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Chapter 461: Chapter 419

I pondered the question as I fell off the edge, landing on a grate-like scaffolding.

"Ow." I intoned.

I shifted slightly, because there was a now-shattered glass bottle under me.

If the dozens of other bottles scattered about around me were any indication, it was a bottle of Fire Whisky.

Tilting my head back, I found a rather peculiar bird sprawled out.

....why was it half blue?

I\'m pretty sure he was mostly red when....we started drinking. My memories were a bit fuzzy at this point, but I think that was correct.

I don\'t think there was such a thing as a blue phoenix, especially not a half blue one. But maybe it was a half-Phoenix? I could hardly throw stones in that department.

With a groan, I rolled myself over onto my stomach, completely forgetting that there was broken glass under me. And despite what one may think, even with how durable I was, getting broken glass rubbed on me was not pleasant.

I decided to push myself up onto my feet. I almost fell over and grabbed on to the near by railing on this ledge I found myself on.

I gave myself a moment to catch my breath, and then it became rather obvious where I was.

The giant bronze statue was a dead give away.

I was on the Statue of Liberty. Specifically, I had fallen asleep on its torch, and fell off the tip onto the surrounding platform.

Well, ain\'t this some shit?

When was the last time I got drunk? God damn, that must have been back in Skyrim soon after I got together with Meridia. It\'s super hard for me to even get past a little buzzed these days. Then again, I don\'t normally drink Magical Alcohol. And my Magic Resistance doesn\'t work against things I consumed.

On the flip side, my body seemed to burn through it rather quickly, because it was still the same evening...it looked like it was about one or two in the morning if I had to guess.

I leaned over the railing, catching my proverbial breath. Taking this moment, I checked myself to make sure nothing was wrong.

[You had a fun night.] Ddraig commented.

"Anything bad?"

[Bad? Nothing too bad.]

"Did I make a fool of myself?" I swear, drunk Wilhelm was not a smart person. But it\'s arguable that sober Wilhelm wasn\'t either.

{Everything you did was....within acceptable limits.} Musū Tengai spoke up.

"Do I even want to know?" I decided to ask.

[...probably not.]

I left it at that then. I\'m sure it\'s not very important.

[Who knows.]

"God dammit." I sighed. "Fine, tell me."

[Do you want an abridged version or the play by play?]

"just....keep it short."

[Magical Britain has a new Vigilante.]

I resisted the urge to face palm. "Go on."

[Fighting crime with his trusty sidekick, some Blue Bird.]

That explains why....actually. "But why is he half blue?"

[Frankly, I\'m surprised you could still walk, let alone attempt to paint a Phoenix blue.]

Yeah, that sounds about right.

"Anything else I should know?"

[You should probably hold off on beating up people with a brick around here.]

".....I have so many questions."

[I expect other people do too.]

You know what? I wasn\'t going to care.

Instead, I walked over to the sleeping bird and nudged it with my foot. "Wake up." The way it was sprawled out, if its chest wasn\'t contracting, I would have thought it was dead....ignoring the fact that it\'s a mythical immortal bird.

"Come on, wake up." I nudged it a bit more. I really had no patience right now. I picked up the limp bird and shook it a little with no response. "I have tried everything I could think of, time for the nuclear option."

[You just nudged it a little.]

"Out of options." I held up the Legendary creature and noted the wind resistance from this high up and eyed the world below. I performed many delicate and complicated equations in my head to verify the correct distance.

And by that, I mean I eyeballed the distance to the water and threw the bird as hard as I could.

[Oh wow, you got some distance there.] Ddraig sounded surprised.

I held my hand up to keep the wind from blowing my hair in my face as I squinted to watch. "Birds are naturally very aerodynamic." I could vaguely make out the plop as it hit the water.

I was about to cheer until a burst of flames manifested right next to me, a very upset and confused Phoenix landed on the railing.

It stared at me.

"Would you believe me if I said it was the only way I knew to wake you up?"

It didn\'t respond, but for some reason, I don\'t think it believed me. "In any case, at least it washed some of the paint off." I pointed out. "Either that or your little...flaming thing did."

The Bird, with its bird expressions seemed confused once more then turned its head to see a good portion of its body covered in the tackiest blue paint. It kept looking at it then back to me, then back to the paint.

It let out a squawk, as if demanding an explanation.

"I think it was an attempt at a disguise." I responded, but that didn\'t appear to soothe the bird one bit. Were Phoenix\'s able to sigh? Because I\'m fairly sure it just sighed in resignation. "We should probably head home..."

