New Discoveries

Mya kept her eyes closed, feeling the rumble of the carriage through the bench under her back, as she rested her head in Elma's lap and allowed the woman to play with her hair. She let out a relieved sigh.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you sound almost

content

for once," Elma said.

"Vellen says we're finally drawing near the Cloven Institute's headquarters. So I'd say I have very good reason to be untroubled for once."

"And... that's the only reason?" Elma replied, an air of mischief in her voice.

"What other reason would there be?"

"Well in

that

case..." Elma ceased her attentions on Mya hair, leading her to open her eyes and frown up at the smaller one. She met the gaze with a smug grin. "What?"

"Continue."

"So there

was

something else about this moment that you were enjoying, hm?"

Mya just rolled her eyes, then closed them. Fortunately, Elma did as she was asked and started running her fingers through Mya's blonde locks again. Mya considered what had transpired for a moment, then winced. "...Sorry."

"It's fine," Elma said.

"I didn't mean to imply that I don't enjoy your company."

"I know you didn't."

Mya nodded in thanks. There was certainly something to be said about the fact that one of the most understanding people that Mya had ever met, was a thief from a city full of zealots. The irony in that was sometimes annoying.

"How... how did you know I was even worth it?" Mya asked.

"Hm?"

"You asked me yourself why I put up such a... frosty exterior. How did you know there was anything worth..." She didn't finish the rest of the sentence.

There was a pause, Elma's fingers slowing for a moment as she thought. "Because," she finally said. "I have a good eye. Yeah, you're kinda a bitch sometimes."

"I-" Mya began, but was cut off by a light tap on the forehead from Elma's knuckles.

"Don't interrupt." Elma continued, "But not when it matters. You let me come along with you when you didn't have to, for example."

"I almost didn't, though."

"But you still did once you saw how much I wanted to. It didn't have anything to do with what Vel said, so didn't even act like it, missy. You did it because, secretly, you're a good person, Mya."

Mya didn't say anything. She didn't know if she believed any of that or not, but she certainly appreciated that Elma did.

"Plus," Elma said. "You also could have just left me in that church with Iridana or in the possession of that riverfey, buuuuut you didn't."

"Not like I had much of a choice. I needed your skill sets in both instances," Mya grumbled.

"You just keep telling yourself that."

Mya thought for a moment, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "And... you sure you're happy... with me?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well," Mya swallowed. She hadn't been looking forward to this part. "It's just... Whenever you were with... the other woman... you'd call her things. Like... like 'baby' and... such. But you don't for me."

Elma laughed. "Mya, are you actually getting jealous of

yourself

?"

"No!" Mya insisted, but felt her face grow warm.

Elma continued to chuckle, "I only use pet names during flings. Usually sexy ones. Makes whoever I'm with more into it so that we both have a good time, you know? It doesn't actually

mean

anything."

Mya nodded. "Understandable."

She felt a hand touch her chin, tilting it upward and indicating for Mya to open her eyes and meet Elma's gaze. "You know you don't have to be so intellectual about everything, right? You're

allowed

to feel your emotions."

"Of course I know that," Mya scoffed, but looked away. It didn't help, though, as she could still see Elma grinning out of the corner of her eye.

"Would you like a pet name, Mya? It doesn't have to be for sex or anything, just intimacy."

"...Yes," Mya said. She felt bad, however. Once things became sort of official with Elma, Mya had made it clear that she wasn't ready for intercourse yet and wanted to take things slow. Elma completely understood, frustratingly. During the following weeks, she hadn't done anything with any of the women they'd come across at their various stops--not even the ones that were

obviously

flirting with her. Luther Above, she hadn't even attempted to bring Candi out for a spin. That level of patience was admirable. Not that Mya had any plans to tell her any of this. Elma didn't need

more

ammunition to be insufferable.

"Then I'll start thinking of one. It's gotta be something reeeeal special and all, since I actually care about you."

Mya felt her blush deepen, and--based on her reaction--that's exactly what Elma seemed to be going for. "And... you're

sure

you're not feeling... restricted?" Mya asked.

Elma raised an eyebrow, but then seemed to understand. "We don't have to take this any faster than

you

want to, Mya. If you're not ready for us to take that step yet, then we don't have to. I'll be here whenever you are.

If

you ever are."

