Chapter 9: Chapter 8 – Reveal

"BOSS CAN YOU HEAR ME?! BOSS?!!" Drogo grabbed Benedicts right shoulder and shook him back and forth.
"Stop shaking him idiot! Can you not see the blood coming out of his head?!" Hiei yelled while pulling Drogo's hands off of Benedict.
The girl finally stopped looking at me and barked out orders to the two having a panic attack, "You two, carry him sideways out of here but keep his head cradled, try as best you can to keep him level and not shaking." She then turned around, looking out the doorway. "Go get his bed ready but make sure the pillow you use will keep his head level."
"Yes Miss Hera!"
"Right away Miss Hera!"
The sounds of feet running back down the hall could be heard, those must be maids or servants of some kind.
Drogo and Hiei were quick on their feet and were already carrying him out through the door, with Hiei at his feet and Drogo holding his head and torso perfectly still. About 20 seconds later the sound of the door at the end of the hall could be heard closing. It's good they left since I'm almost out of ether, but there's just one problem...
.
.
.
"Well? How long are you going to stay like that?" She's glaring down at me in the corner now.
I've finished eating Siv and I'm about to lose my aura, so it's not like I have a choice either way. Here is hoping she doesn't kill me...
I didn't even need to drop the aura, it came off all on its own. Ugh, I've never been empty on ether before, I feel like shit.
Apparently I was wrong about her being able to see me because once she was able to see what I was, she immediately pulled her sword out from her waist, holding it in a defensive position.
"... What are you?" If looks could kill, I'm pretty sure I'd be dead right now. Going empty on ether is hitting me hard, if she wants to kill me there's nothing I could do to stop it. I can feel my ether refilling faster than normal, but I'm not able to enjoy any of that right now.
"A half monster girl who just ate Siv." Might as well go with honesty.
Hera raised an eyebrow in response to that. "Half monster huh...", now she's staring at my tail.
"Uh, I know I'm not in a position to ask right now, but how did you see me? I haven't failed on my aura yet, and I thought it was perfect that time too."
"Pfft." Hera scoffed. "Look between you and the desk monster girl." She motions towards the ground with her sword.
Looking down I immediately see what she meant... now that's just pathetic. There is obvious drag marks of bile and blood leading directly to where I'm sitting. I know I had no time and was panicking a bit, but this was a deadly mistake. Then again, maybe there was nothing I could do in that situation besides let Siv go, but I think I'd rather die than let that happen.

"Yeah that was a complete failure on my part... now what, Miss Hera?" I said while holding my hands up. Even this was hard to do, I can feel my arms sagging already.
"Hmm..." She looks lost in thought, I guess I don't blame her. Out of everything she expected to find in this room, a half monster girl eating Siv with Benedict's head caved in, was probably nowhere on her list.
"For now, explain this situation, including you."
"From the moment I came to this room, or before that too?"
"Before please." Hera seems to be giving me a chance, but if I move suddenly, I have no doubt that I'll die.
"Well, I woke up in a noble room with a man named Godwin, and another named Jasper---" She had a clear reaction to those names that gave me pause for a few moments. "--But I had been sleeping for 6 days apparently, for reasons I wish I knew." She looked at my tail when I said that. Pretty obvious it'd be monster related huh? Humans don't sleep that long even with sleeping gas, unless they're in a coma or constantly breathing the gas, but that might kill them instead? At the very least it sounds very unsafe.
"Just so you know, my monster parts are normally hidden. Anyways, after that Godwin offered to buy my way out of here, and also offered for me to be his pupil."
"HA! Of course he did. Don't worry monster girl, so far I believe you. As soon as you mentioned his name I had a feeling he had made that exact offer to you." Hera replied.
"But how did you know...? I never touched him, so he can't have known what I am." Seriously this is a problem if there is some other way people can discern whatever the hell is inside of me. Although... that's also a boon if played right, I could finally get some answers with Bears help.
