Dragon Goddess’s chosen

It was weird to see Eris in a dress again, it was hard to stop staring at her as she looked over  Hargreave's contract for me in a spare bedroom of the manor. It did look great on her though. Like the shorter dress I saw her in before it was reminiscent of either Victorian or somewhere from the 1800s, like a fancy court lady in a dusty old museum painting. This time however the deep, rich blue dress was distinctly a ballgown, but it looked like there was a deep matte black jacket decorated in intricate angular gold pattern covering the dress itself. It buttoned up underneath Eris’ chest, making her bust look bigger than normal while tastefully covering her fully. It definitely had a lot less extra fabric for what I expected a dress like this would have, no ridiculous poufs on the shoulders or extra frills like the outfit I had to wear.

 

“Ok… so… if you sign this, you won't be able to attack any citizen of the entire region who isn't a criminal yourself… but you can defend yourself if you need to…” She murmured, breaking me out of my curious stare.

“That's what I got from it too… feels like it's essentially letting me be a vigilante” I sighed and resigned myself to pick at a loose scale on my tail. “Sorry for asking you to look over it at the last minute…”

“It's fine … it lets me put off doing make-up…” she shrugged, glancing at the vanity table. I flinched at the reminder of that and looked at my dress from Rissaeth hanging nearby.

“I'm not looking forward to that either… Lord Hargreave wants me to change out of this sometime in the night… that I'd know when I should… I'm probably going to need make-up too…aren't I…?”

“Love to see it~”

“Shut up… I guess I'll just grab Kat… when the time comes…”

“Anyways, I don't see anything bad in it,” she motioned to the contract, “… you don't have to serve him or anything, you have protections throughout the region. Hells, he can't even tell hunters where you are even if he wanted to. This is only for you, though, Saerrei won't be protected.”

“I saw that part too… thanks again for also looking over it, can't be too careful…” I sighed, collecting the contract and moving for the door. “Guess I’ll go sign it, and try to convince her later…”

“I would say good luck but I don't think you need it with her,” she teased as I slipped out of the room. I rolled my eyes and ignored her comment, closing the door behind me.

‘Ok… there's probably quills in the off- ' I started to think as I turned to head down the hall, only to nearly run into a pacing Nicolas. I had to pause and cover my mouth when I looked at him to stop myself from laughing. He was one powdered wig away from being ready to sign the Declaration of Independence: black jacket, blue bowtie that matched Eris's dress, way too tight trousers or tights or whatever that showed a little too much, shiny black shoes, all decidedly colonial.

“What?” he asked, sounding worried. “Something wrong?”

“N-nope… nothing” I answered, still trying to stifle the laugh. He was really tense and looking down and away from me. ‘Just a bit more appreciative of being a girl now if that's the formal outfit.' ”You alright?”

“Think so? I don't know… I-I never really liked normal parties before… you know.”

“Yeah… I've been trying not to think about how many people are going to be here…” my tail flicked a little and I shook my head to clear it. “Are you here to see Eris?” 

“Y-yeah um… is she…?”

“Dressed? Yep.” I smiled and reached up to fix his collar that I noticed was a little off. “Calm down a bit, you might look like you're ready to dump some tea in a harbor” he flinched a bit “but You don't look awful in this, she helped pick it out right?” he nodded “I think she knows what's best when it comes to noble's fashion out of any of us.”

“... if you say so…”

“Don't worry about your stupid outfit, Max and I are dressed as fucking maids,” I laughed. “Just go knock on her door, come down with her and try to have a bit of fun while we just keep an eye out for anything off. That's it. It'll be over before we know it and we'll probably won't have to do it again.”

“I hope not…”

“Parties however… I can't guarantee we won't have another one…” I shrugged  “I gotta go sign this contract and find Lord Hargreave so… I'm going to leave you to it… so see you two down in the commons and dining room?”

“Y-yep… just gotta…” he looked at the door nervously. I let out a sigh then quickly tapped on it with my tail and took off down the hall. “Alex!”

“You're welcome!” I called back with a smile as I rounded a corner. ‘Alright, avoid everyone, get to the office, sign the thing and get it to Hargreave …  and don't let Kat know about my meddling…’

 

---

 

The ballroom was bustling with activity when I finally got to it, signed contract in hand. There were two distinct parties that seemed to be going on though. The rich and influential locals, Adrian's entourage, and Daimyo Miyasaki's entourage were all calm and dignified. The nords and dwarves were… boisterous to say the least. 

‘Alright… where's Hargreave…’ I scanned over the crowd, half wishing to be half dragon to be able to see everyone. I sighed and ended up exposing my tongue to the air of the room, my sense of smell immediately overwhelmed by the concoction of the various perfumes and colognes the guests had on when it grazed the roof of my mouth. ‘Blegh… too much…’

I shook my head, keeping my mouth firmly shut now, and resumed searching for the human lord. Eventually I spotted him and his wife strolling through the room just from seeing people stop their conversations just to greet him. 

He was dressed in a black overcoat, a white vest and undershirt, and red pants. His suit jacket was trimmed in red. He truly presented as the lord of the manor in this audacious clothing. Lady Hargreave, a dark-furred Akita Inugami with her long hair in a Japanese-style bun, was a picture of grace, complementing her husband’s confidence with ease. A red kimono with large black flowers hung off of her body tastefully. From where I stood, it looked like the only make up she had on was lipstick that matched the pearl-sized red crystals in her hair and around her neck. Certainly registering as very beautiful and it was no wonder why the Lord was with her.

Lord Hargreave suddenly  kicked his cane up while stopping to talk to someone and it immediately caught my eye: a shiny black crystalline head shaped like a bird with bright red eyes. Something in me definitely drew me to impulsively use Inspect, having to dismiss irrelevant pop ups in the process.

