Chương 81: Chapter 80 - Satyr, pt. 2

2 When Atzi arrived back at the residential street, the same place as last time, she found Alana happily chatting with some woman Atzi didn't know. Then Alana said something to her and, with a stupidly blissful look on her face, the woman walked away.

"Hey," Atzi spoke up.

"Welcome back!" Alana paused, and sniffed the air.

"We satyr have sensitive noses" - Alana sniffed again - "and you're drenched in sex-smell."

"H-how come everyone else can tell that stuff so easily..." This isn't the first time I've been called out like this.

"I didn't have time for a bath, she kicked me out!" She left out that she'd had time to eat.

"The easiest ones early are often the most difficult later." Alana said in a deeper than usual voice. Then she giggled.

"What did you think? Did I sound wise?"

"Oh!" Atzi nodded.

"Yeah, you did."

"That's the power of using your voice the right way. Which is also a seduction technique."

"That makes sense. Can you teach me that, too?"

"Of course! Seduction isn't just your body, and dancing and drinking aren't always the situation you're in. That's when the tried and true flirtation, through words, comes into play."

"Saying the right kinda thing?"

"More like saying things the right kind of way." Then she whispered something under her breath that Atzi couldn't hear. Atzi shivered.

"Wh-what did you say, sorry?" Alana curled her finger, beckoning Atzi closer. When Atzi stepped forward, Alana leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Whispering is always a good tactic," she said in a sultry voice. Atzi's tail swished as she giggled.

"Y-yeah, I get it, I get it." This will be tricky. I constantly say the wrong things. But maybe I could learn to say the wrong things the right way.

"But say you're just talking face to face," she leaned back.

"The trick is to use your throat. Start from a low pitch and get higher. It makes you sound mysterious."

"Alright. Alright, lemme try it. Uh, what should I say?"

"Tell me my eyes are pretty." She fluttered them.

"With confidence." Atzi stared for a second, and then looked at the ground. She curled her claws into fists as she reminded herself this was training, and thus there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Finally, she looked back up.

"Alana. Your eyes are really pretty." She tried starting off low and getting higher as she talked. At the end, her voice cracked, and she coughed. She spat up some poison on the ground. Alana tensed her neck.

"Ehhh. We'll work on it."

"W-well, can you show me you doing it?"

"Atzi." Atzi stared up at her, and Alana stared back.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen," Alana said, her pitch shifting up right after the word beautiful.

"R-really?" Atzi forgot herself for the moment, staring back.

"Nope! That would be my girlfriend." Alana smiled.

"But effective, huh?" Atzi felt like gnawing off her own wrist.

"... Right. Yeah, effective." Alana continued, "Of course, once things get physical… Well, you really have to melt their barriers sometimes." Please say she's about to give me a lesson.

"Which is where this next lesson comes into play."

"O-oh? How?"

"Turn around." A little confused, Atzi did so. She could hear Alana step forward, and then feel her hands rest on top of her shoulders. She briefly wondered if Alana was about to snap her neck. Then she started rubbing them. Tension and pain Atzi didn't know she had started melting from her. It felt ten times better than the massages she'd sometimes get at brothels. Atzi moaned.

"A-ah..." She hazily thought, I deserve something like this for all the stress I've endured so far. Alana stopped all too soon.

"It's all in the fingers. Some people won't jump straight to sex, but will accept a massage. And if you make them feel good enough..."

"Y-yeah, I get it. There's some real frigid losers out there I bet."

"A frigid loser is just someone who hasn't let themselves free yet," Alana winked. Wow. She really does sound wise.

"And would you like to know the best way to practice massages?"

"How?" Atzi asked.

"Basket weaving!"

"Basket weaving...?" Atzi boggled.

"Yep! Here, let me show you." Alana started walking off. She didn't get it at all, so Atzi just followed along. Alana led Atzi just outside the city gates. Once there, Alana squatted down and started pulling out stalks of long grass from the shallow swamp mud, humming all the while. Atzi watched her with curiosity. Once Alana had a big fistful, she started moving her fingers at an incredible speed. Like she'd been doing it for a lifetime, weaving the grass together, pressing it, and weaving more.

Fast enough that Atzi had trouble following along in any more detail, Alana had a small basket. Then she held it up proudly.

"See!" Atzi tried to not be impolite.

"How does that help with massages?"

"Trains your fingers to the right motions. A good massage isn't just strong, it's agile and consistent." I guess that makes sense?

"Alright. Lemme try then." Atzi tried gathering long grass herself. After she felt like she had enough, Atzi looked to Alana for instructions. Alana smiled and started giving her pointers, correcting her as she made mistakes. It took Atzi way too long, and it was a lot smaller, but she eventually had something roughly basket shaped.

"Well…" Alana took it from her hands, squinting at it.

"You made one! Keep it up!"

"Hey... does it necessarily have to be baskets? I know how to use my claws well, just not for this. I'm really, really good with locks. A-and that's the same sorta idea, isn't it? You're moving around trying to find the sweet spot to open them up."