It made a noise of agreement, but it was a rather awkward moment.

"....would it be rude if I asked you for a feather?"

The Bird\'s tired gaze met mine. It didn\'t need to speak for me to understand the \'what the fuck\' it was sending my way.

"Not for me, for my daughter. She\'s most likely going to be attending Hogwarts this year." I quickly explained. "And if it was just convenient, like if you\'re molting a feather or something."

The Phoenix was silent for a beat before spreading out its non-blue wing and used its beak to pull out a feather.

"Thank you." I said with full sincerity, taking the offered gift.

Despite the situation, the Legendary Bird nodded sagely in return. It frilled, puffing up its feathers, returning to its rather majestic visage....minus the blue paint still stuck to its feathers.

"See you later?" I quirked an eyebrow.

The Phoenix made a noise of confirmation, a hint of amusement I picked up on despite not speaking bird.

"Bitchin." I nodded and he gave me a goodbye, or some kind of secret Bird insulting gesture with its wing before taking flight and disappearing in a burst of flames. Could have been either, to be honest.

I was kind of curious to figure out what actually happened during my little...escapade. But I\'m sure it wasn\'t too bad, and I can ask around when I come back.

Well, time for me to leave too. I\'m pretty sure I took care of everything I needed to while here, and grabbed some goodies too. I\'ll come back again with Yasaka and Kunou for the meeting and see if there\'s anything else required.

I straightened myself up and waved my hand to open a portal. I nearly fell over on my first step, but I made it through.

[***]

I took haggard steps.

Each one was agony.

But Heaven awaited me, so I persisted. I didn\'t know how many times I nearly failed, but I only focused on the prize that awaited me.

I don\'t know how long It took, how long this torture lasted me, but after an eternity of torment, I finally arrived.

I collapsed to my knees, and let my head fall to its resting place. No cold hard stone met my cheeks this day, instead, something warm and soft propped me up.

"Are you okay?" Meridia asked.

"Mmpfh."

"If you\'re going to talk, don\'t do it while pushing your face into my thighs."

"Soft." I rolled my head over, resting it upon her lap.

"That is not a proper response to my question." She pinched my cheek.

"You should know what I\'ve been up to." I mumbled, squeezing her wonderful legs.

"Yes, which is why I am concerned. Even without speaking to your other lovers, I am aware of what you have gone through." She tugged on my hair tie.

"I\'m not okay, but I\'m getting there." I let myself relax. "The small vacation helped."

"I was under the impression that mortals drink to help relieve stress. Did that provide you some comfort and relief?"

"It was nice letting loose for an evening. But it\'s not going to make all my problems just up and disappear." But still, it was nice to take a small break. "Did Venelana talk to you yet?"

"Yes, she revealed to me what she requires."

"Are you....okay with it?" I asked.

"It is a small matter." She said dismissively. "Why do you sound hesitant when you ask?"

"Well, I just don\'t want to assume."

"You may ask me if you require assistance." She responded.

"I don\'t want to rely on you."

"....."

"...."

"Um...that came out wrong, can I try again?" I winced as soon as it set in what I said and how I said it.

"You may." She said curtly.

I was choosing my words carefully. "I guess I don\'t want to ask for your help on things because I\'m worried that I\'m taking advantage of you."

"You believe you are capable of taking advantage of me?" She raised an eyebrow.

".....when you say it like that, it makes it sound silly."

She let out a breath. "I should not dismiss your concerns outright. You must have a reason for feeling this way."

"It\'s no secret the difference between us. There\'s a gap in our existence that will never be bridged. I just...want you to know that I care about Meridia, not just the Daedric Prince, Lady of Light."

"I see, the difference in status gives you concern, which is why you withhold asking for assistance, even for minor things?" She asked.

"Again, it sounds stupid when you say it out loud. I guess I\'m just being a bit self-conscious." I let out a long sigh.

"If you were my peer, we would not be together." She said bluntly. "I would never be able to trust you. I would always have thoughts, concerns about how and when I would be betrayed as that is the only relationship I can have with the others. I admit, I never imagined in my many years of existence that I would allow myself to become bonded with a mortal. I have had my own share of concerns about everything thus far. However, to hear you are worried about taking advantage of me....." She gave a very rare warm smile. "Strangely, it makes me very happy."

"I –"

"However." She cut me off. "It also makes me angry that you have neglected to ask me for aid when I could have rendered it." She said with a glare.

"....sorry." I apologized meekly.