 

Identification complete:

non-magical Cane-sword

Black agate pommel, ruby inlays, Snakewood sheath

 

‘Cane sword, huh? Sneaky… huh… why did I care about it though…?’ I frowned a bit then it dawned on me, this and the jewelry his wife had were the first actual “treasures” I had seen since coming to this world. ‘Fucking dragon bullshit…’ I gave a huff as I refocused myself. I pulled my wings tight against myself and started to weave my way through between people towards him. For being such a rare race, I was miraculously ignored almost all the way to my destination as if the ridiculous maid outfit somehow let me blend in. However, just before I could address him, I was stopped by a guest and my heart sank a little. It was the dwarf, Lord Orebender, in an outfit that made him look like Thorin Oakenshield, fur cloak, braided beard and everything, only without the metal scale plating armoring his clothes.

“Oi! Milkmaid! Would ya mind getting me and the boys something with a little more kick to it?” he bellowed, motioning towards his dwarven comrades, all who had empty champagne glasses.

“Sorry, Lord Orebender, r-right now we're only serving Champagne… perhaps my lord will open up more during dinner…?” I replied flatly.

“Bah! No fun in that! Fine, get us some more.” he pushed me along, his hand touching way too low on my back, just above my tail.

“Yes sir…” I hissed through gritted teeth with my rage flaring as I made my escape from the asshole. I resumed my quest towards the lord immediately, the dwarves could wait for their drinks. I had to re-find him but that didn't take long to do so, everyone seemed to be half-looking at him and his wife. I weaved my way over while checking out the other guests to look for any anomalies. Eventually I reached him in the middle of conversation and I politely stood waiting for a moment until I was addressed.

“Lexi, is there something you need?” Lady Hargreave asked.

“I-I just need to deliver something, my Lady” I answered and paused for a moment. “I must say you look as lovely as ever… is it from your homeland?”

“This one no, Elliot had it made after we were married, but I do agree, it's quite lovely.” Her curly tail moved ever so slightly. Upon his name being said, the Lord joined the conversation. 

“Lexi, does something require my attention?” He inquired cheerfully.

“For the party, no sir, I came to deliver this important contract to you.” I held up the pages as I spoke.

“Signed?” I nodded.

“Elliot! Are you still doing business while we're hosting this?” The lady chastised as he neatly folded it up and put it in his pocket.

“Don't worry about it, honey, it's just an agreement among friends that will help both parties” 

‘How will it help you exactly? And friends is a bit generous…’

“You agreed not to do any business deals during this…” she continued.

“It was offered yesterday, and Lexi here was only returning it now.”

“It seemed important to give it to you as soon as possible,” I added. As I stood with them I grew more uncomfortable, the eyes on them felt like they were also on me, the maid uniform no longer rendering me invisible to guests that didn't want anything. In being reminded of them, I glanced back at the dwarves for a moment and I was reminded of what Caitlyn told me. “Actually… when you asked if I needed anything… I was wrong, one of your guests is asking for another incident…” he immediately frowned. 

“Orebender?”

“Is he at it again?” The lady sighed and gave her husband a poignant look. “You need to talk to him. She's not the first girl who's had a problem.”

“I have.” he grumbled then looked at me. “You're clear to remind him that beastfolk have fangs and if he has an issue he can talk to me.” I felt a slight smile return.

 “Gladly, my lord.”

“... don't hurt him too much, he is still a business partner…”

“Elliot!” The lady scolded.

“This time, if he continues it's his own damn fault, better?”

“Much.”

“He did request I get him more to drink… I better get to that…” I pointed out.

“Go on, I won't keep you from your duties.” He replied with a friendly smile. I gave a polite curtsy before retreating back towards the edge of the room, aiming to go to where some bottles of the alcohol being served was stored along. I retrieved one from a wooden bucket of ice and turned to face the crowd again.

‘... Why couldn't being a dragon cure some of my social anxiety…’ I thought with a slight grumble as I partially unwound the cork cage while keeping my thumb on top. The last thing I wanted was for it to go off and draw attention to me. I took a breath and scanned over the guests for the group of dwarves. As I did so, I caught sight of Max diligently trying to fill his role, his ears trembling a bit as he tried his hardest to keep them up and alert. He was keeping his tray of empty glasses he was collecting fairly stable though, as far as I could tell at this distance.

Despite wanting to be at his side, I resigned myself to continue my “job” and braved the crowd again. I held tight onto the bottle as I avoided running into guests and the rare noble's child on my way back to the dwarves. Everything was going great until I was in the middle of presenting the bottle to the men, deciding to speak as little as I can to them to get it over with quickly

‘Hey, cutie, finally spotted you~’ Kat's voice suddenly invaded my mind, making me falter a little and nearly let the bottle go off before I was ready. I glanced around for her and my eyes eventually settled on the large set of windows. Outside, on the wall at the other side of the back garden was a white-haired figure waving.

‘Dammit Kat! Really? Now?’ I scolded mentally, giving the men a polite smile and popped the cork in a controlled manner Natasha taught me.

‘Are you really this horny again…? We even fooled a bit this morning…’

‘It's not as before yesterday, basically as low as it goes right n-… wait… you can feel it?’ I stopped myself from frowning at the feeling of a phantom cool breeze across my skin as I started to pour the drink into the glasses one at a time. ‘I told you it was not a good idea to try Mind Link with me yet!’

‘Come on, I'm bored and I want to see this party through someone’s eyes. I can deal with your horny butt.’  

‘Should have picked Max, I saw him a little bit ago-’ I froze as I felt a hand touch way, way, too high on the back and slightly inside of one of my thighs.

“Why don't ya stick around with us this-” Orebender started but I wrapped my tail around his wrist like a crushing vice as I ripped it away from me and I roughly grabbed his beard. “How dare you!”

“How dare I?” I snarled, snaking my tail up further past his elbow and effectively putting him in an arm-bar. “You were putting a hand up my skirt!”

“Calm down, Milkmaid! Don't forget who I am!” my rage flared and I could feel my body strain the outfit and my necklace.

 

Warning: Unable to increase size.

