Chapter 159: The Secret Realm!
Miraculously, Taira appeared in the middle of his tent at the campsite.
His remaining wives were already surrounding him, wearing expectant looks on their faces.
He smiled wryly, as he figured he knew what they wanted to ask already.
"Don't worry, my condition is-"
Keran: "H-How is Ina??"
Enyo: "Is she eating properly?? Are the leftovers I made okay?!"
Lucia: "Did she look like she was finally gaining weight back..?"
Vermeil: "I hope you didn't exhaust her, honey… You know she's frail.
Aveena: "How's she been sleeping..? She's not too lonely, right?"
Taira took a moment to blink away all of his surprise before he finally laughed and embraced all five of them as a group.
"I assure you, our lovely Inadu is quite fine. But we should still wrap this up quickly so that we can head back home to her. She sends her love to you all by the way."
The girls smiled fondly as a resolute spirit welled up within their chests.
At that moment, Aja opened up the flap in their tent and poked her head inside.
"Oh good, you're back. Everyone is ready now, and the portal is beginning to open."
"Perfect."
*Sniff, sniff.* "You smell like sex."
"…"
"Was it good?"
"Yes, Ina is very incredible and womanly."
"I would like details later."
"You will not get them."
"Boo."
With two of the wives at his side and the rest at his back, Taira stepped out of his tent and caught sight of the rows of fallen standing like statues, all staring at him.
"Stand at attention for the demon lord!"
"Pay him your respects!"
"Ugh.." Taira resisted voicing his disgust as a miniature earthquake took place.
Occasionally, the forest would tremble as a great battle raged on several kilometers away, but Taira's sole focus rested on the strange occurrence that was now coming into view.
At first, it resembled a small individual piece of glitter. .net
But as the seconds ticked by, the shining point grew and grew until it resembled a giant portal in the shape of a star.
Once it was fully formed and stable, Taira and his wives walked on the lake to stand in front of the portal.
"Hold on to each other, girls. I don't want to be separated from even one of you for a single moment."
Once Taira felt five respective hands touch his back or his tails, he looked over his shoulders at the rest of the fallen in attendance.
"None of you should go in without touching someone, since locations we appear at will be randomized. Stay cautious, and value your lives."
"YES, DEMON LORD."
'Gross…'
Exhausted from talking and pretending to be some sort of leader, Taira jumped into the portal with all of his wives in tow.
- Earth, The United States of America: New York City.
In a beautiful luxury penthouse apartment, a brown haired, honey-eyed Vermeil walked in carrying a brown bag filled with groceries while simultaneously talking on the phone.
"No, we're not coming home for Christmas, ma. Taira has an art gallery in Japan the week before, and we decided to spend the holiday over there."
Vermeil sighed as a string of obscenities left her mother's mouth on the other line.
"No, we don't think we're too good for you, but what do you care? You don't even like my husband anyway; you always fight with him and then demand money in the next breath."
Vermeil stepped into the kitchen and put her phone on speaker while she started putting groceries away.
"Well of course I don't like him, he's a serial cheater!
He's got you playing house with all of his other women and making you look like a damned fool!
The least he could do is make sure your father and I have a roof to sleep under!"
Inadvertently, Vermeil nearly crushed a carton of milk in her hands.
"How many times do I have to tell you, he's not like that...!
My relationship isn't traditional, but it makes me happy!
And neither Taira nor the girls are manipulating me to stay in it!
Besides, I have already given you plenty of money, but you let dad piss it all away on beer and lottery tickets!"
Even before her mother said anything, Vermeil knew that she had struck a nerve and her mother was going to retaliate.
"… You are so pathetic. His kind are always looking for the fresh new young thing to sink their teeth into!
When you eventually realize that you can't hold his attention like you do now, don't come crawling back to your father and I!"
Infuriated for more reasons than one, Vermeil finally hung up the phone and blocked the number so that no more calls would come through.
Briefly, she placed her hands on the granite countertop and rested her weight on it to get her bearings.
