Chapter 473: Infanticipating

Eir’s tears splattered across Dys’ face, mixing with her own. As the two pressed their foreheads together, a cacophony of noise erupted around them. It was at times like these that Jadis was endlessly thankful that she had more than one body, because otherwise, she wouldn’t have known how she could have handled all the many different emotions that were whirling through her mind and soul with the power of a thousand hurricanes. One self just wouldn’t have been enough. Three barely felt adequate. At least having extra bodies meant she could have one focus exclusively on her perfect oracle while the rest of her confronted everything else.

“Jadis, you’re pregnant!” Eir cried out happily as she placed kisses all over Dys’ face. “Oh, I still can’t believe it! You’re pregnant!”

Dys laughed as she hugged her elven lover tightly against her. Even though Eir had been the first of Jadis’ lovers to find out and had therefore had the most time to adjust to the news, she was still barely able to contain herself. She’d been an absolute mess on the trip back to the headquarters, her joyful tears and excited energy barely restrained. Fortunately, with Jadis’ insane speed, she was able to carry Eir back to their home in record time.

When they had arrived at the compound, Dys had carried Eir straight to their third-floor bedroom while her other selves had sought out all of her other lovers. She didn’t tell them what her big news was, simply dragging them away from whatever task they happened to be engaged in at the moment with barely an excuse. The only one she couldn’t find was Severina, who wasn’t in the compound that afternoon according to Aila. As soon as Jadis had found and gathered everyone else, she had made the announcement.

“Quoi! Je ne te crois pas!” Kerr shouted as she leapt onto Syd’s back since she was the closest one of Jadis to her. “Are you fucking with us right now? Is this real?”

“It’s real,” Syd assured her while giving her a kiss.

“I am… I have… I cannot… Think of words…” Alex tried to explain herself as she hugged Dys from behind, wrapping her tentacles around both her and Eir. “I love you…”

“I love you to,” Dys said as she basked in the kisses that both Eir and Alex were placing all over her face.

“Jadis, that’s amazing!” Sabina clapped her hands together as she bounced up and down. “Oh! I want a hug but I don’t know which of you I want to hug and I’m so happy for you and this is amazing and—”

“Come here,” Syd pulled the smith in and lifted her up for a tight embrace.

“You confirmed this with Bertha?” Aila asked Jay with a hopeful look sparkling in her blue eyes. “You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Jay laughed. “It’s Bertha confirmed.”

“Oh, wow,” Sorcha said as she waved a hand in front of her face, her eyes starting to shine with unshed tears. “I’m starting to get bloody emotional right now…”

“Bloody right you are,” Bridget sniffed before elbowing the smaller woman in the shoulder. “I thought I was messed up when I found out I was pregnant. Somehow, this is… I don’t know, it’s fucking intense! Jadis! This is amazing!”

“C—congratulations,” Thea stammered out, her face flushed with excitement. “I am, so, so, so h—happy for you.”

“Thank you,” Jay laughed as she pulled Thea into her hug with Aila. “This is so crazy I don’t even know what to with myself!”

“You can’t have been pregnant long,” Aila murmured, her sharp mind ever focused on the practical. “You aren’t showing.”

“Wait, which one of you is pregnant?” Sabina asked as she pulled back from Syd. “Or are all of your bodies pregnant? Are you having three babies!?”

“Just one of me,” Syd laughed at the half-elf’s excited panic. “My Dys self is pregnant.”

The others all turned to look at Dys who was still wrapped up by both Eir and Alex. Most of them moved over to her, surrounding Dys in more hugs and kisses as they all talked in a jumbled mix of happiness and surprise. The only one to not rush to join the huge group hug was Aila.

“Dys is with child?” the redhead chewed on her lower lip as she rested in Jay’s arms. “Jadis, not many of us have been using your… Duality of Flesh skill lately, other than Sorcha. Is she the, uh, father? Or did you impregnate yourself?”

At Aila’s question, Sorcha’s head popped up out of the huddle, her emerald eyes wide as saucers.

“What? You don’t know it was me! We’re all bonking each other all the time, it could have been any of us!”

Turning a panicked look back onto Dys, Sorcha continued to spill out a hurried tangle of words that were made harder to understand as the goblin’s accent thickened in her haste.

“I mean, not that I wouldn’t want to have a wee babe with you, I would! It’s just that I thought that I’d be the bloody mother, not the father! I dinna know what to say, it’s not a bad thing, I just don’t think I’m ready to be a father! Or would it be easier to be the dad? I did not give this situation any forethought!”

