A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

"Ugh," Liv groaned as she lay on the floor. Her wounds were being slowly healed by the room's sigils, proof of her loss.

To the side, Astrid and Alice were cheering for Erik's victory, having long forgotten the awkwardness they felt when Liv started teasing Erik. Astrid felt a little conflicted, of course, but in the end, she would have cheered just as hard if her mother won. It was a good fight, and that was the important part.

Erik transformed back into human form, and walked up to Liv. He crouched down with a smug grin, "I'm afraid I've not been very good at humility for a while now. Although I commend you for that trick you tried to pull. You almost had me."

As it turned out, Liv had been hiding a skill much like Erik's lightning flash, allowing for near instant movement over a short distance. Just now, she'd attempted to catch Erik off-guard by pretending her third ability was the explosion, before suddenly appearing behind his back.

Unfortunately for her, she was the one to be caught off-guard. After such a wasteful use of energy, combined with her weakened body, she was already exhausted. To then be smashed in the face by a powerful force like that when she was moving and not expecting an attack had been fatal.

Liv spat out a bit of blood before looking up at him with a wry grin, "Well, perhaps you deserve to be a little arrogant, you smug bastard…"

Erik chuckled, before offering his hand to help her stand up, since her wounds had already largely healed. "Well, I also have a few people to thank for my current power. I can't really take all the credit."

While Erik certainly wouldn't be where he was today if it hadn't been for his own efforts, he couldn't deny that a number of people had provided him with advantages that most others didn't have. Obviously there was Elora, but even Audumla couldn't be discounted.

Grabbing his hand, Liv stood up and smirked, "That sounds an awful lot like humility, you know?"

"I call it realistic pride," Erik grinned while releasing her hand again.

Yet without support, Liv staggered a little. Fortunately, Astrid appeared by her side to steady her, a big, excited grin on her face. "That was awesome, Mom! I thought for sure you had him at the end there!"

Clearly, she had already forgotten her mother's provocations towards Erik earlier. Stay updated through empire

"Yeah, well, I heard you cheer pretty hard for your fiancé over there," Liv pouted, faking a little annoyance, her eyes shining a teasing light.

Astrid blushed and considered simply dropping her mother, but eventually decided against it. Instead, she was reminded of Liv's earlier words, and narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, about that… what the hell was that earlier, huh?!"

Naturally, Liv knew what her daughter was talking about, and pursed her lips playfully, "Just having a little fun, Astrid. I wouldn't be interested in something like that, of course. Not unless you wanted it, anyway…" she finished with a teasing wink.

"You…!" Astrid exclaimed, nearly doing a spit-take, while letting go of Liv on instinct. "What the hell, Mom?! What makes you think I'd be okay with that?! And, for that matter, since when have you shown anything but disdain for polygamy?!"

Liv staggered a moment, but quickly found her balance again, now standing on her own two feet. She may be weak and exhausted, but she was still a third-ranker.

Meanwhile, Erik and Alice looked at their interaction with interest and curiosity, not about to interfere. Especially not Erik, who was very interested in finding out where this would go.

After stabilizing, Liv turned to her distraught daughter, and shrugged casually, with a slight smirk, "I only disapproved of those perverted bastards and their harems, because they were all based on lust, and nothing more."

Her smirk grew together with the teasing light in her eyes, "But I know my daughter wouldn't let herself get duped like that."

Silence descended on the room as everyone reacted to Liv's words.

Astrid's eyes grew wide as she stammered, "M— Mom?!"

Alice was, admittedly, simply confused. This relationship stuff was still a little too advanced for her young mind.

Elora laughed loudly in Erik's mind, "Hahaha! I like her!"

Erik, too, couldn't help his lips from curling into an amused smile.

Astrid panned her gaze to Erik with a half-suspicious, half-pleading, look, but he simply shrugged, "Don't look at me. You've been with me every moment I've been with her. I didn't tell her anything."

"Oh yeah," Elora suddenly materialized on Erik's shoulder and grinned mischievously at Astrid. "Did I forget to tell you she broke her memory seal like a few minutes after waking up? My bad…"

Erik immediately sighed with an amused exasperation at his partner "I think you deserve some punishment…". He didn't mind Elora having a little fun, even if it did involve keeping a secret from him.

"Totally worth it," Elora giggled playfully.

After a moment of shock, Astrid exclaimed, furiously, "Elora…!" before turning to her mother with an awkward and surprised expression, lost for words. If she had to be honest, she was a little annoyed at Liv as well. She had told her mother about the memory seal, and Liv had pretended not to remember anything.

Ignoring her daughter for a moment, Liv looked curiously at the little fairy sitting on Erik's shoulder. She had seen this winged woman before, when she was still a ghoul. "You were the one who appeared a little jealous when my little angel and Erik kissed. I assume you're his wife or fiancé as well?"

"My name is Elora," the fairy nodded, a curious look in her eyes. Liv was the mother of her soon-to-be sister-wife, and thus squarely in the family bracket as well. It also didn't hurt that she felt this Liv to be a somewhat kindred spirit to her. "And I am Erik's first wife," she finished, with no small amount of pride.