My Mission From Mia

Hello! First of all, want to say thank you so much, for the warm reception the first chapter received. As mentioned it's really the first piece of creative writing I've ever done, and it was slightly rushed.

So with the positivity from the first chapter, I've been pretty motivated about the second chapter. I really sunk into it, and it somehow ended up at over 10k words.

I'll warn you up front, there's a lot of exposition and world-building going on in this chapter to set things up. I'll also warn you, that I'm a bit unsure about my ability to write dialogue well (Any pointers would be greatly appreciated). Also, chose to stick with the categorisation more due to future plans, though there is a bit more involvement of that sort in this chapter.

I've started on the third chapter, and hope that I can get it finished in around a week, but that's somewhat dependent on how busy work gets, and whether I get enticed to enjoy the sun with a few pints in a beer garden this weekend.

As before I'd love to hear what everyone thinks of this chapter, and the story so far. If you're enjoying it let me know. If you have any criticisms also let me know, I'd like to know my weaknesses so I can work on them.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, I had a fun time writing it.

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My Mission from Mia

Chapter 2

Powerful emotions hit the four of us as what Mia had said sunk in. I heard loud gasps come from the sisters on my right and sobs come from my own sister to my left. I didn't know how to react, torn between disbelief, anger and sadness. None of us could even form words, just trying to process what was happening. I had a thought that Mia was lying to us, but the certainty and remorse in her voice as she told us we were seconds away from dying disavowed me of that notion. I looked up at the goddess and she looked down at us with a sad smile and a slight nod, answering my unspoken request for confirmation.

I felt my eyes start to water as a tear threatened to burst forth. I blinked away the tear, took a deep breath and set a hand out to either side to provide what little comfort I could to Sarah, Harriet and Charlotte. Sarah immediately took my left hand, and I felt her body shaking slightly due to the sobs. Charlotte took my right as Harriet placed her hand on top. I squeezed both hands before turning my gaze back to Mia. Swallowing a lump in my throat I said to her "Okay, so you saved us from death, uh... thanks for that I guess."

Mia let out a little chuckle at the awkward gratitude, but let me continue. "I guess the big question is what being your champions entails. Though you are right about having us at a disadvantage, I don't think any of us are ready to die just yet?" The second part coming out as a question to the girls who shook their head to confirm my suspicions as I looked at them.

My eyes lingered on Sarah's nude form a second longer than I was comfortable with, just long enough to realise how incredible she looked even covering herself to try to preserve her modesty. She was tall at 5 foot 10, she'd recently taken to dying her hair bubblegum pink which was currently up in a long ponytail, though slightly dishevelled from what she had been doing only minutes prior. Her body was slim, though her breasts, at a guess around a C cup, looked all the bigger on her thin frame. Her long smooth legs seemed to stretch on forever, and I was forced to pull my eyes away as a wave of shame hit me with the thoughts running through my head in that moment. 'We need to have a talk about what exactly Sarah was doing, but that needs to wait for later' I thought to myself.

"I'm sure there are things to discuss, b-but could we get some clothes before we have that discussion" Harriet said suddenly from my right. Her voice had a bit of a waver to it betraying her nervousness.

"Oh of course" Mia said waving her hands as some white robes magically in front of us "These should suffice for now, once you have made a decision I can give you something more suitable." We quickly put on the form fitting robes that left less to the imagination than I would have liked and stood in front of the goddess waiting for her to continue. Once she was satisfied we were a bit more comfortable she carried on "I don't have as much time as I would like to explain things to you, so I will have to give you a brief overview for now." "I preside over the world of Xethrel alongside a number of other gods and goddesses. As mentioned I am a goddess of lust and passion, however I also take shared responsibility over my elven kin."

The pointed ears made a lot more sense after that last statement. I tried to play it calm on the surface, but my inner nerd was freaking out a bit. A lifetime of reading fantasy books, watching fantasy films and series and playing RPGs, and here in front of me stood an actual, real life elf, so fucking cool, although not quite as cool as if I didn't have the feeling I was about to be pulled into something crazy and dangerous.

