Cursed Queen: Battle Against Gods

Heat Cycle

"Aiyana! Do you feel better now?" I asked when I saw her sitting on the bed. I was surprised when she only smiled a bit.

Alwina was beside her, looking away. She cleared her throat when she saw me staring. "I'll go back to the camp now," she said.

"Okay. Thank you for your help..." I said while waving my hand to her.

She smiled and bowed her head as a sign of respect. After doing so, she created a portal and passed through it. I looked at Aiyana, who was looking in the opposite direction, frowning. Ah, something happened between the two of them.

I looked at Karis, but he doesn't know what's going on either. He decided to step outside so I can talk to Aiyana in private.

"Thank you for what you did to help me," I said.

Her mouth went agape. "She told you?"

I nodded. "Aiyana, I'm really thankful. I wish you didn't hurt yourself, though. But I am really indebted to you. Is there anything I can do for you?"

She went silent after I said that. I feel like she wants to tell me something, but she seems too embarrassed to say it. She also kept sighing, so I got worried.

"Uhm, are you okay?" I asked hesitantly.

She smiled. "Yes. You're welcome. I do not regret what I did, and I am okay now. Thank you for your concern. How did your training go?" she asked, changing the topic.

I guess she doesn't want to talk about it. I didn't press her further because it seems like she doesn't want me to meddle. That's their problem anyway, so it's only right that I stay out of it.

I licked my lips and told her about what we did for our training. "I didn't know that he can do that! He singlehandedly defeated me."

"I see..." she mumbled.

I pursed my lips. She wasn't listening. Hm. She has a lot of things in mind. Maybe I should comfort her? Ah, but what should I do? A hug might help her feel better. That's what Karis does whenever I feel depressed. I feel better in no time when he gives me one.

Aiyana looked away, so I pulled her in for a hug. I also tapped her back a bit. She held onto my clothes and buried her face on my chest. She's not crying, but I caressed her head anyway. They must have fought for her to act this way. Ha, I don't understand them.

"Thank you..." she said after pulling back from the hug.

I smiled. "Anything for you. Have you eaten? I'll prepare some food for you if you haven't."

"Oh. I have eaten. That woman gave me some. I think she cooked enough for the two of you, too," she replied.

That woman...? Oh, damn. They really had a big fight. I mean, she would have called her Alwina if it wasn't. I smiled and went out to eat dinner with Karis. He was sitting by the kitchen, staring into nothingness. I grinned and approached him. He let his guard down, so I slightly touched his ears. He jumped because of what I did, so I fell on the floor while laughing.

"Hey! You startled me!" he complained.

His face was all red, and he was holding his ears that were twitching a little. I laughed and sat in front of him, wiping the tears. Ah, what a good laugh.

"So cute," I said while getting rice.

He frowned. "Don't do that!"

"Okay, I won't do it anymore."

We ate quietly and cleaned everything up together. I was worried about Aiyana, so I checked on her. She was asleep, so I went to the room where I sleep in. Karis has already laid in bed while playing with his hair.

"Your antlers might hurt me if you sleep beside me with that," I said as I laid beside him.

He made them shrink and grinned like an i***t. The antlers are still there, but they're really small. When I said that I like them, he didn't want to remove them! Well, it's cute, so...whatever.

"Let's sleep now. I'm tired," he said as he closed his eyes.

I turned my back on him and closed my eyes. He hugged me from behind and buried his face on my neck. What the hell?! How am I going to sleep if I can feel his breathing on my neck? I sighed and faced him because it was so uncomfortable.

"Hm? Why?" he asked with his hooded eyes.

"Nothing. Sleep now," I replied and closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes again when I felt him going lower. When he buried his face on my chest, I couldn't stifle a chuckle. Geez. How clingy. I decided to let him be and just sleep since I'm equally tired.

"Wake up, you two!" Aiyana said as she knocked on the door.

Karis was still fast asleep on my chest, so I carefully moved, afraid that he would wake up. He went all out against me yesterday, so he might still be tired. Ah, if only we had someone who can heal us.

"I prepared breakfast," she said, trying to act enthusiastic.