“Sorcha isn’t the father,” Jay told Aila, though she spoke loudly enough that everyone else could hear as well. “Bertha has a skill that can tell the sex and age of the baby, and another skill that can tell the race of the paternal father, among a few other things. Considering the species, there’s really only one option.”

Turning her head so that she could look Alex directly in her three eyes, Dys grinned.

“Congratulations! You’re a father!”

While everyone else was stunned by the announcement, Alex’s reaction to the revelation was a pleased, almost self-satisfied, grin.

“We are both… Mothers

… And Fathers…” she declared as though the words were the most profound statement in all of history. “Perfection…”

“Okay, first of all, congratulations squid butt,” Kerr laughed as she reached over and wrapped her arm around Alex’s neck to drag her close. After messily kissing the Demon’s nest of tentacle hair, the therion continued. “Now. How the fuck did you manage that on the first try? Isn’t it supposed to be hard for avatars to get pregnant? And here you are, knocking Jadis up within the same hour you first grow your own demon cocks! Valtar’s shiny golden balls, what are the chances of that?”

“I was just thinking about that,” Aila nodded her head, clearly in scholar mode rather than excited lover mode. “So far as my records show, neither Jadis nor Alex have any skills that should have made it more likely. Potency alteration doesn’t work on Jadis’ ovum. At least, I don’t believe it does, based on the skill description. I suppose that it could have some hidden effects; that isn’t entirely unheard of. However, I don’t think that’s likely.”

“Well, maybe it’s because of my tertiary class?” Jay suggested as she kind of got into the mystery of the unexpected result. “Progenitor of the Succubi is all about making babies, basically. I don’t have a skill for it, but maybe just having the class had an effect?”

“I doubt that,” Aila shook her head. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before.”

“You’ve never seen a class like the progenitor class either,” Dys countered.

“True. I still doubt it. Actually, just to make sure… Alex? You haven’t leveled up recently without telling us and chosen a new skill that might explain this?”

“No…” the Demon answered with confidence.

“Didn’t think so…” Aila’s brow crinkled in thought as she puzzled the situation over. “Maybe it has some relation to your nature as a Demon?”

“That might make sense!” Sabina piped up. “Maybe Alex’s seed is magic! It does glow, after all. That’s kind of magical. See what I mean?”

Sabina reached over and rather unnecessarily held up one of Alex’s hands. Ever since Jadis had performed the Duality of Flesh ritual on the Demon, her neon blue parts had been glowing in way that was reminiscent of the cave moss Jadis remembered from those days that she, Aila, Eir, Kerr, and Thea had spent lost underground. Bioluminescence wasn’t magic, so she almost dismissed the enchanter’s suggestion. However, as Jay opened her mouth, she realized that her assumption was one based on Earth logic, not Oros logic.

Certainly, creatures back on Earth could glow thanks to chemical reactions within their skin. Jadis knew the basic theory at least from watching various nature documentaries. While that same chemical reaction likely existed on Oros, Jadis knew she would be a fool to assume that everything that glowed on the strange, magical planet functioned in the same way as the plants and animals she knew from before she was reborn. Magic absolutely could be involved, though how exactly glowing patches of skin, and by extension, glowing Demon cum, translated to a higher change of impregnation, Jadis had no idea.

“Actually, that’s a question right there,” Kerr narrowed her eyes at Dys. “How do you know you’ve got a baby giant growing in you? What if it’s a Succubus? Or a Demon? Aren’t those also valid options?”

“Well, that’s true,” Dys agreed while wobbling her head back and forth. “I might be pregnant with any of the three options. However, Bertha thinks it’s a Nephilim because her ability lets her judge the size and progress of the baby. You know, for health reasons?” When Kerr nodded, Dys continued. “So, when she checked on the baby, she said they are way bigger than she would have expected, considering they’re literally only a day old. I mean, I know my health studies biology classes are different from what they teach around here, but the development of a fetal embryo follows a pretty precise pattern for everyone. Bertha’s spells tell her that my baby is healthy, just twice as big as normal. To me, that screams Nephilim. Though, who knows? Maybe it’ll be a really big squid baby.”

The idea of her child being a Demon didn’t really worry Jadis too much. She had complete faith in both her and Alex’s ability to guide any of the fully demonic children. There wasn’t a chance that they would let Samleos sink his hooks into them. It would be… weird, to give birth to, what, an egg? And weirder yet to have a kid who skipped the whole childhood thing and was an adult right from the start, but Jadis was certain that she and her lovers could handle the strangeness.

“While this is all fascinating,” Bridget commented from somewhere in the multi-person embrace, “I’m going to have to ask that I be let out of the hug if this talk is going to continue.”

