One Weird Succubus

Learning things~♥

On the way back home, and the word kept making her happy every time it popped in her mind, Sophie saw an advertisement for… three people? Which made her anger simmer in the back of her mind

“What’s wrong with the fat bastard anyway?” but she couldn’t ask about it immediately, because Antonia started to ask Selene about the pig “He looked familiar…?”

“I knew him… just can’t remember from where…” Polly giggled at her answer, and started to laugh with Antonia when Calypso started to sing a song that used ‘Heart-breaker’ a lot, making Selene pout at them

But in the lull that came after that she was free to do voice her question

“Who were the people on the…?” she pointed at the structure that they had left behind for a while now, but was unsure about how to name the thing while trying to keep her anger from showing

“Who…? In the billboard?” Selene looked in that direction, before Antonia hummed and asked her own question

“You mean the two guys and the grand-? Eh… the woman with white hair?” Sophie confirmed it and all of them seemed to understand who was in the structure “Those are the three presidents of the country, it’s from the last elections that they won, and the company that put the image there hasn't take it down… ah…”

She looked at Calypso asking for her input, once she noticed the confused face on the succubus

“Presidents are… the ones supposed to that make sure the country works, not like the king of Barus… Jacques is, mainly, the person in charge of guiding the military, plus internal and foreign affairs of the country. Herman is the one in charge of things like the environment, education, and health. Clara is in charge of the economy… mostly, she also deals with a lot of corruption related topics, but she is the ‘Numbers’ president. For everything else, they are supposed to take turns, or work together on those topics”

“Also, Jacques is her boss”

“Not” Calypso tone was a cutting one when compared to Antonia’s joking one “My department just has some reports sent to him every now and then”

“Sophie is a ‘Now~’ or a ‘Ten~’?” but Antonia made her groan with what she said…

‘Eh…?’ while Sophie

[I don’t understand what she meant by that] and Amelia, were confused by the joke…

The rest of the way home was filled with them mentioning things those three did on the previous term, and how they had an easy victory for their current one, despite being from three different ‘Factions’

Sophie expected them to be Shitheads, and that was the reason for her anger, because with having their image getting shown in public like that… they mimicked things she was already used to see, but the things the women said… didn’t painted them in a bad light

Surprisingly…

Once they were back inside they found a worried Theresa that asked for details about the delay, while her baby slept on a carrier on top of the table by the couches, which Calypso and Antonia started to provide

While Sophie removed the bra she had been loaned, not having much trouble with the frontal hooks-

“Ah…” but still sighing with pure relief after releasing her breasts, which gave her some euphoria, that grew when she realized that she couldn't ignore how the dress she was wearing tightened around her torso

“Don't worry! I’ll get to work immediately~” which wasn't missed by Polly, who ran up to her studio while she took the undergarment to the laundry box, and Selene started to look for things in the kitchen

Sophie then took the same seat as before, while she half heard what the other three were saying

‘Why I don’t… feel, the same things as before…?’ getting distracted by something she had just noticed, about the whole visit to the pig-house

She couldn't feel what the women around her were feeling, but she remembered the wrath coming from Selene before…

‘Ah…?’ and it took her a moment to notice that the world around her seemed to slow down… not to the point were it stopped

[You are still related to Demons, even in your status as a new species, and Demons have a connection to Concepts called Sins] but it was easy to realize that it was just Amelia doing something, to speak quickly to her [Now that you aren't stressed, you aren't subconsciously trying to identify threats by feeling those Sins around you. I will train you on this topic too]

‘I see, but what are those?’

[In no particular order, pride, lust, wrath, envy, greed, gluttony, and sloth are the most common Concepts identified as Sins, often they are just perceived moral failures in an individual, but like many things, once they are applied to magic, they can be used to acquire power. For example: your Lust Mana]

‘How…? And… that doesn’t sounds like a good thing?’ wrath and greed sounded particularly off putting considering the pigs from earlier, and the Shitheads from the other world

[Many of the magics our Creator recorded, have severe drawbacks in exchange for power, this includes most of the ones that use Sins. You don’t have to worry about this, what matters is the end result]

‘That’s your Creator’s slogan…?’ she didn’t liked that more drawbacks were in her future, just thinking about the one Amelia mentioned when she arrived, was enough to send her reeling… ‘I’m not sure I want to hurt those around me for power…’

[That’s not what I meant, but I can see how you reached that conclusion and I apologize] Sophie started to grimace, expecting a ‘But’ incoming… [My statement was made while taking into account that our Creator was strong enough to ignore those drawbacks, or, had ways to just cancel them. Don’t worry, I’m capable of seeing what drawbacks are too much for you, and I’ll do my best to teach to you what you are not going to reject instantly, or, you have a chance to improve upon]

That was good to know, and better than what she expected

“Sophie, do you want to learn how to cook~?” but even at the speed they were talking, her changing expression was noticed by Selene and the others there

“Yes!” and the succubus got distracted from the conversations, with something that she really wanted to know

Much to the relief of everyone that noticed her dipping mood at the ‘Reminder’ that she was attacked by a policeman…

/////

Learning to cook was fun for Sophie, she helped both Selene and Polly with lunch and dinner. Pasta with cheese and bacon, and a fruit porridge, respectively, she enjoyed doing, and eating, both things