"Recently the elves of Salonia, one of the countries on Xethrel, have embraced elven supremacy" Mia continued with an expression of disgust crossing her face "This started after the former king died a year ago and was replaced by his son Rhys." I looked over at my girls and their expressions were as grim as I felt mine must have been. "I believe that he is acting on behalf of a patron -- Fayeth, an elven goddess of battle -- she has long held beliefs that elves were a superior race to others on Xethrel" The goddess curled a lip as she said the other goddesses name as if there were a bad smell hanging around "It is my belief that she is backing Rhys to push this agenda of hers further." I nodded in understanding as I processed her words -- so elf Nazis were acting on behalf of a crazy war goddess.

"I'm guessing that you want us to act as your champions to stop the elf supremacists?" Harriet asked from my right. It was what I would have guessed based on what had been said so far and was confirmed with a nod from Mia.

"That is essentially correct, though I don't intend to throw you into the middle of the capital to storm the castle just yet" the pretty elf said "First I would like you to help some of the other races in Salonia to escape the country before building up a rebellion. This will not only help a lot of people in increasing danger, but will give you the time to grow stronger and acclimate to the powers I will bestow upon you."

We all perked up at that, powers that she would bestow on us sounded fucking awesome, and it was Charlotte that asked the question we were all thinking "What powers?"

Mia laughed at the question "Thought that might grab your attention, I will once again have to be brief in my answer as our time together is growing short. To Tony I will grant powers that allow him to manipulate biology, to Sarah I will grant powers over the mind, to Charlotte I bestow powers of crafting and to Harriet I grant powers of the voice. These powers will work within your understanding of the topic."

Holy shit, those sounded overpowered as fuck, and Sarah recognised that too as she asked "If the powers are as all-encompassing as they seem to be, why can't we just walk into this King Rhys' castle and demolish him straight away" I nodded along with her question.

"While they may be powerful, they will take some time to get used to, and it will take practice to unlock their full potential" Mia replied "Now I must ask you if you are willing to become my champions, unfortunately I will have to ask you to decide quickly, just know that I cannot send you back to your world without you dying nearly immediately, but that you will also face dangers should you choose to accept."

Warning received the four of us huddled together, Sarah was the first to speak "So we're definitely going to accept right?" I nodded as did Charlotte, but I noticed a touch of hesitation from Harriet and quirked my eyebrow her way.

"I-I'm scared Tony" the elder ginger sister said in response to the unspoken question "It's not that I don't want to help people, but I've never even been in a fight and now we're gonna go and fight an army?" Harriet's question sobered me a little, and I could see the logic behind her words and understand her concerns.

"I get it Harri, but the way I see it, either we go back home and die immediately, or we go to Xethrel and at least have a chance of surviving, plus we get some pretty awesome powers from the sounds of it" I said "Look, Harri, I'll look after you, I promise" I followed up placing my hand on her shoulder and looking into her eyes as she gave a small nod.

We turned back to Mia watching us expectantly, Harriet took it upon herself to give the answer "We accept becoming your champion's goddess Mia."

Mia's face burst into a smile as she once again waved her hands summoning some surprisingly modern looking clothes and leather armour in front of us. "I am so happy to hear that, put on the clothes quickly, there's one more thing I need to tell you before you go." We immediately shucked the robes and put on the clothes and armour while Mia continued "One of my most devout followers is in trouble, she is being chased by two Salonian scouts and they're close to catching up to her. I ask that you save her, I will send you to confront the scouts as they are close to Ami." I gave her a look of shock expecting a bit more of a grace period before we'd start getting in to fights. "Once you have saved Ami, she will be able to lead you to a hidden village where a number of beastkin have taken refuge from the Salonian forces" Mia said hurriedly "The village is safe for now, and I believe it will remain so for at least the next couple of months, which will give you time to find out more about the situation in Xethrel, and to grow stronger."

Clothes and armour donned we looked at each other and I said "Let's do this then" turning to Mia again I nodded and said "We're ready."

