She stared at him.
"You truly are a god, and this is heaven."
Aeon snorted. "I take it, it's a yes, then?" he said with a smirk.
She rolled over him, pinning him down with a fierce look.
"I just got fucked unconscious. I had the best fucking sex of my life. And you just told me you had more tricks up your sleeve? Aeon, neither of us are leaving this room until I'm satisfied that, in normal circumstances, I wouldn't be able to walk for a week. So hold nothing back, because I want it all." she purred.
Aeon smirked, before looking at her curiously.
"How crazy should I-"
"Yes." she said bluntly.
Aeon laughed, before holding her thighs.
"Good. Then let's get started." he declared, and Claire froze as two more Aeons appeared, one above her and one behind.
She glanced at the one underneath her with lust.
"Clones? Fuck, you're literally going to fuck me in every way possible, aren't you?"
"That's the plan." he agreed with a smirk, and Claire happily took the one underneath her in her cunt, before taking the one above in her mouth and spreading her ass cheeks to let the other enter her ass.
The one above took her head in his head and began rocking back and forth, while her tongue rolled around the one in her mouth, which tasted of…
Chocolate?
Fucking hell, magic was awesome!
She let out a delighted moan as she felt herself filled so utterly as the one behind her filled and then began to fuck her ass in tandem with the one in her cunt, before looking up with lust-filed blue eyes at the one fucking her throat.
That Aeon smirked back, and soon the bedroom echoed with her muffled moans as she was effectively fucked stupid all over again, her moans growing louder when two more clones appeared and latched on her breasts, sucking and biting and drawing even more pleasured moans from her.
Over and over again, sometimes in the cowgirl position, sometimes in reverse cowgirl she was taken, fucked and filled so thoroughly that all she could do was twitch in orgasm and mindlessly suck on the cock in her mouth while hands and mouths caressed and sucked all over her body.
When after yet another orgasm from everyone the various Aeon suddenly stopped and removed their cocks from her she groaned in disappointment, opening one eye to glare weakly at the nearest Aeon.
Only for all the clones to be no longer here, with only the original left, currently staring at her thoughtfully.
She opened both her eyes, glancing back in curiosity.
Finally, Aeon spoke.
"I've been thinking of experimenting a bit when it comes to sex lately, and you did mention that I could go all out… Care to try something very different?" he asked.
She frowned thoughtfully.
"What do you have in mind?"
He grinned. "Well I am an eldritch god, so… we had sex as humans do, want to try it in a more eldritch way?"
She raised an eyebrow… before grinning.
"Bring it on."
Aeon grinned back… and then she blinked, as suddenly she was seemingly floating in space.
"What-"
She froze, as dark tentacles seemingly made of the void of space itself curled around her body, restraining her limbs and cupping her breasts.
And then two of those tentacles easily entered her well-fucked pussy and ass, drawing a gasp from her a second before a third went down her throat.
Her back arched as those tentacles felt unnaturally amazing inside her, so good that she came in the spot and easily felt another orgasm growing as they began to piston in and out of her.
More, the space around her itself seemingly began caressing her body, two mouths coming from two dark as void tentacles latching on her breasts and Claire, now positioned like an upside-down Y, clenched her fists in ecstasy as she felt like her whole body was caressed or sucked or fucked, all at the same time.
And then she felt Aeon's presence enter her mind, a second before she not only felt her own body… but also the very sensation of fucking her.
Somehow, she could now feel the smoothness of her inner walls as the tentacle in her pussy fucked her, the tightness of her ass as she was taken, the warmth of her throat as another tentacle went down her mouth…
The softness of her skin as tentacles and cosmic mouths caressed or suckled at her body…
Claire's eyes rolled upwards, body shuddering as she not only felt herself be fucked, but also how good it felt to fuck her.
And then Aeon's mind hugged her, seemingly merging with it and she could now feel his pleasure, his joy and love as they made love and-
Claire's back arched as she orgasmed yet again, feeling Aeon use her magic to keep her body from tiring and allowing them both to keep again, over and over again-
Her body shuddered yet again, and Claire closed her eyes, willingly and eagerly losing herself in the pleasure of it all, her mind going blank and knowing only pleasure as she and the eldritch god claiming her kept on having sex, unbothered by the need for water or food or rest.
Claire's only concern was the sheer pleasure she felt… and how to keep it going for as long as possible.