It was painfully obvious that she's only putting up an act. But I smiled and played along anyways. We ate together while waiting for Karis. We were still eating when he came out and frantically looked around.

I blinked twice. "Are you okay?"

He sighed when he saw me. He sat beside me and rested his head on my shoulder. I raised a brow as I stared at him. What has gotten to him? Aiyana stared at us, and she suddenly looked sullen. I pursed my lips and tried to eat even though my shoulder started to hurt.

"Excuse me," Aiyana said and left when it looked like she was fed up.

I sighed and patted Karis's head. "Did you have a nightmare?"

He whimpered. "Don't leave..."

"I won't. Snap out of it now. We're going to train today, right?" I said, smiling.

Why's he acting so cute early in the morning?! I'll lose my concentration if he does something like this. Ha, I need to snap out of it as well.

I sighed because he won't budge. "Come on now. Or do I have to feed you?"

"Feed me..." he mumbled.

What the hell?

I sighed and did whatever he wants. He's done a lot for me, so I guess it's fine if I do this for him. He slowly ate the food. Ah, how annoying! But I decided to bear with him. Damn, what has gotten to him? When we finally finished cleaning up, we went to the usual training place. Karis seems like he finally woke up from his reverie, so I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Seriously, what has gotten to you?" I asked with my hands on my waist.

"I had a nightmare. You were leaving me," he replied, pouting like a child.

I chuckled. "Why did I leave you?"

He didn't reply, so I got confused. His face was so red, and he was covering his face. I pulled his hand and made him look at me. My brows furrowed when his ears started twitching.

"You got annoyed that I was in heat..." he mumbled.

My mouth went agape. "You go through heats?" I asked, amused.

He nodded. "Yeah..."

"How do you get through it? I thought The Zodiacs shouldn't have s*x with anyone because you'll get the other person pregnant and die?" I asked nonchalantly.

"Hey! What's with the crude words?" he complained.

"Answer me."

"We create domains and confine ourselves in them until it ends."

"Ah, I see. Let's train now," I said and went to my spot.

"That's your reaction?!"

"Yeah. Why? How should I react?"

He sighed and shook his head. "I thought you'd be grossed out."

"Huh? That's not something you can control. Why would I be grossed out?" I c****d my head to the side, confused.

He shook his head. "Never mind, let's train now."

It became our daily routine for the whole week. I summon arrows and spears in the morning and spar with Karis in the afternoon. After training for the whole day, we'll bathe in the hot springs for as long as we want.

"Damn, that was exhausting," Karis said as he took his clothes off.

I turned my back on him and did the same. I closed my eyes and allowed the hot springs to do their magic. It's kind of strange how it suddenly just heals my whole body. Does every hot spring here have rejuvenating properties?

"Feels like heaven..." I mumbled.

"What? Heaven? What are you doing?" Karis asked.

I rolled my eyes. "I said this feels like heaven after a tiring day!"

"I agree. Anyway, it seems like you've mastered almost all of the techniques. What's next?"

"I need to learn how to move at the speed of light. Bythos can do that, right?"

He sighed. "Yeah. I think that's the hardest of all. Good luck to you."

"Thanks, I guess."

We quietly took a rest in the hot springs. When I've rested enough, I got off it and looked for my clothes. But I couldn't find them!

"Karis!" I called.

"What? I'm still resting. Wait for me."

He's still in?

"You didn't take my clothes?" I asked hesitantly.

"What?!"

He turned to me, so I immediately covered my body with vines. My mana is almost drained, so I could only cover the sensitive parts. His eyes widened, and he quickly looked away. I tried to look everywhere, but I couldn't find it! I swear I left it on the rock formation.

I sighed. "Where the hell did it go?" I mumbled.

"My clothes are gone..." Karis said.

I made a big leaf using the earth element. I handed it to him while laughing. "Use that for the meantime."

He groaned. "Are you serious...?"

"I'm out of mana. What do you expect?"

That's true, but this whole thing just seems so funny to me! It's quite concerning that our clothes suddenly disappeared, though. That came out wrong...

Anyway, we tried to look all over the place. We have extra clothes, but it's better to look for them. Seriously, we've searched the whole vicinity, but we couldn't find them.

