Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Vahn spent a few minutes in intense focus as he completed the complicated procedure necessary for a goddess to get pregnant. Coincidentally, even though it would typically not be guaranteed even if he followed these steps for other races, the fertilized egg seemed to be protected by the Divinity of the goddess by the time the process was finished. When he removed [Enkidu] from Loki's body, Vahn had closely observed the process and saw a strange energy begin for form in their body as if it was nourishing the egg further. It was very similar to what he saw when he inspected Hephaestus but decidedly different from when he had observed Aki.

When he was finished, though she had already realized it since he removed [Enkidu], Vahn rubbed the top of Loki's head and said, "It's done...looks like you'll be a mother in the future." In response to his words, Loki remained silent for a while before she 'unashamedly' turned to the side after releasing his body and wiping her previous tears on the blanket. Now that she wasn't bound by [Enkidu], her Divinity immediately took hold of her mind and she regained her sensibilities. After she was finished, she looked up into Vahn's face with a cheeky smile and asked, "So, did you decide where you want to put the mark? Or did you want to continue from where we left off~?" Even now, they were still 'together', and Loki flexed her lower body as if she were trying to tease him.

Vahn maintained a gentle smile while squinting his eyes a bit before he leaned down and kissed Loki's forehead affectionately and said, "I feel like that would taint this moment a bit...I'll put the crest on your back." Hearing his words, Loki pushed against Vahn's shoulders to free her body out from under him before rolling over onto her stomach and musing, "Gee, so sentimental~. Well, I can't stay for too long anyway, and it's already been quite a while..." Vahn saw the tensions drain from Loki's body a bit and she closed her eyes as if she were relaxing, but he could see that her aura was fluctuating a bit. Since she had recovered her Divinity, Vahn couldn't be sure she wasn't putting on an act, but he felt like she was impacted heavily by what happened earlier.

After tracing his index finger along the line of her back, Vahn figured it would be best to put the mark where Loki's top usually covered her back. Since her default clothing was pretty revealing, he was worried that she would be embarrassed to be seen with the mark so often. The moment he tried to do so, however, Loki berated him a little and told him to, 'Man up and take responsibility.' Vahn wasn't sure what 'taking responsibility' meant at this moment, but he bit the bullet and carved his maker's mark in her lower back, in an almost identical location as Hephaestus. Though she had a somewhat fleshy butt, it still looked a little strange to see his mark on such a thin waist like Loki's.

Since she wanted to see what it looked like, Vahn put up the standing mirrors and watched her put on a small act as if she were trying to seduce him. She struck a few poses and gave him some amorous glances while asking about his opinion. Vahn's response was to smile and say, "Beautiful...", as he walked over with a warm towel to help clean her body and wipe up the mess she was making on the floor. Her response was to scratch her head awkwardly before having Vahn return her clothes so she wasn't forced to stand n.a.k.e.d in the middle of his room any longer. Vahn removed them from his inventory and Loki, before she had finished cleaning herself, put her panties nonchalantly before quickly wearing the rest of her clothes. Though he wanted to comment that it would be uncomfortable, Vahn let Loki do as she pleased and finished cleaning up the floor before handing her a [Maternity Band] and explaining its purpose.

Though she had already known its use, Loki listened to Vahn's words to the end and then asked, "Are you sure you just don't want me to cover up my back~? You're not 'embarrassed' are you~?" Vahn nodded his head and said, "I won't lie...it is a little embarrassing...but it also makes me feel more than a little proud..." As he spoke, Vahn reached out and stroked the mark that Loki had been waggling in front of his face playfully. She stood there for a short while before walking a few steps towards the door and saying, "You don't need to see me out, there are already people waiting for me. You should spend some time with the other girls now that you've given me what I want~. I'm sure that boob goddess and that fretful cat will be happy to see you..." Loki's words trailed off a bit when Vahn grabbed her hand and said, "I'll escort you for now...it's quite cold outside and I can protect you. You have more than yourself to worry about now..."