"Wonderful, I will see you all again, but I have investigations of my own to perform to get to the bottom of Fayeth's involvements in these machination's "Mia said moving her hands in a circle summoning a portal to the side of her "Step through the portal and you will pop up in front of the scouts I mentioned, but I advise against trying to use your powers when dealing with them, as you will not be allowed the time to grasp them." With this she waved her hands and a light appeared around the four of us. I gasped as I felt something sink in, and grasped at my head as an influx of knowledge relating to my powers burned its way into my brain. "There, I have bestowed the gift of the powers I mentioned to you, and I also added a bonus of being able to understand the denizens of Xethrel as if they were speaking English, the mechanisms for use of your new powers will become instinctual by tomorrow, now it is time for you to go and save Ami, you have my thanks for accepting to be my champions, I look forward to when we can spend some more cheerful time together" Mia said the last piece with a touch of lust in her voice that made me not want to go through the portal, but Sarah dragged me by the hand through into the blinding white light.

We stepped out into a clearing in a murky woodlands, the immediate area illuminated by the light of the portal, but past the clearing the shadows of the giant trees quickly swallows it. The light around us dims suddenly as the portal closes, we turn to look at where it had just been only to come face to face with two elves in leather armour like our own with their faces half obscured by light helmets but with their mouths hanging open in a dumb look. "Oh shit" I say as one of the elven scouts regains his senses and moves a hand to his hip. Before they get a chance to draw their weapon I let instinct take over and push forward off my right foot and punch the elf in the face with as much force as I could muster. It's been a long time since I had been in a fight, but either I was a lot stronger than I remembered or elves had very weak chins as the scout completely crumpled from the punch.

The other scout had also regained their senses while I knocked out their partner and advanced towards me while drawing their weapon, causing me to freeze up as I saw the short sword. Before they could reach me they were sent flying as a blur of orange bundled feet first into them. Not giving the elf a chance to make it to their feet Sarah leapt upon them, punching them repeatedly in the face "Don't you dare touch my brother you cunt" She screamed until I placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I don't think they can touch me when they're out Cold Sar" I snorted pulling her gently away from the elf. She turned and immediately hugged me and I felt my shoulder wet from tears that I hadn't noticed were there. "Sorry, I lost it a bit" She sniffled still holding me tight.

I rubbed her back soothing her "Yeah, what was that about?" I asked in a soft tone. "I-I just saw them coming at you, and I-I can't lose you as well, not after mum and dad" She told me in a quiet voice. "I love you Sar, I'm not going anywhere, I promise" I said hugging her tight. We stayed like that for a few moments before she pulled back and laid a kiss on my cheek.

"Right, what are we doing about these two?" I heard Charlotte ask from my side. That was a good question, I moved over to the elf I'd knocked out, pulled off the helmet and studied their face for a second.

"Oh fuck" I said, guilt bursting out from me as I saw that the elf I'd laid out with a haymaker was a woman.

"What's wrong -- Oh" Charlotte said as she spotted the delicate features of the woman. She came up to me laid a hand on my back and rubbed it gently "it's okay, you didn't do anything wrong, you just defended yourself, it was the right thing to do" she said soothingly. I know logically she was right, but my whole life I'd been bought up to never hit a woman, and here I was standing over an unmoving slender elf lady that I'd socked in the mouth.

"There's nothing we can do about it now, we need to get moving and find this Ami that Mia mentioned" Harriet said from behind me, she'd stayed back from the fighting, not that I blamed her. She was also right, we did need to find Ami, and it make sense to do as soon as we could. "You're right Harri, I'm guessing nobody knows where she might be?" I replied with a little sigh, looking at my little family. All of them shook their heads, but Sarah spoke up "Mia said that we'd pop out when these scouts were close to catching her, so she must be pretty close, just have to hope she hasn't run off while we've been stood around."