Reason: Mate forbade user to destroy gifted equipment 

Override mate's request?

 

‘Huh… that actually stopped you? I was just joking about that…’ Kat's voice whispered in my head but I ignored her and the pop-up.

“Don’t forget what I am,” I growled, my mouth crackling with my lightning as I put pressure on his arm. “One of these days, one of us is actually going to snap and your position isn't going to matter to us when you get to see the beast side of us” 

“Is that a threat, servant?” That earned him more pressure on his elbow.

“I'm not sure, Sir,” I answered sarcastically as he winced in pain. “Take it what you will… don't touch me again and I better not hear about you touching one of the other girls. Any of you.” I looked at the other dwarves as I shoved him away. They immediately averted their eyes from me. Satisfied, I turned and briskly walked away while trying to ignore the stares I got.

“Your lord will hear about this!” I rolled my eyes and glanced towards Hargreave and his wife. They were watching too and he had a slight smile as he raised his glass as a subtle salute. I made my escape towards the dining room, setting the bottle down along the way.

‘... you ok?’ Kat gently prodded along the way.

‘Yep, fine, just pissed.’ 

‘I can feel it's a little more than that…’ she was right, there was a tangle of emotion in me, mostly anger, but I didn't want to unravel that at the moment.

‘What do you want me to say? I'm upset… violated…’ I felt errant tears start forming in my eyes. ‘Why the fuck am I tearing up? He barely did anything! I dealt with it! it's over!’ 

‘Slow down, Alex… take a breath, I felt where he touched, it was not ok for him-’

‘Shit you felt it too?!’ I stopped and looked back where I came, blood starting to boil over the mere thought that he essentially did it to her too.

‘Alex, stop. He did not touch me, just focus on my voice ok? It's normal to feel like this after something like that. I hate saying this, as much as I want to see you fry him… we can't lose our heads about this… not right now. Trust me, It'll be dealt with…’ Again, she was right, I couldn't give into the desire to rip his head off, if I did, an entire dwarven city-state would be after mine. I gave a huff and resumed walking to the dining room in my search for somewhere to cool off. I frowned upon reaching it when I found that there were more guests loitering around the extra tables that were brought in to accommodate everyone. My girlfriend took on a lighter tone as I crossed the room to the kitchen, obviously trying to distract me. ‘Damn… guess that really is just the style huh… Nicolas and Eris just came in… I was hoping it was just a local thing. Have you seen him yet?’

‘Nicolas? Yeah… I have.’

‘Looks like he was friends with Ben Franklin or something,’ she joked and I felt myself smile a little, unable to help it. ‘We're in agreement that Max is never wearing something like that, right?’

‘Definitely…’ I paused at the door to the next room, the amusement leaking from her across our link already working to calm me down. I sighed and centered myself before starting to pull away from the door. The rage was still there but dulled. ‘Thanks, Kat…’ 

‘No problem, I love you so I can't stand seeing you upset like that…’

‘Love you too, Kat…’  I was about to head back to the ballroom when the door creaked behind me. I glanced back to find Caitlyn coming through with a plate of hor d'oeuvres, something wrapped in bacon from the smell of it, and strangely struggling a bit. I wiped my face with my arm and greeted her. “H-hey, Ms. Caitlyn, you ok there? Want any help?”

“I am quite-” she responded, her attention going to me and half-freezing. Her eyes briefly widened in what seemed like surprise, maybe even fear before returning back to neutral, “fine… actually… new girl, can you take these out for me?”

“New girl?” I frowned, the more I looked at her, the more something seemed off, she had a magic aura and there was something not clicking right with her heterochromatic eyes. “You alright?

‘Huh, what is that glow?’ Kat asked.

‘Magic detection…’

“I'm fine… I could ask you the same, you look like you were crying.” The cattle dog girl replied, feeling as if she was trying to push the conversation away from that. Intrigue about her was distracting me more from the recent event but that question brought some of the feelings back.

“One of the dwarves got a little handsy…”

“Huh… something to be expected during this job though…you have to keep the peace, though,” she shrugged, leaving me stunned as she passed the platter of food to me and disappeared back into the kitchen.

‘Ex-fucking-scuse me?’ My tail whipped behind me as I stared at the door.

‘Why would a maid say that?’ Kat read my mind of my next question.

‘Especially the one who told me to bring it up with Lord Hargreave… agh… something is up with her… but I can't just follow her right away… tell the others you can link up with, Adrian and Miyuki too… I need to get rid of these…’

‘On it, gotta disconnect from you, I'm not ready to test Mind Link with more than one person yet… talk to you soon’ with that the pressure of her presence disappeared. I gave a sigh and looked at the platter in my hands then at the random guests in my current room.

‘Can't just ditch them, someone probably saw me be given these… have to go around and do it the right way.’

---

An hour later.

 

I spent a lot of time trying to keep a close watch of the other maids and service staff, especially Caitlyn when she finally came back, while slowly getting rid of the finger food thrust upon me. I made absolutely sure to avoid Orebender the entire time, just the sight of him kept the flicker of rage going. I had a few chances of some reprieve from stress during that time when I could stand by Max and just have my tail tip touching his ankle, it was such a small action but it helped so much with recovering. 

 

“I've lost track of her” Miyuki whispered, joining Max and me during one of our breaks off to the side of the dinning hall just after we brought out the third and main course of a veritable feast: whole deer, goose, fish of some sort, various vegetables and fruit. Like others of Lady Hargreave’s family, she was in a kimono. Hers was a dark, pine green with a lighter green and white flower pattern. A gold sash the same color of her scales was tied around her waist, holding the kimono closed.

“Caitlyn?” I asked and she confirmed with a nod. “No eyes on her for a bit then…”

“Iriane too,” Max added softly.

“Saw her in the kitchen a little bit ago, she was complaining about this room being chilly…” I scanned over the room for the other service staff present. “Everyone else is here, even the Doberman and Nekomata butlers…”

“What about the guests?” Miyuki pointed out.