I mentally smiled as Claire kept writhing in ecstasy, most of my focus on pleasuring her but a part of me simply noting that the new skills and ideas I had thought of were working great.
Mixing tentacles with a pleasure spells inspired by the Crucio spell from Harry Potter, but focused on pleasure, was obviously working amazingly well if her eager sucking and hips trusting was anything to go by (to say nothing of what [Empathy] told me of her feelings) and adding things like sensation sharing, emotions sharing and more just made things so much more intense for her.
Though if those emotions were anything to go by, I had just awakened a whole bunch of new fetishes in her.
I actually had to be careful, as I didn't want to accidentally do with pleasure what the actual Crucio could do with pain and break her mind. Sure I could fix it later with ease, but I didn't think Claire was into literal mind break.
Though I did plan to go to Konosuba eventually, and with Darkness there… hmm…
A thought for later.
For now, the part of my mind that was focused on cataloguing the results of my new experiments in sex simply kept on taking notes, though I had other ideas I could try if she wanted to.
I didn't really need to, but I could add an aphrodisiac fluid on my tentacles, if she was interested. I could also mess with her brain directly for even more pleasure… or pain, if she wanted to get kinky.
And there was still the sex dungeon that I had previously mentioned to her. I originally took that for if things went as planned with the Crawling Chaos, but I certainly didn't mind using it for others too…
Still, overall I was pleased with the results. Which meant I could use it for Jill, Rebecca, Lucy and Oedon soon.
And hey, if things works out with the Eldritch Pantheon, I was going to have a lot of kinky sex with eldritch goddesses, so better experiments with things before hand.
… I was a bit concerned, though, about how happy Claire was. I mean, I knew the sex was literally inhumanly good right now, but surely she would want to stop at some point, right?
Sure, she didn't have to worry about food or water or anything really, not even time, but we've been at it for many hours now since we first started, and she's as eager as ever…
I shrugged.
Meh, I could always put a stop to this after a day of non-stop sex…
I took in the sight of the writhing, eagerly fucking and sucking red-head woman before me.
… or maybe a week would be better.
Claire sat up on the bed, stretching gleefully like a cat, before sighing in happiness.
Aeon was really not joking about how great the sex was! She thought with a wide grin.
She glanced at him, currently resting with his arms behind his head, a smirk on his face, though his eyes looked at her with… awe?
"What?" she asked.
"Just thinking I might have underestimated the reaction you would have at the whole non-stop sex thing." he replied, looking amused.
She blinked. "How long did we have sex? I honestly can't tell."
He gave her a dry look. "Long enough you would have died if it wasn't for me keeping you healthy." he deadpanned.
She stared.
"Oh." she replied blankly.
Then she shrugged and grinned. "Worth it!"
He snorted. "I certainly hope so, because now it's going to be time for a very different kind of fun, and by that I mean I'm the only one who will have any." he declared with a smirk.
She glanced at him with a curious frown, and Aeon's grin widened.
"Time for training." he said with relish, and she couldn't help but shiver at the sheer sadistic anticipation in his voice.
She was so screwed… and no longer in the fun kind of way.
"Right then!" Aeon declared, clasping his hands together before him and smiling brightly. "We have two new Hunters in training, so we need to catch them up to snuff. I'm going to be requiring your help with that, Jill and Rebecca."
"No problems!" cheerfully declared Rebecca, while Jill nodded and said "I'm used to training with Chris from when we were still with S.T.A.R.S, so it won't be a problem."
Aeon smiled. "Good, because frankly at this point they need all the help they can get. Compared to how you are both right now, they are barely speed bumps in your path, ladies."
"Hey!" exclaimed Claire, currently sitting in the Hunter's Dream with her brother by her side. "We can't be that bad, right?"
Chris looked at her, seemingly agreeing at first… and then his face twisted as if he was remembering a bad memory, and he looked away.
Aeon gave her a pitying look.
"Oh, you poor, sweet summer child. Right then, ladies? We need to show these two innocent lambs what a slaughter they are walking into. So, time for a spar! You two against me! Let's show them what level they need to reach!" he cheerfully declared, and Claire blinked as both Jill and Rebecca blanched, before sighing at the same time, seemingly resigned to their fate.
"Come on, Jill! Kick his ass! S.T.A.R.S forever!" cheered Chris, only to freeze when Jill sent him a pitying look.
"Err… why are they looking like they are walking to their death?" asked Claire.
"Because death would be kinder." bluntly replied Rebecca, who nonetheless took a stance, her shotgun and axe at the ready.