Painful memories began to surface from Mya's past, long before she ever came to this new continent. Tears welled up in her eyes and she allowed herself to softly sob as Elma continued to lovingly stroke her hair. It just felt... heart-wrenchingly wonderful to be finally understood and accepted by someone she... she...

"Hey," Elma suddenly said with a smile. "Quiz Time?"

Mya sniffed and wiped her eyes, but nodded. 'Quiz Time' was a game Elma had made due to Mya's numerous questions about Labiana. It essentially boiled down to seeing how much Mya remembered about the continent without having to refer to her notes. Elma had come up with it because she'd teasingly thought that it would be Mya's perfect idea of "fun on the road."

She had been right. The game excited her immensely.

"Question one," Elma declared. "Where are we?"

Elma had spoken a bit about the various nations on the other side of the Veil. Mya had been surprised by how many there were, each with their own special brand of weird. Between Elma and Vellen, they'd been able to mention around a dozen, and those were just the ones that they

remembered

.

"Abona," Mya said immediately, then scoffed. "Easy."

"Yep." Elma leaned down and kissed Mya on the forehead for giving the correct answer. That part had... been a later addition to the game. "What's its capital, though?"

"Ah..." Mya faltered, trying to think back to when Elma mentioned it. She sometimes threw in questions that she'd never once told the answer to. Mya was allowed to call her out on it, but there were consequences if she was wrong.

Mya drew her lip into a line as she concentrated, itching to pull out her journal and check to see if she'd written it down.

"Give up?" Elma asked.

Mya said nothing at first, hoping the answer would come to her at the last second, but eventually sighed in annoyance. "Yes..."

"Never told it to you." Elma grinned. "Hell,

I

don't even know it."

"I knew it," Mya grumbled, then glanced up at Elma who was looking down at her expectantly. Unfortunately, the consequences for being wrong about calling Elma out on a question were the same ones if Mya

didn't

call her out on a question that deserved to be.

Mya rolled her eyes. "You're smarter than me," she said flatly.

"Don't I know it." She finished the statement by flipping a tuft of hair up into Mya's face. Mya frowned, then blew the strands out of her eyes so she could frown up at Elma, who, in turn, just chuckled in amusement. "Next question: When was it founded?"

Mya only had to think for a moment this time. "887," Mya said confidently. She'd always been good with dates and numbers.

"Correct." This time she kissed Mya on the tip of her nose. "Truth is, I actually had to ask Vel for what it was before telling you. Thought it might trip you up, since it's not normally something I would know."

"You underestimated my love for numbers."

"I'd never underestimate you or your love."

Mya blushed. Furiously.

Damn her,

she thought.

"Last question," Elma said, continuing on as if she

hadn't

just said something incredibly romantic. "887 BD or PB?"

Mya raised an eyebrow. "I don't think you've ever explained the difference."

"Damn. Got me. 'BD' stands for 'Before Descension,' meaning the years before the Abyssal War. 'PB' means 'Post-Banishment,' so everything that came after it."

"Abyssal War?" Mya asked, pulling out her journal and flipping to a clean page. It would've been easier to write if she sat up, but, well... she wasn't really inclined to do that at the moment. "What's that?"

"Pretty big deal, actually," Elma said. "Basically a huge war that happened between mankind and the demons when a bunch of gateways to Hell were accidentally opened. We won... eventually."

"Wait.

Hell

? Like the actual Abyss of the Damned?"

Elma shrugged. "The arcanists and scholars explain it in other ways, but it amounts to the same thing. Plus, we still call everything that lives there 'demons' soooo..."

"And there was a war? How long was it?"

"Dunno," she said casually. "They say there aren't any records from that period of time. So it could've been a few years or a few decades. Hell, could've even been up to a

century

for all we know."

"Fascinating," Mya said as she scribbled away. Once she finished, she snapped the book closed and put it back where it belonged. "BD, by the way. Though, I imagine its political geography would've been different at the time."

Elma smiled and leaned down again. "Yeah," she said softly. "You're probably right." Then her lips met Mya's.

Mya closed her eyes and reached up, running her hands through Elma's mane of wild, messy hair as she drank her partner up. Her smell, her taste, the tenderness in the way she kissed and held Mya. It was all just... perfect.

Perfection ended when the cart came to an abrupt stop.