“You remember everyone that's supposed to be here?” I nodded towards everyone eating and chatting.

“There are a lot…” Max agreed.

“And we were only told that staff were acting weird randomly.”

“It's so odd… I'd suspect a guest too…” the lamia murmured. “Have you told Lord Hargreave…?”

“I told Natasha and Smythe…I already talked to him once directly tonight and after the scene I made…” I sighed.

“And if they're in on it…?”

“They were acting normal, actually called me by the name I've been using…” I shrugged.

‘Alex, new problem just came up,’ Kat's voice came over the Message link she had set up. She couldn't hear what was going on like she could with Mind Link but it let us essentially have spy-like comms with each other.

‘What is it now?’ I replied.

‘Look behind our Redcoat.’

‘Not the time, Katrina’ Adrian's voice chastised, his “voice” flat and serious. She wasn't wrong though he certainly looked like one. His coat was a brilliant red, on top of either a gold or deep yellow vest that tucked into pants of the same color, a pair of shiny black boots that came up to his calves and  an ascot around his neck to tie it all together. Didn't look completely awful but he definitely could blend in as a British officer.

‘I don't see anything wrong,’ Max said as I glanced towards where the “honored” guests were seated. I spotted it right away: a man I definitely did not see at all during the night was sitting in an open seat between Adrian and Nicolas. A man in a Greek toga, literally glowing blond short hair and a very “frat bro” look about him. Nicolas next to him looked silently terrified.

‘Same here,’ Eris's voice agreed. ‘You're being grumpy for no reason, Why did we have to include him on this?’

‘You didn't tell her yet?’ I grumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose before grabbing the closest bottle of alcohol, more champagne, to have an excuse to go over.

‘No. I haven't had a chance and she normally ignores me,’ Adrian answered.

‘Agh, whatever.’ I quickly made my way over to them ‘The problem is, you're sitting four feet away from what I assume is a god.’

‘... it's Azion,’ Nicolas added nervously.

‘What?’

“Look what we have here, Rissaeth's champion, does she know you're dressing up as a servant?” The god addressed me when I finally reached them. He was floating in the air, lounging back on what seemed to be a floating chair. Eris was looking between me and Nicolas with concerned confusion while the cleric himself and Adrian were staring at the food in front of them. None of the other guests seemed to acknowledge the divine being's presence at all. I frowned and bent down between my party members.

“What are you -” I started to hiss at Azion but he put his hand up.

“Ah, ah, you'll look quite mad to be talking to the air, won't you?” He interrupted with a grin. I frowned and changed to addressing Eris and Nicolas.

“Lady Castellane, Mr. Jäger, I noticed your glasses were empty, would you like more?”

“U-um sure…” Nicolas answered shakily.

“Yes please,” Eris agreed politely, still giving us weird looks.

“Good save,” Azion chuckled as I worked on uncorking the bottle. I cast a quick glare at him but he just continued. “What were you asking again? What am I doing here? It's quite simple actually, it's quite an interesting gathering!” 

‘Alex… what is going on…?’ Max pressed, sounding nearly as nervous as Nicolas.

‘Azion is talking to us…’ Adrian answered for me. ‘You and Miyuki keep a look out for that maid…’

“Just think of it, five of our Chosen, all gathered in one spot for one party,” the god continued.

“I-I think I'm going to need something stronger than this… to deal with this,” Nicolas murmured just as I started filling his glass. As soon as the pale yellow liquid hit the bottom of it, it shifted to slightly more brown and I stopped pouring and looked at the bottle.

‘The hell? I know I grabbed champagne…’

“How did you do that?” Eris asked aloud, thankfully quietly enough that the Hargreaves, Miyasakis, Orebender, and the nord Jarl further down the table didn't hear her.

“I-I don't fucking know!” the cleric whispered in a panic.

“Hey! You finally found my blessing!” The god laughed while Patting Nicolas's shoulder. He flinched away from the touch. “Took long enough, but you don't partake too much do you? Could've helped replace that cheap beer at that arena,” he shrugged “I don't recognize that drink though, something from your world?”

‘Nick, drink it or dump it now before people notice.’ I ordered. He panicked a bit more but ended up just downing the small amount I managed to pour.

‘... it's a Long Island, I think???? What the fuck?’

‘What just happened?’ Kat inquired. ‘I can't see anything with your wings in the way. ’

‘His drink just changed… ’

“My domain isn't nearly as exciting as fate, wisdom, or dragons… but I do know how to help keep a party going” the god continued, suddenly appearing on the other side of me and plucking the bottle away. He took a swig and immediately got a disappointed look. “Back to juice…. such an unfair punishment…” he shrugged but then grinned at Nicolas. “Any alcohol transfigured from any drink with just a bit in it with just a thought. Lovely, right?” The sudden clinging of a fork to a glass at the table we were around stole our attention.

“Everyone!” Lord Hargreave announced as he stood up. I quickly backed up to the wall away from the table, trying to draw less attention to myself.  “While we are enjoying this meal by my hardworking staff, I would like to thank you all for coming, especially my honored guests from overseas and across the continent!”

“Oh I forgot to give you an answer!” The god annoyingly continued, distracting from Lord Hargreave talking. Thankfully it seemed like he was only just addressing those at the table “I overheard a conversation between a little spider and giant lizard that this party in particular is going to be interesting for you all, I just had to come see for myself”

‘Little spider and giant lizard…?’ I asked. ‘Adrian, Nick, do you know what he might mean?’

‘Who said that? Azion?’ my girlfriend chimed in.

‘Yes.’

‘Probably Rissaeth and Ivra… um… Ivra always made herself a drider when I talked to her…’

“I also want to make an announcement” I caught Lord Hargreave say but It was half drowned out by the annoying god.

“Oh! This must be the interesting part! Listen close Ms. Dragon chosen~”

‘I would if you'd shut up, it's like you're Navi from Zelda…’ I managed not to broadcast this thought as I glared at him floating up to the chandelier above.

