Book 1 - Epilogue - Amusement Park Date
Jake walked down the street with Fhesiah and Ophelia on each side of him, the time during sunset. The buildings that lined the streets were of a Victorian style, and the clothing the people walking the streets were wearing kind of matched, if any of them were actually human, Jake supposed. There were various beast-kin, elves, dwarves, and other fantasy style races that Jake was somewhat familiar with.
There were even magic-powered vehicles going up and down the streets, in some sort of magic steam-punk style. They had chosen their first destination after Odin’s visit, and plotted out this point on-the-way for some leisure time.
Jake and the girls were excited: they would now be able to do some activities that they were hoping for. This world was a [Bastion], a world that had been reclaimed from becoming contested, and was protected by a layer of other worlds that must be assaulted before this world could ever become contested again.
No incursions, and this particular world only contained wildlife or monsters that did not surpass Tier 0. [The Framework] blocked people that were inducted from fighting or killing other inducted, and so it was like they had a trusted police officer escorting them anywhere they went; this world was even safer than modern Earth, at least for them.
Because of that, Jake and the girls could easily relax and enjoy everything this tourist city offered, for a time. They had chosen this world also because it was “close enough” to modern Earth for Jake’s liking, and it had several of the destinations that they were interested in. They were now arriving at the entrance to an amusement park.
Jake hadn’t gotten to go to many of these while he was younger, but he had lucked out and gone with a friend once. He certainly didn’t have the fortune of bringing two beautiful girls with him that time, so he was just as excited as they were about new experiences. Though after they paid some [Tier 0 Credits], Fhesiah was doubtful.
Fhesiah said, “Jake, I thought you said those ‘roller-coasters’ were fast. If you wanted to move at that speed, you could just ride me instead. Then once we’ve done that enough, we could fly through the air together.”
Jake just smiled and shook his head at her antics, but said, “We’ll do that later. For now, let’s check out the Ferris wheel, or whatever they call it here, first.” They stood in line and got in the box together, which Ophelia nabbed the side next to Jake, with Fhesiah across from them; the benches were too small for them all to sit together. As the box reached the top, they took in the view, which included all the lighting of houses and the park itself and the beautiful sunset.
“Wow… that’s really pretty with all the lights.” Ophelia was especially moved and awed by it. Jake had gotten out of his seat and put his arms around both of the girls from the middle of the two and said, “Take a look and note the things that look interesting to you, and we can see them later. Over there, they even have a small aquarium we can check out, and there are many snacks and things we can get all over the park.”
Jake and the girls checked out the aquarium, and also took the largest roller coaster that was at the park. They all grabbed several snacks, and Jake noted the foods they were interested in; after all, he could cook some of them for the girls later.
The valkyrie was just bursting with excitement the entire time, and enjoyed all the activities that they did, especially the carnival style games.
“Look, Jake, they have that gun thing we see in the movies! I wanna shoot one!”
Jake could tell they rigged things even further for superhumans like her, but she still managed to win several games and won several stuffed animals, which Jake carried on display rather than putting in his storage bracelet, for now. Jake tried to win something for her too, but he just couldn’t manage it. Ophelia was just beaming at competing in the games, and Fhesiah just enjoyed watching her and Jake, but joined them for several games as well.
Jake was holding her winnings for her as she went to play another game, when Fhesiah slid her body and arms around Jake from behind, and spoke sultrily in his ear, “Isn’t our daughter so cute, daddy Jake? Why, just seeing her makes you want to make a dozen or so more, doesn’t she? I think I saw a tunnel of love or something, did you want to give it a go?” Jake blushed up a storm because of the mention of having children, and was slightly confused at what he was feeling, since normally his own activities with the so-called ‘daughter’--
“Did you just think of naughty things with Ophelia? What, did you want to do a little mother-daughter action? Little bit of heaven and hell, or is it hell and heaven? Seems neither of you are ready for that, though. How about we head for this ‘haunted house’ thing? I think I heard some screams? Our little angel can keep playing here. She’ll be fine for a while,” Fhesiah said.
Jake signaled his intentions to the valkyrie over their bond and went off with Fhesiah to the haunted house. They linked arms as they went into the eerie-themed building, and it was dark, with fog filling the corridors and rooms. The demoness noticed this.
“Why is there so little light here? And what’s with all the moisture?” Jake just smiled and shrugged; explaining it would not make it more enjoyable for her, he thought. This stuff did not really have the ability to get her heart pounding, it seemed. Jake could tell she had no problem in the low-light situation. After all, she had led him through zero light goblin caves in the beginning of their adventures.
Eventually they were forced into a narrow corridor, and a clawed, perhaps animatronic hand reached out to grab the demoness. Instead of being frightened, she completely smashed it with her fist before Jake could even react. Just shards of the hand and arm flew everywhere, and he could tell a loud smash reached adjacent rooms. Jake was speechless, but exclaimed, “Ah!” just unbelieving that this had just occurred.
Fhesiah said, “What is it, husband?” Jake still didn’t know what to say, especially to that term, but Fhesiah guessed, “What, should I not have destroyed that? One should not bear their claws or fangs if they are not in for a fight, everyone knows that. If the park has a problem with it, then they shouldn’t have started things they couldn’t finish.”
