Chapter 159: Spirit Orchestra, Part Three

"Uhm... So, your illusion got canceled?" Rin asked, her face red as she cleaned up the water by the bed using a mop she brought in from the bathroom.

"Yes," Xhez confirmed. "In... In addition, I felt something else."

"Oh, I bet you did," Elisa said with a smirk. Xhez kept going.

"When that... 'orgasm', as you called it, was about to occur, I felt my Spirit spreading throughout the room. Almost as though it was searching for someone. Of course, since I was alone just now, it did not find anyone. However, I still felt it trying."

"Really?" Rin asked as she finished up and set the mop aside. Xhez nodded to confirm what she'd just heard, while Elisa put a hand up to her chin.

"... Well, if we assume that nothing's wrong, then, this is something normal that your Spirit wanted to do, right?" Elisa asked.

"I suppose that makes sense," Xhez said with a shrug. "Though, what could it be?"

When she asked that, Rin's eyes widened.

"Reproduction, maybe?" Rin asked. "You told me before that the way Sprites reproduce is through combining spirits, or something like that. Maybe that was what your body was trying to do."

"Seriously?" Elisa asked, tilting her head. "Is that how making babies works for you?"

"Yes," Xhez replied, "at least, this was what I was told. When a sprite meets another sprite that they love, their spirits create offspring on their own."

"... And, it works with humans too?" Elisa asked. "Because, this was about to happen with June, right? If you'd kept going after your illusion faded?"

"I-I do not know."

"Well, testing that theory out is probably not a very good idea," Rin muttered to herself. "But, if we want to be safe, I'd say that's probably the best assumption we can make."

"What does this mean, then?" Xhez asked. Some tension made itself known in her heart as she posed the question, worried that the answer would be something along the lines of "sex is off-limits."

[If that is the case, I might just cry.]

"Uhm..." Rin looked away as she thought about it. "I'd say you're probably going to have to try to be careful. If having an orgasm is what triggers this, then... Well..."

"Sounds like it might still be fine for you to help other people get off, though," Elisa noted.

"What are you saying?" Xhez asked.

"We don't know whether the same thing happens when the person you're having sex with has an orgasm, right? So, this might mean that you can do what June did to you, to other people, but not get in return... Understand?"

Xhez blinked.

"I... believe I do?" She turned that sentence into a question right as she finished. "Does... Does that even still count as sex?"

Elisa gave a chuckle at that before replying:

"Look, at the very least, the person you're with is going to appreciate it. But, even if it's not the full experience, I kinda agree with Rin here. Unless you want to make some half-human babies, I wouldn't risk it."

Xhez was, understandably, disappointed to hear that. Rin tossed an empathetic look her way and then sat down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Sounds like June's a good person, though. Sex isn't the only way to have fun with your friends."

"I-I know," Xhez replied, nodding. "I understand."

After a pause, Elisa said:

"Sure is one of the best ways, though."

---

Nighttime soon arrived a few hours later. After taking some time to recharge her Spirit by resting in her bag, Xhez now stood outside of June's hotel. She wasn't about to turn down the letter's invitation.

She had just spoken to a man at the front who told her he would notify June of her presence. Now, she was standing here, with her head low, waiting for the woman to come out.

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For once, what had Xhez feeling so nervous wasn't whether the guards nearby would see through her illusion. As Rin had told her, this particular illusion spell was stronger than the one she'd used before. No, what had Xhez feeling like this was whether June had seen her for what she was before she left.

[There is no way she did not,] Xhez told herself. [She spoke with me just before I left... But, her reaction wasn't a negative one.]

As Xhez remembered that, she couldn't help but feel a little bit of hope sprout up within her bosom.

[Maybe...]

"Xhez!"

The sprite lifted her head and saw June walking out with a wide smile. The singer wore a low-cut white shirt with a skirt of the same color, and some strange golden rings on her arms that jingled as she moved up. Upon seeing her expression, relief washed over Xhez. June then opened her arms, and Xhez fell into her embrace easily.

"I'm so glad you're here!" June pretty much yelled into her ear, happily. Xhez didn't mind it.

"I appreciate the invitation," Xhez responded.

For a moment, the two of them just looked at each other. Xhez noticed the curiosity that bloomed in June's eyes and, at that moment, she was fairly certain she knew what the woman was thinking about. She didn't mention it just yet, however. Instead, she asked Xhez:

"Do you want to come up? The night's quite young, I know, but... A few minutes to just talk would be nice."

"Of course," Xhez replied, nodding eagerly.

"Very well, then."

The two of them entered the hotel then and, after Xhez was checked in, they quickly went up to June's room. Down the hall, Xhez saw a man wringing out a mop, similar to the one Rin had used earlier, letting water fall into a bucket beneath. This was the same bucket Xhez had used to give herself enough Essence to create a temporary disguise so that she could then walk back to the Academy. She could perfectly remember how her skin burned when she took that water in. She hoped she wouldn't have to do such a thing again anytime soon.

"Here we are again," June said, as she welcomed Xhez into her room. It was empty and dimly lit, just like it had been before, but, this time, there was a sense of familiarity to it. "Come sit," June instructed, doing just that at the edge of her bed. Xhez joined her and took a deep breath, knowing a heavy conversation was likely to follow.

"It really is great to see you," June told her softly. "I was worried you weren't going to come to visit anymore. Would be a damned shame considering how much fun I feel we could have together."

"I..." Xhez looked up, meeting her eyes. "I was worried you would not want to see me again."

When she heard that, June pulled back slightly. The woman's eyes held a natural kindness to them that made Xhez want to trust her.

However, her next question still made Xhez nervous.

"Xhez, when we... You know, last we saw each other," she started. "What happened? I... I was eating you out and then I just fell asleep out of nowhere."

Xhez looked away, then, pulling her eyes down to her lap where she was fiddling with her thumbs.

"Um... Well... S-Something happened, and..."

Lying wasn't exactly something Xhez had much experience with. And, evidently, she did not have the talent for it.

"Something happened?" June asked, confused.

Moment of truth. Well, more specifically, it was now time for Xhez to decide whether she wanted to tell this woman the truth or not. The problem was, of course, that she had no idea how June would react to it if she did let her know.

Xhez wanted to believe in her. June had certainly shown her enough kindness to merit at least a little bit of faith. However, at the same time, having just come from Cradle, and having all of her kind's history of interacting with humans in her mind, Xhez understood the risk that she would be taking.

The shackles on those beastborn, the dead sprites her mothers told her about, she knew she could become one of them if June simply didn't react the way she hoped.

And so, in the end, self-preservation won out over trust. However, with one little asterisk that Xhez placed next to the decision.

[Not now...] She thought to herself. [But, maybe in the future. I need to get to know her better.]

"Uhm, well," Xhez started to say, "I-I am quite gifted when it comes to Sp- I mean, Essence. I may have activated a spell inadvertently. I apologize for that."

Her words turned far more sincere by the end. That sincerity may have been what made June not challenge Xhez's words, as although the woman looked skeptical, she did not contest Xhez's statement.

"P-Putting that aside, however," Xhez continued, "I... How has your time been in Libera? I would like to know how the city has been treating you."

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