“-come into contact and struck up an alliance with a local dragon” I froze when I tuned back into Hargreave talking to hear this. There were amazed and excited murmurs all around and I saw his daughter next to him, Asuna, cast a confused glance my way “Ms. Alexandra Steele should be arriving shortly to join us as another honored guest as the ‘Wyrm of Rookport’.”

‘The fuck? You mother fucker… I didn't sign for an alliance… Kat… come to the back door… I'm going to need your help with make-up…’

‘...what?’ she replied.

‘She's… she's a guest now…’ Max answered.

“Better get moving, Ms. Wyrm” Azion pestered. I cast a glare up at him lounging across two arms of the chandelier as I made my way towards the exit.

‘Stupid fancy party and I'm probably going to need make-up just to fit in more … or be presentable or something … Nicolas, Max, you two going to be ok? I know this is a lot for you guys.’

‘I-I think so… I'll keep watching for Caitlyn…’ my boyfriend answered.

‘I… I don't know…’ the cleric responded. I glanced back at him while trying to think of something to comfort him but I found that Eris was already working on it. 

‘Hey, don't let him get to you too much ok? Take a break from all of this if you need to… I know how it is…’ I assured him. At the same time I was trying to prepare myself to become the center of attention again when I returned.

---

“Hold still, Alex,” Kat scolded as I kneeled in front of her, in my half dragon form, and let her apply makeup to my face back in the room I talked to Eris in.

“Sorry but I'm not used to something so close to my eye,” I huffed softly, fighting against my eye attempting to blink from the black eyeliner ‘pen’ approaching again. I could tell that she was excited that she was finally getting to do this but was keeping it to herself.

“Don't be such a baby,” she teased gently, cupping my chin. I sighed and just messed with the edge of the skirt part of my dress while trying to keep myself from getting excited at this touch. “At least you being giant is making this a little easier. Why’d you suddenly decide this form though…?”

“If he wants a dragon, I'm giving him one… as close as I can at least…” I grumbled. 

“Definitely going to be a surprise for everyone,” she moved onto my other eye. “You doing ok though…?”

“As much as I can be… so much is going on… this, Azion being here, losing track of Caitlyn…” She looked expectantly at me for a moment and I knew exactly what she was asking about. “I'm fine…just rather not think about it… if I can scare the shit out of that dwarf, even better…”

“Ok… sorry I just wanted to make sure…” she fell silent for a bit as she focused on applying the eyeliner. When she finished, she pulled away a little and a slight grin crossed her face “Yep, cat-eye definitely works for you… hmm… if you're ok with make-up now…”

“Never said that… just seemed fitting for the event…” I sighed but it didn't stop her.

“What if I got a Zero-two outfit made? Your hair is a little dark but…”

‘You mean not pink?’ “You're still going on about this?”

“Mhmm,” she smiled and poked my cheek. “Red eyeliner and the suit and you'd be a great Zero-two even all dragon like this~”  she moved onto grabbing mascara to start applying it on me.

“So insistent on dressing me up…  Wait, you actually watched that show?” 

“Eh… a bit,” she shrugged. “I'm still deciding on what outfit I want you in since you agreed to one.”

“I said maybe! And that's before I knew you had a way to make them!”

“You can pick one for me too like you suggested~” she giggled, moving onto adding mascara. “Come on, something  at least~ Poison Ivy? Team Rocket Jesse?” Her smile was infectious as she listed off characters she wanted me to dress up as and I soon felt myself smiling as well. “Hehe there we go~”

“What? Were you just trying to get a smile out of me?” 

“Mostly yeah,” She gave me a quick kiss as she finished with this step “I still need to pick one out for you though.”

“R-remember if I do this, I pick one for you too…” I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she giggled more “Ok, I only have lipstick left… you're lucky I had these with me or we'd both be finding out if they even have anything similar yet.”

“I thought we'd be stealing some from Eris to be honest,” I shrugged then decided to tease her a bit “It was a gamble if you even knew how to, barely ever saw you with any.”

“Mom made sure I could,” she playfully cupped my chin again. “Now shush for a minute, this you can't talk through.” I happily complied and let myself enjoy the moment studying her pretty face as she worked. She soon finished and made me take a look at her work. It certainly made me look even more strikingly feminine, eyeliner, mascara, dark red lipstick… It also was a little intimidating, all of it bringing more attention to my snake-like eyes and fangs when I tried a smile. “So…?”

“It looks good, feels weird though…” I admitted, standing back up to my full height and wrapping my wings over my shoulders like a cloak.

“Glad you like it,” she grinned up at me. “Am I getting your hair too or are you ready to go see Max's reaction to this?”

“You're heading back outside, aren't you…?” 

“Nope, I got something when you told us that Lord Hargreave wanted you to change sometime tonight, just in. case. No where close to as fancy as Eris's though… You're a guest now right? I can be your plus one… and it'll be easier to use my ability to help find that maid…”

“I get to see you in a dress?” I laughed.

“Shut up.” she tapped my arm with her fist as she went over to where Eris stashed the bag of holding. “Lemme get changed and we can head back down.” 

“Aren't you going to do your makeup too?” I teased.

“You're getting me in a dress, you're not getting makeup too,” she stuck her tongue out at me as she pulled her belongings out of the other bag.

“Worth a shot,” I smiled more and leaned against the wall while waiting for her to change. 

 

---

 

Lord Hargreave announced our arrival when we entered the dining hall again, even going as far as getting up and meeting us at the door as if I was an old friend. The attention inflicted another spike of nervousness to return that was not helped with all the stares and tense and excited whispers that echoed throughout the room. Not all were directed at me, though, some were also towards Kat and her state of underdress for such an event. She had put on a simple but pretty outfit of a white dress with fabric hanging from the sleeves like most medieval dresses seemed to have along with a navy blue overdress that came up to her underbust and decorated along the sides with leafy vines. * Her cheerful grin while she held onto my arm while we were led to the table where all the other important guests were showed that she couldn't care less about the whispers about her. I tried to enjoy the food I was given but those whispers and the need to keep watch for the job distracted me, especially when our suspect returned. Thankfully the alcohol god seemed to have gone somewhere else at least and wasn't pestering all of the Chosen.