“There are animals called pigs…?” and before sleeping she read some more of the biology book, learning that fact on the section related to the sense of smell in nature (The animal in the picture looked surprisingly cute, but the annotation under it said that it was a picture of a piglet), before looking at the page number… “Ugh…”

And at how far she was from the masturbation section…

She took a deep breath before tumbling to that section and started to look at the diagrams that she had already seen a few times, feeling her heart rate going slightly faster, embarrassment tinting her face…

Want, tinting her face…

Sophie closed the book and placed it to the side on the floor before standing up from the mattress to turn off the light… appreciating the silence in the room, and the few sounds either in, or, outside the house

‘It… should be fine… right…?’ Amelia didn’t answered her, which was fine with her, she had no idea if she wanted her to give her encouragement to…

A shiver ran through her whole body as she turned and walked to her bed… slowly unbuttoning her pajamas to remove the shirt, stopping briefly as she glanced at the closed curtains, before letting it fall to the floor with her pants and undergarment following soon enough

The wet spot on her panties didn’t escaped her notice, and the subtle smell that reached her nose made her bit her lower lip with desire, just before she slipped under the covers one more time. Resting on her side, waiting for a moment to listen for a change in the sounds…

She sighed as those remained the same, one of the fingers of her right hand making small circles on her stomach since she laid down, her left hand being close to her mouth, just in case she needed to cover it

“…?!” which she might need, if her fingertips sliding up along her smooth skin were an indication of how good things were going to get now that she had the idea of pleasure in her mind

Sophie almost grabbed one of her breasts, barely maintaining her desire in check, to do what the book said, because she had done more than just stare at the diagrams, and as she moved her fingers down along her sides for a few seconds, she found herself agreeing with some of the advise she read

Explore slowly, and listen to your body

Which she was learning to do, now that she had a body that didn’t made her cringe with disgust at every sensation, at every caress, at every glimpse. She found her thighs rubbing against each other, with nothing between them, to be particularly stimulating as she explored the sides of her waist and hips with a hand

She released a soft breath a few minutes later, as she finally let her fingers touch the underside of her breasts, pushing softly against her flesh. Keeping her breathing in check as a shock of pleasure made her toes curl, at the same moment she understood what the book meant by ‘Lubricant’ once she felt it sliding out and along her thighs towards the mattress

‘Oh~!’ she shivered again fully cupping a breast with her hand while doing her best avoiding her big areola, that she could feel getting aroused at the same time her twin did

Showering, and cleaning herself, hadn't give her that kind of reaction at all. She still became euphoric while touching her body, but only at that moment she realized by how much, stress absolutely killed her libido, if she had been left only feeling the happiness of having the right body so far

Which was a great thing anyway! But she was starting to wish she had been able to touch herself sooner…

Her desire made rolling to her back a necessity, her other hand quickly moved along her hairless chin, her smooth uniform neck, feeling her heartbeat on her fingertips, and the shape of her clavicle, to reach the softness of her other breast. Finding it equally sensitive to her touch, while her other hand hadn't stopped at any point from caressing, squeezing, teasing, and learning, what she could do to make herself feel good

Just to do the same with her other hand, time losing all meaning, with the idea of doing those same things to the girls she liked, surfacing to her mind in the sea of her endlessly growing desire

A voiceless gasp, that happened by accidentally rubbing her nipple, pushed that idea to the back of her mind

‘Soon~♥’ there would be time to think, and do, that kind of things at another point-

“…♥?!!!” the electricity that she was feeling running along her spine, while rubbing her nipples at the same time, required her immediate attention

To the point she felt like whining at the heat that was gathering, and spreading from the tightness in her lower abdomen, soaking her nether parts while screaming for her attention there, as if she needed to compensate for every waking moment in which she wasn't drowning in pleasure

“Mmm~” and yet, there was something appealing coming from her own stubbornness to not rush towards her peak for a few more minutes

But exploring that idea could also be done in another opportunity, so she relented and slid a hand to her lower lips, raising a knee under the covers before making contact-

“…♥?!!!” nearly gasping at how her aroused outer lips, jolted her body with a simple touch from the side. The book warned about touching the clit without proper lubrication, but after feeling the heat rushing everywhere from that action, she almost jumped right to it

Instead she sucked her breath, and rubbed two of her fingers against the arousal on her lips, feeling them move up and down with an erection… not, whatever was happening where her clit was, reminded her of one of those, but it was significantly different from one

It was the only feeling she had to compare to that area of her body-

‘Am I fine with having a penis or not?!’ and it was frustrating her a bit before she spread open her outer lips ‘Ah~!’ and she suddenly stopped caring about that

Being aroused, the heat on her body, changed how that action felt when compared to cleaning, leaving her trembling and breathing heavily, before she was able to tease her inner lips with a finger, nearly making a moan escape during the time she took enjoying the kind of pleasure she was getting. She could have spend more time savoring her touch-

‘I need this!’ but she reached a point where she had to push a finger inside her-

“Mmm-♥?!” barely getting the tip inside her before she had to move to her side and bit the pillow to muffle the moan that did escape

That only grew longer the more she pushed inside her, enjoying all the textures and shapes that she could feel from her folds being spread while going in