Now that response got her smiling quite a bit. "Oh that has quite the simple answer, he can sense souls from a distance. Not a large distance but still, only monsters can do that. Between that and his strength, it's why people call him a monster. Now continue please." Hera said while still armed in a defensive stance.
"Drogo and Hiei came in, hoping I was awake so they could bring me to Lord Siv. Apparently I was meant to be the entertainment for him."
"Ahh..." Hera looked down at my red one-piece dress. Oh right, I completely forgot I was wearing this. I really would like to see a mirror... I haven't got a good look at Eris yet. From what I've seen in the waters reflection, she's quite good looking. She's only a bit older than I am too, those idiots I was staying with told me I was 22, making her 2 years older than me.
"Simplifying the next part, Drogo said he'd talk to the boss about letting me go, but I saw them coming back from this room with faces that let me know what reply was given. Not much of a surprise when I saw that Siv was in this room. Anyways Siv had cast some type of binding magic around Benedict, sticking him to the chair while he yelled at him about his betrayal."
"Betrayal... so he did learn the truth in the end. I can guess the rest but continue all the same."
"Siv talked about how he had used someone named Jayce who discovered the missives to the king, then he blasted Benedict's head into the wall over there, knocking him out instantly. He walked up to him with the intentions of killing him, but that's when I ambushed him. Unfortunately, he had already charged up a spell for Benedict, and tried blasting me with it, but I turned his hand at the last second which led to..." I finished by looking at the wall covered in guts. As fun as it is eating these people, the smell is so damn gross... Especially my tail. It's not smelling as bad now after evolving once and becoming a tad harder, but it's still pretty vile.
"I understand most of the situation but you skipped over the part that led to you coming here. Why did you originally leave that room after Drogo and Hiei left?"
"I didn't want to leave it up to fate, whether master Godwin could save me or not. Hiei... or was it Drogo? One them said Siv was resting, which was a perfect opportunity for me to remove him from the equation entirely. And..." Ahh this honesty, I feel like I'm about to get myself killed. "I... wanted to eat him. A powerful mage that made himself my enemy? He offered himself up as far as I'm concerned."
"... I see. Then what of Master Godwin and Jasper, will you try to eat them too?"
"Why would I do that? Bear has already agreed to train me, and he seems very honorable. Meanwhile Jasper couldn't lie if his life depended on it. In fact, he doesn't even need to talk, his face already expresses exactly what he's thinking."
"... Honestly, the only reason I didn't kill you on sight was because Benedict looked like he was alive. You could have left him to die, but you chose to kill Lord Siv first. The signs were obvious with the golden yellow ropes still bound around Benedict, that's one of the spells Lord Siv was proud of." Hera responds but quickly switches to a sigh. "Haa... fine, can you do something about... that?" she says while motioning towards my tail.
After pulling off my monster appendages, the change in Hera's demeanor is almost instant.
"It's that scary looking?" I asked without thinking.
"Surely you jest? It's absolutely disgusting. Well... ahh, hmm..." She looks like she is struggling to continue, but...
"Miss Hera, I really want to know. It's not like I've been able to hear others opinions up to this point regarding this side of me."
Hera scrunches her face up like she's eating something sour, just staring at me for a solid 15 seconds before seeming to resign herself. "The... ram horns, are kind of cute."
Whoa, I've never had anyone call me or anything about me cute before (One of the higher ups in the compound referred to me as the "cute weaver" but that doesn't count damnit). I have conflicting feelings on the fact that the first time I'm being called cute it's the monster half of me. Then again, would it be any better if she complimented Eris? Only Yurie at this point could tell me I was cute before... one more reason to find her.
Now that I'm not deathly tired and on the verge of death I'm able to get a good look at Hera, and she's quite the beauty. Long red ponytail with bangs down below her chin, framed around a sharp beauty type of face with blue piercing eyes. There is really only one thing to say to a girl like this.
"Marry me."