Loki's brows furrowed a bit before she muttered, "Whatever...lets go before it gets too late." Vahn nodded and walked Loki downstairs, through the foyer, and all the way to the front gate while keeping the freezing air at bay with his domain. Surprisingly, the people waiting for her happened to be Riveria, Ais, Tiona, Lefiya and Tione. Vahn felt very embarrassed to see them, especially when Loki broke free from his grasp and walked over before 'proudly' showing off her mark and saying in a teasing voice to the other girls, "Lookie, lookie, Vahn is such a tyrant, marking me as his own~! You girls need to be careful from now on or you won't even know what happened to your body before it is no longer your own~."

Tiona's eyes flashed over and she leaped over and clung to Vahn's neck before pressing herself against him and saying, "That's fine with me~Ehehehe." Before things got out of hand, Riveria said in a rather cold tone, "We need to get out of here before these two idiot Amazons cause trouble." After Tiona stepped forward, Tione also had a strange look on her face and had been intercepted by Ais even though Vahn could see her eyes glowing with a subtle competitive flame as well. Tiona pouted a bit before giving Vahn a surprisingly deep and passionate kiss before jumping off of his body. When she stepped away, Ais said, "Watch Tione..." before walking over and also giving Vahn a relatively passionate kiss for a marginally longer period of time.

When he was finally released, Vahn looked over the outfits everyone was wearing before pulling out an assortment of three-layer cloaks for them to wear to keep warm. Even though it was below freezing, Tiona and Tione were still walking around in their revealing attire as if they were unaffected, but Vahn could see a slight blush to their skin from exposure. Loki was his biggest concern since she was essentially just wearing shorts with a top that looked more like a skin-tight band than an actual piece of clothing. Her stomach and back were completely exposed, and Vahn was more than a little worried something would go wrong if she walked around in her current state.

Vahn helped each of the girls, excluding Riveria and Lefiya, who already had on cloaks as if to show they were the more sensible girls within the group. When everyone had some form of protection against the elements, Vahn saw them off with a smile and agreed to meet up on occasion. Not only Tiona and Ais, but Tione and Lefiya had already been giving a paired scroll linked to Vahn's. Vahn wasn't too surprised by Tione, but Lefiya's was a bit unexpected since she wasn't truly considered an a.d.u.l.t yet. She was, however, Level 3 and mentioned that she would only be going along if Ais was around and just didn't want to be the only one left out. Vahn realized that peer pressure might force some of the girls on the network to act outside of his expectations, so he started thinking about possible solutions...

When he returned to the Manor, Vahn was intercepted by Hestia who asked, "Is Loki pregnant now?" She had an especially serious look and Vahn saw a surprising depth in her crystalline blue eyes. He nodded his head and stated firmly, "Yes, without a doubt." Hestia nodded her head before walking forward and hugging around Vahn's waist before placing her head against his chest. After a short period of silence, she said in a muted tone, "In the future...not now, but much later, I want a child of my own..." Vahn stroked the back of her hair while gently embracing her body and saying, "Yeah...without a doubt...I'll do my best when the time comes."

Because she was unwilling to walk on her own, Vahn carried Hestia back to her bedroom and spoiled her for a bit before they parted. She seemed to be adversely affected by the fact that her longtime 'rival' had gotten a 'big advantage' against her, but was also doing her best to not make irrational decisions in the heat of the moment. Due to how Hephaestus and Loki had explained things to Freya, it was technically 'impossible' for a third goddess to get pregnant right now, since Vahn was supposed to be 'overburdened' by the process. Even if she wanted to have a child of her own due to her emotions welling up, Hestia knew it would cause problems for everyone in the future and bottled up her emotions for the time being. Vahn knew it was probably very difficult for her, and he didn't mind spoiling her for however long it took for Hestia to be happy.