“Ghnn~!” groaning the moment her finger was completely inside, annoyed for a moment because she couldn't explore deeper, leaving her to wiggle the digit making her shiver with pleasure as she instinctively knew that she could put another finger- “Mmm~♥!!!” before she curled that finger, to discover that she could have plenty of fun with what she could reach

‘So good~♥’ she was biting the pillow even harder when she found that particularly sensitive spot, nearly screaming when she pinched a nipple by reflex while tracing a circle inside her, to find out the exact place and size of the area that was making her mind turn into mush

Sophie’s whole body was trembling, with her heartbeat loud in her ears making her miss the sound of her ragged breathing, that became more erratic as she got another finger inside her, with her thoughts losing all coherency, fueled only by her lust, her desire, her happiness, the certainty that she was feeling a pleasure that only a woman could have

And that there was nothing wrong with what she was doing

Then her thumb rubbed against her clit-

And her whole body shook. With her vagina clamping hard against her fingers and this white fire that threatened to burn her whole body, suddenly vanished any and all thoughts of her mind for an eternity of mind numbing pleasure

“MMM~♥?!!!” then she snapped back to reality, finding her thumb rubbing her clit almost painfully and her fingers curled just as strongly, while her body and mind recovered from whatever was that

Orgasm was a word too simple, to explain how thoroughly her whole body got unmaded and reassembled. The idea that her mind was able of recovering from something like that experience, was almost ridiculous

Sophie could feel her body burning, a nearly palpable haze coating her skin, barely realizing that the only reason her hand was fucking a new orgasm inside her, was because her tail was holding her thighs open, by curling around her two knees-

‘Ah…?’ her tail?

“Sophie?”

“KYA?!!!” she rolled away from the door in panic, falling off the mattress and almost hitting her tail while the bed sheet got pulled off it by the motion

Leaving her on the floor inside a cocoon of fabrics, while her heart felt as if it now lived in her throat, and an unbearable frustration was growing at being interrupted like that…

“A-are you all right…?” Selene sounded…

“Y-y-yes…” as embarrassed as Sophie felt once she noticed that the door was still closed…

“Err…” which meant that she didn’t had to worry about anyone knowing about her tail… “Anastasia woke up, and I noticed the smell… and…” she inhaled, mostly by the surprise of having what she felt was a delicate, yet salty, smell, being the cause of the interruption… “Y-you might want to open a window…”

“Ah…?” she was very grateful that the woman wasn't getting inside…

“It’s really… eh… noticeable…” after a moment, in which her face felt that it could illuminate the whole room “G-goodnight!” Selene left without waiting for an answer

And Sophie groaned as she felt her libido dying…

It didn’t stop her from taking her fingers out, and licking them… getting confused because it just tasted like salty water with a bit of sugar added to it… and despite having her soaked hand right by her nose, it still didn’t smelled like much…

Luckily, a touch told her that her horns were still hidden, but once Sophie got her hand out of the cocoon she noticed that her skin returned to be gray, and her tangled tail was trembling in frustration…

Frustration that made her groan again, not realizing the full extend of the… mess, she made with the sheets, as she quickly focused into changing back

/////

The bed linen, her blankets, and even the pillow, could easily be placed in the washing machine, but the inflatable mattress had to be washed by hand

“I’m sorry…” which she was doing under Selene’s guidance on the kitchen sink, apologizing not because she regretted what she did, but because she felt that she had to apologize. The only thing she regretted was having to sleep on top of that… puddle-like stain, and not being able to help with Anastasia…

“Don't be~” but Selene had said that same thing with a smile a few times already “There is absolutely no reason to be ashamed of. And personally?” Sophie looked at her from the corner of her eye “That you feel safe enough, to do that here, is a good sign!” she sounded honest… but she still hadn't met her eyes so far…

“I just wish the smell wasn't this potent…” Antonia deadpanned from the kitchen door, making Selene’s blush noticeable

Which made Sophie’s blush even more… more, as she rubbed the cleaning solution on the big stain she had left on the deflated mattress… Amelia had said that it seemed to be the natural amount of lubrication that her body was made to produce, but that she would need to repeat that a few times to figure out for certain…

“Good thing I wash everything I make before shipping it…” Polly joined the discussion from the living room and with a slightly joking tone “Maybe you should consider doing it while showering?” the studio was being ventilated after she cleaned it with bleach, while leaving all the windows and the door open, so her suggestion made some sense to Sophie…

Even if she really couldn’t feel whatever smell they were complaining about

Selene looked ready to go to them and release a few words to them…

“Alright, enough teasing” but Theresa spoke next, making Antonia move to the living room with them “You two don’t have troubles when I do it, and I’m more vocal than how she was”

“First…” Antonia countered “That little girl on your arms, was making you horny, which we know was a side effect for your pregnancy. Second, we all have the same brand of toy as you do, we can’t complain about noise… we are complaining about the smell”

“That means you haven't changed enough diapers…”

“Excuse you?! I’m a nurse!”