It turned out the park did, in fact, have a problem with that, and Jake was out a few hundred credits for repairs once they finally reached the exit. Jake had explained to her that anything else reaching out was not there to harm but only make those that go through feel fear, as the attraction was mostly for the uninitiated or people who were not warriors.
Fhesiah was not sorry about what she had done, but she did apologize, “I’m sorry I inconvenienced you, husband. I will try to control my strength next time, or keep in mind that time, place, and occasion thing you talked about. Did you want to go have some fun in a tunnel with me? Then after that, we can go to the tunnel of love.”
Jake felt that she totally did not understand the time, place, and occasion ‘thing’ that he explained, or she simply just chose not to in regards to her innuendo or teasing. Jake chose to accept perhaps minor victories, and hoped that violence would not be the immediate answer to any ‘threat’ that appeared later.
Jake did go through the tunnel of love with her, and Fhesiah mostly used it as an excuse to make out with Jake, not even paying attention to the ride. They kept it above the clothes, though. After what happened in the haunted house, they could just sense that a park employee was watching them, and he was not about to get thrown out before they enjoyed all that the park had to offer.
Jake then met up and did the same with Ophelia with just the two of them. Ophelia was a little more interested in riding the boat and seeing the different beautiful landscapes as it went through the tunnel, allowing Jake to actually see some of it this time.
“Wow, it’s like we’re floating through the clouds, so pretty!”
Jake chuckled, “But you can just fly through the sky too?”
Ophelia smiled, and Jake couldn’t help but think she looked quite cute, “Oh yeah. You want to fly with me, Jake?”
“I’d love to fly with you. Though, I can’t fly just yet…”
“I’ll just carry you. You know, Prince-carry. I’ll take my Prince into the sky. It’s a date.”
Wasn’t it a princess carry? Jake sighed, but he couldn’t help but look forward to it. Just who doesn’t want to fly in the sky? The boat floated through another section, and the lighting became quite dark. Eventually, they saw thousands of small lights, making up stars like those in the sky.
“So pretty…”
Jake said, “Yeah…” But Jake wasn’t looking at the stars. He was looking at the beautiful battle angel, and thinking how lucky he was, to finally be able to travel the multiverse with her and enjoy special times and make memories like this. Of course, those feelings carried right over the bond, and she looked over to see him staring right at her. She snorted, “Jake, you’re such a dork. That was such a lame line. But those feelings make up for it…”contemporary romance
Ophelia kissed Jake, which was Jake’s plan all along. They kissed as the boat floated through a sea of stars, and then moved to what looked like crystal mines, where crystals of various colors were jutting out of stone walls. “Wow… those are really pretty too…”
The ride ended, and Jake headed over to purchase pictures from both his rides, while Ophelia said, “That was good, but they should include something where you fight a dragon. I’d be the knight, and fight the dragon and save the Prince, my Jakey, before we fly through the clouds, and then drift through a sea of stars. I’d have enjoyed that better.”
Jake just wryly smiled at that. Somehow both girls had managed to add, or want to add, combat to an event that wasn’t meant to have it.
Surprisingly, Fhesiah ended up enjoying the roller-coaster, along with Jake and Ophelia. She joked about enjoying everyone screaming in fear as they enjoyed the ride, or at least Jake hoped she was joking anyway. Still, if Jake guessed by her emotions, even though she could probably swoop down while flying just as fast, she still enjoyed riding in the cart and moving as quickly and erratically as the coaster does. Ophelia enjoyed it just the same, screaming along with everyone else during the big drops.
Overall, it was a great day. Jake was thinking about all the things that they had done at the end of the night back at their [Refuge], and looking at the photos they purchased and some that they had taken.
Ophelia said, “The aquarium was more fun than I thought it would be. Do you think you could cook that fish that looked like a spiral? It reminds me of that pasta you make, Jake.” Jake just shook his head and smiled. Of course, she would use the aquarium to shop for something to eat, despite having three not-quite-turkey legs while they were in the park. “I’ll check into it. My cooking skill is nearly five already from all the stuff I’ve been cooking since getting the magic stove. Soon, even if it’s poisonous I should be able to make it quite edible.”
Ophelia gave him a sly, teasing look. “Thanks, daddy! You take such good care of me!” She gave him a full body hug as Jake blushed in embarrassment, and Fhesiah was just beaming to see Jake getting teased once again. Did they work this out together? Jake didn’t like where this was going. The demoness was clearly corrupting his little girl-er, his girl! That damned demon!
Fhesiah said, “Aw, Wifey, don’t get mad, it’s all in good fun. Let’s go someplace a little more relaxing next time. You said you wanted to do this ‘camping’ thing? I don’t see how that’s different from the dungeon, or just being homeless, but I’m sure we could find a waterfall next to a lake or something that should be enjoyable for everyone. You and I can pitch your tent, and Ophelia can go fishing and hunting. We can cook up the meat, then we can build the tent thing or whatever. Now, I think I was promised a ride?”
Jake couldn’t help but laugh. The demoness was getting to be too much. At any rate, today was a fun day, and Jake was glad that there were going to be many more ahead of them as they explored the Multiverse.
done.co