Before he left her room, Vahn helped Hestia fall asleep and bundled her up tightly within the blankets. He dispersed the light chill that hung in the air and brought the room to a comfortable temperature before quietly closing the door behind him. After leaving, Vahn scanned over the shared room of Aki and Ryuu and could tell that both girls were awake so he gently rattled on the door before it was answered by Aki. A gentle smile appeared on her face and she asked, "Is Loki-sama pregnant now?" Vahn nodded his head as he walked into the room and said, "Yeah..."

Though she had been sitting previously, Ryuu stood up when Vahn walked into the room and gave a polite bow with a small smile on her face. Vahn returned her greeting with a smile of his own and said, "Sorry to bother you late in the evening..." Ryuu shook her head dismissively and said, "No, you're allowed to enter here whenever you want. It isn't any trouble at all...Vahn." Hearing Ryuu call his name always made a warm feeling spread through Vahn's heart and his smile turned marginally more affectionate to display that fact. Aki, who had walked off to the side after he entered the room, came forth with a rolled up scroll and three large logbooks and explained, "Loki-sama should have told you about it earlier, but this scroll will be your line with the 'active' girls for the time being. Feel free to write anything you want into it and there will almost always be someone to spread the word..."

Vahn took over the four items as Aki continued, "The logbooks are all for different purposes. The red one is for correspondence between you and the girls that have a paired scroll with you. If you send out a message, anything they write back will show up in there. The blue logbook is a list of everyone that is currently 'interested' in being together with you...it'll show the current status of the girls with things like Free, Busy, Away, and if they are in the dungeon and other things like that. The last logbook is for private messages from the girls that want to reach out to you without having their words seen by the rest of the network. Everyone has been told not to take things too far, but it was agreed that people should be able to reach out to you privately at times..."

Vahn listened carefully to Aki's explanation before flipping open the blue logbook out of curiosity. Even at a casual glance, Vahn noticed a surprising number of names with most of the statuses left blank presently. There were a few names he didn't expect to see, and Aki seemed to realize what he was thinking so she giggled and said, "Your little speech earlier 'inspired' a few girls to muster up their own courage and take a step forward. Though it doesn't mean they'll do 'anything' you want them to do, you can still reach out to those girls and try your luck...it's kind of like them saying they are 'open' to the idea of being with you, but it's up to you if you want to follow through on things. I'm sure that a few of them are simply curious...you know, your name and 'capabilities' get around on the network. Even I've done my fair share of bragging~."

Aki's words resonated within Vahn's heart and mind for a bit since he was just thinking about the influence some girls might have on the rest of the group. Seeing one of the names near the top of the list, Vahn looked towards Ryuu who turned her head to the side slightly and averted her eyes. Vahn didn't know how the order was decided, but he imagined that they asked the girls and wrote down the names, which implied that Ryuu had been one of the first girls to put forth her name. Even Aki, someone he was actively involved with, lost by two positions. The only girls ahead of her were Hephaestus, Eina, Loki, Syr, and Tiona. Following them were Ryuu herself, Ais, and Aki, with an unnervingly long list under them that was more than twenty lines long.

Vahn closed the logbook for the time being and made conversation with the two girls for around twenty minutes before finally leaving for his own room. On the way out, he rubbed noses with Aki while hugging her waist before sharing a short and tame embrace with Ryuu. Since Vahn felt like teasing the taciturn elf a bit, he gently ran his hand down her backside when they were separating and he noticed her ears waggled a bit as she gave him a sidelong glance before saying, "Good night...Vahn." With a small smile on his own face, Vahn nodded and said, "Good night, Ryuu, Aki..."

Before he went to sleep, Vahn went downstairs and washed up a bit before finally making his way to his bed. He didn't sleep the previous night so it didn't take long for Vahn to pass out moments after he laid down. His room was often the coldest in the house and Vahn enjoyed the chill against his skin as he breathed in the somewhat subtle aroma that served as evidence of his earlier bond with Loki. Her reaction under the influence of [Enkidu] had been a big impact on him, and Vahn spent the brief moment before he passed out thinking about possible solutions. It was a tragic thing that she was forced to live that kind of life by design...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Compulsion','Hestia's Woes','Organization')

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