The conversation after that point devolved into a lot of jokes (?), that flew over her head, before the three of them started to make plans for the day

“Toy?” which Sophie used to ask about that topic in a whisper, making Selene blush a bit more

“It’s… a devise that you don’t share with others~” looking a bit nervous about the topic “If we save some extra money then I’ll get your own~”

But what she said, made Sophie realize that no matter the world, credits, or ‘Pearls’ as it was called there, was something that everyone needed…

‘I wonder if this place has terminals I can use…’ which gave her some ideas to help her new family

And soon after she was done, Selene took her to buy a few things they needed for that day’s meals

/////

Once again she was wearing loaned clothes, this time a white dress, but the silver coat that she was given, covered the evidence that the outfit wasn't made with her size in mind, so she wasn't worried by it

Mostly because she knew that soon she was going to have new clothes made for her proper body… still, the bra was a bit annoying to wear, but the beautiful surroundings distracted her mind from that topic

In particular, were the blue sky above them as they got closer to the general store

“There are a lot of… kids…?” and the confusing children that both of them could see while going there

“That’s the word, yes” Selene smiled to her, as she always did while still teaching her new things, every time she noticed Sophie’s confused face “Normally, they would be at school at this hour, but since classes end around this time of the year, they get vacations a bit early than older students”

That was the most confusing thing… kids playing outside with each other, running along the fallen leaves, or doing other things while walking around with their parents, or even older people, or just reading a book, or just being part of a group of other children that were clumped together, trying to see the screens of the devices, a few of the others were using…

Freedom… just like that…

“How… how is a year measured?” it dredged weird emotions in her chest, so she turned towards Selene to push them down

“Well…” she was a bit hesitant while looking at her face, but her smile returned soon enough “There are eight days in a week, four to five weeks in a month, it depends on how you count them. Three months for each season, for those places with seasons, and fifty weeks divided in twelve months, to make a whole year, for a total of four hundred days per year, with one or two days being added in specific intervals every few years, because the math isn't perfect, but those are generally holidays” even if her explanation was a bit rushed

Sophie nodded, they had mentioned the word ‘Holiday’ before in a few conversations so far, so she understood the concept: something the Shitheads would oppose completely…

“You can say either, day 1, day 2, and so on. Or their names, which are Strength, Temperance, Fortune, Restrain, Sun, Moon, Stars, and the last one is Judgment” Sophie blinked slowly, while trying to remember those names quickly… “Fortune, Stars and Judgment are resting days, but most jobs offer three times the standard pay for their workers, if they are willing to work on Fortune, the other two days generally pay only two times… but let’s not talk about that” Selene pointed at her before continuing “You arrived on Fortune, yesterday was Restrain, and today is Sun, or Day of the Sun, if you want to be old school about it~”

She giggled after saying that, but when questioned she just said that she remembered someone that had tried a little too hard to impress her, before moving on

“Here we are~” and pointing to the shop they had been walking towards, on the other side of the street there was a farmer’s market, that was full with people “Think you can remember the route back?”

“Yes!” Sophie answered excitedly, it was an easy route, merely taking two turns during the few minutes of walking, and she said as much a moment later “I’ll guide us back!” she also was confident that Amelia could tell her if she would make a mistake, but she doubted that it would come to that as they entered the shop

And she froze, because the products were there

Which made sense and she just remained still only for a moment. She wasn't using a terminal to look at a catalog and having to pay more credits for the delivery, they had gone to a place to get the products, and they were going to go to the market in front to do the same thing again, after they were done there…

‘My life is suddenly so weird…’

[The others might see your previous life as weirder]

“Alright, can you go find the rice?” Selene asked

“Will do!” and Sophie eagerly moved deeper in the shop, walking along a random aisle while Selene giggled and went to another one after grabbing a basket

Sophie moved with such focus on the products around her that she didn’t noticed the two talking softly near the end of the aisle until she was right next to them

“Hi K! Hi Li…? Ah?” recognizing one of them even with the shirt he was wearing having the same logo as the shop

But the hunched girl was exactly like Lisha… even wearing the same plastic thing on her wrist that was aimed at the black section, frozen there and just looking up at her with a panicked expression, that was comparable to K’s worried one

“Oh! Twins?” but she remembered a word that explained the situation in front of her

“Sophie…?” K shook his head and looked her from head to toe, there was some lust… and envy…? In his eyes, but neither lasted for long before he smiled at her “You look good!”

“Thanks!” she felt happy while hearing that, but couldn't stop herself from glancing at the girl that was making her feel tense…

“Right… the Barusian…” there was some distrust in her expression “You could tell I wasn't Lisha…?” some part of Sophie’s mind was telling her that the unknown girl was getting ready to run…

So she took a step back while looking at the products around her one more time, before addressing her

“You two might look the same, but…” she hesitated “Sorry, I don’t know what word fits here? I’m trying to say that you two look the same, but feel different?”

“Don't worry, that works” he smiled at the girl near him and she huffed in annoyance, her baggy clothes covered a lot of her skin and were of a dull black color, that, and her posture hinted at the two being different people

“Quadruplets…” quite a few different people…

But Sophie noticed that K’s wince, was met with a glare from the girl, before he looked away biting his lip

“Nice to meet you then!” but she decided to not say anything about those gestures “I’m Sophie” she said that with a smile

“Logarithm…” that was answered with a mumble

“Lisha and Logarithm, I’ll remember those!” but her mood didn’t decayed, the girl was willing to talk to her after all!