"Is there a creature or beast that's known for stealing things like clothes?" I asked while we were walking towards the house to break the awkwardness.

He shrugged. "I don't know. This is the first time I've experienced something like this."

"Maybe Aiyana knows?"

"Perhaps. She's been living here this whole time, after all."

I heaved a sigh of relief when the house was finally in sight. I ran towards it because I was really embarrassed to walk around, half-naked. Aiyana welcomed me, but she was taken aback when she saw me. Her eyes widened even more when she saw Karis. Her hand flew towards her mouth as she took a few steps back.

"It's not what you think!" we shouted in unison.

Her face becomes serious, and she crossed her arms on her chest. "Explain it, then."

"We were bathing on the hot springs, and when we decided to leave...our clothes disappeared. We didn't do anything else, I promise!"

She looked at Karis with her narrowed eyes. "You did not do anything to Flare, did you?"

He raised his hands as if he was surrendering. "I swear, I never touched her."

She still wanted to question us, but our stomachs suddenly growled. She sighed and prepared dinner for us. I pursed my lips and went to the room to wear some clothes. After doing so, we went to the kitchen to eat dinner.

"I think it is an imp. However, it is strange that they went here. They usually dwell on the other side of the mountain," Aiyana said when we finished eating.

"Imps? I thought they're extinct since the war of gods?" Karis asked.

I cleaned up first while we were talking about the imps. There are creatures like that here, huh? I didn't see one, though. Perhaps it stealthily took our clothes while I was closing my eyes. I should have felt it, though.

"Who said that they were? They have been living in the foot of the mountain after the war."

"Oh? Who could have thought? Only The Zodiacs ever go to the mountain, so we never really knew."

"What do they look like?" I asked.

Karis shrugged. "How would I know? I've never seen one."

"Huh? How many centuries have you lived? You never saw one?" I asked, unable to believe what he just said.

"I've lived for almost three centuries. I have never seen one. They never really show themselves."

My brows furrowed as I sat beside him. I don't think he's lying, though. I looked at Aiyana and waited for her to elaborate about the imps.

"They are usually green in color and have horns. But the ones who have ranks are red, and they can think and talk like humans," she said and placed her hand on her chin. "What business do they have here? They never cross the mountain. I will investigate tomorrow."

"What if they steal your crops?" I asked hesitantly.

Aiyana loves her crops more than anything. I bet she'd be furious if anything bad happens to them. The window is open, so I looked over to see if there's anything there. Luckily, it seems fine.

When I turned to Aiyana, I saw how dark her face was. "It was a hypothetical question," I said.

She sighed. "If they do, I will make sure that they really go extinct this time."

I cleared my throat. "What should we do about them?"

"As long as they do not destroy anything that I own, I will spare their lives. However, I must find out what their plan is. There should be a reason as to why they decided to come here."

I saw how Aiyana almost rolled her eyes when Karis started to play with my fingers. I looked at him, but he seems to be lost in thought. I was supposed to tell him to stop. Tsk. I'll lecture him later.

"Where could they be hiding?" I asked.

"That's what I don't know. We will stop by the hot springs tomorrow. It's easier for me to look back in time if there are traces of them being there. I'll have to use more mana if we don't find anything." She sighed. "Right when I finally got well. I still haven't fully recovered."

I took my hand from Karis and stood up so I can sit beside Aiyana. He looked at me like I betrayed him and started sulking. I'll have to deal with him later. I think we should pay more attention to the imps. It'll be troublesome if they destroy or steal any further. I held Aiyana's hand and caressed it. She really looked stressed. I hope I can do anything for her. Luckily, Karis left and went inside our room.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" I asked.

She stared at my face. "If you summon that woman, she will come here immediately, right?"

"Oh, Alwina? Yes, but what's she got to do with this?"

She pursed her lips as her face started to turn red. I think I know where this is going. But I decided to listen anyway. "I have been...sexually frustrated since you came here. I wanted you, but it was obvious that something is going on between you and Karis. That is why I kept it to myself. Something happened between the two of us while she was making the vessel. Now, I feel so impatient! I need her..."

My mouth went agape. Wow. That was quite a revelation. I never thought I would hear such a thing. Damn. This is quite complicated. What should I do?