"I've taught them so well!" exclaimed Aeon, looking proud.
Claire blinked. Surely, it can't be that bad-
Aeon, who suddenly had a very old-looking gun in his hand, fired towards the sky to declare the beginning of the spar.
And both Claire and Chris felt their jaws drop in shock as they barely managed to see Jill and Rebecca charge towards Aeon, so fast were they that they seemed to blur.
Only for Aeon to move, and suddenly both women were sent flying back so fast that neither Claire or Chris knew what the hell had just happened.
Either way, both women, with a grace a cat would look at with envy, fell back on their feet, Rebecca's shotgun firing while Jill tried to charge again with her twin blades.
Aeon casually avoided the shotgun's shot, before deflecting the twin swords headed towards his heart and throat with a swift flick of his wrist, the ensuing counter-attack forcing Jill to stand in the way between Rebecca and Aeon, preventing her use of the shotgun, and no matter what she tried Jill couldn't seem to change that.
So Rebecca, face grim, charged forward, and a few seconds of battle quickly showed that both women had gotten very used to fighting together, seemingly having a supernatural knowledge of what each would do before they even moved, the two moving more like a choreographed dance than an actual battle.
And none of it mattered.
Aeon, his face not even twitching away from a calm look of focus, easily side-stepped, dodged or deflected every strike sent his way, the sword in his hand moving so fast and with such ease it didn't even made sound as it cut through the air or met the metal of Rebecca's axe and the twin swords of Jill.
Even as both Rebecca and Jill very clearly held nothing back and tried their best to deliver unquestionably deadly blows on Aeon, the man himself so gracefully defended himself that he seemed to flow through every blow, roll around every strike, and all of that without so much as a blink.
Then at some unseen signal, the fight went even crazier as fire began to coat Rebeca's axe and Jill's swords, while Aeon's own sword began glowing a deep, unnatural purple-black color.
Claire stifled a gasp as Rebecca jumped back, stowing away the shotgun to point at Aeon with her free hand and unleash a massive fireball at him, seemingly uncaring of the fact that Jill could be caught in the blast.
Except that things went very differently from what Claire expected, as Aeon casually batted away Jill's flaming swords and then cut through the incoming fireball, somehow dispersing it away near-instantly.
Only for several stone spikes to suddenly surge from the ground around Aeon, headed straight towards him, while Jill's swords returned, headed for Aeon's neck and his right shoulder, as if to cut away his right arm.
For the first time since the fight started, a flicker of a smile spread on Aeon's face, a fraction of a second before he jumped, his right foot stepping on one of the stone spike mid air while he twisted his body to dodge the twin swords headed his way, and then his left foot struck out, hitting Jill in the face hard enough to send her flying back, before waving his left hand, the remaining stone spikes suddenly turning to go flying straight towards Rebecca.
Said woman's eyes narrowed, before she jumped over the stone spikes-
Only for one of said stone spikes to suddenly turn to smoke, turning into Aeon, while the previous one disappeared, revealing itself to be an illusion created when Aeon waved his hand.
A shocked Rebecca had barely had the time to gasp before Aeon's hands reached out, took her by the wrists-
And then delivered a truly brutal headbutt on Rebecca's face, Claire flinching at the sound of what had to be a broken nose at the very least, the young medic collapsing on the ground with a pained groan a second later.
"Spar's over." declared Aeon, while Jill winced in pain as she stood up again, the Old Blood healing her broken jaw, and Rebecca snorted blood as her nose fixed itself.
Then Aeon turned towards them, a grin on his face. "Right! I hope you watched carefully, because I'm going to tell those two what they did right and wrong, and then your training will truly start."
Claire and her brother, who had been as transfixed as her by the fight, suddenly gulped as one.
After watching this, it was very clear that Aeon wasn't going to hold back any against her in training, lovers or not.
Well, no one had ever said that becoming strong was easy, thought Claire.
She squared her shoulders. No matter what Aeon threw her way, she could handle it!
"Have mercy!" she gasped, as she painfully did yet another set of push-ups, sweat covering her body as her limbs shook from exhaustion.
All the while a massive pile of rocks was bound to her back.
"No mercy! Only strength!" replied Aeon firmly. "And give me twenty more! If you have the breath left to beg, you have the strength to keep going!"
My lover can't possibly be this sadistic! She mentally wailed, even as she shouted "Yes Aeon!"