“Ellie and Flora are the other two” K added

Earning a glare from the sister of the three that weren't present there, at the same moment Selene reached that place from the other side. Making Logarithm tense as she looked between them while the woman gestured at Sophie to get to her side

“Hello~ time we don’t see” which she did, making sure that she was giving the nervous girl ample space “There~” before Selene pointed to the rice she was supposed to be looking for

“Ah!” and she quickly moved there to grab one package, not quite hearing what the girl whispered to the other two

It had to be of a specific brand, which she found after a few seconds, because the most common one on the shelves, came with small rocks and other things in it

Once she was moving back to Selene with her target, she noticed that the girl looked, a bit, more relaxed, but Selene’s smile was a bit sad, and K’s had a pained expression

“What’s next?” and she tried to not pry… despite how much she wanted to ask what was wrong, Sophie knew that she herself had topics she didn’t wanted to talk about…

That didn’t meant that she was going to give up, but the idea of becoming friendlier to Logarithm, told her that the possibility to learn about her, existed…

And to learn about why the girl was becoming envious… of something related to Sophie…? Amelia wasn't able to train her yet, due to her need to get used to the warm buzz fleeting in her chest, the result of last night’s haze sinking deep inside of her without her notice

“We can check the next aisle, but in my list we only need chocolate~” so, her envy made no sense, but she tried to not think too much about it, while Selene turned to K “By the counters…?” with concern in her voice

“He is not here today” the relieved sigh the woman released-

“A Shithead?” gave Sophie an immediate assessment of the man-

“Sophie!” and judging by Logarithm’s dark chuckle, she was accurate, but she couldn't help but look to the floor at Selene’s tone…

Even if the eyes of the woman and K had the same amused glint on them

Once she looked up, and noticed how those two looked at her, Logarithm gave Sophie a tentative smile, with she returned with many times more intensity, feeling her envy diminishing to the point where it almost went away

“Well! We let you two be” Selene said while guiding Sophie to the next aisle with a hand on her arm, as she grabbed the basket from the woman “Greeting to everyone”

“Talk to all of you later?” Logarithm looked confused by what she said, but she nodded just after K when they moved away, helping Sophie relax and notice that whatever she was doing to feel Sins, became dormant again

The next aisle took far more time to go through due to Selene teaching her what recipes she could make with those things, to the point where they waved at Logarithm when she left, making her a bit more relieved when she nodded back at them

At the same time, some guy and girl, with the same kind of shirts as K, started to talk to him and successfully annoyed him. The two guys left the place through a door to the back after talking between each other for a few seconds, leaving the annoyed looking girl as the only person to be on the counters of the shop

“Problems?” and they arrived to the counter, to pay for what they got in the basket, Selene looking a bit concerned at the girl’s expression

“D-don’t worry it’s just a paperwork issue” that suddenly sounded very nervous as she scanned, and examined, the things they had been gathering

The woman accepted that explanation and she picked a few nearby chocolate bars of different sizes, and brands, to add to the pile. Soon after paying they were going out and she got three of those bars out of the bag

“Let me explain this now, so I don’t forget, wages are assigned to tiers in Lost Pearls” she pointed at the longest bar, under the other two “The works that pay the least amount in wages are: police officers, politicians, military people, and most part-time jobs”

“Really?!” she couldn't help but sound shocked, and Selene giggled at her reaction

“Yes~ but… this doesn’t counts bonuses they might earn, this is just to guarantee that those that need to work, get the minimum required amount of money to live, not survive”

Sophie nodded, understanding the difference between those concepts, and with a smile Selene pointed at the next, smaller, bar on top of the first

“Then we have construction workers, accountants, seamstress like Polly, carpenters, and so on, that earn more money than the previous ones…” then to the smallest bar of the tree above the others “At the top we have doctors and nurses like Antonia, teachers, fire fighters, cleaning staff, and other critical jobs. They earn the most plus bonuses…”

Even if Selene hesitated a moment, to Sophie, it sounded very good…

“It’s not perfect, there are scandals of corruption happening every now and then, but it works good enough” as she put away the treats, Sophie realized that she really didn’t hate the system that country had in place, it sounded far better than… “At least compared with places like Barus…” Selene shook her head before continuing “What I’m trying to say is: if you ever find yourself in need of a job, don’t worry if it sounds like an ugly one to have, but again, don’t worry about that for now, the stipend will give you enough time to prepare for the future~” she finished her explanation with a cheerful smile

That she returned, but she still had some questions about the topic while they walked

“What do you mean by corruption? I mean…” her question was interrupted by a lot of people waving and calling out to Selene as they entered the farmer’s market, she also got a lot of stares, but she was able to ignore those because they had very little lust or envy in them. Eventually, after her Sin Sense went dormant again, she was able to continue “I understand that’s a bad thing, but…”

“Hmm…” Selene looked pensive before she finished talking “To me, it means doing bad stuff while pretending that you are good… going back to jobs and corruption. If, for example, the owner of a company were to try and pay less than the minimum to their employees, but tell the world that they are paying more than the minimum, to keep the difference in their pocket, that, would be corruption”

They stopped in front of some red fruit, before Selene meet her eyes as Sophie was asking herself, why would a Shithead hide how awful they could be…? Wouldn't that make intimidating other Shitheads easier?

“But don’t worry about it, if they try that, then a lot of lawyers would take away the company from the owner, send him to jail without any money, and pocket all the money they earned so far, after paying the workers the proper amount” she giggled “The risk is too high, to try to save a pearl when they are already getting thousands of those per day”

Sophie tried to be optimistic and nodded, accepting what she said as another of the weird things her new world had to offer, and Selene gestured to the fruit

“Now~ let’s start your next lesson about food, with the tomato!”

