Ariagoria woke up and quickly started getting herself ready to move. After a little more exploring she planned to make her way out of Gallia with Racknar and leave it behind. They would move on and start heading to Bramble. From here on the two would be heading straight North to catch a boat. Although the buildings and culture paralleled Europe, it's geography, not so much. The island that Bramble was on was still located north of the mainland but was closer to the tip.

  Originally the two were going to go through this world's version of Spain as well but Racknar decided taking a boat now might be faster then going on foot. Shaving a couple days to make up for the extra time spent in the city. Once she was ready, Ariagoria spotted Racknar who had just finished cleaning himself up and couldn't help but notice that the mostly decorative cloth he wore over his natural armor had a bulge in a curtain area. Ariagoria quickly averted her eyes. “I see your body is in fact like that of a teenager's”

  Racknar chuckled. “Even when I neared my thirties in my past life this sort of thing still happened. Sorry if it bothers you, I'll tuck it under my belt.” Once the two are ready they exited the beautiful city some more before finally hopping on their spider drawn carriage and moving north. “You know this actually might get us there fast enough to more than make up for the time we spent in Lutèce Parisii. Might get an extra day or two. Plus since Yggdrasil gates only take you to border towns if going cross country we only need to make two hops to get to the port when we come back after getting everyone.”

  Ariagoria sighs. “If it's that quick maybe we shouldn't have split the party. I'm only very loosely familiar with Creatures and Catacombs but if I remember right the first rule of being in a party is to never split the party.” Racknar laughs. “That's for when you are in an area with a risk of danger. There aren't many dangers in the main roads most days. Not for people of our level. Especially with the quality of equipment we have.”

  Ariagoria flashes back to the awkward morning. “Y-yeah. Quality equipment. Hehe. Did you know that in this world a chastity oath is optional for priests and nuns?” Racknar tilts his head. “What's that got to do with anything?” Ariagoria chuckled, “Nothing, just passing the time as we travel.” Racknar lets out a low growl. “Did the city of romance make you reconsider keeping the oath you made in your past life?” Ariagoria sighs. “Y-yeah. Maybe a little bit. I never actually officially made a new oath.”

  Racknar gave a small nod. “Well since we travel a lot and in party dating can get messy it might be difficult to maintain a relationship. Not impossible mind you. I just want you to be aware of how difficult it might be.” Ariagoria nodded. “I get that. Out of curiosity, if not Elizabeth then who? I mean she fits all the criteria you've given me for what you want in a partner. Kind, considerate, puts others first. Only thing is I'm not sure exactly how much you have in the area of common interests.”

  Racknar hummed. “We both enjoyed my cooking. Although it's been a while since I've last cooked in the same way as back then. We don't share any hobbies and although I got her to try Creatures and Catacombs I don't know if she ever actually got into playing regularly. I think she said she did. Though it's not like we can play that together now. Well we could since I've memorized all the rules but I'd have to be the one running the game. I wouldn't be able to be a regular player.”

  Ariagoria nodded. “What about physical attributes? I feel like they are less important to you but you still have preferences, right?” Racknar thinks for a moment. “Well kinda. I have several things I find aesthetically pleasing but there is a wide range. I do have a bit of a lean for green or blue eyes over brown and red or blonde hair over brown. Though raven black is also nice. As long as the proportions look good I'm fine with most body types but that said…”

  Ariagoria tilted her head. “Yes?” Racknar continues. “I do have a bit of a thing for size difference. Something about being able to pick up and toss someone around gets me going. However, I can enjoy various nights and full bodies women just as much. Dark skin can also get me going sometimes too, and tan lines are definitely appealing for some reason.” Ariagoria nods. “You definitely don't limit yourself. Similar to Davy, if it's attractive and feminine you'd probably be mostly fine.” Racknar nods. “What about you? I remember you telling me you once had a crush on an older priest when you were still in seminary.”