"Mistress! There's something you should see!" said Vellen, his voice dull and muffled, as it came from outside the carriage.

Mya groaned and sat up, fixing her hair and putting it into a loose ponytail before she and Elma hopped out of the coach to get the barings.

They currently stood on a hill of a rolling fertile plain. Long blades of green grass rippled in the wind as far as the eye could see. Mya looked up as she heard a bird call from above, and saw a pearl-taloned falcon flying overhead. At least, she was pretty sure that's what it was, based on Vellen's description of it that one time.

Not that Mya had actually been paying any attention or anything.

Clusters of trees dotted the landscape in various different places, and the road appeared to be, more or less, a straight shot towards the horizon.

The most important item of note, however, most certainly had to be the massive stone tower that loomed in the air a few miles down the road. It looked like it had seen better days, but its architecture was still something of a marvel in Mya's eyes, depending on how old it was. And, based on what Elma had just told her about the continent's timeline, that could be very old, indeed.

Vellen climbed down from the passenger's seat up near the front of the carriage, his multi-layered grey robes flapping in the wind. As he got his footing, he quickly stepped over to join Mya and Elma.

"According to our driver, we have good news and bad news," Vellen said in his usual calm tone and cadence.

Mya sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Good news first."

"He believes we'll reach our destination by the end of the day if we stay on our current course."

"And the bad news?" Mya asked, not bothering to get excited yet.

Vellen turned and gestured to the tower in the distance. "That ruin is currently being used to maintain a toll road by bandits."

"Yep, that sounds about right," Elma said. "Did you actually spot anyone?"

Vellen nodded. "Yes. Two individuals were lingering outside the tower for a few moments before they went in. From this distance, it was hard to make out anything specific in the way of appearance, but they certainly had weapons on them."

Elma nodded, as if she'd expected this. Mya just rubbed at her temple in frustration. A part of her wanted to snap at Vellen for the delay, but then she reminded her that it wasn't

his

fault. If he hadn't said anything at all, they probably would've ended up in the thick of it with these bandits.

"Is there another route we could take?" Mya asked.

"Sure," the driver said from his seat as he munched on an apple. It was the same one that they'd continued to pay off since the beginning of their journey. Strange how they'd never ended up learning his name. As he turned to look at them, he also appeared to be missing his right ear. How hadn't Mya noticed that before? "Detour would probably add another two weeks to a month to the trip, though."

Mya groaned. "Absolutely not. They're using it as a toll road, you said? Couldn't we just pay what they want?"

"Our funds are far too low to pay what they would be asking for, I'm afraid," Vellen said.

"And bandits tend to... take liberties when people can't afford to be robbed by them," Elma added. "There's usually at least one magic user amongst them."

Mya shivered, trying to banish the mental image from their mind. "Then what do we do?"

Elma began to pace, her eyes narrowed in thought. Eventually she paused and turned back to the others. "Could pull a Coin and Diamond on them."

Mya blinked. "That being?"

"It's a thief trick," Elma explained. "Essentially, you give someone a lesser prize, and, while they're distracted with how shiny it is, you sneak something far greater by them without them noticing. In this case, us."

"Okay, great," Mya said. "What's the lesser prize?"

Elma began pacing again. "Bandits always end up as bandits for the same reason. They're crass, lack finesse, and pretty much lack all impulse control. If you dangled something in front of them that could properly rile them up, then they'd

never

be able to resist it."

"And where do we find something like that?" Mya asked. And immediately regretted it as all eyes suddenly turned to her. "...Ah."

Elma winced guiltily. "Sorry. It's the best I've got. You'd only need to bring her out long enough for us to get past the tower and, um... 'subdue' them. After that, you should be able to walk right out and rejoin us."

Mya closed her eyes and sighed. In truth, it was a good plan if you had someone with the right skills. Fortunately--or unfortunately, depending on Mya's perspective at times--that was Candi's exact purpose for existing.