/////

It had been a fun way to spend some time with Selene, even if some of the people had being a bit nosy while asking about Sophie, but instead of going directly back to home with all the food, she had guided Sophie, that was carrying most of the bags without problems, a couple of streets past where they should have turned to a specific building

“This is Silvermist’s library” Selene said happily “We can come here tomorrow, when we don’t have this many bags. In here you can learn a lot of stuff, and you might want to do that soon”

“Why soon?”

“Calypso was saying that you might want to get a few classes on New Horn” that name was familiar, but she couldn't remember from where “It’s a nearby girls-only Learning Home, in there you can learn a lot of things even if you didn’t go to highschool, of course, some jobs aren't going to hire you because of that, but they teach cooking and about computers! Which is always useful!”

That idea made smile with excitement, but…

“Wouldn’t I need pearls for that?” her mood decayed just as quick, while Selene was now guiding them home from there

“Maybe for things like books and the other stuff classes require” Selene said with her smile unchanged “But the learning home in itself is a public one, which means that’s free to attend, you just need to register on time” that cheered the succubus again “Calypso said that she was going to help with that, after what happened yesterday is completely solved”

Even that reminder of the pi… of the local bastard, didn’t diminished her mood and the rest of the trip back home was filled with chatter about the classes she could take, and the woman’s experiences in that place

Once they got inside, they found Theresa on a couch with Anastasia sleeping on top of her

“Glad to see…” she said looking at all the bags that Sophie was carrying “That you are making use of the perks of being a mother, Selene~” and she joked

Making Selene pout at her, while Sophie panicked at how happy the idea was making her

/////

That night, after a somewhat long day of trying to memorizing everything Selene had taught her

“Sophie”

“Ah!?”

She opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by shelves filled with books, each one of those shelves reached many times above her height, vanishing towards the rainbow mist that she barely could see in the distance, each with a ladder of the same immeasurable height with wheels on the base, the wooden floor of the place seemed to be made of one singular piece, being uniform in appearance and its dark brown color for as long she could see it, until the bookshelves of a lighter brown blocked her sight

“Welcome back to the Ark” but the most striking thing that was happening

“Amelia?!” was the fact that the interface now had a nearly immobile body that was in front of her

“Yes?” other than her mouth moving while talking, only her eyelids moved as she blinked, matching her own rhythm of blinking

She was of her same height, with long brown hair that matched her eyes, held up into a high ponytail by a metal ring. She was wearing a pair of black and thick framed glasses with a brown outfit that matched the style of the suit that Calypso had been wearing, just with a knee-length skirt instead of pants

Sophie couldn't help herself and called her attractive in her mind, before she remembered that Amelia could heard those

“Thank you. It was taking me longer than expected, to find a form that I consider close to optimal” she moved her arm to gesture at her body “This is the closest I have found to that ideal, but I shall continue to improve it as you interact with the outside of the Ark” with that said her arm moved back to her side and resumed her near perfect stillness…

“You aren't breathing…?” she blushed a bit at her thoughts being so easily heard, but she was more worried about the girl in front of her

Who blinked quickly two times, before she started to breath

“Thanks again, I didn’t not take that into account while altering the interface. Now I consider it very close to optimal” she lifted her hands and gestured to the bookshelves “Now that you have access, and have adjusted, to every kind of mana you can have for now, I can start your training” she dropped her hands, staying still for a moment before pointing behind Sophie

As she turned to look in that direction, she saw the bookshelves silently moving away as they slid along the wooden floor, clearing a massively open space

“Follow me” Sophie was a bit distracted by what was happening, but quickly shook her head and walked next to Amelia… trying to not look too much at her wide hips moving, in the same way her own did… “For now we are going to start the process of making a Mind Palace, then, you are going to connect it to your mana to strengthen it, and the rest of your abilities”

“B-but…” everything felt a bit… rushed… but she couldn't organize her ideas at the time

“Don't worry. I’m not using Future Calculations to see if you can finish this today, you don’t have any time related pressure, and remember that the speeds of time between the Ark and the outside are different, so you’ll have enough time to rest your mind as often as you need, if you don’t end becoming overwhelmed, and in case Theresa requires help with Anastasia”

Sophie nodded, and took several deep breaths to relax until Amelia stopped and gestured to the empty space in front of them

“The base idea of a Mind Palace, is to use a visualization of places that you remember well, to store information in those mental images, by adding details to a walking route in the image, that represents the information. Thanks to your magic you’ll be able to expand the first one without needing to make another, but there might be benefits for making more than one, this depends on how your abilities react to the Palace”

She didn’t knew what to say, so she just waited for a moment for her to continue

“For this first place, I suggest you use Selene’s home and make a route” she pointed to the floor and moved her finger along it as she spoke “That starts in the front door, enters the house, makes you walk to the kitchen, touch the oven, walk to the bathroom, then to the living room, go around the table surrounded by couches, before going up the stairs and ending on front of the door to Polly’s studio”

“O-only that…?” she tried to be brave, knowing that having one of those Palaces was going to help, but it sounded… like it would take a long time…