“ What was she doing as a maid?”

“-bigger than before”

“-elf wearing?”

“-wonder why she snapped-”

“-is doomed”  

‘Maybe this wasn't the greatest idea…’ I grumbled to myself, ignoring the whispers and being careful not to broadcast it across the ‘comms’ Kat re-established. I nervously shifted my weight a little as I stood with Kat off to the side of the ballroom right after dinner. ‘Could've been smaller but nooo, something in me had to be petty and not think ahead about this attention…At least I'm tall enough to see over everyone now, easy to watch over everything…’

“Alex, listen to me,” Kat whispered while squeezing my hand. I re-focused on her and the drone around us faded away. “Just take a breath, ok?”

“It's ok, I'm fine” I lied and she gave me a chastising look.

“Babe, I can feel how tense you are,” she held up our intertwined hands. “I know you hate social things but you don't need to crush my hand.”

“Sorry…” I sighed. she gave a comforting smile and squeezed my hand again. 

“It's ok, just take a breath” ‘Hey, Maxie, you think you can swing by with a couple glasses and one of those sweet meads?’

‘Katrina, we should keep this clear in case someone needs something or has info,’ Adrian’s voice replied flatly.

‘It's to help Alex and gives him an excuse to come over,’ I could almost hear him sigh over the connection.

‘Fine, who has eyes on our suspect?’

‘I do,’ Miyuki chimed in. ‘She's not doing anything weird right now, kind of shaky carrying that tray though…’

‘...I-I can come by with that mead in a bit…’ Max finally answered.

“Lexi!” Lord Hargreave's youngest's voice suddenly rang out, interrupting us. I glanced over to see him running over with a gaggle of other noble children, including his tired-looking sister, Nora, trailing behind him. For being the center of attention, very few people were brave enough to come up to me themselves, so it was impressive that the children were the first other group to approach.

“Oh… what's this? You have a little fan club?” Kat giggled and nudged me as the two siblings got closer, the others kept their distance.

 “Why didn't you tell us you were a real dragon?!”

“Thomas… that's not her name…” Nora scolded softly and looked at me. “Sorry, Alexandra… he couldn't wait to talk to you…”

“It's fine, you guys can still call me that if you want, or Alex, either one,” I replied with a smile and crouched down so I didn't tower over all of them so much. “Babysitting duty?” she gave a slight nod.

“We don't need a babysitter! Why don't you go find a boyfriend or something …” her younger brother said indignantly with his ears folding back in irritation before he looked back at me “Why didn't you tell us you were a real dragon?”

“Your dad hired me to help out as a maid for a bit,” I chuckled softly “Guess that's over now.”

“I want to see your full form! The dragons I saw in books were bigger!”

‘That's adorable…’ Kat laughed in my head. 

“All your friends are afraid of me right now, I don't think that's a good idea,” he pouted and looked back at the others.

“You're all scaredy-cats! Lexi is nice! She'd even take me flying if I asked!”

“Um… you should ask your dad about that and even then it would be a bit before I should do something like that…”

“What? Why?!” he looked back at me.

“She's a dragon, dummy, only this party knows!” Nora answered for me to my relief.

“What your sister said, it's dangerous, I don't want to put you in danger from the guards thinking I'm a mean dragon.” 

“Told you,” she sighed.

“You didn't!” he pouted then looked at me. “I want to go flying sometime… You still work for father, right? So you have to listen!” his sister covered her face with a hand.

“Thomas… I'm so sorry, Lexi…”

“It's fine, sometime? I guess. You'll still need your dad's permission.”

“You're probably going to need a saddle for that.” Kat teased softly. I rolled my eyes and poked her side with my tail, as I did so, I noticed someone coming our way: The scarred guard from the Coliseum, in a dress uniform that was surprisingly similar to Marine Corps dress blues I had seen my dad wear in photos and it somehow didn't look out of place here. 

“Sorry, kids,” he started and there were some pouts, apparently a few were working up courage to also talk to me and they knew what was coming. “May I have a word with her?”

“Ok… come on Thomas,” Nora replied, gently ushering the little ringleader away, also getting the others to come with.

“Fine… let's go ask father if he'd let us go flying with her!” I heard her brother say as he was led away.

“I… don't think I'm getting out of that easy…” I sighed, standing up and turning my attention to the man. “Did I break the law or something…?”

“Oh you're a guard?” Kat asked, playfully hugging my arm again.

“Commander of the City Guard,” he corrected and put his hand out in a friendly manner, “ Cathal Mahoney, and no, you're not in trouble” I had to stop myself from smiling from his name reminding me of a character from ‘Police Academy’ as I politely shook his hand. 

“That's good…” I replied as he also shook Kat's hand. “... I would introduce us too but Lord Hargreave kind of announced us to everyone… and you've seen my guild card at the Coliseum…”

“You showed a lot of restraint during that,” he chuckled then looked at Kat. “The lord didn't mention your relation to her, however, part of her party that didn't join in on the other day?”

“A little more than just that but yes” she laughed then proudly added, “I'm one of her mates”

“One of…?” 

“I don't really know what you mean by restraint… I took a bit of a beating there…” I said, quickly trying to get the conversation back on track while shooting her a confused look. She just smiled in return.

“Nonsense, you could've easily changed into this at any point, correct?” 

“... technically… but honestly, I hate attention and I wasn't trying to draw any to myself… that Rakshasa ruined that though… just like being outed here…” I sighed.

“The Lord does like springing surprises.” the Commander mused. “I was just as surprised about that announcement, especially with the fact I spoke with the same dragon directly before without realizing it,” he lowered his voice and took on a more serious tone. “How did you manage that, by the way? Those cards normally don't have a problem with showing heritage.”