  Ariagoria blushed as she remembered that time in her past life. “Not my proudest moment, but yeah. I have a type. Taller than me, slender to svelte. Preferably darker hair and eyes. A bit on the nerdy side maybe. Preferably sharing my faith.” Racknar laughed. “Hah, minus the last bit I might have been your type in my last life. We lived in the same state too. I wonder if we ever met.” Ariagoria shrugged. “Maybe. What was your name before?” Racknar grumbled a bit. “Jon Doe. Spelled Jay oh en.”

  Ariagoria laughed a little. “Hahaha. Oh, you're serious. Of course you are. Hmmm….. twenty eight in twenty twenty that would have made you a few years younger then me. Since I died sooner… twenty four or five at oldest if I met you the year I died. Hmmm…” Racknar sat and let Ariagoria soft through her old memories. “Did you by chance ever visit the hobby shop in Athens Wisconsin?” Racknar nods. “Once or twice. Had an issue with some satanic panic folks one time I was there.” Ariagoria sighed. “Yeah… I was at that protest, or one like it. Father insisted.”

  Racknar let out a short laugh. “Not surprised that someone that advocated for left hand correction would have bought into that sort of thing. It's funny to think you got a better father this time around and he's a literal demon lord.” Ariagoria let out a short chuckle. “Yeah.” The two sat in silence for a moment before Racknar spoke again. “I was horribly average looking in my last life. Definitely have a lot more going on this time around.”

  Ariagoria let out a laugh. “Heh, I guess.” Then after a long pause Ariagoria spoke again. “I think we could have been friends if we knew each other in our last life.” Racknar nodded. “I was an atheist, but maybe.” The two then went back to silence as they continued to travel. Touching every Yggdrasil gate they came close to. After about two days of travel they finally found themselves in the harbor town.

  Once there the two booked a fairy to Bramble. After paying the fee the cart was wheeled onto the boat. Racknar started making the back of the cart into an improvised bed. “Might as well take a short nap. We don't have to worry about rotating our resting to keep moving anymore.” Ariagoria looked at the improvised bed. “Am I intended to make my own bed?” Racknar chuckled. “It's that or sleep up here with me. I can add a barrier between us if that helps.”

  Ariagoria climbed into the cart. “There's more than enough space for that not to be necessary. Unless you move a lot in your sleep.” Racknar shrugged. “It depends. Some nights I'm as motionless as a corpse. Others I'm so restless it's a wonder I wake up still in the bed.” Ariagoria hesitated for a moment before climbing into the blanket. “I'm sure it'll be fine.” Before getting comfortable and quickly dozing off.

  Ariagoria opened her eyes to find herself standing in her old room in her dad's castle in The Nine Hells. She quickly taped her arm and sighed. “A dream.” He saw her father sitting in a chair by her old bed. “Yes, but I am the real me. Magic is an interesting thing.” He was a large and muscular red bodied humanoid with large horns and red eyes with black sclera. His wings were metal feathers like rusted daggers and his four arms were each as thick as her entire body. He looked partly insectoid with naturally thick chitinous armor. His face was covered by a mask only showing his eyes of which he had four.

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  “What do you want, father?” Ariagoria crossed her arms. “Years of no contact and suddenly you check in out of the blue.” Amon shifted in the chair. “Time moves differently here, I always have a hard time adjusting to it. I wanted to give you some space but wasn't sure how much. Also I recently had a minor dispute with Asmodaus over one of her succubi being in a friend of yours to do minor paperwork. I mean the laziness of it.” Ariagoria simply stands there blinking for a bit. “Demons do paperwork?”

  Ariagoria shakes that off. “No, that's not important right now. What friend of mine ended up in The Nine Hells?” Amon let out a low growl. “Some living doll. She was here for two years.” Ariagoria was taken aback by this. “Two years?! I've only been away a few days.” She then hears Racknar go. “Well yeah, every day in Mortalus is a year in the Nine Hells.” Both Ariagoria and Amon look at Racknar in surprise with Ariagoria pointing at him. “How did you get here? When did you get here?!”