I took a deep breath. "Uhm, I will ask Drake to summon her. However, I'm not sure if she'd be willing to come back. Why did she suddenly leave anyway?"

"I called your name while doing it with her..." she mumbled.

My jaw fell as I stared at her. "You...what?"

She nodded. "I am terribly sorry. I know that you are with Karis, yet I continued to have fantasies about you..." she cried.

I panicked and hugged her because she was really crying. Karis was peeking through the door, so I signaled him to communicate with Drake. I continued to comfort Aiyana in the meantime. Ha, I feel like everything is happening at once. We still have to train and commence an investigation regarding the imps.

But I still kept my focus. Aiyana fixed my sense of time, and now I know that I only have a month left to raise my level of concentration. Honestly, I'm doing fine after training nonstop for the past month.

"It's, uh, okay..." I trailed off.

She fell asleep after crying a lot, so I brought her to her room. I placed a blanket on her before going to my room. Karis was talking to Drake through Cyrus.

"What do I tell her? I don't think she'll voluntarily go there if I tell her that the goddess of time wants her. And if I lie, she will see through me. How are we going to fix this?" he asked.

"Just tell her honestly. We'll drag her here if she refuses."

Karis sighed and pulled me when he saw me. I fell on his lap, and I felt something poking behind me. I felt my face heating up, but I pretended that I can't feel anything.

"My heat cycle will come in two days. Don't contact me for a week after two days. Yours is also coming up soon. Isn't it tomorrow? I will kill you if you do it with Her Majesty!" he warned.

Karis sighed as he buried his face on my chest. "I won't."

I pursed my lips and caressed his face. He stopped relaying messages, so Cyrus left to go somewhere else. The two of us were left alone, but we didn't do anything.

"I'm the same as Aiyana..." he murmured.

"What? Sexually frustrated?" I asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

He nodded. "Whenever I see you, I feel things that I don't normally feel. What do I do...?"

I don't know either, so I just kept on caressing his head. Ha, what should we do? A lot of things are happening. This is stressing me out already.

"Flare..."

"Hm?"

I was surprised when his breathing started to become aggressive. I backed away when his antlers started to grow bigger. His ears twitched, and his face was flushed. My eyes widened, and I didn't know what to do.

"It came earlier than expected..." he managed to say.

"Your domain! Didn't you say that you stay there while your heat cycle takes place?" I asked, panicking.

"I can't make one...in this state..." he said as he fell on the ground.

Aiyana barged in and created a small shrine gate. Karis immediately passed through it and disappeared. I plopped on the ground because his smell didn't disappear. Aiyana caught me when I was about to pass out.

"Why did his heat cycle come early?" I asked while we were letting his scent disappear.

She sighed. "The imps did something. I'm sure of it. There is a potion that can make were-animals have their heat cycles early. The higher ranks hold a grudge against Bythos and The Zodiacs. This is probably one of their ways to take revenge."

I blinked twice. "What? Why do they hold a grudge?"

"Their home was destroyed by a spear that Bythos summoned. And The Zodiacs, who were supposed to help them, didn't do anything because they were too busy recovering from the incident."

"Oh. I see. So, they found out that Karis is here? That's why they crossed the mountain, right? To exact revenge?" I asked hesitantly.

She nodded. "I told you, the higher ranks among the imps can think, act, and talk like normal humans. I have to do something because I am sure that they will do something for you, too. Everyone knows that you are Bythos's successor. They will surely find a way to mess with you."

I smiled at her. "Thank you..."

"It is nothing. Anyway, Karis will stay in my domain until his heat cycle ends. I did not stop time there, and I will not check on him. But I am sure that he will finish within a week. It is longer than usual because of the potion. You shall continue to train since you only have a month left before the curse manifests."

I nodded. "But...the imps? Won't they come for me?"

She smirked and cracked her fingers. "I will discipline those rascals. Do not worry about anything. Just keep on training. Too bad, you will not have a sparring partner for a week."

"Okay. Please be careful. I will stay on my guard just in case they come for me."

"Tsk, tsk. I told you not to worry about them. Keep your focus on your training." She smirked and tapped my cheek. "Leave them to me."