"Mmmm. It's more about weaving them in general. I don't know a lot about lockpicking, but it wouldn't be the right motions. But you could weave a shirt. Or pants."

"I'll try making more, then…" Atzi whispered to herself. She would not.

"As for the final lesson..." Alana set down Atzi's basket.

"The ultimate pants-dropper that nobody can resist. Being cool as the frozen hell."

"Right. I can do that." Atzi said with confidence.

"It's all about showing off to an absurd degree. Doing stuff that looks impossible." Alana turned to a nearby tree, one that towered over the others surrounding it.

"Watch this." If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Alana sprinted at the tree. Mid sprint, she lept. One of her shoes - which Atzi had to remind herself had hooves hiding in them - impacted the tree. Then she continued pumping her legs, running up the tree. Her every step looked weightless, no harder than the last. She made it nearly to the top, snatching off a large frilled leaf, before backflipping off and landing in front of Atzi.

Then she held out the leaf towards Atzi, like a gift. Atzi's eyes widened.

"Wow." She took the leaf.

"Tell me you could resist a girl who did that."

"Absolutely no way," Atzi confirmed.

"This is the hardest technique, and you'll have to master everything else first. But it really pays off. It's even useful in a fight to scare your enemies with just how cool you are!" Atzi was curious, though.

"How does this even work?" She had seen plenty of people do similar things. Stuff she felt was similarly impossible, like how the statue-person had escaped from the guards. It probably tied into martial arts, but she wasn't sure how those worked, either. Besides getting strong and stuff. Alana hummed.

"Well, it makes it easier to do things in a fancy looking way. You just have to feel it. It's sort of like magic, but not really."

"I can't do magic…" Atzi slumped her shoulders.

"You don't have to!" Atzi felt more confused than before she asked. Still, she looked over at the tree. I'm pretty agile. I'm fast, I'm cool. I'm gonna try the flip. Atzi ran at the tree. She managed two steps up it before pushing off. She flipped back through the air, before her clawed feet sank into mud.

"Great job!" Alana clapped. Atzi coughed in embarrassment. Then she thought, Cory likes things like this. I just need to show her me doing one.

"I have taught you all the basic tools. It's all practice from here."

"Thanks, Alana. This is... wow, this is a really good martial art. I'd show you Pomaria stuff but uh... you don't have claws or a tail."

"I only said it was like a 'martial art', silly!"

"Oh."

"And I have a tail! It's just really short."

"Yeah, it's just not a tail tail, you know? Can't hit someone with it or trip 'em up. Oh! I did the tail trip thing too, and it worked really really well."

"Good! Jessica loves that one."

"Jessica?"

"Oh, just another one of us. She's a lizard too. She's working the academy."

"As a mage? You guys managed to infiltrate the college and everything?" Atzi wondered just how many of them there were.

"Wow."

"Has some girl wrapped around her finger to act as a smokescreen while she spikes drinks."

"Ooh, nice." Then, Atzi remembered the 'Goddess of Partying' complaining that she had the power to make their magic drinks stronger, but it went away and nobody was her friend anymore. Water. She was the smokescreen all along. I could do something there if I got into the college again... With that, Alana wished her good luck, and then ran off back into the city. Atzi headed back to the inn. === When she woke up, she laid in bed, thinking about how to handle Hemm.

Gotta figure out a good way to get Hemm out the way of the demon. Well, the inn gets attacked anyway. I'll need to find somewhere else for her to stay if I pull that off. So maybe I could convince her to head back to Cthargictha? Then she'd be safe and it's not suspicious! After a bit, she got up, ate breakfast, and headed out to find a way to kill time. Atzi made it a good way up the street before a blur of black and red blanketed the sky. The Dragon swooped overhead.

Just ahead, people started running out of the way, screaming. She flapped once, twice, before her two massive claws thudded against the middle of the stone street. Then, in a blaze of fire that reminded Atzi of Terra's drug removing self-immolation, the Dragon shrunk. Sure loves showing off, this one. But how did I not see her before? Was I always sleeping or gone at this time? Or maybe this is another thing that changes around every loop…?

Finally, she stood as Atzi remembered her, a seven foot tall lizard-like woman with huge horns and fire coming out of her nostrils with every breath.

"Out of the way for the Dragon!" she shouted. Atzi was already further back on the street, so she didn't need to do anything. But she ran forward instead, hoping to get a better sense for the God. She sure struts like she owns the place. Really, who would tell her otherwise? She decided to spend the rest of her morning watching her walk towards the temple, telling herself it was seduction practice.

- Atzi ended up getting distracted and spending her afternoon trying to flirt with women off the street, using only her voice. After the first failure, she told herself she just needed more practice. After the thirtieth, a guard approached her and asked her to leave. It was then Atzi realized she was late to warn Hemm and convince her to leave, before the inn got attacked. She rushed back. Atzi scrambled to open the door, claws slipping around before she managed to throw it open with a rattle and bang.