"I accept your apology because it was well intentioned." Her expression softened. "Do not be mistaken, I have been aware of this for some time now, but I have waited for the right moment for us to speak about it. One of the things I love about you is your concern for taking advantage of me." Her tone implied amusement. "But I expect a partner even if we will never truly be equal in all aspects."

"I\'ll try to be more open minded about it."

"Good." Her fingers began to run through my hand. "I will never be upset with you merely asking. And I am comfortable enough with our relationship to believe you would not step beyond what I believe to be appropriate. At least, intentionally. Thus, I will always hear what you ask and give you the benefit of the doubt on matters such as that. This I promise, so you need not be concerned about taking advantage of me."

"Really? Anything I ask."

"....is there something you require?"

"Can you make me super powerful and able to beat up Solomon?" I asked, though it was more tongue in cheek.

"You jest....but there are some things we can discuss if you...desire it."

I paused in my rubbing her thigh. "What do you mean?"

"You have yet explored the intricacies of this Universe. There are....ways for mortals to reach beyond their birth to acquire power not inferior to my own." Her tone was...hesitant. It was rare enough for me to pick up on how reluctant she was to speak about this. "It is dangerous, and the path very treacherous, but if you\'re willing –" She stopped, looking down at me. "Did you just lick my thigh?"

"Yes." I admitted without shame.

"I am revealing to you the secrets of creation, secrets that would make mortals go insane with desire. And instead, you ignore me to... lick my thigh." She sounded exasperated.

"You sounded reluctant."

".....I will not deny it."

"If you\'re worried, then I won\'t bother. You call me out for doing dangerous things, but there\'s a difference between dangerous and \'dangerous\'. I can read between the lines here."

"Many would commit the most heinous of acts for even the chance to receive this knowledge." She pointed out.

In response, I squeezed her leg.

"....why did I expect any different?" she shook her head. "...but I suppose this is what I love about you."

"I love you too." I smiled.

She let out a sigh, but the twitching of the corners of her lips revealed her true feelings.

"In all seriousness, I do have something I could use your help with. Outside of Venelana\'s thing, which I would appreciate you helping with as well."

"I already said I would assist her."

"I know, I just wanted to express my thanks."

"Very well, I will not deny your gratitude. Tell me what you need."

I stood up, and took out the Spear, holding it in front of me. "Need I explain any more?"

Meridia looked at it. "If you are hoping I can fix it, you may be disappointed."

"Well, I can\'t say I wasn\'t hoping. But are not able to?" I felt oddly confused at that.

"Let me properly explain. Yes, I can completely fix that item, and it would require....not an insignificant amount of power to do so. And do not take that as me being dismissive. I am willing to assist you with this." She pointed out. "But for me to fully repair this item, it would destroy the presence contained within."

"Can you explain it to me?" I asked.

"I would have to overwrite the presence to fully repair this item. Which I believe to be the opposite of what you desire. The presence inside is a flickering flame, my light would douse it and replace it with my own even without that being my intent." She explained more.

"Ah....it\'s too weak to handle any significant power from you?"

"That is not incorrect." She nodded.

"Unfortunate." I frowned.

It makes sense, regardless of how strong she was, if the presence inside was too brittle to handle the strain, she can\'t repair it properly.

"Do not be discouraged. I said I cannot repair it fully, I did not say I was unable to assist." She spoke. "I can make sure that it does not deteriorate any further." She placed a hand on the spear, her eyes glowed a beautiful golden, a gentle light seeped out and covered the spear.

The outside cracks, well, they didn\'t disappear, but they....shrunk, somewhat. And no longer was there Holy Power leaking from various parts of the spear.

"This is the most I can comfortably do without risking overwriting the remnants within." She declared, removing her hand.

Good, with this, I had one less thing to worry about until we can get a Holy Relic to mend the true damage.

"Thank you." I put the spear away and wrapped her up in a hug.

"You are welcome." She relaxed into my arms. "I do like helping you, Wilhelm," She said softly.

Yeah...I\'ve just been an idiot.

"I have some time available. I will send a message to Venelana, and we can finish the task she requested." Meridia stated.

"I\'m actually really interested to see how this will work. I can\'t say I care for those Evil Pieces, but academically, I am intrigued."

"I agree with you, I do not particularly like the idea of changing someone to become something dark. But....it is not within my realm of influence, so I am keeping how the mortals say, an open mind." She took the initiative to grab my arm. "Let us go home, my lover."

"With pleasure."

[***]

A/N

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