  Racknar shrugged. “No idea, and just now.” Amon stands up, towering over the two easily. From one's best guess the demon lord was around ten feet tall if not taller. Easily taller than some buildings. He walks over to Racknar and looks him over. “Hmmm….” He lifts one of Racknar's arms and lifts him. “You smell of brimstone. Do you draw your power from the Nine Hells?” Racknar nods. “I'm what is known as an Infernal Wrath Berserker. I enhance my strength by drawing from your realm whenever I rage. I can draw from other circles but yours is the one drawn from the most.”

  Amon sniffed at Racknar a bit more as he continued to inspect him. “Brimstone, coal, ash, and blood. But there's another set of scents beneath that. Cinnamon, honey, and vanilla. Interesting. I sense there even more but I can't get a good read on it.” Amon backs off a bit. “Show me your weapons.” Racknar hesitated for a moment before manifesting his four swords. Rip and tear on full display.

  Amon is taken aback as he recognizes the weapons. “I gave these to one of my mortal children. How did you come to possess them?” Racknar quickly answered with honesty. “I beat your son in honorable single combat, a fight to the death.” Ariagoria whispered to Racknar. “Maybe it's not a good idea to admit to my dad you killed one of his kids.” Amon puts his hand on his chin and gives a nod. Although it's covered by his mask, Ariagoria could sense a wicked smile form on her father's face. “I approve.”

  Ariagoria makes a confused expression, discombobulated by her father's reaction. “You… approve?” Amon nods. “Yes, very much so. Tell me warrior, what is your name and what are your intentions with my daughter?” Ariagoria let out an exasperated “Daaaad!” Racknar did a light bow. “I am Racknar Aridae, your daughter and I are just friends.” Ariagoria could sense her father's scowl. “Shame.”

  Ariagoria got visibly upset as she raised her voice. “You can't just show up on my life after years of nothing when I ran away and butt into my personal life. I don't want or need your approval of who I choose as friends or who if anyone I choose as a life partner. I'm an adult now, I don't need or want you in my life.” Amon lets out a low growl. “You are free to make your own choices, I will not hold you to the laws of Hell since you technically weren't born here. I just-” Amon paused for a moment. “As strange as it may sound, I just want what's best for you, for you to be happy. If you are happier without me in your life then do be it. I'll return you to your normal dreams.”

  Ariagoria finds herself in a more normal dream that eventually ends. When she wakes up she finds herself only able to vaguely remember the normal dream. She vividly remembered her father's visit and began to feel angry at the fact he only checked in to poke his nose in her business. She then found herself shooting to a higher level of awareness when she felt a warmth at her back.

  Ariagoria’s entire body tensed up as she turned her head. She then let out a sigh of relief when she realized Racknar had simply moved back to back with her. She then paused for a moment to think about the fact Racknar had her father's blessing and huffed. “Not happening.” Racknar slowly got up and rubbed his eyes “Eh?” Ariagoria put some distance between them. “Just talking to myself.” Racknar then looked at Ariagoria for a moment before asking “Did that conversation with your dad really happen?” Ariagoria nodded. “He wanted to check in because Mari somehow took a visit to the Nine Hells.”

  Racknar got up and grabbed his gear. “We should be at the port soon. Grab your things.” Ariagoria did so. “Are we… not going to talk about my father's visit?” Racknar tilted his head. “What's there to talk about?” Ariagoria smiled lightly. “Nothing. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.” Racknar nodded. “He wasn't what I expected exactly but that's not really important.” Ariagoria looked at Racknar. “What were you expecting?” Racknar shrugged. “He seemed calm and collected. I expected more wrath and violence from the demon lord of wrath and violence.”

  The boat docked and the two unloaded their things. They hopped on the cart and left town, touching the Yggdrasil gate on the way out. Racknar looked down the road for a moment. “We are not sure if exactly where this guy is but since we are here we might as well travel to the capital as a starting point. It's the most likely location this guy will be in and we'll need to be able to go there again later anyway.” Ariagoria nodded and the two began their journey into Bramble.