“For now” Amelia pointed at her “Your Formless abilities will help with this, making it far easier than how it would be for a human to do the same, but the main reason to kept the route to that size, is because you have not entered Antonia, Polly, or Selene’s rooms, there is also the amount of things inside the studio, making it very difficult to have a clear image that isn't just visual chaos”

Amelia’s long and thin finger pointed back to the empty space

“Close your eyes, try to remember every aspect of the route that I said before walking that route a few times in your mind, before opening your eyes visualizing the door in front of you, and then walk the route here”

She nodded again looking at the place in front of her, taking another deep breath before closing her eyes and starting the process

/////

It took her an hour in total time to have the whole route and mental image made and stable (Yet fragile when compared to the bookshelves) in front of her. Technically it happened in less time, but after a few minutes of having the structure appear in the empty space, Amelia told her the information that she needed to add to the Palace to remember, which did take the rest of that hour

The instructions were the method to access her mana, and how to Alter her body

Sophie didn’t felt that she needed to go to such lengths to remember something that she was doing by accident while horny, but Amelia mentioned that starting with that, would help when she started to memorize spells, which made a lot of sense when one of those books flew to the interface’s hand and she it opened by the middle, revealing an insane amount of characters in the two pages visible to the succubus

With that done, Amelia started to guide her with linking the Palace to her mana. It involved doing the same route she was doing while recording the method to access her mana, but this time Amelia was going to make the time between the outside and the Ark, go at the same speed, and make the connection between Sophie’s soul and body stronger

This had a difficulty despite how simple it sounded: Sophie had to remain lucid while connecting to her body, feeling her mana stir along the route, and do her best to not fall asleep out of the Ark

She started at the door that was of a different brown while compared with the floor or the bookshelves, barely glancing at the beige color of the outside walls as the door was already open from her previous walks, so she could see the full coat hangers by the right wall of the short entrance, the entryway and the living room walls were of a light blue that felt calming to her, but she didn’t let it distract her as she walked along the floor

Inside the house it was made of many planks, laid on a pattern that was supposed to resemble a weaved basket, the floor creaked on a specific spot near a small, white rug that was mostly under the couches, just before she reached the doorway to the kitchen, an old coffee stain was visible on the corner of the rug. She entered the kitchen, aware of the change from wood to black ceramic tiles under her, observing the black stone counters that shone due to how clean they were, before moving to the fridge and ignoring the other devises, and cupboards, in there

Her hand remembered the heat that came from the sides of the fridge, not quite like the one in her chest, the one that felt similar was the one coming from the oven, they had baked cookies soon after coming back, so she had felt it on her face-

Sophie shook her head to not get distracted…

And walked to the bathroom, where the tiles turned into blue and white ones and the shower curtain had a pattern of blue and white waves… but she moved to the sink, and turned the left knob, that didn’t worked, it just moved, spinning, moving, turning, like the images of the curtain that she glanced again as she left the room and moved to the couches. Seeing the crinkles on the fabric of the cushions and the armrests, walking around the table before sitting on the same seat she took with Selene before

Feeling comfortable as she sat there in the softness of the material, feeling that comfort reaching inside everywhere in her body

As she was dancing naked without care of who looked at her while her breast bounced-

“Sophie”

“Ah!?” when she was suddenly back on the Ark, standing outside her Palace while wearing her pajamas

She got a bit too comfortable…

Four more failed attempts later, Anastasia woke up and she rushed to help, still feeling bad for being unable to help the night before due to… but Sophie didn’t do much more than pat her back until the baby burped and attempt to help her to sleep, sadly, Anastasia wanted her mom to be the one to carry her, and didn’t stopped her complains until she was on her tired arms again

Thankfully Anastasia was tired enough to go back to sleep soon after that

“Ah!” which meant that in Sophie’s sixth attempt, she opened her eyes while her chest had a warm glow coming from under her skin that was exposed to the air, sitting on her spot on the comfortable couch next to the low table of the living room… “Did… did it work…?” the door to the outside was open, she wasn't doing something weird, and as she stood up, with the wooden floor feeling very solid under the carpet below her bare feet, with her pajamas making sounds as they rubbed against her skin, she saw Amelia standing outside of her home…

“Congratulations” outside of her Palace “You have connected the structure to your mana successfully”

“Yes~!!!” she jumped in celebration with her arms up above her head, touching the solid ceiling with her fingers before the air rushed against her skin-

Thump!

And landing on the solid wooden floor…

“Ow…?” it didn’t hurt exactly, but she was… “What’s going on?” feeling…

“Your Palace seems to be acting as a bridge between your body and the Ark” Amelia blinked for a few seconds while she looked to the building from the outside without making any other sound, before she waved her hand… “This isn't causing problems to the Ark, nor affecting the difference in time between the outside and the inside” and talked after another moment of silence

With that said she closed her mouth and kept looking at the structure while Sophie got closer, but didn’t let her get out with a gesture of her hand

“There are two things we need to do. First, close the door” she pointed to Sophie’s right “This will give you mental privacy, but I can do this” and knocked on the door three times with her knuckles making the expected sound “In order to call for your attention if needed”

Sophie nodded and closed the door, but the moment that happened the Stillness inside made her yank the thing open so fast, that she almost let it escape her fingers and hit the wall

Amelia blinked twice

“Is something wrong?”