Already, she felt a major migraine forming and wanted to go and curl up in bed.
'I shouldn't have answered her phone in the first place...'
"You shouldn't have answered the phone, you know?"
Looking through her curtain of hair, Vermeil glanced at a familiar woman leaning against the doorway to their bedroom.
As she often does was whenever she was at home, she wore her favorite oversized t-shirt with an image of the deceased Notorious B.I.G, and no underwear underneath.
She was of Spanish ethnicity, with long black hair dyed with bright purple ends.
Standing at six feet tall and with a body like an amazon, it was no surprise how she had ended up as the number rated 1 personal trainer in all of NYC. (Though the people who lived with her and knew her habits still couldn't believe it...)
Her warm brown eyes stared at Vermeil with a soft sadness and she crossed the length of their penthouse to wrap her arm around her shoulder.
"Are you alright...?"
Vermeil forced a smile onto her face as she shrugged off her tan trench coat. "Yea, today was just a little bit hard, you know? We had to remove a child from their home, and the crowds at the store were a mess, and I just-"
"It's alright, I get it. You want to go lay down for a bit?"
Vermeil shook her head in denial. "I can't, I promised Taira I'd make ramen today since he's been missing the taste of home and he's really looking forward to it."
"You act as if he wouldn't understand what you're going through. Take the night and rest before you get those fainting spells again."
Vermeil smiled wryly as she stared at all of the groceries she'd brought. "Then what about dinner?"
"We'll order pizza!" Aveena answered without hesitation.
"No." Vermeil immediately denied.
"Eh! Why?!"
"You made fun of me for my choices last time so I told you we're never having it again!"
"Thin crust pizza is an abomination! It's anarchy!"
"It's lower in calories! Shouldn't you of all people be in favor of that?"
"No! I am here for a good time, not a long time! Deep dish pizza or nothing!"
"That is basically pie!"
"Exactly!"
Eventually, their arguing drew another of their housemates out of bed.
"What's with all the ruckus...?"
Looking up, the two of them found a raven-haired beauty rubbing her eyes sleepily.
Wearing only a bright purple bra and panties, her caramel skin seemed to shine with even more of a natural luster than normal.
Resting in her arms was a medium sized gray cat with folded ears and a chubby face.
"Oh, we're having pizza for dinner and I'm trying to explain to our lovely Vermeil why her tastes are inferior."
"Hey!"
"Vermeil, thin crust pizza is an abomination." Enyo said sleepily.
"No it isn't, why are you guys so close minded?!"
At that moment, the electronic lock clicked open and the three girls finally stopped arguing and ran towards the door.
There, a man and two women came in carrying a surplus of shopping bags.
One of them was a beautiful Korean woman with long black hair that fell below her butt and a pale complexion, yet pink, rosy cheeks.
Though her build was slender, she was quite toned and in possession of an abundance of curves that could not be fully hidden underneath her jeans and designer blouse.
The other woman, like the man, appeared to be of mixed heritage, being Japanese and black.
Her figure was much more curvaceous than her companion, but she was in no way beneath her in terms of it's ability to enchant men and women alike.
Like Aveena, her short hair was dyed in an outlandish bright green color that she had actually become quite famous for.
Though between the two of them, the man was somehow the real catch.
Standing at over 6 feet tall, he had a slender, yet muscular build that the girls knew was deceptively powerful.
His hair was long, thick, and curly, and was tied behind his head.
Since birth, his hair had been an unnatural grey-ish white color that had defied all genetics and reasoning.
His eyes were a bright amber color, but sometimes if one stared at them closely enough in the sun they would appear red.
He was unnaturally handsome, so much so that he had been offered more than a few male modeling contracts by the same agency that had scouted Lucia and Keran, but he turned them all down in favor of his art.
Once he saw everyone waiting at the door, he smiled helplessly as he held up the bags in his hands.
"Now I know that I wasn't supposed to, but... I may have ended up getting you girls a few things."