  The countryside was quite beautiful, as was the case for most of the areas they've been to so far. Collecting gates at towns and cities they passed through on the way the two made the several hour journey to the capital city of Londinium. As the name suggested it was a parallel to medieval London. The two arrived as night began to fall and the city was covered in a thick fog. “I wanted to soak in the splendor of this city, but honestly this doesn't surprise me.” Ariagoria remarked.

  Racknar looked around. “I'll find a place to part, we'll make the cart into a tent for the night and explore in the morning. Then we can start heading back to the others.” Ariagoria gave a nod. The two found a nice spot and rigged up the cart before climbing into the back. “wait… are we going to sleep in the same area again?” Racknar paused for a moment. “I mean… It worked fine last time. Although it's a bit colder tonight so this thin blanket might not be enough.”

  Ariagoria hesitated for a while but then slowly climbed in. “Well I guess there are worse things in the world.” Racknar climbed in on the other side of the cart leaving a sizable gap between them. “If you get uncomfortable, just let me know.” Ariagoria snuggles down into the improvised bed. “Will do.” She said before dozing off. She then found herself in a dream about the cabin at the lake she saw a copy of back in the Warlock's tower.

  The priest she once had a crush on was there, an older man all alone with a fourteen year old girl. Naive and willing to go along with whatever he said. However, this wasn't how she remembered this day. She was there with others, this was a Bible camp trip. He did get her alone a few times though back then, as the others either slept or were elsewhere. The man read to her sections of the Bible and other religious works. He held her close to him in a way Ariagoria now knew was too close.

  Her memories of the man flooded her mind as she recalled how this priest abused her feelings for him to get her to do things. “When I finally went to confession about him touching me and having me touch him, when I finally confessed my sins, he was removed from the church. I didn't understand it at the time, I was upset they took my future husband away. I didn't realize till much later he was grooming me. If things continued, he likely would have taken my chastity, and I… Would have let him.”

  The scene faded as fog rolled in and Ariagoria began to feel incredibly cold. She awoke to realize she was actually cold and the thin blanket was not enough to keep her warm that night. She looked over to Racknar who had his back turned to her and slid herself closer to take in his warmth. “(Why did I drink about that in a time like this?)” Still feeling cold, she turned to her side and wrapped herself around Racknar’s back. “(He's surprisingly warm, I hope he doesn't mind me stealing his body heat. It's just for tonight.)” She quickly fell back asleep.

  She found herself back at the cabin, this time a fire was going and a kid was on the floor reading a book. The kid was around twelve, a little boy. Ariagoria moved to get a closer look and saw the child was reading the Iliad by Homer. “Bit advanced for someone so young.” She commented out loud. Then an old woman walked in who looked familiar to Ariagoria. She snatched the book out of the child's hand and tossed it in the fireplace, yelling at the child. “How many times do I have to tell you I don't approve of you reading stuff from those pagan heretics?! There is only one god and if you don't respect and worship him you will go to hell! I don't even know how you keep getting new copies of these books, it's not like your parents have the money.”

  The kid sat up. “it's an old poem about a war gran, I'm fairly sure the references to the mythological gods is just a metaphor.” The grandma yelled again. “See, this is why I want you far away from these devil works. You are ten, a child. You shouldn't be talking to me like you're an adult!” The old woman raises her hand and the child flinches before she brings it down on him. “The only book I want to see in those hands while we are here is the Bible. Father Malcolm will make sure of it.”

  Ariagoria watched as the priest from her congregation walked in. “Let me handle the boy Lorraine, you can entrust him to my care.” Then the door slammed open and a large intimidating man who looked like he belonged in a biker gang walked in and stormed over to the kid. “I found you! Let's go.” The wild woman protested. “This boy needs Jesus! Can't you see that Jack?!”

  The man shouted back. “I will not let you do to my son what you did to me mom. The cycle ends here!” He picks up the child after rubbing his red cheek and storms back out leaving Father Malcolm and Lorraine standing there dumbfounded. Ariagoria then noticed a little girl hiding in the corner. She recognized the girl as herself but didn't remember this moment until now. Who was this boy, and why was she remembering this now?