Immediately the butt of her sword is knocked against my forehead. "Don't get full of yourself, I don't entirely trust you yet. Now get up we're going to head to where Godwin is. You know the way right?" Despite what she said, I can see her trying to hide a smile.
"Yes I remember, it's actually not that far away at a normal walking pace. Sneaking took me awhile."
"Right... you can stealth. Does Master Godwin know?"
"No he only knows... more than I originally thought apparently. Maybe he does know if he can feel souls."
Hera looked sideways at me with a very puzzled expression. "And why would that help him know what spells you have access to?"
"Isn't that something soul magic can do?" I definitely remember some higher up in the church bragging about that... was he lying?
"No, soul magic can't do that... you are increasingly more bizarre every time you open your mouth. You can cast an ultra rare spell from an element that almost no one has, but you don't know basic info like that?" Hera replies.

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"Hearing my first love call me bizarre is breaking my heart."
Hera just shakes her head in response to that.
"At the end of the tunnel here is where they are, that door right there."
Hera strode forward, opening the door and heading inside without waiting on me. I was surprised that she chose to walk ahead of me after we got past the jail area. Up to that point she was slightly behind me with her hand still on her pommel.
"Geh..." That was Jasper's voice... not a fan of Hera?
"Back to your roots Jasper? You did always seem to love jail cells."
Walking inside (Hera was holding the door open for me) the first thing I see is Jasper with the most disgusted face I've ever seen. I couldn't help but begin laughing upon seeing that, earning me the attention of everyone here.
"I-I'm sorry... his face was just so stupid looking. He looked like Hera just legally declared him to be her slave."
Hera smiled but Jasper looked like he was going to puke. It took everything I had to prevent myself from laughing again.
"Good to see you survived my future disciple! Now, tell us what happened."
Master must have been a real lady killer in his life. One look at that serious gaze of his and you can tell women fell for him left and right.
"I ate him."
Masters gaze didn't falter while Jasper looked puzzled. Meanwhile Hera was smiling for some reason.
"Go on." Between the gaze, his strength, and demeanor as a whole, I can fully understand why he's considered one of the strongest men on this moon. It would be very difficult for someone to tell him no in this situation. I'm so tempted to ruin this moment by doing just that or making a joke... I'll save being an ass for another time.
"Literally, I transformed and ate him right before he was going to finish off Benedict. Hera told me about your soul sense, so you must have had some idea that I was different."
"......."
Godwin is still staring at me with that unflinching gaze. I'd love to know what's going on in his head right now.
"Transformed..." On the opposite end I thought Jasper might be disgusted, and he still might be, but for now he seems to be intrigued instead.
"It was disgusting and cute at the same time." Hera said with a smile. Her attitude really is different from earlier.
"Cute?? Eris, show us."
"Agreed. Before we continue from here, I'd like to see this transformation of yours Eris." I figured they'd both want to see, somehow it feels a bit awkward but I'm not sure why.
As usual, with no fanfare to accompany it, my tail, horns, and claws slowly grow from their usual positions until solidifying into place.
"Hmm......." Godwin's face still hasn't changed.
"Whoa whoa whoa hang on, this was real and not a trick? I was hoping it'd be true but with Hera being the one bringing it up..."
"Why are your horns different? These small pointed ones are cute but I loved the ram ones from before." Ignoring Jasper, Hera spoke while looking at my horns.
"Ahh yeah, I'm not sure what that is about. I tested it a bit before, different horns grow each time and I'm not sure what the cause is or if I can control it."
"Eris, how did you... eat, Lord Siv?" After Jasper said that, Hera's smile was as wide as it could possibly be.
"With my tail, see?" Right after opening the tip of my tail, a vile smell spreads out into the small room. Oh... I think I finally know how Steward knew someone or something was behind him.
"So that's what that smell in Benedict's office was, please close it Eris. In fact, pull it out but keep the horns."