The sound of someone clearing their throat sounded behind all of us catching us by surprise. Adrenaline must have still been high as we all tensed up and balled our fists as we turned to look at the newcomer. My eyes widened and jaw dropped as any thought of fighting left me in an instant. Staring at us timidly was a short young woman, she had a slightly chubby body, more plush than fat, and definitely not unattractive. She wore what looked like a dark green romper that cut off at the knees and just above her breasts showing off a good amount of cleavage. While her body was nice it wasn't the reason for my shock, her face had vaguely Asian features, and looked quite young, late teens if I had to guess, though her irises were pure black and quite beady. While somewhat unusual, that also wasn't the reason for my surprise, nestled on top of her head, poking out of her jet black hair were honest to god panda ears.

I blinked in case my eyes were playing tricks on me, but when my eyes reopened the panda ears were still there. "Is everybody else see-"I started to say before Harriet interrupted me "Tony! Don't be rude" she said with a light slap on my shoulder to admonish me "I think this is Ami is that right sweetie?"

The panda girl shyly nodded while my brain tried to play catch up, and there was a lot to catch up on. "Yes, I'm Ami, my goddess said she would be sending people to help, I'm guessing you are those people? Though I've never seen anyone of your race before, what are you?" She said tilting her head to one side in confusion. That took us by surprise all over again.

"We-we're humans, do you not have humans on Xethrel?" Harriet asked, level-headedly. Ami replied "No, at least none that I've ever seen."

Alright, so we were possibly the only humans on this world that was good to know. "I'm sure we all have lots of questions, but Mia said you could lead us to a safe place Ami?" I asked her, eager to move before the scouts came round.

She hesitated for a moment as her eyes travelled over me and I spotted an approving look flash over her features "Yes, I can take you to Larinia, it is around 2 hours from here, so we will need to move quickly to get there before dark sets in."

I nodded "Well then, let's get moving, we've all had a long day, and I think we could all use some rest." A glance at my girls confirmed this as they too nodded.

Ami beckoned us to follow her and we did, keeping a quick pace as we moved through the trees of the woodlands in silence. There was a lot we wanted to know, but the most important thing, was getting to a safe place that we could rest for the night. We followed for a while, around an hour and a half I think, until Ami came to a stop and looked around. We came to a stop behind her worried that there was trouble ahead, not daring to ask lest we alert the potential trouble to our presence.

Ami continued to scan the surroundings with one hand up to signal to us to stay in place. We waited there quietly for a minute or two until Ami dropped the hand and relaxed her shoulders. "We're okay, I heard noises and wanted to make sure there weren't more scouts" She explained "Just a few squirrels." We let out a collective breath and scrambled to follow Ami as she moved on, so we didn't lose her in the dying light.

After another 20 minutes or so of walking Ami slowed her place as she led us through a maze like copse of trees up to a wooden gate. She once more held up a hand to stop us and called out "Kyle, it's Ami, I have returned with some guests." I heard some noises of curiosity and a flurry of movement from behind the gate as it started to open. Once the gate opened enough to let us through a well-built man with fox ears atop his head ushered us through, closing the gate behind us. I realised in that moment that a lot of blind trust was involved both on our side and the villages, but we had little choice but to trust at this moment.

I took in the village, again surprisingly modern, I really should stop making assumptions. It was a village that looked like dozens that I'd been to back home in England, and was larger than I expected. We walked towards a village square and I saw an area of the town sectioned off by fences containing what looked like crop fields and room for animal's further back by another wall. That answered a question of what they were doing for food hidden away from civilisation. As we approached the square we saw more people, all of whom had some obvious animal trait, mostly the ears, though some had other differences such as patches of fur, or tails.

Once we reached the village square Ami told us to wait while she got one of the leaders of the village. I turned to my girls who were looking around the village curiously, though I could see the tiredness in their eyes and posture. "How're my favourite girls holding up?" I asked quietly as some of the village residents watched us from a distance obviously not wanting to get closer to the weird new humans.

A light blush adorned all three women's cheeks at my question. Charlotte was the first to respond "I'm okay, just a lot to take in. Thinking about things we need to talk about."

Sarah replied straight after "Same as Char, so much has happened today, and honestly I'm exhausted, but she's right there are things we need to talk about when we can" I noticed that she averted her eyes, and made a point of looking anywhere but my face, though I had an idea of why that might be.