“I…! I…!” only when the interface asked is that she noticed how much she was trembling “I don’t like it?!” without any idea of why…

“I did not detect anything wrong” she blinked again “But seeing how distraught you are, I’m not going to force you to close the door to test why you reacted like that” a brief relief to heard before… “Second. Sophie? Can you tell me what is that?”

Once more she was pointing to something behind her, and when Sophie turned to it, her breath got stuck to her throat at the same time her fingers tried to dig inside the door she was holding to… she was looking at a metal door…

That wasn't supposed to be there… there was no way that any door in her new world looked like…

It was bolted to the back wall near the open door to the kitchen, clashing with the soft color of the wall around it, with many dents and scratches and a burn mark on the top left corner, but looking so sturdy and heavy, to feel impenetrable…

“H-how…?” she knew that door…

“Sophie?”

“It’s…” she had wanted to see it again for so long… “It’s the old… the old man’s door…” and yet…

She shivered, both dreading and overjoyed at the sudden appearance of the thing… her warring emotions leaving her unable to move at all…

“I have the hypothesis that it may be a Vault” Sophie flinched, proving that she heard what she said, but she couldn't stop staring at it… “A Vault in these circumstances, is a place where an important, or difficult, memory is stored, or sealed. You do not have to try to open it, in fact, trying to do that before you feel ready can have negative consequences to your mind”

“S-so I’m supposed to ignore it…?” she couldn't put a name to the emotions coating her voice…

She only knew, that she didn’t liked them…

“The door to the Vault isn't obstructing anything, it’s just near the route you have made in your Palace, and nothing more. Since I can’t hear any kind of sound coming out of it, I can determinate that even if it is a Vault, the memories behind it aren't active, nor causing a problem”

“What can change that?” Sophie turned to meet the still expression on Amelia’s face, while her own was tense with the maelstrom she was feeling…

“Highly stressful situations, or, something specific related to whatever is behind the door”

“Like yesterday’s…?”

Her question made Amelia blink a few times before closing her eyes for five seconds

“I do not know” giving her a shiver with the answer “Our Creator could physically enter the Ark, so we have no way of knowing if they ever made a Mind Palace, or if they had a Vault, I only have the theory that we are following in this case. But I also don’t want to try a stress test to activate those memories, meaning that we have to wait and see. I repeat: I don’t want to place you in danger”

There was steel in her eyes, even if her tone and expression remained flat…

“Thanks you…” and Sophie looked to the floor, feeling oddly… relieved… at Amelia’s determination, but that feeling slowly changed into gratitude

There was something she didn’t wanted to remember inside her own mind, to the point were her magic was unconsciously keeping it away behind thirty centimeters of reinforced steel and without a doorknob, or the control panel required to open the massive door

She truly was grateful that Amelia didn’t wanted to place her at risk to learn something

“You should rest” but what she said next confused Sophie

“W-what? We just started… I mean, we just finished with making the Palace, we have time to…” Amelia lifted a finger and waited until she stopped talking

“You should rest. Right now you are just going to keep thinking about the Vault, and I actually would like for you to see the other rooms in the house, so you can finish the Palace properly in our next session, before adding extraneous elements” she pointed to her chest “There is also the need to recover your mana, now that they are connected, you will need some mana to modify it from now on”

Sophie pouted trying to use annoyance, to push her other emotions away

“Additionally, this connection will continuously exercise your current reserves, now that it exists. Giving it time to grow is a good idea” her hands held each other in front of her skirt

Amelia’s words just made her pout even more and she turned around, before she stopped once the door entered her sight… then, she undid a couple of buttons from her pajama shirt, and pushed the waistband of her pants a few centimeter down on just once side

“Do you want to come inside~♥?” and posed sideways to Amelia, revealing a lot of skin, and part of her areolas, with her cleavage and her hips

But she just blinked and looked at the floor of the Palace for a second, before looking at her eyes again

“Currently I can’t enter your Mind Palace, because this could cause a lot of stress to the connection between your mind and magic. I will inform you of when this idea becomes possible. Goodnight Sophie”

Another pout formed on her face, but she giggled before yawning

“Goodnight…”

The next thing that happened was Anastasia waking her up again an unknown amount of time later

/////

Sophie was walking on the cobblestone in front of her home, her gray skin visible to the stars above her, just like her horns, tail, wings and every other inch of her skin

A giggle escaped her lips as she spun, noticing how the surrounding houses looked blurry in comparison to how sturdy her own did

Amazement filled her eyes as she saw the rainbow mist coiling over and around her house, forming a familiar triangular shape, that drew her attention from the outside back to her home, but instead of walking to the door, she walked between the gap of the fence to the sides of the walls

Where the mist started to coil around her, moving her hair, rubbing against her skin… caressing her nipples… just as she closed her eyes to enjoy the feelings…

‘Ah…?’ she started to feel the texture of wood under her feet…

Which made her open her eyes, to find herself surrounded by bookshelves, before Amelia walked from behind one of them. Blinking a few times as she stared at her

“Welcome again”

“What happened…?” and her mind felt far clearer, that it had been a few seconds before… “What happened to my mana…?” and it came with the awareness that she had used a lot…

“You used magic to project your mind out of your body, before entering the Ark from the Astral Layer”

She could just stare at Amelia for a few muted seconds until she realized that she was still naked

“Ah?!” and without her human appearance