The noise echoed through the empty inn.

"Who's- Atzi?" Hemm came out the back.

"What's going on? Did something happen?"

"Ah. No, nothing… happened."

"Alright. Well, if something did, you can tell me. Dinner's almost ready, if you wanted to eat?"

"Has anyone else been by...?" Maybe something happened?

"Nope! Quiet as always." So it happens some loops, but not others? But why…? Maybe if I could figure out some kind of pattern.

"Ah. Sure, dinner sounds good." Hemm headed off to finish cooking. When she got back, she brought a big bowl of rice and mixed meats. Atzi ate it happily. After half it was gone, she swallowed and asked, "Where's Marco?"

"Oh. Well it was so quiet anyway, so I told him to go enjoy himself." Hemm shrugged.

"There's only so much you can teach in a day."

"Do you ever go out and enjoy yourself, Hemm?"

"With it being so quiet I don't have a lot to do, but I still need to watch and clean the place," Hemm said.

"Besides, I don't have the money…" She sighed.

"If only I had more customers. How great would it be if this place was packed right now?"

"Careful what you wish for..." Atzi muttered. Then she coughed and said, "W-well, couldn't you take a day off sometime if you ever wanted it?"

"If Marco watched the place, yeah." Immediate threat averted, Atzi's brain started bouncing around as she considered using her new seduction skills to get Hemm to go on a date with her, to get her out of the way of the demon. Then she remembered that the Pangaeans wanted her with them during the ritual. Maybe Hemm will get lucky? If she does then we could flee to somewhere else after I'm done… She wondered if maybe summoning an arch-demon wasn't a plan she should go along with.

But unless she did that, then she couldn't figure out more about what Cory was doing. And… in the worst case, Hemm will come back to life again next time. So it's okay. Right? Right? Just as she thought that, she looked up to see Hemm happily cleaning a cup.

"Hey, uh, say you could help a lot of people, but to do it, someone you knew had to get hurt. They wouldn't remember it happening later, though. Is that alright?"

"Huh?" Hemm looked over, suddenly concerned.

"No. Of course not." Atzi stared.

"Even if it helps a load of people?"

"Why do you have to hurt someone to help a load of people?"

"It's just what the question is. My... friend likes asking tricky questions like that, I've just been wondering about it, that's all."

"There's probably a way to help everyone without hurting the person you know." Hemm set down the cup with a soft clacking noise.

"So the question isn't really as narrow as it seems."

"Maybe, but what if you can't figure it out?" Atzi added. Hemm shrugged.

"Then you make the best choice you can." Atzi scratched the counter.

"If you bet it all on that, you just screwed yourself out of helping a load of people, right?" Hemm's voice firmed up.

"Just because you do something bad for good reasons, doesn't make it a good thing to do."

"So you're still an asshole if you do it, huh..." Atzi looked down again. Shit. Shit. What do I do? Then she had an idea. Maybe... I should lie completely.

"Hemm. I, uh… Can I tell you something in secret?"

"I knew it. What's going on?"

"Absolute secrecy. You can't tell anyone. No matter what." Hemm paused, and then said, "... Okay." Atzi straightened her back.

"I work for Sostran Counterintelligence." Hemm blinked her one big eye.

"My cousin's in charge of it, he got me a job with them. I mostly just did... well, undercover stuff. And... something big is going down and I might not be able to stop it, but they really, really need me to keep my cover no matter what. So, um… The city's not gonna be safe for the rest of the festival." Atzi met the ensuing silence with internal prayer. Finally, Hemm spoke up.

"So you're a spy?" she asked.

"Yeah." Hemm paused again.

"I… thank you for telling me, Atzi. I won't tell anyone else."

"Right. I know you probably wanna take Marco along, but you can't tell him anything, alright? Nothing."

"I'll make up an excuse and get Marco and I out of here. Will you have a place to stay? Wait, of course you will. This 'counterintelligence' would give you a place." Hemm tapped her chin.

"Why'd you stay here, then?"

"I'll be fine. I liked staying here. I like you, you don't deserve to get dragged into this stuff..."

"We'll get out by tomorrow morning."

"Just hide out in Cthargictha a little while."

"Cthargictha?" Hemm looked confused.

"Why there? I was just going to go down to Artaxta." Atzi shook her head "It's stuff involving the whole empire, you'd be safer back there, trust me. I, uh... well, there's a bunch of stuff about the internal politics of there, I read through it, you... should be fine there. The cyclops tribe leader should be on your side." Hemm's expression sank.

"You probably know a lot about me, huh?"

"... Because of the war, I got asked to stay here at first to keep an eye on you... sorry about that, I really did like staying here."

"I… understand. I just thought-" Hemm sighed.

"No, nevermind. Thank you, again." Then she smiled weakly. I hope this doesn't blow up in my face.

"When it's all over, maybe we can meet up again?" Hemm smiled again, fuller.

"I'd like that. If you can, you have to tell me when it's safe so I can come back."

"Yeah, I will," Atzi lied.