“Why?” Sabina asked curiously. “Don’t you want to be hugged by us?”

“Oh, I love being hugged by everyone,” the orc warrior laughed. “But I was also heading to the bathroom when Jadis picked me up and dragged me here. If you all don’t let me out of this pile, I’m going to piss my pants, and probably some of your pants, too!”

With that pronouncement, everyone pulled away and allowed Bridget to seek out the restroom. The group stayed together, discussing Jadis’ news as well as all the potential implications, though they gave each other enough space that they were no longer crowding all over the pregnant giant. All except for Alex, who was firmly latched onto Dys like a limpet and showed no signs of letting go any time soon.

As Jadis’ selves and all her lovers talked, Sorcha sidled up next to Eir. The elf was sitting on the bed next to Dys, holding Dys’ hand, so Sorcha took a seat on the edge next to her.

“So… I guess that means it’s just you and me now, isn’t it?”

“Hm?” Eir hummed as she turned her purple eyes on the goblin witch.

“Ah, well, you, me, and Severina, I guess. She’s in the count now, yeah? Sort of messes with my numbers sometimes…”

Eir stared at the goblin for a second with some confusion before recognition flashed in her purple eyes.

“Oh, I see. Yes! Just the two of us. But don’t worry, Sorcha. I am certain that either by Alex’s astonishing class skills or by the grace of Lyssandria, you too will know the joy of being with child.”

“I’m not worried about that,” Sorcha let out a little awkward laugh. “I mean, I’ve seen the craziness Jadis can do. But I’m not in a rush, either. I just… You aren’t… I know what it means to you, you know?”

Eir smiled with a saint’s grace at the smaller woman. Leaning over, she kissed the goblin’s forehead and gave her a gentle hug. When she pulled back, Sorcha’s lime green skin had flushed dark with a blush.

“Thank you,” Eir spoke softly. “It means so much to me to know that you are concerned for me. However, you don’t need to worry. As much as I long to have one of Jadis’ children growing within me, this is not a competition. Maybe if I was raised as one of Charos’ acolytes, I might feel differently. That is not the case. As far as I am concerned, all of Jadis’ children are my children, whether they are born of my womb or not. I will love and care for them all, and all just the same. Even if some, like Vraekae, insist on some separation, I will still treat her children no differently from those I will eventually give birth to.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Sorcha smiled in relief. Then, her expression turned into one of confusion. “Uh, what does the magistrate have to do with this? Is Vraekae pregnant too? Is she married?”

“Oh, shit,” Dys cursed as the two’s conversation reminded her of the whole situation with Eir’s cousin. “I completely forgot!”

“What is it?” Aila asked, cutting off the three-way conversation between herself, Sabina, and Jay. “Did something else important happen at the temple?”

“Yeah, something definitely did,” Jay murmured.

Since Bridget had returned from the bathroom, that meant everyone was present again except for Severina. The paladin still hadn’t come back from her duties at the palace or wherever she was, and considering her schedule she might not return for hours. Jadis would have preferred to have the talk with her present as well; Jadis considered Severina an equal in her harem and she deserved to participate in the coming discussion as much as everyone else. Still, now that the topic had been broached, Jadis wasn’t going to leave everyone else hanging. She’d just have to talk with Sev about it directly, as soon as the paladin returned.

Part of the discussion that Jadis, Eir, and Vraekae had had involved the idea of consent. Not just Jadis’ consent, but the permission of her lovers as well. She wasn’t going to have sex with someone outside of their conjoined relationship without everyone being okay with it. Teasing and flirting was one thing; Jadis didn’t consider going to an exotic dance to enjoy the sights with Kerr a violation of the implicit trust she shared with her mates. Having sex with a third party who wasn’t a part of their harem was different. So, while Jadis and Vraekae had worked things out and the plan had Eir’s approval, the final word was up to the rest of Jadis’ lovers overall. If any one of them vetoed the situation, that would be the end of it. Jadis simply would not do something that would jeopardize the feelings of her lovers.

“So, Vraekae was at Lyssandria’s temple today,” Jay started.

“Vraekae?” Aila exclaimed. “Why would—”

Jay saw the moment the realization hit the arcanist.

“Oh.”

“Oh? What oh?” Kerr leaned forward, glancing between the redhead and Syd, who she was still standing next to. “I can smell something juicy going on here. What happened? Spill!”

Before Jadis could answer the excited therion’s question, Eir calmly explained the situation.

“My cousin, Magistrate Vraekae, asked Jadis if she would be willing to impregnate her.”

The ecstatic laughter that followed the elf’s statement lasted for a long, long time.

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