“Oh so that's what you wanted to talk to her about,” Kat called him out just as quietly. “Is a party really the best place for that?”

“I suppose not, and I apologize for this, but I'm concerned for fraudulent Adventuring guild cards floating-”

”U-um…Ms. Steele, Ms. Torres …I'm… I'm not interrupting something…am I?” Max asked shyly as he finally made it to us with a bottle and a couple glasses on a silver platter. I also noticed a slight spectral glow under that platter and he had the aura that he was casting something.

“Nope, just a little chat with Commander Mahoney. Right?” Kat said while looking at the guard, who just nodded.

“Oh, u-um ok… s-so here's the mead you asked for…” he let go of the platter entirely to try to uncork the bottle but it stayed floating in the air. I watched curiously for a bit until his ears folded back in defeat.

“Hey… let me give it a try, ok?” I suggested, bending down with my hand extended and smiling comfortingly at him. A deep blush quickly spread across his face and he shyly let me have it and the corkscrew he was using. I didn't even bother with the tool, just hooked a claw into the cork and easily wrenched it free.

‘So pretty…’

‘Max, you're saying that to everyone,’ Eris's voice quickly chimed in and his blush somehow worsened.

‘S-sorry!’

“Careful now, unless you're planning to make her another ‘mate’ “ the Commander joked while sipping at his own drink. Max faltered a bit as he took the bottle back and started pouring the drink for Kat and me. He caught onto that quickly, though and raised an eyebrow. “Say, you're one of the few people who didn't seem surprised about what she is.”

“Um…” My boyfriend laughed nervously and shyly gave Kat and me the glasses. “W-we were working pretty close all week… so…”

“I see…” he definitely wasn't convinced but gave a friendly smile towards me and raised his glass slightly in almost a salute before starting to walk off. “Thanks for the chat, I won't keep you any longer then, give others a chance to talk with the great ‘Wyrm’.”

“No problem…” I sighed, taking a drink of the sweet honey-wine. To my surprise, not sure if it was from my friendly interaction with him, the kids or just finally partaking in some alcohol, others actually approached right away to talk.

‘Hey look, we can actually blend in a bit and mingle now,’ Kat joked while squeezing my arm.

‘You t-think he's suspicious of me now though…?’ Max asked, awkwardly lingering nearby.

‘Don't worry about it, just look out for anything weird still,’ I replied as we were starting to get friendly, curious questions about us from mostly other couples.

---

“Come on, dragon! Another round!” a Nord man slurred after downing yet another drink with me. At some point after the music started for couples to dance, Kat and I got separated. She found herself in a group of the few other elf women and I somehow got roped into the boisterous sub-party of Nords and Dwarves that apparently had something to prove.

“I really don't think that's a good idea for you…” I sighed, swirling my own drink a bit in its glass before also downing it. The ‘English’, ‘French’ and ‘Japanese’ guests may have slowly gotten brave enough for minor exchanges the past couple hours but they did not compare to how eagerly the two other groups included me despite them definitely not being my kind of crowd before but being included in something helped my nerves a bit more.

“Come on, we're not out of the fight yet!” The dwarf I was also drinking with insisted. He wasn't slurring yet but his face above his beard was flushed red. I rolled my eyes at this and took the chance to scan over the party once more for any anomalies but finding none.

“I was also like ten drinks in when you two challenged me and I barely feel a buzz.” I pointed out.

“That don’ mean much, these glasses are barely any'ting!” He wasn't wrong, they were only half the volume of tankards.

“I'm not going to argue that… but anyways, I really don't want to see him get sick and inflict that on the poor staff…”

“ 'eyy, one of the Metrians grew a spine!” the Nord drunkenly chuckled, making me follow his line of sight to find Nicolas wading through the burly men and women. “Want a real drink, kid?”

“Oh I-I'm good” he quickly replied. “Um… can I talk to you Alex?” 

“Oh um… sure, sorry guys, gotta mingle more,” the cleric immediately looked relieved as I followed him away from the noisy part of the room. I waited until I could actually speak quietly without it getting drowned out. “Something wrong? You could have gotten me with Message…”

“N-no, nothing's wrong, I just…” He gave a sigh. “I want advice… and I didn't want Eris to hear…she thinks I'm going and finding a bathroom right now…”

“...on…?” I raised an eyebrow at him.

“How did you do it? Max and Katrina…? I know we have the job b-but to blend in and…” 

“Hold on… you're asking me for relationship advice… here, of all places?”

“I know…” he scratched at the back of his head as I looked down at him. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. “You… kind of helped earlier, so I thought that maybe…”

“I… I don't know what to tell you… I don't even know how I won them over… Hell, I was in love with Kat for years and I couldn't even tell that she felt the same way…” I frowned a bit and used my height to look for the fighter. It was some effort but I spotted the other redhead across the room, looking extremely bored but also watching the people in the middle dance to the ‘classical’ music being played kind of longingly. “... you just left her there by herself?”

“Shit… I didn't think of that…” I glanced back at him.

“Really…? I'm kind of clueless about girls but… not the greatest to do that…” He flinched and only got more nervous. “Whatever, forget about that. Just go back to her… ask her to dance or something… She did take the time to teach you, right?”

“She did, but with how she is…?”

“And? I can see her from here and she's looking at the dance floor.” I crossed my arms and tried my best impression of Kat when she playfully scolded me in the past. “You're her date, dumbass, go ask her to dance before someone else does, I'm sure even that tomboy would like it.” he took a breath and nodded. “And maybe while you're out there, see if she wants to date you or something.”

“You sure…?”

“Hell no, I'm not sure, but it's something my dumb ass would do and you think I'm the person to ask about this stuff.” I laughed and gently pushed him a little in the direction I spotted Eris in with my tail. “Chances are she won't turn you down since you two have been sharing a room all month!” That got him the embarrassed kind of flustered but he nodded again and started to sneak his way back through the other guests.