I reached back to pull the tail out when Godwin's voice stopped me.
"Eris, I need to know one thing before we move to the next stage. While I'm not accepting only paragons of virtue, especially since there is so few of those in the world, I would prefer not to train individuals like Lord Siv. Answer me honestly... how many people have you eaten?"
Now that question, put a serious face on the other two as well. Now all three are staring at me, and I don't think they're going to like the answer. Should I lie? I feel like if I start lying it's not going to stop, and I'll get caught in one of my lies eventually, then the rest will tumble soon after.
"... Four people. Five including Siv."
"Who?" More glares.
"Steward, and the three people I was living with. I regret none of them even if Steward's death is... hard to explain."
"So you killed both Steward and Lord Siv? Whew, the Ryzen family and the nobles who follow them are really not going to like you. That in itself is making me want to invite you into my family right here and now. However..." Jasper was jovial for most of that, but then he took on the same serious face as the other two.
"Yeah... you want to know about the family, right? They were horrible people, through and through. When I declined to marry their son, the father began beating me, hard. Before that I had a very long night thanks to Steward and a Wendigo, I really just wanted to sleep and then one of his punches hurt like hell, making me wheeze for air, I lost myself and killed them."
"Did you need to eat them?" Godwin replies.
"Yes. It's a wonderful feeling eating people or monsters through my tail (not that I have proof on monsters yet), plus it... is impossible to ignore in a situation like that. The alternative was letting them rot so the bugs could have them? There is no way the other me is going to allow that to happen."
"Other me?" Jasper cut in.
"That's what I was talking about concerning Steward. His murder is hard to explain... one moment I was completely normal, and then he bumped into me when running to somewhere in the village, immediately I felt like an entirely different person. I spent the next four days tracking him, studying him, learning everything I could, before finally ambushing him in his tent. He countered my first attack, but chose not to yell for the guards, instead he saw my tail and changed strategies to try and capture me himself. As you can see, I won. Soon after eating him I felt like myself again, as if I had just regained control of my body. I thought the same thing was happening the closer I got to Siv, but it was more like a mix of both of us this time."
"You beat *Steward* in a one on one? Was it the same for Siv?" Jasper replied again but this time he was practically speaking at double speed. He's that excited by this story?
"No that was a pure ambush, but not a perfect one. He got a charged blast off but I diverted it at the last second, as a result he ended up blowing half of his own torso into the wall."
"I've heard enough. Hera, I assume you're here to pay our ransom?" Godwin stood up while addressing Hera.
"Indeed Master Godwin. They contacted the guild and I was currently in Bellevue on a hunt, it was close to the meeting location so they chose me for the job. Yura says you need to pay it all back out of your own pocket or your dues are getting doubled for the rest of your life."
"NONSENSE! I only pay what I choose to pay. She's lucky that I am choosing to pay out of my own pocket this time... and for Miss Eris as well."
That perked me right up. He's still going to take me as an apprentice?!
"Hahaha that's quite the happy expression there little one. However let me tell you that I still need to look into some things before I can accept you. Also, our talk is not over. For now we'll go talk to Benedict and get out of this place." Godwin was smiling while he said that, that's good enough for me for now.
"About that... Lord Siv had smashed Benedict's head into the wall before Eris killed him. There is no telling whether he'll wake up or not." Hera said while stopping Godwin from advancing. When I think about it it's weird how Hiei and Drogo were listening to Hera when she's not even a member of these people. Heat of the moment or some other reason?
"I severely doubt this place is run entirely by one man. They know you're here Hera, the operation won't stop for one man. Let's wait here for a bit and see what happens." Jasper cut in from the couch.
"One thing I'd like to ask of all of you. Call me Eve."
"Why the name change my potential disciple?" Godwin raised an eyebrow.
"It's my real name. I'll explain now if you would like?"
Godwin walked back over to the couch and sat down. "Please do Eve. I'd love to hear it." He finished with a smile.

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