"All right. Get me something pink to wear."

~~~

Candi skipped along the path and up to the big tower, stopping just in front of the big wooden door. She paused to smooth down her skirt, then adjusted and re-adjusted her top so that it showed off the perfect amount of cleavage.

A trill of excitement ran through her as she raised her hand to knock. It had been, like,

forever

since she'd be let out to have some fun. It was sooooo nice of Smart Candi to finally let real Candi help out. And all she had to do was... Um... Well, she didn't, like, know

exactly

what was going on, but she hoped it involved pretty girls!

Candi knocked on the door. She hummed to herself and rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet as she heard scrambling from inside. A moment later, the door creaked open to reveal a woman a little shorter than Candi on the other side with curly hair, a green bandana around her neck, and a shirt that did almost

nothing

to conceal her amazing titties.

Pretty girl!

Candi smiled and waved to her. "Hi!"

The other woman blinked a few times, then smiled and waved back. "Hiya! What're you doing here?"

"Ummmm... Just passing through, I think? What are

you

doing here?"

"Bandit stuff," the woman said casually, then suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh! Oopsie!" She fumbled with a sword at her hip, pointing it at Candi once she got it free. "You're, like, under arrest! Or... um... something!"

"Okay! Sounds fun!" Candi giggled and raised her hands. "I love your hair, by the way!"

"

Thank you!

" the woman smiled, immediately lowering her sword. "And I love your top! It's such a great color!"

"Thanks. It's, like, my favorite." Candi thrust her chest forward in pride, giggling a little as she saw the hunger spark in the woman's eyes.

"What's going on?" Another voice said from inside the tower. The door suddenly opened wider and revealed two more women standing behind the one at the door. Both wore similar attire as their friend, but with purple and blue bandanas instead. They were also, like,

suuuuper

gorgeous.

"Wow, she's hot!" the one in the blue bandana said.

"Thanks! You're really pretty too!" Candi said.

"Aww, thank you!"

"You're

all

, like, super pretty!"

"Thanks!"

"You wanna, like, come in?"

"Sure!" Candi said. "I'd do

anything

to be around pretty girls!" All three of them giggled. Had she said that out loud? Oopsies!

The bandits ushered Candi inside the door, revealing a small, circular sitting room with a few chairs, a table, and some cards cast on top of it. The girls gestured for her to sit down, so she did.

"So that's Purple," the one in the green bandana said, pointing at the girl in the blue bandana.

"And I'm Green!" the girl being indicated to said enthusiastically. "And she's Blue." She pointed to the final woman.

"Wait, I thought

I

was Blue."

"No, you're Purple, silly!"

"

Noooo

,

you're

Purple."

"Gosh, you're, like, such a bimbo, Green."

"I'm Blue!"

"No..."

Candi tried to follow along as they continued to argue, but it was, like,

really

hard to the point that it made her head spin. She must've gotten a bit distracted as she tried to keep the names straight, because she suddenly felt a hand on her thigh and looked over to see Purple sitting next to her. Or was it Green?

"So, what brings ya here, sweetie?"

"Oh! Um..." Candi tried not to get

too

distracted by the woman's boobies peaking out of her shirt as she leaned forward to talk. Or... or those soft, inviting lips that were painted the most

yummy

shade of red.

"She said she was passing through," Blue said.

"Oh really?" Purple raised an eyebrow, gently running her finger tips along Candi's thigh. "You know we're bandits, right? We're, like, supposed to be

really

dangerous."

"You'd have to be like a total bimbo to just walk up to us."

Candi giggled. "You guys don't seem that bad."

"Why thank you!" Purple said, moving her hand a little higher as a reward.

"We're also, like,

total

dummies too! You could definitely outsmart us." Green sat down on Candi's other side and began to trace her hand across Candi's midriff as Blue stridled up behind her and started caressing Candi's cheek.

Candi whimpered and subtly began to rub her legs together. The room had suddenly grown hot as Candi took in how she was surrounded on all sides by three

very

attractive women, doting on her affectionately.

"Awww, look at her!" Blue purred. "We've hardly

done

anything and she's already getting turned on!"

They all giggled, leading Candi to join in nervously. Purple and Green scooted closer, their breasts now pressed up against each of Candi's arms.

"Gosh, maybe she, like,

can't

outsmart us!"

"U-um..." Candi faltered as the hand on her belly snaked up to her chest and gently squeezed one of her tits. A soft gasp escaped Candi's lips, followed by more giggling.

"She's

adorable

~!" One of them cooed. "We gotta keep her!"

Candi whimpered again. Something about this felt wrong. Wasn't... wasn't she the one that was supposed to be doing the seducing? She

had

to put a stop to this.