I happily stood back and watched him approach her. There was no way to listen in from where I was but the way her face lit up when he grabbed her hand all prince-like was cute. He soon led her out to the dance floor with the other couples. I was regretfully unfamiliar with dances, leaving me wishing I knew how to just to take Max or Kat out there too, but they were definitely well practiced in the flowy moves fitting of a ball room that I saw out there. I couldn't dwell much on that desire as I ended up locking eyes with the cattle dog maid we all had been watching on the other side of the room. We held our gaze for a few moments and that's when I finally pinned down why she looked off, for some reason her eyes switched colors with each other. As I came to that realization, my expression must have changed   since the corners of her mouth went up in a smirk before she suddenly turned and made for the door.

‘Hey, I think Caitlyn is up to something,’ I announced to the group as I followed from across the way at a brisk pace. The good thing about my large form, people stayed out of my way, but it caused more murmurs as I made my way through, not that I paid enough attention to pick out any words.

‘She is moving kind of fast,’ Miyuki confirmed. ‘I can't make it over there right now.’

‘I think I can follow.’ Kat said,  ‘Just gotta get away from these girls first…no promises though…’ I frowned as I watched the cattle dog maid slip out the door and picked up my pace a little.

‘L-lemme put some stuff down and I can go,’ Max offered.

‘I see her too, Nick and I can move in too…’ Eris suggested but by her “tone” she didn't want her moment with Nicolas to end so soon.

“You two don't have to, I can follow,’ I told her. ‘Ok, I'll head out first, Kat, Max, get out into the halls when you can, maybe the three of us can track her down this time’

‘Keep us updated’ Adrian “ordered”.

‘Will do, you or Miyuki go tell Natasha, Smythe, or Lord Hargreave?’ I replied just as I reached the door and entered the hallway. I quickly scanned both ways then sighed when I found that she was gone out of sight. “Of course… can't be easy…”

“Oh hohoho, look at you! Very regal!” Azion pestered, suddenly appearing next to me and making me jump. “Lacking the gold and gems I expect from one of Rissaeth's, though.”

“Mother fucker, what are you doing?!” I hissed and he grinned. I contemplated telling the others about him but decided against it so I didn't stress out Nicolas while he was dancing with Eris.

“What do you think? Watching over my domain.” He answered nonchalantly. I frowned and waved to the door I just came out of.

“That's back there, now if you excuse me, I'm busy. Go bother one of the others… not Nicolas though…” Picking a direction at random, I started to walk away from the god.

“Oh but they're actually enjoying themselves now, for the most part.” He laughed, easily catching up even while floating along like he was lounging in a water park lazy river. “You being ‘busy’ is why I'm here with you.”

“God dammit…” I growled, picking up the pace.

“I’m the only god here right now, sweetie, and I don't plan on damning anything. So what is this important business you're on? On a run for more alcohol? Surely not, plenty here… Oh I know, you're looking for the party-crashers! You're going the wrong way for that by the way.” I stopped in my tracks, cringing at my claws scraping across the floor from that.

“What?” He grinned more.

“There's quite a few that aren't supposed to be here, one left that room right before you and went the other way.”

“Agh…” I growled and took off back in the opposite direction. 

“So I was right! I really appreciate it, uninvited guests truly ruin the mood, especially ones with ill intentions,” Azion rambled on, keeping up with me as I rounded a corner and continued down another hall.

“Not doing this for you.”

“Helps me anyways, I can't get directly involved in things like this but giving ‘heroes’ a little push is allowed so it's very helpful that you lot are here~” I rolled my eyes and skidded to a halt in an intersection of four halls to check where I needed to go. That's when a new feminine voice greeted me from my right.

“Not much of a tracker, are you, Alexandra ?” She called as my attention turned that way, finding the maid another hundred or so feet down that hall. She looked like Caitlyn, but her voice changed, no longer the polite maid tone and more of the huskier femme-fatale kind. “What kind of name for a dragon is that anyways?”

“I don't know what to tell you, it's my name…” I grumbled, my tail flicking as I stared her down. “I was going to figure out why you were acting weird but you're not Caitlyn, are you?”

“You got me there, this was a tough role to play” her eyebrows furrowed in a disgusted look. “Playing all nice and serving a rich family on and off for about a month, seducing is so much easier than serving but our mark was woefully devoted to that wife of his… And the one week I don't sneak in here, he somehow gets a dragon and a coatl to help out.”

“Coatl…?”

“Don't play dumb I saw you talk to the snake a few times”

“She's… not a lamia?”

“Interesting… you didn't know…hmm,” she mused then shrugged. “Anyways, that doesn't matter, what will it take for you to fuck off? How much are you being paid? We can probably make an arrangement to split some of this heist with you?”

“Wasn't told exactly… fitting for a B-rank quest though, along with the merit that comes with it. You're not going to bribe me away from my job, though.” I took a step forward and she frowned. ‘Guys, I found Caitlyn.’

“Really? A dragon playing adventurer? I lived for awhile but I've never seen that” She laughed tauntingly.

‘I-I just got out, which way-’ Max started to respond.

“ Cerebrum Spiculum,” the maid quickly said before a sharp pain pierced my mind and the pressure of my connection to the others disappeared. “Can't be telling the others about this chat, can we? You all have been lighting up all night, don't think I don't also know what Message looks like~”

‘She has magic detection too…’ I growled a bit and glared at her as I let my lightning start to charge up. “Who are you?”

“I have a few names.” She laughed, her tail swishing happily behind her. “Queen of Thieves, The White Fox, but if it helps us come to an agreement…” She tapped her cheek with a nail and before my eyes a white and red fox kabuki theater mask manifested over her face. As the mask appeared, her hair turned white, she shrunk several inches, her ears went from folded to upright, her body gained more of an acrobatic body build, the maid outfit transformed into leather armor, and, lastly, her tail fanned out into five fluffy white ones with bright red tips. “Just simply Akane.”